Slayers FUSHIGI
Crossover fanfiction written by
Ming-Ling (tama_neko_chan@hotmail.com)
- - > http://members.limitless.org/~mingling/sf.html < - -

Volume 8: Byakko no Shinzahou

Episode 29:
REUNION!
BACK TOGETHER IN THE LAND OF BYAKKO!

IT WAS A PAINFULLY FAMILIAR SCENE that the Suzaku no Shichi Seishi had 
long since resigned themselves to watching. Actually, they resigned 
themselves to not watching and turned their gazes elsewhere. Chichiri 
was doing some monk-thing with his staff, Tasuki paced around cursing 
to himself, Mitsukake brushed his cat, and Chiriko read from his scroll. 
Anything to keep from having to watch Lina demolish their food supplies 
was better than nothing.
	Lina just ignored them and turned all her attentions to the 
spread in front of her. Granted, it wasn't a very large spread, as 
everyone's supplies were starting to run low, but it was better than 
having to fish for one's meal. After this she would get a nice long nap 
in. Sleep and food were the two best ways to replenish her power after 
draining herself fending off Tomo.
	It didn't take long to finish. She wasn't full by any means, but 
at least she wasn't willing to eat an unsalted piece of rock to assuage 
her stomach. That business over with, she promptly turned over and went 
to sleep.
	The jaws of the Shichi Seishi dropped and hit the ground with a 
collective bang.
	"Aiyah, na no da," remarked Chichiri.
	"Oi! Oi!" Tasuki wasn't pleased. "Don't just fall asleep like 
that without telling us what's been happening!"
	"Calm down, Tasuki. She's plainly at the end of her resources and 
needs a lot of rest, so don't push her right now." 
	"Then why doncha' heal her?"
	Mitsukake shook his head. "It would be a waste of my powers to 
heal Lina when all she needs is rest. I may need my powers later, you 
know."
	"Yeah, yeah, fine." Tasuki swore under his breath, then asked, 
"So what do we do until she wakes up?"
	They all looked at each other.
	"Hmm..."

	"How many?"
	"Eh?"
	"It's your turn, how many do you want?"
	Tasuki blinked a few times and scowled. He stared at Chichiri, 
whose mask showed nothing about his thoughts, then to Chiriko, who was 
looking back at Tasuki impatiently. "Hmm..." He ran his tongue over his 
teeth, debating the odds. "Two," he finally announced, slapping down 
the cards and receiving two more from Chiriko.
	"Two ryou, na no da!" Chichiri bet, tossing in the coins and 
disturbing a fuzzy bumblebee who had perched on a flower nearby.	 
	"I'm in," muttered Tasuki.
	"Me too, and I raise you three."
	Chichiri's poker face never fell, considering he was wearing his 
mask, but he set down his cards. "I fold, no da."
	Tasuki put down three more coins. "I call, Chiriko. What's in 
your hand?"
	He set them down quietly. "A full house, Emperor high."
	Tasuki's jaw dropped. So did his cards, revealing three 10's. 
"What?! I thought you said you never played poker before!"
	"I pick things up quickly," he explained as he gathered up the 
coins.
	"..." said Tasuki in frustration. "That's impossible!" he 
concluded.
	"Don't be such a sore looser, no da!"
	"I can't believe I'm loosing to a ten-year-old! This is crazy!!"
	"I'm 13."
	"&%*#^$@&$^!! No wonder Mitsukake's just sitting over there 
meditating! I'll go broke if I play any more!"
	"You were the one who suggested the game, weren't you?" remarked 
the healer as he stroked his cat's fur. The cat purred happily in 
response. "You shouldn't be the one to complain."
	Tasuki's face grew red. "*&^%$#@!"
	"Ano..." Chiriko smiled, "He's right, you know. And you shouldn't 
be speaking that sort of language around kids."
	"Stop smiling at me!!" Tasuki yelled at the nearest person, who 
happened to be Chichiri.
	"...What, na no da?"
	"That's it! She's slept long enough; I'm gonna wake her up." 
Before the others could make a move to stop him, Tasuki went over and 
shook Lina's shoulder.
	Her eyes fluttered a little. "Don't... wanna... go to... school 
today..." she complained.
	"Come on, come on, rise and shine little girl!"
	"LITTLE GIRL?!"
	Tasuki flew over the others' heads as Lina socked him solidly on 
the jaw. "Itai..." he moaned, obviously not having a good day.
	"You should know that I am not a little girl, thank you so very 
much," Lina yawned as she stretched. "How long have I been sleeping?"
	"Several hours. Are you feeling better now?" asked Mitsukake with 
concern.
	Lina nodded. "Sort of. I'll need a full night's sleep later, but 
at least I don't feel like I'm going to fall over."
	"So what happened to you and where's Tama-chan?" Tasuki was never 
the type to mince over words.
	She sat down in front of the small campfire. "It's... a bit of a 
story..."
	The others sat down around her as she related to them what 
happened in the disastrous attempt to regain the Genbu no Shinzahou and 
the events that occurred afterwards. When she reached the point with 
Tomo, she stopped.
	"And?" Chiriko prompted instantly.
	"Tama-kun... Tomo had... Tamahome..."
	"And?!" prompted Tasuki a little more insistently.
	She couldn't go on. The image of him slipping over the cliff 
replayed itself in her memory. A few tears trickled down her cheek.
	"What's wrong? Why are you crying? What happened, no da?"
	"He fell off the cliff," she said in a soft, horrified voice.
	A silence as thick as a tome on the complete chronicles of the 
amazing hero who became the first prince of Sailoon and his fabulous 
exploits hung in the air.
	"What... you can't mean... No, you're serious?" Tasuki stared at 
Lina, who was wiping her eyes. "That's impossible! He can't be... not 
like Nuriko! Tell me it's not true!"
	"Calm down, Tasuki," said Chichiri, suddenly very serious.
	"But - that means..."
	"Minna, we are connected to each other by our bond of being 
Suzaku no Shichi Seishi, right?" Chichiri glanced at the others, who 
nodded. "Search for Tamahome's ki. As Shichi Seishi, we have extra 
abilities to use our ki. If Tamahome had died, we would have felt 
something like we did when Nuriko died. Isn't that right?"
	There was a pause.
	"A link... I can feel him, almost!" gasped Tasuki in shock.
	"Me too," Mitsukake and Chiriko echoed.
	Chichiri hugged Lina gently. "See? Everything's okay, so don't 
worry. I can sense his general direction. Tomorrow we'll head that way 
and find him."
	"Arigatou, Chichiri," said Lina softly. "Except..."
	"Except, no da?"
	"Can we at least find a nice inn to spend the night in?"

