Author's Note: Quick update, ne minna? Again, thank you to Amaya-san for looking over this chapter as well. If any explaining for confusion or whatever is needed, just ask. Thank you to all those who reviewed, and I know my quick update means I won't reply to some review in time. But I appreciate all my readers!
To Baby Sparrow: I'll never stop the cliffhangars! BWA HA HA! No, seriously, I'm just joking. Thank you for your review, and I'll "keep up the good work".
To Songwind: It will be a long time before you read this, but I'm glad you started a fic that was all ready so long! Ganbatte!
To Metajoker: Your review was much appreciated, you're my toughest critic, and you had only nice things to say! I'm very glad you liked the chapter. I'm also very glad that you enjoyed my battle scenes!
To Polynesia: Yes, I'm making a sequel, though it won't be nearly as long. Your review made me laugh. You'll find out who the blue-eyed chick is in this chapter, na no da!
To Delphine: I want to personally thank you. You wrote a nice review, and you gave me your honest opinion without being cruel. Thank you! Yes, some of the things weren't creative, like the bed sheets, but I was at a loss for ideas. I wish I could redo it though!
Do you like battle scenes? I'm surprised that 75 is your favorite chapter! Wonder what mine is… And About Taka, he's the same person, but he started getting "Tamahome's" memories back, and so he wanted to be called by his original name. When and if he goes back, he'll be "Taka".
To Kaeru Soyokaze: Brilliant? Why thank you! The Mystery girl shall be revealed, na no da.
Chapter 76 : Power ShiftMiaka slowly opened an eye, than the other. She was still there. She lifted her head in shock, and saw a strange woman kneeling in front of her.
"Daijoubu ka?" She asked, her voice light and upraising.
Miaka sat up very slowly, watching the girl. The girl watched her too, with her crystalline blue eyes. Smooth, black tresses fell over her shoulder, the front strands pulled back behind her.
"Who... are you?" Miaka whispered.
The girl smiled and stood up. An odd, pink skirt fell over her legs, high slits on either side of it, exposing a rather large portion of her legs. Two wide, strapped sleeves were on either shoulder, connected to the bodice with large, golden circles. She looked almost like one of the Greek women Miaka remembered studying from school.
She gave one last glance to Miaka, and turned around to face Nakago, along with the other Seiryu seven. Her demeanor changed completely.
"Is it the pride you really want, destroying these people so mercilessly?" She asked coldly.
Nakago didn't reply, at least not at first. He took a moment to scan over the newcomer. "This battle between warriors has lasted far too long for someone to stop it now."
The girl lowered her eyebrows. Soi, Miboshi, and Suboshi moved away from Nakago, but only to prepare the fight again.
"You're god is summoned." She stated. "Your quarrels with them should have ended with that."
Nakago's smirk finally returned, masking any disappointment he had from the interruption. "You are naive. Now tell me, who are you?"
"Does it matter?" A second voice came.
Nakago looked back to another stranger, one standing to the side of the injured seishi.
"What's... goin' on?" Tasuki asked weakly.
Nuriko looked over the man, still breathing heavily from his injuries. The first thought that came into mind was the similarities between he and Mitsukake. The man was tall and broad-shouldered, and he had dark brown hair that stayed up in thin, short spikes.
The girl glanced back at the other, then returned her focus to Nakago.
"I don't like mindless killing. I don't like Kutou either." The man said in a low voice.
Nakago stepped back and held his hand out again to prepare another attack. "This is taking too much time." He pointed out bluntly.
Soi smiled and started the lightening in the sky back up, a gust of wind coming to raise her back up.
Nakago sent off a chi blast. The girl jumped out of the way, and the Suzaku seven were forced to scatter themselves to avoid being hit by the brilliantly powerful spectacle.
Soi's lightening flashed down onto the Suzaku seishi, hitting off course and creating a tremendous fault in the ground.
Soi pulled her arm back. She gasped, shaking it off. Cold snakes had bitten onto the armor of her forearm. She quickly raised herself higher into the air.
"Uruki, IKE!"
The order came from another man. He lifted a hand up to his face, concentrating. The air around him began shifting, and his one visible eye opened and flashed brightly. A wave of ice serpents rose around him, spreading out over the field, latching onto the Seiryu warriors.
Miaka's eyes went wide, as did Tamahome's.
