Disclaimer: For those of you who don't know, I don't own Fushigi Yuugi. There, I said it. Happy now?!
Chapter 25: Night of Hell
Taishi laughed. "Yes, I am the Celeste Warrior Taishi. You are Kokyu, I can feel it. Your aura is too strong for any mere human. Also, you're the only girl here other than the Priestess of Suzaku..." Jade nodded, still slightly confused. The older warrior made her way over to the small group huddled around Tatara. The Byakko seishi turned to Tamahome and said weakly "You are...Tamahome...correct?" The seishi nodded, and he continued. "Even though we knew we would be seperated...Suzuno and I...the Priestess and I loved each other...the same way you two love each other. Even though we had to part...even though we would never see each other again...we had no regrets. She may have returned to her world, and started a family with another man...if she was happy, that was all that mattered to me. So, even though we were in seperate worlds...our hearts were joined, and we were always together...and I will never stop loving her..." He closed his eyes for the last time, and Jade's eyes filled with tears. How two people could love each other so much, over such vast distances...she didn't want that to happen. Even if it killed her, she would not leave Tasuki. The redhead saw her crying, and made his way over to her. Taishi watched the couple embrace, and she smiled sadly. "Karasuki...how much I miss you..." Jade heard the Celeste Warrior, and she turned. "What happened?" Taishi bowed her head. "As you know...Karasuki, one of our seishi, was my Protector...and we loved each other... After Byakko was summoned, I remained in this world to stay with him. We married soon after the summoning, and lived happily together for quite some time. Subaru used the same spell that she used on Tatara on me, that is why I appear so young. Karasuki, on the other hand, refused. He hated the thought of looking younger than you actually were, and that was probably the end of him. A few years ago, he fell sick, and I never left his side, tending to him as best I could. It was in vain. He slipped away one night, peacefully in his sleep. Even though a long time has passed, I still love him..." The Celeste Warrior's eyes shone with sadness for her fellow warrior. The older woman then smiled at her. "Do not worry about the relationship you share with your Protector...his chi is incredibly strong...you two will be happy. I can tell." Jade nodded thankfully. Hearing it from someone who had experienced it first-hand helped a lot. The others sadly laid Tatara down on the floor, Tokaki and Subaru more upset than the others. Suddenly, Chiriko cried out in pain. Jade rushed over to him. "Chiriko!!!" The little seishi looked up, and his soft grey eyes were sharp. He chuckled evilly. "I am Miboshi, of the Seiryu Seven, and I now claim this body!"
Everyone gasped. Tasuki began to laugh nervously. "C'mon Chiriko, knock it off! Stop pretendin'!" Jade shook her head and said quietly "I don't think he's joking around..." The younger seishi started floating in the air, and the odd, wheel thing that Miboshi used to summon monsters floated up to his hand. Tamahome narrowed his eyes. "That's Miboshi?! What's going on?!? Miboshi was just killed!" Miboshi cackled. " That was only a body that I used. Now that it is dead, I move on to this host! By mastering many spells, I move from body to body freely. Children are especially weak, so this was but a simple task." Tasuki grew pale as he said softly to Jade and Miaka "Look...his mark...it disappeared... We have to find a way to help him somehow. He's in real danger with that creep usin' his body..."
"Oh no you won't. Until Lady Yui summons Seiryu, I'll let you play with my monsters for a while!" The wheel started to spin, and a large, three-headed snake burst out of the ground. It lunged to strike, but Chichiri blocked it with one of his spells. Miaka, stupidly, stepped through the barrior and was immediately set upon by the monster. Then, as she was hovering in the air, Miboshi started sending hight volts of electricity through her body. Jade drew her sword as she heard the Priestess scream out. "Don't worry, Miaka!" Chichiri placed out an arm in front of her. "Don't go out there, no da!" Miboshi laughed again. "As easy as it would be just to kill her, I think I'll entertain all of you instead. After all, I can't kill the Priestess of Suzaku without due ceremony..." Miaka tired to cry out to Chiriko with her mind, and for a second, his eyes became big and fearful, but Miboshi regained control. "No! This child is mine!" he hissed. Suddenly, the snake shreaked as it was sliced apart. The Priestess fell into the arms of an incredibly handsome young man. (Okay, I'll admit it. As hot as Tasuki is, you can't beat young Tokaki!) Jade felt herself drooling at his golden eyes and silvery hair. Tasuki, noticing this, hit her over the head. "Hey! Who's girlfriend are ya anyways?" The man flashed a grin at Miboshi, who was staring at him, horrified. "What you just saw was teleportation. I was here the whole time. You were just too stupid to notice! But, that has always been the specialty of Tokaki, Byakko seishi."
