The last chapter had more happenings and more characters than normal. I couldn't promise the same quick movements but I will really try to make this fiction as interesting as possible. This will span more than 20 chapters so if you get bored now, chances are you won't be as intrigued in the succeeding chappies. Sorry about that…

Princess-of-doctors: I think I kinda got close to Tasuki's character here, after reading Genrou Kaiden. Saihitei's scene held me back a little but I'm glad you liked that part! :)

Obsessed Dreamer: Haha, this is kinda turning out to be harem-ish, probably because the original FY is harem-ish.I totally agree on Tomo and Yui. ;)

Khryztinne: Yes, I'm excited for this fiction since I've never written interactions between Yui and Nakago as the main pairing!Wow, thanks for the compliment. I'm wishing for more inspiration too!

ThePinkMartini: Yeah, I'm making her connected to all the other characters because uhm... it's a secret! ;)

Lyndel: Yup! Yup! That's Seiryuu! :) He's so dashing isn't he? *sigh*

Disclaimer: FY is not mine.

Master of Illusions

By Slavedriver2008

THE PERFORMER'S TEMPER changed for the worst after that night. He never hesitated to push, slap, hit her when he could. Yui wanted to cry but the tears didn't come. He doesn't want to pity him but her heart ached everytime she sees him walking out of the carriage, leaving for the night and never returning early. In the morning, there were always coins on the table and he never brought his treasure with him. He left it where it was, on the table, unused.

Every night, when he's gone, she would pray for Seiryuu to keep him safe. The nightmares came back and it was not his father's face that haunted her dreams but Ryou-sama. She dreamt of the sight in the troupe leader's carriage. Every night she would debate with herself whether to help him or not. Fear always gripped her and she couldn't move, couldn't save him.

She hated herself for being a coward.

"I saw you," he whispered very close on her ear when he came back that night and she was feigning sleep on the floor. "Disgusted? I do that every night to survive… Kekekeke…" he laughed until he coughed and she didn't bulge. "You left me behind… You are like all of them…"

The words repeated itself in her head over and over, like a curse. Another sigh left her as the night passed by in its usual silent mood. She had spent more than a week in Souun and had not found one warrior. She knew she can escape like Chiyo but she doesn't want to leave him behind. Somehow, despite his hostility, she felt that he needed her. She looked up at the unfamiliar southern sky and smiled sadly. It was near morning but he had not returned.

She was onboard the wagon with Shinji, struggling for warmth in the cold night. She had stopped sleeping on the floor of his carriage, scared of seeing his couching battered form, seeing blood, hearing him moan as nightmares infiltrate his once peaceful sleep. She turned toward Ryou-sama's window and tried to make out his image in the darkness, but like the first time, nothing was visible inside. She trembled from the cold; she gave Shinji her blanket earlier. He needed it more. He was a kid, after all.

Tears fell from her sad teal eyes. She missed home. When was the last time she slept on a bed that belonged to her? When was the last time she lived a life that would envy every woman in Kutou? Counting the days, she had been away for more than a month. She had almost forgotten what it was like to be a princess, to be pampered and loved. The only thing she remembered was her mission, everything else was vague. The images were sucking out the last remaining hope in her. Since he met the twins, she had not come across another warrior.

The twins, she remembered, were waiting for her. She should not lose hope and continue looking. And the priestess, she should watch out for the priestess as well. She fingered the silver ring, making out the engravings of the dragon. Seiryuu, she was serving the East god. She was fulfilling the destiny he laid down for her. She turned to the boy and smiled. He clung to the small bag where her dagger was hidden.

She should never forget who she was.

A hand clutched her wrist and another hand covered her mouth before she could scream. The man pulled her from the wagon in one swift movement. The wagon shifted but Shinji remained asleep. Burly muscular arms wrapped mercilessly around her and pushed her to one of the dark alleyways. When the man turned, she gasped and fear filled her body.

The leader licked his lips, looking at her with the same hunger she saw in the eyes of the commander. She clutched his arm tightly and pushed toward the wall, struggling to pull down her pants.

"Stop—" she said in muffled cries. "Shinji—"

"He won't wake up, I put medicine on his food. Everyone's deeply asleep now. You're mine for the night, all mine, boy." He licked her ear and her skin stood on end.

Tears fell from her eyes and she felt all hope left her. No blond swordsman would come. She will lose it, she will be exposed, she will break. Seiryuu, she prayed, help me.

