Success!

A Triumphant Return to Konankoku's Palace!

Episode 16

"Aaaaaah," sighed Lina happily, rising from the soft inn bed. After finding Chiriko, the last Suzaku no Shichi Seishi, they had called it a day and relaxed in one of the inns. Chichiri said he would inform the emperor of the good news and would prepare a spell to transport everybody back to the palace. It would take him some time, he warned, but he felt he would be ready by noon.

"Perfect," Lina told her reflection, tapping the mirror with a nail. "I can summon Suzaku and get the hell out of here."

The mirror clouded over suddenly.

Lina stepped back as if she had been zapped. The mirror's reflection shimmered and coalesced into the shape of...

EYES!

The same eyes Lina had felt in Konankoku's palace, while searching for Nuriko, stared back at her. They were cold and cruel, and they were laughing. They had laughed at her quest in Konankoku, and now they were laughing again, even though the quest was over.

Something was wrong.

The golden eyes watched her with a sinister merriment, following her every movement. Every now and then, a long wisp of straight grey hair (or was it clear? It was difficult to tell) drifted in front.

Something was amiss with her quest. Something was horribly, terribly, utterly incorrect. She had made a dreadful error somewhere, somehow. They were laughing at her because she had screwed up, big time.

The eyes grew larger until they filled the entire mirror. Lina felt pinned in their yellow gaze, the way a mouse felt in the gaze of an owl. Frozen to the spot, shaking with fear and anger, there seemed nothing she could do when...

A few notes of flute music floated in the air.

The eyes turned wrathful. Angry. Furious at the interference! And yet, they were shrinking away. As the music grew strong, the eyes slowly began fading away.

At the climax of the song, the eyes disappeared altogether. But they left with a smirk, a feeling of 'I know something you don't know and what you don't know can kill you'. Lina was left blinking at her own, ordinary reflection. Chiriko?

She ran to his room, only to run into him instead as he exited.

"Miko-sama... are you alright?"

Lina blinked. Again. "Whoa, whoa, Chiriko, what's with the miko-sama? Please, I'm Lina. You can call me 'Lina-san'" and the last word was forced out by brute will, "but no miko and no -sama. Sheesh, I'm only like two years older than you!"

"Go-gomen, M...Lina-san..." He looked nervous, clutching his flute to his chest.

"That song you just played," prompted Lina. "What was it? It... I had this strange feeling and then the song came and it went away... how do you do that?"

At last, something he knew well! Chiriko smiled, and held the flute to his lips. "I can send my ki through this flute," he explained, blowing a quick trill. "I've learned that it can be used to soothe people's feelings."

"I see..." said Lina, not because she understood but because it felt like the proper response. "Can you, say, banish demons or something like that with your flute?"

He nearly lost his grip on the flute, but caught it swiftly enough. "Um, what do you mean?" He fiddled with the rope tied around one end of his instrument.

"Like..." Lina paused, thinking about how to describe the eyes in terms that wouldn't frighten the younger boy. "Like, evil spirits and stuff... Well, I can't explain it very well, but you know that strange feeling? It felt like evil spirits, but when you played, they disappeared."

"Ah, well, perhaps my music can soothe even evil spirits..." he suggested.

"Can you play it again?"

He nodded and lifted the flute. Charming music filled the air with its haunting melody. Lina felt instantly better. In fact, she couldn't even remember what had been bothering her so much...

"STOP!" she cried.

"Lina-san... what's wrong?"

She blinked several times and rubbed her head. The past minutes were a total blank. She remembered the song starting, but then... nothing until it stopped again. She had come to him feeling nervous and worried about...about what? For the life of her, Lina couldn't remember.

"I... I think I'm getting a headache from all this stress," she complained, making up the fastest excuse that popped into her mind. "I think I'd better go talk with Mitsukake."

"It's not... it's not my music, is it?"

"No, no, it's not that... I'm just anxious to get back to Konankoku and all... which means I'd better talk with Chichiri too..." Lina's voice drifted off and she hurried down the hallway.

Chiriko watched her leave, trembling nervously. "I must be more careful next time," he vowed to himself. He felt better after this promise, and he began to play another song, albeit softly.

"Daaa!"

For a split second, Lina thought Chichiri had greeted her. A closer look revealed Mitsukake's white cat looking at her expectantly as she entered the room. He purred and rubbed his cheeks on her boots.

She smiled and picked him up, petting his tuft of brown fur on the top of his head. "So, where'd the others go, hmm, neko-chan?" she asked it.

He batted at her hair for a second before wriggling out of her grasp and landing lightly on the floor. "Nyao!" he told her as he padded out through the door.

Lina followed him out the back door of the inn to a small alleyway. Most of the other Shichi Seishi were already there, chatting amongst themselves. "Lina-chan!" smiled Tamahome. "How are you feeling today?"

The cat purred and climbed onto Mitsukake's shoulder as she answered, "I'm feeling... a little bit troubled..."

"Troubled?" wondered Nuriko.

Lina scratched the back of her head nervously. "Well, I got this really strange feeling that something was wrong. Really... wrong. But I forgot what exactly was worrying me. That part is what's troubling me. Something isn't right but I can't tell what."

"That is troubling, no da," observed Chichiri.

"It sounds serious," said Tamahome. "But what have we done wrong? We've followed the Shijintenchiso and found all of the Shichi Seishi, what else were we supposed to do?"

"I think we should head back," suggested Tasuki. "After all, what else are we doing hanging around here? Let's summon Suzaku and whatever."

"Everything is ready, na no da."

"We're all here? No, where's Chiriko?" spoke up Mitsukake. "Neko-chan, can you bring Chiriko here?"

The cat purred his agreement, nuzzling Mitsukake's hand briefly before going back into the inn.

