Anger!

The Tale of the One Left Behind!

Episode 32

A great shudder rippled through the air, startling everybody. The Suzaku no Shichi Seishi had gathered around Lina, ready to fight for the Shinzahou. The Byakko no Shichi Seishi had gathered the bodies of their fallen comrades, to take them and give them a decent burial. All looked up, where they could feel a power gathering.

"They're going to summon Seiryuu, na no da!" warned Chichiri. "I don't think we'll be able to stop them."

"But... But... But..." stuttered Lina. "We can't let them do that!"

"I don't think we have a choice," said Tamahome from behind her.

She spun around angrily, ready to throttle him. "We can't give up now. We can still get the Shinzahou!"

"He's right," agreed Chichiri, his mask not hiding his somber look. "Feel that disturbance? They're already partway into the ceremony. There's no way we can interrupt them in time. We should return to Konankoku and prepare." He didn't have to add 'for the worst.' His lack of a 'no da' indicated the utter seriousness in his tone of voice.

Lina swallowed the lump in her throat. The silence was as oppressive as the calm before the storm. Power was gathering, and it was going to summon Seiryuu and she could do nothing to stop it. But Chichiri was right. Tamahome was right. They had lost the battle - but they hadn't yet lost the war. A strategic withdrawal was sometimes just as important as victory. "Okay," she said slowly. "Okay, let's go back and get ready for whatever they throw at us."

"Yosh!" said Tasuki. "But, uh, just how do we get back?"

"Leave it to me, na no da!" A staff twirled in the air, and a kesa landed on the ground. Chichiri slammed the end of the staff onto his kesa and together they glowed with red light. "Everybody hop in - one way trip back to Eiyo, no da!"

First Tasuki, and then Mitsukake, holding Chiriko's body. After them went Tamahome. Lina paused at the threshold. She turned to the Byakko no Shichi Seishi one last time. "Arigatou... you were a really big help... I don't think there's any way I can repay you..."

"Don't let them win," said Tokaki, backed by a smiling Subaru. "Be victorious, and we'll be just fine and dandy here in Sailokoku. Ganbatte, Lina... Suzaku no Miko."

And so Lina stepped onto the blue cloth, and found herself surrounded by darkness.

She opened her eyes, half-expecting the palace to be enveloped by flames like the vision those golden eyes had tormented her with. But everything was quite fine in Konankoku's palace - at first glance at least.

That illusion was shattered when the door burst in and a very irate Hotohori swept into the room like a wildfire, sending a bee flying for its life. His eyes were narrowed and his character glowed so brightly, it almost blinded the Shichi Seishi for a second.

"How could you?" he demanded. "How could you have let this occur? You were Konankoku's hope and now look what's happened!" Ignoring the startled looks, he continued to snarl, "Two of us are dead - yes, I felt their deaths. Nuriko, Chiriko... and yet you come back empty handed? How can the blue dragon god have risen over Kutoukoku if you were supposed to be the ones with the Shinzahou? How can Kutoukoku have won?"

They had no answers for the emperor, nor did they try to make any up. Hotohori continued to pace, ranting and venting his spleen in a most un-emperor-like way, yet managing to always appear dignified.

"Look," said Lina. "We tried our best. We can't win everything. We've all been under a lot of stress lately and we've all been fighting our hardest - but sometimes even our best won't cut it."

"That's not an answer!" retorted the emperor of Konankoku.

And that's when Lina blew a socket. She pulled out the deity sword and held the tip at his throat.

The others could only watch in shock. Lina's ploy, however, was effective. Hotohori spluttered at her audacity, openly glaring at her through narrowed eyes.

"Then what sort of answer do you want, exactly? Now look, Hotohori-kun, I've told you we can't win every battle. And we certainly won't win any battles if we're all throwing hissy fits about who's to blame for this whole mess."

"You don't even know what I've been through!" Hotohori accused.

Lina lowered the sword, then offered it, hilt first, to its rightful owner. "You're right. So why don't you tell us what happened and then we can tell you what we've been through."