	Lina woke up slowly, enjoying the pleasure of the inn bed. After 
several minutes of just staring at the ceiling, she got up and drew 
back the curtains to see the view outside. It was a pleasant view of 
the busy city. Down below, several vendors were already beginning to 
set up shop, and several people walked by on various errands. The sky 
was a light grey that foreshadowed rain, but the clouds were not yet 
ominously heavy.
	In fact, it reminded her of the day she woke up and decided to go 
find a Magic Shop in Rand McNally. A rather fateful day.
	Gourry... She hadn't heard from him in a long time. Of course, 
considering the fun ways the book screwed with time, she wouldn't have 
been surprised if it was still the same day where Gourry was, but for 
her, it had been... far too long... She was starting to get mighty sick 
of this whole quest. She was starting to want out. But she had an 
obligation here, a duty she had to perform first.
	What would her third wish be?
	A little bee sitting on the windowsill buzzed its wings at her, 
then flew off into the sky. She watched it until it became a tiny dot, 
which didn't take long. As she stared in vain at the place where it had 
disappeared, she noticed a strange tower rising in the distance.
	Something scratched at the door, distracting her. A second later, 
she could hear Mitsukake's cat meowing loudly. Lina hopped over and 
opened the door, and the cat leapt into her arms, purring happily.
	"Ahh, so you're awake. Feeling refreshed?" wondered the cat's 
owner.
	"Mm," Lina agreed, scratching the cat behind his ears. The cat 
purred blissfully. "Amazing what a little sleep will do for you."
	"Guess what, no da?" asked Chichiri as he suddenly appeared 
behind Mitsukake.
	Lina dropped the cat in surprise. For his part, the cat landed on 
his feet, shook himself off, gave Lina an annoyed look, and padded off. 
Using the amazing powers endowed upon her by being Suzaku no Miko, Lina 
somehow reached around Mitsukake to give Chichiri another throttling.
	"Da..." choked Chichiri.
	Mitsukake unobtrusively moved out of the way while Lina ranted, 
"I thought I told you before never to pop up and scare me like that!" 
Her fangs glinted in the available light and several veins popped on 
her head. "I don't like being startled! I have a fast temper, some day 
I'll fry you before you can even say 'na no da,' okay?! So STOP doing 
that!"
	"But I have..." (Throttle!) "...News of Tamahome..." (Throttle!) 
"...Na no da..." (Throttle!)
	Lina would not be placated. She kept up the throttling, demanding, 
"So why didn't you say that in the first place?"
	"You didn't..." (Throttle, throttle!) "...Give me a chance..." 
(More throttling!) "...To, no da!"
	"So tell us already!!" (Insert throttling here.)
	Mitsukake intervened on his fellow Shichi Seishi's behalf. "Ano, 
Lina, but it would be better if we were all gathered, and I think it 
would be difficult to tell us the news if you're still trying to kill 
Chichiri."
	Lina turned Eyes of Anger at Mitsukake, although she did let go 
of Chichiri's kesa. With a long sigh of relief, the monk hurried off to 
gather the others before the Wrath of Lina fell upon him again.
	So they all gathered in Lina's room, each one expectantly 
watching Chichiri.
	"Now, tell us the news," said Lina.
	"It goes like this, no da. We can all sense each other's ki as 
Shichi Seishi. When I was studying under Taiitsukun, I learned a lot of 
things, and I can track Tamahome by his ki. Now, when I woke up this 
morning, I felt his ki in this very city!"
	Shocked silence (or bemused, if you took Chichiri into 
consideration.)
	Lina leapt up and put her hands on her hips. "Well, what are we 
waiting for, my loyal Shichi Seishi? Let's go find him!" She blinked 
and looked at Chichiri, "Did you feel his ki in any specific point?"
	"Nope. Gomen, no da."
	Lina throttled him for good measure.

