Hey all! Aren't you proud of me for getting out another chapter so
quickly? I am! Sry, I'm in a really good mood because...well...because.
I'll only tell a select few who know who they are. Hopefully you ALL
will review. Enjoy!
Solei continued towards the mountain, her footsteps growing heavy with each passing moment. 'I have traversed this path before.' She told herself fiercely. 'Why is it so difficult now?'
Her mental voice gave the unwanted response. 'Because this time you actually care for someone you left behind.'
'No I don't' she retorted. 'That was just to achieve what needed to be done. That and it revealed that Seiryu is helping my father.'
'Yeah right. Am I supposed to believe that?'
Solei nodded. 'Yes, actually you are. Because it's true.'
The reason in the corner of her mind made its powers known. 'Um...actually, I don't. And I don't think I ever will.'
'Why not?'
'Because I am privy to your innermost thoughts.' Came the simple reply. 'All of your hopes, dreams, prayers...' the voice trialed off, but then reasserted itself with a tone smug omnipotence. 'Your wild, provocative fantasies...'
Solei flushed and started to run, trying to get past the invisible wall that hindered her advance. 'Okay, so maybe I do, but it's just a girlish crush. Nothing more.'
'You just keep telling yourself that, Protector. Just keep telling yourself that.' Solei tried to clear her head, but knew even as she tried that no matter what she told herself, it was more than just a crush.
Caelestis watched the slow progress of his elder daughter with amusement. "Still trying?" he asked her image, carefully tracking her ascension in his Mirror of Ray. "I would have thought that you would have given up AGES ago." She reddened at something, and increased her efforts. "I should have named you Stubborn and Slow instead of Solei and Selene." He ran his thumb over the small, polished surface and called up the image of his younger daughter, the Guide.
"Zephyr is making his visit." Caelestis acknowledged the presence of the Demon God with a formal nod. "It won't be long before the rest of the plan falls into place and victory is yours."
Caelestis was surprised at his partner's choice of words. "Victory will not be just mine, Keirimijag. It will be ours."
The Demon God's gaze grew cold. "It would never have been our victory." He spat out the words. Caelestis waited. "You were just going to kill me once it was over, once I had guaranteed you your throne above all the others." The darkness god made no attempt to deny the accusations, simply leaning back in his throne. "You have made a fool of me thus far, Caelestis, it will go no further." The temperature began to rise steadily, and Caelestis glanced around, concerned. "No one will help you now, God of Darkness."
"I would not have gone back on my word, Keirimijag, never." Caelestis was sweating, but not just from the heat.
"You see, that's just the problem." The accusing tone was gone, replaced by an almost amused laugh. "You never gave me your word." Keirimijag's voice turned cold, and he started to fade. Demons started to pour from all corners of the vaulted room, and their minds were bent on Caelestis's destruction as they unsheathed deadly claws.
"Wait," Caelestis was desperate; he knew that against the Demon God he had no chance. "My daughter will stop you as surely as she would stop me. Let me deal with her, then do with me what you would."
Keirimijag contemplated the offer, holding back the snarling hoards. With a casual flick of his hand he released the mass. "No." The demons pounced in a gigantic wave, and pieces of flesh began to fly as the screams began.
Zephyr seemed amused by his sister's words. "Castration?"
"Or death."
"Why so violent, sister?"
Amber twitched at the word, but hid it under a smile. "I guess because I was brought up that way." She hefted the weight of the mallet in her hand, judging the distance between her and the demon. Time seemed frozen, not a soul moved.
"Father requires your presence."
"No he doesn't." Amber retorted forcefully. 'There is NO way I am going to that bastard. No way in hell.'
As if reading her thoughts, Zephyr spoke. "But hell is such a lovely spot, Chi. You'll love it."
Her golden eyes flared red. "What did you call me?" her normally happy tone had taken on frigid qualities, and even Liz and Des backed away.
