Chapter Twenty

So that was it.

Chiriko sat back, running his gaze over the paragraph a second time as he chewed down absently on his bottom lip. The day had worn on unnoticed, as he had gone painstakingly through each and every volume and scroll and at last, the answer lay there in front of him, clear in black and white.

"So I was right. The stars were the first sign." He murmured, fingering the edge of the parchment hesitantly as he did so. "And if my theorising is right, Taikyoku-zan has probably also become compromised, upsetting the spiritual balance of this world completely. If I'm correct and the mountain is somehow connected...that it's the physical manifestation...But this is serious. More serious even than I thought it was at first. No wonder I've been flung back - and to a place such as this. Still, it's no good, me being here and reading through all of these things time and time again. It's quite clear what has to be done - that I need the others and as soon as I can bring them here. I wish my life force was stronger - but this form is unstable and I can't be sure whether or not I can send out that kind of a signal. Doing so might leave me open to the things I've been fighting again - I wonder...should I risk it? Can I...can I risk it?"

He bit his lip, glancing down at his foot where a faint reddish haze flickered momentarily into view, before disappearing once more.

"It's never been constant when I needed it most." He whispered. "My thoughts, my fears, everything - I need to be able to understand! I need to be able to call my comrades, to explain to them...but can I? Am I strong enough to keep fighting this ghost?"

He frowned, setting the book aside and getting to his feet, moving to the window of the dusty archive room as he gazed out over the streets of Jouzen. From there he could see his mother's house, and a faint pang of nostalgia touched his heart as the child inside of him longed to run home for comfort.

"It would be so easy to do." He realised. "To go home, to speak to them, to try and pretend none of this was real. But I caused enough trouble once by running away from my responsibilities. Besides, I can't ever go home, now. It's not home to me, not any more. There's a new Ou Doukun now...my nephew. And...and I have to uphold my brother's faith in me. He called his son my name because he thought I was strong and brave - that I'd given everything for Kounan and that I'd not hesitated in doing my duty. I won't be afraid - I won't give up now. Even though I'm scared...I won't give up."

He clenched his fists, forcing aside his childish reservations as he hardened his resolve.

"I must bring Chichiri and the others here as soon as I can." He decided. "I'm not strong enough to travel far, and in this form, I don't know what might happen if I tried. I'm still just a kid, after all - someone might attack me and I have no idea how to defend myself when I'm using all the strength I have to confine my memories of Miboshi inside of me. Even to contact the others - even to do that - I'm going to have to let go of that contol. I...I hope I can manage it. There's no other way - but I...I have to try."

He turned back to the desk, biting his lip once more as he surveyed the mess of scrolls and rough-edged books, some of them little more than beige vellum tied with thick.leather thongs.

"I'm sure that Chichiri will understand, when he sees this. Hotohori-sama too, considering how much he knows about Kounan's history." He reflected. "Maybe one of them can take my train of thought further. At least now I know why this has happened - or at least, I'm fairly sure I do. Surely if you have the reason, you can find the solution?"

He sank down on the floor, hesitating, then closing his eyes, bringing his hands together as very slowly he released his tight grip on the strength and uncertain emotions that wound their way together through his soul. As he did so, a dark wave of despair and fear washed through him and he let out a gasp, struggling to maintain his concentration as a spectral face loomed large in his mind. A stabbing, suffocating sensation wracked through him as he heard the whispers of the man's voice deep within his heart.

"This body is so badly defended."

The voice was mocking, and for a moment, Chiriko felt himself lose his grip on his senses entirely. Then, as he remembered the strange stellar omen in the sky above Kounan, he fought back against it, pushing his hands together more firmly as he concentrated as much energy as he could on putting a signal into the ether.

"Miboshi is dead. He's gone. I killed him." He muttered, sweat beading his brow as he redoubled his concentration. Tears slipped silently down his cheeks but he paid no attention to them, fighting the urge to flee or scream as he allowed the dark waves to overtake him once again. "He's not here, and I'm not supposed to be, either. If I do this - if we solve this - I'll never have to worry about Miboshi or letting down my comrades again. If I can bring them here, then this will all be settled. I'm going to prove I'm the Suzaku Warrior my brother was proud enough to name his first-born son after. For the sake of the new Ou Doukun, I'm going to do my duty and save Kounan. I'm not going to be beaten by hallucinations. It's just a figment of this world's instability - that's all it is! It's not real...it's all in my head!"

