i use to modify the date so that thsi blog agrees with my life journal blog but now...i can't be stuffed...
What happened last time: Yuri’s purpose is finally revealed, she is the priestess of Seiyuu, and her destiny is to summon Seiyuu and make three wishes at the exchange of her life. Realising that she have no other choice, she heads toward Kutou.
Chapter Seven
Kutou was very different from Konan, under the harsh rules of the current emperor, as well as many of his predecessors, the people of Kutou were more suspicious of strangers. Many of the people had long lost their ideal and all they cared about was survival.
Yuri felt many stares when she arrived at the capital of Kutou in her outfit, she knew that many would be seeing her as a harlot for walking on the street like this. But nevertheless she must do this.
“I wish to enter the city.” She stated.
“You need a…” the guard began.
“I have it right here!” she moved closer to the guard, pointing to the mark on her forehead. “I had a dream where I talked to this being who called himself Seiryuu and told me that I must go to the palace and see the emperor.”
“That…that is the mark of Seiryuu.” The guard whispered to his comrade beside him. “And she is dressed very strangely.”
“You think she is the priestess of Seiryuu?”
“What is this?” they were interrupted by a voice that clearly rang with authority. Turning, Yuri saw a man in armour riding towards them. “Why are you blocking the gate?”
“General!” one of the guard greeted the man riding with great relief. “This woman claims that she talked to Seiryuu in her dreams and she have the mark of Seiryuu on her.”
“The mark of Seiryuu?” Nakago whispered, grabbing Yuri by the hair he pulled her face toward him to examine her forehead, much to his shock the mark was there.
He smiled slightly, so the priestess of Seiryuu finally came. It seemed that his plans were possible after all. In order for success though, he must first win the priestess to his side.
Jumping down from his horse he quickly knelt down in front of her.
“Forgive me, lady, I thought you were only claiming to be the priestess, for it is not the first time that I have witness such a shameless thing. But I now see that you are truly chosen by Seiryuu.”
“I know little of all this.” Yuri replied back innocently, she quickly decided that not only did she dislike this man, she also could not trust him. “All I have been told is that I must summon Seiryuu as soon as possible.”
“Then I will take you there right now,” he declared gallantly, taking her hand he kissed it first, then helped her to mount onto his horse.
Nakago was going to say something again when he suddenly noticed that there was a faint blue aura surrounding this young woman. There was no doubt then, that she really was the priestess of Seiryuu.
“What is it? I thought you were going to say something?” Yuri asked.
“Yes, I wish to tell you more of Seiryuu.” Nakago was a highly charismatic man and had he met Yuri when she first arrived in this world, then he might actually have convinced her to do all that he said.
He told her about the legend of Seiryuu, but naturally left out the part about the priestess being eaten, just in case she was not a virgin anymore.
“What will you wish for?” he asked her.
“What I would wish for? I suppose I want happiness.” Yuri replied truthfully. “What of you?”
This was his chance.
“Yuri-sama,” Nakago whispered directly to her ear. “I must tell you that our emperor is corrupted. If I can then I would like to end his region. I dream of ruling a fair kingdom…”
Once more he began to try and sway her with his words. By the time they arrived in the palace he was convinced that he fully persuaded her to make his wish for him.
Unknown to him, Yuri never intended to keep any of her promises. What did the breaking of vows matter when she was going to die very soon? Especially if it was a promise made due to another person’s lie.
For the first time she felt fear at the prospect of dying, was she really going to summon her own death? Every thing had happened so fast, discovering that Suzaku could no longer be summoned when Seiryuu told her that she was his priestess. In a way she had just accepted the facts and travelled to Kutou without thinking much.
What do I have to live for? She asked herself again. I just want to be with Hotohori but that is now something that could never be. If I do not call Seiryuu then I would be stuck in this world forever and I will be forced to live for such a long time alone, and even watch Hotohori die.
Death right now is my best option, she said to herself sadly. As I will probably be killing myself soon anyway.
Is death not just one long sleep anyway? She thought of her dear mother again and recollected her death scene, but for the first time she thought of it with a smile instead of bursting into tears.
I’ll be joining you soon, mama. She whispered inside her head. You’ll be waiting for Hotohori with me.
Somehow she knew that she would be reunited with Hotohori after they both died, it seemed that death would grant what life could not give. Even though they lived in two different worlds, death was the same- thus she knew she would see him when he dies. (1)
The ritual for summoning Seiryuu was quickly prepared. Unlike what happened in Konan, the seven warriors of Seiryuu were already all there. Even Amiboshi was present, but due to his fall into the river he had lost almost all of his memory, the only memories he retained were all related with Suboshi only. (2)
“Please remember what I said, Yuri-sama.” Nakago said, he knelt down in front of her and kissed her hand again.
Yuri forced her lip to curl into a smile and soften her gaze as she replied very tenderly. “I understand, I will grant you your wish.” For good measure she added some more compliments. “You are so kind to me by helping me so much! This is the least that I can do as a repayment!”
“The ritual is starting, ‘Priestess’!” Soi interrupted angrily, her eyes glaring very hard at Yuri.
Yuri had already purified herself but she did not feel as if she was pure. Instead, she felt even more contaminated as she had said and done nothing but lies in her dealings with both the emperor and her seven celestial warriors. What happened to her was completely different from Miaka’s experience. Miaka would be loved, or at the very least treasured, by all seven celestial warriors of Suzaku.
