Let's Go!

The Journey to Mount Taikyoku!

Episode 7

Lina and her Suzaku no Shichi Seishi set out early the next morning. To everyone's surprise, Nuriko had donned pants and rode astride her horse as if it was something she had done everyday. Lina shrugged it off.

"So, Hotohori-san, where is Taiitsukun's mountain, anyway?" Lina turned to address the man on her right. "And how do you know we're supposed to go there?"

He smiled, reveling in the freedom. "Actually, no one knows exactly where Taiitsukun's home is, but -"

"NANI?"

"Whoa, calm down Lina-chan," said Tamahome, riding on Lina's left.

"There are four countries: Konankoku in the south, Hokkankoku in the north, Sailokoku in the west, and Kutoukoku in the east. These directions correspond to the four gods. Taiitsukun, the Creator, should be located somewhere in the center."

"But you don't know directly?" blurted Lina. "What is this, some wild goose chase?"

Hotohori answered, "I'm sure Taiitsukun herself will help us once she sees us coming her way."

"Hmmm," muttered Lina, not mollified. "You don't sound too sure."

"Don't question Hotohori-sama!" said Nuriko, riding to Hotohori's right. "Taiitsukun is the CREATOR of the world!"

Lina scratched her head, mumbling, "So much for the Lord of Nightmares." She pasted a large smile on her face and questioned, "So how do you know we should be going there?"

"From the clues on the Shijintenchiso," remarked Tamahome. "Obviously. That's how we found Nuriko."

"Hai, hai," agreed the emperor. "My counselors and I perused the scroll and found the fourth Suzaku no Shichi Seishi described as "smile" and "mask". There were also clues leading to Mount Taikyoku." He tossed the scroll over to her. "Read it for yourself."

"Right," said Lina, catching it and glancing at it. "So how long is this trip going to be?"

"Ah, well, I'm not sure," said Hotohori. "It shouldn't be too long."

"So, d'ya figure out to the other three Shichi Seishi are, too?" She stuck the scroll into her manto.

Hotohori shook his head.

"Why not? We could be looking for all four of them at the same time. Saves effort!"

Nuriko snorted. "Things don't work that way here," she said. "We must follow the Shijintenchiso in order! That is how the tradition is passed down."

"Well, sorree," grumbled Lina, "but it was just a suggestion."

"Ne, Lina-chan," said Tamahome in an attempt to diffuse the tense situation, "what's your world like?"

"Ah, well... It's different. There are lots of countries, not just four; they're scattered all over. There are also lots of villages and towns and ports and people. Lots of people. Quite a few sorcerers, mages, hedge-wizards, and the like. Magic is used a lot, at least by people I know. There are entire schools devoted to the study of magic, and many guilds that offer jobs and places to work for sorcerers."

"Magic?" prompted Tamahome.

"There are three types of magic. White Magic, which is usually considered the weakest, is cleric's magic. It's good for healing things or banishing demons and the like. Not very versatile, however. Then you have shamanist magic, which deals with spirit energy and the astral plane. It's a real hodge-podge of things. There's some good attack spells in shamanist magic, and a few healing and transformation spells, too. But I specialize in Black Magic.

"Black Magic is very good for offensive magic. There are a lot of attack and destruction spells in Black Magic. I know most of them, too. It helps a lot because I hunt bandits for a living, although lately I've been partnered with a mercenary named Gourry who's pretty good. Between the two of us, we can make three times the money I made alone. You have to be careful with Black Magic, though. You need a lot of control or the magic will run wild and create havoc. You see, Black Magic draws its power from the Mazoku race, and they're definitely a volatile bunch. Black Magic is the same way."

"Interesting," nodded Tamahome. "Do you know why it doesn't work here?"

Lina blew a fuse. "I DON'T, OKAY?!" she yelled. "That's what I'm gonna ask that Taiitsukun lady!"

Hotohori winced. "Lina-chan, calm down. It's alright, Taiitsukun will know the answers."

"Yeah, 'cause she's the creator and all that. But this whole lack of magic really worries me, okay? It's something I'm really used to and really good at. When it just disappeared right when I needed it, it was really disturbing and frustrating. So don't bug me any more about it."

