ATTENTION READERS: This is the Beta version of LH5W, if you want to read the official, updated version of the story, you'll have to go over to DeviantArt. com and head on over to my page. My username is Aloubell. You can also get there by going to my fanfiction. net profile which provides a link over there.
In any case, this Beta version is basically the rough draft of LH5W, my first attempt at it. Much of the plot points from this version will be the same in the official version, but there are significant and consistent characterization changes, a few (but very important) plot differences, expansion of past ideas, and overall better quality in storytelling.
All of this will be done over on DeviantArt. I no longer will write the story in traditional prose nor submit/update it here to fanfiction. net. The Beta version will remain here, just know that it isn't the 100% official story.
The official version will be written in a lazy prose mixed with play-writing elements (you'll get what I mean when you see it).
This is the new format for the story from now on.
So please head on over there if you're interested in updates to the story! Thank you for stopping by =D
-Aloe
PLEASE NOTE: The official version is being written somewhat out of order. The official version will start on chapter 46, the place where the Beta version left off. The official version will go on to complete the last chapters of Season 2. Once those are done, I will redo the story over again from Chapter 1 which will be the official version.
Having said that, if you choose to continue on reading, I hope you enjoy the Beta version and look forward to the official!
Waking up the next day, some part of my brain told me that everything that happened the day before was just some long, irritating hallucination that the universe decided to put into my brain. But waking up in the emperor's bed alongside Miaka—who, with bags under her eyes, looked like she had the longest night ever—made me realize that the headache from the previous day would just keep on going.
Sitting up, I caught sight of her blood-shot eyes. "Umm…Miaka? How did you sleep?" As if I didn't know.
"I…I couldn't sleep at all. I still can't believe that Hotohori proposed to me. I'm just fifteen!" Her body began to sway in exhaustion. "Not only that, what if I lost Tamahome and Nuriko? We were all just starting to become friends!"
It was hard finding the right thing to say considering I had never been in any kind of situation like this. Well…actually, the more I thought about it, I remembered how extremely jealous I was with the relationship between Haruhi and Hikaru. Even though Haruhi was too oblivious to things like that at the time, it didn't take away from the fact that the twins seemed to favor her over me. Of course, I learned a bit later that that wasn't the case. Regardless of the fact that Hikaru and I eventually did become a couple, I was still very much hurt while thinking that his heart belonged to Haruhi. So, I knew exactly how Tamahome was feeling—assuming that he did actually like Miaka in that way. Feelings of anger, sadness, and jealousy tend to cloud your sense of judgment and lead you to do or say stupid things. Of course, all of this probably meant that Tamahome wouldn't easily patch things up with Miaka until he did or say something stupid. Was there the possibility that we could avoid all this? Yup. Was there more of a possibility of the universe having some sick amusement by toying with all of us before it's satisfied? You bet your ass on it.
"Miaka, you have to get a hold of yourself," I said while swinging my legs over the side of the bed. "I will not lie to you—things don't seem all that great, but they're not bad—they're…fixable. All we have to do is talk to the three of them and get some things straight." That was when a significant detail came to me. "I'm sorry, but I'm sort of required to ask this: Do you want to marry Hotohori?"
The question got her thinking as her face finally gained back color from the blood rushing through. "I—uh…Well…" She sighed. "Hotohori is really nice, and he's good-looking, rich…I'd probably be set for life if I did. But…something tells me that it's just not for me. At least I'm pretty sure it's not. I just think that I need to sort some things out before I go making decisions like that."
I nodded and smiled at her. "That would be a wise idea."
"Besides, I'm still trying to get home. I can't just go making such a huge decision like that without saying anything to Yui, or my family. And I still want to get into Jonan Academy!"
Putting my hand on her shoulder, I told her, "It's okay to have doubts and stuff—it all eventually helps you come to your decision, which is the most important. Don't stress" God knows that I've had my doubts—I still had them. With how screwed-up my life had been, I'd be a bit concerned if I didn't have any doubts and regrets. But I was still working—slightly struggling—through my issues and really hoped that Miaka wouldn't have to go through even a portion of what I had.
Trying to stand up, she sank to the ground and started feverishly waving her hands around. "What am I supposed to do? I'm so confused! Everything is happening so fast!"
Knowing that she would probably continue to panic no matter what I had to say, all I could do was sigh and formulate some kind of solution. She wouldn't be satisfied until everyone was happy and everything was nice and dandy. For the sake of all things that are still innocent and pure in the world (Miaka) I have to fix this!
After getting dressed, Miaka and I decided to go on a mission to find Nuriko and Tamahome to investigate the status of their standing since the night before. Luckily, the layout of the palace was beginning to become more familiar to me, making navigation prove not to be so much of an issue anymore (On a completely different side note: If the palace had a directory of some kind in the first place, none of us would of even had a problem with the layout of it. But no, they make you keep guessing until you get it right. Damn architects). We eventually came across one of our awkward acquaintances, otherwise known as Miaka's main source of hurt—the teal-haired wonder himself, Tamahome. And oh look! He looks as enthusiastic as ever! When he caught sight of us, his face seemed rather blank and devoid of all emotion. To be honest, seeing him trying to hide his feelings like that sort of stung a bit more that if he had lashed out in a rage. He looked at Miaka and me in indifference—as if we were just some random people on the street that he didn't give a damn about. That was how it looked anyway, although I was pretty sure that his negative feelings were more aimed at Miaka. Negative feelings…Oh crap! If I stand around him, he could be affected by the ring! That wouldn't help the situation at all.
Taking a few steps back, he seemed to have caught notice. "What's wrong Aki?" Huh, so he is talking to me. I guess it really is just Miaka that he's upset with.
Looking at Miaka who I knew felt left out, I shook my head. "Nothing. Umm…wasn't there something you wanted to say to Miaka?"
His unemotional violet eyes shifted towards the girl who had a slight spark of hope in her eye. With a nonchalant tone, he answered, "Nope, I have nothing that I want to say. After all," His voice went cold, "I think that everyone had said what they wanted to say last night. No point in opening old wounds, right?" Ouch. Miaka's body started to shake as tears started to form. I had never seen this kind of pained expression on her face before…
"Tamahome…I—I," She tried to say. Choosing not to acknowledge that she was there, he walked past us, practically sending a chilling wind our way and making us shiver from its coldness.