But it was truly too late to turn back.
She walked to the altar, dressed in the robe of the priestess of Seiryuu, who she should have been. Her hair was let down and intertwined with a jade headdress that was carved into the shape of Seiryuu’s original form. Even now she rather be the empress of Konan- who she should not have ended up as.
Closing her eyes she threw Kutou’s sacred book into the fire and began to chant the right words. Unknown to her, both the seven warriors and the emperor saw a wave of blue light surrounding her completely.
Unconsciously, one of them took a step toward Yuri, they quickly discovered that this blue light had formed a shield around their priestess.
“Seiryuu, please come to us!” she screamed out, kneeling down with her hands tightly clasped.
And Seiryuu did appear.
Meanwhile in Konan, Hotohori was preparing his army with the aid of all the other celestial warriors, as well as Miaka. Much to many people’s surprise he actually took the news of how Suzaku could no longer be summoned even after Miaka’s attempt of finding the two other deities’ sacred object tolerable well.
“All my life I relied on Suzaku too much.” Hotohori had said rather sadly, after reassuring Miaka that he truly did not blame her at all. “As a result I lose all that I care about. If I had spent time preparing my army first, instead of just focusing on summoning Suzaku then we might have a higher chance of winning. In the same way my obsession with calling out Suzaku caused Yuri to leave my side because she ended up believing that I would hate her for not summoning Suzaku at the cost of her own life.
“It doesn’t matter anymore. All we can do now is to fight to protect all those we love and care about. Whether it be a kingdom, or a person.”
But seeing the appearance of Seiryuu made him deeply shocked.
“Seiryuu is summoned, but how…” he chocked out.
He immediately thought of Yuri, she was from another world, could it be possible that she became the Seiryuu priestess with the hope of saving Konan through that action?
Konan might be safe but she would die…and if she dies…
“I will not be able to continue living.” he whispered.
He was in a great conflict, as he did not know which he wished for more. To have Seiryuu summoned by someone other then Yuri and possibly lose his own life along with his kingdom, or to have Konan saved at the expense of his beloved empress’ life.
“I am a human as well,” he said to himself, “and I am a man in love. If Yuri lives then I will feel guilty about Konan forever, but yet if she throws her life away for Konan I can never be happy again.
“Why do you do this to me, Suzaku? Is it simply not my fate to be happy? Why must I give up one of the two things that are both very important to me, either the woman I love or the country I desire to protect? Why can I not have both? Is it a sin for me to want to have both?”
“Seiryuu, as you requested, I summoned you.” Yuri stated flatly to the god that she was meant to own her allegiance to, she had to force her voice to remain cold as she was fighting back hysteria. She was tempted to start laughing manically due to the fact that she was going to die very soon. (3)
“Are you really willing to do this?” Seiryuu asked.
She nodded, “What else can I do now?”
“I will give you one last chance,” Seiryuu answered instead, his voice suddenly very gentle. “If you want to then I will take you back to Konan. Konan still have a chance of surviving…”
Yuri started to laugh, and this time the hysteria was so much more obvious to detect.
“After all that I have done there is no possible way for me to turn back.” She finally said when she halted the rather pathetic laughter. “I am a very selfish person, I want Hotohori to live although he will be in so much pain due to my death. I want him to live even though he would want to die for my sake instead of letting this happen. I choose to let him live by taking away his happiness.” (4)
She closed her eyes once more and whispered: “I am ready.”
Even though her eyes were closed she could see Seiryuu approaching her, then entering her body though rays of blue light.
“From now on you will see me whenever you close your eyes.” Seiryuu whispered. “And know that I will protect you, even from your own protectors- my other chosen ones.” (5)
The pain she felt was stronger then any physical pain she had ever experienced before. Staggering to the ground she felt tears running down her cheeks, making her already blurred vision even worse, and her body was trembling so badly that she could not even stand up again.
“It is done!” someone called out eagerly.
Was it? Raising her hands she saw that part of her arms was actually covered with the blue scales of Seiryuu. Her body continued to be in that unbearable pain. The best way to describe it might be that it was as if someone was biting her skin, a rather accurate description as Seiryuu would end up devouring her.
“It is done.” She repeated. Closing her eyes she did see Seiryuu standing in front of her as he had promised. He was watching her with a most strange expression on his face, was it because he already knows her wishes?
“You say you will grant me any wish that I make,” she whispered to him, “Even if I wish for Suzaku to be summoned by my half-sister?”
“I will grant it gladly.” He told her.
“Then that will be my first wish.” She said.
Opening her eyes she saw the shocked face of the seven celestial warriors as well as the emperor, so they heard her conversation with their god. If it wasn’t for the shield of Seiryuu protecting her, she had no doubt that she would be killed immediately.
“Why are you doing this?” the emperor demanded angrily. He was seeing all his ambitions of being the over ruler of the four kingdom slipping fast out of his hands. Unknown to him, Nakago was suffering a very similar disillusion.
But Nakago was also cursing his own stupidity, to trust this seemingly naïve woman completely when she turned out to be so devious! She might actually even be a spy from Konan…
Since her game was up Yuri decided that she might as well state her true identity. Smiling very coldly, she savoured in every moment as a triumph of Konan against Kutou.