"Touchy," mumbled Nuriko to herself.

"Gee, sorry 'bout that, Lina-chan," said Tamahome contritely.

Lina scowled and kicked her horse ahead a few paces.

They took a break for lunch by a small stream. Tamahome was busy catching a few fish to supplement their trail-rations and chatting with Hotohori. Nuriko had disappeared somewhere.

Lina scanned the stream. "Ne, where'd Nuriko go?" she asked herself. A shadow moved among a few trees. "Ahh..." Lina commented, following.

She found the Shichi Seishi sitting under one of the trees, shredding bits of grass.

"Ne, Nuriko, what's wrong? You've been really touchy and not very cooperative."

Nuriko just glared at her.

"Um," said Lina. "I mean, I'm the Miko and you're a Suzaku no Shichi Seishi and we're supposed to be working together, right? Okay, so why are you acting this way?"

Nuriko returned her attention to the grass, mumbling something incomprehensible. She had collected a small pile of shredded leaves by now. A small bumblebee blundered by and landed on the grass trimmings for a short moment before flying off.

Lina tapped her chin, puzzling things out. This wasn't normal behavior for Lina, who tended to leave explosive situations be or aggravated them. "Okay, let's see... Wait! I know... You're in love with Hotohori-san, aren't you?" Pieces of the puzzle clicked into place. "I saw how you were looking at him earlier. You're riding next to him, too. And you were defending him when I talked about Taiitsukun!"

"You're very perceptive, Lina."

"Ahh... I bet you're also jealous of me... Hotohori-san pays a lot more attention to me." Lina waved a hand dismissively, "But there's nothing going on between us. Hotohori's like that 'cuz I'm Suzaku no Miko and he's supposed to protect me. And as Suzaku no Miko, I'm supposed to save Konankoku. Yeesh, that's such a silly thing to worry over, Nuriko-chan!"

Nuriko bridled at Lina's familiarity. She said nothing.

Lina started fuming. "Look, Nuriko-chan, I'm a very easy-going person most of the time. I'm actually making an effort to be friends and stuff with you, and it's not helping my temper any that you're just ignoring me!"

"What do you want me to do, then?" asked Nuriko coldly. "No matter what, Hotohori doesn't even look at me. He's infatuated with you. Anyone with half an eye and see that. I'm just another Shichi Seishi. You're Suzaku no Miko, savior of the entire country." She sighed glumly.

"Great," said Lina, running a hand through her thick hair. "That last thing I need is some guy following me like a love-sick puppy. I don't want to get involved in any relationships! I work alone or with a partner, but I don't need a boyfriend. In fact, the last thing I want is a boyfriend. Or anything resembling one!"

"What about that fellow you were talking about? Gary?"

"Gourry? He's my partner. We bust bandits and make loads of money. It's a working partnership. Okay?"

Nuriko sighed. "It doesn't matter and it doesn't change the fact that Hotohori is still in love with you."

"Well, what do you want me to do?" yelled Lina irritatedly. "It's not like I'm encouraging him or anything! By Shabranigdo's ruby eye, isn't enough I'm stuck in this crazy world with no magic, searching for all these people in order to summon some glorified chicken?" Lina's stomach rumbled at the mention of food. "Drats. I'm going to get some lunch."

She almost missed the soft whirring sound as something flew by her ear.

"Abunai!" Nuriko threw herself onto Lina, pinning both of them down.

"Shimatta!" spat Lina. "What was that?"

"Lina-chan! Nuriko! We're being attacked!" yelled Tamahome from a distance away.

"Like we couldn't tell," muttered Lina as several more arrows whizzed by. She tried to stand up.

"Stay down," hissed Nuriko, pinning the sorceress easily. Another arrow buried itself into the ground by them. "I can see a couple of them over there..."

Lina watched in amazement as Nuriko snatched a large boulder by the stream and lofted it in said direction. Several screams echoed, and then all was quiet.

