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All characters involved in this fanfic with spoilers are the property of Watase Yuu sensei. Please give Virgo-chan comments on how you feel about it and tell her. For any prove read error, tell me.
Part 7a: The Key 1
by Virgo-chan
Miaka, Taiyo and the rest of the crowd rushed into the lobby where Kogatana was restlessly pacing up and down the corridor. He looked up at the sound of their running feet, his eyes softening slightly with relief.
"Kogatana-san, daijoubu? How's Umiiro-chan doing?" They asked.
He raked a hand through his hair for the umpteenth time. "Well, I'm not really sure. They said that they're going to run some checks on her. They never really seen anything like this before." He paused and thought. "Actually they said that another girl was in here about an hour earlier and came down with the same syndromes. She said she helped her friend in here, who was beaten up pretty badly, and then she pretty much passed out."
"Matte... Honto ni?" He merely nodded in reply.
"Hai, doshite?"
A door opened at the far end of the hall and out came an isha, talking to a young man who was covered in bandages and bruises. He nodded curtly before going down the hall, hands jammed in his pockets and head bowed. A few feet from the group, he stopped and looked up, blinking rapidly.
"Miaka-sama? Taiyo-sama? What are you doing here?"
Taiyo grabbed him by the shoulders, eyes watery. "Doushita no... Doushita, watashi no itoko, Shinji-kun?"
"I-I'm not too sure, exactly.." He sighed and looked back down the hall. The isha was talking to one of the nurses before heading back into the room. "When I found her, she was unconscious and was being mugged. I went to help her and then... I suddenly black out and find myself in a hospital bed. The isha told me that Yui-sama was still unconscious, but I was still able to visit her." He nodded toward Kogatana. "About the same time your sister was brought in." The other nodded in agreement.
Tetsuya stepped forward, sizing up the teen in front of him. "So you protected Yui, ne? They didn't hurt her, did they?"
Shinji immediately became more passive, almost cold. "Hai. I made sure she wasn't hurt." He eyed the ray-banned young man critically. "You must be Tetsuya... Yui-sama speaks highly of you."
He just grinned broadly, obviously the deal with his girl talking about him and discouraging the testosterone-high kid really boosted his ego. Keisuke eyed his friend nervously, a small sweat drop on the back of his head. He reached out a hand to the ex-Seishi. "I'm Keisuke, Miaka's oniisan. And this is Taka, her boyfriend." Everyone, even Miaka, was surprised to see the two trying to stare the other down, with open hostility in their eyes.
Finally Taka tilted his head slightly upward. "Charmed, I'm sure..." He drawled, then roughly brushed past the other as he walked down the hall to ask the nurse if it was alright that Yui and Umiiro were allowed to have visitors. Shinji watched him from over his shoulder eyes half-lidded; his lips were pressed into a thin line at the fact of being looked down upon.
Miaka was the first to recover. "Gomen ne, Shinji, I don't know what brought that on."
"Iie, don't worry about it." He said, turning back to the others, a faint smile on his face. "I'll wait out here while you do your visiting, I don't think they'd enjoy having so many people in there at the same time."
Keisuke and Kogatana both nodded. "He's right. We'll stick around, too." The former said. The others nodded before heading down the hallway.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~
Tasuki pushed off the tree he was roughly pressed against. His amber eyes widened at the sight of the two still forms by the half-empty riverbed. "Chichiri!!!" With the speed no one thought he could posses, he ran towards his fallen friend like a mad man, managing to knock the rock-like guardian on his butt.
He picked the monk up by the shoulders, shaking him roughly. "Chichiri! Chichiri, damn you! Get the fuck up!" He just hung limp, his mask slipping off his face and on to the ground. Tears started to fill Tasuki's eyes as he tried to fight off the thought that he might actually be the last Suzaku Seishi alive. "Chichiri..." he pleaded "onegai... don't die..." He hugged the body close to him, trying to stop the tremors from passing through his body. "Chichiri, I need you. I can't do this by myself."