“I am the priestess of Seiryuu, as I am from another world. But I have also been here for more then two years,” she spat each word out maliciously. “I am also the wife of the Saihitei of Konan, I am the Houkigou of Konan.”
She closed her eyes to face Seiryuu again, to tell him her second wish.
“I wish for Kutou to be a country that will be in peace with Konan, so I want the man who should be the emperor to be emperor.”
“In this way Kutou will be reborn,” Seiryuu nodded with approval. “I can grant you this wish as well, but my priestess, are you prepared to pay the price this wish demands?”
“Is my death not the price I pay to you to have my three wishes granted?” she asked, truly puzzled.
“This wish can be grant through the current emperor’s death, and the death of the rest of the seven celestial warriors, because as long as they live they will be a threat to you and Konan, as well as the new emperor. For this to come true, your hand must be the cause of their death.”
“If I am willing to die,” Yuri laughed sadly, “Then there is nothing else that I will not do. Grant me my wish.” (6)
Her eyes were forced open and reaching to the altar, her hands pulled out a pair of ceremonial swords. The swords were very decorative, but they were still fully capable of killing, as she would soon find out.
The shield around her was dispelled as soon as her hands touched the weapons, Soi and Suboshi immediately charged toward her with their weapons. Without even shaking, her hands drove the two swords into the two warriors’ heart at the same time.
By this time Yuri’s body was controlled by Seiryuu. But even though she could not move, her mind still flinched at the rain of blood that began to shower upon her as he continued with the killing through her body.
After her hands stabbed the emperor, they raised the sword again to severe the emperor’s head. Mechanically, she got on a horse with that trophy and started to ride toward a specific mountain.
Yuri realized that this must be where the rightful emperor of Kutou was hiding even without Seiryuu informing her.
The rebels guarding the entrance to the secret hideaway automatically parted when she stepped down from her horse, she wasn’t sure whether it was due to the mark of Seiryuu on her forehead, or because she was holding the head of the late emperor.
It could also be because Seiryuu made them give way to her. Either way, she didn’t care anymore. When she accepted Seiryuu into her body she was really accepting her own death, what should a person worry about when they were going to die soon?
Then she killed all these people, as it was her wish to Seiryuu. Before, she had gone into a mental shock just because of the killing of a bandit who would have raped her. Now, not so long ago, she had killed many people, some who were good, this knowledge was granted to her when she drove her swords into their hearts.
Nakago had wanted to manipulate her and make himself emperor, therefore destroying Kutou and later on he would wipe out the whole of Konan, the moment that Yuri killed him, she understood what Seiryuu had meant.
Nakago’s kingdom would destroy both Kutou and Konan.
He was the one person she did not regret killing, like the emperor. But many others were innocent, Soi would have been a very gentle and even kind woman if fate had not been so cruel to her. Up to her death, she did every thing for Nakago. (7)
Perhaps she had gone mad, it wouldn’t surprise her if she did. To kill one man had almost caused her to break down, now she had killed eight people. Maybe even more as she was sure that there had been guards who tried to prevent her from continuing her actions.
Seiryuu guided her to the right room, otherwise she would never have been able to find the man who was meant to be emperor, even if her body was walking properly. The hideout was full of bobby traps, secret passages and even fake doors.
If Yuri was in her normal self, she would have been shocked at the appearance of the man who was meant to be the emperor, but right now all she cared for was the complete fulfilment of the second wish, and then make her third wish.
The man who was meant to be the emperor was in his mid thirties, for his father had died at an old age. The main reason he was not expected to be the rightful emperor in this war filled country was because of his legs: he was crippled so badly that he could no longer walk by himself. But even though he was dressed plainly like everyone around him, there was an air of royalty that surrounded him.
Without a word Yuri threw the head to him.
“You are the emperor again.” she said flatly.
Seeing this the “emperor” quickly stood from his seat with the aid of his servants beside him to kneel right in front of Yuri.
“Priestess of Seiryuu…” he began.
“As I said, you are the emperor again,” Yuri repeated emotionlessly, “So go back to the palace and sort everything out. Bring peace to your people, Kutou certainly is in desperately need of that.”
“I will, priestess, and I thank you deeply for doing this. But why have you helped me? How did you even know about me?”
“Seiryuu told me, he also said that you will be a good emperor. One that will end all this war, you will not attack Konan…” at the mentioning of Hotohori’s kingdom her voice was filled with sadness. “If you really wish to thank me then do this: withdrew all your army and promise to never invade Konan ever again. And teach your heir well to prevent all this mess from happening a second time. ”
“I will.” The emperor promised sincerely. “Priestess, since I became the emperor and until I lost the position due my brother’s usurp, I had tried to end the wars Kutou was involved in. I used to love warfare until I lost the use of my legs during my mid twenties. Since then I realize the horror of war. I admit that I was selfish and foolish, to only understand so late. But when I could no longer walk, I realized that so many would be suffering this hellish pain as I have by declaring war. For the first time I experienced the pain of war, and for the first time I discovered my buried conscious.
“I can not bear to have war as I know what these people would suffer, I can no longer inflict such pains on anyone now that I know how painful it is myself.” (8)
“All I want is for Konan to be safe.” Yuri repeated.
