"Who are you?" Chiriko asked the
tall man before him. Knew him in a past life...bah. Chiriko had never
believed in that reincarnation mumbo- jumbo. The man just smiled softly
to him.
"I am called Chichiri, no da. A constellation, like yourself. I am one of the celestial warriors of Suzaku," The man said softly, motioning a hand toward Chiriko, "As are you."
Chiriko just shook his head, sighing. This had to be some kind of bizarre prank. In fact, there was probably a hidden camera there to catch his reaction to all of this. This man couldn't honestly expect him to believe any of this.
"Look, I don't know what you're trying to pull, but trespassing is still a crime last time I checked. Now, if you'll excuse me," Chiriko said, walking past the man and through the open doorway into the apartment, "I have a lot of things to do."
"You feel him calling you, Chiriko." The man said after the boy had passed. Chiriko stopped in mid stride, though he did not yet turn back toward the man. "I know you do. You see him in your dreams."
"How do you know about the dreams?" Chiriko said, after a moment's hesitation. This had just gone from annoying to significantly creepy.
"I had them too. All of the warriors are having them now. Suzaku wants to be summoned to this world."
"So, what do you want me to do about it?"
Chiriko could hardly believe he was actually even considering doing this...following the directions of a random person who showed up outside his apartment. Chichiri smiled and took the hat from his back, reaching out a hand.
"There's someone I want to take you to see." Chichiri said as Chiriko took his hand after a moment's hesitation. Chichiri lowered the hat swiftly, and the two were taken into darkness.
"My warriors?" Miaka repeated in surprise. "But I don't even know where the book is any more."
"No, Lady Miaka." The woman said, shaking her head. "The warriors are here. We have been reincarnated into your world."
"We?" Miaka looked the woman over with a ponderous look. "You couldn't be...Nuriko?"
"No." The woman said with a sigh and a shake of her head. "I am--"
"Taiitsukun-sama!" A voice came from behind Taka and Miaka, causing both to turn around, their gazes falling upon a tall, blue-haired man in conspicuously familiar clothing, and a young maroon-haired boy. "I've found Chiriko!"
"Ch-Chichiri?" Miaka asked, then turned to the woman. "And you're Taiitsukun?! You're so...."
"Young?" Taiitsukun filled in the blank with a smile. "Yes, well, reincarnation can do that to a person."
"Oh, you must be Lady Miaka, no da." Chichiri said with a bow, "And Tamahome. I've heard so much about you, no da."
"You look...different. All of you." Taka observed. Chiriko looked on, silently, seeming more than a little skeptical.
"I don't mean to interrupt," He said, taking a step forward, "But what exactly is going on here?"
"Well Lady Miaka here," Taiitsukun said, waving a hand to indicate Miaka, "Is the priestess of Suzaku. And you are one of Suzaku's celestial warriors. All of the celestial warriors have been reincarnated into this world to summon the gods before it is too late."
"Before it's too late?" Miaka asked with a concerned tone, "What do you mean before it's too late?"
"There is a darkness coming to this world, Lady Miaka." Taiitsukun spoke, her voice taking on a peculiar and almost unnatural grave quality, "One which only the presence of the gods can defeat. Without them, disaster will surely befall humanity."
As Taiitsukun spoke, she gazed into the glass ball on her palm, as though she could see glimpses of the dark possibilities of the future in the dancing reflections of the sunlight. Miaka stared into the glass as well, her expression a mix of fear, surprise, and determination.
"Where are the others?" Miaka finally asked after several moments of silence.
"We don't know, no da." Chichiri chimed in with a faint sigh, "I was lucky to spot Chiriko at his chess match."
"Take this." Taiitsukun said, holding out the glass orb to Miaka. "It will show you the way as it did within the book. Chichiri will go with you. Chiriko, you may go about your life for now. Chichiri will return for you when you are needed."
"Uhm...sure, okay." Chiriko said, with a half shrug. Good enough for him, really, since he had a tournament to get to that afternoon anyway.
"What will you be doing?" Taka asked, the question directed to Taiitsukun. The woman smiled a bit.
"Trying to hold back the darkness until you find the others." She said simply, then turn and walked quietly away from the four,
Miaka looked up at Taka with a sigh, wrapping her arms around him as though begging to be held close. Taka returned the embrace, gently.
"Why does this have to happen again?" Miaka asked, barely more than a whisper, "I thought we were finally done with the book..."
"It looks like the book has come to us again." He replied . Chiriko simply turned away.
