It took only a few minutes to reach the square, pushing and shoving their way through the people streaming towards the palace. Tasuki was in the lead thanks to his tremendous speed, and Chiriko could make out a wooden platform. Tasuki was the closest to the platform when he suddenly fell back, hitting something invisible.

Chichiri ran up, placing his hands on the invisible thing. He concentrated for a moment, and Chiriko looked around. The wooden scaffold had been erected in the middle of the square, about four feet high, with a set of stairs on one side. The people gathered a respectable distance away, passing through the invisible wall they could not penetrate.

"It's a Seiryu ward, no da! It's extremely powerful and it won't allow any of the Suzaku chosen to enter, no da!" Chichiri said, pulling back from it. He raised his staff, the eyebrows on his mask turning down in concentration. After a few seconds he stumbled backwards shaking his head. "It's no use, I can't break it, no da!"

Tasuki pulled his harisen off his back and faced the barrier. He shifted his feet and stared at it as if his will alone was all it took to bring the ward down.

"The hell with that! I'm not letting some stupid barrier come between Yumi and me! REKKA SHINEN!" He yelled, making the people around them draw back in horror as the red and orange flames erupted from the metallic fan. Chiriko could hear them whispering to themselves.

"Suzaku celestial warriors?" "What is that?" "Who are they?" The fire clashed against the barrier and bounced off, sending tongues of flame in random directions. Tasuki lowered his harisen slightly, fangs bared in anger. The gong sounded again.

"Chichiri? Look!" Chiriko called as yet another gong sounded. A woman was coming down the steps of the palace, attired richly in fabrics in varying shades of blue and silver. She had straight brown hair and was rather short.

"The Seiryu priestess?" Chichiri said softly, leaving off his trademark 'no da'. "I thought she was in Konan, staying in the palace!" Chiriko returned his gaze to the young woman as she came closer, climbing the steps of the platform and standing on one side. Four people stood beside her. A woman with long pink hair and tan and brown armor was to one side of her with a tall man in strange elaborate clothing and colorful face make-up to the other side. Flanking the priestess directly were two men around the same age as her who looked exactly alike. Twins.

"It's the priestess! And her warriors! Isn't that Soi, Tomo and Suboshi and Amiboshi?" The people were saying. How did they get here? I thought they were in Konan? What's going on? Chiriko looked at Tasuki, who had this look of utter confusion on his features. Hotohori was pale, as if he knew what would come next.

There was another sounding of the gong, making the people grow quiet. Somebody else was making his way down the steps of the palace. It was a large, powerfully built man with blonde hair. He wore very dangerous looking armor, and he directed a girl ahead of him, her hands bound behind her, with a hand on her shoulder.

"Yumi!" Tasuki gasped, pressing up against the barrier, his brown eyes growing wide. Chiriko took a closer look as the blonde-haired man pushed the woman in front of him. Her head hung low in a subdued manner, her footsteps slow and reserved. But the wavy brown hair with flashes of red in it was unmistakable. It was Yumi.

"Yumi! Yumi! Damn it, look over here!" Tasuki yelled, pounding his fist against the ward, making blue sparks crackle around his hand. Chichiri shook his head, his Mohawk swinging.

"I don't think she can hear or see us. The barrier has more than one use." He said softly. Chiriko looked over at the platform again as a palace official in robes of state unrolled a sealed scroll and began to read.

"For crimes committed against the nation of Kutou, Yumi, the priestess of Suzaku, will be executed, as per the will of the emperor of Kutou." He stated before beginning to read further into her list of crimes. The people around them were whispering amongst themselves. Chiriko couldn't believe what he was seeing. He shut his eyes and concentrated. What can I do? Now is the time to show my strength and save Yumi. Somehow. He opened his eyes and looked around hopelessly.

"It's a shame really, she looks so young." One man commented. Only seventeen…

"Is she really the priestess of Suzaku?" A young woman said. Yes she is…

"How did they catch her?" A little boy asked, tugging on his mother's dress.

"Nakago seems very pleased." A middle-aged man commented. So that man is Nakago…

Chiriko felt as if the world was moving in slow motion as the palace official rolled the scroll back into place and left the platform. He could faintly hear Tasuki pounding against the barrier, screaming curses at Nakago and begging Yumi to look up. Chichiri looked resigned and Hotohori looked as if he would be sick.

Nakago pushed Yumi forward and she raised her head slightly, but her eyes were lifeless. She obviously had not seen her companions in the crowd. He smiled at her cruelly.

"Any last words, Your Eminence?" He asked sarcastically. Nakago put a hand under Yumi's chin, forcing her face up so he could see her better. Yumi looked up at her captor, her gray-blue eyes determined, frightening.

