Welcome back fans. For…the last chapter. That's right, you heard me. The last chapter. I've been writing this story for something like two years now and I'm glad that it's finally coming to an end. Not in a mean way obviously. I still love this story to death, I'm just glad to have finished it off. (Hears distant screams of fans.) It might be a bit before my next FY fanfic is up, I've got it (for the most and basic part) figured out and it's already been given a title and I actually have about three chapters done but I have to go change some stuff because I read Genbu Kaiden (One word: Don't. It isn't even a third as good as Fushigi Yugi except that one guy's back story. Terrific back story.) and now I've got to figure that all into it. It's called 99 Red Balloons and I'm hoping to have it up soon-ish but as I kind of want to give this slot in my updating fanfics to my Harry Potter series (please read it if you like Harry Potter at all, it's my Inferiorum series and it starts with Doppelganger. It's good, I swear.) so that I don't have to worry about it when I finish with all of the small stories I'm doing for it now.So now, some thanks are in order:
First off, I'd like to thank the band Our Lady Peace for their fabulous song, 'Somewhere Out There', which is not only where the story got its name but the song helped set the mood and inspired the story as well. If you haven't heard it yet, I recommend listening to it. I'd like to thank the readers who have been here since the beginning because, two years ago, I wasn't half the writer I am today. So, the story itself has gotten better all around as you went along. I'd also like to thank them because of how impossibly long it took me to finish the story. It's been rather ridiculous, I know. I'd also like to thank Teresa, who is always there to offer support and criticism and gets me music to write with. And I'd like to thank the readers just for reviewing and making me feel like I was doing something right. Often times I go, "I'm going to read some Fushigi Yugi fanfics." And then after scrolling through five pages of Mary Sue stories, I give up. I'm glad I was able to break up the monotony of the section there. I'd really like to give a heads up to Otaku Pitcher. I put up a chapter and the first thing out of my mouth is, "Otaku Pitcher is gonna be happy I updated." Plus OP always has the nicest things to say—so I hope you're around for 99 Red Balloons! (Although, I'll warn everyone that it is really dark. Let's just say it's based off the song and also…it makes this entire story look like a trip to the hot springs. Don't you love how much I self advertise?) Thanks a million everyone!
Somewhere Out There
Chapter Twenty Four
The sleeping pill didn't take long to work but it took far too long for me. I had to get back now. We needed to summon Suzaku and we needed to save what was left of the kingdom. My heart was pounding in my chest when I finally arrived back in Konan. There was frantic shouting all about and people rushing around far more than before.
A very bad feeling came to my stomach. Something was terribly wrong. I ran towards the area where I knew Miaka and Mitsukake would be, helping the wounded. My feet pounded on the ground and no one noticed me at all, mostly because everyone was too busy doing something else. When I rounded the corner to the courtyard, which is where people were being treated, because they couldn't all fit into the small sick room in the palace, I saw Miaka helping bandage a man's arm while Mitsukake was mixing medicine for yet another person.
"What's going on?" I asked them, trying to catch my breath.
"I don't know." Miaka frowned. "The shouting just started a few moments ago. I mean, there was shouting before but…"
"Suzaku no Miko!" A soldier came running over to us, dropping down on one knee automatically. "The emperor requests your presence and the presence of the other Suzaku no seishi!"
"Come on." I saw two local doctors coming to take over. "We've got to go." The three of us followed the soldier quickly, who was practically running to a room where the others were waiting for us.
I looked at Saihitei's face and I knew something was dead wrong. I had had a sense before that something wasn't going well but this felt like I had just swallowed a cup full of ice cubes. My stomach jumped.
"Kutou's army has just broken into the city." Saihitei told us, his brow furrowed and I knew that he was in pain, not just for the city, but for the people within the city. He couldn't do anything to protect them. Some had come into the palace, some had fled the city when it was clear we were losing the war. But even though he was the emperor, the most powerful man in the country, he could do nothing to stop the slaughter of his people.
Except for one thing…
"We've got to summon Suzaku now!" Miaka declared what we were all clearly thinking. "We had to wait until Ryuuen got back but he's here now…"
"But it took them like a fucking week to prepare for the goddamn ceremony last time!" Genrou pointed out impatiently.
"That was for ritual's sake, no da." Houjun removed his smiling mask for us. The sight of his scarred face made the whole discussion seem much more solemn. "We can do it now, we really only need the seven us and Miaka."
"And the scroll." Miaka pulled it out of her robes. Her face was set and once more, she looked just like the priestess that she was. "We have to go now, while there's still time."
"Highness!" Another soldier came in. "They're at the gates of the palace!"
"We've got to hurry!" I grabbed Saihitei's arm, not that he needed any prompting, and we all ran out of the room. We didn't have time, we didn't have any time.
Why did we wait? Why didn't we do it before?
I looked behind to see Doukun running with us, having dropped all the papers and quills he had been holding. We couldn't have done it before we met Doukun and then…and then everything was just confused. It was little wonder why we hadn't done it before.
