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Takieko turned with wide eyes and stared at Miaka in shock.
"How did you know?"
"I know alot of things," Miaka said," But mostly, I saw Hikitsu and Tomite. The last time I was here my warriors and I ran into them."
"I see. Tomite and Hikitsu spoke highly of you Priestess of Suzaku. They both seem to remember you. Somehow, I do not know quite why, but I have found myself once more in this accursed book. Perhaps all that occured before was merely a dream?"
"No. It was real...I'm not sure how to really explain it. There's so much to tell," Miaka said.
"Then perhaps it is best that you start from the beginning."
For several hours Miaka and Takieko stood on the top deck of the ship. Takieko listened intently as Miaka poured out her tale to the Priestess of Genbu, hoping that despite how crazy it may have sounded, that Takieko would believe her. She needed for Takieko to believe her. Not just because she was another priestess, but because Takieko too knew what it was like to travel the darker roads.
"I see. So this Nakago is the reason I have returned from my rest. So be it. I do not know what the future holds Priestess of Suzaku, but I will do what I can to aide you in your quest. It is the least I can do," Takieko said, sometime later.
"Just like that? You don't want time to think about it? You do realize that if you help me and we succeed that you'll die again don't you? There won't be another chance to come back. You'll just be dead."
"Miaka...I played my role as Priestess a long time ago before you were even born. There were many joys during that time, but there were also many hardships, many things that I often wished I could have changed. While I was able to summon the beast god I wasn't strong enough to save myself. I was slowly being devoured by the God Genbu. There was little I could do. But know this, I do not regret my choice to summon the god. If given the chance to do it again, I would, but perhaps...Knowing what I do now, I might have been stronger."
"But...summoning Genbu cost you your life. Aren't you angry?"
"Sometimes....but when I summoned the beast god I knew that it wasn't just about me. There were millions of people that were depending on me, depending on the powers of Genbu to save them. I couldn't let them down. I couldn't stand by and watch while millions suffered. Not when I knew there was something I could do to stop their pain. It's true I do wonder what might have occured if I had been strong enough to overcome Genbu, but as Priestesses we have a greater responsibility to those who depend on us and our ability to summon our own respective god. We are ever servants to a power we cannot control."
"I understand....I may not like it....But I understood."
Miaka understood perfectly what Takieko had meant. She too knew that she was serving a purpose far greater than herself. One that she could not always comprehend, but one that she knew she had to finish. As Takieko spoke of her time in the book Miaka felt a sharp pang of guilt. Takieko was everything Miaka had always imagined she would be, and after having met her, knowing that if they succeeded she would die again, left her feeling a deep sadness.
"Priestess what are you-uh, I mean, Captain, what are you doing just standing out here? You have other matters to attend to."
"It's alright Tomite. She knows who I am. You don't have to pretend in front of her."
"You told her?"
"She's a Priestess Tomite. Just as you have vague memories of having encountered her before, she too remembers you. She has been quite helpful in shedding some light on this matter. I now understand why I was brought back to this world, and what I must do."
"But now that we've found you, we don't really need to go to Hokkan. The place we really need to go is Sairo."
"I know. We were never really headed for Hokkan to begin with Priestess of Suzaku. I had decieved you on that part, you must forgive me. I knew who you were and had some vague idea of what you might be trying to do. I set the ship on a direct course for Sairo."
For many long hours Miaka and Takieko sat up talking of their own times as Priestess. It was almost calming for Miaka to finally have someone to talk to that understood the way she had been feeling. Someone who understood all the doubts that manifested themselves deep in her mind. The only difference between herself and Takieko, was that she had failed where Takieko had managed to succeed. That single failure was the one thing she had never forgiven herself for. It was the demon that haunted her every thought. Because of her failure, so many had suffered, but maybe she could find some sort of redemption in accomplishing the mission Tai Itsukun had set before her. That is, if she could succeed. Even now she still doubted herself, and her ability. She often wondered if perhaps Suzaku had chosen the wrong girl to be Priestess.
Little did Miaka and Takieko know, their trip to Sairo would not be as easy as planned. They still had a great distance they would need to travel by foot before they would be able to reach their destination. Even now they were being hunted. That night Miaka tossed and turned in her sleep. Her mind was filled with images of her own world in flames, and everyone she loved was dead. Hearing her rambling incoherently in her sleep, Tamahome rose from his sleep and looked toward the bed where Miaka was sleeping. He watched momentarily as she tossed and turned, listening to her ramlings.