"Chiriko," said Lina. Somehow, he was involved in it...

Nuriko looked at her. "Ne, what was that?"

"Ah, oh, nothing."

"We're all ready?" asked the youngest Shichi Seishi as he arrived, preceded by the white cat.

I've got to think of a name for that cat, thought Lina irrelevantly to herself.

"Yes, no da. Are we ready, na no da?" Chichiri raised his staff and, well, you know the drill. Flash.

The trip took mere moments to complete. Before Lina could blink twice, they had arrived in the palace at Eiyo.

A palace in flames.

Lina gasped and blinked again. The palace was just as they had left it, with the addition of many more vassals come to see all the Shichi Seishi. What was that flash of vision? Where was the fire?

Fire? Everything was just like normal.

Lina scowled internally. It was like those eyes. Something would go terribly wrong. Or had something terribly wrong already happened?

There was no time to ponder the strange image. Hotohori was descending from his dais, coming to greet the miko and the Suzaku no Shichi Seishi and to officially welcome them to the palace. He smiled at her, a gentle smile meant only for her. He was truly glad to see everyone.

Introductions went all around as the citizens beheld their Miko, their Shichi Seishi, and their hoped-for salvation.

Tasuki, Mitsukake, and Chiriko were rather stunned to learn that the emperor was also part of their ranks. It took them several minutes to recover fully.

Thankfully, the ceremony was over quickly. Hotohori dismissed the audience and brought them into a private chamber. Inside, he let his smiling mask drop.

"Hotohori-sama!" gasped Nuriko, rushing to his side. "What's wrong?"

The emperor's head was bent, and Lina could see tears welling up in his eyes. "Reports are coming in from all along the eastern border. It's true. The shogunate, Nakago, has brought in a large army, and they are attacking and pillaging all the villages in their way. Many people have fled here to the capital, and many others have run even farther away. Their accounts are truly horrendous. Entire villages have gone up in flames... there is nothing I can do. I have dispatched portions of my army to counter them, but it is of no use. Nothing can stop them." He looked up at stared everybody in the eye. "Nothing except you and me. We must summon Suzaku and ask for his protection. And we must do it now."

The news shocked all of them.

"Ah...are you sure?" gasped Mitsukake. "All the villages? All the people?"

Hotohori nodded. "The preparations for the summoning ceremony must begin immediately. I am truly sorry to have to rush you, but the matter is of utmost importance."

They all nodded their agreement. "In that case," Hotohori continued, "I have already ordered the temple to prepare..."

EYES!

Lina slumped over the table, gripping the edge tightly. Those same eyes bore through her, laughing and taunting her helpless form.

"Lina!" cried several of the Shichi Seishi, all reaching out to help.

Lina choked as images flashed before her.

A palace in flames. A city in rubble. A dragon rising in the east. Something else rising behind it. People fleeing for their lives. An army chasing them. A man with the symbol for heart glowing blue on his forehead. Naga, at his side, casting a strange blue magic spell. Lina. She was among them. She was among all of them. But she couldn't do a single thing. She couldn't put out a single flame, help a single person, or defend herself against Nakago or Naga.

And she was alone.

The eyes were there, too. They were triumphant. They stared out of Naga's eyes and Nakago's, smirking, laughing, taunting. They were everywhere, gazing at her from everything, from dragon to frightened child.

And she was alone. Powerless. Helpless. Unable to do anything but watch.

A piercing note shrieked through the air. Lina collapsed into Tamahome and Hotohori's arms, shivering. The eyes had disappeared.

"Chiriko," blinked Tasuki, wincing.

"Gomen," he apologized, setting down his flute. "I could feel an evil ki here, so... I used my flute to destroy it."

"Lina, Lina! Are you okay? What happened? Why are you shaking?" asked Hotohori.

"Mitsukake!" cried Tamahome. "Hurry, help Lina!"

The healer passed a hand over Lina's trembling form. "She is not sick or injured," he concluded. "This is from fear. I cannot do anything to help."

"Fear?!" asked all the others in unison.

"Fear of what I am not certain. Something has shocked her to the very core."

Lina clung tightly to Tamahome, eyes shut tightly. Never in her life had she felt so scared of anything. She usually put off her fear, especially when it hampered her performance in bandit hunting. She had little fear of anything else save Mazoku and her dreaded oneesama, Luna Inverse. It felt much safer here...

"Lina-chan," whispered Tamahome. "What's wrong? Lina-chan! Snap out of it! Wake up! What happened?"

Slowly, she opened her eyes. "I saw... I, well, I should start from the beginning," she said slowly. "When I was first searching for Nuriko, I felt these eyes watching me. I still don't know if it was those eyes or me that caused the gazebo to fall. And then, this morning, I felt them again, and they were laughing at me, like we messed up or something. And just now, I felt them, stronger this time. And I saw..." She paused and took a few deep breaths. "I saw some horrible stuff. And the eyes kept laughing at me. I don't know. It... they..."

"Eyes, na no da?"

The forum was open for debate as the Shichi Seishi looked at each other and began arguing over the significance. Tamahome was the only one who didn't volunteer any suggestions. He was too busy soothing Lina's terror to participate.

"There is only one thing we can do," inserted Hotohori into the fray.

He was awarded with seven pairs of eyes riveted in his direction.

"We must summon Suzaku."

Lina felt Tamahome flinch. She knew why he flinched, too. But there was no helping it. Love between two worlds didn't work. There were more important things to consider.

Somewhere, the eyes smiled at them and laughed at their attempts.

Someone else joined in the laughter.

"Ohohohohohoo!"

Continue: Episode 17: Come Down to Us! The Suzaku Summoning Ceremony!