"Don't touch my toy, Iji." A sharp voice came and Yui felt relieved to see Ryou-sama. "Aki belongs to me." The leader grabbed her wrist and threw her toward the star performer. Ryou-sama threw the leader a small bag of coins before he caught her.

"If you didn't earn this much I would have sold that boy off," the leader said smugly, licking his lips. "Don't let him out of your sight, Chuuin. Once you do, he's mine." He stomped off toward the black carriage, leaving her trembling in Ryou-sama's arms.

"Ryou-sama—"

He pulled her up and dragged her across the silent dark street, toward one of the inns in the city. The noise of men gambling filled the air and they passed the commotion, heading toward the bartender.

"I will take a room," the performer said and the man nodded.

He handed him a key and Ryou-sama pulled her to the second floor. When the door opened, he pushed her inside and locked it behind them. Without another word, he pulled her toward the bed and wiped her face with his robe, thinking she was crying. He watched her intently, touching her trembling cheek. She smiled. Ryou-sama saved her. He came.

Before she could speak, he slowly leaned down to capture her lips. Slowly, he moved his lips on hers, darting his tongue to explore her mouth. Yui's eyes widened but her knees felt weak when their tongues lapped against each other. She shut her eyes, blushing. He was not only kissing her, he was sucking away the fear, the nervousness, the trembling in her body. With every movement, he was giving her more strength and she responded with the littlest she knew of kissing. Slowly, he moved away, leaving her mouth parted and waiting, eyes half-lidded. She was leaning completely to the aroma of flowers as the man with the most beautiful face licked the sides of her mouth in slow lingering movements.

"If he touches you again, tell me and I will kill him," he whispered, moving his nose on her neck to line her jaw and eventually her ear.

"Why do you let him touch you…?" she asked as he moved his lips behind her ear, sending sensations to her body. She couldn't push him away, not when an all too familiar fleeting feeling filled her. She held tightly on his shoulder as she got ushered into a dreamy surreal state.

When she opened her eyes she was not in the inn, she was in her chambers, lying on the softest bed of silk. Blue draperies filled her eyes, with stitches of the dragon. She was home. He laid her down on the bed, very gently. He eskimoed his nose on hers and her mouth parted when he kissed her again. Slow. Gentle. Warm. Inviting. Addicting. Familiar.

Her head was spinning and she had lost control of her thoughts. She was dazed and intoxicated. She was… happy and contented and... floating. She touched her head, shaking it to dispel the undefined feeling that seemed to wash her away in blissful surrender. How was it possible that she was in her bed, in her room? She was supposed to be in another country… Why was she seeing all these things? Ryou-sama cupped her cheek, his breath warm on her skin.

"Don't move against it… Stay with me…"

"No…" she uttered with hardship. He kissed her again, soft feathery kisses on lips that had never felt a man's mouth. "Ryou-sama…"

"Are you disgusted?" he whispered, moving his hands to pull off her shirt. She stopped him in the little strength she had. She swallowed hard and he ended up moving his mouth on the base of her neck.

"No… No…" she moaned softly, following the slow movements of his tongue on her skin. "But this is…" His hands moved up under the shirt, leaving goosebumps and a tingling wondrous feeling from the point where he touched her. His hands were warm but the fingertips were cold. She shivered as he moved up, hitching her shirt, and her eyes widened. "STOP! DON'T! PLEASE!" she screamed, pushing him away.

Slowly, the room faded and darkness filled them. The stench of old cloth filled her nostrils and she shook her head to dispel the unknown effect that hit her when they kissed. What happened? The images she saw were too real… When she looked up to him, everything became clear.

"In the end, I can't do it… I can't trap you in my world and own you…" he whispered, gray eyes showing sadness. He slowly let go of her waist and smiled sadly. Something glimmered under his robe but before she could recognize what it was, he turned his back on her. He reached for the opened shell on the bedside table and snapped it close. The sensations disappeared and she was completely aware of herself and his presence. "Don't come back to the carriage and stay here until I said so."

"Ryou-sama—" He turned with a raised eyebrow. "Where are you going?" she asked hesitantly. His jaw clenched and he continued toward the door.

"To survive," he answered thinly. He threw her the shell and she caught it with her hands. "If I don't come back at sunrise, you are free to leave the troupe with my treasure." He smiled and her heart palpitated wildly. He never smiled at her before.

