Disclaimer: I do not own Fushigi Yuugi nor any character therein.
Chapter Three: The Heist
Listen to your conviction,
Even if it seems absurd
To your reason
- Ancient Egyptian proverb
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Miaka Yuuki walked briskly down the International Hong-Kong Airport terminal. Her shoes made sharp clip-clips on the tiled floor, a sound that seemed to echo the erratic beat of her heart. The airplane trip had been uneventful, mainly because Miaka had sat alone towards the back of the plane, by a window. She had tried to calm the coils of nervousness that refused to leave her stomach, but she had not been successful.
Possibly the fact that the in-flight movie had been a Hollywood blockbuster called 'The Rock', a film where the main action takes place in a penitentiary hadn't helped.
She had little time to dwell on her apprehension however. This had been her plan, and if anyone was going to pay the consequences should it fail it would be her.
Suddenly, for the first time since the book had left her Miaka felt a warm pride surge through her body. She recognized it immediately. Her Seishi were with her. The force of the emotion caused her to stop abruptly, and a business man who had been walking quickly just behind her bumped against her.
"Pardon me--"
The man, who was extremely tall and had a dark mustache inclined his head, muttering something in Chinese that Miaka guessed was an apology. His eyes met hers briefly, and as they're gazes locked Miaka felt her blood run cold.
But before she could utter another word, the man was brushing past her, navigating through the crowd so quickly that she lost sight of him almost instantly.
Her mind racing, Miaka pulled herself together enough to walk briskly to her destination-- the ladies washroom that was right beside the exit doors.
Without raising her head, Miaka entered the washroom and went into one of the stalls, waiting until she knew she was alone.
Had she imagined it? She must have, for when she tried to conjure up the way in which the mustached man had look at her, she could only see his large frame and smooth facial hair. But for a moment, she could have sworn the man's gaze had burned-- burned into her own, a deep scarlet red.
The snap of the washroom door closing as the last occupant left, leaving Miaka alone in the room woke her from her disturbing thoughts.
It was time to set her plan in motion.
Rising from the stall, she set about rummaging through her carry on bag. Standing to look in the large mirror, Miaka pinned her Tokyo Museum ID badge carefully on the lapel of her maternity-style business suit. It was a light pastel mauve jacket and matching skirt, with a cream colored camisole underneath. Yui had picked it out, saying that the colors brought out the golden highlights in her auburn hair. Tetsuya had been indignant, saying that no one should care what Miaka was wearing, because all they'd be interested in is seeing her official identification. It had taken him two days to procure such an ID forgery, but with his favorite Disney movie and bucket loads of noodles, he'd done the impossible. Miaka felt her nervousness return full force, her mind letting go of the incident with the mustached man for the moment. She gazed at her reflection, adjusting her collar and straightening her jacket. She clasped her hands around her budging 'stomach', which was strapped to her waist so as not to fall. It had been a stroke of luck that her father's assistant had been pregnant for it provided the perfect means to safely transport the book from the Museum without anyone noticing.
Miaka took one last inventory of the steps she would now follow and swung her carry on bag over her shoulder as she prepared to leave the washroom. She caught a glimpse of her profile in the mirror opposite the one she had been looking in, and stopped. Her eyes had dark circles beneath them and she looked exhausted. She had not slept for the past two days. Planning and working through potential barriers and risks had taken up all of her energy. She was about to open up her bag again to retrieve her compact and dab a bit of powder on her cheeks when she felt her heart skip.
Someone was standing directly behind her.
Whirling about as best she could with her enormous belly, she found to her relief that no one was there. Her heart still racing, she glanced back into the mirror. She knew she'd seen it-- the image of a man standing behind her. It had come and gone quickly, but she was sure she had not imagined it. Feeling compelled to complete her task as fast as she could before any more incidents or hallucinations occurred, Miaka took up her bag and exited the washroom. As she left the airport however and hailed a cab to take her to the National Museum, she could not stop thinking of what she had seen in the mirror. It had been a man, but that was not what had frightened her.