We turned another corner and we could hear the Kutou forces beating on their metal shields as they attempted to break in through the main palace gates. Just as the building that contained the shrine of Suzaku came into sight, they succeeded.
Saihitei and Kishuku both stopped and stared with the same horrified expression. It was the worst case scenario.
"We can't stop!" Miaka tugged on Kishuku's sleeve. He snapped out of it and him and Saihitei nodded at each other. They both served their country, Saihitei as emperor and Kishuku as a soldier. Miaka was the priestess. Myojuan, a doctor. Houjun, a monk. Genrou, a, well, bandit. And then there was me. I wasn't even from this world and yet I knew that this was what I was born to do. This was my duty. To save the country of Konan.
It was why I had been given the symbol of Nuriko. It was why I had been chosen. The soldiers were going to find us. We had to find a way to block them or hold them off so that Miaka could say the words. Even though Genrou and I were at the lead of the group when we entered the shrine, we turned around so that we could close the immense doors. I seized a huge beam that was meant to be put there by several men and put it in place. The doors began to buckle as soldiers pressed up against it from the other side.
My hands braced against the new weight and a burning sensation told me that my symbol was glowing as brightly as ever.
"I can't hold them forever!" I yelled over my shoulder. Genrou leaned up against the beam as well but he wasn't adding the strength that I was. I smiled at him, not realizing there were tears in my eyes until I saw the ones in his. If this didn't work…if everything fell apart now…
"I summon all the great forces of Justice, Faith, and Good Will from the Four Corners of Heaven and the Four Quarters of the Earth to call on you, the Divine Suzaku!" Miaka recited hurriedly. We were supposed to be sending her all our energy but if I stopped to send mine, the doors would bust open and we'd be killed by the Kutou army…
Come on Miaka…
"We ask that you descend from the Seven Constellations to the Earth, to protect us, and destroy all evil with your divine powers for the sake of the people who worship you!" Miaka's hands were shaking as they held tightly onto the scroll. She knew that the entire fate of the country really did rest in her hands. "We summon you thus! Descend upon us from the Heavens!"
And she threw the scroll into the fire and I knew that I had to send my energy to her for it to work. If the army burst in…I would only have a few moments before they killed me. But I had to take that chance. Because it was bigger than me. It was the country that needed saving. Death…death was only a small thing in the face of thousands of lives.
I believe in you Miaka.
I let go of the beam and the doors did burst open just as the room was filled with a blinding red light. It completely filled me from head to toe, like I was bathing in it. I don't know what happened in those next few moments. It was impossible to see, it was impossible to hear. All around us was the god we had served. We were being protected by him.
And then it was over with. The light was gone. I realized that the doors were standing open but there was no one behind them. We all looked at each other in wonder. What had happened? Where was the Kutou army?
"It…we did it." Miaka's eyes were filled with tears, not of sadness or hopelessness, but with happiness. "It was Suzaku. We summoned him."
"I don't fucking get it, what happened to the army?" Genrou looked around as though he expected them to pop out of the bushes.
"Ryuuen." Saihitei stood next to me, putting a hand on my back. "Are you alright?"
"I'm fine." I felt a bit tired but I knew that Miaka was right. Suzaku had come. That red light…who else could have it been. "I thought we wouldn't make it for a second…"
"But we did." Saihitei put a hand on my chin so he could tilt my head up and look me in the face reassuringly. "We saved Konan."
"I wonder what happened though." Doukun looked thoughtful. "That red light must have been some sort of ethereal form of the god we know as Suzaku. Perhaps…"
"I always thought Suzaku was a phoenix." Myojuan speculated.
"I have many different forms."
The voice was strange and powerful, you could tell right away it wasn't human. We all turned to look at the altar, there was a man standing in front of the burning bowl of oil that Miaka had thrown the scroll into. Except it wasn't an ordinary man. He was at least eight feet tall and most men don't have impressive wing spans. He was all red and yellow, from head to toe. Fiery red locks, fierce yellow eyes.
"Are you…" Miaka took a step forward. "Are you Suzaku?"
"I am." Suzaku graciously inclined his head towards us. "The Kutou forces were relocated to their home country. They cannot attack this country. It is protected by my power."
"So it really did work!" Kishuku hugged Miaka in his happiness.
"I can't believe it's fucking Suzaku." Genrou shook his head in disbelief. "I once told Suzaku to go piss up a rope…"
"Genrou!" I hissed at the orange-haired bandit.
"I believe you were inebriated at the time." Suzaku didn't even bat an eyelash. I wondered briefly if he had a really good sense of humor. "But now it is time for goodbyes."
"It is?" Houjun blinked curiously.
"Chou Ryuuen, Nuriko," Suzaku looked at me and I found it very hard to look him straight in the eye. "You are not from this world."
"We know that." Miaka said slowly and I was suddenly aware that I was sweating for some reason. I knew right then that I wouldn't like whatever Suzaku had to say next.