THE ROOSTER CUCKOOED but Yui was already awake, watching the door, waiting for his figure to arrive. She dreaded the call of the rooster and when it came, she covered her face, trembling. She stood from the bed, walking out of the room and into the early morning air. She clutched the shell to her nervously beating heart. Where was he? She needed to find him. She tried returning to the red light district, passing by the fountain where she met a young man a few nights ago. A small hand touched her leg and when she looked down, found the wolf boy Shinji clinging to her.

"Shinji! Oh my, I'm sorry I left you at the troupe leader!" she said, embracing him. The boy joyfully licked her cheek and snuggled. "I'm looking for Ryou-sama… can you help me find him?" she asked and the boy nodded. He smelled the shell and growled.

After sniffing in the air and the ground for a few minutes, he darted toward the west section of the city, completely opposite to the red light district. She followed him, hopeful that they could find the performer. Yui lost count of the number of alleyways they passed by but she continued to follow the boy, holding to the treasure the performer left for her.

The houses were different, becoming bigger and bigger. Was Ryou-sama in one of the houses? But if he was, they will have a hard time sneaking inside the gardens! The boy growled and sniffed the ground again. He made sounds and pulled off a damp cloth from one of the sidewalks. She gasped. Lying unconscious on the dirty cobblestones was Ryou-sama—naked and with gashes on his skin.

"Ryou-sama—" She ran toward him, placing his face on her lap. He was breathing but was suffering from a very high fever. His gray eyes opened and smiled painfully. Her heart ached. "Please hold on, I'll bring you back to the inn." She looked around for the boy and was taken with surprise when he was biting a robe. "Did you steal this?" she asked and the boy moved toward her, licking her cheek. "I guess it doesn't matter."

Yui covered the performer with the robe and assisted him toward the inn, slowly. It was a long grueling walk and Ryou-sama's condition was getting worse. A heavy hand landed on her shoulder and when she turned, found the vicious look of the troupe leader.

"Found you," he said, roughly pulling her and pushing Ryou-sama to the ground. The latter opened his eyes but he couldn't move. "Now let's continue where we left off last night. I'll break you in front of your beloved master."

"Aki…" Chuuin called, lifting his hand for her. "Don't… Iji stop…"

Ryou-sama pulled out coins from his robe and it spilled on the ground. The troupe leader grabbed it but continued to push her to the wall. She screamed and flailed wildly. But the streets were barren and the houses remained closed.

"This is not enough!" he said sarcastically. The leader pinned her hands on the wall and bit her neck. Tears fell from her eyes.

"STOP! HELP!" she cried as his teeth sank on her flesh, making it bleed. She was about to scream louder when the leader yelped from the pain. Angry growls filled the early morning and when Yui managed to turn, found the boy clinging to the old man's back, biting on his neck. "Shinji!"

"Get off me! GET OFF—UGH!" Shinji bit on the man's neck as he flailed miserably. But the boy's teeth seeped deeper into him as he slowly transformed to a wolf. Blue light filled the alleyway and it enveloped them. The troupe leader gagged and shivered, slowly losing control of his movements. Slowly, the leader stopped struggling. He never moved again.

The white wolf licked his lips and walked toward her trembling form. He nuzzled her tear-streaked face and she slowly calmed down, rubbing the wolf's warm pelt. Her heart beat madly as the blue light on Shinji's tail returned to normal. When she turned to the performer, he was smiling. Something glimmered under his robe as Shinji slowly transformed back to being a boy.

"Ryou-sama…" He pulled her close, planting a kiss on her forehead. She flushed. The warmth of his lips made her panic and she hurriedly assisted him up, leading her toward the inn.

The owner gave them weird looks but since the performer had paid for the room, let them pass. She asked for a bucket of cold water and cloth, which was given to them a few minutes after. She locked the door and unclothed the performer, washing his blood-streaked skin with the damp cloth. He was scorching and Yui was afraid that she could not do something about it.

"Don't leave me… Please… Don't leave me behind…" he whispered, hallucinating, reaching for an unknown person from the skies. Yui touched his hand and looked at him intently. "I'm alone… No… I don't want to be alone… It's dark… Don't leave me… It's cold…"

"I'm here Ryou-sama…" she whispered, touching his forehead. The boy sat on one corner of the room, watching them. "Chuuin-san… I'm here…" He cupped her face.

"Hime-sama…" he called softly and her eyes widened. "Did you come to watch me perform… Hime-sama…" He choked but continued to gaze at her with loving soft gray eyes. "Hime-sama… Do you remember how we met? Kekeke—you gave me your pearl earring—Do you remember?" he asked in a halting slurred voice. "I am a good performer now—I don't just carry clothes—"

"Hai… Hai…" she whispered as a solitary tear fell from her eye. "I came to see you, Chuuin-sama, I've heard many good things about you…" she lied. A smile left his broken and dry lips. He laughed and choked, spurting blood. He turned toward a faraway direction with the look of longing in his eyes.