Contemplating whether or not I should force him back, I decided that comforting Miaka was more of a priority. "C'mon Miaka don't give up. You have to—"
"Give up? Give up? No, I can't give up. There just has to be something that I can do!" Her determination at that time sort of astounded me. I kind of figured that she would break down right there and keep at it until all her tears dried up. At least she was willing to fight for this thing rather than whine about it—which made me that much happier ('cause honestly, it took a certain kind of stamina that I didn't particularly have a plethora of in order to withstand all of those tears she was able to dish-out. Yup, it can get that bad). It did make me a bit curious though…
"What do you plan on doing?"
"Okay, so I talked to Tamahome and apparently, he's going to the marketplace right now to try and earn some money—no surprise there. In fact, if I didn't know better, I'd say that he was his same, money-loving self. But aside from that," I handed her a simple, dirt-brown cloak with a hood, "here. Why did you want this anyway?"
Taking the cloak, she immediately put it on and concealed her head using the large, baggy hood. "I'm gonna follow Tamahome and somehow get him to talk to me." Oh, I see. Leave it to Miaka to resort to using her signature move of "Clinging onto somebody until they do what she wants" trick—which oddly works if she stays at it and doesn't stop. So, it's effective…just really irritating—causing me to be skeptical to whether this method was really the right one for getting Tamahome to get over his jealousy and talk to her again. Usually annoying someone wasn't the right way to go when you wanted to get them to speak with you sincerely. But…teach his own I suppose. She'll never learn if I keep pointing out the answers to her. As I thought to myself, she gave me a puzzled look.
"What?"
"Well, aren't you gonna tell me that this is dangerous and a bad idea and tell me not to do it?"
I rolled my eyes in a sarcastic fashion. "Why would I ever do that?"
She shrugged. "Just seems sort of like an 'Aki' thing, Onee-chan." It was true, I really wanted to either tell her not to go through with her plan or offer to go with her. But I figured that a.) Since she would be following him around anyway, Tamahome would more or less be around to protect her should something bad actually happen, and b.) Those two needed to fix whatever it was that was broken between them on their own. They didn't need me for this one—it wouldn't be good if they became reliant on others to make their relationship work.
"Well, Aki's changing her own rules this time. Do what you have to do." Putting my hand on her back, I pushed her in the direction that Tamahome had gone in. "Just one thing: if you're gonna do your clinging thing, then cling. Stay close to him so that he can keep you safe."
She looked back at me with sad eyes. "But what if he doesn't want to protect me?"
"Oh, you have nothing to worry about there. Tama may be upset, but as a Suzaku warrior, he still has an obligation to protect his priestess." Not only that, but if he really does like you, then he wouldn't allow you to even get scratched.
Looking down, she said, "I don't want him to get hurt just because of some dumb obligation."
"Hey, it's that 'dumb obligation' that will keep you alive. Also consider," I winked at her, "he may be protecting you because he wants to—not just because he has to." Your life is precious Miaka, don't sell yourself short. "Now go! Before you end up losing him and searching around the whole city. I don't want to end up sending out a search party just because you spazzed put."I laughed nervously to myself. Hotohori would definitely be stern with Tama and I if that ended up happening—I definitely think that revealing that I have powers automatically puts me on Miaka alert twenty-four seven.
She hesitated a bit just before she bolted off.
Seeing how she was gone, I sighed to myself. "While she's gone, I'll work on the other two problems." Knowing Nuriko, she was probably real pissed off—I was actually a bit shocked that she hadn't either destroyed half the palace, or snuck into our room when we were asleep and strangled Miaka. There was always the chance that she was one of those people who got mad for only a short time, but was usually mellow and quick to forgive—but I really doubted it. It may have been a good thing that she hadn't made her appearance yet all day. Of course the other problem would be Hotohori who may or may not have been aware of Tama and Miaka's thing, but was still bold enough to go out there and ask her hand in marriage. Speaking of which, she's only fifteen! Why would he even ask her? Perhaps, this world was part of a past where women got married in their late teen years…Nonetheless, she wasn't ready for marriage of any kind—whether it was to Hotohori or Tamahome.
Damn…why did Hotohori have to go and make things complicated? Now that I think about it, things were complicated the moment Miaka stepped foot into this world.
A few more moments of cursing the universe and my eyes caught sight of a few locks of flowing purple hair round a corner ahead of me. Since I was pretty positive that there was only one person with purple hair like that walking around, the pursuit began.
Deciding that I didn't want to run—and that I was exposed anyway—I used my energy to lift my body from the ground, floating towards Nuriko. The moment I went around the corner, I was stopped by an extended arm with a hand palm faced out—causing me to run into it and fall flat onto the ground.
Holding my nose, I complained. "Why is it that the one time I fly around freely, I run into someone?"
"You know, sneaking around isn't very nice," Nuriko's voice said. Looking up, she stood there with a rather annoyed look on her face.
As I stood up, I replied, "I wasn't sneaking—I was coming over to talk to you. You know, usually when people want to surprise others like that, they usually wait to see who it is before resorting to physical means."
She snorted. "You're the one who ran into my hand—I'd say that I was the one who was wronged."
You held out your hand you little bitch. "Whatever. How did you know I was in back of you anyway?"
Pretending to be sneaky, her eyes shifted to the side. "Oh, you know…I was just innocently walking around and saw you and that little tramp Miaka talking. Then she ran off wearing some ugly cloak."
My face fell. "Do you have some sort of spying problem?" Wait a minute… "Did you just call Miaka a 'tramp'? Not cool Nuriko."
Turning back to me and into the direction she was originally headed, she crossed her arms. "Well, it's not my fault. She went in there with the 'intention' of making His Highness mine, and comes out practically engaged to him!"
"You and I both know that she didn't say yes. Besides, you know that she did tell Hotohori about your feelings. What had happened after that was pretty much on him." Hearing that made her growl. "Plus, when you think about it—hey! Wait!" She started walking away quickly before I could even finish my sentence properly. Determined, I went after her. "C'mon Nuriko, just hear me out!" She walked even faster. "Where are you even going?"
