Although My Life is Over

(Fushigi Yuugi Chapter Six part II)

Shijintenchisho landed on the tile floor with a dusty plop. Yui fell back against the tall bookshelf, hand over her breast. She looked down at her bosom to see blood soaking the front of her uniform.

*******

The evil Miaka gasped, face twitching.

Inside the mirror, two drops of blood landed on Miaka’s thigh and gleamed as rubies in the scant light. The girl cracked open her eyes. "Disappear.....my shadow...!" she panted out, voice faint.

*******

In its unlit room, the dark form’s eyes narrowed at the sight of Miaka. "Masaka--"

*******

On her knees inside the mirror, Miaka gripped the end of the shard in both hands and shoved it even further inside her breast. She arched her body into the pain, threw back her head and screamed, "DISAPPEAR!!!"

Outside, the evil Miaka cried out in agony. "What’s happening?!" she exclaimed. The mirror fell from her grip and landed on the ground, the force cracking its face and sending glass bits flying. Green blood shot out from her breast as she screamed in pain. Her body expanded, bursting the school uniform at the seams. The girl began to transform into a hideous, sharp-toothed demon.

The white light arching from the mirror to the two Shichiseishi sputtered and died. Hotohori looked up from the ground. "I’ve regained my power!" He striated into a crouch and turned behind him. "Tamahome!!"

Tamahome looked up, teeth bared and eyes flaming. Like an enraged tiger he leaped forward, handspringing off the ground to twist about and slam one leg into the demon’s torso, knocking the creature back with the force of his kick. The monster went flying. Tamahome landed in a crouch, Shichiseishi symbol glimmering in red upon his forehead.

The demon recovered and sent forth an arm that snaked through the air to latch its long claws into Tamahome’s shoulder.

Hotohori charged, whipping his sword to slice off the twisted arm that held the other Shichiseishi impaled. The creature screamed, green blood exploding from its mouth. Hotohori grimly smiled.

An immense boulder suddenly appeared from above, falling from the huge cliff that towered over the clearing. With an earth-shaking crash, it landed directly on the demon, flattening it into the ground.

Tamahome and Hotohori stared at the unexpected missile, then turned and looked up.

"Nuriko!" Hotohori said, surprised.

At the top of the cliff, Nuriko lowered the single arm he had used to toss the boulder and dusted his hands off with a sniff. Hands on hips, he bent to call over the side in his normal, playful voice, "I felt there was something amiss!" The Shichiseishi leaped down from his perch, lavender tresses flowing, cape-like, behind him. His long orange dress flared as he landed, a hint of a cocky smile on his effeminate face.

Hotohori turned to Tamahome, who was kneeling, braced with his uninjured arm on the ground. "Tamahome, daijoubu ka?"

Tamahome looked up at him. "Heiki desu. You’re handy to have around, Hotohori-sama." His voice held respect for the older Shichiseishi.

"Bullshit." Hotohori held out a hand to Tamahome. "You’re better than me. Can you stand?"

In reply, Tamahome gripped the other’s hand, accepting the truce.

Nuriko half-way smiled at the pair, then glanced to his left. He softly gasped at the sight of the broken mirror. Beside it, Miaka’s limp form slowly appeared, manifesting out of the mist. "Hotohori-sama!"

The Emperor and Tamahome turned to look at Nuriko, who pointed with one long hand at the prone girl. "Asoko!"

"Miaka!" Hotohori said with fear.

They ran to the unconscious girl and knelt next to her. Tamahome cradled her in his arms. "Miaka, shikkari shiro!"

"How could this have happened?" Hotohori wondered, staring at the shard of dinner plate that jutted out of the girl’s bloody chest.

Nuriko stood over them. "Come to think about it, the fake one bled from there, too!"

Tamahome’s eyes widened. "Masaka. Did she do this to save us?!" He bent closer to the girl’s face. "Miaka!"

"Miaka! Open your eyes!" Hotohori echoed.

The girl did not respond.

"Miaka!"

"Miaka, shikkari shiro!"