	So it was that Lina found herself lost (again) in the middle of 
the large Sailokoku city. They had all agreed that splitting up was the 
best way to scour the streets, and that they would all meet back at the 
inn for dinner.
	Lina chose streets at random. In the beginning she had a very 
precise system mapped out, but she had long given up and turned right 
or left depending on whether she could smell food from said direction.
	She turned again and found herself on a very large and very busy 
street. People pushed around, so Lina did the same, forcing her way 
down the street. Someone knocked her sideways into another person, then 
disappeared into the crowd.
	"Itai!" said the person she had been pushed into.
	"Tamahome-kun?"
	"Oi, it's good to see you again, Lina-chan," he smiled, "but we'd 
better hurry or I'll loose track of them." Without even explaining who 
they were, he grabbed Lina's hand and pulled her through the crowd.
	After several minutes, he turned down a side street, and Lina saw 
who they were. They were an elderly couple, although they looked like 
they could handle themselves in a quick skirmish.
	The lady turned around and blinked. "Tamahome, who's this young 
lady with you?"
	The man turned around too with a slightly ecchi look on his face. 
"Young lady, Obake-chan?"
	The symbol for 'oni' flashed on Tamahome's forehead as he angrily 
said, "Don't call me Obake-chan! This is Lina Inverse, Suzaku no Miko."
	"Don't talk back to your master!" said the elder man chidingly. 
He then looked Lina over. "My, my, but she's so little. Hardly what I 
call -"
	He was interrupted when the woman slapped him hard. "Stop lusting 
over everything female you see, Tokaki."
	"You know I only love you, Subaru-chaaaan..."
	"Tamahome?" Lina whispered softly, "Just who are these people?"
	"They're Tokaki and Subaru, two of the Byakko no Shichi Seishi. 
Tokaki was my master when I was young, and taught me about fighting. 
They're taking us to the temple where Tatara is; he's the other living 
Byakko no Shichi Seishi."
	"Oh," said Lina. "So they have the Shinzahou?"
	"Mmhmm."
	Suddenly, the two Byakko no Shichi Seishi stopped in shock.
	"Something... something's happening to Tatara!" cried Subaru.
	"His ki... it's getting fainter!"
	"What?" gasped Lina. "Don't tell me that the Seiryuu no Shichi 
Seishi are also here trying to get the Byakko no Shinzahou?!"
	

Episode 30:
POSSESSION!
THAT'S MY SHINZAHOU!

THINGS WEREN'T QUITE GOING AS PLANNED, but then again, things usually 
never went according to plans. Lina had found Tamahome safe and sound 
and in the company of two Byakko no Shichi Seishi, who were nice enough 
to give them the Byakko no Shinzahou. However, said Shinzahou was in 
the company of a third Byakko no Shichi Seishi by the name of Tatara, 
and all was apparently not well with him. Subaru and Tokaki frantically 
searched around themselves both physically and by using their ki.
	"His ki," gasped Tokaki. "It's getting fainter! What's going on? 
If he leaves the temple, then..."
	Lina could feel a massive headache coming on. She ran her hands 
through her hair, trying to calm down. "That must mean Nakago and his 
gang have gotten their grimy hands on the Shinzahou first. They're 
ruthless - they'll do anything to get it."
	"Up there!" Subaru pointed to the strange tower on the hill. 
"There have been reports of strange sightings of monsters and strange 
people there recently."
	"We've got to hurry!" gasped Tokaki. "Outside of the temple, 
Tatara is very weak!"
	"What about the rest of the Suzaku no Shichi Seishi?" asked Lina. 
"We need to wait for them. No offense, but we can't fight the Seiryuu 
no Shichi Seishi alone."
	"There's no time!" protested Tokaki. "Tatara will -"
	Tamahome clocked him over the head. "She's right. You've never 
dealt with Nakago before. He's incredibly strong."
	"DON'T HIT YOUR MASTER OVER THE HEAD, OBAKE-CHAN!"
	Before they could fight, Lina and Subaru imposed their bodies 
between the men. "You're fighting the wrong people," said the young 
sorceress, a vein popping on her forehead. "Let me send up the signal 
flare and they'll be here faster than you can recite the incantation 
for the dragon slave."
	"Enslave Seiryuu?" wondered Tokaki before being clocked over the 
head again.
	"Flare Arrow!" A thin line of fire shot into the air and burst 
into a bright fireball before evaporating into the sky. A hapless bee 
flew off before it could get fried.
	Less than fifteen seconds had passed when...
	"Here we are, no da! Sorry for the wait, na no da!"
	Lina resisted the urge to throttle Chichiri. It was a very strong 
urge but she was successful in not haranguing the monk. After all, he 
had managed to gather up the rest of the Suzaku no Shichi Seishi and 
deposit them in a large (albeit untidy) heap before him.
	"Minna!" gasped Tamahome.
	"Good to see you in one piece, Obake-chan," grinned Tasuki as he 
extricated himself from the pile. "But who are those two old people?"
	"Who's a monster?!" demanded Tamahome.
	"Who's old?!" demanded Tokaki in the same instant.
	"Doesn't this look familiar," Lina groaned. "Come on, let's go to 
the tower to retrieve the Byakko no Shinzahou! These two are Byakko no 
Shichi Seishi but their other friend, another Shichi Seishi, seems to 
have been captured by Nakago or something because his ki is getting 
fainter and it's all having something to do with strange monsters and 
folks in yon tower, so let's go let's go let's go and stop wasting 
time!"
	Chiriko looked stunned that Lina could have said so much so fast 
and without one pause for sentence structure or air.
	Always a girl of action, Lina stomped off towards the tower. The 
others followed closely behind. "Okay, so here's my plan," she said. 
"Tokaki, Subaru, and I are going to sneak in and find Tatara and get 
the Shinzahou. The rest of you guys will fight the guards and make a 
big commotion to cover us."
	"Are you sure?" asked Tamahome nervously.
	"Yes I'm sure!" Lina hissed. "Tokaki and Subaru can find this 
Tatara by his ki, you can't."
	"She has a point, no da."
	For once, Lina didn't feel like throttling Chichiri. "Right," she 
agreed. "So are we all in agreement?"
	Everyone nodded.
	"Good, 'cause we're almost there."
	