This last phrase he muttered fiercely out loud, and something in the sound of his own voice in the empty room gave him renewed strength.

"Chichiri. Tasuki. Mitsukake. Nuriko. Hotohori-sama." He whispered. "All of you - any of you - if you're there and you can feel me, please, know that I'm trying to find you. Chichiri, your magic...please use it to come to Jouzen. I can't come to you - but I need you. Kounan needs all of us - all of us as soon as possible. Please...if you can feel my call...come find me!"

-------------------

The river was quiet and calm, as Chichiri wandered absently along it's winding banks, drawing closer and closer to the village where he had spent happy days as a young boy. As he approached the settlement itself, a wave of bittersweet nostalgia washed over him and he paused, eying the scene with a faint, resigned smile.

It was still a village, he reflected, but no longer his village. People had migrated and settled in the land once owned by those he'd known and liked, for with the danger of future flooding came fertile lands for crops and close, convenient connections to prosperous local towns in the north. In the final analysis, he knew, the benefits had outweighed the risk. His own family had taken the same gamble, and had paid the ultimate price for it, but as he stood there, watching as if detached from everything around him, he found that he felt no bitterness towards the new settlers for their wilful ignorance of danger.

"Life has to go on, you know." He murmured, entering the village at long last and wandering along the central street towards the place where his own family's once moderately expansive property had originally stood. The building had been washed away by the flood, his sister and family along with it, but already new housing had been erected on the site, and he could hear the sound of children laughing as they played inside. For some reason, despite the memories it brought back, he felt content.

Satisfied, he nodded, turning back towards the river that ran so close to the settlement of old. This wasn't his home now, and there was no longer anything here that he remembered. Even those he had loved did not really lie here - they had been swept away by the water, and for the most part, had never been recovered.

"Shouryuu-gawa." He reflected, as he knelt beside the bank of the river, near the place where Hikou had been taken in the terrible, relentless current eight years earlier. "The river brings life and takes life away. I suppose it's like with anything - there is no benefit without pain."

He brought his hand up before his face in prayer, closing his eyes as his thoughts drifted towards the family and friends he had lost. Away from the midst of the village life and lost in his own world, few people paid him much attention, although one or two young children stared wide-eyed at the one-eyed monk praying so devoutly by the water's edge.

At length he lowered his hands, opening his good eye as he took a deep breath into his lungs, sitting back on his heels.

"It doesn't feel the way it did, for so long." He realised. "Fighting Hikou was the worst thing I've ever had to do, but still, it brought me closure I never thought I'd have. For the first time, I suppose, I knew why it happened. Why he...why Koran...I understand, now. And when you understand, you can let go...just sometimes the understanding is the hard part."

A slight smile twitched at his lips.

"That's something I ought to be working into Tasuki." He reflected ruefully. "Especially where Anzu is concerned. I took having you for granted, Koran, and I lost you in the end. I can manage, now, on my own - if that's how it's going to be. But he's not like me that way...I hope he's got sense enough to realise it. He's too young and idealistic to be dragged down the way I was. Hot tempered, impulsive, just the way I was when I was younger...maybe I see myself in him a little - but he doesn't need to learn the lessons I did. At least, not the way I have. If I can teach him something at least, maybe he won't have to."

He shrugged, getting to his feet and brushing the dirt and grass from his clothing.

"Well, Hikou. Well, Koran. Otousan, Okaasan, Imouto-chan." He said aloud, a pensive gaze in his ruby eye. "I suppose that I'm off yet again - back to doing Suzaku's bidding. I haven't forgotten the promise I made you, Hikou - one day, we will be reunited. But it won't be just yet - I have other things I need to do first. I think this time you understand, though - and me, too."