“I will arrange the withdrew of the armies and send ambassadors to Konan immediately. Priestess, what will you…”
“I will go back to Konan.” Yuri declared. “I will go and see the Saihitei. I want to see him one last time.”
“But Priestess…”
“I am Houkigou,” she smiled slightly. “Kutou’s priestess is also the consort of Emperor Saihitei. I love the emperor of Konan, so that is why I wish for Konan to be safe.”
In her heart, Yuri knew that this man would be a very good emperor, he would crush any more rebellions if necessary but he would never be like the last emperor, and many of the emperors before them, who sought to control all four empires.
She also knew that Kutou would be reborn under his leadership. Life for the people of Kutou would be quite hard in the next few decades due to the distrust the three other kingdoms held for past actions, but they would be able to live in peace with the rest one day.
This was the vision Seiryuu granted to his priestess. It was like a last gift for her.
She spent the next few days riding to Konan with an ambassador that also served as a protector. She was still in the robes of the Seiryuu priestess and she saw no point of changing them right now.
Her whole body began to be in great pain, the pain of being bitten was still there, and her escort told her that she was very pale now. She couldn’t even go to sleep due to the pain, so they rode without any rest.
They only stopped when they were a few paces away from entering Konan. This was done as she decided to make her last wish to Seiryuu.
Closing her eyes she spoke to the god and prepared to make her last wish.
“I am going to Konan to see Hotohori for the last time. That is not my wish though,” she quickly added, “My last wish is for Hotohori to be happy forever.
Seiryuu was standing right in front of her, that was why she saw the great pity in his eyes very clearly when he shook his head.
“This is one of the few wishes that I cannot grant for you.” He told her gently.
“Why? You said that you would grant all my three wishes!” Yuri protested angrily, almost shrieking like a child.
“You yourself should know why I cannot grant that wish. You must die, there is nothing I can do to prevent that. Do you know why the priestesses all have to be virgins if they wish to live?” at the shock of head he continued softly, “To call out a god the priestesses must give the most important thing they own to the god as the sacrifice. A virgin priestess will give the god her virginity, since you no longer own that, the next important thing you own is your body- your life. (9)
“Because you have to die, I cannot make the emperor of Konan happy. You should know that he can never be truly happy if you are not there.”
“Then what should I wish for?” Yuri whispered brokenly, “I have nothing else that I want which you can grant.”
Very gently Seiryuu approached her and picked her up so that he carried her in his arms. At the sight of the god’s hands she had flinched, as his contact had gave her so much pain during the ritual.
Surprisingly it didn’t hurt at all, it brought an almost familiar sensation, the feelings she had experienced whenever Hotohori carried her like this. Even though her body was still in pain, she felt a bit more comfortable because of the memories of being in Hotohori’s arms.
“That is why I do this,” Seiryuu said gently, “I will take you to your emperor, and then you can make your last wish.”
“Why are you taking me there?” she whispered, by this time she was unable to see anything at all, not even Seiryuu.
“Because you will not be able to last long enough to return to the palace.” (10)
The news of the complete withdrew of Kutou’s army at the borders naturally caused a great shock for everyone. Soon, the news of how Kutou has a new emperor arrived in Konan, but Hotohori and his advisors were still doubting the sincerity of these actions.
“What if it is a trick for us to lower our guard?” Hotohori said to Chichiri, who took the most active part in the discussion at the war council. (11)
“I agree but…”
“HOTOHORI! HOTOHORI!” this loud scream was naturally done by Miaka. Without offering any excuses, she charged in the private chamber and interrupted the discussion.
In her hand was Konan’s copy of the sacred book, the book that had been burnt in the unsuccessful attempt to summon Suzaku.
“How…” Hotohori began in confusion, suddenly, he thought of an explanation. He quickly turned to Chichiri.
“No, Tai Yi-Jun had nothing to do with this.” Chichiri answered before the emperor even asked the question.
“I found this in the temple just then. It might have been there for quite sometime for all we know…” Miaka began.
“That doesn’t matter now. I think we should still try and summon Suzaku, as Suzaku might still be the only way for us to solve all this problem without that much loss.” Chichiri suggested.
Hotohori nodded, he was actually wandering whether it was because of Yuri that this happened.
“Prepare the rituals as fast as possible!” he ordered his people, who were only too glad to that. But before he went to help them, he decided to go to Yuri’s section of the palace again.
Somehow, he had such a strong desire to do so.
Yuri finally woke up in her own chambers again. Staggering up she smiled very sadly as she looked at the surroundings. Hotohori had obviously spent a long time here as many of her objects were moved, but what made her more sad was that he had also tried to put all her things back the way she had left them.
“I am so sorry, Hotohori.” She whispered again.
“Who is in there?” that familiar voice of her two maids greeted her. “Who dares to enter the empress’ chamber?”
Upon seeing her the two girls shrieked and both knelt down in front of her, clutching onto her gown tightly.
“Mistress, what are you wearing…” one finally asked.
“Isn’t that the ceremonial robe of a priestess? But why is it blue…” The other squeaked out in horror.
“This is the ceremonial robe for the priestess of Seiryuu. I am wearing this because this is who I am.” She told them as she gently pried their hand off her dress. Walking to her dressing table she pulled out one of the drawers and took some of her jewelleries out.
“I do not need these trinkets anymore, if the emperor allows this- then I wish for these to be given to you two along with your freedom.”