"..." Hotohori took the sword and looked at Lina. There was a long pause. Finally, he said, "Very well... if you'll all sit down, it's rather a long story."

"I wouldn't have expected anything else," grinned Tasuki, showing his fangs.

Once everyone was seated, Hotohori let out a deep sigh and held his head in his hands. "These past months have been very tiring and very stressful. Every day, more reports come in of more villages taken over by Kutoukoku. The army can do nothing to stop it; some of them have even deserted. People had fled to Eiyo, and are causing hysteria among those who live here. More people are fleeing to the west and the south. There are food shortages in many places and riots in others.

"Throughout this time, I couldn't do anything. Everyone looks to me for an answer, but I have none to give. All I could say was that Suzaku no Miko and the Suzaku no Shichi Seishi were dealing with the problem. As an emperor, I couldn't do anything - but that wasn't the worst part. The worst part was knowing I was a Shichi Seishi, and that I still couldn't do anything.

"We're facing Konankoku' darkest hours... and I still don't know if I can do anything."

His head was down, but everyone could see the tears that were falling like crystals onto the carpet. "If none of us can do anything... what will happen to our country?"

"Hey, now wait a minute here!" roared Tasuki. "Who said none of us could do anything? Just 'cause we didn't get the Shinzahou and can't summon Suzaku doesn't mean we're helpless? We still have our powers, don't we? We can still fight back!" He smacked his halisen into his palm for emphasis. "I don't know about you, but on Mount Leikaku, us bandits were taught never to give up no matter what happened."

What will happen to our country? Lina clutched her fists. Nothing would happen if she could do anything about it - but how helpless were they? They were facing Nakago, Naga, and now she had three wishes. Three wishes that could be used for anything imaginable. What would Naga wish for?

What would she wish for, had she the chance?

"We're going to have to figure out something," sighed Tamahome. "I don't know what, but somehow we have to find a way to fight back. We're not taking this lying down - we're going to fight them to the very end."

"What if it's all for nothing?" wondered Lina quietly, looking at her lap.

She was met by the stares of her Shichi Seishi.

"Just a second, didn't I just finish saying we can still do something?" grumbled Tasuki.

"Minna... there's something I haven't told you yet..."

"What do you mean, you haven't told us yet?" asked Mitsukake curiously, looking slightly suspicious.

Lina nervously twirled with a lock of her hair. "Since I've been here, I've been getting these... well, I suppose you could call them visions. In them, there's this pair of golden eyes, and they frighten me..."

"That time... when the gazebo fell..." Tamahome blinked several times. "Didn't you mention you thought they made the building fall?"

She nodded. "They're constantly pestering... well, pestering is too light a word for it, I guess. And they constantly show me the same image. The palace... it's in flames... A lot of people are dead, or running away... Nakago and Naga are there, and Seiryuu's behind him... but the most disturbing part was that I was alone. Entirely, utterly by myself."

Chichiri scratched his head, the smile on his mask turned into a little frown. "How do you know this image is a prophecy, Lina-san? After all, why would you be alone if our duty as Shichi Seishi is to protect you, no da?"

"...That's why it's the most disturbing part."

"It's not true, is it?" asked Hotohori. "This can't be true! Konankoku can't... won't fall to anyone!"

Lina looked down again. "I don't know... but the eyes have shown me other scenes too. And those events did happen. Like the battle with Tomo... I saw that would happen before it did, although it didn't do much good..."

"It won't happen," said Tamahome with sudden conviction. "Do you know why, Lina?"

She looked at him and waited for his answer.

"You said you were alone. Utterly alone, isn't that right? That won't happen. You're Suzaku no Miko and we're Suzaku no Shichi Seishi. I promise you that I'll never leave you alone. As long as we're still breathing and your heart is still beating, we'll protect you." He smiled, "And it's not just because it's our duty. We're all friends now, close friends, through our bonds. No... we're a family. We won't abandon you... I personally would never think of doing such a thing."