As she watched the busy Hong-Kong streets whip past as the cab darted along the road Miaka felt her hands tremble in her lap. She knew she had seen it, and that it was not her imagination.
The man had been wearing the ruby red Imperial armor of Konan.
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"Thank you," Miaka said in practiced Mandarin as the cab pulled up to the curb. She paid him and tipped him handsomely. The cabby looked pleasantly surprised, and bobbed his head smiling and thanking her profusely. Miaka knew that her guilty conscience would not be eased by this, but she felt it only fair that the cabby be paid well for his hand in her plan. Stepping out onto the curb, her first glimpse of the National Museum of China was obscured as an enormous gust of cold wind blew her already wind-mussed hair into her eyes.
The sky was dark, much too dark for the time of day which was around two in the afternoon. As if compounding this observation, the sky then shook with a loud clap of thunder. Lightening forked brightly for an instant, a white hot trident against the dark grey sky. Sweeping her hair back off her face, Miaka pushed away her fears at this un-auspicious sign and began to climb the steps that lead to the glassed Museum doors. She looked up, marveling at how enormous the building truly was. It was an architectural marvel-- a museum that had been built to resemble a palace from the T'ang dynasty. Miaka felt a pang of remembrance at seeing its enormous pillars and slanted roof. It looked very much like the palace of Konan, where Saihitei Seishuku, or Celestial Warrior Hotohori had ruled. Miaka swallowed hard, wishing that she could just hear his voice, if only for this moment when she was about to do something she'd never thought she would have to do.
"You will always protect Konan and its people, Miaka. I can die knowing that. I only wish I could repay you for giving me such peace..."
Miaka's eyes stung with tears as she recalled Hotohori's final words to her.
'I will protect them, Hotohori-sama. I promised I would.' she thought resolutely as she entered the museum and took a deep breath, dispelling her tears. This was not the time for tears. From this moment on, she was not Miaka Yuuki, but Misako Ishikawa, research assistant to Dr. Eiko Yuuki, just as her badge said.
'Here I go, everyone...' Miaka thought as she strode up to the admissions desk, her gait deliberately labored as she kept one hand protectively on her 'pregnant' belly. The admissions clerk, an older woman dressed in a beautiful forest green suit smiled brightly at her.
"Good afternoon. May I help you?"
"My name is Ishikawa, and I am here on behalf of Dr. Yuuki from the Museum of Tokyo," Miaka said in English, bowing her head lightly and presenting her business card and ID for the clerk to inspect. The clerk took them and tapped on her computer, no doubt checking to make sure that Miaka had been expected by the Museum administration.
"I'm sorry, Ishikawa-san," the clerk said in English as well, using the proper Japanese suffix.
"But there doesn't seem to be any record of an appointment for an 'Ishikawa' from the Tokyo Museum."
Unflustered, Miaka smiled and said exactly what she had practiced with Yui for the past two days.
"Oh, forgive me but I have no appointment. Dr. Yuuki merely wished that come to update our records on any new additions to the museum," she explained, watching the clerk nod. Miaka felt her heart beat increase. The clerk seemed sympathetic, and friendly. Another stroke of luck. Perhaps this wouldn't be as tricky as they had anticipated.
"And he sent you all the way here in your condition?" the clerk asked, aghast.
Miaka nodded slowly, dipping her head and lowering her eyes in an excellent imitation of someone who was merely an un-loved employee.
"...Yes, I'm afraid so. I would be so grateful if you could tell me where the elevators are, so I don't have to climb all those stairs to get to the exhibits?"
"Of course!" the clerk said sympathetically, her face concerned.
"Would you like a wheel chair? I could have one of our interns help you around the exhibits..."
"Thank you for your kindness, but I wouldn't want to impose," Miaka said feeling slightly guilty at how helpful the poor woman was trying to be to someone who, unbeknownst to her, was about to rob the museum.
"Well, the elevators are just straight through the main lobby," the clerk said now looking very indignant on Miaka's behalf and handing her back the forged ID.