"It is your name, sister." He was patronizing. "Shunhi'a Chi." Her body started to emanate red flames, and Selene knew what was coming. She hustled everyone out of the room, but one look at Tasuki's face told her to leave him behind. She did without a qualm, and shut the door behind her. Amber growled low, her ears, tail and fangs popping out as her knuckles turned white from her grip on the handle of her mallet.
"Don't call me that." She raced forward, bringing her mallet above her head, ready to smash her 'brother' into a pulp. He casually reached out and put the palm of his hand against the butt of the mallet handle, creating a battle of will and strength between him and his sister. Her fury against his reason. The muscles in his arm flexed and tensed irritably as she applied more pressure, her demonic strength aiding her. The wisps of red surrounding her intensified as her anger grew, and they spread to encompass her mallet, making it flame.
"You can't win, sister." Zephyr's voice was perfectly controlled, and it was the final straw for Amber.
"EAT MY DUST!" she released her weight on the mallet, allowing it to fly up, and in one fluid motion the mallet shrank and the chi gathered in her palms. She fired the balls of chi with strength, each one impacting on her elder brother with an explosion that rocked the palace foundations. She paused, her breath coming in ragged gasps. Zephyr stepped calmly out of the falling dust and debris.
"Is that everything you can throw at me, sister?" He had an amused smile on his face. She started to charge, but another yell of fury cut her off.
"REKKA SHINNEN!" Amber dove out of the way of the fireball, her hair standing on end at the sudden appearance of Tasuki. Zephyr took the impact with a shock, falling back several steps and wincing at the fiery burn that was turning black on his skin.
"And who are you?" he asked, his infuriating calm still in place.
Amber glowered, standing tall. "He is Tasuki, celestial warrior of Suzaku." Lightning played at the tips of her fingers, the only sign of her anger.
Zephyr looked pleasantly surprised. "Oh good. Then if I kill him it will be all the better for me." Zephyr unsheathed 6" claws, a deadly grin spreading slowly across his morphing features. Amber did not wait for him to finish his gruesome transformation from man to demon; she attacked, lightning striking within the room. She examined the sparks on the pads of her fingers, and a similar smirk rapidly covered her face as she began to concentrate on the lightning that was coming from the ceiling. Fragments of expensive wood paneling flew everywhere in the raging winds that picked up, and the flashes of energy became stronger and more frequent.
"You will never kill him." Amber growled. At her summons, a sonic boom and an equally large tongue of lightning struck in the room. As the rubble fell and the air cleared, a charred body was seen in Zephyr's place; the face frozen between demon and human, between anger and pain. Amber took a good look at the destruction she had wrought, and her face turned a ghoulish green-grey. She raced over near the corner where Tasuki had taken refuge from the blasts.
"Are ya-" Tasuki didn't get to finish his question as Amber began to empty her stomach.
Nakago grabbed a kon from the rack within the armory and walked out to the training grounds, intent upon clearing his mind of all thoughts as he trained. He bowed to an invisible opponent and whirled his kon around so it was ready to fight. Beginning a sequence of strikes and blocks that forced him to think about his hand position and footwork, Nakago toiled to eliminate Solei from his mind. It failed as his regimented pattern of attacks unwound into a replay of the actions during his fight with Solei. Every step he took was a mirror to hers, and his kon followed a path, ending with his invisible opponent on the ground and his kon ready to kill. He flipped his kon behind his arm and stalked back to the armory to replace it. Every action reminded him of her. He walked through the temple gardens slowly, deciding to think everything through in a coherent fashion. Striding into a little known part of the gardens, he relaxed against an ancient oak tree, his eyes closed as he began a reflection of his actions.
It had begun with Seiryu's summons. He had fallen into a forested garden not too different from the one his stood in now, and he and Amiboshi had been found by Solei. She had not requested that they come out of the trees, she had commanded. Her hair was falling out of its restraints, and her sweaty training clothes had clung to her every curve. She had met his eyes unafraid, lavender turning silver for an instant. The silver was her dark side.