Lina blushed bright red as the others nodded their agreement. "Arigatou..." she said simply, not knowing how to respond.

Tasuki grinned, "And if Obake-chan here ever thought of leaving you, we'd tie him up and make sure he couldn't get away! We're the chosen ones of Suzaku! So let's go kick some Seiryuu %$&^#@*!"

"How... eloquent," coughed Hotohori.

"Stop calling me Obake-chan!" protested the blue-haired Shichi Seishi.

The pattering of footsteps down the hall startled everyone. Before anyone could stand up, the door flew open and a purple-haired young woman dashed in, calling, "Heika!"

"Kyaaaaaa! NURIKO?!" gasped Lina, Tamahome, Chichiri, Tasuki, and Mitsukake in unison.

"He's alive, na no da?"

"What in the world...?!"

"How is this possible? Nuriko..."

"He's got a bigger chest than Lina!!"

Tasuki went flying into the next room courtesy of Lina's fist. There are things you just never tease a woman about...

The woman looked at Hotohori, flustered. "Heika... what's going on?"

Hotohori stood by her side, holding her close. "Minna... This is Houki. My Empress."

"Em...Empress?" stuttered Lina, shocked. "Houki?"

Hotohori smiled, then chuckled, then broke out into laughter. It was a release of emotions he sorely needed, and he was unable to stop until tears dripped out of the corner of his eye - but they were tears of happiness. "The looks on your faces... was priceless..." he choked out.

"We were married last month," explained Houki, smiling gently.

Now that Lina had a chance to observe her, she could see Houki wasn't Nuriko. The resemblance was striking, but Nuriko had a rounder jaw, lighter eyes, and a birthmark under his left eye. Lina privately suspected the resemblance wasn't coincidental, but was prudent enough to keep her thoughts to herself.

He nodded. "Houki... was a lifesaver. When I thought I had lost everything, she came and helped me find my way again..."

It was true love. Lina sighed.

"Don't mean to be rude or anything," interjected Tasuki, "but we should really start planning what we'll be doing to fight again Kutoukoku. I mean, who knows what they're up to know that the big ol' dragon king's come down from his throne?"

"I'm sorry," Hotohori apologized, wiping a last laugh-tear from the corner of his eye. "I don't know what got into me just then..."

"Nonsense," commented Mitsukake. "Laughter is as therapeutic as medicine many times. I think that Hotohori-sama has had little to smile at lately, much less laugh. It was just a normal release of emotions; think nothing of it."

"Righty-o." Tasuki rubbed his hands together. "So let's get cracking. Lina, what do you think Seiryuu no Miko will have wished for?"

Lina thought about it for a moment. "One, she'll want her magic back. That's definitely something I'd wish for. But... as for the other two... I really have no clue. Naga's changed drastically, and I don't think I can anticipate her moves well enough any more..."

If I were Naga, what would I wish for? Lina attempted to get into the right mindset. What does Naga like to do? What are her personality perks?

For starters, she likes power. So, she might be wishing for more power. Still, what would motivate someone like Naga, the self-proclaimed White Serpent and known widely as the 'Goldfish feces'?

Lina blinked and felt a cold shiver run down her spine.

"I AM Seiryuu no Miko...and when I summon Seiryuu, you're going to wish you had never bought that book. You're going to wish you never showed it to me. Because I'm going to make you pay."

Revenge. That was what was motivating Naga. And not the petty 'I'll make her pay the dinner bill' sort of revenge they played on each other when they were partners. This was the revenge that was purportedly best served cold.

No sooner had she come to this realization than a blue light came bursting into the room. It flashed brightly, blinding everyone, then surrounded Lina. Before she could say a single word, it spun around and disappeared, to the shock of the Suzaku no Shichi Seishi left behind.

Continue: Side Story 2: Anger? The Tale of the Other Ones Left Behind!

Continue: Episode 33: Triumph! The Victory of the Blue Dragon!