	Lina and the two Byakko no Shichi Seishi flattened themselves 
against the wall as they heard the echo of footsteps again.
	"That's the fifth time," muttered Tokaki angrily. "Tatara is 
close, I can feel it, but this is getting so frustrating!"
	"Sssh!" warned Lina, listening closely. The long, twisting 
corridors had the annoying effect of amplifying almost any sound, and 
also served to confuse the wanderer. They were lost, not that Lina 
cared at this point, since Tokaki and Subaru were searching for Tatara 
by ki. However, she was sure the footsteps were getting louder...
	They were getting louder. And judging by their frequency, there 
were more than one person and they were walking quickly.
	"Split up!" Lina decided instantly, ducking down another 
passageway. Subaru and Tokaki looked startled but darted into two 
separate passages as well.
	Heartbeats later, several bodies went hurtling down the hall at 
high speed. Lina caught a quick glance; they looked like monks. None of 
them looked down any of the side passages, probably because it took all 
their concentration to stay on the right path. Once they had passed, 
Lina let out a great sigh of relief. She paused a few seconds more, and 
when no more footsteps were heard, started looking for the Byakko no 
Shichi Seishi.
	Except they weren't there. Then she realized she was standing in 
a different passage. She didn't recall there being a tapestry before. 
This meant only one thing. For the umpteenth time, Lina was lost. She 
didn't dare call out for the others, knowing someone else could easily 
hear her. With a quiet sigh, she started sneaking down the corridor.
	More footsteps pounded nearby, and she reflexively flattened 
herself against the wall - only to find no wall behind her. Apparently, 
the tapestry was the door for the classic hidden passageway, something 
she should have realized earlier. She fell over backwards in a most 
embarrassing manner, landing in a large chamber.
	"And what have we here?" wondered a highly amused voice.
	Lina was on her feet in an instant, facing off the smirking 
Nakago. Beside him, floating several feet into the air as if the laws 
of gravity had taken a vacation, was a strange young boy who looked 
monkish. He held a prayer wheel in his hand.
	"So this is Suzaku no Miko?" wondered the boy.
	"Indeed it is, Miboshi."
	Miboshi chuckled darkly, spinning the prayer wheel. "Yes, very 
amusing indeed."
	Lina felt a sudden chill. She sprang into action, throwing her 
hands in front of her and yelling, "Flare Arrow!"
	Or rather, she tried to. When she opened her mouth, nothing came 
out.
	"Miboshi...?"
	"I heard that Suzaku no Miko talks altogether way too much, so I 
decided to do something about it." Miboshi chuckled again, confirming 
Lina's suspicions that, somehow, the kid had done something about her 
voice.
	"An interesting approach," remarked Nakago coolly. "Especially 
seeing as how Naga-sama mentioned wanting to talk with this young 
girl." He strode over and grabbed her arm tightly. "No matter. It's 
time we got the Byakko no Shinzahou anyways."
	Lina struggled in the man's iron grasp, but to no avail. As he 
started dragging her down another hallway, she wanted to scream. She 
tried to scream, to somehow warn the others, but nothing came out. Her 
mind screamed instead.
	Let Go Of Me You Stupid Excuse For A Mazoku! Tamahome! Chichiri! 
Tasuki! Mitsukake, Chiriko, Subaru, Tokaki!! Minna! TASUKETE!!