"That's... the man from... the cave...." She whispered, shocked.
The new man wore a black robe, fashioned like that of Hokkan's. A black eye patch covered his right eye, and long, light gray hair flowed down his back.
"Hai!" Uruki responded to the command, running forward. She darted around two lightening bolts and stopped right under Soi.
"URUKI-KUN!" She shouted, grasping her shoulders and stiffening the muscles of her back. Streams of snowy wind formed around her like a tornado, and they flew up in a spiral, surrounded Soi.
"AAH!" Soi shouted as the cold snow blinded her sight. She was forced to lower herself down to the ground, losing control of her balance.
Miboshi looked frantically from one warrior to the next. "What's going on?!" He shouted as his top spun again. Two, centipede like monsters crawled forward, heading towards the Suzaku warriors.
-
WHOOSH!
WHOOSH!
Two arrows flew right by Nuriko's ears and pierced into the stomach of one of the monsters.
A young man ran forward, bow in hand.
"Yeah!" He shouted at his target.
Tasuki held his bleeding side and looked on in total dismay. "That guy...." He said to Chichiri. "He's..."
The man looked younger than the first three, and he had midnight blue hair that was cut short above his ears. He had a pack of arrows on his back, and the style of bow he used was fairly old-fashioned.
-
Uruki jumped up into the air and waved her hand by either of her ankles, pulling two, small, silver daggers out. She swung her arms out at Soi.
Soi held her hands forward and shot out horizontal bolts of lightening at the girl.
Uruki smiled, dodging all of them. Her agility was outstanding. She flipped up into the air and came down onto Soi, a dagger scraping against her breastplate and a foot colliding in with her side.
Nakago sent off a chi blast at Miaka, and a wall of ice in front of her shattered instead.
Miaka quickly looked to Tamahome. "Tamahome, hurry, let's go!" She rushed.
Tamahome shook his head. "I can't..." he winced, "my legs..."
Nuriko limped quickly towards the two. "Miaka, run, I'll take care of him."
Miaka looked at Nuriko and nodded. She stood and ran, spotting Saori off in the distance. Miaka changed course and headed for her.
-
Ice serpents flew towards Suboshi, but each one was destroyed by several flying ryuseisui. The peculiar weapons waved around the 16-year- old like a shield. An orb shot out towards the eye-patched man.
"Hikitsu, watch it!" An arrow flew into one of the bells and sent it off course.
Hikitsu turned around. "Tomite, take the right, now."
Tomite nodded and ran back towards Miboshi. He pulled three arrows out and held one between each of his fingers, pulling them back on his bowstring. The arrows suddenly encased themselves in ice, and shot forward like bullets. Two hit into the second centipede, and the third hit the top in Miboshi's hand. The arrow shattered upon impact and sent the demonic object to the ground.
Miboshi scowled at the young warrior and beckoned the spindle back, the piece easily returning into use. He didn't lose a second's time, and soon more portals opened to allow further monsters into the battle.
-
"Here."
Nuriko looked up to see the tall brunette standing over him. He knelt down and carefully and picked up Tamahome.
"He needs to get away from the battle, his legs are broken." He informed.
Nuriko was about to respond, but started coughing violently. He was straining against his injuries, and reopening them.
-
"Saori! Saori!" Miaka shouted. She still wasn't close enough for the girl to hear.
Miaka heard the sound of something cutting through the wind, and she turned around to see a glowing meteor bells hurdling towards her.
Screaming, she ran faster, jumping out of the way as the bell whizzed by her side. She rolled across the ground, and felt her foot give over a ledge.
"AAH!" She screamed, her feet falling fast. Her hands grabbed onto the ledge, her nails scraping along the loose dirt, searching for anything to get a hold of. The weight of her body pulled hard on her scrambling limbs.
She had fallen into the fault that Soi had created earlier with her lightening.
"Tamahome!!" She cried out, though she knew he wouldn't come for her.
Her fingers began to give way. "HELP!" She screamed.
Saori finally noticed Miaka. "MIAKA!" She screamed, barely able to see her anymore. She got up to run, ignoring a sharp sensation that pained in her leg.
Miaka started to pull herself up, getting her elbows on the ledge. However, behind her another huge bolt of lightening struck into the fault, shaking its walls. Miaka screamed and grabbed for something, but it was no use. The ledge shook her off and she slipped into the canyon.
