Chapter Six

Amefuri was the only one several feet away from the cart when the ground started to shake, but he quickly had moved toward it like it was his habitat of protection.

"More Colossal Scorpions?" he muttered, more to himself than the others, "It's rare to see even one on this path. . . "

"How many would it take to make the ground move like this!" Lanva asked in an almost sarcastic manner, feeling his fingers start to slip from the counter of the cart. He gripped as tightly as he could, but it proved to be as challenging as standing up straight in moving sand.

Doulin protectively held Suzuno, who started to tremble on her own while remembering the one that she had to battle for her life simply hours ago. As predicted, everyone's guesses were right on the spot, and rumbling upwards through the sands onto the surface came many Colossal Scorpions.

Starting with their tails they came about, at east six or maybe seven of them. They crawled slowly in a united form towards the cart. They seemed to have been underground for a long time and their legs unused, for when they moved onward, their legs cracked constantly, making the noise of a rainmaking cactus filled with thousands of needles. The sound was almost like a poison; the closer the noise was, the closer they knew they were to their deaths. But such a noise was almost calming, that they even had to battle their senses as well as their sights.

Even Lanva -who to Suzuno had never seemed like a very serious person- jumped into the water of the cart, not caring about his clothes getting wet, and surrounded both she and Doulin with strong arms protectively.

"Everything will be fine," he whispered, massaging his fiancé's back in particular to ease a tense stiffness. Then he smiled, shutting away his fear for the both of them. "Everything will be okay; we'll take care of it."

Amefuri stepped away from everyone, challenging the colossal scorpions, and they paused cautiously. He closed his eyes and smirked, speaking to them. "That's right. You can smell it don't you?" Lanva, Suzuno and Doulin looked at him curiously. "The acids and the remains of one of your kind! And you know I did it!"

Suzuno watched with wide eyes as Amefuri's right hand seem to literally melt, bones and all. He didn't at all seemed phased by this, as if he had done it a million times; but the colossal scorpions sensed that even ones as huge as them were in danger to a tiny human. All of his fingers had flowed back like the melting wax of a candle into the center if his palm, where it collected readily. Even though the rest of his arm all the way to his elbow was melting at a much slower pace, he paid no attention to it, and just held out a stubbed limb forward before him. For a moment he had paused all movement, and then he tipped his hand a little, letting a drop fall onto the sandy ground.

The second Amefuri had reacted to the literal melting pot in his had, Suzuno felt something on her nose, and then she realized that the sky wasn't so sunny anymore. Being caught up in the presence of so many dangerous creatures, she hadn't even noticed that dark foreboding clouds had caged up the beautiful blue of the sky, and they looked well and ready to shower upon everyone there.

Suzuno sat herself up straight, moving away from Doulin a little and pricked her nose where she had felt something, knowing exactly what it was in a heartbeat. 'A raindrop.' She looked at Amefuri, trying her best to ignore his skin-deformed arm, with its flaps hanging. 'Could he have something to do with the sudden rain?'

And it was so. As Amefuri poured more and more contents of what was once his skin into the ground, dissipating it and creating a smoke chemical reaction with the sand, a thicker rain poured. Lanva suddenly yelped a little and the two girls looked at him curiously as he let go of them.

"What is it?" Doulin asked.

"It's my earrings," he replied, shifting his eyes to the right and fiddling with his ears. He held out his hands where a yellowish liquid bubbled. Even through the rain the golden color was clearly visible.

"They melted . . ." This time Doulin screeched, and they both noticed that her necklace, filled with red rubies and lavender jewels incased in gold started to disintegrate under the rain as well. Lanva smiled and reached out a hand towards her breasts, "Hey, let me clean that up for you . . ."

"Idiot!" Doulin shouted while hitting the side of his face with an angry fist. "We're supposed to be serious now!"

As the two began to argue back and forth again, Suzuno had scooted away from Doulin and was looking over to Amefuri, who was concentrating intensively. She noticed the same loud shrieking noise occur with the scorpions as when she had been first rescued, and the Colossal Scorpions shook and writhed in pain as their shells thinned and soon split open, their soft pink inside shifting out like boiling water.

'I understand!' Suzuno thought proudly. She held up her hand to collect raindrops in her hand, and then looked down at the mini pond she created. 'This is acid rain . . .'

At first she smiled when she looked over to Amefuri, who was attempting to use his Celestial Abilities to control poisons and acids to save them all, but she also noticed a pained expression on his face. He wasn't as concentrated anymore as his own acerbic skin liquefied, but instead beads of sweat were forming on his face and his eyes were squeezed shut. He gritted his teeth and his body was shaking.

"Amefuri," Suzuno whispered, concern clear in her voice. "He's in pain. . ."

Guilt set in at the idea of someone hurting themselves for her. She wasn't really worth it that much, was she? At first she thought that this Celestial ability of controlling poisons and acids for him meant that he was completely immune to them as well . . . With his expressions, she was now completely sure that it wasn't the case. She stood up and jumped out of the cart, making it rock and knocking the almost married couple back to their senses.

