Fushigi Yuugi: Death's Enchantment
Episode Nine
"Into the Lair"
Misty Schmitt
Began: 19 June 2001
Finished: 20 June 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.

Wow. It's almost painful for me to read this. .

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Finally… she draws closer…. She comes and brings with her all her beautiful anger… She comes… she comes…

The lady Aino traveled through the unfriendly forest, towards the mountain where her only love was taken… To Tasuki… to Him.

I don't know what will happen once I get there, but I have to make it to that mountain.. for Tasuki, for his friends and for Yui! That demon cannot be allowed to rule this world or any other… But what can I do? I don't even know if I am strong enough to resist him this time… he weakens me.

Aino's eyes did not betray any of her doubts, however. She continued to travel deeper into the forest, a look of dogged determination covering her face.

"Seishi, give me power…." Aino muttered, then startled at the sound of her own voice… "Man, this is gonna be bad.. What the hell am I thinking..?"

"Yes, Lady Priestess, what are you thinking indeed?" a small voice said to left of Aino.

"Speaking to yourself, Shi no Miko?" a deep voice asked from her right…

"Wh..what? Who are you, show yourselves! I have great powers, you know.. and I am not afraid.. no.. not anymore!"

From the bush, mocking laughter erupted.

"Yes, Lady Priestess… great powers for sure… will you show them to us now.. or do you prefer to wait until later…?" the first voice giggled.

"Do not mock me.. you.. whoever you are! I will NOT hesitate to destroy you both!"

"Tsk, tsk, Lady Miko. We are merely guides sent by the One. We are only to show you the way to Him. That is all. No more… But if you'd like… heh.." a large figure emerged from the brush to Aino's right..

"Why do I have to be condemned to this midget's body… you get to have all the fun!" a much smaller presence began to reveal itself to her left….

"Besides," he said, stepping into full view, " we are not meant to touch the priestess… you know that!"

Aino gasped… this was.. "Chiriko?"

Chiriko grinned impishly.. "Hai… and don't forget my comrade, Mitsukake.."

The big man stepped onto the path with Aino… "Now come with us, Aino sama. We will take you to Him."

What do they have up their sleeves? Should I go with them, fight, or run away? Aino looked at the two demons, a look of reluctance clouding her face.

"Fine. But I warn you, I am very, very powerful. Now lead on!"

After what seemed to be an eternity, Aino's silent guides stepped aside to reveal to her the entrance to the devil's abode. At first, she saw nothing but a rock wall in the face of the great mountain, but as she looked on, she saw the possessed Mitsukake place his hand on a particularly smooth part of the wall and to her amazement, the wall slid to the side with a great rumble.

"This is where we leave you for now, Aino-Sama… please enter. He awaits." Chiriko said with another evil grin and he, along with Mitsukake, faded into the lush foliage of the mountain forest.

The immense darkness fell thickly upon the priestess as she entered the portal hesitantly. At once the darkness lifted to reveal a long, high-ceilinged hallway, at the end of which stood another great door. The walls of the hall were black, the hangings were black, the carpet running the length of it was black. Aino saw no source of light, yet the tremendous room was lit by an eerie blue hued luminance. Aino shivered with cold as she began the long walk to the other door, intrigued by the pure blackness of the room.

If I didn't know any better, I'd think that I were floating somewhere in a starless sky… flying towards this huge door… I could almost lose myself in this room!

A low laughter suddenly filled the room. That was.. Tasuki's laugh!

"Enter the door and feel no more pain, Aino-sama. Enter the realm of pleasure. It is my gift to you…"

"N.. Nani? What do you mean? A gift? I do not need your gifts! You insult me with your offers!" Aino spat upon the ground in her disgust and began again, with a deadly venom in her voice. "All you could ever give me are my friends! Give them back… or else!"

Or else what? Aino, you baka! You know you are nothing compared to him.. even with the added power of Her… He will still beat you…!

"You are right, my precious priestess.. I will still defeat you and harness the power of Seishi… so why fight it…"

Aino had by this point reached the gigantic door. It stood perhaps fifteen feet, perhaps fifteen hundred feet tall. In this room of distortion, it was hard to gauge.. and by this time, Aino felt very, very small. Like the room, the door was black, but it breathed with an evil life of it's own. The door rippled with intricate carvings, each of different and hideous ways to die. Each beautiful in their morbidity, each looking out at her with expectant eyes.

"Oh.. the door… It's watching me! It's…. "

And with a shriek Aino saw… her own eyes reflected in that twisted beauty. She realized that here, on this doorway was her history… not as Aino… but as the Shi no Miko.. as her other self. She stood opened mouthed and teary eyed as she saw exactly what sort of evil she had accepted in herself that day in the wood…. When she accepted herself!