"Do you really think my death will be punishment? You've taken everything I once held dear! My pride, love, friends, and now I can't even Summon Suzaku. Death will be a release for me. Go on, kill me, you coward!" Her voice was quiet, determined, but somehow her words seemed to carry through the entire courtyard. She didn't even sound scared.

Nakago nodded, unsurprised by the content of the condemned woman's speech. He smiled softly, and looked back, making eye contact with the man in face paint as he shoved Yumi into a better view of the crowd. Chiriko couldn't believe this was happening. He had to find out more. Mind racing, he ran up to the nearest guard that was stationed around the square, trying to shrink down and pretend to be a young child of Kutou. How can I stop this?

"Sir? Have you heard what powers the Seiryu warriors have?" He asked, attempting to sound like he was in awe and reverence. The guard looked down at him disdainfully for a moment before he took the opportunity to show off.

"Of course! The woman, Soi, can control lightening, and the two boys can do things with music and a levitating bolo. Tomo can do illusions, and our general, Nakago, has many different powers!" He bragged while Chiriko tried to process the information. He bowed quickly. Tomo does illusions… maybe… they wouldn't really kill her, would they?

"Wow! Thanks sir!" He said, before turning around and pushing his way back through the throng towards his friends. Tasuki had given up screaming Yumi's name, staring dully at her, his eyes betraying his utter disbelief. Nakago was drawing a sword from the sheath at his waist.

The general looked down at Yumi before turning his gaze to the priestess of Seiryu. She'll stop him! Seiryu's priestess is Yumi's friend! But Chiriko was mistaken, because the other priestess glanced at Yumi before nodding her head. Chiriko watched every movement as Nakago pulled the sword back and plunged it fluidly through Yumi's chest. Through it all, Yumi stared at her executioner, her eyes dead and accepting her fate. She seemed to take forever to fall. He saw her sag and go limp, sliding backward off the sword and hitting the platform. A pool of blood spread from her still form. The crowd within hailing distance was strangely silent, although a few ragged cheers went up at the small woman's death. Beside him, Tasuki collapsed, coming to rest on his hands and knees, as though HE had been the one stabbed through the heart. In a way, he had.

"She… she isn't dead…" Tasuki said brokenly, in denial. Chichiri, though shaken himself, put a comforting hand on Tasuki's shoulder.

"You couldn't do anything, no da. I'm sure…" But Tasuki didn't let the man finish.

"I told you SHE"S NOT DEAD! She CAN'T be dead!" He said angrily, grabbing Chichiri's shoulders and shaking him roughly. Hotohori looked sick, but Chichiri tried to console Tasuki, who wasn't listening to a word.

"She's still alive, I tell ya, and she needs help!" To Chiriko, it sounded like Tasuki had gone insane. Chiriko looked up at the platform. He could make out Yumi's eyes, which had glazed over in death, her expression still blank and unreadable. She didn't even show her pain.

"Ever since she first appeared in this world, I could feel her in my heart, and she's till there! She's still there, so I know she can't be dead…" Hotohori was trying in vain to quiet the man, but it suddenly made sense to Chiriko. Of course the person she loves most would be connected to her somehow… Wait! That's right! Tomo manipulates illusions! Tasuki must be telling the truth! In an instant Chiriko rummaged around in his sleeve. He pulled out a leaf he had picked in Hotohori's garden. He kept it because he thought it looked interesting, quite unlike the foliage growing near his home. He studied the shape for a moment before folding the leaf down the center.

Chiriko brought the makeshift whistle to his lips and blew. The leaf whistle made a high-pitched, shrill noise that reverberated in the back of his skull. The scene in front of him wavered as the sound waves interfered with Tomo's illusion. The amused and disdainful look on the elaborately dressed Tomo's face vanished, replaced by shock as the landscape dissolved, leaving the four of them standing in an empty courtyard in front of an old wall, now battered and burned under Tasuki's assault. Chiriko leaned against it; sweat dripping down his forehead from the quick succession of emotions he had just experienced.

It had all been an illusion… So where was Yumi?

-------

Megumi yawned and blinked, sitting up in bed. She immediately regretted the action as a wave of nausea swept over her. Once she got sick she usually continued to feel as such for hours and sometimes days on end. The priestess of Seiryu eased back down to the pillow, staring up at the ornate ceiling. She kind of felt bad for throwing up on the emperor's floor and everything. She wished she wasn't so faint-hearted when it came to looking at wounded people.