The air rushed by her fast, bits of rocks and dirt falling with and around her. Her elbow scraped against the fault's wall.
"HELP!" She screamed one last time, nearing closer and closer to the ground.
A white light flashed above her, and at first she thought it was more lightening. However, a figure began falling after her instead.
It was a man... with wings....
Miaka held her hand out and the figure caught it, pulling her close to his chest. His arm around her, the long, white wings on his back flapped a few times, and the two began soaring up. Miaka Shut her eyes as the pressure of the rushing air pressed onto her hair. The two flew by the opening of the fault and higher into the air.
She opened her eyes and looked at the man in shock. "You..... You're my angel...." She whispered, recognizing the man.
He glanced down at her, smiling. He had white hair that fell to his shoulder, and it was cut very choppily. Miaka couldn't pull herself away from his dark maroon eyes.
"We meet again, Suzaku no Miko." He said very kindly. He flapped his wings again and soared closer to the ground. He landed gracefully by Saori, who had stopped when she saw the man appear.
"Be careful, Priestess." He spoke, releasing her back to the confines of the earth. He turned around and flapped his wings, showing that they came out of his actual, bare back. The feathery extremities waved harder, and he darted high into the sky, gliding where Soi was again floating.
-
Tasuki was standing up, but with little balance. He coughed lightly, blood running down the corner of his lip. Chichiri was with him, helping him the best he could.
A bright blue light caught the corner of Tasuki's eye.
He turned to Chichiri. "Get down!" He shouted.
The two dropped to the ground, but the chi blast skimmed over the arch of Chichiri's back.
Chichiri winced, the mask on his face giving into gravity and falling off. "That hurt, no da..."
Tasuki pushed himself up and saw the gash on Chichiri's back. "Damnit!" He shouted. His loudness squeezed at the bleeding gashes at his side.
-
"Saori, come on! We have to get them out of here!" Miaka grabbed Saori's wrist and pulled her along.
"Who... what's happening?!" Saori asked.
"I don't know, but hurry!"
Saori finally got with it and started running, and she ended up pulling Miaka further, since she was the faster runner. They headed towards Chichiri and Tasuki first.
-
"Nyan-Nyan!" Another Nyan-Nyan called out, appearing right in front of Nakago.
Nakago's eyebrows lowered and he pulled his sword, slashing it across the Nyan-Nyan's small chest.
"NYAN!" The girl cried out, landing hard on her back. A long cut started to bleed on her front. The Nyan-Nyan's arms and legs grew as she breathed hard, and quickly she transformed into a young man.
"Itai..." He said, sitting up. The cut on his front slowly grew thinner and smaller until it disappeared completely, leaving a rip in his Hokkani clothes. He looked up at Nakago. "That hurt."
Nakago expressed some sort of angered surprised, and he shot out another life force blast at the boy.
The warrior rolled backwards and stood up, facing the opponent. He looked a bit like Tomite, but his skin was lighter, and his hair darker. His aquamarine eyes quivered at the sight of the blonde general.
"Hatsui!" Tomite shouted, jumping from behind Nakago and landing with the other warrior. He shot his hand out and sent a green ring of energy at Nakago. The binding enveloped the blonde around the waist.
Nakago smirked. The "spirit" symbol on his forehead lit up, and the energy ring broke like glass.
Tomite stepped back, shocked that his attack was defused so easily. He nudged Hatsui. "Come on Hatsui, do it, do it...."
Hatsui blinked a few times. "It's... not working..."
Tomite cursed, pulling his arrow back and letting it fly, trying to buy time with the powerful Seiryu warrior while Hatsui charged up his own attack.
The arrow collided harmlessly with a blue barrier surrounding Nakago. Nakago was the most powerful warrior of the Seiryu seven, possibly even the strongest on the field. Two adolescents had no chance against him. With a simple thought, the barrier around him lit up brightly.
"GAH!!!" The two warriors shouted, being thrown back.
-
Uruki looked back from Soi at the scream. Turning back to her own battle, however, she saw a sword coming down on her.
She jumped back, Soi's sword hitting the ground. Urumiya flew above her.
Uruki raised her hands in a offensive martial arts stance, the sign of "Woman" glowing brightly on the front of her neck.