"No....Yui please....No....Nakago!....Stop! Leave them alone!....Don't....no......"
Tamahome's eyes widened. He knew then of what she was dreaming and immediately rushed to her side to awaken her from the aweful demons that haunted her dreams. Carefully gripping her shoulders Tamahome shook Miaka, trying to wake her.
"Miaka. Miaka, wake up. You're having a nightmare. Wake up."
"No!"
Miaka's eyes flew open as she struggled against Tamahome's grip. Suddenly she realized where she was and what must have happened. She could feel the tears beginning to sting at her eyes, and her throat began to tighten.
"Tamahome..."
She flung her arms around Tamahome who held her tightly to his chest while she cried.
"Shhh. It's alright Miaka. You were having a nightmare. It's alright. You don't have anything to be afraid of. I'm here for you. It's alright. No one's going tohurt you as long as I'm here to protect you," Tamahome said, gently running his fingers through her hair.
"I was dreaming....about home....Oh God...Tamahome...they were dead....all them....he killed them all....and Yui...."
"Shh. Miaka it's alright. You just need to relaxe and try and get some sleep."
"I can't. I can't sleep. If I do I'll dream again, and I don't want to."
"You won't have any more nightmares Miaka. I'll be right here next to you to fight them off," Tamahome said curling up next to Miaka.
"Promise?"
"I promise. I won't leave you."
For the rest of the night Miaka's sleep was dreamless and peaceful for the first time in longer than she could recall. Unfortunately, the peacefulness that seemed to envelope the ship and its crew was not to last. It would soon be interrupted by the crashing thunder and a great bolt of lightning that would rock the ship to its very core. The entire crew awoke from their sleep. Shouts could be heard from the top deck. Everyone seemed to almost simultaneoulsy emerge from their cabins.
"What the hell was that?" Tasuki demanded as loud, almost crazed, cackling laughter pierced the air.
"It came from the top deck," Nuriko answered.
"I've got a baaaaaad feeling about this, Tamahome said.
"I know that laugh...but it couldn't be..."
Miaka ran for the top deck as fast as her legs and aching body would allow her to, but when she reached the top deck her eyes went wide with surprise. It was not only Tomo who stood on the top deck of the ship, but with him stood Soi. It suddenly made sense why the storm had ridden up on them out of nowhere. It was Soi major power,control over the elements.
"You must be the Priestess of Suzaku. Where is she. The other Priestess, we know she's aboard this ship. Ah! There you are Priestess of Genbu," Soi said.
"You never learn do you? You have both made yourselves such easy targets," Tomo cackled.
"They're not so easy to get to as you might think!"
"If you want to get to the Priestesses you'll have to go through us first!"
Miaka and Takieko suddenly found themselves surrounded by their warriors. Miaka and Takieko turned to look at eachother and shared one of those rare moments of perfect understanding. They couldn't just let their warriors do all their work. There had to be something more they could do to help. The moment their warriors launched themselves into a battle with Tomo and Soi it struck them. There was one thing they could do, but the chances of it were risky all on its own. It might not even work.
"Takieko, we have to concentrate and summon the Gods!"
"What?"
"Just trust me and concentrate! Think of Genbu and concentrate on protecting them!" Miaka ordered.
The two Priestesses joined hands and each in their hearts drew upon the power placed in them by their own respective gods. Miaka searched down in her heart until she found that spark of fire burning within her. The place where Suzaku resided inside her. She could feel that power beginning to grow as she said a silent prayer.
"Please Suzaku, please help them.PLEASE!"
The two powers grew and mingled as the two Priestesses did their best to keep from losing concentration, but suddenly a high pitched howl like that of a wolf pierced the air, breaking Miaka's concentration. She look up just in time to see Ashitare tear into Nuriko's chest with his claw like hands.
"NOOOOOOO!!" Miaka screamed in horror as she ran toward the battle, trying not to slip on the rain soaked deck of the ship.
"Miaka, no! You mustn't!" Takieko screamed, but Miaka wasn't listening.
She couldn't let this happen. Not again. Not when she knew that there was still a slim chance that she could change things.As she ran toward Nuriko and Ashitare, the very world around her began to slow to a crawl. It was as if she had all the time in thw world to watch her friend fighting with all his strength, as if there were unending minutes to watch as Ashitare sunk his hands deep into the center of Nuriko's body, causing Nuriko to cry out in agony as those razor sharp things Ashitare called hands tore through his flesh and raised him high over Ashitare's head. There was a loud, pain filled sound of someone screaming as fast they could draw breath, and suddenly it stopped, and when it did, there was a thickening silence. Nuriko lay on the deck of the ship, blood pooling around his body, and what looked to be his midsection dangling from Ashitare's hands. Miaka slid to Nuriko's side at angle to make any baseball player proud and held her friend closely in her arms.
