( Author's Note: Congratulations to the lucky reviewer, DaBoring1 !!! You're the lucky reviewer who gets this chapter dedicated to you!!! For the others, do not despair!!! Your turn is soon!!! Note: Everything was picked randomly.)

Chapter 13: Goodbyes and Hellos

Narrator:

While the two Suzaku seishis and the Suzaku oracle struggled to find a way out, their priestess and the Seiryuu oracle were in danger. Meanwhile, back at the Kutou palace, Motoki, the Seiryuu no miko and her seishis were observing everything through a large crystal ball.

Yui:

I stared at the large crystal ball on the wooden table. 'How on earth did Motoki keep this large ball underneath that cloak?' I wondered as several blur images began to form in the crystal ball. I stared harder as the images slowly got clearer. Aren't they... They...

"What are the Suzaku seishis doing in your crystal ball?" I asked as I frowned at the images shown. Why was the Emperor of Konan slashing the wall of his palace?

Motoki simply smirked.

"Observe, Lady Yui," Nakago said coldly.

I watched in amusement as the Konan emperor made a fool of himself by slashing the wall. It was crumbling and cracks were beginning to show on the wooden staircases.

"Persistent fool," I heard Tomo muttered.

"Nakago, what is the meaning of this?" Soi asked as she glanced at Motoki.

Motoki placed her hand on Nakago's shoulder as she replied, "My dear, can't you see? The seishis are being put to a test. I want to see how fast they are at thinking and what are their method of attacking and solving problems. This way, we can easily predict their movements for any future battles." Using her another free hand, she snapped her fingers and the images immediately changed.

My eyes got bigger and rounder as Miaka appeared in the crystal. She was trying to fend off a horrible looking demon. There was a muffled scream behind her and a lot of snorting and hissing. The two monsters closely resembled a cross-over of a pig and a large lizard. And... I stared even harder than before that I thought my eyes were going to pop out.

"Tamahome?" I asked confused. "Nani... What the hell did you do to him?!" I asked angrily as I stood up, pushing the chair violently backwards. I looked at Motoki accusingly.

"What did you do to Tamahome?!" I demanded again, this time my voice louder.

Suboshi's hand shot out and grabbed my wrist. "Lady Yui... Don't do anything rash... Onegai..." Suboshi pleaded. I snatched back my hand while giving him a disgusted look.

"Lady Yui, look closely. That isn't Tamahome. That's a monster that slightly resemble him, that's all," Miboshi said in a low and mysterious tone.

I refused to look at the crystal ball. "Whatever," I replied rudely as I folded my arms. "Nakago, if all you wanted to do was to make me watch at Miaka's stupidity, then forget it. I'm going back to sleep!" I stormed out of the room slamming the doors behind me.

I jogged back to my room, my mind filled with thoughts of Miaka.

Doushite?

Why was it that every time I'm around Nakago I felt so much anger? And why was it that when I'm alone, I felt so guilty? Why? Was he controlling me? No, he can't do that. He wouldn't! He promised to take care of me. Why would he control me? He had no reason to!

The moment I got into my room, I jumped onto my big soft bed. A faint breeze blew through an open window. I got up with the intention of closing the window. But instead, I ended up staring at the nearly full moon. It would be sunrise in a few hours. I sighed. Everything was just so...

Confusing.

And I was getting tired.

Tired of being so cold and distant.

Tired of trying to outdo Miaka in everything.

Just so tired.

I closed my eyes.

And now we have Motoki.

What was Nakago planning to do?

My mind was in a swirl. I opened my eyes that were getting moist from the tears that forming.

"Miaka..."

Chichiri:

I watched pathetically as Hotohori tried smashing the wall in vain. Just then, I could feel an evil presence surrounding us.

"Chichiri!" Hikari said urgently behind me. "Do you..."

The presence was so powerful that even Hotohori could feel it.

"Something... Is watching us..." Hotohori murmured.

Nuriko:

I slowly walked towards Hikari's bedroom. What if what Tamahome said was true? Would that mean she would get punished by Hotohori? What about Amiboshi? Will he get an even heavier sentence than before?

Taking a deep breath, I knocked on the door.

Silence.

I knocked on her door again, this time louder and harder. "Hikari?"

Silence.

Where could that girl had gone to? Sunrise was in a couple of hours. Could she had gone for a walk? Or out with Amiboshi again? Worried, I went to Amiboshi's room. The door was opened slightly. I peeked inside. Underneath the bright moonlight, I could see him curled up in a ball, fast asleep. He was clutching a small crystal ball of some sort. Well, at least he's inside his room. But Hikari...

If Hikari wasn't in her room, where could she be? The kitchen? The bathroom? The garden? I tried searching for her in vain but she was no where to be found. I tried Mitsukake's room. Who knows, she could be there to help him or something...

"HIKARI?!" I burst opened the door.