	Tamahome stopped dead in his tracks. He could have sworn he had 
just heard Lina's voice...
	"Abunai, Obake-chan!"
	Angrily, he turned to yell at Tasuki, only to be engulfed in a 
swath of flame.
	"Sorry, Tama-chan, but that monster would have made you into a 
real obake-chan," said Tasuki without a hint of apology in his voice.
	"You just HAD to do that, DIDN'T you?!" snarled the singed Shichi 
Seishi, grabbing the hot-headed bandit by his collar.
	Tasuki grinned, showing his fangs. "It was either that or see you 
become monster-fodder."
	"Stop it, both of you!" cried Chiriko. "It's bad enough with all 
those scary monsters without you guys fighting, too!" He looked to be 
close to tears.
	"Ch...Chiriko-chan... what's wrong?" blinked Tasuki.
	"Just now, I ... I..." He looked up at them. "Guys, I'm not a 
strong as you, and this whole thing is really starting to scare me a 
lot. When you fight, it only makes it worse..."
	Mitsukake hugged the younger Shichi Seishi protectively. "It's 
okay, Chiriko. We're all here, together, and we'll see this thing 
through to the end. I promise you."
	"A...arigatou," said Chiriko softly. "I know I'm not good at 
fighting or anything like that, but... I promise, I'll help you in any 
way I can."
	"Yosh!" said Tasuki. "Then let's go kick some #$&^%@* and get 
that Shinzahou!"

	Lina was propelled forcefully into the small room and the door 
was slammed shut behind her. Angrily, she banged her fists on the 
unyielding wood, veins popping all over her head and fume marks puffing 
out in all directions.
	What the hell are you doing?! Lina punched, pummeled, even kicked 
the door, but it refused to open.
	"Ano..." said a soft voice from behind her.
	She spun around. She hadn't realized she wasn't alone. Chained, 
in the corner, sat a handsome young man with long, straight black hair. 
He had obviously seen better days; bruises made random patterns on his 
skin.
	"Who are you?" Lina attempted to say before remembering that 
Miboshi had somehow taken her voice away.
	"You are..." the man said. "Yes... you must be Suzaku no Miko, 
aren't you? You match the description Seiryuu no Miko mentioned... I'm 
Tatara. A Byakko no Shichi Seishi."
	Byakko no Shichi Seishi? But he looks so young! Lina's mouth 
opened and closed but words refused to come out. She pointed to him, 
then to herself, then at her hair and at his, hoping he'd get the hint.
	He chuckled. "Yes... I am nearly as old as Subaru and Tokaki. A 
friend made my body stop aging so I could protect the Byakko no 
Shinzahou... but its effects do not work very well outside of the 
temple." He coughed a few times, and a few drops of blood splattered on 
the ground.
	Byakko no Shinzahou? That means... Before Lina could finish the 
thought, the door creaked open to reveal the unique visage of Naga, the 
White Serpent.
	"Lina? Nakago-sama said you had something to say to me."
	Like Philbrizo's Hell I did! Why do you have to keep listening to 
that slime anyways?
	"Well?"
	Lina slumped down, defeated. Dammit, her mind cursed. Why did you 
turn so cold? What happened to you that you'd rather listen to that 
idiot Nakago instead of me? What happened to those days where we'd 
fight and make up in five minutes, then go blow up some bandits? A few 
tears trickled down her face.
	"Lina? Are... are you okay?" Naga bent down next to her, looking 
unusually concerned. "Did... What happened?"
	Lina shook her head slowly.
	"St...stop crying! Tell me what's wrong!" Naga demanded shakily. 
When Lina looked up, she saw tears in the black-haired woman's eyes.
	"She cannot use her voice," said Tatara softly, startling them 
both.
	"Lina... then... I bet it was that Miboshi, wasn't it? He's a 
nasty one; he could give a Mazoku tips on being evil. I suppose what 
you want to say can wait... I'm... I'm sorry, Lina."
	Lina stared. Was this really the Naga she knew?
	"This... this whole mess with the book and everything... And now 
this..." She stood up, wiping off her tears. "Tatara-san... I'm sorry, 
I haven't been myself lately." She took out a key and unlocked his 
chains. "A lot of things have been happening."
	"It's alright," sighed the Byakko no Shichi Seishi. "In this 
turbulent time, many loose their sense of direction."
	"Please... if you can give Lina the Shinzahou... then I'll go get 
the other one from Nakago... Lina, summon Suzaku. You deserve to more 
than I... Fix everything. Everything wrong in this world. Okay?"
	Lina nodded, still stunned. This wasn't typical of Naga at all. 
Was she up to something? But at least Tatara would give her the Byakko 
no Shinzahou. If Naga was trying to double-cross her, she'd at least 
have that.
	Tatara took off his earring and held it in his hands. A vine grew 
out of the seed, blossoming into a gorgeous white flower. In the center 
lay a circular mirror, polished brightly and etched with designs. "Take 
it, Suzaku no Miko."
	Lina delicately plucked the Shinzahou from the bloom, holding it 
reverently. She looked at Tatara and smiled in thanks.
	"It's beautiful," gasped Naga quietly. "Could I... see it for 
just a second?"
	Still entranced, Lina held it up for Naga to look at.
	Naga picked it out of Lina's hands and inspected it. "It's so 
beautiful," she repeated, chuckling. "And it's mine, too. You're such a 
gullible little fool, Lina. You really think I'd forgive you so easily? 
Ohohohohoooo!" Her patented laughter was what finally broke Lina out of 
her spell.
	She lunged at Naga, but the taller sorceress dodged easily. 
"Ohohohohohoo! Seiryuu, here I come!" And she dashed out of the room 
and slammed the door shut before Lina could stop her.
	Lina pounded on the door again, hitting, banging, kicking, and 
cursing. She cried out, Naga! That's my Shinzahou! What are you doing?!