He paused, pursing his lips as he gazed up at the sky.

"Perhaps that's why, of all of us, I've been less haunted by my doubts in all of this." He realised. "Unlike the others, I...I no longer have anything to plague me. I'm at peace with my past - because I've had to face it so brutally in so many ways. I'm past the place where I wanted to die - I've punished and criticised myself so much over the years that no negative force could possibly pour worse onto me. I wonder if that is true...have I been warding against it, or is it just that I'm so used to fighting negative thoughts that I've become strong enough to overcome them without even realising they're there? Even Tasuki was affected this time - even the man who plunges into battle without a second thought or a regret in his mind. But not me...I wonder, have I really become so strong?"

As he stood there, gazing absently at a wisp of white cloud, something sharp jolted through his senses and he jerked to attention, glancing around as if expecting to see the source of the sensation somewhere close by. He was alone, however, and he bit his lip, summoning all his strength as he struggled to relocate the signal.

"Chiriko, was that you?" He muttered. "After all this - and even with my power too weak for me to reach you - are you trying to find me out?"

There was no response, and try as he might, Chichiri could not make the connection a second time. He sighed heavily.

"Damn the byouma." He murmured. "In this atmosphere it's taking longer for my spiritual powers to heal than normally it would...it took more of my magic to drive that thing out than it might have done otherwise. My psyche might be immune to this negativity, but my magic certainly hasn't been - I've not been one hundred percent on par since we got back to Reikaku-zan the first time around and it's a worrying sign. If anything, I'm starting to wonder if I'm becoming weaker. After last night, it's hard to be sure, but if this world really is breaking down, it's something that I might have to consider."

His lips thinned as he contemplated this.

"That probably means this world is growing weaker, and that all of us are as well - not just me." He reflected. "Half-formed undead Seishi flung back at random - if that isn't a sign of a decaying plane of existance, I don't know what is. Still, I can't start doubting in myself now. If my strength is lessening, then I'll just have to make sure I have as much of it to use as I can to find Chiriko and help put this to rights. Noone else has noticed, in any case, and so long as they don't, it's all right. I won't make them worry about something that can't be helped - we just need to move faster."

"Chichiri!"

At that moment, a voice startled him from his thoughts and he turned, seeing Tasuki hurrying towards him, his sister in tow. Aidou looked suspiciously like she'd been crying, but Chichiri decided not to mention it, instead taking in the eager expression on the bandit's face.

"Tasuki-kun - what are you doing here?"

"I'm sorry, Hou Jun. I tried to tell him you wanted to be alone..." Aidou faltered, but Chichiri shook his head, offering her a smile.

"It's all right. I was done here anyway." He reflected. "How did you find me, though? You've not been to my village before, Tasuki - have you...?"

"I followed your chi." Tasuki said frankly, and Chichiri stared at him.

"You did...what?" He asked faintly. Tasuki snorted.

"Don't look so surprised." He said bluntly. "We tracked along the river a while, cos I knew you came from somewhere along it, and then, just a minute or two ago, I felt where you were. Did you do something? A spell or something? Cos I thought your magic was dead."

"It's not dead. It's coming back bit by bit." Chichiri responded. "And yes, I did try...just then, I focused my energy on something. I think it was Chiriko - At least, that's what it seemed like. But it was so brief...just a flash sensation, nothing more. It seemed like he was trying to find me - and that he was to the south. But nothing more than that."

"To the south." Triumph glittered in Tasuki's bronze eyes and he wheeled on his sister, taking her off-guard. "Didn't I tell you so? I told you! I know this kid!"

"Tasuki?" Chichiri's brow furrowed in confusion, and Tasuki grinned, revealing fang-like teeth as he did so.

"Chiriko's in Jouzen." He said simply. "He's gone home. Like Mitsukake - like you, now...he's gone back to where his people are."

Chichiri's good eye widened, and slowly he nodded his head.

"Jouzen." he repeated. "You know, I think you've hit it on the head. That would make sense with what I felt just now. I think you're right - that is where he is."

"So we need to find the others and head to Jouzen, right?" Tasuki demanded. "How much of your magic is back - can we hat-hop yet, or...?"

