Epic of the Sands
A "Fushigi Yuugi" AU Fan Fiction Piece
By: Sleepwalking Dreamer
DISCLAIMERS:
Fushigi Yuugi © Yuu Watase
Irisi, Seren Kendall, Deryn Kendall and other related characters © Sleepwalking Dreamer
Everything else © respective owners
NOTES:
It has been a rather long while since I last wrote Fushigi Yuugi fan fiction. While those few people who know me may raise their eyebrows, since I have sworn this series to the ground many times over in their company, I will say now that ever since I saw it, I have adored it. While Miaka might not be my favorite character in the world, there is no denying that I have loved the others – even Nakago, for all his wickedness, has a special place in my heart, and hence, in my imagination.
In order to catch up with memories that I have lost (meaning, my knowledge of the series), I have scanned the Internet, looking for reliable sites that give detailed episode summaries, as well as skipping through sites with good quality images. But most of all, I have been particularly focusing on the fan fiction that has been written thus far.
I have come a long way from when I first dabbled in Fushigi Yuugi fan fiction, and I have decided to try something a little different. I am not sure if I can get away with this, of course, but one can always try. Hence, inspired by my love for all things relating to the ancient Egyptians, I have decided to create a little more trouble for the Seishi, and have concocted a new adventure for them to "enjoy."
And one more thing: as some readers may notice, I have stuck to the Western way of speaking, as it were (though, as many will notice, it is quite formal – the result of imbibing as much of Tolkien's works as I could for writing my fan fiction pieces in that particular fandom). My Japanese is extremely rusty, and I do not really want to trust it when it comes to writing. While I will certainly maintain Chichiri's "no das," (I have always found them infinitely amusing) most readers will note that, apart from that, this will most likely sound like the English dubbing of the series. I hope that this does not trouble others; particularly those who are devoted to the Japanese subbed versions. I assure you that I prefer the subbed version to the dubbed version (mostly because Hotohori's voice is much more sensuous in the subbed version than in the dubbed), but with my knowledge of Japanese already half-deleted from my mind (replaced, as it were, by Elvish genealogies and a Númenorean King List), I find it preferable to write purely in English.
TEASER:
A few days after the failed summoning of Suzaku a major disaster suddenly occurs in the land of Khemet, a desert country very far to the southwest. A long slumbering evil has suddenly awoken, and it threatens to devour not only the world within The Book of the Four Gods: Sky and Earth, but also the world beyond it. Unable to ignore the threat, the Four Gods unite, thus bringing to a screeching halt the ongoing rivalry between the Suzaku and Seiryuu Seishi.
In the meantime, a mysterious young woman appears at the gates of the Palace in Konan. Calling herself Irisi, she claims that she is a messenger from Khemet, and has ridden all the way to Konan to seek aid of that kingdom. At Taiitsu-kun's urging, the Suzaku and Seiryuu Seishi follow her back to Khemet – a land torn apart by greed, treachery, and war. There, they learn a great many things, such as ancient mysteries and arcane magic…as well as several secrets that may spell the end of their world – and even the world beyond the The Book of the Four Gods.
Prologue
The night wind traced feathery footsteps over the sand dunes, swirling in an eternal dance whose beauty few could appreciate. High above, the sickle moon scattered a pale, watery light over the landscape, one that was constantly battered by extremes of heat and cold.
It took an experienced eye and a trained ear to see all of these things, and to appreciate them as well. To most, the desert was a harsh and cruel land, incapable of supporting life.
He smirked, and shook his head, the dark cloth swathed all over his head and face shifting but a little. That did not matter now. What was more important was finding his goal. He would have time later on…time to enjoy the wilderness and the solitude.
Yes, there would be time to enjoy the solitude.
He glanced up at the sky. It was clear, with not even a single wisp of cloud to obscure the view of the stars. Since the moon's light was beginning to wane, the stars could be seen ever more clearly. He stood there, gazing a moment longer, and his smirk became a smile.
Almost time, he thought. It was almost time for what he had come to do.
His gaze shifted around, looking for the right constellation. If a few moments, he found it: the Swordsman of the Sky, the giant who protects the heavens – and heralds the world's demise.