Soi's eyes widened. "Then you are... You're..."
"Stunningly gorgeous?" Uruki smiled. She ran forward and struck both hands at Soi, the Seiryu warrior barely avoiding them. A strike came close to Soi's head, sending her hair out of its holder and down around her.
-
Miaka and Saori had reached Tasuki and Chichiri, and Miaka had taken off the belt to her robe to tie around Chichiri's numb shoulder.
"Hold on you guys, please..." Saori was starting to cry now too.
"It's just... a scratch..." Tasuki forced the words. He had reopened his wounds too, and though the bleeding was slow, it was continuous.
-
Suboshi's meteor bells whipped through more of Hikitsu's ice snakes. The ryuseisui returned to him again, and multiplied to make up for the ones that were lost.
"You're losing." Suboshi pointed out.
Hikitsu held up his hand again in concentration, closing his eyes.
That made Suboshi angry. "Quit ignoring me!" He shouted, sending out three of his meteor bells. They flew towards Hikitsu, but magically swerved around him instead of striking.
"What?!" Suboshi asked.
Hikitsu was very lightly glowing green, and he still remained in his concentration.
Suboshi stepped back and held out a single, spinning bell in his hand. It split into three, then nine, then 12. Suboshi threw the whole dozen at Hikitsu.
Hikitsu's violet eye shot open, and an army of ice serpents flew to meet the ryuseisui bells. They rammed sharply, icy fangs latching onto the spinning orbs and pulling them down to the ground.
The earth beneath Hikitsu's feet soon turned into the frozen liquid as well, and it spread out like water towards Suboshi. Suboshi leapt up into the air as it passed over, but when he landed, he slipped.
"Damnit!" He shouted, getting back onto his feet. He leapt up again, returning to ground not covered with ice. With a quick flash he disappeared from Hikitsu's sight to continue battle elsewhere.
-
"Got it!" Hatsui shouted, facing Nakago again. He held his hands out, and the air around them began to ripple, the effects spreading outward.
Nakago stopped advancing. The objects around him began waving slightly, as though he were looking past a fire.
Suboshi and Miboshi stopped as well. Suboshi shook his head, a dizzy feeling coming over him. He started to lose his balance.
"What's... going on....?" Tamahome asked, feeling woozy.
The man with him closed his eyes to take on the effect, expecting it.
Nuriko fell to his knees. The scenery of the battle got blurry, and he felt like he had just been spinning. The luring sensation made his stomach churn.
Miboshi was about to drop his spindle, but then recovered his senses.. The dizziness suddenly stopped.
-
"Lost it." Hatsui murmured.
Tomite grabbed Hatsui's collar and yanked him to the side as a life force blast hurdled past them. The aura of light kept flying, not stopping.
"Miaka!!!" Saori shouted, seeing the light flying towards them
Chichiri pushed Miaka and Saori down, covering them with his body.
Miaka watched the light heading towards them. The heat and swelling of it could be felt as it neared.
It exploded like a firework right before the quartet, like an egg hitting a windshield. The light smashed into a force field, spreading out to the sides.
"Nani?" Miaka asked. Suddenly, she felt something shaking from beneath her robe. Chichiri released her and she sat up.
The rod Miaka had carried with her flew out from her, so quickly she didn't have time to catch it. It soared up into the air, the two swords within it ejecting forward. It twirled down like a baton into a hand that finally caught it.
"NAKAGO!" The holder shouted, running towards the Seiryu warrior, "YOU'RE MINE!"
The girl leapt up into the air and brought the sword crashing down onto Nakago, hitting the spherical field surrounding him. The spot of impact sparked wildly, and the blade was eventually repelled, the attacker was sent back, landing on her feet and raising her weapon again.
Miaka's eyes shook as she saw what was happening.
Nakago formed a ring of light in his hand and sent it out towards the attacker. It exploded in a blinding light, the girl landing several feet away. She had short, plain brown hair that fell only an inch or two past her shoulders, and she was dressed head to toe in men's clothing.
Tasuki pushed himself off the ground, squinting at her.
"It..." Miaka breathed. "INAMI!" She shouted.
The girl turned her head for only a moment before Nakago attacked again. An oval shaped life force blast was flying her way.