"Suzuno!" they both shouted, reaching out to her but not exactly moving from their place. Suzuno felt the sand, although nicely compacted together from the water that coursed though it now, kick back as she ran towards Amefuri. When she reached him, she stood in front of him with her arms stretched out to her sides.

"Please, stop," she said to him in a normal tone, although before she had intended to speak louder. At first Amefuri ignored her, but seemed to react a little when she said, "This is hurting you too, isn't it . . .?"

"No!" he said in a loud voice, smiling to cover up an obvious lie. "Not in the least! I'm not hurt . . ."

"Please don't . . ." Suzuno had never been one to make friends her entire life, yet three people she barely knew had easily welcomed her with open arms. She was the one of whom they would play tricks on at school, but they had comforted her when she cried from the damage she took. The feeling of her need to protect them, even if there was nothing she could do was so strong she couldn't just sit there. These people were here for her, and now she had to be there for them. "Please, stop hurting yourself!"

x

"Takao!" Puriti shouted, shutting the book as fast as she could. She gripped it closed, but it seemed like it was a daunting task. Suzuno's father seemed to notice a sort of glow coming from it and an idea had sufficed. Instead of wanting to keep the book closed, he directed Puriti to open it. Immediately . . .

x

With her words came a powerful an unexpected reaction. Her body became encased with a bright white light, spreading as far as the eye could see. It was so strong that Doulin, Lanva and Amefuri had to cover their faces in order to keep from blinding themselves. An unimaginable strength radiated like the rays of the sun through the desert; it was so powerful that it was like ones' inner strength was being carried along with it. Suzuno opened her eyes, which she had closed to prevent herself from crying and before she saw the desert again, she could have sworn she saw a white tiger running before her. 'And Daddy . . . I heard him . . .'

The vision was over in seconds, and she felt her energy completely leave her. She fell to the ground, and Amefuri kneeled a little to catch her with his one whole hand. Doulin and Lanva, just as concerned, jumped off the cart towards the two of them. They noticed that carcasses of the scorpions were scattered everywhere and immediately they knew that the white light had destroyed their enemy.

"Is she okay?" Doulin said in a concerned voice, pushing Amefuri out of the way.

"She's . . ." he said, not reacting to her rather forceful movement. The two of them looked at him. "She's the one."

"The one?" Lanva asked, putting his hands on his hips. "The one what?"

"Nevermind. Let's take her to my home in Sairou's capital. We can let her rest, and besides . . ." He held up his arm, which when the rain had stopped had hardened to make a deformed stub with tough mounds like small hills all over. There was a mix of his dark skin that now swirled like the result of a burn, his blood which dried and crackled on the surface, and even a pinkish color like his some of the muscles in his arm. It was a disgusting an unnatural site. But even then, he smiled. "I can't ignore such a cute girls' request. I have to get healed, and Sairou's the only place I know that has the materials."

x

"The three decided to abandon the heavy and now waterless cart in hopes of getting to the Capital much sooner. At first Lanva volunteered to carry the unconscious Suzuno Oosugi, but when noticing Doulin's rather flustered face he let Amefuri. He was happy to do it, and even though he only had one full arm, it didn't seem like a handicap. . ." Puriti paused for a second, sighing a little. "Is this really happening? I'm not buying it."

Takao smiled, turning the key to his car and starting the ignition. "It's understandable that you're confused," he said, not angry at all. "I've been through this once before, but for you it's something that doesn't seem possible. Not believing it is only natural."

For a moment, Puriti almost wanted to believe it. Looking at his face, he was just so . . . so . . . honest. Would a man like this possibly lie about something, even if it was so extreme?

He spoke again. "I'm going to go home to see if I can somehow get Suzuno out of the book. I can drive you back to school if you wa-"

"No!" she shouted, surprising him. She gave him a smug expression, cocking up an eyebrow. "You showed me this stupid thing, so you can't stop me from learning more. I don't care what you say!" Takao still looked at her strangely, not used to being bossed around so much by a child when he had raised one so quiet as Suzuno. But he didn't scold her; he laughed jovially. Puriti turned her head in the other direction towards the window, hiding her face that wanted to smile along. She muttered as she spoke, "I guess you'll have to know my name then . . . I'm Puriti Hongo."

"A pleasure. I'm Suzuno's father, Takao Oosugi."

'Takao,' she repeated in her mind to herself, pleased with the name. She already knew it before, but still, hearing him introduce himself to her made her happy. She glanced over to him for one second, but he was focused on driving now, safely keeping his eyes on the road. Deciding that introductions were all they needed at the time, she opened the Universe of the Four Gods again and continued to read.

x

Suzuno, although her eyes were closed from just waking up, could immediately smell a thick mix of perfumes and aromas around her. The stench was so strong that she ruffled her nose. She wasn't sure what place of all places she could be at to deliver something so strong and curious, she opened her eyes. She was ready for something grandiose, but when she turned her face so that her body wasn't facing a wall, she didn't feel so impressed.