The Celeste Warrior fell out of her fantasy with a large bump. "YOU'RE THAT PERVERTED OLD GUY?!" she screeched. Meanwhile, Tama was having just as hard of a time comprehending this. "Y-you're my master?!" Tokaki teleported over, snorting. "Heh. Well, no one ever said you were the brightest student in the world..." Tasuki was laughing at Jade. "Hahahahahaha, your dream guy is some old fart!" She turned red and beat him over the head with his tessan. "I was just joking around moron, jeez! He's, like, 90 years older than me!" He gave her a sly grin. "Yeah, but ya didn' know that at the time, did ya?!" She sulked. "Fine way for you to get jelous..."
"Well, what was I supposed to do?! You were droolin' over some guy!"
"I still love you, baka! Don't you dare call me a slut!"
"Did it sound like I was? No! Calm down, onna!" Jade crossed her arms over her chest in a defeated gesture, and he hugged her, laughing. "I still love you, you silly onna!" She smiled. "Okay then..." Tokaki, who had handed Miaka over to Tamahome, snorted. "Well, that's a kind gesture, and I know I'm irrisistable, but you can keep her, Red. She's not my type." Jade looked furious, while her koi just laughed. Tamahome asked his master how he got so young, and a voice came from behind them "I used a spell to transform us back to the way we were 90 years ago." A beautiful woman with long white hair and grey eyes stepped out of the shadows. "Wow, I forgot! You're sexy!" Tokaki whistled. It was Tasuki's turn to drool, and the Celeste Warrior grabbed his tessan and began to beat him with it. Subaru knelt in front of Miaka and muttered a chant to cause the Priestess to awaken. Of course, she bit down on the Byakko seishi's ample chest and said "Dumplings!" The seishi laughed abd informed Miaka that she had restored her body to the way it was yesterday. She also told her that she was the only one who could stop Yui. Miboshi suddenly yelled "I won't let you!" He began to summon a powerful demon. The ground began to break apart, and they all ran for cover. Tasuki grabbed Jade and pulled her as close to him as humanly possible. Miboshi came up inside of a huge monster. They all tried to call out to Chiriko, and the seishi turned to look at them. His eyes became wide, as they had before, but once again, Miboshi regained control. The manster began pounding the ground with it's huge fists. As they ran, Jade kept trying to reach Chiriko. They ran down a flight of steps, and the monster followed. Miaka fell right in front of it and screamed. The Celeste Warrior, normally brave and courageous, pressed against Tasuki and whimpered. The moster punched out, but the fist stopped right in front of the Priestess. Chiriko had stabbed himself in the arm with the demon-summoning wheel. The bandit's eyes grew wide. "Chiriko..." The little seishi cried "Please Jade! Kill me now! Please! Use your chi-blast...just kill me!" She shook her head, tears streaming down her face. "No Chiriko! I could never kill you! You're like a little brother to me!"