"I'm going to fix this my way." Power walking down the hallways, some servants stepped out of some rooms just going about their day. When Nuriko charged through, she didn't stop to allow any of them to get out of her way—she just bumped into—and pushed—whoever was in her way and just kept on going.
Stopping briefly, I hunched over to check if they were okay. "I am so sorry—she's just upset. Don't mind her." Making sure that I didn't lose sight of her, I left them with one more "I'm sorry" and continued on.
Finally catching up to her, I breathed hard from the race. "What do you mean your way?"
"The emperor will be mine even if I have to force myself onto him. I'll show him that I am more of a woman than Miaka will ever be!" You know, thinking of Nuriko's personality and how she was when she pretended to like Tamahome, you'd think that she would be the aggressive type when it came to relationships. But considering Hotohori didn't even know that she had a thing for him, I began to believe that she could have actually been the type to be bashful around the men she likes—similarly to how I used to be around guys I found extremely hot. If my guess was true, then even if she charged up to Hotohori, she probably wouldn't do anything. Well, if we're going to go see him, I suppose I can get both of these issues out of the way at once while Miaka is working on Tamahome.
As we made our way to the throne room, I sensed something…off. Stopping and looking back over my shoulder, I tried to see if there was anything there.
Nothing.
Huh? I knew that I felt something. Part of me thought that I knew what it was, but I couldn't put my finger on it. Something there was making my senses go on alert and that wasn't normal unless there was an evident trace of trouble. But I don't see anything…Maybe my senses are screwed up…
Realizing that Nuriko didn't wait up, she was completely out of sight—most likely already at or near the throne room. Ignoring my uneasiness, I went on with my mission—making sure to glance backwards every now and then for any devious entities.
Upon entering the royal space, I came across Nuriko—playing with her fingers and looking down with a slightly flushed face—talking to Hotohori, who was wearing slightly more casual royal attire which allowed his long hair to flow in that loose ponytail I was familiar to. I couldn't quite make out their conversation, but I knew that it probably consisted of Nuriko attempting to find the right words to say. When Hotohori saw me, he gave a warm smile.
"Good morning Akimoto. I trust that you slept well?"
Catching Nuriko's glare at me, I replied, "Yeah, I slept just fine." Miaka on the other hand…
"Well, I'm happy to hear that. By the way," Here came the predictable question, "have you seen Miaka?"
Thinking of an answer that he wouldn't react negatively to, I came up with, "She went out on an outing with Tamahome."
"An outing? Hmm…" He pondered about something. "I suppose that I'll talk to her later." Before I could respond something else, a peculiar sensation overcame my body, causing me to instinctively stiffen up and scan the surroundings. The emperor seemed to notice and asked, "Are you feeling well Akimoto?"
Hesitantly, I nodded. "Yeah, I'm…okay…" I just can't shake the feeling that something bad is gonna happen.
Nuriko suddenly got a burst of energy and stepped in front of me in order to become the object of Hotohori's view. "She's just fine! Now going back to our conversation…" Suddenly, all of the lighting in the room was extinguished, making the room rather dark, with only a few windows keeping the place from becoming completely pitched black. The sounds of doors closing and locking echoed around the room. Alarmed, the three of us killed the conversation and immediately looked around to see what had gone wrong.
"What happened?" Nuriko asked.
"I am not sure," Hotohori told her. "Guards! What is the meaning of this?" No answer. "Guards!" He tried again.
"Something's not right." We all went quiet to see if we could hear or notice anything—but there was nothing to listen for…everything was silent. With the intention of checking where everyone was, an ominous black cloud surrounded the three of us, causing the edges of the room to be obstructed from our view. Getting close together, we made sure that one of us was facing in each direction—ready for whatever was coming at us. The uneasiness was definitely on high alert by this point—so much so that I was sure that both Nuriko and Hotohori were feeling it as well. It's so weird…this feeling is familiar, but it's different somehow.
"We need to find a way out of this," Hotohori exclaimed.
"That's for sure, but we don't even know what 'this' is!" Nuriko told him.
From the darkness emerged a young woman wearing similar royal clothes to Nuriko's with her head hanging down—her body seemingly having had a dark tint to it.
When it seemed like she wouldn't say anything, I asked, "Umm…who are you? Do you know what's going on?" She didn't even react to my question—she just stood there. It was quite creepy actually.
Nuriko talked to me in my ear. "I recognize that girl. She's part of His Highnesses harem like I am." As she said that, five other girls emerged all around us—each of them with their heads down and having a dark tint. "S-so are they."
Hotohori, taking charge as an emperor should, spoke out with a strong voice. "Ladies, explain yourselves this instant!"
The first one that came out finally spoke in a soft and hissing tone. "Everyday…I'm here trying to please His Highness…"
Another one, "and he doesn't seem to see me."
"Every day, I hope that someday we'll be married."
"Live forever happy."
"But he doesn't see me."
"My family is counting on me to become empress…"
"I've dreamed and dreamed only to find that I'm in a nightmare."
"He'll never see me—it's all a sick game."
"No one will ever love me…"
"I'm worthless…"
"Why won't he love me?"
The voices of the depressed girls filled the room as they all began meshing their stories all at once. None of them moved from their spots, but they all brought up their heads to reveal eyes that were completely black and devoid of any hope. The sight of them and the sounds of their hums of doubt made the three of us cringe.
Nuriko wrapped her arms around herself. "Man, this is really creepy. What's with these girls?"
"I'm—I'm not completely sure…" These things they're saying…they're so full of despair. These feelings…that was how I used to feel all the time. No…I still feel that way—like there's no point in living if you aren't cared for—if you don't matter—wait! I shook my head. What am I thinking? Get a hold of yourself Aki, don't fall prey to the darkness! These girls seem to be…suffering from it. But it's so concentrated…almost like—"Shadow Maidens!"
"Shadow what?" Nuriko asked while looking at me out of the corner of her eye.
Shaking my head, I focused my thoughts some more. "No, that's not what they are—they feel similarly, but they're different. These girls aren't shadows at all—they still have legitimate forms. Not only that, but they're alive and…and…" None of these girls have even went on the journey, so they don't—or shouldn't—have elemental powers of any kind to unlock. So…what's going on?
"Akimoto, do you know what happened to these women?"
