To be a Seishi
Chapter three: Talk with the oracle
Rating: M (all my stories are .;;)
Summary:AU. They thought it was over, they thought they could live in peace. They were wrong. A demon is born from the innocence of a child, and in order to stop him, Chichiri has to pay a terrible price and face a fate worse than death. Life. DARK CHICHIRI
Disclaimer: I've been forgetting this, haven't I? Eh, oops. Not mine. Never been mine. I own Jiyu-kun though. But he's evil so he don't count.
A/N: this might very well be the last semi happy chapter for a while. Enjoy it.
OH! See if you can find my nods to famous FY fanfic writer: Roku Kyu in this chapter!
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A startled squeak caused Tasuki to spin around, nearly falling off of the rail he was perched on. He knew that voice..and if he was right he was in for a load of trouble. If he could stay balanced first. It turned out only his death grip on the wood kept him from falling.
Although, later, he would be seriously debating which was worse- a concussion...Or Koji.
"Oh. My. God...Genrou..."He seemed to be struggling with some emotion, whether it be outrageous gaiety or intense horror. His hands were over his mouth and his eyes were huge, eyebrows already gone far into his hairline.
Tasuki snarled, hopping off to stand in front of his friend, "One word...One word, Koji, and Ill hang you over this balcony. Just try me." His hand was already on its way to the tessen that lay against his back. "I dare you, try me."
"No, no, I believe you, buddy." He took a deep breath and started to chuckle, "But darn, Gen. You usually don't give me this much ammunition!"
"This is not my fault." He protested, arms crossed.
The bandit smirked, "You disturbed Chichiri when he was eating again, didn't you?"
"NO!"
"'He hadn't touched the food yet' is not an excuse and does not count, Genrou."
"..."
"Ha, knew it!" Koji laughed, patting the other on the back, his lips pursed as he once again tried to not burst out laughing. But...DARN it was hard! "When are you going to learn, man? Chichiri is a lot of things, and patient is one of them...But have we not learned from experience to not get in between a hungry monk and his food?"
"Yeah, yeah, maybe I was being a little careless." Tasuki sighed, if only to get the other to shut up and leave it be. Yeah, right. This was Koji we were talking about here.
"Listen...I still have to go unpack. Ill see ya later?"He tossed a bag over his shoulder, and saluted the other with his free hand. "Oh, and Gen..?"
"Hm?" Tasuki blinked at him just as warning bells went off in his head.
"Pink hair really suits you." And he bolted.
"KOJI!" Tasuki was quick to give chase, tessen in hand.
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Chichiri crossed his legs as he sunk down onto a mat in the Shrine of Suzaku. The empty cauldron he would use for a fire sat directly in front of him, waiting for him to light it. It was rare that the shrine fire ever go out, for doing so meant disaster for the kingdom...but in this case, he had permission, from both the emperor...And Suzaku himself.
Sticks of incense formed a circle around where he sat, their smoke engulfing him in a sweet-smelling haze. A jar of water from Mt. Taikyoku rested next to him, vapors rising from the surface of the jar, smoke from the cold water meeting the warm air. It was for cleansing himself after he was done.
A robe of ebony cascaded over his shoulders, belted at the waist with a sash of red silk. A splash of crimson wrapped over from his right side to his left chest, in the form of a phoenix and the sleeves draped far over his hands so that he had to fold them back to avoid damaging any of this precious outfit.
His hair hung unbound around his mask-less face, his one eye opened in concentration as he moved his hands in a series of intricate movements that made it look like his hands were dancing; before the cauldron burst into flickering flames, making the incense heavy air glisten red.
"I call upon thee, emperor of the heavens...I call upon thee to help me, to guide me, to watch over me in days of peril, in days of peace. I beseech thee to appear before me now, for the sake of the child in whom your allegiance lies."
The flames grew to several feet high, roaring in the other's ears before they died down before his eyes, until they were barely a few inches over the rim. A form shimmered behind the cauldron and then finally achieved corporeal form, a tall man with glistening light purple hair tied into a bun on the top of his head, black eyes, and an angry expression.
"You could have just called me, you know."
"I know." Chichiri grinned, "But its cooler this way, no da."
He muttered something intelligible under his breath, disappearing in a cloud of silver. When the smoke cleared, the familiar form of the creator floated there, "Is there a reason why you have called me here at this time of day? In peaceful times?"
"Peaceful times?" Chichiri snorted, "You must be joking." He folded his arms, hands in the sleeves. "Surely you have felt it just as I have...That growing darkness bordering on the edge of this capital, drawing on the souls of those knowledgeable enough to feel it."
Taitskun's eyes narrowed, "You speak of blood magic. No one has been able to wield such a power since the destruction of its creator long ago when the gods of this world were mere fledglings. To even suggest it..." She shook her head, "No, you are wrong. It had been too long for it to surface again now."