"Yes, Lady Priestess… look at the great power you once wielded…. You denied for that pitiful boy, Nakago and your 'true love' Raifu…"

Aino felt His hot breath on her neck. She knew she had but to look and she would see the hollow red eyes of the Demon in Tasuki's face. She dared not to turn, for fear that she could not rescue herself form the black feelings inside…

"Look! It's all there! The way I, yes, I took you in when you fist landed here! The way I helped you reach the zenith of your power – without the help of Seishi! I knew that once you summoned her, that your combined strengths would be unconquerable, so I honed your powers to a razor edge, I made you as strong as possible. You were ruthless and cruel. Justice on the people of this world was swift and exact for you! You never flinched at the execution of our insubordinate subjects.. beautiful, you were beautiful in your vengeance!"

As the Demon hissed into her ear, he seductively ran his fingers across her neck and face, softly over her lips and through her hair. Aino felt herself being lost to him.. and told herself to be strong.

"NO! I don't believe you! I.. I could never do that…!" Aino whispered, horrified at what she saw upon the hateful door….

"Ah, but you did, my dark beauty. And now, we will begin again, anew. The blood will run as a river in this world.. and now that Taiitsukun and all her incompetence are out of the way.. there is no limit to what we can accomplish together.. look, priestess! Look at your former glory there on the door. You can gain all that back.. and more!"

"No.. I.." she mumbled..

The demon quickly turned Aino from the door, forcing her to meet his deadly gaze..

"You are my Dark Saviour, Priestess. You are the priestess of death, and you are now mine!"

The demon wrapped his arms around Aino, engulfing her in the evil within him and kissed her softly as she closed her eyes, finally becoming one with the darkness inside her. Finally accepting it.

With a smile, Aino whispered, "Yes. I am.. the dark priestess. I belong only to you…"

"Yes, then enter, my dear one. Enter the door…"

The great door opened with a contented sigh and Aino stepped forward, enveloped by the great light that poured out of it… and lost herself to the beauty of the whiteness.

The doors closed again as the world cried out against the evil and then was silenced. The last hope was gone.

Oh, where am I? Why is it so dark? And what is this sadness?

Yui sat up with a start as she remembered what had happened.

That demon thing! He tricked us into this! He was supposed to be leading us to Hotohori and the others.. but he trapped us instead! How long have I been unconscious?

Yui looked sharply about her, straining her eyes in the dim light, trying to see if any of her companions had joined her in this prison.

"Miaka? Miaka are you here?" Yui heard nothing but the echo of her own voice in reply. "MIAKA!" Yui screamed again and again into the darkness.. to absolutely no avail…. As she began to see the hopelessness of the situation, tears formed into her eyes.. "I'm alone.. I'm all alone here!" But as she was willing to subject herself once again to unconsciousness, an awareness jerked her awake… She suddenly knew…

"Aino! Aino is here somewhere with It.. but there's something not right with her.. something is wrong!"

"Yes, Yui-sama… and you must save her!"

"Who's that! Who is there…..?"

A spirit materialized before her.. it was..

"Nakago? Why have you come here, you… you..!"

"Yui… I am aware now.. I know what I must do to set things right… Trust me…only you can save Aino from herself now that He has her! I thought to save her from him by taking from her the right to summon Seishi.. but I couldn't! She cannot be spoiled, it is impossible to take that right from her because the Goddess is already inside her! She was born with Seishi residing within.. all her evil and all her goodness, planted within the body of Aino."

"So…so Aino is Seishi? That's why she doesn't have any Celestial Warriors?"

"Well, the help of one is needed to awaken Seishi, so in a sense, yes, she does have one Celestial Warrior, but he has already been uncovered… The demon discovered his identity and that is why He took up residence in his body, so that he could guide Aino to her innate darkness and summon Seishi on his own terms."

"Who? Who is the Demon possessing?"

"The one man that Aino has EVER loved… in both lifetimes… And I couldn't be him…"

The last comment was lost in a mumble as Nakago remembered the only woman he could ever bring himself to love.. and the pain of her rejection…

"What was that, Nakago?"

"It doesn't matter… I cannot save her, that is all that is important.. but you can.. along with the help of those of the Suzaku Seven. So that is what you must do now. Save her…" As Nakago vanished, the walls surrounding her also vanished. Yui looked about her, astonished at the news she just received.

But what if he is lying to me.. again? I can't trust him! This has to be some sort of trap! Yui sighed. Oh well, trap or no, I would have died in that cell anyway. At least this way I have a chance.. now all I have to do is find Miaka and the others! But as Yui looked down the vast corridor she realized that that was easier said than done. The walls were completely smooth, without any seams whatsoever. Yui looked hard into the glasslike surface of the black stone and saw there a dirty face adorned with tired blue eyes and tangled, dirty blond hair. "What can I do?" she asked the girl in the wall, who could only repeat the question back at her, affirming the hopelessness of her predicament. "How can I find them in this place? They could be anywhere!" Yui placed her hand against the smooth wall…. And a low rumble filled the hall. Yui tensed and prepared for battle….