Episode 31:
PROMISE!
IN ORDER TO DO MY DUTY!

SHE BANGED FRUITLESSLY AGAINST THE LOCKED DOOR, venting her anger and 
her tears. She had thought Naga was seeing reason only to be betrayed, 
not to mention having to listen to that god-awful laugh without having 
a good reprimand at hand.
	"I can open the door," said Tatara from behind her. He delicately 
plucked a bead from his necklace and held it out in front of him. It 
sprouted into a large mass of vines, which crept under the door. They 
lifted the locking bar out of the way, and the wood fell to the ground 
with a loud thump. 
	Lina turned eyes of awe on the bedraggled man. His powers were as 
strong as any of her Shichi Seishi, and this demonstration showed it 
was useful for doing more things than hiding Shinzahou.
	"My duty is to protect the Shinzahou. I'm going to go talk to 
that woman and get the Byakko no Shinzahou back. You go find your 
Shichi Seishi." Tatara swept off, his black hair trailing behind him, 
not even glancing back to see Lina's sudden look of concern.
	Still, what was a girl to do? Lina looked down the hall and took 
a random turn.
	She could hear the sounds of fighting, but due to the twisting 
directions of the corridor, it was hard to tell where it was coming 
from. Still, she was making some progress - the sounds were getting 
louder.
	Lina burst into the large chamber to find herself in the middle 
of battle. The Shichi Seishi were fighting a large number of strange 
monsters in a very loud and destructive way. Tasuki and Chichiri 
alternated blasts between their halisen and staff, while Tamahome was 
content on blasting them with ki from his palms. Even the normally 
reserved Mitsukake was throwing his punches, and he wasn't holding back. 
As for Tokaki, he seemed to be everywhere at once, slicing through the 
beasts with a circular blade. Only Subaru and Chiriko were abstaining; 
Chiriko looked very frightened and nervous, while Subaru had a scowl of 
determination.
	She took this in mere seconds; the analytical part of her brain 
told her that this battle was at a stalemate. For every monster taken 
down, another took its place, and there seemed no end of them. Past 
experience had shown her the best way out of a fight like this was very 
simple: lob a large and entirely too-destructive spell at the enemy and 
hit the road. And Lina had plenty of destructive spells at her disposal.
	"Flare Arrow!" Or at least, she tried to say it. Her mouth opened 
and closed like a landed fish and did about as much good. She had 
forgotten Miboshi's little trick again.
	"Lina-san!" gasped Chiriko. "Abunai!"
	Movement at the corner of her eye signaled the approach of a 
rather opportunistic monster. She dove neatly out of the way, having 
had much experience with this sort of situation, and slide to a halt 
near Subaru.
	"Lina-chan!" blinked Tamahome. "Daijobu? Did you get the 
Shinzahou?"
	Lina did the fish act again. It was rather hard for her to get it 
into her head that her voice wasn't working.
	"Lina-san, what's wrong? What happened to your voice?" wondered 
Chiriko, trembling.
	The irate sorceress popped several veins on her forehead. She 
could just feel a headache forming.
	"I see..." said Subaru before anyone else could respond. 
"Someone's taken your voice, ne?" Power glowed around her fingertips, 
shining a soft white, as she touched Lina's throat. "I've returned you 
to your body from yesterday; can you speak now?"
	And the first thing Lina was able to say was: 
"TheNerveOfThatLittleBratOfNakago's! 
WhenIGetMyHandsOnHimHe'sGonnaPaySoDearlyHe'llWishHeSoldHisSoulToAMazoku
!" And that was all in one breath, too.
	"Where's the Shinzahou, no da?"
	"Naga! Naga has it, who else? Tatara went to try and get it back 
from her, but first things first."
	As her Shichi Seishi paused to look at her, Lina charged up her 
power, mumbling the Chaos Words, and launched pure destruction from her 
fingertips.
	"Flare Arrow!"
	After watching the resulting blast and monster flambé, Lina wiped 
her hands and reported, "I feel much better now."