'Why,' he asked himself. 'Did her dark half react to me?' He brain pondered over the question, but skipped along. She had been so vulnerable after encountering that boy. Nakago's hand clenched into a fist, but he willed it open. Her pride had crumbled twice that he knew of. Once on the bench after that meeting, and once later, after their swordfight, when she had returned from speaking with her father. She had been and Angel then, but her eyes had not changed.
'She kissed me then.' his mind remembered. 'Why?' She had meant it, that he knew. What had prompted her to do such a thing? He had given her no reasons, unless she was naïve enough to believe that the two kisses he had given her were real...
'Maybe they were real.'' his inner voice supplied. 'Maybe she was just emphasizing that she felt the same way.' Nakago shook his head; he did not want to listen to his conscience.
'Why are you back?' he asked silently.
'I'm right.'
'No, you're not.' Even Nakago's thoughts were calm.
'Why are you even bothering to reflect if I'm not right?' Nakago moved away from the tree and moved deeper into the gardens, his footsteps crunching autumn leaves.
'She's nothing to me.' He got no response and repeated it out loud as if trying to convince himself. "She's nothing to me."
The wind rippled through Solei's loose hair, and she paused her stride. Lifting the bottom of her shirt out of her pants, she used one of her knives to slice off an inch thick band from the hem. Turning into the wind, she pulled her hair back using the improvised ribbon, tying the knot tightly. She re-tucked her shirt in and gathered her glaive, pressing further up the mountain.
"Stupid wind." she muttered. Instantly the wind died down, and it took Solei a moment to remember that she could control the wind with her chi. She shook her head at her own stupidity, and nearly ran into a tree. "Why am I so distracted right now?" she asked the winds. "Why am I not raging away in anger, charging off to kill my father?" The wind whistled faintly through the forest.
'It's because you miss Nakago.' Solei glared at the tree and continued up the mountain.
'No I don't.'
'Why don't you?' Her inner voice wanted to hear the reasons for Solei's denial.
'He was playing me. The entire time.' Solei strapped her glaive to her back and began to climb up a sheer rock face almost mechanically. 'He let me make a fool of myself more than once, and he deliberately manipulated my feelings and used them against me so that he could complete his duty.'
The voice was amused. 'Essentially everything you would have done in his shoes.'
'Yes.' Solei realized her mistake. 'NO! I meant NO!'
'Uh huh. Right...' She growled and reached for the next hand-hold. It wasn't there. Tilting her head back, she tried to find it, and then realized that she was already standing on the ledge that would take her around to the cave. Her feet followed it mindlessly.
'Fine. You win.' she said silently. 'It's more than a crush, and I DO miss him.'
'So what the hell are you doing still on this mountain?'
'I still need to kill my father.'
'I knew that...' Solei chuckled slightly, but it trailed off as she stared into the black maw that was the cave's opening. With a final glance behind her towards Kutou, she slid inside the cavern.
"There's no going back now."
Keirimijag glanced over the work his minions had done. "Not bad." he complimented. "Now clean up the throne room and prepare it for visitors." The demons scurried to complete the tasks they had been given. He picked up the fallen Mirror of Ray and called up Solei. The mirror turned dark, and he knew she was in the Caves of Mirage. He would be unable to see anything of her until she emerged from the Caves.
'If she gets out...' he thought wickedly. 'If...'
Yeah, I know I'm having too much fun with the sarcastic mental conscience thing, but it keeps me from getting the other characters TOO out of whack. review I know that Tasuki is a little wacky here, but bear with me; it'll be that way for another two chapters or so. (I think...). review I know, I'm killing off bad guys. DEAL WITH IT!! Review I needed to downsize, and that is one way of doing it. REview Everyone is going to start off in different directions starting next chapter, so it might be a little hard to follow. REView Again I request patience. REVIew Oh, also, if anyone can pick up on the classic rock reference in the chapter, let me know. REVIEw If you are all clueless, my sympathies my friends. The romances are going to start making more of an appearance, and they will be VERY distracting to the basic plot. REVIEW In other words, exactly how I want them to be. I'm nearing the end of the story, (I think...) so I'm having more fun. REVIEW!!
thanx. MidnightShade
Solei continued towards the mountain, her footsteps growing heavy with each passing moment. 'I have traversed this path before.' She told herself fiercely. 'Why is it so difficult now?'