It was a tiny room she was in, with many mirrors on the wall, some smeared with fingerprints and pinkish lipstick and ones lying on the ground that were completely shattered with their shards spread on the floor. The scent she noticed before was easily explained with bottles upon bottles of colognes on the dresser next to her, which also had a large mirror on the top of it as well; there were long, thin bottles and short, elegantly round bottles. Some, shame as it may be, had been turned on their sides with the liquid from inside dripping out. While the room seemed crowded because of its size, those couple of things along with the bed and Suzuno herself were the only things that occupied it.

She suddenly sat up instead of rolling onto her side again lazily when it finally came through to her that she was alone.

"Where are they?" she said quietly to herself. This was the first time she had truly been alone in this place other than walking in the desert; she had done that out of free will, however. 'The desert . . .?'

While her memory was fuzzy of her time in the desert after the Colossal Scorpions came, she specifically remembered a tiger. Not just any tiger, however, with an orange coat; it was a snowy white body, powerful and beautiful. And while it seemed strangely enough, this creature had come straight before her and spoke to her, of all things. What it had said was by far stranger . . .

'Priestess of Byakko?' Suzuno thought, leaning over the bed and looking down at a hardwood floor that long needed to be dusted. 'It called me the . . . but how could I?'

She instantly thought back to when Amefuri explained who the Priestess was, according to legend. "A girl from another world, destined to find the seven warriors of Byakko when the land is in its worst condition . . ." Now that she thought of it, she really could be . . . But why her? Couldn't Byakko have chosen someone braver, more suitable to journey? Could she really . . .?

"It's alright," she concluded, standing up onto the floor. "I think he made a mistake . . . He'll send me back once he knows I can't . . I'm probably not someone so important."

"Suzuno?"

She looked over to the entrance where Amefuri was standing, a sweet smile on his face. "How are you doing? Did you just wake up?"

"Um . . . Uh-huh."

"I'll get you something to eat soon; you're in my mother's room, by the way."

So this was where she was . . . Suzuno suddenly felt eased, even though she still wasn't completely familiar with her surroundings. It did explain the need for so many mirrors and perfumes in a way. She can't imagine even girls at her school would be so concerned with their looks.

"It is a little weird, huh?" He seemed to read her mind. He waved off her more agreeable expression like it was normal. "My mother is a prostitute growing old, so she always worries about her looks. It's a complex for her!"

"A . . ." Prostitute? She couldn't even say it. To her such a thing sounded dirty; wrong. She didn't feel resentment for someone she didn't know, but she had never been in such a situation to be so close to knowing one. . . She knew the son of one. While affectionate, he was kind, so . . . Did he really grow up with such a woman? 'I wonder about his father then.'

Amefuri paused with a rather unsettled expression, then leaned against the wall and pointed to the bed, suggesting she sit down. While she was still a little shocked about her surroundings and whose surroundings they happened to be, she did as she was asked. Once she was out that phase and ready to focus, she noticed that Amefuri's right arm all the way up to his shoulder was completely bandaged.

"I need to talk to you about something," he said, half serious and half trying to lighten the obvious blow she took. He knew she couldn't possibly be used to hearing such news, judging by her actions to everything so far. She was far too timid to live in the same sort of world as him. He sighed. "As I've told you, I'm one of the seven Byakko Warriors, waiting for the Priestess."

"Uh-huh . . ." she said quietly as she nodded, putting her hands in her lap.

"Well, a particular sign of the Priestess is a white light, the color of Byakko. Seiryu of Kutou is Blue, Genbu of Hokkan is Black, and Suzaku of Konan is Red. When you told me to stop using my power, you . . . You gave off a white glow, and destroyed all of the Colossal Scorpions like you were protecting us. No one, unless they were a God, or a Warrior could have done that . . ."

"Oh." Is that what happened? 'I destroyed them all?'

"Or . . ." he looked at her defiantly. "A Priestess."

Something seemed to creep up her spine with the way her spoke so directly to her when he said that. Just a moment ago, she was thinking things nearly the same. 'Could I really be . . .?'

Amefuri got off from against the wall and walked in front of her, bowing respectfully, then taking her hand and kissing it like a gentleman. "As Amefuri of the Celestial Seven Warriors, please accept my allegiance with you . . ." He gave her one of his soft smiles. " . . . Priestess of Byakko!"

X x x x

Author's notes: Chapter six edited. Wow, Suzuno is officially the Priestess after six chapters! Amazing how long that took . . . lol:D Still, I'm glad to take it slow. I hope this story has kept interest!

Special thanks to Kaeru Soyokaze, Suzuno Oosugi, Care, babysparrow and TamaKat!