"No...I don't think so." Chichiri pursed his lips. "But we could hire horses and ride south. It would be a start, if nothing else. By tomorrow, my magic may be good enough for us to travel that way...I don't want to risk it right now, you know. It's not fully healed and we could end up anywhere."

"Knowing your landings, I'll pass." Tasuki grimaced. "But if we know where we're going, sitting around here seems a bit pointless. Let's go back to the inn and tell the others about my stroke of genius, huh? Yeesh, you guys'd all be lost without me, you know."

Chichiri laughed, patting his friend playfully on the back.

"Consider us grateful." He said lightly, ruby eye sparkling with humour. "All right, Tasuki-kun, Aidou...let's go back to the others."

"Did you...did you manage to send your message to your family?" Aidou asked softly, as they turned in the direction of the city. Chichiri nodded.

"Yes." He agreed evenly. "For the first time, coming back here wasn't painful. I suppose it really is in the past now, you know. Closure. I had a lot of things left open - especially with Hikou and everything that happened between us. But that's not true any more."

"Then you'll heal your scar, when you get back to Reikaku-zan?"

Chichiri looked startled, then he shook his head slowly.

"Mitsukake's holy water is meant for more deserving things than my selfish vanity." He said quietly. "I've made up my mind about that - I won't use it to fix something that I've learnt to live with. This is who I am, now. To change it - that would be saying that I was ashamed of my past, or that I wanted to erase some part of it. I'm content this way, you know...I don't need to make myself look whole to feel whole inside. I'm fine and that's more important to me, you know?"

"You really do talk a lot of shit sometimes, Chichiri." Tasuki said bluntly, and Chichiri chuckled.

"So do you." He bantered back. "I wonder which of us was a bad influence on whom."

"You're both as bad as one another." Aidou reflected, glancing up at the sky. "I think it's going to rain, too - we're going to get soaked."

"Rain?" Chichiri started, following her gaze, and then frowning. "You're right...when did those clouds come up so suddenly? A moment ago..."

Anything else he was about to say was drowned out by a clap of thunder, as lightning split the sky. Chichiri faltered, as Tasuki cursed, staring up at the heavens.

"Definitely a storm." He muttered unecessarily. "Chichiri - can you take us back to the town with your kasa? We're goin' to get drenched an' we're right by that damn river of yours..."

"The river.." Chichiri hesitated, as the sky split a second time, this time bringing down cascades of rain that sent any stray villagers running for the shelter of their homes with exclamations of dismay. "Shouryuu-gawa."

"Chichiri?" Tasuki nudged him with his elbow. "Are you with us? I'm getting soaked, and so is Aidou...if you could sense Chiriko, you must have enough magic to take us back to the city - mustn't you?"

Chichiri pursed his lips, gazing at the flowing river for a moment, then up at the sky that had become dark almost in an instant. He gazed at the dark clouds, taking in their odd, spectral appearance, and his lips thinned.

"We're running out of time." He murmured, more than half to himself. "Whatever we have to do, Tasuki-kun, we're running out of time to do it. The heavens - everything - it's been in a delicate balance since Taiitsukun and Taikyoku-zan disappeared. It's been struggling to cope - that's why the atmosphere's been as dark and as heavy as it has from time to time."

"So that means what, exactly?" Tasuki asked, as he slipped his jacket off his back, putting it over his sister's shoulders as Aidou shivered involuntarily. "Come on, stop theorising where we're getting wet! We can discuss this back at the inn...wait for the storm to pass, and then..."

"The storm isn't going to pass." Chichiri said quietly, his heart clenching in his throat as he made out the rippling undertones in the ominous sky. "This isn't an ordinary storm...don't you feel it? This is the world...it's a warning. It's telling us that it can't hang on much longer. It can't maintain itself. We need...we need to get to Jouzen. And...find Chiriko. And then...we need to change this. We need to change this all..."

He frowned, then made up his mind, gripping his kasa firmly in his hand as he prayed inwardly that his spell would not go awry.

