Fushigi Yuugi: Death's Enchantment
Episode 6
"Determination"
Misty Schmitt
28 March 2001

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A/N: I wrote this fic years and years ago. I'm posting it here because I am no longer updating the original site I had dedicated to it. Please be nice when you comment, and remember that I (and my writing style) have changed since 2001.

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"You have to help me, Aino.. I have to get away from him. I have sold my soul to the devil himself, and I cannot reverse the bargain. Save me Aino.. only you can…. You…"

"NO! I can't save you… you're a demon.. TASUKI-CHAN!" Aino screamed as she darted into the bed of the bewildered Tasuki…

"Ai…. Aino? What is it?" He said as he circled his arms around the hysterical girl.

"I…. A dream… I had a dream about him…. Nakago….. I'm so scared Tasuki-chan… scared of what lies within me… scared of the demons we have to face…. " Aino sobbed into Tasuki's breast.

"It will be alright, Aino-sama… I am here.. to protect you… always." Tasuki sighed as he held her tightly in his arms. He felt the softness of her skin and the warmth of her tears as they flowed like liquid metal against his bare chest… "That's right, Aino… you can't hold it in…. let me know… let me know your pain.."

The tears suddenly ceased. Aino looked up to Tasuki, the glowering embers from the fire before casting an eerie red glow on her delicate features, like blood. Tasuki was reminded of the scene earlier that day, and he shivered.. how coldly she had killed! Surely, there was something inside this girl…

"Do you really want to know, Tasuki? Then here, touch my fingers.."

Suddenly, Tasuki wasn't sure he wanted to know at all. Suddenly, he was afraid of what horrors this girl might hide within her.

"Don't worry, Tasuki… I don't mind you knowing anymore. I'll just show you what happened that night…. that Nakago took me… it won't hurt you… please, let me show you!"

Hesitantly, Tasuki brought his quivering hand to her fingertips… slowly the two hands meshed. A bright purple light surrounded them, and Tasuki screamed out…

….At Nakago.

"Kisama!" but there was no reply from Nakago.

"Tasuki!" the voice of Aino descended upon him. It sounded at the same time angelic and sorrowful, "This is my memory. You can't talk to it, baka. Only watch.. so watch Tasuki. Watch…." Her voice faded away as Nakago turned. Tasuki could see Aino in his arms.

"Aino-sama… Or should I call you the Sei no Miko. No. This time, you must be the Shi no Miko. It is of no importance anyway. I come to you so that you might fulfill a promise made long ago, when I was another man."

Aino's eyes opened slowly, all around her were huge trees. She moaned softly, "Where am I?"

"That, too is of little importance, Shi no Miko. What is important, however, is that I need you now to help me, to fulfill your promise to me."

"I…. Have no idea what you are talking about… now take me back… I don't know you! GET YOUR HANDS OFF ME!" Aino began thrashing about in Nakago's arms. To Tasuki's amazement, he slapped her and threw her to the ground.

"Child! You have no choice in this. Your fate has already become reality – you are here to manifest the ultimate evil for him.."

Aino's eyes grew large with fear… ultimate evil? What will happen to me.. I don't know what he is saying!

"What promise are you speaking of, boy?" Aino demanded.

Nakago's eyebrows lifted at that last comment. "So, you retained your liveliness, did you? That's fine, but I will not have such impudence from the likes of you, so as punishment for your impertinence…." Nakago calmly stated, and threw his ki at the unsuspecting Aino. This ki was nowhere near as powerful as it was when Nakago was still of the Seiryu seven, but the effect was still great.

Aino cried out as she hit the trunk of a rather large tree. The force of Nakago's will kept her cemented in place.

"Now, Aino-sama. Are you willing to listen without interruption? Well then, I shall continue. I intend to bring you to Him, so that I will be free to finally die. This world tires me."

"What the hell do you mean, so that you can finally die? Just jump off a damn cliff if you're so intent on killing yourself! What in God's name do I have to do with this?"
Nakago smiled slightly and closed his fist, intensifying the energy pushing Aino into the trees tough bark. She cringed as the pain grew nearly unbearable.

"I told you… no more interruptions. I cannot die.. at least my soul cannot. I made a bargain with Him hundreds or years ago… you should remember it Aino, how cruel of you not to."

"I…. Don't know what you mean!" Aino managed to reply. The pain was growing worse.

"No, I would not expect you to, you pitiful human." Nakago spat the last words so venomously that Aino looked up at him. For the first time since they met, his face had lost its calm demeanor and it was twisted into a grimace of rage… but his eyes displayed pain.

A voice inside the Shi no Miko cried out - Help him, Aino! It's not too late for him!

Aino felt warmth radiate from the inside of her body. She was soon surrounded by a purple light, and it felt as if someone else was controlling her. "Nakago." She smiled down on the tormented soul "Nakago, I can help. I can heal your wounds. Please let me… old friend.."