"You have to! Otherwise, he'll start attacking you again!" Tasuki shook his head also. "You're talkin' crazy! She could never do that to you!" Miboshi tried to fight his way out, but Chiriko stabbed himself in the stomach. "I-I won't lose to him! Not even without my mark!" Jade began sobbing. "No Chiriko! Don't do this! I-I won't let you die too!" The youngest Suzaku seishi screamed out as he drove the wheel through his heart. "NOOOOOOOOOO!!!! CHIRIKO!!!" the Celeste Warrior screamed as she tried to fight Tasuki's grasp. The monster crumbled away, leaving only Chiriko slumped over on the ground. They ran over to him, Jade screaming out his name. Mitsukake put out his hand to heal his wounds, but he wouldn't let him. "Y-you can't! You'll heal him too!" Jade shook her head wildly. "B-b-but then you'll die too!" He turned weakly to look at her, smiling softly. "Then...this way...I'll take him with me...Just like...Nuriko did...Forgive me...please...I was too weak to be of any good use..." Tamahome's eyes widened. "What are you talking about?! You just showed more courage than any of the rest of us ever have! It saved all of our lives, didn't it?!" Tasuki nodded as well, tears dripping down onto his coat. "That's right! You're not weak, don't even think that!" The little seishi looked over at Miaka and said "Miaka, go stop The Priestess from summoning Seiryu..." She nodded, her eyes full of tears, and ran off with Tamahome, Chichiri, and the three Byakko warriors. Then, he turned to the redheaded couple, who were sobbing quietly, and said "Tasuki...Jade...Mitsukake...T-take the scroll that Tai-Itskun gave me...and go..." Mitsukake shook his head. "You'll be lonely...so we'll stay with you a little longer..." Tasuki was full-out sobbing at this point. "I-I've never met anyone as special and as brave as you...Chiriko, you've taught me so much about being a better person..." Chiriko then spoke for the last time. "J-jade...Tasuki...p-please take care of each other...you two made me proud to be a Suzaku seishi, and were always my role models...thank you..." Then, he cried out and closed his eyes in eternal rest. Tasuki's eyes grew wide, and he touched the younger seishi's arm gently. "Ch-Chiriko..." Jade pulled away and gently hugged Chiriko's body to her, regardless of her fear. "No...not you too..." she whispered gently before laying him back down and sobbing into Tasuki's shoulder. The bandit himself buried his face in her hair and wept shamelessly. As Mitsukake healed his wounds, a voice filled the air. "Well Jade, I suppose you got rid of Miboshi, but I won't let you stop Yui!" The Suzaku Warrior's head whipped around to see Tara, in blue armor, standing at the doorway, sword drawn.
Well, what do you think? Good so far? This part always makes me cry, because Chiriko was so brave to kill himself for his friends...sniff...I promise, the next chapter will be really good! And the final Celeste Warrior will make her appearence, as well as Karasuki, so stay tuned!
Chapter 25: Night of Hell
Taishi laughed. "Yes, I am the Celeste Warrior Taishi. You are Kokyu, I can feel it. Your aura is too strong for any mere human. Also, you're the only girl here other than the Priestess of Suzaku..." Jade nodded, still slightly confused. The older warrior made her way over to the small group huddled around Tatara. The Byakko seishi turned to Tamahome and said weakly "You are...Tamahome...correct?" The seishi nodded, and he continued. "Even though we knew we would be seperated...Suzuno and I...the Priestess and I loved each other...the same way you two love each other. Even though we had to part...even though we would never see each other again...we had no regrets. She may have returned to her world, and started a family with another man...if she was happy, that was all that mattered to me. So, even though we were in seperate worlds...our hearts were joined, and we were always together...and I will never stop loving her..." He closed his eyes for the last time, and Jade's eyes filled with tears. How two people could love each other so much, over such vast distances...she didn't want that to happen. Even if it killed her, she would not leave Tasuki. The redhead saw her crying, and made his way over to her. Taishi watched the couple embrace, and she smiled sadly. "Karasuki...how much I miss you..." Jade heard the Celeste Warrior, and she turned. "What happened?" Taishi bowed her head. "As you know...Karasuki, one of our seishi, was my Protector...and we loved each other... After Byakko was summoned, I remained in this world to stay with him. We married soon after the summoning, and lived happily together for quite some time. Subaru used the same spell that she used on Tatara on me, that is why I appear so young. Karasuki, on the other hand, refused. He hated the thought of looking younger than you actually were, and that was probably the end of him. A few years ago, he fell sick, and I never left his side, tending to him as best I could. It was in vain. He slipped away one night, peacefully in his sleep. Even though a long time has passed, I still love him..." The Celeste Warrior's eyes shone with sadness for her fellow warrior. The older woman then smiled at her. "Do not worry about the relationship you share with your Protector...his chi is incredibly strong...you two will be happy. I can tell." Jade nodded thankfully. Hearing it from someone who had experienced it first-hand helped a lot. The others sadly laid Tatara down on the floor, Tokaki and Subaru more upset than the others. Suddenly, Chiriko cried out in pain. Jade rushed over to him. "Chiriko!!!" The little seishi looked up, and his soft grey eyes were sharp. He chuckled evilly. "I am Miboshi, of the Seiryu Seven, and I now claim this body!"