As the girls steady got closer, I nodded. "Yes…and no. Look, it's a bunch of complicated stuff that I don't have the time to explain right now—" I cut myself off the moment all of the girls grabbed knives that fell from their long sleeves and into their hands. Damn…they're hostile.
"If I can't be with His Highness…"
"Then no woman can…"
"And if His Highness refuses me…"
"Then he must die as well."
Without warning, they all rushed at us, knives pointed out. The way they were moving seemed like they were each being held up by strings—like puppets. But that didn't stop their hits from being precise and almost getting us. Nuriko, Hotohori, and I were forced to dodge their attacks if we had any chance of getting out of this alive. Luckily, it seemed like the two of them were good fighters, so they were able from being vitally wounded. Nuriko seemed to be having a little bit of trouble, though, due to her heavy and not extremely flexible clothing. If the girls did manage to land a blow, it would only be on parts of her outfit…which seemed to really tick Nuriko off.
"You know what? I don't care if these chicks are crazy or possessed—no one ruins my clothes! You know how valuable these robes are?" At that, she made a few punches, but missed when the ladies effortlessly avoided the blows. Their agility is almost as impressive as the Shadow Maidens'. But if Nuriko hits one of them just once, they're done for.
Hotohori, too, seemed to be having some trouble. That was when he lifted his hand into the air while having a concentrated look on his face. Out of nowhere, an impressive sword with a gold and crimson handle flew to him as he successfully caught it in his hand. With that, the various sharp attacks from the knives were all blocked by the sturdiness of the weapon of the emperors. Seeing how he and Nuriko were able to fend for themselves, something occurred to me…
"Wait! You two can't hurt them!" I yelled out. Without getting distracted by my voice, they kept on blocking, dodging, and attacking.
"Why not?"
"Because—" A knife came rushing at my face, causing me to duck right before someone came at me from the back. Jumping to the side, sliding on the ground, I made sure to get back up fast to make sure that I wasn't an open target. "Because they are still regular girls—they're just being…possessed…or something like that…I suppose. It's not their fault!"
"Well then—argh!" Nuriko tried punching one of them again, but lost her balance. Before someone could stab her, Hotohori came along and blocked their advances with his sword. "How are we supposed to defeat them?"
"I don't know—"
"It's either us or them Aki!"
I actually preferred no one to get hurt. Somehow, I needed to summon that light that I was able to produce sometimes. The problem was that things were so hectic that I couldn't concentrate properly. Launching myself into the air, I utilized the power of ice. "Mercury," Streams of extremely chilled water gathered in my hand and manifested into a small harp. "Aqua Rhapsody!" Plucking the strings, multiple thin streams of water flowed out and covered the room around Nuriko and Hotohori in ice that seemed to have formed a beautiful barrier made of swirled ice vines. While the two looked around in awe, the possessed women stood on the outside of the ice, attempting to climb through the spaces in between the vines. Allowing the harp to disappear, I landed back onto the ground.
"How magnificent!" Hotohori said in awe.
"Amazing!" Nuriko came up to me and slapped me in the back in a congratulatory fashion. "I knew we kept you around for something!" I scowled at her. Oh yeah…that's why.
"It's not gonna hold them for very long…"
"Well then, we have to think of something." Hotohori made sure that he scanned the area around him just in case one of the girls managed to get through. "If worse comes to worse, then we'll have no choice but to fight back."
"Hopefully we won't have to resort to that." Gathering up my energy, I focused on a more positive feeling. If I had any chance of defeating these women, then I had to fight them with the same thing that I used against the Shadow Maidens: Light. Digging deep into my most cherished memories, I tried to feel around for the familiar sensation that would get us out of this mess. Something was wrong though. The more I tried to feel happiness, the overwhelming feelings of misery and despair clouded my mind—resulting from the residual dark energy emitting from the girls. It didn't help that the ring of negative energy around me seemed to be growing stronger from absorbing their negative energy—I just couldn't focus. The darkness began to smother me completely and there didn't seem to be any sign of light.
Light-headed, and shivering from the chillness of the darkness, I brought my hands to my head in an attempt to block out everything that was going on around me. Apparently searching for Light left my senses wide open for anything to enter—the darkness was taking over my moment of mental vulnerably. Feeling that everything was too unbearable, I dropped to my knees still keeping my hands to my head.
Everywhere around me, I could hear their sad voices.
"No one has ever cared about me…"
"My life has no purpose…"
"The waiting…the pain…it's not worth it!"
"Was I born to be alone?"
"Must I experience this Hell on Earth?"
Hunching over some more, I tried to get the voices to stop. A hand reached out for my shoulder and shook me.
"A…to…"
"…ki…"
A pair of voices tried to penetrate the sounds of despair.
"Akimoto!"
"Aki, what's wrong?"
Blinking, I was finally pushed out of the pool of negative energy. It was Hotohori's hand on me as he and Nuriko looked at me in concern. "Are you alright?"
Regaining my composure, I stood back up. "Yeah, I'm better." A good part of me could still feel the uneasy atmosphere, but at least this time, I was more in control. "This is going to be a lot harder than I initially thought."
"What were you trying to do?" Nuriko asked with curiosity.
"It doesn't matter. If I can't do it, then we're in trouble." If any of the actual Shadow Maidens decided to come along at that moment, I would have been screwed—no 'if', 'ands', or 'but's' about it. Damn it all! If this ring hadn't gained in power, I may have had more of a chance of getting through this. I don't really want to be angry at Nuriko…but this sudden sense of vulnerability thing is kind of her fault.
Mid-thinking, I began to hear some cracks coming from all around me. The ice was about to break. Seizing the opportunity, the women used their knives to fiercely cut through the ice, causing all of it to shatter and fall to the ground. Without any hesitation, they quickly charged at us—moving as if killing us was their one and only objective.
We were once again being forced to play the defense game—fully aware that we couldn't attack unless we planned to kill. The situation almost seemed bad enough to where we would have absolutely no choice but to end their lives. What if the girls preferred death? What if whatever was wrong with them couldn't be cured unless death was their one and only means of escape? Maybe I'd be doing them a favor…
No—I just couldn't bring myself to kill innocent girls. They didn't ask to have this happen to them. They were just innocent, insecure girls that the darkness decided to make its playthings.