Mitsukake who was dozing off in a chair woke up suddenly. "What is it Nuriko? You'll wake up the kids," Mitsukake rubbed his eyes. I looked at the three little kids asleep on his bed.

"Have you seen Hikari? It's urgent!" I panted.

It took Mitsukake a couple of seconds to digest everything. "Hikari? Anou... No, I haven't seen her since she left the room last night. Come to think of it, Chichiri has been away for quite some time now..."

"Chichiri? What did Chichiri say before he left?"

"Something about an evil presence..."

I immediately rushed out of the room. What evil presence?! I couldn't feel anything!!! Why didn't Chichiri called for help? Was Hikari with him? Come to think of it, I haven't seen the Emperor either. Where were they and what was going on?!

If Chichiri sensed something... I'm guessing that it's near Miaka's bedroom. Because I was in a hurry, I decided to use a staircase to the far left of the corridor. The staircase was hardly used because that area was extremely quiet and isolated. Everyone rather use the common staircase on the right. Wanting to save time, I pushed away all the ridiculous and wild thoughts of rumours of a ghost haunting the staircase and used it.

Half-way down the staircase, the world went black.

Yukiko:

I struggled to get the hideous monster off me. Its disgusting tongue darted in and out, sometimes licking my neck and covering it with yucky sticky saliva.

Why wasn't anyone helping?

I could hear Miaka screaming her head off. The monster now had pinned Miaka against the wall. How could Miboshi be doing this?! Wait, no... It can't be Miboshi! Miboshi wouldn't attack me. Then, who... Or what, sent them?!

Just when I was about to lose hope, I heard a tune. A soft and sweet tune. The monsters stopped what they were doing. I looked around trying to find the source of the music. It seems to be coming from the direction of the palace gates. Who was that saviour?

Amiboshi?

I tried listening harder this time.

Iie, it wasn't, couldn't be Amiboshi. Amiboshi's music wasn't as high pitched as this.

I looked at the monsters. It was as if they were in a trance. All of a sudden, they burst out screeching. I covered my ears. I tried to crawl towards Miaka hoping that the monsters, while in distress, wouldn't notice me.

Miaka sat slumped against the wall, covering her ears. She looked like a child who was having nightmares. I suppose, in a way, this was a nightmare too. Miaka let a small whimper escape from her lips.

The monster that resembled Tamahome stopped screeching and fell down with a loud thud. 'Hotohori' however was determined to get either one of us. He was much more stronger than Tamahome since he seemed to be able to withstand the music and stop screeching. With a snarl, it lunged forward, it's limbs outstretched to grab anything that came within its grasp. Miaka, managed to dodge him. I was the unlucky one. Grabbing my wrist tightly, it began chanting in a weird language that I couldn't understand.

I watched in horror as black mist started to cover the both of us.

'This is the end of me...' I thought as the mist cut off my air supply thus bringing my world into darkness.

Chiriko:

I panted. I was totally breathless. I had been blowing onto a leaf which I plucked from a young plant for the past two minutes. I prayed again to the great Suzaku, hoping that the music which I had poured most of my ki into had helped the miko and the seishis.

I had tried getting entering the palace but was stopped by the guards. I pleaded and begged for them to let me pass to no avail. Out of frustration at the guards stupidity, I had plucked the leaf and began playing. I could feel my character glowing brightly on my right foot. The fools, don't they know every second counted and meant a matter between life and death?! Now, I could only hope that I wasn't too late and my music had helped the miko somehow.

Motoki:

I watched in amusement at the fools of Konan. Some saviour they were. More like a bunch of morons who didn't know any better. The wicked smile on my lips got bigger as my two lizard like minions, no, slaves, pounced on the miko and the blue haired Seiryuu Oracle. I found it amusing that the Seiryuu Oracle did not know how to defend herself or to attack the monsters. It wasn't surprising to me that her ki level was extremely low.

Pathetic.

Weak.

My smile was turned into a frown as my slaves screeched in horror at the music being played.

"Nani?!"

Someone...

An outsider, perhaps, whom Nakago hasn't yet informed me of. The amount of ki being placed into the music was pathetically low but it was more than enough to do a lot of damage to my weak slaves. I watched in horror as my first slave dropped down to the ground dead. The second however, chose to remain standing and to actually grab one of the girls. Succeeding in getting hold of the Seiryuu Oracle, he teleported himself out of the place.

'Damn! I've been made a fool! How could I underestimate them?!' I thought as hatred and plots of revenge started forming in her head.

"Beware, Suzaku seishis......"

"I will get Hikari......." Motoki swore as she gritted her teeth.

Author's notes:

Gomen, gomen, gomen, gomen!!!!!!!!!!!! I know I didn't update in like the longest time ever was because I was so busy!!!! Gomen!!!! I'll try to have my updates quicker next time!!! Oh yeah, I don't owe FY no matter how many times I wish upon a shooting star.