The symbol of the ox flashed brightly on Inami's forehead, and the shield around her expanded outwards to collide with the blast.
whooooOOOOOOOM!!
The force spread over the section of the battlefield, sending dirt and rocks flying every which way.
At that moment, Uruki's hand came down and gashed open the skin over Soi's collarbone.
When the explosion settled, Nakago was seen inside his circular field, hovering up in the air by the dark clouds. The smoky dust in the air illuminated the blue aura flawlessly.
Hikitsu ran over to Nuriko, quickly getting him off the ground.
-
Inami's shield returned, and she turned her vision away from Nakago. The arm of mountain that originally hid Miaka and Saori now shook, large boulders of it breaking off and flying into the air towards the blonde.
-
Tomite sent out three more ice-covered arrows towards Miboshi, one taking course to Suboshi who fought nearby.
Miboshi's spindle spun and another portal opened, the head of another insect like monster poking out.
Tomite pulled his bow back and shot an arrow at the monster before it could come free. the arrow hit it in the forehead, and the monster hissed sharply and retracted back into its dimension. Tomite shot off another arrow at Miboshi's spindle, again knocking it out of his hand.
Miboshi shouted something in anger, extending his hand to get the spindle. A third arrow pierced through his arm.
"AHH!" He shouted, holding his arm closer to him.
Meanwhile, Suboshi's meteor bells whizzed by Hatsui, a single one cutting his arm in three different places. Hatsui winced, but it only took a moment for the wounds to heal themselves.
Suboshi growled. "I'm getting sick of this!" He held one more ryuseisui in his hand, and it started to whistle as it spun. The bell shot forward.
Hatsui tried to dodge, but it was no use. The bell entered through his stomach and out the back end, sending his blood cascading everywhere.
"HATSUI!" Tomite shouted.
Hatsui looked at Suboshi, his hand touching the wound. Hatsui's face began to pale, so much that is became translucent. His body followed, and he returned to the form of his spirit.
Hatsui dropped to his knees and knelt on the ground. "Nyan-Nyan..." He said sorrowfully, looking at the still, beaten child in front of him.
"URUKI-KUN!"
A blizzard of snow swept again over the battlefield, reaching to every warrior. The dark cloud in the sky began to lighten to a still gray, the kind of blanket like clouds that hovered overhead so often in the winter. The whirling flakes concealed several of the warriors like fog.
Miaka shivered, bringing her hands in close. "It's... so cold...."
-
"NAKAGO!" Inami called through the wind, floating up to his level in the sky.
Nakago raised an eyebrow. "Well well," he smirked, "I never would have expected you."
A bright flash of blue and green flashed from within the storm, throwing the snowflakes in all directions. The cuts of thin ice felt like needles as they struck against the flesh of the other warriors.
The man with Tamahome looked into the sky. "They are about to retreat."
Tamahome, who was barely staying awake, focused on the man. "How... do you know?"
The man smiled. "I always know."
-
The snowstorm slowed, the clouds in the sky gradually puling away from one another. The ground was covered with a very thin, wet blanket from the icy downpour.
Nakago stood, center field, his forehead glowing brightly. "Do not think you have won, Genbu." He said lowly. "We will return."
Every one of the four Seiryu warriors began to glow blue, and they vanished from sight.
"Teleportation?" Tomite asked, stepping up to Hikitsu.
Saori very slowly stood up, her body pounding and begging her to rest. She looked at the spread warriors of Genbu, from one to the other. She could only see six, however. One walked towards her, smiling. She offered a hand to Miaka, who was on the ground still.
"Daijoubu ka?" She asked again.
Miaka breathed hard, not saying anything. She was in too much shock.
Tasuki, still holding his side, pushed himself off the ground one more time, standing up. His clothes were stained heavily with blood, and he was pale from both that and the cold. His back hunched a bit from the pains in his side, and his full weight couldn't rest on his right leg. His breath was still a bit visible every time he exhaled. He watched ahead of him, tired.
"Akue..." He whispered.
The girl a ways in front of him turned around, her double sword still in hand. Her eyes met Tasuki's. Slowly, very slowly, she began to fade away, until her entire image was gone.
Tasuki's eyes went wide. He looked around. Every other warrior was gone too.
He stepped forward, holding his free hand out. His body couldn't take any more strain. He fell on his next step, crashing down to the ground, completely over taken by sleep.