"Nuriko....Nuriko please...please don't die....please, not again....please!"
"Mi...aka....don't... Don't cry for me....you have so many people here who love you....we'll always be here for you....so don't cry...no one's dying...no one's leaving you....we'll always be here....always...."
The next words died on Nuriko's lips, and then he died.
"No...no....NOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!!!" Miaka screamed in one long breath.
There was a great burning flash of red, and suddenly Suzaku's power arose from within her, brought on by her rage and grief.
"You bastards! I'll never forgive you! Never!"
Miaka turned toward the battle that seemed to have suddenly stopped when Nuriko had been killed. Her gaze turned directly to Ashitare and seemed to burn with a deep hatred.
"Never again. You took him away from me once, and I thought I couldn't stop crying. Now, now, you DARE to do it again! This time you won't be coming back!" Miaka screamed.
The red flames of Suzaku flared around Ashitare's body seeming to swallow him whole. The air was filled with the scent of burning flesh and fur. Everyone stood paralyzed with fear. Fear of Miaka. Of what she was becoming. Her rage was pouring out, feeding the flames.Ashitare's screams echoed deep into the night air as everyone stood motionless, mostly shocked at wha she had done. When the flames finally died, there was nothing left but ashes. Miaka turned toward Soi and Tomo.
"Tell Nakago this is what happens when he comes after the Priestess of Suzaku!"
Suddenly the great ship was rocked by a tremendous power that seemed to radiate from Miaka's body. The force of her rage was so great that it was tearing the ship apart by the seams.
"She's going to destroy the ship!" Chichiri screamed.
"We have to stop her!"
"An' how do you s'pose we do that?" Tasuki demanded.
"We must do something and quickly!"
But there wasn't time to do anything other than hope that the unfortunate crew of this ship knew how to swim, because it was too late to do anything else. There was no way to save the ship from the fury that was pouring forth out of Miaka.
"Miaka! You have to stop this! You're tearing the ship to pieces!" Chichiri screamed.
Miaka turned to the blind monk and even without his eyes, he knew that her eyes were now a blazing red as if every part of her body was made a great burning fire. Somewhere deep inside that mind, Miaka was fighting a battle of her own,one to calm the burning rage inside her. Chichiri moved closer, fighting against slippering deck to reach her side. He was the only one that could do something to save her now. When he was close enough, Chichiri wrapped his arms around her, and began an ancient prayer. One he hoped, would be able to save her. The flames around her burned his skin not from heat, but from cold. They were unbelieveably cold. Chichiri now understood. The flames were a physical manifestation of the cold rage Nakago had placed in her heart from her first time inside the book. It had only been growing since her arrival here the second time. Suddenly Miaka screamed in agony and went limp in Chichiri's arms, just as the ship gave way and the crew was washed into the tremulous waters. The last thing anyone heard, was Tomite yelling for everyone to swim for shore.
Miaka slowly opened her eyes, and found it hard to move. Her entire body was aching, and somewhere there was a growing feeling of cold that no amount of blankets in the world could fix. It wasn't that kind of cold. Why weren't they on the ship? What had happened? All she could remember was Nuriko. Something had happened...then it hit her. She remembered holding Nuriko in her arms as he died, but beyond that,it was all a blur. She struggled against the almost nauseating pain that stretched throughout her body, doing her best to sit up.
"You shouldn't strain yourself Miaka. You need to rest, no da."
Miaka looked up to find Chichiri standing over her.
"Where are we? Where is everyone?"
"Don't you remember?"
"I remember Nuriko dying but...after that it's just a gigantic blank, like someone wiped it all away."
Chichiri sighed deeply. He wasn't quite sure Miaka was ready to hear what had happened. Nuriko's death had been hard on her. He didn't want to further stress her already tired body. It was obvious that she was in pain from the strain in her voice, but she needed to know. He just hoped she could handle the truth. Chichiri took a seat beside her and told Miaka what had happened on the ship. When he had finished, her face was pale with shock. It was taking a moment for her mind to wrap itself around what she had done.
"What happened after the ship fell apart?" Miaka asked, giving the monk her full attention.