"If you need anything, please ask me." she added in a low voice, giving Miaka's hand a pat.
"Thank you very much," Miaka said bowing her head politely "but I hope I won't be too long. Thank you for your assistance."
The clerk nodded in a concerned but friendly way and picked up the phone as it began to ring insistently.
"Good afternoon, this is the National Museum how can I help you?"
Miaka slipped away.
She reached the elevators and pushed the button for the third floor. Tetsuya had been able to procure not only the codes that unlocked the security system surrounding the artifacts in section B, the section where the book was held, but a schematic map of the entire building. Miaka had studied it non-stop until she had learned where every emergency exit, washroom and other possible hiding places were located. Taking out her cel phone, she went directly to her saved text messages folder and highlighted the message she had created previously to send back to Tetsuya.
'Phoenix in' was all it said, and she hit the send button. According to the plan, Tetsuya should receive her message in three to five minutes, depending on how fast the connection was. Once received, the message would give Tetsuya the signal to turn off the security system in six minutes precisely.
"I've never seen a security system so spider-webbed in all my life," Tetsuya had exclaimed as they all sat in the living room, going over each detail of the plan at hand.
"The building is divided into two-hundred and fifty different sections, each with their own security systems that work on different codes that change every ten minutes. I've found out from their main system that the book is being held in section 103 B, on the third floor..."
The elevator chimed and the doors slid open. Completely focused on the task at hand, Miaka visually saw section 103 B within her mind, drawing from what she had seen on the schematic. She was about to step into the elevator when a hand closed around her elbow.
"Excuse me, Ishikawa-san," a woman's voice said. Panic flooded Miaka's brain, and reflected within the elevator's mirrors she saw a tall, black haired woman standing behind her. The woman grinned at Miaka, who with a jolt recognized the gesture despite the short, black hair. It was Yui.
Unable to respond immediately, Miaka allowed Yui to direct her into the elevator and said nothing until the doors snapped shut.
"Yui-chan?" Miaka exclaimed, trying not to gesticulate wildly so as to attract the attention of the security officers no doubt watching from the security cameras.
Yui tapped her own ID badge, which was pinned to her long black jacket.
"Yui...? You must be mistaken, Ishikawa-san. My name is Fumio, remember?"
Sure enough, the ID badge read: Mitsuko Fumio, Student Intern, Tokyo Museum, Japan
"Is that a wig?" Miaka whispered disbelievingly as she smiled and tried to seem pleasantly surprised.
Yui smiled and returned her bow.
"Like it? Tetsuya picked it out. He said it made me look like a Russian spy, destined to fall in love with the computer hacking genius--"
"I'll kill him!" Miaka smiled through gritted teeth, her cheery disposition strictly for the security camera's benefit.
"You won't have the chance if you end up spending the night in a Hong-Kong prison," Yui answered, her own smile equally forced. The elevator chimed again, and the shiny doors slid open. Before either of them moved to exit, Yui spoke hurriedly.
"Look, I know you would have said no to me coming so I didn't tell you. But I'm here now and there's nothing you can do about it, so lets just get it and then get the hell outta here."
Miaka knew there was no time to object. She thought briefly of telling Yui about the two strange experiences she'd had in the airport; bumping into the mustached man in the terminal and the armored man she thought she'd seen in the washroom mirror, but she knew there was no time. The clock was ticking, and as of now she had only a six minute window in which to get the book. Without a word, Miaka grabbed Yui's hand and squeezed it tightly as they left the elevator and entered the dimly lit corridor that lead to the exhibits.
She felt Yui squeeze back.
The corridor was deserted-- a fact that was both lucky and possibly problematic. It meant that either the exhibits were closed, or that today was a particularly slow one. Miaka prayed for the latter.