"You have completed your task in this world. Your strength of heart shown so brightly that I knew you would be the only one worthy of the title of Nuriko." Suzaku told me. "So I brought you here once to help Hotohori and then years later, back to fulfill your duty as a seishi."
"He was a wonderful seishi." Miaka sent me a beaming smile.
"But since you've completed your task…" Suzaku hesitated for a moment. "You will never visit this world again."
The whole world seemed to stop and all I could hear was the beating of my own heart. My breath caught in my chest. Never visit again? But that would mean…
Saihitei…I would never see you again…
And Miaka and Kishuku and Genrou and…and everyone! They're my friends!
Why?
"Why?" I asked, my voice shaking and I knew I would burst into tears.
"This world isn't yours. You must live there." Suzaku said in a very final sort of way.
"Why can't I keep visiting?" I could feel Saihitei's hand start to grip my shoulder very tightly.
"That is the way the laws are written." Suzaku looked at me and for a moment I thought I caught a glimmer of something like sadness or understanding. A mixture of both.
"There isn't any way…?" Saihitei's voice sounded faraway. Why was this happening? Kourin's death. And now this. The thing that had given me solace, that had helped me deal with her death. It was going away now.
"There is no way." Suzaku shook his head.
"That's fucking stupid!" Genrou cut in angrily. "You're a fucking god and you can't do fucking anything about it?"
Suzaku stood there impassively. There was nothing left to do. It really was time for good-byes. Tears began to fall, one after another. It was another piece of myself that was being taken away.
"Ryuuen…" Miaka was crying as hard as I was. "You won't forget us, will you?" I hugged her, remembering how she had been when we first met and how she had grown in such a short time.
"No way." I smiled through my tears. "I won't ever forget any of you." As soon as I realized Miaka, Kishuku hugged me.
"Thank you for everything, Ryuuen. I never knew what it was like to have a big brother until I met you." Kishuku's words made me cry harder and we hugged for a few moments more.
"I wish we had more time together." Doukun came for his hug. "We didn't know each other for very long but I'll miss you."
"You're one of a kind, Ryuuen." Myojuan didn't seem the type for hugging but there he was, putting his arms around me like everyone else.
"We both wore masks." Houjun put a hand on my shoulder and looked at me with a proud sort of smile. "You had the courage to get rid of yours…you could let go…I want to be able to do it as you did…you've inspired me…" Then he embraced me like I was his long lost brother.
Then it was Genrou. He screwed up his face, trying not to cry but I knew he wanted to. That was just the way he was.
"Fuck. Fuck." Was all he could say before he practically fell against me and I hugged him for a long time. We had grown so close. We had all grown so close. "I'm gonna miss you Ryuuen."
"Hey," I lit up momentarily. "Remember when you asked me what to do if you like someone?" Genrou nodded, wiping at his eyes with the back of his hand. I glanced over at Houjun. "Tell them." He grinned at me, showing his fangs one last time.
And now it was time for the hardest good-bye of all. I turned towards Saihitei who looked so sad that I remembered him exactly as that little boy in the garden. We wrapped our arms around each other and hugged for the longest time. I couldn't let go…just a few more seconds…that's all I needed…just a few more seconds…
"I don't know what to do without you…" Saihitei confessed miserably.
"You have to live." I told him. "Don't waste away with grief…because it doesn't help. You've got to put your kingdom back together, you've got to go on and maybe…maybe…" It hurt badly and yet I had to keep going. "Maybe you'll fall in love with someone else…you know, Houki, she always liked you. But just promise to keep living. And I'll promise to do the same."
Our eyes met.
"I love you." He kissed me one last time. It tasted of tears. "I love you so much…"
"I love you, no matter what." I put a hand on the side of his face, wiping away his tears. "If you miss me, you can still talk to me. I'm still up there, in the sky you know. And if we both talk to the sky…to our stars…maybe it's the closest we can get…but we should still do it. If that's all we can do, then we'll do it." I told him.
"Good-bye Ryuuen." Saihitei clasped my hands tightly. "Maybe…when we part from this world…into the next one, maybe then we'll be together. I'll wait for you there."
"Good-bye Saihitei." One last bittersweet smile and then I turned to walk towards Suzaku. The others called out to me, to wish me good luck and good health and that maybe, somehow, we would all meet again.
I looked up into Suzaku's eyes and saw that there were tears there, glistening as real as any humans.
And then, the world was gone.
That's it. The end. Oh, wait, except for this epilogue. (Oooh, how I wish I could see everyone's face right now!) Yeah, there's an epilogue. But what will happen in that epilogue? I guess you'll just have to be there or be a rectangle thing! (Sorry, I just read Soul Music by Terry Pratchett.) I hope the end of the chapter wasn't too…you know, sappy. I thought it was good, but I'm biased, I'm the writer. Guess how long I've had this last scene planned out? Not as long as I've had the epilogue planned out! Stay tuned!