"Wh…where am I?" Aino asked herself as she took in her new surroundings. She found herself in a large bed, black drapes surrounding her.

"Oh yes… I am here with Him…. To reach my ultimate goal.. to fulfill my destiny as the Shi no Miko….. Because I love Him… Always… always…" Aino murmured before falling off to sleep again. From the shadows of the room, He appeared, watching over her as she slept. Here, in this unlikely spot, he would begin and finish her story of evil. But first, his ego must be appeased, first…

"I think it's time you enforced the new law of the land, Shi no Miko… Yes, and the very first transgressors of our domain are your friends. Let us test your loyalty to this boy I have stolen.. It is time to take you to your friends!"

The wall began to slip away from Yui, the girl in the wall followed. Soon she was left alone in the corridor, staring into darkness…

"Wh.. who's out there? I'm a very powerful sorcerer, you know?"

"Ch.. Chichiri!"

"Yui-chan? Is it you? Man, it's great to see you, you know? I thought I was the only one left alive! Is Aino with you?"

"No…. about that.."

"I sense her life force.. but it's changed, you know? It has become dark.. I don't like the looks of this.."

"Chichiri.. we have to find the others so that we can save Aino… something terrible has happened and we're the only ones that can save her!" or rather.. I am.

"I know… I sensed Nakago's life force earlier.. was he with you? Did he tell you what happened to her.. this is too much, you know?"

"Yeah, I know.. all Nakago told me was that I had to find you all in order to help Aino. That and that the demon has possessed the 'one who must assist Aino in awakening the Goddess within her.' He said that it was someone that she has always loved.. in both her lives.. whatever that means…."

"Oh man, this isn't good! It's Tasuki, you know!"

"Oh.. my God!" a horrified look crossed Yui's face as she remembered the raw emotion he displayed when he saved Aino from an early death.. almost at the expense of his own life!

"Yes! And the longer the demon is in Tasuki, the less chance that he has to regain his body! Tasuki's soul is going to die, you know!"

"We.. we have to do something! We have to find the others, NOW!"

"Yeah… let's go!"

"Mitsukake! Chiriko! Go and fetch the rest of the Suzaku Seven and that girl, Yui… Bring them here. The priestess has some business with them!"

And with a cruel smile, Aino laughed. "Yes, any resistance must be dealt with harshly, I will kill them for you, my love!"

"Damn! How long have I been in here? I guess that's not quite as important as whether or not there is a way out of here, now is it?" Tamahome muttered to himself.

He began searching the obsidian walls, feeling for some sort of exit route. To his dismay, he found that the cell had no doors, not even a small hole for food to pass through. "How in the hell did they get me in here? I should have known better than to trust Chiriko after what happened to Nuriko! I wonder if Miaka's alright…." Suddenly, just as he was about to give up his search, Tamahome heard a low rumble and to his utter surprise, the wall he was facing slid away to reveal a dark passageway.

"Hrmm… clever… " Tamahome muttered as he stepped out into the hall to see superdeformed Chichiri hiding behind sd Yui….

"Tamahome! We though you were gonna be a monster, you know!" Chichiri scolded him. "I sensed your life force inside the wall, and we were about to free you when you apparently discovered how to free yourself, you know?"

"What's going on? How did you get out?"

"Nakago… he helped me.."

"Nakago! Is he still here? Do I have to kill him again!" Tamahome said angrily.

"Tamahome! Control your temper. Nakago's dead for real this time, you know? His soul has been freed from the bondage of that… that demon.. he's helping us now, you know?" Chichiri explained. "Something's happened to both Aino and Tasuki.. If we don't act fast, we'll all be destroyed, you know?"

"We have to find Miaka and Nuriko.. and then try to convert Chiriko and Mitsukake back to normal, Tamahome…" Yui began…

"How in the hell are we going to do that? It took Aino to save Nuriko…. And what about Hotohori?"

"I am here, Tamahome." The gentle voice of Hotohori announced the presence of the great ruler.

"Hotohori! You're… a spirit again?"

"Yes, Tamahome. Aino saved me from the hell I was trapped in."

"She killed you..?"

"She had to….. to save Tasuki…. Now, let us find Nuriko and Miaka."

"What do you mean 'Yui wasn't in her cell'? How could she have gotten out? No matter. Just find her, and bring her here. The end will be the same. The chase is only longer." The Demon commanded Chiriko, who was the bearer of the bad news.

Aino smiled. "She is coming. That whore. She will not survive this."