Everyone gasped. Tasuki began to laugh nervously. "C'mon Chiriko, knock it off! Stop pretendin'!" Jade shook her head and said quietly "I don't think he's joking around..." The younger seishi started floating in the air, and the odd, wheel thing that Miboshi used to summon monsters floated up to his hand. Tamahome narrowed his eyes. "That's Miboshi?! What's going on?!? Miboshi was just killed!" Miboshi cackled. " That was only a body that I used. Now that it is dead, I move on to this host! By mastering many spells, I move from body to body freely. Children are especially weak, so this was but a simple task." Tasuki grew pale as he said softly to Jade and Miaka "Look...his mark...it disappeared... We have to find a way to help him somehow. He's in real danger with that creep usin' his body..."
"Oh no you won't. Until Lady Yui summons Seiryu, I'll let you play with my monsters for a while!" The wheel started to spin, and a large, three-headed snake burst out of the ground. It lunged to strike, but Chichiri blocked it with one of his spells. Miaka, stupidly, stepped through the barrior and was immediately set upon by the monster. Then, as she was hovering in the air, Miboshi started sending hight volts of electricity through her body. Jade drew her sword as she heard the Priestess scream out. "Don't worry, Miaka!" Chichiri placed out an arm in front of her. "Don't go out there, no da!" Miboshi laughed again. "As easy as it would be just to kill her, I think I'll entertain all of you instead. After all, I can't kill the Priestess of Suzaku without due ceremony..." Miaka tired to cry out to Chiriko with her mind, and for a second, his eyes became big and fearful, but Miboshi regained control. "No! This child is mine!" he hissed. Suddenly, the snake shreaked as it was sliced apart. The Priestess fell into the arms of an incredibly handsome young man. (Okay, I'll admit it. As hot as Tasuki is, you can't beat young Tokaki!) Jade felt herself drooling at his golden eyes and silvery hair. Tasuki, noticing this, hit her over the head. "Hey! Who's girlfriend are ya anyways?" The man flashed a grin at Miboshi, who was staring at him, horrified. "What you just saw was teleportation. I was here the whole time. You were just too stupid to notice! But, that has always been the specialty of Tokaki, Byakko seishi."
The Celeste Warrior fell out of her fantasy with a large bump. "YOU'RE THAT PERVERTED OLD GUY?!" she screeched. Meanwhile, Tama was having just as hard of a time comprehending this. "Y-you're my master?!" Tokaki teleported over, snorting. "Heh. Well, no one ever said you were the brightest student in the world..." Tasuki was laughing at Jade. "Hahahahahaha, your dream guy is some old fart!" She turned red and beat him over the head with his tessan. "I was just joking around moron, jeez! He's, like, 90 years older than me!" He gave her a sly grin. "Yeah, but ya didn' know that at the time, did ya?!" She sulked. "Fine way for you to get jelous..."
"Well, what was I supposed to do?! You were droolin' over some guy!"
"I still love you, baka! Don't you dare call me a slut!"