Anger lit up in the eyes of the man who once desired to be a God. "You BITCH! How dare you offer to help me now that I am.. this! DAMN you! No… I am taking you to Him and HE will deal with you and I will be free…. I sold my eternal freedom to him.. for what! For you, you fucking ungrateful wretch! FOR YOU! The one I loved.. the only one in all my lives.. the only one!" Nakago forced himself to regain composure.

"No. This is not the way. I will take you to Him myself. But first, so that akuma is fooled… you must be spoiled…." A small smile played at Nakago's lips, "Won't that be beautiful, my precious one? I will be free and you will be useless to Him…. I will have punished you both and saved you from him in one action."

Tasuki's eyes widened. Spoiled? What…?

Aino's screams pierced his ears. "NO, NAKAGO.. this is not the way, I can free you of this.. you can be relinquished. I don't remember any of what you just said.. everything is a haze, but if you sold your soul to Him for me, then I can free it… Just don't do this.. please… no… YAMETE!"

Aino's pleas fell on deaf ears.

"If I can't have you, then no one will… ever…."

Nakago tore Aino's clothes from her body and threw her to the ground. Like a wild animal, he entered her, ravishing her body, laughing insanely as he thought he was taking the right to summon Seishi from her.

All the while, silent tears fell from Aino's wide eyes. Tears for Nakago's soul.

Tasuki turned away from the gruesome scene.

"Enough, Aino.. that's enough.. I can't look anymore.." Tasuki begged Aino to stop the terrible play that was unfolding before his eyes.

"I can't, Tasuki. You must know."

Tasuki turned back to see a dark figure hovering over Nakago's shoulder. Nakago continued his desecration, unaware of the new entity.

Aino, however, saw the shadow above her. Once again, she began to throw her life force, shielding her and enfolding her in its warm purple light.

"How in the hell? You shouldn't be able to do this anymore…!" Nakago jumped back… into the darkness of the shadow.

"Nakago. You disgust me." A booming voice came from the dark.

"You let him go…. This has nothing to do with him anymore." Aino said to the figure as she stood on shaky legs. Blood ran from a gash in her head in rivulets down her back and legs. She was very weak, but she was standing naked before the figure, challenging it!

"Ahhh… the beautiful Shi no Miko. It is not time for you yet. I will deal with this on my own terms…. "

"No! You will set Nakago free from bondage and leave this place, evil! You bring death to a world of beauty. You do not belong here. I command you to leave."

"Stupid girl… I told you to go… or do you wish to die so soon?"

"Try me! Let Nakago go…. Free this land from your treachery, demon!"

Aino closed her eyes and the light surrounding her grew brighter, her red hair flew up and the symbol of Shi appeared upon her forehead in a blinding purple flash. As a shocked Tasuki watched, a pair of iridescent wings grew from her back and extended themselves fully. The beauty of this girl, no, of this terrible angel was almost too much to look on. Aino opened her eyes as she gazed severely at the dark being.

"You will leave this land – one way or another. You have my word, kisei no akuma." Aino raised one hand above her head and a bright ball of energy formed. "I promise, I will not be defeated or seduced by you!" She screamed and threw the ball of life force at the evil. For a moment, everything was light. Tasuki was blinded. When he regained sight, what he saw before him was tragic.

Aino lay in a crumpled heap on the ground, her wings enfolding her weak body. Nakago freed himself from the demon during the energy blast and had leapt to protect her. The shadow laughed.

"Is that all you have? You are not as strong as I thought you would be then, Shi no Miko. What a pitiful excuse for a priestess you are. Nakago. Remove yourself from her. I will be taking my prize now…"

"No, you stay away from her. I….. She is holy. Your touching her would be sacrilege!"

"And what you did wasn't…?"

"Shut up! I didn't know… I thought I was saving her from you.. I thought that you would lose interest in her if she couldn't be the Shi no Miko… it was for her own good… I…."

"You have become weak, Nakago.. I remember once when you were an excellent general… strong and ruthless… and now look at yourself.. you are blubbering over this girl…"

The shadow raised an arm and Nakago was flung into the same tree he had trapped Aino on only minutes before…. He fell limply to the ground.

"And now, Aino, I think I will go ahead and collect you now."

The Shi no Miko rose slowly to her feet, wings circling her still nude body. "I am afraid it will not be that easy…"

And the battle began again. Aino threw attacks at the darkness…. They were dodged easily… She was tired and could not hold out against too much more fighting….

Makenai! I cannot be defeated here and now! She thought.. and managed to throw one last attack containing the last remnants of her ki, at the dark figure before her. This time, it hit… and it was very powerful. The demon howled with pain…. And then Tasuki saw what could only be two flaming red eyes open.