He closed his eyes, remembering the prophecy that he had read. When the moon has reduced itself to a sickle, and in that aspect drifts into the hand of the Swordsman of the Sky… Yes, yes, it was time.
"It will happen tonight, My Lord," he murmured. "It will be tonight. And the worlds shall never be as they were ever again."
A powerful gust of wind blew by, picking up sand and dust and swirling it around. When the little dust storm had died down, he was gone, the falling sand already filling in the imprints left by his feet, and it was as though he had never been there before.
Taiitsu-kun felt the shift in the air. It started out as a small ripple, something that happened from time to time. She ignored it, knowing that it would die down, and everything would go back to normal in a few moments.
But then, the little shift turned into an overwhelming wave that ripped right through her consciousness. All the Nyan Nyans in the palace screamed in fright and pain as the tsunami of evil ran right through them all. Taiitsu-kun herself was thrown off her usual perch in midair, and landed painfully on the floor.
"Taiitsu-kun!" The voice of a Nyan Nyan echoed to her ears, and in a few moments she was being helped up to her feet by close to a dozen of them. "Taiitsu-kun! Are you well?"
"Yes, yes, I'm fine," Taiitsu-kun, snapped as she got back to her feet, rearranging her robes as the Nyan Nyans backed off. They knew better than to try to help Taiitsu-kun, seeing how irate she was.
She inhaled, and nearly coughed. A foul smell was hanging in the air – the smell of evil, something that she had thought she had gotten rid of a long time ago.
She shivered. It couldn't be. He had been sealed a long time ago. She had seen to the job herself, casting all the necessary spells, placing much of her power into the seals: the chief reason why she appeared old and withered, and no longer young and beautiful. It could not possibly be him.
Could it?
Knowing that she should not leave anything to chance, she floated towards one of the many hallways of her palace, one that seemed to be made entirely of windows, each one covered with varicolored velvet drapes. She hovered in front of one, and murmured a spell under her breath.
Almost immediately, a gust of wind seemed to lift the drapes away from the window, affording her a glimpse through the frame and beyond. And what she saw stunned her to no end.
The window opened upon a dark chamber, the only light coming from the sparkle and glimmer of glowworms residing in cracks and fissures in the rock. In their soft glow, she saw chains engraved with magical sigils hanging from various points on the ceiling, walls, and floor, all forming a net inescapable whether by physical or magical force.
The chains led towards an enormous stone slab that sat in the middle of the chamber. She knew that there was supposed to be something – rather, someone – chained to that rock, but that someone was gone.
She felt the blood run chill in her veins. Someone had broken through the seals. Someone had broken through the spells, and the chains, and released him.
The drapes fell back into place, hiding the scene that had horrified her so much. She hovered there for a while, stunned beyond belief, but immediately collected her wits. This was not the time for her to be concerned about herself. There were more important things that needed to be seen to, and she had to see to them now, before anything worse happened.
She drifted to a cul-de-sac not that far away, one that had four enormous mirrors, each with a golden frame, but the carvings of each frame were different: one had a serpent-tortoise, the one beside it had a dragon, the next a phoenix, and the last one a tiger.
She inhaled deeply, and called out, with all her might: "I summon you here before me, ye Four Gods who protect this world. I am Taiitsu-kun. Heed my words. Come before me as I call you by name: Genbu, God of the North; Seiryuu, God of the East, Suzaku, God of the South, and Byakko, God of the West."
For a moment, there was stillness, and then, a wind stirred in the air, heavy with the scent of incense and clean, pure sky. The glass of the mirrors darkened for a moment, and then brightened, as figures emerged behind the glass, one in each of them.
In the first mirror, the man who appeared had black hair which was tied back and looped once in the back, allowing the rest to fall down against the back of his black, green, and gold armor, the shoulder-piece shaped so as to look like the shell of a turtle. A green-and-brown snake with pupil-less white eyes was coiled around the man's neck and waist, resting its head against one of the shoulder-pieces. Eyes the color of light jade returned Taiitsu-kun's stare, acknowledging her presence.