Then something happened that I didn't expect: a flash of bright red light shone in my eyes—showing me some place outside of there. I could see Miaka standing in front of Tamahome and they were talking about something. She was worked up and Tamahome seemed so as well. The more I focused, the more I was able to catch onto the conversation.
"Tamahome, you shouldn't have done that! And what's worse, you may not be able to earn any more money. I—I don't want to be responsible for your life becoming miserable!"
"Don't be stupid—you know I have to protect you, so why can't you just accept that?"
"I don't want to…I don't want to lose you just because I'm the Priestess of Suzaku. Being the priestess isn't worth it if it means losing you." She was beginning to cry.
"Miaka, you don't have to worry about me—I can handle myself. You're the one who needs to be protected. Many people are counting on you to deliver this country—"
"Will you please just stop talking about those things? It hurts knowing that you say you're with me just because I'm the priestess. Am I not anything more to you?" He didn't reply. "Yes, the country is important, but…I believe that you're important…important to me. I—I'm in love with you!"
This made him soften up while looking at her in disbelief. Before too long, his face fell as he looked away—avoiding her gaze. "I'm sorry…but I can't return your feelings. Right now, the only thing that's important to me is making money."
"Tama—" Her voice falters as her knees give out, making her fall completely to the floor—unconscious.
"M-Miaka?" He ran up to her and dropped to his knees, holding her. "Miaka!"
As the vision ended, the bright light flashed again, sending me back into the dark throne room. Miaka! She's—A sharp pain suddenly formed on my left side waist, just under where my tube-top ended. Feeling for what happened, I brought my hand to my vision to find that it was completely covered in blood. One of the girls had slashed me with her knives which was confirmed when one of them stood a few feet in front of me holding the dagger that dripped my newly exposed blood onto the floor. Feeling the pain overwhelm me, I felt my body become weak and fall to my knees, still holding my side to attempt to stop the blood from flowing.
"Akimoto!" Hotohori tried to make his way over, but found that he was constantly stopped by the slashing women. "Please, stand up!" I honestly wanted to, but the pain made moving difficult. Dammit! That vision distracted me from the fight. I'm lucky that I got away with just a slash on my side. Seeing how two of the women were running at me, I had no choice but to use some protection.
"Seoshi!" A small dome of light covered me, temporarily protecting me from danger. It would have been impossible to put up a barrier around Nuriko and Hotohori considering they were moving around so much. But honestly…I didn't know how long I could keep up the spell—my energy was draining fast from the wound. As my vision began to give out, I closed my eyes, hoping that I could stay focused. That was when I noticed something: my brain was so focused on the pain that it wasn't even concentrating on the darkness. Perhaps…this is my only chance! Struggling to get back up, I continued holding my side, ignoring the blood trickling down my side and leg.
Focusing, I thought about the good things in my life. The laughs I had with the twins—the kiss with Hikaru. I remembered that time when Inuyasha, Kyo, and Hikaru all came to my side to help me. I felt so safe and confident that I could do almost anything. I could feel the warmth of Light overcoming any and all shards of darkness, even if it were for only a few seconds. In the middle of reminiscing, the bracelet that Hikaru gave me began to glow an almost blinding, golden light which spread to the rest of the hand attached to it. Feeling that this was my opportunity, I called off the Seoshi and let my instincts take over on what to do.
Adrenaline rushing through my veins, the pain from the wound was temporarily nonexistent, allowing me to get this job done. Running towards the two girls who were blocked off before, dodged their swings and extended my glowing arm out and put my palm onto the chest of one of them—right where her heart was. When the contact was made, the woman's body started to glow a duller golden light, causing her to lose her dark tint and regain her original eye color—right before she collapsed to the ground, unclenching the knife. Knowing that the other one was close by, I shifted to the side, reached out my arm and repeated the process.
Finally! "Hotohori, Nuriko! Leave the ones you are fighting and come over to me—quickly!" Immediately after hearing the order, the two jumped away from their assassins and to both of my sides. Not allowing my magic high to disperse, I called on the power of ice once more as the remaining four girls charged at us. "Holy Wind, Wind which flows gently across the land, let all things be filled with your pure breath!" The temperature in the room dropped as the spell persisted. "Van Rehl!" In the middle of the room, ice began to form into a giant spider web consisting of extremely thin strands of ice. The girls didn't have enough time to avoid it, so they all ran straight into the web—each getting stuck once their bodies froze from hitting it. While they struggled to get out, I walked up to them and used my still-lit arm to cure them all of their darkness. One by one, the awful feeling of hopelessness was extinguished. Once they were all out-cold, I called off the spell as Hotohori and Nuriko helped them gently onto the ground. The black cloud surrounding us immediately dispersed and the lights came back on—as if they were never out in the first place.
Right as the doors opened, a bunch of royal guards and advisers came pouring in, circling around us and asking what had happened. Apparently, they had been attempting to get the doors open the whole time, but some odd force was preventing them from doing so. As if they could have done anything useful anyway.
"Guards, take these women back to their rooms," Hotohori instructed, "Make sure that they get checked out and that nothing like this ever happens again."
I chuckled weakly. "Medical attention won't do anything for them. It's their hearts that need to heal." They looked at me in a peculiar way. "No, their hearts don't need physical healing, more like emotional. A huge weight has just been lifted from their hearts, so they should be—" Now that everything was calming down, my adrenaline was leaving me, causing the full wave of pain to come rushing back—with a vengeance. As my body swayed, I began to fall back—only to have Nuriko catch me in her arms. Bringing me gently to the floor, I was forced to rest.
"You got hurt pretty bad there, Aki. And you're losing a lot of blood," She informed me. "How long is that gash? Around...five inches perhaps? The wound may not be fatal, but you could die just from the loss of blood."
"Gee, thanks for the positive words oh great Nuriko," I told her in a weak sarcastic tone. "What are you going to tell me next? That my blood is getting all over your robes and you demand me to clean it before it sets in—" I winced from the pain, causing Nuriko to look even more worried.
"Akimoto!" Hotohori ran over and fell to the ground to inspect me.
"It's fine! It's not fatal—as long as someone doesn't bum me out." I gave Nuriko a look right as a dizzy spell kicked in.