*******

Floating in a sea of blue mist, Miaka’s eyes opened at the sound of Tamahome and Hotohori’s crying out her name. "Their voices...." she whispered and slowly pushed herself to her hands and knees. "Koko wa? What happened to me?" Miaka knelt there, stars sparkling in the background behind her. "I remember. I stabbed myself in the chest."

*******

The instigator of Miaka and the Shichiseishi’s ordeal watched in the mirror. "I cannot believe she went that far!" Then, with admiration, "I’ve never seen a girl like this one!"

*******

"Chotto," Nuriko admonished. "You two calling her name won’t solve anything!"

"Shikashi, what else can we do?" Hotohori demanded.

"Turn the other way, please," Nuriko answered him.

"What do you have in mind?" Tamahome asked uncertainly.

Nuriko knelt next to Miaka. "To take her clothes off and bandage her!" he nearly snapped.

Tamahome looked at Nuriko with wide eyes. "But...you’re a man, too!"

"My mind is female. I will take care of her wound." Nuriko unbuttoned Miaka’s white shirt and lifted the sides apart. His face grew worried. "It doesn’t look good. How could she have gotten it so deep?" Gripping the edge of his sleeve in his teeth, Nuriko ripped out a bandage from his clothes.

Minutes later, Hotohori asked, "Will she be all right?"

"Hai," Nuriko breathed tiredly. "Luckily, she missed the vital parts. Now it depends on her life force."

The three Shichiseishi worriedly looked down upon the still-unconscious Miaka, torso wrapped with the yellow cloth from Nuriko’s undertunic sleeve. Blood had already seeped its way up through the bandage, staining the beautiful material a dark red.

"I can’t get the bleeding stopped!" Nuriko said with dismay. "If it doesn’t--"

"Miaka!" Tamahome implored. "Miaka, open your eyes!"

Hotohori leaned over her. "Miaka, hang on!"

Face tense with worry, Tamahome, too, bent over the girl. I’m sorry...I wasn’t nice to you. This happened because of me!

"Oh god!" Hotohori cried. "The color’s draining from her face!"

Tamahome closed his eyes, his body shaking.

"Nuriko, how?! How can we save her?!?" Hotohori demanded frantically.

"If we could give her blood....but we don’t have the tools."

Tamahome clenched is muscles, his expression pure agony.

*******

"Yui-chan?" Miaka asked in disbelief.

Yui gasped out against the pain. She had collapsed onto the floor, her back propped against the bookshelves. Shijintenchisho still laid where it had fallen upon the cold tile floor.

Hand pressed against her chest, Yui implored her friend. "Miaka, where are you?

"I don’t know. But until now, I’ve been in the strange world you and I were transported to."

"I thought so." Yui closed her eyes, then opened them again. "Do you have a serious injury?" she asked the still air.

Miaka turned to gaze at the blue space that surrounded her. "Yui-chan, how did you know?"

The girl stared down at the nothing beneath her. "No. I don’t think I can return to our world."

Yui leaned forward. "Why?! Don’t give up! You’ll come back!!"

Miaka’s gaze returned to the glittering flowers, so calm and peaceful in the distance. She said nothing in reply.

*******

Tamahome leaned close to her limp face. "Miaka!"

"Not being able to save a girl’s life." Hotohori’s voice was laced with self-derision. His eyes glared down at the grass, and he fought against the tears that wanted to come. Beside him, Nuriko remained silent, eyes closed. "How useless an Emperor’s power is," Hotohori choked.

"I WILL return you to our world!" Yui’s voice called to Miaka. "Don’t be hasty!"

Miaka’s eyes widened. My ears? her mind echoed in disbelief.

"The voices of the people who think you are important! Can’t you hear them?!"

Slowly, Miaka turned her back upon the brightly lit fields of peace and listened.

Tamahome set his jaw. "If blood is needed--" He reached down to grasp Miaka’s plate shard in his fist.

"If blood is needed--" Hotohori drew his sword and held it to his left wrist, teeth bared. "I will give her all I have! Miaka, stay alive!"

