Hi all! ^_^ It's been a while since I posted a new
chapter of this story on the FFML. I haven't finished
ch. 14 yet, though. I hope this doesn't end w/too bad
of a cliffhanger, but I think it does. ^^; I'll get
the next chapter done ASAP, but give me a little time!
Anyway, as always, happy reading! ^_^
Sakuya-sama ^_^ no Jurai
P.S. The scene in here w/Chiriko and Nuriko was for my
friend, Zelly Girl. ^_^ Nuriko and Chiriko are her
favorite seishi. Hi, Danielle! ^_^ (although she
probably won't read this here b/c she's already read
it)
A Legend Reborn
Chapter 13
At the palace in Kutou, the Seiryuu senshi named
Tomokazu makes his way through the long corridors of
the palace to the emperor�s chambers. His thick, heavy
boots clomp against the floor and his armor rattles
with every step.
Recognizing him, the man standing guard at the door
salutes him and allows him passage.
"...your majesty, I.... Ah, General Tomokazu....," a
priest in the room with the emperor stops seeing
Tomokazu enter.
"Your majesty," he bows in the emperor�s presence.
The emperor gives him permission to stand with a
gesture. "The High Priest has been informing me of the
Seiryuu no miko�s progress," he says, "His report is
somewhat dissatisfying. It seems that although all
seven of the seishi have been located, the girl is
hesitating in calling upon Seiryuu and attacking
Konan."
"She is under your care, General," the High Priest
says, "What do you propose to do about this? She is
definitely the girl the scrolls spoke of. We have seen
signs of it. All of the priests agree that she
possesses a great deal of power. Why does she resist?"
"She says the Suzaku no miko is her friend and she
does not wish to fight her," he replies.
"Friend...?!" the emperor scoffs, "That is
impossible! The Seiryuu and Suzaku no mikos can not
possibly be �friends�! I suggest, Tomokazu, that you
do something about this �friendship�. I do not wish to
loose this battle, General. I put my trust in you not
to let me down."
"Friendship is a fragile thing, your highness,"
Tomokazu says, "I will convince the priestess one way
or another."
***
Chichiri sets a pile of wood down on a bare spot of
ground and surrounds it with a neat circle of rocks.
"REKKA SHINEN!" Tasuki lights it the wood, barely
giving Chichiri enough time to pull his fingers away
from the blast.
The blue haired monk pats at the small fire on his
sleeve, trying desperately to put it out. "Watch where
you�re aiming that thing, no daa!" he snaps.
Chisa, Ryunosuke, Shinta, Chichiri, and Tasuki have
spent most of the day traveling. The night has draped
a dark blue blanket over the sky. The group prepares
to cook the fish Shinta has caught, cleaned, and
gutted for them.
"Good catch," Shinta refers to the fish as he places
one on each of five of his arrows, distributing them
amongst the members at the camp. They gather around
the fire and slowly cook the fish over the flames.
"Here you are, priestess," he says handing the arrow
to Chisa.
She makes no answer. She sits with her back against a
tree, hugging her knees close to her chest as her chin
rests on them. The expression on her face is blank as
she stares into space.
"Chisa?" he tries again to get her attention.
"Hmmm? Oh, Shinta..."
"Are you gonna eat?
"...no... thank you...," she rises to her feet, "I�m
not very hungry right now..."
"Okay... if you say so, priestess...," he returns to
the fireside.
A neighing horse catches Ryunosuke�s attention.
"Shhh... good boy...," Chisa�s words are barley
audible as she pats the horses nose. Ryunosuke looks
on as he begins to descend and disappear into the
surrounding forest.
Chisa stares at the sky through the canopy of tree
limbs above her as she wanders through the trees. She
pulls her necklace out and begins to run her fingers
over it again. Thoughts of Misao begin to fill her
mind and sadden her. She clasps the red bird tightly
in her hands, squeezing her eyes shut as tightly as
possible to keep the tears back.
A twig snaps.
Chisa whirls around, "Wh-whos�s there...?" she asks
the darkness.
A solitary blue flower is thrust into her face.
Chisa looks beyond the flower to see Ryunosuke smiling
slightly at her.
She takes it gently in her fingertips.
"For you, m�lady," he bows down on one knee.
A tiny smile creeps up on her face. "Why thank you,"
she says with a curtsey.
He stands. Taking the flower from her hand, he tucks
it behind her ear.
Chisa touches the soft petals gently.
Meeting Ryunosuke�s gaze, the blockade she put up
against the tears bursts from the pressure. She
collapses into his arms and sobbing, buries her head
into his chest.
***
The scene at Taiis-kun�s retreat is a peaceful one.
Everyone is tucked into their beds and sound asleep,
including the ghosts who do not technically need
sleep.
However, there is one insomniac soul.
A single candle light burns in Taiis-kun�s holy
library. There, little Chiriko floats between and
through the many shelves of holy scrolls. He scans
over them. Spotting one that seems to catch his
interest, he gently pulls it from the shelf and
setting it on the floor, begins to unroll it.
"Nothing... nothing... nothing...," he mutters as he
reads over it, "It�s gotta be here somewhere... Let�s
see...."
"Chiriko...." comes an eerie voice.
He looks away from the scroll to see a pair of eyes
and the top of a purple head of hair appear from the
floor.
"Aaah!!" he jumps back.
The head grows a smiling face, neck, shoulders, and
body as the ghost passes through the floor and into
the room.
"Nuriko!" he snaps as softly as possible, "Don�t do
things like that.