Her mental voice gave the unwanted response. 'Because this time you actually care for someone you left behind.'
'No I don't' she retorted. 'That was just to achieve what needed to be done. That and it revealed that Seiryu is helping my father.'
'Yeah right. Am I supposed to believe that?'
Solei nodded. 'Yes, actually you are. Because it's true.'
The reason in the corner of her mind made its powers known. 'Um...actually, I don't. And I don't think I ever will.'
'Why not?'
'Because I am privy to your innermost thoughts.' Came the simple reply. 'All of your hopes, dreams, prayers...' the voice trialed off, but then reasserted itself with a tone smug omnipotence. 'Your wild, provocative fantasies...'
Solei flushed and started to run, trying to get past the invisible wall that hindered her advance. 'Okay, so maybe I do, but it's just a girlish crush. Nothing more.'
'You just keep telling yourself that, Protector. Just keep telling yourself that.' Solei tried to clear her head, but knew even as she tried that no matter what she told herself, it was more than just a crush.
Caelestis watched the slow progress of his elder daughter with amusement. "Still trying?" he asked her image, carefully tracking her ascension in his Mirror of Ray. "I would have thought that you would have given up AGES ago." She reddened at something, and increased her efforts. "I should have named you Stubborn and Slow instead of Solei and Selene." He ran his thumb over the small, polished surface and called up the image of his younger daughter, the Guide.
"Zephyr is making his visit." Caelestis acknowledged the presence of the Demon God with a formal nod. "It won't be long before the rest of the plan falls into place and victory is yours."
Caelestis was surprised at his partner's choice of words. "Victory will not be just mine, Keirimijag. It will be ours."
The Demon God's gaze grew cold. "It would never have been our victory." He spat out the words. Caelestis waited. "You were just going to kill me once it was over, once I had guaranteed you your throne above all the others." The darkness god made no attempt to deny the accusations, simply leaning back in his throne. "You have made a fool of me thus far, Caelestis, it will go no further." The temperature began to rise steadily, and Caelestis glanced around, concerned. "No one will help you now, God of Darkness."
"I would not have gone back on my word, Keirimijag, never." Caelestis was sweating, but not just from the heat.
"You see, that's just the problem." The accusing tone was gone, replaced by an almost amused laugh. "You never gave me your word." Keirimijag's voice turned cold, and he started to fade. Demons started to pour from all corners of the vaulted room, and their minds were bent on Caelestis's destruction as they unsheathed deadly claws.
"Wait," Caelestis was desperate; he knew that against the Demon God he had no chance. "My daughter will stop you as surely as she would stop me. Let me deal with her, then do with me what you would."
Keirimijag contemplated the offer, holding back the snarling hoards. With a casual flick of his hand he released the mass. "No." The demons pounced in a gigantic wave, and pieces of flesh began to fly as the screams began.
Zephyr seemed amused by his sister's words. "Castration?"
"Or death."
"Why so violent, sister?"
Amber twitched at the word, but hid it under a smile. "I guess because I was brought up that way." She hefted the weight of the mallet in her hand, judging the distance between her and the demon. Time seemed frozen, not a soul moved.
"Father requires your presence."
"No he doesn't." Amber retorted forcefully. 'There is NO way I am going to that bastard. No way in hell.'
As if reading her thoughts, Zephyr spoke. "But hell is such a lovely spot, Chi. You'll love it."
Her golden eyes flared red. "What did you call me?" her normally happy tone had taken on frigid qualities, and even Liz and Des backed away.
"It is your name, sister." He was patronizing. "Shunhi'a Chi." Her body started to emanate red flames, and Selene knew what was coming. She hustled everyone out of the room, but one look at Tasuki's face told her to leave him behind. She did without a qualm, and shut the door behind her. Amber growled low, her ears, tail and fangs popping out as her knuckles turned white from her grip on the handle of her mallet.