Lina gaped. During the brief skirmish, Nuriko's shirt had fallen low over her shoulders, revealing a flat, manly chest with the red character for willow flashing from it.

"You-you-you...you're a guy!" she managed to gasp.

"Sssssshh!" hissed Nuriko angrily.

"And you're in love with Hotohori?" gasped Lina.

Nuriko slapped a hand over Lina's mouth. "Ssh! Don't tell them! I...it...I..."

"Nuriko! Lina? Where are you?"

Nuriko hastily fixed his shirt and called out, "We're over here! Don't worry, we're both okay."

Hotohori ran up, flustered. "Lina-chan! Nuriko- did you throw that rock at them?"

"Who else would have?" asked Nuriko. "Anyways, we're both fine. Who were those men?"

"I don't know. They all fled. Tamahome's trying to find out who they are, but I doubt they've left behind many clues." He looked at Lina and helped her to her feet. "Are you sure you're not hurt?"

A vein popped. "How many times do we gotta say 'we're okay'? I'm FINE! It takes more than a few arrows to hurt the great sorcery genius, Lina Inverse! I've dealt with worse bandits before breakfast!"

Hotohori was taken aback by Lina's vehemence. He didn't have a chance to say a word before Tamahome dashed by. "Let's go, quickly! Those men might come back! I don't know who they are, but I have a good idea." He showed them part of a patch. It was blue and had a scaly blue leg embroidered on it.

"Seiryuu!" gasped Hotohori. "Kutoukoku must be trying to assassinate me or Lina-chan!"

Nuriko picked them all up handily and dragged them to their horses. "Let's go, let's go, let's go."

"H...hai..."

"MY LUNCH!" yelled Lina in protestation. "I'M STARVING!"

A sweatdrop rolled down Tamahome's head. "Right... We can...eat and run." He offered Lina one of the roasted fish.

"Itadakimasu!" said Lina enthusiastically as she ate it, guts and all.

They continued on their way to Taiitsukun's mountain.

There were no more attacks during the day, although Lina got the feeling of being watched. Everyone else was jittery. There were more than a few glances into the surrounding countryside.

"I heard Kutoukoku was being led by some mysterious new shogun," said Tamahome.

Hotohori nodded, "That is true. My informants have told me many stories about this shogunate. He now leads the main force of the Kutoukoku army. They tell me he is a fearsome warrior, and that he has blonde hair and blue eyes."

"G-G-Gourry?"

"Eh?" the other three asked.

Lina rubbed her chin. "Gourry has blonde hair and blue eyes. But what would he be doing here? And in charge of an army? I mean him no offense, but Gourry isn't the sort to trust with large military maneuvers. He's likely to forget where everyone is and make stupid mistakes and... well, Gourry isn't the smartest..."

Somewhere in Rand McNally, Gourry yelled, "Hey! I heard that, Lina!"

"It might be another person," said Hotohori. "But this shogunate has only been in charge for the past three months."

"Three months? That's...that's when I arrived here the first time, right?"

Tamahome nodded. "Do you think there's a connection?"

"I don't know. But it doesn't seem like coincidence."

There was silence for several minutes as all four rode, deep in thought. Finally, Tamahome looked around and said, "It's getting dark. Maybe we should stop off and make camp."

So they dismounted at a small clearing a short distance from the road and did just that. Two tents were hastily set up and a tiny cook fire was kindled. Lina's stomach growled loudly as she helped prepare the evening meal.

Suddenly, the fire went out. There was no wind present to do so; it was as if the flames had been snuffed out.

They froze.

Lina's stomach growled again, breaking the silence. She was at the receiving end of three very annoyed stares.

Lina flushed. She couldn't help it. It was dinnertime and her stomach was demanding its daily fare. The smells of cooking food didn't help any, either.

The silence lengthened into several minutes. They were about to move again when they saw shadows moving among the trees.

"Protect Suzaku no Miko," ordered Hotohori in a whisper.

Too late. Hands reached out from behind her and snatched Lina away before she could even gasp, leaving the Suzaku no Shichi Seishi in shock.

Continue: Episode 8: Attack! Arrival of the Curiously Masked Monk!