"This way," she whispered to Yui and they both walked briskly down the left hand corridor, following the arrow and Chinese lettering that read 'to the Ancient Texts exhibit'. As they approached the double-doors that lead to the exhibit, Miaka and Yui were shocked to see what they had dreaded-- a security officer posted at the doors. He stood with his hands folded, his walkie-talkie blipping and making static noises. He nodded his head in greeting as they past, the dim light reflecting off the smooth surface of his black sunglasses.
'Nice touch, but I would think it would be hard to see with those things on inside,' Yui thought ruefully as she slipped into the exhibit behind Miaka, who directed a charming, vibrant smile at the young man as they passed. The guard tipped his hat at them.
Yui grinned. 'That's my Mi-chan!'
When the glass doors had shut silently behind them, Miaka immediately took from her purse a black palm pilot. Tetsuya had insisted she take it, saying that research assistants everywhere lived by them. She flipped it open, and was surprised to see the word 'Haku-nah-ma-ta-ta' scroll across the screen in greeting. Miaka blinked. She would have to remember to ask Yui about Tetsuya's strange obsession with the Disney Empire. Of course she knew it was perfectly normal for a woman of her age to carry around a Winnie The Pooh wallet complete with matching purse charms.
"How are we going to deal with Agent Doom over there?" Yui asked in a low voice, pretending to be absorbed in the artifact they were observing. Miaka didn't answer at first-- she was busy scanning the room. It was circular, with a blue and white tiled floor which opened up into a lotus pattern. There were glass cases that seemed to grow from the walls around them, each holding a different type of text; scrolls, age worn books whose pages were yellow with age, and tapestries that hung from the wall behind shiny glass barriers. It was beautiful. Miaka felt a twinge of fear prick at her heart. Now that Yui was here, how was she going to protect her if they were caught?
"Well stick to Keisuke's plan," Miaka whispered back.
"Do I have to...?" Yui asked pleadingly already knowing that it was a lost cause. Miaka merely gave her a studied look. Yui sighed slightly, then walked back to the doors and preceded in trying to engage the security officer in cheerful, exuberant conversation. It was a difficult task seeing as the man spoke little English and no Japanese, and seemed determined that if he spoke more than two words at a time his whole intimidating visage would be ruined. Miaka slipped to the back of the room, glancing over her shoulder only once to see Yui flashing a little photo album at the security guard, who despite his serious demeanor, seemed sincerely interested.
'Its a good thing Yui takes so many pictures of her guinea pig,' Miaka thought and smiled despite the knowing apprehension in her stomach. 'Leonardo', short for Leonardo da Vinci had to be one of the biggest guinea pigs known to the entire island of Japan. The fact that he also let Yui dress him up in a painters smock and would hold a little personalized paint brush between his teeth (Tetsuya had always commented that Leonardo seemed to enjoy chewing on it more than painting with it) meant that the photos and paint-shop-pro'ed portraits of the rodent were nearly endless.
Her hands trembled slightly as she lifted the palm pilot and pretended to be taking down entries. Her eyes flickered desperately around the different artifacts, and then her search stopped.
It was there.
Directly in front of her, encased in a large plexiglas box.
The Shi Jin Tenchi Sho, the Universe of the Four Gods.
Beneath it was a polished gold plaque that read in English:
Universe of The Four Gods; Classical Period
T'ang Dynasty (625 AD)
Author Unknown
Miaka's heart leapt. All the grief she had been feeling for the past few weeks melted away, and was replaced by a surge of purpose.
She had to get it back.
Carefully, she glanced back to the doors to make sure Yui had the security guards attention. She was surprised to see that the security guard, despite the language barrier was busy showing Yui some of his own pictures in his wallet.
'Thank you, Yui-chan!' Miaka thought gratefully as she approached the book and checked her wrist watch. The timer read one more minute to go before the security system was deactivated. Miaka admired the beauty of the book even as she was rushed to examine the plexiglas holder that contained it. There was a seam along the top, which she guessed opened it.
Her watch beeped once.
Without hesitation, Miaka quickly glanced over her shoulder-- the guard was still immersed in Yui and his pictures, and the curve of another exhibited artifact shielded Miaka somewhat from view. With hands that shook but were unswayable, she slipped her fingers beneath the seam of the box. It lifted, and no sound came. Tetsuya had done it!