"Well...see you guys later, I guess." He called to them as he walked off, leaving three remaining. After a few moments, Miaka and Taka untangled themselves.
"Let's go, no da." Chichiri encouraged. Miaka lifted the glass ball, gazing into it for a moment. Slowly, a character appeared. Taka looked over her shoulder with a tilt of his head, then spoke the meaning of the depicted symbol aloud:
"Prince."
The girl sat in the corner of a dark room. It was almost a closet really, normally used to store various supplies, but many of the boxes of supplies had not arrived yet. It did not matter, though. Nothing mattered any more.
Tears dripped down her cheeks as she clutched a scrapbook full of notes and photos and odds and ends from her old home...no, her only home. Far better than this place, without any friends, without even speaking the language very well. She cursed her mother under her breath, for dragging her to this country, for ruining her life, for pretending nothing had changed since her father had died. She sat there and cried, unaware that she was not alone, her human eyes unable to see the disembodied entity that occupied the space beside her, watching her and smiling to itself.
"What could prince mean?" Miaka asked musingly.
"Almost anything." Taka said with a somewhat frustrated sigh, as he paced the length of their living room slowly back and forth. "
"Maybe it means some kind of political figure, no da?"
"But who would it be?" Miaka replied.
"Or maybe some sort of pop idol?" Taka suggested, but was unable to come to a conclusion. A moment or two later, Miaka glanced down at the glass orb, which she held in her lap.
"Oh! It has a new word now!" She said, immediately getting the attention of the other two. They gathered around quickly, looking at the character. Miaka spoke once more, quietly: "Phoenix."
The man stared down from his thirteenth-floor office's window, watching cars go by, wondering what the people within them might be doing and thinking. It was a simple but effective diversion from his normal work day, which essentially consisted of sitting around and staring at the grain in the wood of his desk. Despite beign the son of the C.E.O. of Phoenix Technologies, heir to the technology giant, and an executive in the company, his father rarely allowed him any significant duties. And so the days dragged on in monotony.
The man looked up as he heard the sound of his secretary's voice over the intercom.
"There are three people here to see you, sir. They say it's important, but they don't have an appointment."
He thought for a moment before giving himself a decisive nod and crossing the short distance to his desk in a few broad strides. He pressed the button on the intercom and spoke:
"Send them in."
After perhaps a half-second pause, which he mentally attributed to shock on the secretary's part, her voice was heard once more:
"Yes, Hotohori-sama."
"I am called Chichiri, no da. A constellation, like yourself. I am one of the celestial warriors of Suzaku," The man said softly, motioning a hand toward Chiriko, "As are you."
Chiriko just shook his head, sighing. This had to be some kind of bizarre prank. In fact, there was probably a hidden camera there to catch his reaction to all of this. This man couldn't honestly expect him to believe any of this.
"Look, I don't know what you're trying to pull, but trespassing is still a crime last time I checked. Now, if you'll excuse me," Chiriko said, walking past the man and through the open doorway into the apartment, "I have a lot of things to do."
"You feel him calling you, Chiriko." The man said after the boy had passed. Chiriko stopped in mid stride, though he did not yet turn back toward the man. "I know you do. You see him in your dreams."
"How do you know about the dreams?" Chiriko said, after a moment's hesitation. This had just gone from annoying to significantly creepy.
"I had them too. All of the warriors are having them now. Suzaku wants to be summoned to this world."
"So, what do you want me to do about it?"
Chiriko could hardly believe he was actually even considering doing this...following the directions of a random person who showed up outside his apartment. Chichiri smiled and took the hat from his back, reaching out a hand.
"There's someone I want to take you to see." Chichiri said as Chiriko took his hand after a moment's hesitation. Chichiri lowered the hat swiftly, and the two were taken into darkness.
"My warriors?" Miaka repeated in surprise. "But I don't even know where the book is any more."
"No, Lady Miaka." The woman said, shaking her head. "The warriors are here. We have been reincarnated into your world."
"We?" Miaka looked the woman over with a ponderous look. "You couldn't be...Nuriko?"
"No." The woman said with a sigh and a shake of her head. "I am--"
"Taiitsukun-sama!" A voice came from behind Taka and Miaka, causing both to turn around, their gazes falling upon a tall, blue-haired man in conspicuously familiar clothing, and a young maroon-haired boy. "I've found Chiriko!"
"Ch-Chichiri?" Miaka asked, then turned to the woman. "And you're Taiitsukun?! You're so...."
"Young?" Taiitsukun filled in the blank with a smile. "Yes, well, reincarnation can do that to a person."
