Although My Life is Over

(Fushigi Yuugi Chapter Six)

Suzaku no Miko, Miaka-sama, was stressed from the tumultuous events in her life. The Emperor wished to send Miaka-sama back to her world, but no one at court knew how it could be done. He finally decided to take Miaka-sama to Mount Taikyoku, where the controller of the world, Taiitsu-kun, lived.

In the mountains on the way to their destination, Miaka-sama strayed from the Emperor and stepped into a mysterious world. There, she found a second Miaka-sama.

 

Miaka gasped in dismay.

Arms crossed and eyes narrowed, the other Miaka eyed her for a moment, then commented with disgust, "What a gluttonous girl. I’m so ashamed of myself."

Miaka’s legs lost their strength, sending the girl to her knees. She pointed one shocked finger at the other. "Who are you?"

"Atashi? I’m you. Your reflection."

Miaka started. "I’m you?" She pointed to herself, then back to the other Miaka. "I’m me, you’re me. I’m me--no, wait--" The ungraspable concept sent Miaka’s mind into shock.

"Miaka!" Tamahome’s voice rang through the glass portal, snapping the girl out of her infinite calculations loop. "Miaka!"

She scrambled to the glass with delight. "Tamahome!" The Shichiseishi was walking through the misty woods, looking right and left for the vanished Miko.

"Jama-yo!" The other girl stated. She stepped directly on top of Miaka’s head, flattening her face to the ground. Pausing in front of the glass, the other leered at Miaka over her shoulder. "Eat as much as you want." The Miaka turned away and stepped through the portal without a second glance.

"Hey! Wait!" Miaka leaped to her feet and pounded on the glass. "Let me out of here!"

"I don’t think so." The free Miaka pulled a lipstick out of her uniform. "I like Hotohori...more than Tamahome." She whipped out a compact mirror and touched the lipstick to her lips. "So I think I’ll live with him forever."

Miaka pounded on the glass again.

"I don’t intend to go back to my world. I’ll stay here as Suzaku no Miko. It’s far more exciting being respected and spoiled."

Inside the mirror, Miaka’s jaw dropped in horror. She huddled on the ground, taut with worry, incredulous mind frozen.

With a snap of her fingers, the other Miaka turned the mirror which held Miaka opaque, blocking out the image of the girl sitting on the floor within. The imprisoning mirror’s diameter condensed, shrinking down to the appropriate size of a dinner plate.

"Just watch me!" she laughed.

"Matte!" Miaka cried, leaping to her feet. "Get me out of here!" She pounded her bruised fists on the glass again.

"No one can see you, and no one can hear you." a gravely voice echoed out the darkness behind Miaka. "Break my spell, Miaka, if you’re really Suzaku no Miko!"

Miaka whirled about. "Dare?!" She started when she realized the void was empty of anyone but her. Her eyes landed on the table, laid with succulent dishes. Staring for only a moment, the girl attacked the food, inhaling it in seconds. With bright eyes she engulfed the last course and took a deep breath of relief.

Important business completed, Miaka slammed her fist onto the empty table. "Dare?! Who is behind this?!" she demanded of the void, framed within the gilt edge of a second mirror.

The same dark form watched the girl with amazement, head slowly shaking in dismay. "Even in major emergencies, she doesn’t forget to eat!"

*******

The misted forest was silent. No birds sang in the trees, no insects hummed in the underbrush. Tamahome moved through the chilly fog, disquiet making his muscles clench with worry. He rejoined Hotohori and Nuriko.

"Did you see her?" Hotohori demanded.

"Iie."

At the snap of a breaking branch, all three Shichiseishi turned to see a shadowy form determinedly approaching through the mist.

"Miaka!" Hotohori said with relief.

Tamahome took a step towards the girl as she stopped near them. "Where have you been?"

Miaka’s eyes lowered. "Not far." She moved towards Tamahome, standing so close to his chest that they nearly touched. "Where you worried, Tamahome?" she whispered.

"N--not really," he stammered.

Inside the mirror, Miaka continued to pound the glass, ineffectually yelling at herself, "Hey! Get away from Tamahome!!"

"I’m glad you’re safe," Hotohori approached the pair, his voice warm.

Miaka looked over at the Emperor, then leaped to throw her arms around his neck. "Darling!" she cried with delight, the mirror hung from her shoulder swinging at her side.