"A ghost scared of a ghost....!" Nuriko says through
near hysteric laughter, "It�s just too funny!"
"Quiet or you�ll get us caught!" Chiriko glares at
him. "I don�t have time for jokes. So if you have
nothing better to do I would appreciate it if you
would leave..."
"I�m sorry Chiriko. I�ll behave," Nuriko winks.
With a roll of his eyes, Chiriko returns to his books.
"What are you doing?" Nuriko floats around to
Chiriko�s back and begins to read over his shoulder.
"Research," he replies simply.
"Research...?" Nuriko repeats.
"I�m trying to find out why and how Misao and Chisa
came to this world. I figured that this was the best
place to look," he explains, "I�ve gone over all these
scrolls at least a thousand times and I still can�t
find anything!!"
"That because it�s not in any of those scrolls...," a
third party says.
The ghosts look up to see Nyan-nyan.
"Miss Taiis-kun doesn�t keep those scrolls with all
her others," she says.
"What are you saying...?" Chiriko asks.
Nyan-nyan produces two scrolls from behind her back
and offers them to Chiriko.
"Nyan-nyan...," Nuriko says a bit surprised.
"They�ll tell you what you need to know... Miss
Taiis-kun didn�t want you to know about these...
but... but I just... Don�t tell Miss Taiis-kun,
please! I�ll get in a lot of trouble!" she pleads, "I
know it�ll make Miss Taiis-kun angry, but I can�t
stand to see Lady Miaka and Lady Yui and Mister
Tamahome so sad," small tears become visible in the
sprite�s eyes, "They miss their daughters so much...
Please... let me help you..... Miss Taiis-kun doesn�t
wanna tell you... but I know... I wanna tell you... I
just want everything to be happy again... I want Misao
and Chisa to be all right....."
***
The full moon looks down upon Misao as she sits on the
patio outside of the palace at Kutou, drowning her
sorrows in the sweet melody as she plays her flute.
Her eyes are closed as she allows the music to soothe
her.
Suddenly, the solo becomes a duet as another flutist
joins her in the song.
"Oh, Mariko...," Misao says, taking the flute from
her lips and opening her eyes, "When did you get
here?"
"Just now," she says, "I�m really glad to see you
using the flute I made you. You play very well,
priestess."
"Not as well as you do.... Back in my world, I play
in the school band. I�ve always loved the flute... It
really helps me to relax...," Misao says with a
somewhat sad tone to her voice, wrapping her fingers
tight around the instrument.
"What troubles you priestess?" Mariko asks, picking
up on this, "You�ve been out here playing for a while
now... Have you eaten anything?"
"Oh, it�s nothing... really... I�m all right..."
Mariko motions for Misao to come closer. "Well, don�t
look now, but you have an audience," she whispers in
her ear, "My brother�s been spying on you."
"Ongaku is here? Where?"
"In those bushes over there," she points. Mariko
rolls up her sleeve, "Watch this." Using her
fingernail, she scratches out a message on her arm.
�Come out, come out, wherever you are, you peeping
tom!� it reads.
"Hey, Mariko!!" Ongaku says angrily as he appears
from the bushes, "That�s not funny!"
Mariko and Misao begin to giggle.
"Besides... I�m not a peeping tom!" he blushes,
brushing the leave from his hair, "I... I have a
message for Misao... er... I mean... the Seiryuu no
miko..."
"What is it, Ongaku?" Misao asks.
"Well, I just saw Mayumi leave the palace
grounds...," he says, "I-I thought you might want to
know...."
"What?! Why would she do that?" Misao says, "She
didn�t tell me about any of this-....!"
"I sent Mayumi out...," a voice comes from behind
her.
"Tomokazu!" Misao places her hand over her heart
looking up at the tall, blonde man, "You startled me!"
"Forgive me, priestess," he drops to one knee, "May I
speak with you privately for a moment, m�lady?"
"Yes... Of course... Mariko, Ongaku...," she says as
a way of politely asking them to leave.
"Yes, priestess...," they excuse themselves.
"You know, I would really appreciate it if you would
consult me before you send any of the warriors out
like that," Misao says as soon as they are alone.
"Please do forgive me, miko," he stands, "I promise
it will not happen again." He runs his fingers gently
through her hair.
"I-it�s all right... really...," his actions make
Misao more than just a little nervous and
uncomfortable, however, she does not protest it, "But
tell me... where did you send her?"
"You know that I love you, priestess...," he takes
her face in his hands.
"Please... don�t change the subject...," she blushes.
"I am merely trying to protect you..."
"P-protect me...? From what....?"
"The evil god Suzaku, of course..." He�s almost nose
to nose with her.
"What?!" her hands to his chest, she pushes him back,
"But I told you, Chisa-..."
He silences her by kissing her.
"Tomokazu... d-don�t...," she breaks free from the
kiss, "What... what about Mayumi...?" she turns her
eyes from his gaze, "I thought you and her-...."
"Mayumi is not here now, is she?" he moves closer.
Her eyes become wide and glisten. Her heart rate
becomes faster and faster till she feels as though it
could burst from her chest at any moment.
He tilts her head up on his fingertips.
Misao closes her eyes in time to miss seeing Tomokazu
take a pill from his pocket and places it between his
lips just before placing his lips to hers.
Misao�s eyes fly open as she feels the round pill
slide down her throat. They then glaze over, as though
her soul has just been torn from her body. She becomes
peaceful once again and settles into the kiss.
+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
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