Taking me out of Nuriko's arms and into his, Hotohori shouted out, "What are you all standing around for? Get her medical attention immediately!"
"Wait!" I called out. "There's something you need to know…"
"It can wait—"
"No, it can't! It's Miaka, she's in trouble!"
"Tamahome, how did this happen?" Hotohori asked. As the medics were cleaning and stitching me up (which wasn't fun in any kind of way), the emperor and Nuriko went out to the marketplace to find Miaka, only to find that Tamahome was already on his way back while carrying her on his back. Apparently she had caught some sort of illness—what I had seen in my vision was her toppling over due to her high fever. The peculiar thing was how she fell straight after she was rejected. Coincidence? That's really for you to decide. Anyway, when they got back, she was immediately put to bed with people around her trying to cool her down.
When all of the bandages were wrapped around me (sigh), I rushed over as quickly as I could without falling over I pain (I could do that on my own time. I wasn't about to be weak around people who just witnessed me doing a bunch of badass magic stuff—it just wasn't going to happen).
So there we were, in Miaka's room, while Hotohori tried to get answers out of Tamahome. "I asked you a question!"
He seemed to have looked away in guilt, averting the entire answer. "It just happened. I don't know why." He gave Hotohori a cold look. "Why don't you ask a doctor?" It was understandable why he was acting like this: he really did feel guilty—as well as the fact that he didn't want to talk about his love—or lack of love—life. Neither Miaka nor Tama knew that I knew what had happened, so I had to pretend that I didn't.
Sensing the tension in the room, Nuriko tried to intervene. "Look, it doesn't matter how she got this way—sometimes these things just happen. What we have to focus on now is trying to get Miaka to feel better. Am I right?" We all nodded.
As I went over to sit on the side of her bed, something occurred to me. "You know, if Miaka was back in our world, the medicine and stuff we have there could easily make her feel better. There's no doubt that she would definitely have time to recuperate there."
"Yes…" Hotohori stroke his chin in thought. "Perhaps it would be best if Miaka could return to her world temporarily so that she could get well again. We won't be able to go on with anything if she's unable to perform her priestess duties." Walking over, he took hold of her hand as she slept. "Besides, I don't like seeing her in this weakened state. She needs to be up and smiling…"
I looked over at Tamahome who still wouldn't say anything. You know, if you continue to stay back like this, you're gonna lose to Hotohori. Oh, and speaking of which…Taking a glance at Nuriko, I discovered how she was angrily biting on that poor handkerchief again. She really couldn't stand that boy fondling over Miaka, could she?
I gave her a look. "You know Nuriko…If we help Miaka get back home, then she'll probably be gone for a little while." She stared at me. "Leaving a certain someone to be here without her around." Still stared. "All alone…In need for another certain someone to come around and give them company." When the light finally clicked on in her head, she ditched the handkerchief and ran over to Miaka's side.
"Oh, the poor dear! We must get her back home. I just don't know what I'd do if anything happened to my sweet, little Miaka. And I think she should stay away for a long, long time." Seeing how everyone looked at her, she continued, "So that she could heal properly! Then she can come back!" Under her breath she said, "By that time, His Highness and I should already be married!" I seemed to be the only one who caught that.
Ignoring the urge to lash out at her, I decided against it.
Hotohori thought about something. "How would we go about this plan, though? Getting from one world to another seems like it's beyond us."
Beyond us, huh? Switching worlds didn't seem so much like an impossibility anymore—especially not to me who had already done it five times. So, if it wasn't impossible for me, then it shouldn't be as much trouble for Miaka as well. Sure, she got here differently than I did, but the fact that she was able to even get into a foreign world must have meant that…perhaps Taiitsukun could help her. It was a stretch—and the old woman may end up beating me down for it—but I had to at least try.
"There is a way…" They all faced me. "A woman named…" I let out a deep breath. "Taiitsukun can get Miaka back to our world. She's the one who brought me into the Universe of the Four Gods. She has that kind of power—and then some—so she can get the job done."
"Taiitsukun…" Hotohori pondered. "Yes, I've heard of her—otherwise known as the Ultimate Ruler of the Universe." A blank look wiped across my face. Ultimate Ruler of the…Universe? Holy crap! I didn't think that she was that big a deal! No wonder she was able to do all those things—no wonder that when I made the wish to the universe, she was the one who answered. Even if all that's true, then how the heck does Hotohori know about her? I was damned sure that he didn't go on the journey, so that only left the possibility: that this specific dimension was where she's initially from. So…she rules the universe, huh? Does that mean that I've been cursing her all the time or the thing she rules over? Probably the latter. Wait…why am I thinking about all of this now?
Storing the questions to the back of my mind, I asked, "Do you have any idea how we can find her? I mean, she never gave me a legit way of doing that." It was always coming at the wrong time with that woman—every time when I didn't want her too. The ironic thing is that now that I needed her, I had to put in the effort to look for her. Damn.
"We need to travel to a legendary place called Mount Taikyoku. It is there that Taiitsukun is said to be residing in."
I cocked an eyebrow. You serious? There is actually a legitimate place where she lives? "Do you know how to get to said mountain?"
He nodded slowly. "Yes, I have heard of how—the research isn't difficult. But I have heard that those who go looking for it never succeed." That either meant that the place didn't exist or their navigational skills completely sucked.
"Just because those guys failed doesn't mean that we will. We have to try for Miaka's sake."
He agreed. "Then it's decided." As that was said, Miaka stirred in her bed before finally opening her eyes.
"H-hi everyone…"
"Miaka!" I pushed Nuriko out of the way. "How're you feeling?"
"Onee-chan…" She looked at my bandaged side and gasped. "Onee-chan! You're hurt!"
"Don't worry about it! I'm fine!" Oh the pain…why did I move so quickly? "I'm just glad that you're feeling better."
"Akimoto, mind if I explain to Miaka about our plans?" Hotohori asked.
"Not at all." At that, Nuriko quickly grabbed Tamahome and I as she bolted out of the room, closing the door behind her.
She had the three of us crouch to the ground so that we could talk in private (as private as you can get by just crouching anyway…)
Rolling my eyes, I commented, "What's this? Nuriko is actually leaving Hotohori and Miaka alone? This must be important."