The monk was silent for a moment before his voice came, soft and quiet."If I am so wrong, then why do you look so frightened?"
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"Why are you here anyway?" Tasuki asked, having stopped his pursuit of the other bandit for now. They were sitting on the steps leading to the doors to the palace, leaning against the railings, just enjoying each other's company. They hardly got to see each other anymore as it was.
"You wouldn't believe me if I told you." Koji blew a bang out of his face, "It isn't like him."
"Chichiri brought you here, didn't he?"
Koji blinked in surprise, "How did you...?"
The seishi smiled, "I guess he thought you'd get a kick out of it..." He frowned at his neon pink hair, but a thought suddenly struck him, and he had to pause to straighten it out. True, maybe Chichiri would have wanted to gloat, but that wasn't all it was. He got to his feet, "Hey, ill see ya later."
"Where ya goin'?"
"Im going to go have a chat with our resident blue-haired monk." He got half way up the steps before he stopped and looked back, so that just his profile was revealed to the other. "Hey, Koji...You were wrong."
The other raised an eyebrow, "Oh really? What about?"
A soft smile crossed his face, "About Chiri... This is exactly like him."
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"I do not know what you are talking about."
"Don't play this, Taitskun! You are playing the old role again- sitting back and becoming ignorant until another demon will come up to destroy the people of this world-and I will NOT have it!" Chichiri snarled.
"I am the teacher, you are the student!" She half-yelled, "I am your teacher!"
"THEN BE THE TEACHER!" He was on his feet before he even realized it, hands curled into fists at his side, "BE the teacher I looked up to and STOP THIS MADNESS! NOW, before even more innocents suffer because of YOU!"
For a moment complete silence reigned in the shrine, and then the oracle's voice, cold and firm, shattered it. "You forget yourself, Suzaku no shichiseishi Chichiri. I am ashamed to say you were once my student."
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"Hey, ya know where I can find Chichiri?" Tasuki grabbed one of the mousy attendants that scurried about the palace and looked him in the eyes. "Aw, come on kid. Im not gonna hurt ya!"
"A-Ah...Master...Master Chichiri...is in the shrine of Suzaku...He asked that no one d-disturbs him...Master...T-Tasuki, sir."
Tasuki nodded, "That so. Well, he's about to get disturbed." He let go and motioned the kid on, "Thanks for the info."
The kid ran.
"Sheesh, why are they so scared of ME?" He shook his head and made his way quickly toward the shrine. Revenge was the last thing on his mind right now, he just felt...that something big was going to happen. And, as always, it had something to do with the mystery monk.
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"Were?" He murmured.
"Yes, WERE! Did you honestly think I would welcome you back after what you did here, just now? Are you that insane and ignorant!" As soon as she said that last she froze, mouth open in shock. "I.."
Chichiri had flinched like he had been struck, before reaching down to pick up his mask. "Yes...Maybe I am insane. But I can take comfort in the fact I will never be able to outmatch you on ignorance. I have a visitor. Good day, Taitskun."
"You cannot just-"
The door opened on its own, revealing Tasuki, who blinked in surprise at seeing the creator. "Ah, what's going on? Am I interrupting? Ill come back later.."
"No, its all right, Tasuki. She was just going home." Chichiri gave her a cold look, "Weren't you?"
She growled, "At least one of you has learned some manners."
"If I would learn them from you id rather not, thank you."
Tasuki shot a shocked glance at his brother warrior. Never before had he heard Chichiri so cold...and disrespectful- especially toward Taitskun! Wasn't she his teacher? "Chiri, I-"
"MASTER CHICHIRI!" A guard dashed into the shrine, nearly knocking Tasuki over as if he weren't even there. "MASTER CHICHIRI COME QUICK! We have reports of heavy casualties on the outmost villages- in the most horrifying way...and by one man! The army is dumbfounded! They cant touch him!"
Chichiri stiffened and then turned so that his perfect profile was the only thing shown to the creator, along with a chilling, ice cold mahogany eye of steel. "I hope you're happy." He snapped before motioning to Tasuki and running out of the shrine, guard on their heels, giving them more details.
Taitskun could only blink at the space where the young seishi had previously stood, and then, her mouth still partially open in shock, disappeared, leaving the shrine of Suzaku empty save for a flickering fire that was blinked out as a wind from the open doors swept inside, erasing the flames as if they had never, ever been.
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OOOHHH! GO CHICHIRI! -waves chichiri flag- You put that...thing...in its place! Speaking of which, can anyone tell me where the TWO nods toward Roku Kyu are? Yes, there are two. -smile-
Now, see that little button on the bottom left of your screen that says 'Submit Review'? Click it and drop me a line! I love hearing from you! That's what keeps me running!
Next chapter: Rokou.
Ohmygod there are other people in the next chapter than Tasuki and Chichiri! -gasp-