Saucer-eyed, Hotohori’s mind reeled under the girl’s forceful embrace.

Inside the mirror, Miaka freaked.

Her own eyes saucers, Nuriko held her hands at her mouth, trembling.

"Gomen-ne, Darling." Miaka purred up into Hotohori’s face. The Emperor stared down at the girl, face slack, completely speechless.

"Mi--Mi--MIAKA!" Nuriko nearly screamed. "What are you DOING?!"

Miaka turned to coolly eye Nuriko, arms still around Hotohori’s neck. "Oh, Nuriko. Do you have a problem with this?" her voice sang out with a cruel twist.

"A problem?!" Nuriko stalked forward with murderous eyes.

"Why don’t you give up on Hotohori?" Miaka closed her eyes and leaned against the Emperor’s chest. "It’s ridiculous. I mean, you are a man."

Nuriko leaped backwards with shock, face contorted in horror, as her world fell apart around her. Hotohori and Tamahome stared, eyes huge, at the third Shichiseishi.

Tamahome pointed at Nuriko with one disbelieving finger. "O--o--otoko?!"

"Masaka!" Hotohori responded through gritted teeth. Sweat drops appeared on both.

Nuriko shrank under their gaze, hands at mouth, then suddenly snapped. "Hidoi wa!!!" he squealed and ran between them away through the trees, elbows striking the trunks as he went. The trees cracked and swayed in the air. "You let my secret out!" Nuriko sobbed in despair and shame. A large trunk crashed in the ground behind him, its impact echoing the destruction of Nuriko’s fall.

Tamahome and Hotohori watched the Shichiseishi disappear in silenced shock. Miaka, arms still about the Emperor’s neck, twisted her lips in a cruel smile and closed her eyes. Heh.

Hotohori’s gaze fell to the ground. "I can’t believe it." He paused for a moment, the alien concept still sinking in. "I’m not the only beautiful man."

Stifling an exasperated groan, Tamahome stared at the sky, and his sweat drop returned.

Inside the mirror, Miaka struck her bruised fists against the glass again. Helpless, she closed her eyes. "Please notice me, Tamahome, Hotohori." She pressed her face up against the glass, features flattened against its unforgiving surface. "If this keeps up, our group will separate and our goal will be forgotten!"

The other Miaka’s hand resting possessively upon Hotohori’s chest, the pair gazed at the aftermath of Nuriko’s horrified departure. Miaka looked up at the Emperor, dismissing Nuriko from her thoughts without the slightest twinge of guilt. "Forget him. Let’s go this way, Hotohori. I want to talk with you."

Tamahome watched them leave from the corner of his eye and slowly turned as they moved away. His eyes narrowed.

Face determined, the real Miaka backed up and threw her shoulder into the glass. The mirror effortlessly repelled her, sending her crashing onto the floor in pain.

"Miaka, what did you want to say?" Hotohori asked.

The Miaka stood close to him, both hands pressed flat against his red tunic. Her eyes held the Emperor’s gaze. "Mou, yame-yo." She leaned against him and put her arms around his waist in a gentle hug.

Tamahome rounded a tree and paused, mouth open, when he saw the pair.

"The journey to Taiitsu-kun’s place....mou, yame-yo."

Surprise made Hotohori’s voice short and breathless. "Nani o--"

"If I’m with you....I don’t need to go back." The girl paused for a moment, savoring the feel of being pressed against the Emperor of Konan. "Do you love me?" She leaned back to look up at him, eyes calculating. "Watashi mo, anata ga suki."

Motionless, Tamahome waited in the distance, jaw clenched, eyes still narrowed.

Hotohori gazed down at Miaka, arms at his side. The girl reached up and wrapped her arms about his neck. She leaned forward, eyes closed, and tilted her face to his own.

"Sore, atashi janai!" Miaka yelled in the mirror, incensed at the other’s meddling. The girl bared her teeth. "Get me OUT OF HERE!!!" she screamed, face and fists clenched in anger.

*******

Yui gasped and quickly looked from side to side. "Miaka...?" she whispered in amazement, ears straining through the dim light to hear what had barely touched her conscious. She stared blankly down the aisle of books for a moment, mind incredulous. Yui suddenly started. "Just now--I heard Miaka’s voice."

Yui took a slow breath of disbelief before she turned back to the pages of Shijintenchisho, where a brush-painted maiden had her arms around a handsome man.