"Don't call me that." She raced forward, bringing her mallet above her head, ready to smash her 'brother' into a pulp. He casually reached out and put the palm of his hand against the butt of the mallet handle, creating a battle of will and strength between him and his sister. Her fury against his reason. The muscles in his arm flexed and tensed irritably as she applied more pressure, her demonic strength aiding her. The wisps of red surrounding her intensified as her anger grew, and they spread to encompass her mallet, making it flame.
"You can't win, sister." Zephyr's voice was perfectly controlled, and it was the final straw for Amber.
"EAT MY DUST!" she released her weight on the mallet, allowing it to fly up, and in one fluid motion the mallet shrank and the chi gathered in her palms. She fired the balls of chi with strength, each one impacting on her elder brother with an explosion that rocked the palace foundations. She paused, her breath coming in ragged gasps. Zephyr stepped calmly out of the falling dust and debris.
"Is that everything you can throw at me, sister?" He had an amused smile on his face. She started to charge, but another yell of fury cut her off.
"REKKA SHINNEN!" Amber dove out of the way of the fireball, her hair standing on end at the sudden appearance of Tasuki. Zephyr took the impact with a shock, falling back several steps and wincing at the fiery burn that was turning black on his skin.
"And who are you?" he asked, his infuriating calm still in place.
Amber glowered, standing tall. "He is Tasuki, celestial warrior of Suzaku." Lightning played at the tips of her fingers, the only sign of her anger.
Zephyr looked pleasantly surprised. "Oh good. Then if I kill him it will be all the better for me." Zephyr unsheathed 6" claws, a deadly grin spreading slowly across his morphing features. Amber did not wait for him to finish his gruesome transformation from man to demon; she attacked, lightning striking within the room. She examined the sparks on the pads of her fingers, and a similar smirk rapidly covered her face as she began to concentrate on the lightning that was coming from the ceiling. Fragments of expensive wood paneling flew everywhere in the raging winds that picked up, and the flashes of energy became stronger and more frequent.
"You will never kill him." Amber growled. At her summons, a sonic boom and an equally large tongue of lightning struck in the room. As the rubble fell and the air cleared, a charred body was seen in Zephyr's place; the face frozen between demon and human, between anger and pain. Amber took a good look at the destruction she had wrought, and her face turned a ghoulish green-grey. She raced over near the corner where Tasuki had taken refuge from the blasts.
"Are ya-" Tasuki didn't get to finish his question as Amber began to empty her stomach.
Nakago grabbed a kon from the rack within the armory and walked out to the training grounds, intent upon clearing his mind of all thoughts as he trained. He bowed to an invisible opponent and whirled his kon around so it was ready to fight. Beginning a sequence of strikes and blocks that forced him to think about his hand position and footwork, Nakago toiled to eliminate Solei from his mind. It failed as his regimented pattern of attacks unwound into a replay of the actions during his fight with Solei. Every step he took was a mirror to hers, and his kon followed a path, ending with his invisible opponent on the ground and his kon ready to kill. He flipped his kon behind his arm and stalked back to the armory to replace it. Every action reminded him of her. He walked through the temple gardens slowly, deciding to think everything through in a coherent fashion. Striding into a little known part of the gardens, he relaxed against an ancient oak tree, his eyes closed as he began a reflection of his actions.
It had begun with Seiryu's summons. He had fallen into a forested garden not too different from the one his stood in now, and he and Amiboshi had been found by Solei. She had not requested that they come out of the trees, she had commanded. Her hair was falling out of its restraints, and her sweaty training clothes had clung to her every curve. She had met his eyes unafraid, lavender turning silver for an instant. The silver was her dark side.
'Why,' he asked himself. 'Did her dark half react to me?' He brain pondered over the question, but skipped along. She had been so vulnerable after encountering that boy. Nakago's hand clenched into a fist, but he willed it open. Her pride had crumbled twice that he knew of. Once on the bench after that meeting, and once later, after their swordfight, when she had returned from speaking with her father. She had been and Angel then, but her eyes had not changed.