Quickly, Miaka lifted it enough so that she could reach in with her other hand and slowly withdraw the book. It was surprisingly heavy; much heavier than she had ever remembered it being. But there was no time to examine it. Miaka slipped her hand underneath her shirt, and withdrew a decoy book from her 'belly'. Carefully she placed it where the Universe of the Four Gods had rested. It didn't look nearly as noble as its real counterpart, but for its purpose it was enough. Slipping the real book back underneath her shirt, she arranged the pillows that gave her the appearance of being pregnant back into their proper position. She straightened, her hands still molding her fake belly so that no lumps could be seen. She re-buttoned her mauve jacket. She could feel the cool binding of the book against her bare skin, but as she moved to leave the area and head back to the doors and Yui, a searing heat caused her to stop and nearly cry out in pain. Clutching her stomach, Miaka's eyes went wide in panic as the book continued to sear her skin.
'What's happening?' she thought frantically, glancing at Yui. Yui was by her side in an instant.
"Ishikawa-san, are you feeling alright? Is it the baby?"
"B-baby...?" the serious security guard stuttered, his sunglasses slipping down his nose as he eyed Miaka's round belly in panic.
"Please!" Yui called back to him, her tone commanding.
"Go and fetch a glass of water for my friend!"
The security guard hesitated for an instant, and Miaka let herself moan in pain aloud this time to hurry up his decision.
"Okay, I'll be right back, wait here!" he said in broken English.
'Thanks, but no.' Yui thought as she watched the security officer dash from his post and disappear down the hall. Yui turned to Miaka.
"You did it! Lets get out of here--Miaka? You look pale, are you alright? We have to hurry, now!"
"Yui..." Miaka whimpered, her chest heaving as the book grew more hot, more heavy with each passing second. The pain was nearly unbearable.
"Miaka!" Yui exclaimed in alarm, her hand touching her fake belly.
"You're burning up! What's happened--"
"Have.. to go.." Miaka said with effort, and clutched Yui's hand tightly. Yui grabbed her and helped guide her out the doors and into the corridor. They were inches away from the elevator when suddenly Yui heard the crackle of a walkie-talkie close by. From what little Mandarin she knew, she could understand the words 'women' and 'search'. Yui's blood ran cold. They must have found out that the temporary power loss in security system 103 B was not due to the server but due to a hacker. They had to get out, fast.
Silently, Yui slung Miaka's arm over her shoulder and started to sprint as quietly as she could to the end of the corridor, where the emergency exit would take them down a flight of stairs to the street. She heard footsteps, and voices behind them suddenly coming closer, what sounded like orders being fire off urgently.
"Almost there Mi-chan, hold on!" Yui grunted as she helped her friend sprint faster. The emergency exit sign flashed a bright red, and just as Yui reached out for the bar handle, she heard something lock into place.
It was the emergency locks.
"Turn around!" called out a harsh voice in English. Yui turned slowly. Two security guards were poised, guns raised, not twenty feet from where she and Miaka stood.
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"Drop any weapons you are carrying!" the second guard commanded, his gun trained on the two women. Yui felt Miaka suddenly tremble violently in her arms.
"She's hurt!" Yui answered in English.
"We have no weapons, but please let me see what's wrong--"
"Let her go and put your hands up!" the security guard interrupted sharply. Yui didn't move. Miaka gave a sudden gasp of pain, her face perspiring and her eyes unfocused as she looked down the hall at the guards.
'No, please, protect her! Protect Yui-chan!'
The guards moved forwards.
Miaka screamed.
Within the next few seconds, Yui was thrown back and the guards were thrown off balance as well, their guns flying out of their hands. A red light burst into the corridor, its vibrancy blinding. Miaka's own cry had faded and turned into a sound that Yui recognized. It was a wild, piercing sound.
It was Suzaku's cry.