“But mistress…” they began again.
Bending down she hugged them one last time and kissed them both on the cheeks, before patting their heads in that affectionate way she always used. After all this, they were still more close to her, and more like her sister, then Miaka.
“I release you two from my service and if you wish to then you can leave the palace. With my jewelleries you will be able to live in comfort. You could even help your father to set up a tavern somewhere else. Or perhaps you could get marry soon to a nice man each, I know you two sometimes like to look at the guards.” (12)
“We only want to serve you!” her two maids cried out simultaneously. “Please, mistress, don’t send us away.”
Smiling gently she hugged them again, whispering this to them: “But how can you continue to serve me when I will be dead soon?”
Then she stood up and stepped outside, prepared to find Hotohori. She realizes what she would do now, what her last wish would be.
Hotohori was making his way to the path that would take him to Yuri’s quarters, with Chichiri beside him. The other would forbid him to mope about in her room too much.
He still spent all his free time there, although he rarely gets any time to himself now. It hurt him to not be with her when he was in her chambers, but he felt more pain to not even have these memories there. If he could not be with her, then he would cling onto the memories of her presence.
Miaka would now be donning on the robe of the priestess of Suzaku, while Tamahome and Tasuki would be together- the two young men would be trying to reassure one another. It was strangely how he felt so much more older then them, when there was only a difference of two years. (13)
Chiriko would most likely be reading in the library, hoping to come up with something that could help them, while Mitsukake might be mixing medicines if he was not examining Nuriko.
Nuriko had returned as a very different person. The first thing Hotohori noticed was that his hair was cut very short, and even though he still acted rather feminine at times, he truly appeared as a man. He had mostly recovered from his wounds but upon Mitsukake’s advice, he was still resting most of the time.
When he first saw the woman stepping toward him he thought he was hallucination again. Clutching at his temple he decided that he would go and seek advice from Mitsukake after all.
“Houkigou…” one of the guard yelled this out, automatically kneeling down.
Surely it was not possible…
It was Yuri, but she appeared so different, almost strange! Her beautiful hair was no longer reaching to her waist, instead it barely touched her shoulders. Her face also appeared rather haggard, not that any tiredness or hair cuts would make her appear less beautiful in Hotohori’s eyes.
For everyone else though, it was her outfit that caused the most shock. She was wearing the blue robe of the priestess of Seiryuu.
“You majesty, the empress’ gown…” a guard began.
“I don’t care at all!” Hotohori yelled out, he had recognized her clothing very quickly, but as he himself said, he truly did not care.
He ran to her while she remained completely immobile, her hands dropped to her side lifelessly when she saw him, she then sank onto the ground. As soon as he reached her he knelt down as well so that he could wrap his arms around her, he did all this and then he held her next to his body very tightly. At the first physical contact with her he began to weep, and the sudden damping of his own robe informed him that she was crying too.
“Yuri…why did you leave…do not ever leave again…I will die…I love you…Suzaku can be summoned…you don’t have to go…” he muttered incoherently between his tears.
Yuri said nothing, all she could do was to lean against him and let her tears fall out. After so long and so much, she was with him again. She missed him so deeply…the way he would hold her, the feel of his warm body against her’s, his gentle voice…
But this could not last, the pain in her body was a constant reminder.
Hotohori clung onto her so tightly because he knew that the moment he let go of her, she would be away from him again. Unlike last time, she would go onto a journey that he could not follow just yet.
“I love you, you did nothing wrong at all!” He whispered, kissing her tears away, feeling the teardrops stinging his lips. “Don’t leave me ever again, Yuri. When you were gone from me, I almost died.”
“You know I love you, that is why I left you.” She pulled away from his kisses, but not out of his embrace, that was something she could not give up just yet. Staring past his shoulders, she saw that every one else had arrived. Judging from their looks, they all seemed to have worked out her fate. (14)
Miaka clung onto Tamahome tightly, not wanting to suffer the pain of parting her sister and Hotohori must face, Tamahome returned her hold equally fierce, as he felt the same way.
Tasuki felt a hint of sadness as he looked at them, was this what it meant to fall in love? To suffer this much? Beside him, Chichiri and Mitsukake were both thinking of their partings with their own lovers.
Chiriko could not bear to look at Yuri at all. He was remembering his first meeting with her once again, her pleading for him to go to the place and find the priestess. The worst bit was not because he didn’t go straight away, but because he lied to her by saying that he would go. Perhaps he might have prevented his emperor’s pain, and his empress’ soon to be death.
Nuriko arrived too, deep in his heart he always knew that Hotohori would never love him even if he was a woman since the day he attended the emperor’s wedding. It was obviously that Hotohori was deeply in love with the woman whom he just crowned as his empress. But yet he had continued to hope foolishly.
Now he realized that he truly lost. Hotohori would not be with anyone else even when Yuri dies.
“Hotohori,” Yuri said again, looking deeply into his eyes. “I love you, always remember that. My time is running out…I did become the priestess of Seiryuu. I did it for Konan but it seems that this has been my destiny all along. Fate must have found it fun to toy with us. Making me arrive in Konan and falling in love with you when we could never be together during our life.”