Soi must already be up… she thought mildly as she turned her head to see the bed on the other side of the room empty. She decided to try and get up again. Megumi took it slowly, finally swinging her legs over the side of the bed and slipping out. She ruffled through her clothing and sighed. She would have to wear that really ornate palace garb she had at the bottom of her bag, since all the clothes she had bought and carried with her, the simpler, more efficient clothing, was dirty.

Once she had pulled on the elaborate dress, she looked in the mirror. She had to make a good impression here. Otherwise people might think she was an evil person from Kutou. She didn't know why Kutou was so bad. Sure it had been mismanaged for years, but that could change. They needed to replace the emperor. She had only seen the man once, but he was obviously a glutton, spending more on his personal comfort than on his people. Not to mention that when he had received her in his court as the priestess of Seiryu he had been surrounded by several scandalously clad young women fawning over him. It was disgusting.

Megumi checked the mirror, turning partially to examine her dress fully. The dress was a very pretty one, but she felt out of place in it. She didn't seem to fit in these pretty things right. She was more of a plain girl. It was a filmy silk blue fabric as the base, with a lighter blue sheer dress over it. It looked almost like a short coat in front, parting a little to reveal the darker blue of the dress underneath. There was a gray, almost silver fabric that went around her waist with a tie from which baubles jingled. A flap of fabric with embroidery of what she assumed was Seiryu hung in the front, but she stuck that particular piece back in the bag. It probably was not polite to wear Seiryu insignia in Konan where they worshipped Suzaku.

Megumi figured she should probably stay in the room until Soi or Suboshi came to get her, but she wanted to apologize to the emperor. He most likely wasn't accustomed to emissaries from other countries barfing on his floor. She sighed and opened the door, stepping out into the hallways and trying not to be sick again.

It took only a little while for Megumi to realize that she was hopelessly lost. She didn't know where the emperor lived! It would be a lot more helpful if there were signs… or something. She looked down at her feet idly as she started making random turns around the palace. Suddenly she encountered something in front of her and tripped, landing on her bottom with an 'umph'.

"I'm so sorry! Are you alright?" Came a woman's cultured voice. Megumi took the offered hand and got back up, grimacing slightly at the pain in her hip and spine.

"Um, yeah I'm fine. Sorry about that." Megumi said, looking up at the person she had bumped into. She was taller than her, but most everyone, even her best friend, were as well, so that wasn't anything special. She was wearing a dress similar to her own in colors of purple and gold, obviously richly made. It was then that she noticed the woman's face. The blue eyes, the blonde hair. Megumi did a double take.

"Kirisuto?!" She exclaimed, taking a step back inadvertently. The woman cocked her head slightly and had a certain expression on her face that was definitely reminiscent of Kirisuto, especially when Kirisuto was slaving over her chemistry homework. The woman frowned and shook her head.

"I think you must have mistaken me for someone else. My name is Kirin, what's yours?" She said cordially. She seemed very refined, and that was something that deviated hugely from the middle-class wild and fun Kirisuto, but nonetheless, the resemblance was uncanny.

"Uh… Megumi… my name is Megumi." She replied, trying to focus. Her head was reeling, and she knew what was coming on. Falling must have triggered something. Megumi looked desperately for a suitable place, and noticed she was on a veranda. That would work.

"Um, please excuse me, one moment…" Megumi said, hurrying over to the railing that overlooked the gardens. She cast about quickly, holding in the inevitable. She saw a large bush of some sort and maneuvered towards the railing directly behind it. Just in time. She felt her stomach heave as she emptied her stomach acids behind the large greenery. It was a good thing she hadn't eaten anything.

When she came back up, panting, face pale, Kirin was staring at her in a confused manner. Megumi made sure there was nothing on her mouth, then looked at Kirin again.

"Um, sorry about that. Nature calls in more than one way, you know." She offered as an excuse. Am I going to retch all over this palace? Kirin shook her head, indicating that that was not what was bothering her.

"You seem… vaguely familiar to me as well. Are you a woman from the Inner Seraglio too?" She asked. Megumi was about to say that she was the priestess of Seiryu when she stopped and thought about it. The woman might get really apprehensive if she found that out, so she made something up.

"Yes, I'm new…" She said, but she felt uncomfortable lying. But she needed this woman to tell her where the emperor lived. Kirin scrutinized her for a moment before shrugging.

"That might explain why you seem familiar…" She said. Megumi nodded. She shifted awkwardly and wondered how to phrase this without sounding strange.

"Hey, do you know where the emperor's rooms are? I need to talk to him…" Megumi said, shifting again. Kirin raised an eyebrow, before shaking her head slowly. Megumi thought she looked protective and jealous.

"No… I have no idea…" She said. Megumi slumped. She'd apologize later. She tried to find her way back to her rooms, the woman's face nagging at the back of her mind. Megumi thought she was lying…