The second man had long blue hair that was tied back in a half-ponytail at the back of his head. His armor was tinted blue, and embossed so as to give the image of a dragon twining across it. He also wore strange earpieces that gave the appearance of a dragon's ear-fins. His icy blue eyes regarded Taiitsu-kun with respect, but there was no denying the irritation that boiled just beneath the surface.
The third man who appeared in the third mirror was the complete opposite of his neighbor in the second mirror. He had short red hair that seemed to stand up of its own accord, giving the impression of the crest of some strange bird. He was clad in less armor than the first two, wearing only a crimson breastplate and a pair of shoulder pieces that appeared to be made of leather, not metal. To complete the impression that he gave of a bird, a pair of scarlet wings were spread out behind him. His eyes were like twin rubies of the finest quality, and they returned Taiitsu-kun's gaze with deference.
The man who appeared in the final mirror was also quite different from the other ones. He had short white hair that was held in place by a rather large circlet of gold set with what appeared to be pearls, and his armor was made mostly of leather, with a metal breastplate and shoulder pieces that were polished to a bright silver sheen. His arms were bare, covered only by white leather gauntlets that had been tooled with gold in an intricate and exotic design. His golden eyes carried a worried and somewhat pained cast to them, as if he was troubled by something that the others did not know about.
It was the man in green armor that spoke first. "Taiitsu-kun, what has happened? Why have you summoned us here?"
Taiitsu-kun gazed at him impassively. "You know what I have called you here for, Genbu."
"Does it have something to do with what we felt a while ago?" asked the man in red.
Taiitsu-kun sighed, and nodded. "Yes, Suzaku, it has something to do with that. In fact, it has everything to do with that."
The man in the blue armor frowned. "Does it mean that he has been released?"
"Yes Seiryuu," replied the man in the white armor. He closed his eyes, and seemed to shiver. "I felt it first, and it was horrible. My lands lie closer to the land where he was chained, and I was the first to feel it, and got the brunt of it." He shook his head. "He has been unchained. It will not be long until-"
"That will not happen, Byakko," Taiitsu-kun cut in sharply. "We shall not allow it to happen. And there is still time yet. There is still time for us before this world collapses all around us and he moves into the other one."
"Then what should we do?" Suzaku asked. He glanced briefly at Seiryuu. "Seiryuu and I have some…business…that needs to be attended to."
Taiitsu-kun waved her hand. "The Summonings do not matter now. They are unimportant, and null and void in light of these events." She shook her head. "No, now is not the time for rivalries. We must unite, or else a doom greater than could ever be imagined shall fall upon us.
"For this, we shall need all the strength that we can get. Byakko, I suggest that you rally together whoever of your Seishi are still alive. Genbu, it would be in your best interests to speak to Hikitsu and Tomite. I shall have to bring them back – we have no other choice. We are going to need their help, especially considering just whom we are up against." She turned away from them. "Now go, and make your preparations. We must gather our forces together, while there is still quiet in the world. When the storm comes, it may very well be too late."
The Four Gods bowed their heads, and disappeared from the mirrors, the glass brightening briefly, and then returning to normal in a few moments.
Taiitsu-kun drifted away from the mirrors, and over to another window – this time, one that overlooked the distant deserts of the west. Far away, just beyond the edge of her sight, she knew that darkness deeper than the night was beginning to spread across the sky, blotting out the light of the stars and of the gradually waning moon.
And she knew, at that moment, that the tapestry of fate had just changed drastically.
NOTE:
The way I have described the Four Gods is based on a manga scan that I came across while surfing the Internet, trying to hunt down inspiration. I spotted aforementioned manga scan in the Image Gallery of the site Fushigi Yuugi – The Fire of Suzaku's Wings, which is maintained by one Sharla-chan. I recommend that readers visit this site and look for the image I have mentioned in the Manga Scans section of the Image Gallery, because it will help in visualizing the Four Gods as I have written them here in this chapter.
Some of the details, like Byakko's gauntlets, however, are not clearly seen in the picture that I found, hence I had to make them up, based on what I could see in the picture. I hope that this does not bother anyone overmuch.