“No!” he yelled out, pulling her to him once again. “Do not die, Yuri, I will do anything for you…”
“But there is nothing you can actually do for me.” she stroked his face lovingly, her fingertips touching his tears even as her own tears continued to fall. “I have to die, there is nothing anyone can do to prevent that, not even the gods themselves.
“My first wish was for Suzaku to be able to be summoned by Miaka, and it seems that Seiryuu granted it to me. Next I wished for Kutou to be at peace with Konan, this was granted by the death of the emperor. I can promise you that the new emperor of Kutou truly wants to have peace with Konan.
“As for the third wish, I had asked Seiryuu to let you live the rest of your life happily, but he said that he cannot grant it…”
“I cannot live with any happiness if you die, Yuri.”
“I am such a selfish person, Hotohori.” Yuri whispered, “I rather see you live and be sad, instead of dying but be happy. I had a chance, Hotohori, to turn away from all this madness. But I refused, because no matter what I cannot be with you as I am from a different world, so I rather go on this path. I cannot stand the idea of seeing you die before me…” softly she began to explain everything.
“That is why I choose to call out Seiryuu and save both kingdoms in the process. But the pathetic truth is that I actually don’t really care about Kutou or even Konan, I only did it so you will be safe. I think I only love Konan so much because you are the emperor, and you love your kingdom. I guess you can say it is always you that I love, not Konan.” Raising her hands the sleeves fall down to reveal the large parts of her flesh that were now covered with scales. “As I said, my time is running out.”
“You cannot leave me, Yuri, you know that I will die if you do so. You still don’t believe me, but I truly value you above my kingdom. If my kingdom is gone, I will be sad but I can still manage to continue living as long as you are beside me. But if you die right now…I truly do not know how I can continue living.”
“I know you will be sad, so that is why my last wish to Seiryuu was for you to be happy. But he cannot grant it. I know I shouldn’t come as that will make you more sad but I have to see you one last time…”
“Then take me with you!”
She pressed her hand against his mouth, silencing him, and let him hold her a bit longer, before she withdrew her hand to kiss him. Closing her eyes, she faced Seiryuu for what she now knew to be truly the final time.
“I have only one more thing in my life that I would wish for, Seiryuu, I do not want Hotohori to see my death.”
Hotohori suddenly found his vision gone, there was nothing but darkness stretching before him. He tried to hold onto Yuri but she shook his hold off very easily.
“This is not meant to happen!” he screamed as he felt someone grabbing him, restraining him. Was it Nuriko? It might have been. But he still attempted to fought that strong grip off and run to Yuri although he didn’t know where she was at all.
If she must die, and he could not follow, then at least let him hold her a bit longer; let him embrace and kiss her one more time; and let him be able to spend a last night with her.
But she was gone, torn out of his embrace.
“This is not meant to happen,” he repeated. He had thought that she would be with him again as soon as Suzaku was called out, but now she would be gone even before his own god appears. What was all this for? To meet the woman he loves only to have her snatched from him. What did he do to deserve this cruel torture from fate?
Instead of returning to be with him once again, she arrived to say farewell. It seemed that he only held her for that few seconds in his arms before this blindness took over.
Her death would hurt him, but to not be able to see her before she ended up being devoured by Seiryuu was even worse. (15)
“At least leave me a body to mourn over!” he yelled bitterly. “Can I not even have this?”
Yuri stepped away from Hotohori, although it pained her so much to do it. She had the urge to continue holding him, and she almost asked Seiryuu to kill Hotohori with her, as he had offered. So she would not have to face death alone.
But Konan need their ruler, and Miaka need him to summon Suzaku. Miaka’s own wishes were not grant, and maybe Suzaku could help Hotohori even though Seiryuu was unable to.
She kept her eyes on Hotohori, who was held back by Nuriko as he was trying to make his way to her even though his eyes could no longer see. She would no longer be here when he next see with these eyes.
I am sad at this but I do not regret my actions, she realized, that is how selfish I am.
“Nuriko, marry him.” Saying this still made her cry even more. “Give him the son I can never give him.”
“What nonsense are you saying?” Nuriko snapped, struggling to keep Hotohori under control. “The emperor will never be able to be with anyone else other then you. Beside, I am a man as well.”
If it wasn’t for the current situation then Yuri would have laughed, but her body was in so much pain that she couldn’t even manage that. It was all she could do to not scream, as she did not want Hotohori to suffer more by hearing her cry.
She continued to keep her eyes on Hotohori, remembering his face so that she would not fail to recognize him when they finally meet again...
Strangely she was no longer afraid of dying at all now, the pain became so great that she welcome an end to it by dying. Her only regret was that she had to leave Hotohori now.
Hotohori was the last sight her eyes saw before they lost their ability of seeing when Seiryuu dug his way through her body, causing her vision to blur so much that nothing was visible anymore.
Seiryuu allowed her to finally find a release from all these pains by dying, then he ate the rest of her corpse. When he stepped out into his human form, there was no trace of Yuri left at all.
Yuri was wise to not let Hotohori see her death, as what the rest saw would haunt them for the rest of their life: the way the body ended up when the god was borne from it- the flesh was ripped with blood splattering everywhere. The devouring almost seemed like a mutation of Yuri’s corpse. (16)
“What is it all for?” Hotohori whispered when he finally regained his eyesight. Taking her strand of pearls out he crushed it between his hands and asked why all this had to happen again.