The sound was deafening. It echoed off the walls, causing the guards to cover their ears in fright. Terrified, they bolted back the way they'd come, the light disorienting them and causing them to trip and stumble. Yui's eyes ached as she tried to see through the vivid red light, but just as she caught a glimpse of Miaka's silhouette the light faded instantly and was gone.
Yui panted, glancing around herself in panic.
So was Miaka.
Looking down at the floor, she saw the book lying, its pages flung open. With her heart in her throat, Yui knelt down, her eyes catching the first line of red inked text that scrolled across the open page.
...Suzaku with his last ounce of strength called to him the only one with the power to stop the destruction of their Universe forever. And thus the Priestess Miaka was once again summoned to the land of Konan...
'Miaka!' Yui whispered, tears filling her eyes. Without thinking, she grabbed the book and pushed at the emergency door. On her second try, it opened.
'Tetsuya must have over ridden their security codes,' she thought feverishly as she descended the emergency stairs three at a time, the book clutched tightly in her arms.
'You'll be safe, Miaka, I promise!' Yui thought as she reached the bottom, and shoved the book within her jacket. Pushing open the emergency door, she trotted out to the street, glancing around for any sign of commotion. There was none. She doubted the security guards would have gotten over the shock of what they witnessed yet, but still, she hurried to the curb and hailed a cab.
"To the Hong-Kong Airport, please." she said, careful to remove the book without the cab driver seeing. She slipped it into her shoulder purse, zipping it shut. It was a tight fit, but she was confident no one at customs would question why she was taking a book on the plane. The Universe of the Four Gods was bound in a thick red leather cover, so no one would be able to recognize at first how old it really was. Her heart still beating in her throat, Yui leaned back in her seat and gazed out the window at the blurry street. Rain pelted the car, but she hardly noticed how wet she had gotten from her sprint to the cab.
'Miaka...' she thought worriedly.
'I hope you're safe, where ever Suzaku has taken you...'
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It was raining.
Miaka felt herself tumbling through the air, wetness soaking her as she fell.
The red light was fading, and as it did she saw the landscape below her rising up quickly.
Too quickly.
Miaka saw tall trees rushing upwards, then the figures of people-- men, on horse back. They were littered everywhere, and she could now hear voices yelling and shouting from all directions.
She was going to hit the ground at any moment!
Squeezing her eyes shut tightly, Miaka braced herself for the hard impact.
A startled, guttural cry of pain shook her ear drums as she fell not onto the ground-- but onto someone.
She felt the someone beneath her groan and was heaved a little into the air as a pair of arms lifted her up. Barely able to stay upright, Miaka felt her mind slipping into blackness. She could smell smoke. A face was hovering above hers, a face smudged with smoke and.. was it blood? The arms were lifting her up, and suddenly she heard a voice that sent a jolt of recognition through her body.
"Cover me, and tell the others to retreat back to the mountains!"
"Are you mad? We can win this--!"
"Do it, or I'll use you for target practice!"
Miaka heard orders being shouted, and the sound of horns echoing within her hazy mind. She opened her heavy eyelids just in time to see a pair of wide, amber eyes looking at her with a mixture of disbelief and alarm.
Miaka's dry lips parted. She knew those eyes.
"Tasuki..." she whispered, before darkness obscured his face, and her eyes slid shut again.
TBC...!
A/N: Thank you so much KittyLynne and vegetas-mate2 for your kind reviews! I have the next chapter written, and hopefully this week I'll be able to get the next four done too! I have the outlines ready, so all I need to do is write them up! Also, an interesting fact about the quote at the beginning of the chapter: when I was looking up Ancient Egyptian quotes, I read that the quote above comes from a temple. (Either Luxor or Karnak) Apparently, the Egyptians covered their temple walls with different proverbs, ones for the inside, and ones for the outside. The proverbs reflected an understanding of nature, and how it affects all living beings-- so not just Gods (Or God!) worship was the source of all wisdom! Mmm.. interesting! If you'd like to see the website I visited, just PM me and I'll send you the link! Thanks again!