Tamahome held the shard over his own breast. "I swear on my life. Miaka! Don’t die!"

Both men clenched their resolve, then selflessly struck without a second thought. Their blood fell to land upon Miaka’s bandaged breast; two wide, hot symbols of love and determination that mingled together with Miaka’s own blood.

*******

Relief flooded Yui’s face. "Miaka!"

*******

"I am not going to die!" Miaka shouted.

*******

Her limp fingers twitched, tickled by the green blades of grass that poked up between them.

Nuriko took a quick breath. "The bleeding’s stopped!"

Miaka’s eyes fluttered, then slowly opened. She blinked against the light that shone down into the clearing.

All three Shichiseishi leaned over her, kneeling on the ground.

"Miaka!" Tamahome called her name with joy.

Her face sought the speaker of her name. "Tamahome..." her voice was weak, but steady. She looked behind her. "Hotohori..." To her left, "Nuriko..." Miaka raised her hands, one at a time, to hold Tamahome’s face. "I’m alive."

His eyes shined down at her. "Yeah."

The girl pinched his cheeks and pulled them out, stretching his face in a wide, comical grin. "It’s really you, Tamahome," she tiredly giggled.

"Baka yaro!" Tamahome leaned down to hug the suddenly wide-eyed girl. "You scared us to death!"

Hotohori’s smiled, his face once again gentle. "Yokatta, hontou-ni."

"Maaaataku!" Nuriko leaned back, hands on hips, posture cocky. "Stupid, voracious girl, whose only merit is a sunny disposition, you didn’t even have the good grace to die!" He jabbed his fingers in his mouth and stuck his tongue out at her.

Miaka sat up. "You want your butt kicked, Nuriko?!"

"Nuriko was worried, too." Hotohori clarified, voice warm.

"Mmm...shite iru." Miaka closed her eyes. "I could hear your pleading calling me back from a final, ending decision. Minna, arigatou."

The three Shichiseishi leaned close around their Miko, relieved and thankful for her return. The group silently shared each other’s presence, kneeling in the quiet clearing, the sun warm upon their backs.

*******

"Suzaku no Miko, because of the voices of her friends, retained her life."

 

Yui looked up from the pages of Shijintenchisho. I guess this means that this Suzaku no Miko really is Miaka. She returned to the book, face serious. Another brush drawing on the left page depicted a graceful building at the crest of a tall hill, surrounded by mountains and trees.

"Suzaku no Miko and her three Shichiseishi had arrived at Mount Taikyoku."

*******

The clearing vanished from around the four, replaced by an ethereal landscape of mountains and temples. Strange, lavender spheres floated, suspended in the misty air that twined its way through the rocky spires.

"Nani?" Miaka asked, voice uncertain.

Nuriko answered her in a whisper. "The scenery’s changed..."

"I’ve watched the interactions between you," an unseen, gravely voice suddenly informed, emanating from the air around them.

"Dare da?!" Tamahome demanded, arms wrapped protectively about Miaka.

The answer was smug, and said almost warmly. "The one you have been seeking."

Hotohori straightened. "Then...this is....Taikyoku?"

Their gaze slowly flowed up an incredibly long flight of stairs that reached down from the heights. A small form appeared, hovering over the stairs, surrounded by four long, floating sashes that almost danced around it. "Welcome, Miaka." The form shimmered, blue light backlighting the figure. "Iya...Suzaku no Miko-yo."

"Taiitsu-kun." Miaka acknowledged, voice hesitant.

"I’ve noted your strong feelings for your three Shichiseishi, and their attachment to you." The intimidating form’s eyes glowed, hinting at the knowledge which resided within their forbidding depths. Its voice cut through the air once again. "I will tell you how to return to your world."

** end episode six **

This summary is based on the translation by Karen Duffy and Yamazaki Masatomo. Used with permission. Adaptation by Sailor Two Moons 11-21-99. FY Chapter Six part II last tweaked 11-15-01, when I tweaked links to bypass the problematic code.