Seiryuu turned to Miaka, who immediately paled slightly. But she met the god’s gaze bravely, determined to not shame her dead sister, who was his priestess.
“Priestess of Suzaku, it is my priestess’ wish for you to summon Suzaku, and I granted her wish by restoring Suzaku’s sacred book to you. Will you summon Suzaku? Or will you let your sister die in vain?”
“I will summon Suzaku.” Miaka replied steadily.
At that moment, Hotohori finally saw a resemblance between the pair of half sisters.
1 I guess Yuri is one of those Japanese people who does not believe in reincarnation- she’s not religious at all so I guess it’s quite possible that she might just think of death as a long sleep.
2 This is done as otherwise he might recognize Yuri from what he had heard from Hotohori and Miaka. This story has a lot of bit that doesn’t make sense if you think about it, so my advise is don’t think about this fan fiction in too much detail. I guess I’m saying don’t do a ‘this should have happened as that happened, or this shouldn’t have happened if that never happened.’
Basically, the seven celestial warriors of both sidesare all alive in this fan fiction, although some are severely injured. (like Nuriko, Chiriko) Basically those who were meant to die are now all just seriously injured.
3 Yuri’s not going mad or anything but she is getting a bit hysterical after all that happened, mostly it is due to the knowledge of her going to die soon as the price she must pay for summoning Seiryuu. I think that knowledge is enough to make anyone a bit hysterical.
4 The idea of the selfishness of people who are sacrificing themselves for the sake of another was pointed out to me in Tokyo Babylon (by Clamp) through Seishiro’s speech. He has a good point, the sacrificial action at that person’s own expense was done because that person believed it would be better for the other person. Basically Yuri knows that her death will make Hotohori really sad, but she rather let him live and be sad, instead of dying happily.
5 Referring to the seven celestial warriors of Seiryuu, who are meant to be protecting their priestess.
6 In this story what happens is that Yuri will tell Seiryuu her wish, and then confirms that she want it to be grant after Seiryuu talks to her about it.
7 I don’t like Nakago at all even after what happened to him, as I still don’t think that is right. But I rather like Soi. I was really touched when I saw her first meeting with Nakago, especially what she said. And another bit in the manga that made me really sad is actually when Nakago told her that she is not the one that he loves.
8 For the sake of this story, there will be a very idealistic new emperor for Kutou.
9 Obviously that is not the real reason in the manga as to why the priestesses have to be virgins because they still get eaten. But I think this idea will fit in my story, since I said at the front: a woman can still be a priestess even if she is not a virgin (like Yuri), the only problem is that she’ll get eaten by the god. This is my theory of why this would happen: because she can no longer use her virginity as the offer/sacrifice, she have to give up her body instead- which would kill her. This is what will happen to Yuri and this is why Miaka will not die when she calls out Suzaku (Which she will).
10 From the manga it seemed that Yui was undergoing great pain even in the first few days, and it seems the same thing happened to the first priestess. I get the conclusion that the time frame is really short, it seems that the priestess don’t have that long a time before the end up being devoured- even if they didn’t make all their wishes- like the very first priestess.
11 Chichiri seemed to be the one that would understand the most about these kind of stuff along with Hotohori (as he is the emperor). Although Chiriko might be able to help too- provided that the word doesn’t disappear a the most vital time.
12 Just in case anyone forgets, Yuri’s two maids’ father had been a tavern owner, and Yuri had worked in there for a week. The tavern was at a rather bad location, the street it was in was filled with cheap tavern and brothels. Once, Yuri even mentioned how that tavern get mistaken for a brothel sometimes.
13 In my story, Hotohori’s twenty, not eighteen. I really do feel that Hotohori will probably get on way more better with the older of the seven: Chichiri and Mitsukake.
14 They all know the legend and what happens to the priestess if she was not a virgin. Since Seiryuu is summoned, and Yuri appears dressed as the priestess of Seiryuu it is clear that she must be the priestess of Seiryuu, and since they are all aware that she had been married to Hotohori for two years, it is obvious to them that she will die. That is why everyone ends up thinking what they think.
15 He’s basically saying that he want to see her one last time. Even though seeing her die will be painful, he still rather see that as he want to see her until she is gone, until he can no longer see her..
16 When I read about Yui’s death I really have the impression that Seiryuu was borne from her body, hence this part in my story.
What happened last time: Yuri’s purpose is finally revealed, she is the priestess of Seiyuu, and her destiny is to summon Seiyuu and make three wishes at the exchange of her life. Realising that she have no other choice, she heads toward Kutou.
Chapter Seven
Kutou was very different from Konan, under the harsh rules of the current emperor, as well as many of his predecessors, the people of Kutou were more suspicious of strangers. Many of the people had long lost their ideal and all they cared about was survival.
Yuri felt many stares when she arrived at the capital of Kutou in her outfit, she knew that many would be seeing her as a harlot for walking on the street like this. But nevertheless she must do this.
“I wish to enter the city.” She stated.
“You need a…” the guard began.
“I have it right here!” she moved closer to the guard, pointing to the mark on her forehead. “I had a dream where I talked to this being who called himself Seiryuu and told me that I must go to the palace and see the emperor.”
“That…that is the mark of Seiryuu.” The guard whispered to his comrade beside him. “And she is dressed very strangely.”