"Oh, you must be Lady Miaka, no da." Chichiri said with a bow, "And Tamahome. I've heard so much about you, no da."
"You look...different. All of you." Taka observed. Chiriko looked on, silently, seeming more than a little skeptical.
"I don't mean to interrupt," He said, taking a step forward, "But what exactly is going on here?"
"Well Lady Miaka here," Taiitsukun said, waving a hand to indicate Miaka, "Is the priestess of Suzaku. And you are one of Suzaku's celestial warriors. All of the celestial warriors have been reincarnated into this world to summon the gods before it is too late."
"Before it's too late?" Miaka asked with a concerned tone, "What do you mean before it's too late?"
"There is a darkness coming to this world, Lady Miaka." Taiitsukun spoke, her voice taking on a peculiar and almost unnatural grave quality, "One which only the presence of the gods can defeat. Without them, disaster will surely befall humanity."
As Taiitsukun spoke, she gazed into the glass ball on her palm, as though she could see glimpses of the dark possibilities of the future in the dancing reflections of the sunlight. Miaka stared into the glass as well, her expression a mix of fear, surprise, and determination.
"Where are the others?" Miaka finally asked after several moments of silence.
"We don't know, no da." Chichiri chimed in with a faint sigh, "I was lucky to spot Chiriko at his chess match."
"Take this." Taiitsukun said, holding out the glass orb to Miaka. "It will show you the way as it did within the book. Chichiri will go with you. Chiriko, you may go about your life for now. Chichiri will return for you when you are needed."
"Uhm...sure, okay." Chiriko said, with a half shrug. Good enough for him, really, since he had a tournament to get to that afternoon anyway.
"What will you be doing?" Taka asked, the question directed to Taiitsukun. The woman smiled a bit.
"Trying to hold back the darkness until you find the others." She said simply, then turn and walked quietly away from the four,
Miaka looked up at Taka with a sigh, wrapping her arms around him as though begging to be held close. Taka returned the embrace, gently.
"Why does this have to happen again?" Miaka asked, barely more than a whisper, "I thought we were finally done with the book..."
"It looks like the book has come to us again." He replied . Chiriko simply turned away.
"Well...see you guys later, I guess." He called to them as he walked off, leaving three remaining. After a few moments, Miaka and Taka untangled themselves.
"Let's go, no da." Chichiri encouraged. Miaka lifted the glass ball, gazing into it for a moment. Slowly, a character appeared. Taka looked over her shoulder with a tilt of his head, then spoke the meaning of the depicted symbol aloud:
"Prince."
The girl sat in the corner of a dark room. It was almost a closet really, normally used to store various supplies, but many of the boxes of supplies had not arrived yet. It did not matter, though. Nothing mattered any more.
Tears dripped down her cheeks as she clutched a scrapbook full of notes and photos and odds and ends from her old home...no, her only home. Far better than this place, without any friends, without even speaking the language very well. She cursed her mother under her breath, for dragging her to this country, for ruining her life, for pretending nothing had changed since her father had died. She sat there and cried, unaware that she was not alone, her human eyes unable to see the disembodied entity that occupied the space beside her, watching her and smiling to itself.
"What could prince mean?" Miaka asked musingly.
"Almost anything." Taka said with a somewhat frustrated sigh, as he paced the length of their living room slowly back and forth. "
"Maybe it means some kind of political figure, no da?"
"But who would it be?" Miaka replied.
"Or maybe some sort of pop idol?" Taka suggested, but was unable to come to a conclusion. A moment or two later, Miaka glanced down at the glass orb, which she held in her lap.
"Oh! It has a new word now!" She said, immediately getting the attention of the other two. They gathered around quickly, looking at the character. Miaka spoke once more, quietly: "Phoenix."
The man stared down from his thirteenth-floor office's window, watching cars go by, wondering what the people within them might be doing and thinking. It was a simple but effective diversion from his normal work day, which essentially consisted of sitting around and staring at the grain in the wood of his desk. Despite beign the son of the C.E.O. of Phoenix Technologies, heir to the technology giant, and an executive in the company, his father rarely allowed him any significant duties. And so the days dragged on in monotony.
The man looked up as he heard the sound of his secretary's voice over the intercom.
"There are three people here to see you, sir. They say it's important, but they don't have an appointment."
He thought for a moment before giving himself a decisive nod and crossing the short distance to his desk in a few broad strides. He pressed the button on the intercom and spoke:
"Send them in."
After perhaps a half-second pause, which he mentally attributed to shock on the secretary's part, her voice was heard once more:
"Yes, Hotohori-sama."