"Hang on tight." He said grimly. "I'll do my best, you know."

With that he tossed the hat up into the air, muttering his incantation and closing his eyes as he focused all his energy on the inn in the city just beyond the river's flow. This time they landed with a bump, Tasuki only just managing to prevent his sister from falling against the hard stone of the city streets, and Chichiri caught his hat, glancing at it in troubled silence.

"That wasn't your best entrance point ever." Tasuki said darkly. "But at least it isn't raining here."

"Yet." Chichiri raised a hand, gesturing towards the horizon. "Look. The storm is spreading south. I expect it's engulfed the borderlands already - Tamatama-san's Yukigase and all of that region. Now it's reached as far as Shouryuu-gawa and if it continues to rain like that, the river will flood again and I won't be able to do anything to stop it. This is what we've been waiting for - the culmination of all the negative energy crackling against the atmosphere. It's finally manifested itself into something else - we're running out of time. We have to get to Jouzen and find Chiriko, fast."

"But you said...your magic..." Tasuki faltered, and Chichiri shook his head.

"It doesn't matter. We'll have to risk it." He said flatly. "Go get the others - you're faster on your feet than me and I need to catch my breath. I'll do my best. It's all we can do...we have to take the chance."

Tasuki eyed him for a moment, then he nodded.

"Consider it done." He said frankly, disappearing in the direction of the inn, and Chichiri dropped back against the wall, taking a deep breath.

"You're not full strength, are you?" Aidou asked hesitantly. Chichiri started, then shrugged.

"Who is, in this kind of atmosphere?" He asked sadly. "I'll have to take the gamble."

"Then leave Anzu and I behind. And Nuriko-san's friend." Aidou said softly. "We're not necessary to this - leave us here. It won't be such a strain, if you do."

Chichiri faltered for a moment. Then slowly he shook his head.

"No." He said quietly. "I saw Shouryuu-gawa flood once. I saw people die. I won't leave you here. If we don't do something, then the rain will keep falling. It will fall till all of Kounan is washed away. Then, if nothing is done, it might start to spread into Kutou, Hokkan and Sairou, also...I wouldn't like to bet they're safe, if we can't fix the problem in Kounan's sky. I won't leave you or Anzu in a place which might be so much at risk as this place, considering all of that. No, we're all going to Jouzen. At least, there, it should be safe a little while longer while we get to grips with what we have to do."

"Chichiri?"

At that moment, Nuriko's voice startled them and the monk turned to see the rest of the Seishi approaching, with an anxious looking Anzu and a bemused Tamatama. "Tasuki says you want to leave now - what happened to letting your powers recover?"

"It's just tough." Chichiri said shortly. "We don't have time to worry about it. We have to go to Jouzen and hope Tasuki's hunch is right...that Chiriko's there."

"He'll be there." Tasuki said firmly, and Chichiri nodded.

"With any luck, the atmosphere won't be so heavy there, and I'll be able to make a decent landing." He said softly, unlooping his kesa and spreading it on the ground as his grip tightened on his shakujou. "I don't know how well this will work - it's hard to weave any kind of spell here. I was slow - I didn't realise that the spreading miasma around Choukou was more than just Mitsukake's byouma. It was the first sign of atmospheric breakdown - the north of Kounan is already in trouble, and the worse this thick, cloying aura gets, the less likely I can use my spells at all. We need to leave here as soon as possible if we're to have any chance of fixing this."

"The north?" Tamatama paled. "Yukigase?"

"I wouldn't like to say." Chichiri admitted. "But you must come with us too, Tamatama-san. When this is over...when it's all over, I'll make sure you get back to you village. You have my word. But for now, it's safer to stick with us. Really, the spell is going to take a lot of my strength anyway - I'm just going to have to put it out there and hope for the best...it doesn't really matter if I'm taking five of us or eight, in the end. There's still a chance we might not end up where we want to be, so be prepared."

"That's Chichiri's way of sayin' it's gonna be a bumpy flight." Tasuki said grimly, grabbing Anzu firmly by the hand and putting his arm around Aidou's shoulders. "So hang on tight."