She shot a distasteful look in my direction before saying what she wanted to say. "Look you two, we are about to go on some little quest. Our main objective we must focus on is getting me with His Highness."
Tamahome scowled. "How the hell did this go from 'make Miaka feel better' to 'hook up Nuriko and the emperor'?"
She wagged her finger. "You must read in between the lines, my dear Tama-kins. This whole thing is an opportunity in disguise and we must go for it!"
"What's this 'we' stuff?" Tama and I asked at the same time.
"Well…" She pointed to me. "You promised to help me get with him and we saw just how well that plan went. So you owe me!"
"Actually…that was Miaka who—"
"And you!" She pointed towards Tamahome. "You're jealous of His Highness and are doing a poor job at relaying your true feelings to Miaka. You should use this opportunity to apologize for acting like a jackass and patch things up with her." She gave a devious grin. "Once all that is said and done, His Highness will be all mine and there will be no one to get in the way of our love!"
Hearing her words caused me to look at her in sarcastic disbelief. "Oh yeah…because Miaka's health and well-being doesn't even compare to your oh-so-important love life."
Feeling that I stroke a nerve, she reached over to my face and stretched out my cheeks—doing all of this with a scary, fake grin. "There goes that mouth of yours again. Better watch out, it may end up getting you hurt one of these days…"
"You know…she's exactly right Nuriko." Hearing Tamahome say that caused her to retreat off my face and lean back. She made herself look innocent by doing the Puppy Dog Eyes, and hid her lower face with her sleeve.
"You know, it really hurts when you guys think that I'd be so low. Miaka's well being is at the top of my priority list—"
"Cut the load of crap!" Tama and I exclaimed.
She wiped the tears that she was able to purposely form. "Okay, I'm not saying that I don't want the girl to get better. I do want her to—honestly she's grown on me. But come on! This is the perfect opportunity to make two couples that are meant to be together happen!" Noticing how I felt left out, she nervously giggled. "And I promise to find a man for you Aki. Cross my heart!"
Tamahome and I sighed heavily.
The next day, the five of us set out on our journey to find Mt. Taikyoku…and inevitably Taiitsukun (which wasn't all that far away from the capital city—it was apparently located in some deep woods nearby). During our time, the quest was a bit awkward. Miaka would constantly cling to me—making it our childhood all over again—while Tamahome went out of his way to walk on the opposite side to where the two of us were walking. It was quite evident that the two haven't talked to each other at all since the incident. Because of their awkwardness, the rest of us couldn't quite find the right words to say. Hotohori would attempt talking to Miaka—who was still feeling a bit off about the whole 'proposal' thing—while Nuriko tried talking to Tamahome—who didn't know what the hell to do with his feelings. I wanted to fly a good thousand feet above them, but with Miaka never letting go of my arm, that plan was completely down the drain. What do you say when you're in the middle of all of this? I just didn't understand why the two just couldn't talk to one another. Believe me, I was this close to using a spell to force them to look each other in the eye and kiss and make up already.
Night eventually fell, allowing us to make camp for the rest of the evening. Thank goodness! I needed to stop anyway since my wound was still really painful, making it hard to walk around with for long periods of time. It did hurt a lot less than it had, and there wasn't any blood, so I knew I'd be fine real soon.
A campfire was made using the combination of random sticks and my Fire magic. During our little camp-out, Tama and Miaka wouldn't even look each other in the eye let alone talk. For the longest time, the only thing that could be heard was the cracking of the flames. It was really difficult to enjoy the majestic outdoors when this uneasy atmosphere was suffocating all of us. If I was the only one feeling it, then I was perfectly ready to denounce myself as insane.
Feeling that I was about to snap, I realized that Nuriko was getting impatient as well when she grabbed Miaka and pulled her aside for a talk.
With the three of us sitting there, Hotohori asked, "Where do you suppose those two have run off to?"
"I can honestly say that I don't know." Nuriko must have thought of a plan already. It better not be too crazy.
"Well…I guess while we're waiting," He faced me. "Do you mind telling us about you and Miaka's world?"
"Huh?" The question threw me off a bit. No one had actually asked where I had come from before. "Well…it's actually not all that great. There's global warming which isn't doing our planet any favors, a world full of people who can't stop going into war if their lives depended on it, violence and crime go on all the time, people can't be trusted, people's expectations of themselves and other's leads to many people getting into unnecessary trouble, etc."
He gave me a sympathetic smile. "You know, Akimoto, I think that a lot of those things go on in any world. Human nature does tend to be pretty unstable." Ain't that the truth. "Are there any unique aspects to your world?"
"Umm…well…We have really tall buildings that seem to go all the way into the sky, with thousands of reflecting windows that show the blueness of the sky as well as the fluffy clouds. There are vehicles that run on gasoline and electricity used to get people to places way faster than any carriage could. We also have these tiny devices used to listen to music wherever we want to go—no instruments required! We've been able to send men to space—on the moon!—and allow people to travel through the skies in order to get to their far destinations in only a few hours! These are only a few things…"
"Remarkable! Your world seems like some fantasy I've only heard of as a child, only better!"
"It's really not all that great."
He tipped his head to the side in bewilderment. "Why is it that you do not favor your world? Isn't it your home?"
I scoffed. "Define 'home'. That place hasn't been my home for years." Hotohori noticed my solemn tone as I continued. "It's probably just me. I mean, there are a lot of people in my world who love it there and have a lot of fun and great memories. It's just my experiences that make me frown upon that life I left behind."
"You seem like the type of person who would change her way of life if it wasn't suiting her." Yeah…now I seem that way. It took many years for me to be able to gain this much confidence. Even then, I was too afraid that things would only get worse. The possibility of things getting better didn't seem…well, all that possible. But luckily I've learned that some things that seem impossible…are indeed possible. And once I finally take my own advice on that, I'll be good!
"Yeah, well…I'm still searching for which life suits me best…"
"What?"
"Oh, never mind." With the darkness surrounding me all the time, I still had doubts and worries that were etched into my being. But it's fine…'cause I'm on a journey to get rid of those things—and find my true love.