A soft moan passed through Chichiri's lips and his hand slowly, weakly clenched in to a fist. His opened his crimson eye to see Tasuki's tear streaked face. "T-Tasuki-kun...?" The other was beyond ecstatic, trying to decide whether to cry first, hug him to death, dance with joy or pound his face in for making him worry. Another groan was heard, this time behind the two.
Amiboshi weakly swayed on his hands and knees. "Ugh... That was a bad idea..." He then rolled on his back, starring at the smoke screened sky. "I guess that plan was a flop." By that time, the others were there, keeping the guardians at bay when they got too close.
Ryo settled next to them. "Are you two okay?" They nodded slightly.
"Oh yeah, just a few bruises, a contusion or two and I think I'm gonna puke if the world doesn't stop spinning." Amiboshi said miserably.
"Ittai... What I wouldn't give for a couple Nyan-Nyans, no da."
The swordsman ignored the sarcastic retorts and rummaged around in one of his pockets, drawing out a long, thin piece of rice paper and a brush pen. He quickly covered the paper with characters and held it stiffly in front of him. He whispered a few strange words and threw it in the air. Amazingly, the paper still stood stiffly as it came back down. He held his sword, pressing it perpendicular to the paper and a cool, breeze floated over the group, covering them in a soft glow, refreshing their energy and closing their wounds.
"Wow!" Tasuki exclaimed as he flexed his fanning arm. "This is even better! No damned 'Fix, fix, cure, cure' to deal with!" Blinking, the monk looked at Ryo. "Where did you learn that, no da?"
"Haha was traveling priestess. She mainly did charms for people, evil wards, rains, healing, that kind of stuff. Before I stayed with Heika-sama, she taught me a couple of the simpler ones. Healing, evil ward, float and wind."
Amiboshi snapped his fingers. "That's it! That's what we need to do to stop that guardian! We fight fire with fire!"
"Eh? But he fights with wind..." Kouji said uncertainly.
"Exactly. Ryo can use that wind charm to create a vortex that will draw in the wind he uses against us! At that time, the rest of use will attack him while he's helpless!"
"But you're forgetting, he can also breathe in." Ryo said pointedly.
"I know that." The Seiryuu Seishi said. "But to breathe in, first you have to breathe out."
The others exchanged glances. Suddenly Hanako perked up. "Hey, we gotta try! We don't know if it'll work if we don't!"
"For once she's right!" The pyro said, ducking his sister's wild swing. "Besides, if this don't work, we'll just regroup and find something else to try! Let's go!" He cried, pumping a fist in the air, the others fed off the siblings' enthusiasm.
"Un!"
~*~*~*~*~*~*~
The moment Miaka entered the room, she threw herself at her best friend's bedside, nearly bowling over the isha.
"Oh, Yui-chan! I was so worried about you and Umiiro-chan! I can't believe it! What happened? Are you guys okay?"
Yui cleared her throat. "Ano... Miaka...?" The brunette looked and her friend jerked her head in the direction of Umiiro. She looked slightly in pain and unconscious as the isha leaned over her. Curled in a little ball at the foot of her bed was a small brown and cream colored cat.
She did a double take and looked up at the isha. Her eyes grew wide and jaw hit the floor. Actually, she thought, I'm not all that surprised this is what Mitsukake would be doing on Earth. But still, it is a real shocker.
The isha noticed her astonished stare and turned to her. "Is something wrong?" He strode across the room and placed a large, warm hand on her forehead. "Don't tell me you're coming down with whatever this is, too. We haven't even found out what's wrong with your friends, yet."
She blushed and shook her head. "Iie, it's... nothing really. I was... I was... j-just surprised that, uh, that you allowed a neko with patients that have an unknown sickness! That's it!"