"The one with the body of Suzaku no Miko was about to kiss..."

******

Eyes closed, the Miaka’s face slowly reached up to Hotohori. His eyes did not close, nor did he move as her soft lips neared his own.

In the mirror, Miaka could only watch with desperation as her twin began to destroyed everything she had struggled to achieve inside Shijintenchisho.

Just before the Miaka’s lips touched, Hotohori drew his sword and snapped it between them. The cool, white steel chilled the air; the Miaka opened her calculating eyes. She softly gasped and stepped back when she saw Hotohori’s angry face.

"Kisama, who are you?!" he demanded.

"Who am--" the other Miaka repeated with barely concealed shock. She took a step backwards, body tense.

Hotohori glared at her with fire in his eyes. When he spoke, his voice was colder than the blade before him. "The Miaka I know is not a girl like you!"

Tamahome approached and stopped just behind Hotohori.

"Show me your true identity!" the Emperor commanded.

The Miaka giggled, eyes closing in her private mirth.

"Be careful, Tamahome," Hotohori advised, anger in his voice. He shifted his grip upon the sword, clenching the golden hilt in both hands.

"Where’s the real Miaka?!" the other Shichiseishi snarled, hands fisted.

"In front of you!" she nearly laughed. Her words were laced with scorn and derision. "I’m Miaka’s shadow. I am the hidden part.....of myself." Arms crossed and face confident, she dared them to respond.

In side the mirror, Miaka started. So that’s it. That is me. The irresponsible side of myself. Miaka clenched one of her hands, not wanting to admit what she now knew. The way she acts and talks is how I think, deep inside.

The Miaka stretched her mouth out in an evil smile. "You’re a foolish man," She bluntly told Hotohori. "I confessed my love, but you--"

Hotohori leaped forward, sword ready to strike. "Don’t talk nonsense!" He shouted.

"Ha!" The Miaka gripped her mirror and brandished it in front of her like a shield. Lighting erupted from its surface, blazing out at the two Shichiseishi, forcing them to hunch down against the storm.

"Tamahome! Hotohori!" Miaka cried, hands pressed against the glowing white glass.

Hotohori cracked an eye open. "My energy--"

"Losing strength--" Tamahome hissed.

The Miaka held forth her weapon with evil pride. "This mirror soaks up power and makes it mine. The Miaka you love is inside," She declared with delight.

Hotohori almost lost his grip on his sword and fell to his knees. Behind him, Tamahome knelt on the ground, barely able to stay upright against the sucking light. "Inside....the mirror...?" he gasped.

"In any case, you two live only to protect Miaka." Her eyes glinted over the golden top of the mirror’s frame. "Of course, now I’m taking your power for myself. Isn’t that so...Miaka in the Mirror?"

Miaka turned away, unable to bear the sight of the Shichiseishi’s torture. "Ya--yamette!"

"If you can help them, then help them, Suzaku no Miko-san!" The evil Miaka laughed.

Miaka forced her eyes open and slowly turned to again face the mirror. "What can I do?" Hands pressed upon the glass, Miaka fought back tears as Tamahome and Hotohori struggled against the lighting. Her hands fisted. "How can I erase her?"

"Miaka!" Tamahome gasped out.

*******

The dark form gestured at Miaka’s face, framed in its looming mirror. "What are you going top do, Suzaku no Miko? Show me," its aged voice cracked.

*******

The evil laughter of her twin echoed within her mind. Miaka clenched her jaw and glared. She suddenly gasped when she remembered the other Miaka’s words.

"I’m Miaka’s shadow. I’m the hidden part...of myself."

"Sou da." Miaka took a step back from the mirror. "If she is me...." The girl turned, her gaze fixing on the white dishes of the table setting behind her. She reached for a plate and smashed it against the table’s edge. Miaka stared at the blade-shaped shard left in her grip. Light raced up its edge, a testimony to its sharpness.

She set her jaw, expression determined. If she is me, then I will--I will-- Her hands began to tremble. I will....disappear.

Miaka pointed the tip of the shard towards her body, paused for only a moment, and drove it into her breast. She staggered backwards, landing against the cool mirror’s surface. The girl sagged onto her knees on the floor, hands gripping the end of the shard. Her face twisted with pain, Miaka fought to breathe against the deadly spear she had driven into herself.