"Mother is that you…? Don't leave me behind… Mother!" he screamed and she embraced him, planting kisses on his forehead, pulling his scorching body back on the bed. Tears continued to pour from her eyes as he called to his mother, in repeated begging tones. "MOTHER!" Bluish light filled the room and Yui's eyes scanned the source of the blue light. As he squirmed on the bed, she saw briefly the outline of a mark on his thigh.

Tomo. Root.

Yui gasped and even the boy ran toward the bed, eyeing the mark. Slowly, the light subsided and he stopped struggling. Sweat filled his face and he was still whispering words. A warrior, she found another warrior. She wanted to laugh out of happiness but his feverish state made her panic. What was she supposed to do? She briefly remembered Kotoku and what he did to make her feel better. She flushed. If she does the same—even though she can't clearly remember how it was done—Ryou-sama will find out that she was not a boy.

Life or identity?

She clutched her short hair and swallowed hard. Life. His life was more important. She slowly stripped and climbed the bed, moving on top of him under the blanket. She'll wake up earlier so he won't see her naked. His skin was scorching as she gently leaned down. An arm wrapped around her waist, burning and strong, and she fidgeted when he pulled her closer. She banished all the inhibitions in her head and tried to sleep. She snuggled closer to his neck, feeling the gentle drum beats of his heart and the slow movements of air as he breathed. A few more minutes after, she was asleep.

THE HOUSE WAS in disarray. Silence permeated the walls, every corner was drenched in the darkness. An emblem was on the high wall, complementing the draperies of indigo silk. Tightly sewn, meticulous and glaring. A red rose against a crescent moon, strewn with the twilight sky as the backdrop. One of the old houses that rivaled the ruling family over the capital Shinryu. A long forgotten line of nobility.

The door parted and a stately woman stepped inside, followed by a handmaid two decades her junior. On the girl's arms was a baby, wrapped in indigo silk. Their footsteps echoed in the marble walls, harried but sure. The women reached the back door and the older one looked down on the baby.

"My heart bleeds because I cannot come along," the woman says slowly. Her deep bluish-gray eyes had the look of sadness. Pale smooth skin and long ebony hair tied in a pin of the most beautiful gems. The handmaid bowed and offered the boy closer for her scrutiny. She fingered the cloth and smiled as the baby slowly opened its eyes and looked back. "You are the most beautiful creature on this world, my son. Shameful that your father cannot give you the throne."

The woman took a clam shell from her robe and laid it under the blanket. The sound of horses drifted in the front door of the house. "Yue-sama—"

"You know what to do with him. Please make sure he ends up in a loving family. When the time comes, he will serve this country." A tear fell from her eye and she slowly brushed it away. "You will forever be in my heart, Tomo-kun. For now, sleep and dream of our love."

"Yue—the imperial soldiers have arrived!" A man with gray hair showed up from the door, in an obvious state of panic. "Leave now and save my son," he told the handmaid, who hurriedly bowed and left through the back door. The woman tried to hide the sobs from her beautiful thin mouth of red. When her husband stepped closer, she flung herself into her beloved's arms and cried. "Did you regret marrying me?"

"Never," she whispered. "Never."

"Tonight will be the longest in our lives… The Hongou house had reclaimed the throne… The Roun tribe had chosen Shinji and the magistrates have turned their backs on us." He wrapped his strong arms around his wife. "You know what will be left of us, ne? Death is the only way out…"

"It isn't your fault, my love… Seiryuu had not favored us…" The man smiled. "Let us pray that he will survive, even if we can't."

"He will, he belongs to Seiryuu." The couple embraced silently. "Yue, I never betrayed this country. But the biggest mistake I did was to let myself be a pawn for the game of the houses."

"Shhh…" the woman hushed him. "It was a game well-played." The man smiled at his beautiful wife and when the clouds covered the moon, their shadows barely moved. When the moon shifted, they were gone, surrendering to a crime they never committed.

The next day, the ruling dynasty was reinstated and Kutou fell into temporary peace.

"Mother where are we going?" the boy of three years old asked, thin and frail but his beauty stood out from the woman he called mother. They had no similarities as the latter was brown-haired and dark-skinned. They were donning the clothes of the West, of the country called Sairou. Even in the scorching heat, the boy's skin remained pale and smooth.