He gave her that gentle smile that had always melted away her pains. "Well, no need to worry about that. Kare wa Takumi Bushi desu. The others around here just call him Bushi-neko. Believe it or not, he actually helps the patients get well quicker because he's friendly and gentle, he brings hope and happiness to those that need it most."
"But aren't you afraid of him getting sick?"
"Iie. He's a tough neko, and even then, there's no sign that what the girls have are even a virus or disease of any kind." He unhooked the clipboard from Yui's bed. "How are you feeling, Hongo-san?"
"Genki, arigato, Isha-san."
"Good, good." He took her pulse, temperature, examined her eyes, mouth, recording everything on his clipboard. "Nothing major is wrong with you, but you're still a little weak. Your heartbeat is a little erratic and the liquid in your system is low. Not at a level that's dangerous, but if you over exert yourself, it could definitely be a problem."
Tetsuya looked to the isha. "Is she free to go?"
With a thoughtful expression the isha turned away. "She could, but I would prefer she stay here. She still has to go through some tests and we don't want to risk this happening to her again, or some dangerous side affect we never though of. Iie, I think it's best if she stayed, but if she really wants to go, then I'll sign the release form."
All attention turned to the blonde. She looked away. "Well, I do want to leave, but I don't want this... whatever to happen to me again. Besides, I want to stay until Umiiro is okay."
Bushi-neko blinked his great eyes, and then shot up to his feet, hissing as his back arched like a rainbow. They all turned to look at him in surprise when Umiiro groaned, almost crying, in pain. Everyone immediately rushed to her side, the isha taking her pulse and checking the machines she was hooked up to. Her heart rate was up, covered in a thin film of cold sweat and breathing ragged and shallow, as if she couldn't take in enough air.
Her eyes opened and she looked at the isha, grabbing his wrist tightly. "It hurts... it hurts so much..." She started to cry softly, feeling as if someone decided to take her stomach on a roller coaster. "Oniichan... Ga iru Oniichan..." She let out one last, silent sob before slipping back into unconsciousness.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~
Once again Genbu's guardian was frustrated. First he was trapped in a bubble that slapped his own attack back in his... well... face, I guess. Then some mini-tornado comes from out of nowhere and keeps his attacks from hitting those little pests. Now he was the one that hurting because of a second-hand priest-mage.
At first, they all were attacking him at the same time, but one of Kouji's daggers thrown just above Hanako's head warned to group the if Suzaku's fire didn't get them, the guardian's talons would. And then there was also Byakko's guardian to worry about as well. Chichiri and Amiboshi agreed to distract the other two guardians because they're the least help in a physical fight.
Hanako fired off three arrows, back-to-back, which embedded themselves into Genbu's leg until only the top half of the shaft was showing. The tips injected a slow poison, slowing and weakening the giant airbag considerably. However, her ammo was starting to run a little low.
"Hana-chan! Catch!" Kouji shouted, tossing her his sword. She plucked it from the air expertly, taking a few practice swings with it before rejoining the fray.
The guardian stopped and breathed deeply. Chichiri's quick thinking saved them all as he drew the tornado away from him via his magic ring and releasing it in the direction of Suzaku's guardian, sending him tumbling head-over-tail in the air.
In no time flat, Genbu's guardian was on the ground. With a few well-placed slashes, the body was cut and severed in a dozen places in, burning just like Seiryuu's. They turned to last two guardians, readying their weapons. For the first time their lives, the guardians were actually afraid.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~
Isha-san sat next to Umiiro's bed, constantly doing something to either make sure she would live or to look busy. Hovering by his shoulder was Kogatana. Shinji was quietly talking to Yui, occasionally glancing Miaka, or the trio at the other side of the room. Tetsuya was still there as well, just to make sure that Shinji didn't try anything funny on his girlfriend while she was weak and vulnerable - Never mind that they were in a hospital room with three other people. Taiyo, Keisuke and Taka were outside, talking to the others that had shown up for some reason or other. Those were being Kenshin, Makoto, Hikari and most of the reborn Seishi. The only that was missing was Tatara, Taiyo noticed sadly.