So that didn't kill him? It looks like I am dead then…. And I had only just met him again… Tasuki…

A wind began to blow from the figure…. And it grew… and grew. Aino was too weak to try to defend herself.. all she could do was wrap her wings tightly about her as the debris began blowing past her. Magic feathers began to be torn from her delicate wings, flying about frenetically in the gale. The small objects flying past her and hitting her began to pick up speed until they began to leave small cuts everywhere on her face.

"He heh heh…. Do you enjoy this, Priestess? Do you like to play my game?" The demon's voice was smiling. "I grow weary of playing!"

At that instant, two dark hands shot out from the shadows – equipped with menacing claws. They grabbed the priestess' wings and began to pull, exposing her bare skin. Aino screamed out in pain… the cuts began to cover her now unprotected body.

"Revel in it, Priestess. The delicate pleasure of the pain. Will you behave now and come with me?"

Aino looked up at the dark devil and smiled.

"NEVER!"

Again, the demon howled in a fit of rage..

"THEN KNOW PAIN, PRIESTESS!"

And with one smooth action, he pulled Aino's wings from her body. She collapsed, unconscious, almost dead.

The entity pulled the wings closer into itself and let the blood pouring from them run into a frightening hole in space. Horrified, Tasuki saw a red tongue flick out of the cavity and run itself over the bleeding stumps of the wings.

"Such a beautiful taste. You will come to me when the time is right. I will taste you again, Shi no Miko."

The terrible demon then vanished.

Tasuki watched helplessly as the blood poured from the thousands of wounds on her body. The small cuts everywhere.. the two long gashes on her back.. all because of this? She was trying to save Nakago after what he had done to her? Why? He watched Nakago slowly regain consciousness and stumble to Aino.

"Aino.. I am sorry… gomen nasai! Please forgive me, I didn't know what I was doing…" he began to weep holding Aino's limp body.

Her hand slowly came up and stroked his check gently.

"You.. are forgiven Nakago."

A faint glow radiated from the two of them..

"Its so warm…. " he murmured.

"You are free, my dear. Please. Rest in peace, let no one disturb your slumber again. I will be joining you shortly, I fear."

Nakago's eyes widened.

"No… you can't die! You must defeat Him… It is you. You are this world's only savior. Don't forget that. Fight. I will bring you to your friends. They will help…"

The vision slowly began to fade away.

Tasuki's face was soaked with tears.

"And you know the rest.."

"So when Nakago left you…?"

"Yes… he is resting peacefully now. His soul is his again. I could at least do that much for him. In the end, I did fulfill that promise - I saved him. I was his salvation."

"I had.. no idea it was that terrible for you… I… "

"Tasuki.. for tonight, I just want you to hold me as I sleep. Please, just let me feel safe for now?"

"Yes…… " Tasuki murmured as he held her tightly, burying his face in her hair, smelling her sweet scent, feeling her soft skin against his… At that moment, he knew there was no turning back…..

I must protect her with all my life! Now, even more than ever, I see how precious she is to me… I cannot deny it any longer… I love this woman with all my heart. I don't know why, but I do.

Tasuki fell asleep crying silent tears for the pain of the one he loved.

Aino awoke the next morning wrapped in the arms of Tasuki. A brief flash of alarm swept through her, then dulled quickly as Aino thought about how sweetly he had wept for her, and how safe she felt.

Just a little longer.. I'll get up in a second, but right now, I am happy where I am. I just want to stay here forever… just like this..

Aino sighed and closed her eyes as she questioned whether or not this was wise of her - to lose herself like this simply because it felt nice. When she opened her eyes, she knew the answer. She found herself gazing straight into the orange eyes of Tasuki. He looked at her with such an air of caring and longing, she knew that at least for now, she didn't care what was wise anymore, only that he was there.

"Are you… okay, Aino-sama?"

"Yes, Tasuki-chan. I am fine. The important question right now is how are you?"

"I… didn't know…. Gomen…. "

"I have put it behind me, now… now that you know, I have put that into my past. We have to turn now to what the future holds for us…"

Tasuki looked toward the dark mountain looming ahead of them. Dark clouds swirled around the mountain's summit and an equally dark mist seemed to creep outwards from the Mt. Taikyoku's base, threatening to envelop them all. Tasuki shivered as he remembered the dark figure from the vision of the night before.

"Yes, Aino-sama. We must fight. Whatever it takes. Tamahome and the others have to be returned to us." And I will never, ever let that thing have you, Aino!

Aino crawled from her warm place in Tasuki's bed and shivered as she stood. The cold fingers of winter were upon her… or was that death she could smell? She turned to face Tasuki.

"We must head out as soon as possible. I'm not sure why I am here, and sometimes I don't even know who I really am…. But I know that this is my mission in life. THIS is why I was born, and I cannot let him win – no matter what. I know now. I am no longer afraid."

The power and strength in her words left Tasuki awe struck. She was indeed a powerful Miko, not like Miaka or Yui. He simply bowed his head and replied,

"Yes, Aino-sama. Shi no Miko. I am here to serve you."