	They ran down the passage, following the lead of Subaru. "His ki, 
it's this way!" she explained to them. "It's fluctuating erratically - 
he may be using his powers too much! If we don't hurry..."
	"Don't say that!" Tokaki shouted back at her. "He'll be fine! He 
was the strongest of us all!"
	"But...but..." Subaru was close to tears, "Why is this happening? 
We've failed our duty to protect the Byakko no Shinzahou, and because 
of what I did to Tatara, he's weakened, and..."
	Tokaki grabbed her arm and yanked her roughly back. "Stop it, 
Subaru! That's not true!"
	Lina and the Suzaku no Shichi Seishi hit the brakes just in time 
to avoid running into them. Barely.
	"When he asked me, I didn't have to comply! I didn't have to make 
his body stop aging! He was strong enough as it was!"
	Lina froze. "But... Subaru-san..." She paused. "Wasn't the reason 
why you stopped Tatara-san's body from aging was so he could protect 
the Shinzahou in the first place?"
	"EXACTLY!" roared Tokaki. "You couldn't have stopped him, anyway! 
It was his way of fulfilling his duty! We aren't as young as we used to 
be, not even Tatara, but our duty is, and always will be to help each 
other. We're all we have!" He pinched her arm. "Now snap out of it! 
Tatara's very close by. If you'll hold on for just a moment, I'll 
teleport all of us there."
	"...wha?" blinked Lina. Her Shichi Seishi echoed her confusion.
	The Byakko no Shichi Seishi whispered something into his wife's 
ear. She nodded slowly, reluctantly.
	Tokaki turned to the others. "Okay everybody. Gather around and 
concentrate your ki. This might be a bit of a rough ride."
	So the Suzaku no Shichi Seishi gathered into a circle with Suzaku 
no Miko in the center. Lina felt a sudden heat rise in her, as ki from 
five Shichi Seishi flooded her.
	In fact, it reminded her of the Suzaku Summoning Ceremony, where 
she was able to feel the powers and thoughts of everyone...
	A pair of golden eyes opened, blasting her with its cold light. 
She felt as if she was buffeted by winds, and her vision blurred.
	The palace was on fire. The people were fleeing from an army of 
blue soldiers. Naga, as Seiryuu no Miko, was bathed in a blue light. 
Nakago and the Seiryuu no Shichi Seishi surrounded her, also surrounded 
by blue light. Above them glided the lithe curves of Seiryuu himself, 
the blue water dragon, triumphant in the skies. The most eerie part was 
that everyone, even Naga and Nakago, were staring at her through those 
same cold, golden eyes. It was like... Like...
	She was falling. Then she was landing. But instead of making 
friends with the cold and hard ground, she landed on top of something 
soft and cried, "Itai, na no da!"
	"Chichiri...?" Lina blinked. She looked down.
	"Do you mind getting off of me?" asked Tamahome, from somewhere 
in the pile of Suzaku no Shichi Seishi.
	"Gomen nasai," said someone from behind them. Lina spun around 
and saw two young fighters. Both of them were grinning.
	"MASTER?!" screamed Tamahome.
	"Wha??" screamed the others.
	"You've youthened yourselves?" wondered Lina.
	"Only for a short time. But this will give us more power."
	"Sorry about that," repeated the now-young Tokaki. "Something was 
interfering with my ki, but I seemed to have pulled that trick off 
pretty well."
	The eyes, thought Lina.
	They all felt a surge coming from the doorway to the left. 
Naturally, they all ran in.
	Tatara was battling Miboshi; or rather, Tatara was using his 
seeds and plants to battle a monster the floating Miboshi was 
controlling. Naga looked a bit surprised, edging away from the battle 
with the Shinzahou clutched tightly in her arms. Tatara glanced behind 
him as they entered, gasping, "Minna..."
	The distraction was long enough for the monster to snatch the 
Byakko no Shichi Seishi and wrap tentacles around his neck.
	Everyone froze. (Except for Naga, who snuck out of the room 
without anyone noticing.)
	"Tatara!!" cried the other Byakko no Shichi Seishi.
	"Well," grinned the devilish boy. He held up his prayer wheel, 
smiling. "So, what will you do now, Suzaku no Miko, now that we have 
both Shinzahou? What will you do when Seiryuu is summoned?"
	Lina noticed a small seed that was lying on the ground under 
Miboshi, and noticed it was twitching slightly. Well, she thought. Two 
can play at the distraction game. She adopted a thinking pose, tapping 
a finger on her chin, then glancing at Miboshi, "Well, then, I'm not 
sure since I don't know what Naga's going to wish for, so that makes it 
hard to plan, ne?"
	The boy's eyes narrowed in anger. "Don't play petty with me, 
Suzaku no Miko! I have one of your friends hostage here, you know."
	"Well, DUH! I'm not as stupid as Naga-chan, now! Her brains are 
in her breasts, the only thing they do is bounce all day long without a 
single thought running through them. I should know; I've traveled with 
her entirely too long. I think her brains died when she perfected that 
laughed; leaked out of her ears, which explains why she never listens 
to me - her ears are empty."
	A thick vine burst from the seed and wrapped itself around 
Miboshi, yanking the prayer wheel out of his hand. The monster 
instantly fell down as Miboshi lost his control over it.
	"Impossible..." he managed to choke out before the vine cut off 
his air.
	Both Miboshi and Tatara fell in the same instant.
	"Tatara! Tatara!!" Tokaki and Subaru were at his side in an 
instant, Mitsukake mere seconds behind.
	"I can heal you," started Mitsukake, his outstretched palm 
glowing green.
	Tatara closed it gently, smiling. "Save your powers," he said. 
"You may need it later. I'm over ninety years old; it's time I got some 
real rest."
	"Tatara, you can't die! You can't!"
	He turned to Subaru, haltingly wiping a tear from her cheek. 
"Subaru-san, Tokaki-san... arigatou. I'll never forget our friendship."
	"Tatara?" wondered Lina, stepping up softly. When she was met by 
silence, she said, "No way... that can't be..."
	"I'm sorry, Lina-san," said Mitsukake gently. "We can't win every 
battle."
	Everyone was silent, paying last respects to Tatara.
	Everyone except for Miboshi, who glanced up at the others, 
unnoticed. His life was fading rapidly and his vision was blurring, but 
he had learned the ins and outs of transferring his ki to another body. 
He noticed Chiriko, who was hugging himself tightly, tears creeping out 
of his eyes. Perfect. He was young, and he was vulnerable, especially 
now. With his last dregs of strength, Miboshi sent his ki racing at 
Chiriko.