As I looked up, I noticed that he was giving me one of his charming, genuine smiles. I couldn't help but blush a little from it—after all, Hotohori was pretty hot. "You know, I admire you Akimoto. You're so strong and confident. You'd definitely make the perfect Priestess of Suzaku—or even Empress."
Feeling my heart do a mini leap, I asked, "D-didn't you already propose to Miaka?" Not realizing what I had said before I said it, I glanced over at Tamahome who seemed to be scowling. Great.
"Oh, did Miaka tell you?" The emperor asked.
"Umm…yeah, that's how I know."
He chuckled. "Don't worry I wasn't proposing to you—I wasn't lying when I told Miaka that I loved her. It has always been my dream to marry my true love—the Priestess of Suzaku. I was just simply expressing my opinion. The point I was trying to get at was that you'd be a great leader—one that I would follow in a heartbeat."
"No…you're just saying that. I can't lead anything." I don't particularly want to.
Chuckling again, he said, "You may not think so now, but you'll see in time. I believe in you. And I know you're strong enough to find the life that your truly desire." His soft eyes looked into mine. "Your happiness will be in my thoughts."
Right as he finished, Nuriko came back—without Miaka—and grabbed Tamahome. What the hell is she doing? The emperor and I looked into the forest with confusion.
Sighing, I told Hotohori, "I'm sorry, but I gotta see what's going on."
He nodded in understanding. "I'll be right here looking over the maps and awaiting your return." I couldn't help but smile to myself. He really wasn't a bad guy at all. Part of me thought that he was a huge player that believed he could get any girl he wanted because of his looks and status. He was actually a nice and considerate person who seemed like he really wanted to find his princess—whether or not it was Miaka. This kind of made me wonder if he knew that his proposal had affected Miaka and Tamahome. Did he even know that those two had feelings for each other?
In the middle of my thoughts, I heard a loud splash coming from one of the directions. Heading towards it, I discovered a small lake…in which Tamahome and Miaka were in. Miaka wasn't wearing any clothes…What the hell?
"Mia—" A pair of hands covered my mouth and brought me down into some bushed. Of course it was Nuriko.
"SHHH! You'll ruin everything!"
"What the heck do you think you're doing? Are you completely mental? How can you send Miaka out there with that guy without any clothes on?"
She shushed me again. "Calm down. Tama is still completely clothed. Besides," she moved away a few branches from the bush so that we had a good view of the two, "they aren't even facing each other." It was true—the whole situation must have been so embarrassing that they instinctively turned their backs to protect their innocence. It was actually kind of cute. And as a bonus, I could faintly hear that they were talking to each other. Progress!
"You better be sure that nothing…X-rated happens," I threatened.
"X-rated? What does that mean?"
I sighed. "Just make sure that Miaka gets out of that lake with every shred of innocence she had when she got in."
"I would never allow those two to do that! You dirty, dirty girl!" She slapped my back causing me to wince. "Oh, sorry!" She backed off. "If they did end up doing those things, then it's all the better for me and His Highness." Almost instantly, a ball of fire ignited in my hands showing Nuriko that I wasn't joking. She laughed nervously. "I was just joking! Sheesh, let loose will ya? And put that fire out! We're hiding in a bush that just happens to be flammable." Don't get smart with me you little—"Oh, look! It looks like they're done talking!" Summoning the fire away, I observed as Tamahome swam to the edge of the lake and lifted himself out.
When Nuriko and I decided that he was gone long enough, we came out of the bushes and revealed ourselves to Miaka—who was just getting out herself. She reached over for a large, thin white towel to cover herself with as she got out. There was something different about her—a rather peaceful feeling.
She was happy again.
Just as I was about to ask how things went, she launched herself into Nuriko's arms. "Thank you so much Nuriko! Thanks to you, Tamahome and I are talking to each other again! I was able to explain everything and he listened to me—he even apologized for some stuff. I am so happy! Thank you!"
"Miaka, calm down," Nuriko told her. Miaka's unexpected added weight caused Nuriko to fall back onto the ground, causing Miaka to accidentally pull down Nuriko's robe down her arms. Then…there was silence. Miaka sat there, staring, as she lost all of her pep. Instead, her face was replaced with a look that combined both shock and horror.
"Miaka? What's wrong?" I asked her. Her body began to shake as she feverishly scrambled to get away from Nuriko, using her towel to try her best to cover herself up. "Miaka?"
She pointed to Nuriko with a shaky hand. "N-N-Nuriko…she's…she's…"
Deciding that Miaka was just playing crazy, I walked over with the intention of helping Nuriko up from her fall. But my mind completely went blank as I saw what Miaka was looking at. Observing Nuriko's chest, I saw how there was no chest—as in…no cleavage…at all…In fact… it was almost like…
Oh my God.
Jumping back, with shaky hands myself, I pointed to Nuriko in a similar fashion to Miaka. "Nuriko…is a MAN!"
As we awaited the purple-haired 'girls' answer, 'she' just looked uneasy and shrugged. "I guess there's no point in hiding it now. Yup, I am a man!"
Remember how I said earlier how it would take a lot to surprise me? Well, consider my mind blown.
ATTENTION READERS: This is the Beta version of LH5W, if you want to read the official, updated version of the story, you'll have to go over to DeviantArt. com and head on over to my page. My username is Aloubell. You can also get there by going to my fanfiction. net profile which provides a link over there.
In any case, this Beta version is basically the rough draft of LH5W, my first attempt at it. Much of the plot points from this version will be the same in the official version, but there are significant and consistent characterization changes, a few (but very important) plot differences, expansion of past ideas, and overall better quality in storytelling.
All of this will be done over on DeviantArt. I no longer will write the story in traditional prose nor submit/update it here to fanfiction. net. The Beta version will remain here, just know that it isn't the 100% official story.
The official version will be written in a lazy prose mixed with play-writing elements (you'll get what I mean when you see it).
This is the new format for the story from now on.
So please head on over there if you're interested in updates to the story! Thank you for stopping by =D
-Aloe
PLEASE NOTE: The official version is being written somewhat out of order. The official version will start on chapter 46, the place where the Beta version left off. The official version will go on to complete the last chapters of Season 2. Once those are done, I will redo the story over again from Chapter 1 which will be the official version.
Having said that, if you choose to continue on reading, I hope you enjoy the Beta version and look forward to the official!