"To the market," she said coldly. She pulled the boy and didn't say more. The boy nodded and curiously looked around, excited to be seeing the market for the first time.

The noodles merchant fascinated him and he followed the man, his small hands gliding from the woman. Being out of the house for the first time, the boy was fascinated with everything he saw, the vegetable seller, the bright red apples from the fruit seller, the snake dancing to the sound of the flute, endless designs of the god Byakko in carpets, draperies, and cloths of silk. But one thing fascinated him the most: the water magician.

The man made different designs with the water, a thing that never grew in abundance in Sairou. The man shaped bubbles, long lines, and various other things that fascinated him. The audience held their breath as he slowly formed an unfamiliar line, the water glimmered as if mimicking scales. Chuuin looked closely, his gray eyes widening in amazement. The water slowly took the form of a dragon, an entity he had never seen before but whose sight brought him an unexplainable feeling of bliss. The dragon turned and he gasped, consciousness fading.

When he woke up, everyone was gone from the streets and the Western night sky covered the land. Coldness filled his body and an aching he never thought he would experience came from his thigh.

"Mother?" he called in the darkness but nothing answered. He ran around the city, calling to the woman, until darkness consumed him once again. "Don't leave me in the dark, mother. MOTHER!"

YUI FIDGETED AND awoke with a start. Strong arms pulled her closer and she surrendered to the heat of his body. The moon was high and waxing on the southern sky, peeking in the opened windows of the room. She closed her eyes to return to sleep but the gentle beats of his heart kept on ringing in her ears. She fingered the soft hairs on his chest. She had never fallen asleep with a man before and softness of his skin made her momentarily mistook him for a woman.

A murmur left him and she closed her eyes. But her fingers continued to roam on his soft supple skin, very lightly. How can a man be beautiful? He was never pampered and lived a life of luxury. He sells his body for coins. And yet, as she lined the muscles on his chest, she could not imagine him as a man abused by the world.

In eyes closed, her fingers lined a scar on the side of his body, a flaw in his beauty. She knew that if she touched his back, she will make out clotting wounds, deep enough to create ugly scars in his pale flesh, lesions that will remind him—and her—of the sufferings he had to endure every night to survive. She hated his life. She hated him for wanting this life. Yet, she could not bring it in herself to loathe him or take pity. The man below him, she realized, was special to her. Like the wolf boy Shinji. Like the twins.

A familiar light feeling enveloped her and she doesn't have to open her eyes to know that his mark was glowing. Her fingers moved on its own and lined the mark, piercing writing on skin, warm and intense. She wrote the word with a finger in slow sure movements. A soft hand clutched hers, lifting it up to stop what she was unconsciously doing.

"Don't do that," he whispered in a voice rough from sleep. In quick deliberate movements, he pushed her to the bed and loomed above her, tightly holding her hand.

"Ryou-sama..." she called, eyes wide. His gray eyes glistened with the moon's rays and the beads of sweat on his body made him shine in the dark. His eyes moved down to her naked form and she flushed when a smirk made its way on his face.

"You have yet to mature," he noted and heat filled her face. She pulled her hand to cover herself but he pulled it back, gently planting kisses on her wan flesh. He looked down at her intently. "You found out my secret. What should I do with you?"

"Secret?" she asked, fixing her eyes on his beautiful face. For the life of her, she can't look down—especially not when he's naked. Men, based on what she saw in the blond swordsman, have something different between their legs.

"You unveiled all my masks, now I don't have anything else to hide. Tell me, you who's pretending to be a boy, what should you give me in return?" He continued to move his lips on her hand and she blinked repeatedly to avoid getting carried away.

"I don't have much… I… I really don't have anything but myself," she answered in a whisper. He smiled thinly and her heart palpitated madly. She hated it when he gives her that look, it means he was up to something.

"Then I will take it," he said a little too loudly. He nailed her hands at the side of her head, making her gasp. "Tonight, I will make you my wife."

A/N: Since the Gaiden novels didn't tell much about Tomo's lineage, I decided to just play around. The last line is the same one Uruki told Takiko in Genbu Kaiden. And yes, this is still a Yui-Nakago fiction. I'm just exploring the pairings in the same way Yuu Watase hinted a possibility between Miaka and all of her warriors. And yes, Tomo was Yui's first real kiss. I can't help it—Nakago is in a faraway province! [Or is he…?] Don't forget to leave reviews!