	Chiriko stumbled backwards and fell over.
	"Chiriko-chan, are you okay?" wondered Tasuki.
	"Better than okay," he grinned back evilly. He picked up the 
prayer wheel and spun it, levitating in the air. The monster instantly 
sprang to life again, grabbing Lina before anyone could react.
	"LetGoOfMeYouStupid$&@#^&@%$#!!" she screeched angrily.
	"You insult me, Suzaku no Miko. And you insult Seiryuu no Miko. I 
can't let you do something like that, now, can I? After all, it 
wouldn't be fulfilling my duty if I did."
	"That's Miboshi!" Chichiri gasped, on the defense. "Somehow he's 
taken over Chiriko-chan's body!"
	"Why you little..." growled Tasuki through gritted teeth. "Taking 
advantage of a kid like that!"
	"You won't attack me though, will you? Because you're all hoping 
you can still rescue Chiriko. Isn't this amusing, Suzaku no Miko?"
	Lina was about to reply that it wasn't (although her language 
would have been considerably more colorful and descriptive) when the 
monster wrapped an arm around her throat.
	"Lina-chan!!" gasped the Shichi Seishi.
	"Let her go," said Tamahome coldly, his ki crackling in red 
sparks around him. "Let her go, Miboshi."
	"I would, but I can't. She must pay for all the crimes she's 
committed against me, and Nakago-sama, and Naga-sama, and the rest of 
Kutoukoku."
	Chiriko! I know you hate fighting, but I can't believe you'd let 
this midget take you over so easily! Lina gritted her teeth, struggling 
in the monster's hold, but to no avail. You have to fight, Chiriko! 
You're a Suzaku no Shichi Seishi! I believe in you, you can't take this 
lying down... Chiriko!!
	Chiriko-Miboshi paused suddenly.
	Chiriko, please! Don't fight for me... fight for yourself!
	Chiriko-Miboshi smiled again, but it didn't seem at all evil this 
time. "Tasuki-san, didn't I promise I'd help you all in any way 
possible?"
	"Huh?" asked Tasuki. "You're saying..."
	The boy held the prayer wheel in both hands. "I'm a Suzaku no 
Shichi Seishi, and my duty is to protect Suzaku no Miko, no matter what 
happens. This is the only way..."
	"You can't..." started Tasuki in disbelief.
	Chiriko, for it was truly him, turned the prayer wheel inward and 
stabbed himself.
	"CHIRIKO!" yelled Tasuki.
	The monster dissolved into nothingness. Lina landed painfully, 
rubbing her throat.
	Chiriko fell, still clutching Miboshi's prayer wheel.
	"Mitsukake, hurry up!" screamed the fanged bandit.
	"No, don't..." He looked up at them with tears in his eyes. 
"Everyone, I'm sorry. But I made a promise, and I will fulfill it. No, 
don't help me, Mitsukake. If you do, you'll heal Miboshi. I can feel 
him inside me... I can fight him for now, but if you heal me... I don't 
know how long I can keep him down..."
	"Who cares about that stupid promise?" growled Tasuki, tears 
pooling. "I don't care, just live! Don't be like Nuriko! Don't die!"
	"I'm sorry, Tasuki... minna... promise me you won't forget me?"
	"I promise," said Lina reverently. "We all do. Chiriko, you are a 
Suzaku no Shichi Seishi. As Suzaku no Miko... I don't think I'll ever 
think of a way to repay you..."
	"Just don't forget me," he smiled.
	His small body went limp.
	"We won't," Lina said. "We'll summon Suzaku and we'll make 
everything right again." When she looked into the faces of her 
remaining Shichi Seishi, they nodded their agreement.
	The sorceress took a deep breath, stood up, and said, "Let's go 
get both Shinzahou - for Nuriko, Chiriko, Tatara... for everyone."

Episode 32:
ANGER!
THE TALE OF THE ONE LEFT BEHIND!

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.