She stood up quietly, walking back to the room just in time to see Miaka crumple off her chair.
"Miaka !!!" Her scream brought everyone from the lobby into the room. Keisuke and Taka picked her off the floor, the latter cradling her body to him while the isha tried determine what was wrong with her.
Slowly Miaka opened her eyes, the almond orbs finding Taiyo. "Taiyo-chan..." she managed weakly. "It's the four gods... Quickly... find your last Seishi..." Then her head rolled back and her eyelids slid shut.
"Miaka!"
While everyone was fussing and crying her name over and over again, Taiyo slipped out, running for all she was worth. I gotta find him. She thought to herself. I have to find Tatara-sama.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~
For once the guardians were actually working together. Suzaku's guardian would use short bursts of flame to keep the group of six back while Byakko's attacked any that managed to get close. He even showed a power none that thought he had. He stomped his foot heavily on the ground, causing a tremor, even causing a huge rift or mound to appear in front of the heroes.
The group was huddled together with the exception of the three bandits who would constantly be attacking the guardians. Hence the clever and smart ones were left to find a way out of this mess.
"I think," Amiboshi said from behind Chichiri's shield, "we should first get rid of Suzaku's guardian. It might make dealing with Byakko's guardian a lot easier."
"He's right, no da! Only a few of us can fight from long range and it's hard to get to Suzaku any other way. But with Byakko's, we can attack from both afar and close combat, no da!"
The Seiryuu Seishi cupped his chin. "The only problem is how to defeat him."
"You know," the swordsman commented offhandedly. "It's almost a pity we had to beat Seiryuu's guardian already. We have fire power, but no water power." The three mulled over, racking their brains for a plan.
Meanwhile, the other half of the group was having some problems. Mainly was the fact that the others hadn't come up with a legitimate plan just yet. So they were basically trying to keep from getting their asses whooped. They paused in their fighting to regroup just out of the fire guardian's range.
"Shit. This isn't getting us anywhere." Tasuki grumbled.
"Feh, you're telling me? Why haven't they thought up anything yet?" His oneechan panted out. The blue-haired bandit looked toward the three.
"I don't know, maybe they're trying to find some way to dump the bird into the river."
The three started. The river was still there? Sure enough, over their shoulders was the long, wide, flowing blue wet thing people call a river.
Ryo blinked. "Damn."
"Well whaddaya know?" Amiboshi agreed. "Now the problem is to get him over there."
"No problem. We have someone standing right by the bank, he'll dive bomb and the person will jump away." They looked back to the two fighting guardians. "Nevermind, they're fighting back to back, he'll never come from Byakko's back without a good reason and don't think I'll be able to bring him down with my wind charm, my control isn't that good with it yet."
"Hey, maybe I can draw him away with my flute! I mean, I am a Seiryuu Seishi and the east and south has never gotten along too well with each other. Besides, Seiryuu and Suzaku have never been on good terms, even in the legends. I'm pretty sure that he'd chase me if he thought I was taunting him or something."
"Hai, the problem now is to get you noticeable, no da." Chichiri turned to Ryo. "What other charms did you say you had?"
"Healing, evil ward, wind and float."
Hanako looked a bit weary at the ungainly object. "Are you sure you'll be safe on that thing? I mean, it can't be very aerodynamic."
Amiboshi just smiled and placed a hand on her shoulder. "Don't worry, Hanako-san. I'll take the best care, after all, this place needs to be re-rebuilt."
She smiled back at him and gently squeezed his hand. Then, without warning, she leaned forward and kissed Amiboshi lightly on the forehead; he flushed brightly. "For good luck." She said, then turned and trotted back to the front lines. The Seiryuu Seishi just watched her retreating back, color still on his cheeks until Tasuki rudely brought him back to reality.