"Did it sound like I was? No! Calm down, onna!" Jade crossed her arms over her chest in a defeated gesture, and he hugged her, laughing. "I still love you, you silly onna!" She smiled. "Okay then..." Tokaki, who had handed Miaka over to Tamahome, snorted. "Well, that's a kind gesture, and I know I'm irrisistable, but you can keep her, Red. She's not my type." Jade looked furious, while her koi just laughed. Tamahome asked his master how he got so young, and a voice came from behind them "I used a spell to transform us back to the way we were 90 years ago." A beautiful woman with long white hair and grey eyes stepped out of the shadows. "Wow, I forgot! You're sexy!" Tokaki whistled. It was Tasuki's turn to drool, and the Celeste Warrior grabbed his tessan and began to beat him with it. Subaru knelt in front of Miaka and muttered a chant to cause the Priestess to awaken. Of course, she bit down on the Byakko seishi's ample chest and said "Dumplings!" The seishi laughed abd informed Miaka that she had restored her body to the way it was yesterday. She also told her that she was the only one who could stop Yui. Miboshi suddenly yelled "I won't let you!" He began to summon a powerful demon. The ground began to break apart, and they all ran for cover. Tasuki grabbed Jade and pulled her as close to him as humanly possible. Miboshi came up inside of a huge monster. They all tried to call out to Chiriko, and the seishi turned to look at them. His eyes became wide, as they had before, but once again, Miboshi regained control. The manster began pounding the ground with it's huge fists. As they ran, Jade kept trying to reach Chiriko. They ran down a flight of steps, and the monster followed. Miaka fell right in front of it and screamed. The Celeste Warrior, normally brave and courageous, pressed against Tasuki and whimpered. The moster punched out, but the fist stopped right in front of the Priestess. Chiriko had stabbed himself in the arm with the demon-summoning wheel. The bandit's eyes grew wide. "Chiriko..." The little seishi cried "Please Jade! Kill me now! Please! Use your chi-blast...just kill me!" She shook her head, tears streaming down her face. "No Chiriko! I could never kill you! You're like a little brother to me!"
"You have to! Otherwise, he'll start attacking you again!" Tasuki shook his head also. "You're talkin' crazy! She could never do that to you!" Miboshi tried to fight his way out, but Chiriko stabbed himself in the stomach. "I-I won't lose to him! Not even without my mark!" Jade began sobbing. "No Chiriko! Don't do this! I-I won't let you die too!" The youngest Suzaku seishi screamed out as he drove the wheel through his heart. "NOOOOOOOOOO!!!! CHIRIKO!!!" the Celeste Warrior screamed as she tried to fight Tasuki's grasp. The monster crumbled away, leaving only Chiriko slumped over on the ground. They ran over to him, Jade screaming out his name. Mitsukake put out his hand to heal his wounds, but he wouldn't let him. "Y-you can't! You'll heal him too!" Jade shook her head wildly. "B-b-but then you'll die too!" He turned weakly to look at her, smiling softly. "Then...this way...I'll take him with me...Just like...Nuriko did...Forgive me...please...I was too weak to be of any good use..." Tamahome's eyes widened. "What are you talking about?! You just showed more courage than any of the rest of us ever have! It saved all of our lives, didn't it?!" Tasuki nodded as well, tears dripping down onto his coat. "That's right! You're not weak, don't even think that!" The little seishi looked over at Miaka and said "Miaka, go stop The Priestess from summoning Seiryu..." She nodded, her eyes full of tears, and ran off with Tamahome, Chichiri, and the three Byakko warriors. Then, he turned to the redheaded couple, who were sobbing quietly, and said "Tasuki...Jade...Mitsukake...T-take the scroll that Tai-Itskun gave me...and go..." Mitsukake shook his head. "You'll be lonely...so we'll stay with you a little longer..." Tasuki was full-out sobbing at this point. "I-I've never met anyone as special and as brave as you...Chiriko, you've taught me so much about being a better person..." Chiriko then spoke for the last time. "J-jade...Tasuki...p-please take care of each other...you two made me proud to be a Suzaku seishi, and were always my role models...thank you..." Then, he cried out and closed his eyes in eternal rest. Tasuki's eyes grew wide, and he touched the younger seishi's arm gently. "Ch-Chiriko..." Jade pulled away and gently hugged Chiriko's body to her, regardless of her fear. "No...not you too..." she whispered gently before laying him back down and sobbing into Tasuki's shoulder. The bandit himself buried his face in her hair and wept shamelessly. As Mitsukake healed his wounds, a voice filled the air. "Well Jade, I suppose you got rid of Miboshi, but I won't let you stop Yui!" The Suzaku Warrior's head whipped around to see Tara, in blue armor, standing at the doorway, sword drawn.
Well, what do you think? Good so far? This part always makes me cry, because Chiriko was so brave to kill himself for his friends...sniff...I promise, the next chapter will be really good! And the final Celeste Warrior will make her appearence, as well as Karasuki, so stay tuned!