The Priestess and Her Seishi

Part Two

Megyn yawned and sat up. Wait a minute. This is much too comfortable to be rock. When her eyes came into focus, she gasped. She was in a room, on a bed, nude. She quickly covered herself with the sheet and looked around. The room was filled with clouds. There was a door at the far end of the room. She couldn't see her clothes anywhere, so she wrapped the sheet around her body several times and secured it with the hair tie that held her hair in a bun. Megyn walked to the door; she made sure to look down to make sure the sheet was covering everything. She reached for the door-pull.

Before she could reach it, the door opened and hit her squarely on the head. Shit! Not again! was her last thought before she fell unconscious, again.

"Wake up, no da," said a far away voice.

Megyn groaned as she opened her eyes. "My head."

"Are you all right, no da?"

Megyn was immediately aware of a man kneeling beside her. He had light blue hair and his bangs swooped above his head. His face looked strange. It was happy, yet very concerned.

"Yeah," she responded. "Just a little dizzy."

She tried to get up. She walked a little ways over towards the bed but stumbled over the sheet.

The man caught her before she could hit the floor and do more damage to her brain than she already had. She groaned.

"You should lie down, no da," said the stranger as he scooped her up and laid her on the bed.

"Who are you? And where are we?" she asked of the strange man.

"I am Chichiri, and we are in Taiitsu-kun's palace," said the man now smiling genuinely.

"I'm Megyn, but what happened to my clothes?" Megyn said.

"Nice to meet you, Megyn, and here are your new clothes," said Chichiri. "Your old ones were too conspicuous," he explained.

"I'll leave you to change. I'll be waiting outside to take you to Taiitsu-kun." With that he closed the door behind him.

Megyn unraveled herself from the sheet, and slowly got dressed. There is something about Chichiri. I just can't place it. What's wrong with me? I couldn't be attracted to him. Could I? No. Definitely not. He's kinda weird. She'd just put her shoes on, and walked to the door.

Chichiri held out his arm when she walked out. The brunette smiled and graciously accepted it.

They walked down a maze of corridors. Finally, they entered a large room with pink bubbles all over it.

Weird.

Tamahome and Jamie were sitting on the floor in front of an old woman. Tamahome had a bright red handprint on his cheek. Megyn nearly burst out laughing. Someone bitch-slapped him pretty hard.

The old woman was floating a foot, or so, off the ground.

"That is Taiitsu-kun," whispered Chichiri nodding towards the old woman. "Don't insult her. It's dangerous."

Taiitsu-kun looked at them when they entered. Megyn sat beside Jamie.

"Ah, good. You're finally here. What took so long, Chichiri?" asked the old woman.

"She hit her head, and I didn't want to call the Nyan-Nyans, no da," he said, bowing.

"I understand," she responded. She looked Megyn up and down. "I'll start with you," she said. "Stand in front of me."

Megyn stood and walked over to where she was floating. She bowed her head.

After a few minutes, Taiitsu-kun said, "Hmm… So no one knows, huh?"

"No one knows what?" Megyn raised her head. She started to panic.

"That you have the power to see the past. Ah, and telekinesis too. Impressive," she said.

"Yes. No one knew," the girl said. She sighed, relieved in a way, before continuing. "I didn't want to be considered a freak. I was scared. I couldn't control my powers." She hung her head. Jamie was gaping at her. She hadn't known. Not even Megyn's parents had known.

"You may sit down," she said. "Jamie." Megyn walked back to sit beside Tamahome.

After a minute, Taiitsu-kun said, "You don't have any powers."

"What?!" replied Jamie.

"Well, you have the potential to become a very good martial artist," Taiitsu-kun said. "You need practice. Tamahome will teach you."

"Oh," said Jamie. "Take lessons from Tama-homeboy? You must be joking."

"You don't want me to smack you too," said Taiitsu-kun. That shut Jamie up. "Now I guess I have to choose which one of you will take on the task."

"Task?" Megyn asked.

"Yes. One of you must become the Priestess of Suzaku," Taiitsu-kun replied.

"Who is Suzaku?" asked Jamie.

"Suzaku is the God of Konan," piped in Tamahome.

"I WAS TALKING!!" yelled Taiitsu-kun at Tamahome as he cowered in a corner.

"What is the task?" Megyn asked shyly.

"You have to perform a ceremony to call Suzaku," Taiitsu-kun said. "But first you have to find all of the Suzaku seishi."

"What are seishi?" Jamie asked.

"The seishi are warriors that protect the Priestess on her journey. They have glowing red symbols on their body when their energy focused." Megyn's mouth dropped open. So that's what… She continued, "There are seven. Two are already here."

"Who?" asked Jamie, puzzled.

"Chichiri and Tamahome," Taiitsu-kun said.

Jamie looked Megyn and both girls burst out laughing; Megyn laughed from both surprise and relief.

"Chichiri I can believe, but Tamahome..."Megyn said as she burst into another fit of laughter.

Tamahome glared at the girls.

"What's so funny about me being a seishi?" yelled Tamahome, fuming.

"Nothing," said Jamie trying, unsuccessfully, to hold back her smile.

"Now I must choose," said Taiitsu-kun firmly. They immediately stopped trying to annoy Tamahome and looked at her.

She wants me to be the Priestess, but then Jamie has to go back. She doesn't know. Why can't she see it?

"No!" Megyn said sternly. "I can't do it, but you can't send Jamie back. We're a team."

Everyone looked taken aback, but Taiitsu-kun just smiled. "Good. I was hoping for a response."

"You mean you really were speaking to me?"

Taiitsu-kun nodded.

"Good. I thought it was just schizophrenia."

"Now why can't you become priestess?"