"Listen you," he growled, "I may not have the best relationship with her, but if you even think about doing anything with my oneechan you ain't gonna live to regret it, understood?"
Major sweat drop. "H-hai. I wasn't even think anything, I swear!"
"What, you too good for her now?"
"Nani? I didn't mean that!" Jeez, there was no pleasing this guy.
"Shut up and do your little air surfing thing." The redhead growled again then pushed him to where Ryo knelt by the door who smiled ruefully.
"Having some people problems?"
"You be quiet."
The mage looked at the two youths and shook his head slightly. "Amiboshi-kun, no da. You ready na no da?" He nodded and stood at the center of the door. "Yoshi, Ryo-kun, take him up, no da!"
The small scroll on the edge of the wooden slab glowed as Ryo focused his chi into hoisting the object up. It wobbled unsteadily; Amiboshi waved his arms in attempt to readjust his balance. Ryo's lips quirked in a wicked grin.
"You did that on purpose!"
The swordsman looked innocent. "I did not!" He grinned again. "Though I should have."
"Oi, oi!" Kouji cried. "Get this thing going!"
In response, Seiryuu Seishi and door went flying a meter above their heads and straight towards Suzaku's guardian. At first, Suzaku jerked his head back as he and Amiboshi just stood there, blinking at each other. Then the flaming bird tried to bite off his head. At the last possible second, he let out a screeching note with his flute and Suzaku squealed in pain.
"RYO!" Amiboshi cried as he dodged the sharp beak, perspiration filming his face from the intense heat. When the board started moving again, Suzaku followed close behind, spewing flames as he went. The two flew towards the river, hovering just above it as they went. The water parted in waves underneath Amiboshi, but the water turned to steam under Suzaku. Another burst of flame hit closer to home than the others, the force and heat it generated as it nearly hit the side of the board and Ryo's sudden jerking tilted the door precariously, sending the seishi off his feet.
Those who were not busy with Byakko gasped in alarm as Amiboshi struggled to scramble back to the top of the door, slippered toes creating trails in the water as he kicked to get over the side, fingers scraping the surface for a grip. The steam created by Suzaku's hot body grew thicker and clung around the two. Something clicked in Chichiri's mind.
"Hanako-chan, shoot ice arrows above Suzaku!"
She blinked her amber eyes, but quickly complied when the bird took a bite out of the door, nearly taking Amiboshi's elbow with it. Holding three between her fingers, she measured the distance between Suzaku and her and how long it would take for the arrows to travel. As the arrows flew in the cloud, the heat melted the icy tips, creating drizzle over Suzaku.
At first it squawked in annoyance, then in pain as the drizzle turned to a cloud burst, cooling the flames on his body. He flapped his great wings, the pain clouding his mind on where to retreat as Hanako let loose even more ice arrows. Ryo, after putting Amiboshi down, let loose another wind charm, dragging Suzaku down to the river as the flutist weaved a sleep spell through the instrument to quicken the process, yet the great bird guardian still struggled. Chichiri reached into the folds of his cloak and withdrew a small cylinder of pure lead and threw it down Suzaku's gullet. The lead melted within the confines of Suzaku's throat, running down to his lungs and belly, burning and scalding him from the inside as the bird finally settled unwillingly to the bottom of the river.
Everyone watched in morbid fascination, even Byakko's guardian as Suzaku's disappeared below the bubbling surface. However, before the group got around to celebrating another victory, the giant, two-legged tiger took in charged, bellowing deep in his throat, one iron fist cocked back and ready to strike. The fist plowed forward through the air so quickly that, when it stopped mere inches in front of his face, the pushed air cause Kouji's indigo bangs to flutter from his face. He stood ridged, slowly opening one eye, then the other, crossing his eyes to focus on the clenched hand in front his nose. It, like the creature it was attached to, was a dead, copper-near-gold-color, as well as the ground, what little was left of the trees and house, sky and the river. Yet, everything was also still, Byakko's face was still curled in the horrid, nightmarish snarl, the current stopped and the last of the bubbles was in the midst of bursting. The six looked at each other in confusion.