"I'm not quite sure, no da. Once Soi left the storm seemed to stop almost immediately. You were still unconscious when Tamahome and I got you to shore. We somehow managed to make it to the hills north of Sairo. The people of this village were kind enough to take us all in and give everyone dry clothes to wear."
"So, besides Nuriko, the others are all alive?"
"Yes. They're all a little worse for wear, but everyone will fully recover. But don't be surprised if they aren't as friendly as before. What you did on that ship scared alot of people. They may not be as willing to get close to you."
"I see."
It was at that moment that Miaka took the time to wonder just who had been terrified of what she had done. Surely they would forgive her. At least, she hoped they would. Her heart ached with the knowledge that she had done something truly monstrous and that there was a chance her warriors might not forgive her for it. Tears stung at her eyes, and her throat tightened as she held back the sobs that threatened to spill from her mouth at any second.
"I'll leave you to get some rest. I need to check on the others anyway."
The moment Miaka was sure that Chichiri was out of hearing range she began to cry silently. She couldn't stop the guilt and the pain from overcoming her. Guilt, because she had killed someone. Granted, Ashitare had been an enemy, but she had never killed anyone before. And the guilt of having failed Nuriko twice was almost too much for her heart to bare. She had promised herself she wouldn't let any of them die again. By the time she had gotten here it was too late for Mitsukake and Chiriko, but Nuriko...Miaka cursed herself silently. She should have seen it coming. She should have known that at some point Nuriko and Ashitare would fight. But she had foolishly hoped and believed that things would be different this time. That she would be able to succeed where she had previously failed. Hope was a lying bitch. All her futile hopes that this time would be different had made her careless and cost Nuriko his life. Suddenly there was a loud knock on the door behind her.
"Who is it?" Miaka asked, quickly wiping her tears away.
"It's Tamahome."
"Come in."
"How are you feeling?" Tamahome asked, pulling up a chair beside the bed.
"I've been better."
"Chichiri said he told you what happened...are you alright?"
"No...but I guess that's the price for what I did. I feel like I'm going crazy."
"You're not going crazy, you're just having a hard time dealing with what happened. You'll get over."
"Get over it? Tamahome, I killed a man! Doesn't that register with you? I killed someone and I have to live with that for the rest of my life! I can never forgive myself for it."
"Then why did you do it? Why did you kill him if it was only going to tear you up inside later?"
"I did it for Nuriko.....because I didn't know it was going to be like this....I didn't know it was going to hurt so much," Miaka said, breaking down in sobs.
Tamahome leaned forward and wrapped his arms tenatively around her shaking form, afraid that she might pull away.
"It wasn't your fault Miaka. You didn't have a choice."
"I never you please...leave me alone for awhile?"
"Sure. But I'll be right outside if you need me."
"And Tamahome?"
"Yeah?"
"Thanks."
"You're welcome."
At least that was one person she knew wasn't afraid of her, and Chichiri hadn't seemed too freaked out earlier. That only left Tasuki and Hotohori. Were they upset with her for what she had done? Her question was answered later on that night when she had finally managed to drag herself out of bed and make her way to the bedroom door. She cracked the door open and listened to the angry voices outside the room. She wasn't quite sure what had started the conversation but it was obviously about her.
"I think we should jus' tie 'er up til we reach where ever the hell we're goin'." Tasuki said.
"We can't tie her up. She's the Priestess of Suzaku." Takieko said.
"Well we can't just let her roam around free after what she did on the ship. It's too dangerous," Tamahome said.
"He's right. We can't run the risk of her doing something like that again."
Miaka could feel her heart being crushed to tiny pieces in her chest. They all hated her...feared her. Something she had never wanted any of her friends to do. But how was she supposed to make this right? To explain any of this when she didn't even know what she had done or how it had even been possible? A million fears and dounbts began to race through her mind. What if they never forgave her? What if they really did decided she was too dangerous? Then what? It seemed that she was quickly running out of options. The only real option she had was to head south to Sairo on her own. She had managed to survive on her own before. It wouldn't be a problem now. She wouldn't risk the chance of the others getting hurt on her account. Not again. She wouldn't watch another one of her warriors die. Silently Miaka back away from the door. Her small bag of supplies was still intact and fully packed. Slipping the pack over her shoulder, Miaka slowly and carefully made her way out the window.
"Sorry guys, but this is something I have to do on my own."
And with that, she was gone from the inn. It wasn't until hours later that shouts began to erupt from withing the building.
"The Priestess of Suzaku is missing!!!"
To be continued....so what'd ya think? Good? Bad? Needs work? Please REVIEW!!!!!