'She kissed me then.' his mind remembered. 'Why?' She had meant it, that he knew. What had prompted her to do such a thing? He had given her no reasons, unless she was naïve enough to believe that the two kisses he had given her were real...
'Maybe they were real.'' his inner voice supplied. 'Maybe she was just emphasizing that she felt the same way.' Nakago shook his head; he did not want to listen to his conscience.
'Why are you back?' he asked silently.
'I'm right.'
'No, you're not.' Even Nakago's thoughts were calm.
'Why are you even bothering to reflect if I'm not right?' Nakago moved away from the tree and moved deeper into the gardens, his footsteps crunching autumn leaves.
'She's nothing to me.' He got no response and repeated it out loud as if trying to convince himself. "She's nothing to me."
The wind rippled through Solei's loose hair, and she paused her stride. Lifting the bottom of her shirt out of her pants, she used one of her knives to slice off an inch thick band from the hem. Turning into the wind, she pulled her hair back using the improvised ribbon, tying the knot tightly. She re-tucked her shirt in and gathered her glaive, pressing further up the mountain.
"Stupid wind." she muttered. Instantly the wind died down, and it took Solei a moment to remember that she could control the wind with her chi. She shook her head at her own stupidity, and nearly ran into a tree. "Why am I so distracted right now?" she asked the winds. "Why am I not raging away in anger, charging off to kill my father?" The wind whistled faintly through the forest.
'It's because you miss Nakago.' Solei glared at the tree and continued up the mountain.
'No I don't.'
'Why don't you?' Her inner voice wanted to hear the reasons for Solei's denial.
'He was playing me. The entire time.' Solei strapped her glaive to her back and began to climb up a sheer rock face almost mechanically. 'He let me make a fool of myself more than once, and he deliberately manipulated my feelings and used them against me so that he could complete his duty.'
The voice was amused. 'Essentially everything you would have done in his shoes.'
'Yes.' Solei realized her mistake. 'NO! I meant NO!'
'Uh huh. Right...' She growled and reached for the next hand-hold. It wasn't there. Tilting her head back, she tried to find it, and then realized that she was already standing on the ledge that would take her around to the cave. Her feet followed it mindlessly.
'Fine. You win.' she said silently. 'It's more than a crush, and I DO miss him.'
'So what the hell are you doing still on this mountain?'
'I still need to kill my father.'
'I knew that...' Solei chuckled slightly, but it trailed off as she stared into the black maw that was the cave's opening. With a final glance behind her towards Kutou, she slid inside the cavern.
"There's no going back now."
Keirimijag glanced over the work his minions had done. "Not bad." he complimented. "Now clean up the throne room and prepare it for visitors." The demons scurried to complete the tasks they had been given. He picked up the fallen Mirror of Ray and called up Solei. The mirror turned dark, and he knew she was in the Caves of Mirage. He would be unable to see anything of her until she emerged from the Caves.
'If she gets out...' he thought wickedly. 'If...'
Yeah, I know I'm having too much fun with the sarcastic mental conscience thing, but it keeps me from getting the other characters TOO out of whack. review I know that Tasuki is a little wacky here, but bear with me; it'll be that way for another two chapters or so. (I think...). review I know, I'm killing off bad guys. DEAL WITH IT!! Review I needed to downsize, and that is one way of doing it. REview Everyone is going to start off in different directions starting next chapter, so it might be a little hard to follow. REView Again I request patience. REVIew Oh, also, if anyone can pick up on the classic rock reference in the chapter, let me know. REVIEw If you are all clueless, my sympathies my friends. The romances are going to start making more of an appearance, and they will be VERY distracting to the basic plot. REVIEW In other words, exactly how I want them to be. I'm nearing the end of the story, (I think...) so I'm having more fun. REVIEW!!
thanx. MidnightShade