"What the fuck happened?" Tasuki cried, trying to dig his toe into the unyielding ground while his sister tentatively approached Byakko, tapping the golden shoulder with a long, delicate finger.
"It seems like time's stopped."
"I can see that baka! I wanna know who and why!"
"Who are you callin' baka, aho?" They then proceeded to try to kill each other with the death glare.
A gruff, raspy voice interrupted them. "I stopped it because I have something important to tell you." They all turned around, trying to find the owner of the voice.
"Oi, d'ya think it's the ghoul again?" A blast of lightning struck Tasuki where he stood. "Ittai..."
"Watch you're tongue, ingrate." Taiitsu-kun's voice growled from the sky. "I have found a way to open the portal that will send you to the Mikos' world, but it requires more power than even I posses."
"How do we fit in, Taiitsu-kun no da?"
"Simple. I need chi from at least two of you, however I can't bring you to the mountain because the God's have restricted my powers. One of you must be a conductor for the other and I will draw the combined chi from that person. Though I must warn you, the process is dangerous, possibly even deadly."
"Matte," Ryo said, craning his neck, "what do you mean the God's restricted your powers? How could they?"
"They are Gods, young Ryo, I just care for this world. They have noticed my meddling, trying to help you six, obviously they don't want the other Seishi to regain their memories. It won't be long before they realize I've stopped time. It won't be long until they undo my magic."
"How long?"
"Could be hours, could be minutes-"
CRACK!
"-Could be now."
Kouji groaned weakly on the ground and everyone winced. Ho-boy, he was gonna feel that for at least a week. Byakko then turned around to face Hanako. Her face went pale.
"Oh, shit."
"Oi!" The pyro shouted at the last guardian. "Get the fuck away from her!" When it didn't comply, Tasuki raised his tessen. "LEKKA-"
"Yamatte, Tasuki-kun no da!" Chichiri cried, holding tightly to the other's wrist. "You might hit Hanako-chan no da!" At first it didn't look like the other Suzaku Seishi was going to listen to him, but his eyes reflected the helplessness deep inside. He lowered the metal fan with a faint 'Kuso'.
She screamed. "Minna! Tasukete!" The hulking form of the guardian covered Hanako from the view of the others.
"NEECHAN!" Byakko turned, they could see the vice-like hand wrapped around her throat. Tasuki's blood boiled. "Teme! Let her go!"
Ryo looked back at Chichiri and Amiboshi. "You guys work on getting that portal open, Tasuki-san and I will handle the guardian!" And he ran off, following the other Seishi. When Chichiri turned around, Amiboshi's chi was already flaring around him, siphoning from his body and funneling into the hole that opened in the sky. The monk closed his eyes and took a few deep breaths before clearing his mind and channeling his own chi in through the other's body.
Things were getting worse, too. Hanako was out cold due to the lack of oxygen, Kouji was back on his feet, but too weak to fight and Tasuki and Ryo were wearing down quickly. Their adversary, however, looked like he was still in his first wind. In short, he was beating the living crap out of the two and they couldn't do a thing about it. However, because he did more charms in an hour than in his entire life, the mental exertion really paid its toll on Ryo and with one last, mighty punch, Byakko sent him sprawling on the ground, too exhausted to get back up.
Tasuki knew that he was way in over his head, but refused to give up. After all, if he did then they would never make it to Earth. With a mighty cry, the redhead threw himself at the beats, only to receive a punch in the gut that sent him flying, shoulders digging a deep trench in the ground, a meter long. He lay there, panting, trying to find his second wind and watching the clouds and sky turn a deep shade of red-violet. He struggled to get up, but found a hand clamped down on his throat, pushing him even deeper into the dirt.