"I don't want the job. I want Jamie to have it." Jamie was stunned. "I'm not…qualified for it."

"I guess I'll have do it," said Jamie. "I will only do it if Megyn and I stay together."

Everyone in the room fell silent. They awaited her answer.

"Very well. You may both stay," Taiitsu-kun finally said. "Now, Megyn, go to train with Chichiri."

Megyn nodded and followed Chichiri outside. She watched his feet as they walked. It felt like it took forever.

After about a half-hour of warming up, she had to test her powers. "Okay," said Chichiri. "I am thinking of something. What am I thinking?"

"Isn't that a little childish?" Megyn asked.

"Yes. It's simple, no da. That is why we are doing it."

"Alright," she said skeptically. She closed her eyes. The first thing she saw was a memory of Chichiri's.

"I'm sorry," said a girl sitting on the floor, "but I can't marry you." Anger and sadness welled up inside of him.

"Hikou? I thought that I could trust both of you. No. I did trust you," said Chichiri.

That night the girl died in a terrible flood.

Afterwards, all of the anger that was inside of him was unleashed on his best friend, Hikou.

The water rose fast. Hikou slipped. He grabbed his friend's hand. Out of the corner of his eye, Chichiri saw a log coming straight towards him.

When it hit him, he instinctively grabbed his face. His friend fell into the flooded river.

"Save me, Houjun!" called Hikou. Moments later, Hikou's lifeless body floated to the surface.

Chichiri sobbed uncontrollably. His bride-to-be and his best friend were gone. His left eye was a reminder of this and it too was gone.

People stared as he walked past. They didn't stare at him; they stared at where his eye. He could hear people whisper as he passed. He didn't like people staring at him. "How grotesque." he heard as he walked. He hung his head and tried to cover his eye.

"Oh, Chichiri," Megyn said sinking to her knees. "Terrible."

"You saw it, no da?" he asked. He sounded scared.

"Yes," she said. "I'm sorry. I can't control it. I can only see the past, not the present."

"Don't worry about it, no da," he said brushing it off.

"Is that why you wear the mask?" she persisted. "That is a mask, right?"

"Yes."

"Take the mask off," she said, and then added, "Please?"

"Are you sure you won't think it's disgusting?" he asked, suddenly serious.

"Positive."

"Okay," he said as he slowly pulled that mask away from is face.

When it was off, Megyn gasped. He was very handsome. She didn't even notice the scar keeping his left eye closed.

"I thought you said that you weren't going to be disgusted."

"I'm not disgusted at all," Megyn said, blushing. "It's just…umm…you look so…never mind."

"You like my looks?" he asked slyly.

"It doesn't matter… Never mind," she said and blushed more. "Anyway, I promise not to tell anyone about you."

"Thank you, but let's keep working, you know," he said. "Now, we should work on your telekinetic powers."

He whistled.

Out of one of the bubbles popped out a little girl. She had turquoise hair done up in odangos with a braid coming out of the center of each one. At the end of each braid was a golden ball. She was wearing a red and pink outfit with a gold sash and red shoes.

"Kawaii!" Megyn squealed.

"This is a Nyan-Nyan," said Chichiri. He turned his attention to the Nyan-Nyan; "You, stand still, please."

Megyn walked over to the Nyan-Nyan and knelt beside her. The brunette laid her hand on the Nyan-Nyan's head. "Ready?" she asked.

"Yes, ma'am!" Nyan-Nyan replied happily.

Ma'am? "Um, good." She stepped back.

Megyn tried hard to concentrate. She looked up to see the Nyan-Nyan laughing and rolling on the ground clutching her stomach. Chichiri and Megyn laughed as they watched her. She looked at Chichiri and he smiled. I'm glad that he took the mask off.

It went like that for a few days. The only thing that was different was that Megyn constantly had a crowd of Nyan-Nyans around her. Apparently, the first Nyan-Nyan liked the concept of tickling so much that she told her sisters. The crowd got bigger every day.

Chichiri had taken a liking to Megyn.

While he was around her, he would take his mask off and blush a lot. He was falling in love with her.

Megyn liked him too, but not in the same way. To her, he was only a good friend, teacher, and mentor.

Tamahome didn't like that Chichiri was falling in love with Megyn. He was like Jamie and Megyn's big brother. He didn't want anyone to hurt them.

Taiitsu-kun called everyone into the main chamber. Tamahome and Chichiri sat on one side of her and Jamie and Megyn on the other.

Taiitsu-kun cleared her throat and began, "It is the end of your stay here. I will be transporting you back to where you were."

Megyn smiled. "Your belongings," said the old woman as their luggage appeared. "Now, it's time." She raised her hands above her head.

"Wait," Megyn called. She ran over and hugged Taiitsu-kun. "Thanks. I'll miss you."

Megyn ran back to her companions who stared at her with disbelief.

Taiitsu-kun's old hands rose once more. Just before they disappeared, Megyn could swear she saw the old woman smile.

Suddenly, they were, as Taiitsu-kun had said, back from where they had been taken. Their horses had also been sent back with them.

Chichiri insisted that they push forward to the capital. He hopped on Jamie's horse and helped her up in front of him.

"I don't want you to get hurt, Priestess, no da," he said. Jamie was slightly annoyed, but didn't argue.

Megyn looked up at Tamahome. "Aren't you going to help me up?" she asked him.

He laughed. "No way! I'm not letting you up here! Don't think I forgot about last time already."

"Fine," she scoffed. "They're leaving us behind. Look how far ahead they are. Let's hurry."

"Fine," he said and galloped ahead of her.

He's so dead!

"Hey! Expect a shoe in your face when I catch up!"