“You think she is the priestess of Seiryuu?”
“What is this?” they were interrupted by a voice that clearly rang with authority. Turning, Yuri saw a man in armour riding towards them. “Why are you blocking the gate?”
“General!” one of the guard greeted the man riding with great relief. “This woman claims that she talked to Seiryuu in her dreams and she have the mark of Seiryuu on her.”
“The mark of Seiryuu?” Nakago whispered, grabbing Yuri by the hair he pulled her face toward him to examine her forehead, much to his shock the mark was there.
He smiled slightly, so the priestess of Seiryuu finally came. It seemed that his plans were possible after all. In order for success though, he must first win the priestess to his side.
Jumping down from his horse he quickly knelt down in front of her.
“Forgive me, lady, I thought you were only claiming to be the priestess, for it is not the first time that I have witness such a shameless thing. But I now see that you are truly chosen by Seiryuu.”
“I know little of all this.” Yuri replied back innocently, she quickly decided that not only did she dislike this man, she also could not trust him. “All I have been told is that I must summon Seiryuu as soon as possible.”
“Then I will take you there right now,” he declared gallantly, taking her hand he kissed it first, then helped her to mount onto his horse.
Nakago was going to say something again when he suddenly noticed that there was a faint blue aura surrounding this young woman. There was no doubt then, that she really was the priestess of Seiryuu.
“What is it? I thought you were going to say something?” Yuri asked.
“Yes, I wish to tell you more of Seiryuu.” Nakago was a highly charismatic man and had he met Yuri when she first arrived in this world, then he might actually have convinced her to do all that he said.
He told her about the legend of Seiryuu, but naturally left out the part about the priestess being eaten, just in case she was not a virgin anymore.
“What will you wish for?” he asked her.
“What I would wish for? I suppose I want happiness.” Yuri replied truthfully. “What of you?”
This was his chance.
“Yuri-sama,” Nakago whispered directly to her ear. “I must tell you that our emperor is corrupted. If I can then I would like to end his region. I dream of ruling a fair kingdom…”
Once more he began to try and sway her with his words. By the time they arrived in the palace he was convinced that he fully persuaded her to make his wish for him.
Unknown to him, Yuri never intended to keep any of her promises. What did the breaking of vows matter when she was going to die very soon? Especially if it was a promise made due to another person’s lie.
For the first time she felt fear at the prospect of dying, was she really going to summon her own death? Every thing had happened so fast, discovering that Suzaku could no longer be summoned when Seiryuu told her that she was his priestess. In a way she had just accepted the facts and travelled to Kutou without thinking much.
What do I have to live for? She asked herself again. I just want to be with Hotohori but that is now something that could never be. If I do not call Seiryuu then I would be stuck in this world forever and I will be forced to live for such a long time alone, and even watch Hotohori die.
Death right now is my best option, she said to herself sadly. As I will probably be killing myself soon anyway.
Is death not just one long sleep anyway? She thought of her dear mother again and recollected her death scene, but for the first time she thought of it with a smile instead of bursting into tears.
I’ll be joining you soon, mama. She whispered inside her head. You’ll be waiting for Hotohori with me.
Somehow she knew that she would be reunited with Hotohori after they both died, it seemed that death would grant what life could not give. Even though they lived in two different worlds, death was the same- thus she knew she would see him when he dies. (1)
The ritual for summoning Seiryuu was quickly prepared. Unlike what happened in Konan, the seven warriors of Seiryuu were already all there. Even Amiboshi was present, but due to his fall into the river he had lost almost all of his memory, the only memories he retained were all related with Suboshi only. (2)
“Please remember what I said, Yuri-sama.” Nakago said, he knelt down in front of her and kissed her hand again.
Yuri forced her lip to curl into a smile and soften her gaze as she replied very tenderly. “I understand, I will grant you your wish.” For good measure she added some more compliments. “You are so kind to me by helping me so much! This is the least that I can do as a repayment!”
“The ritual is starting, ‘Priestess’!” Soi interrupted angrily, her eyes glaring very hard at Yuri.
Yuri had already purified herself but she did not feel as if she was pure. Instead, she felt even more contaminated as she had said and done nothing but lies in her dealings with both the emperor and her seven celestial warriors. What happened to her was completely different from Miaka’s experience. Miaka would be loved, or at the very least treasured, by all seven celestial warriors of Suzaku.
But it was truly too late to turn back.
She walked to the altar, dressed in the robe of the priestess of Seiryuu, who she should have been. Her hair was let down and intertwined with a jade headdress that was carved into the shape of Seiryuu’s original form. Even now she rather be the empress of Konan- who she should not have ended up as.
Closing her eyes she threw Kutou’s sacred book into the fire and began to chant the right words. Unknown to her, both the seven warriors and the emperor saw a wave of blue light surrounding her completely.
Unconsciously, one of them took a step toward Yuri, they quickly discovered that this blue light had formed a shield around their priestess.
“Seiryuu, please come to us!” she screamed out, kneeling down with her hands tightly clasped.
And Seiryuu did appear.
Meanwhile in Konan, Hotohori was preparing his army with the aid of all the other celestial warriors, as well as Miaka. Much to many people’s surprise he actually took the news of how Suzaku could no longer be summoned even after Miaka’s attempt of finding the two other deities’ sacred object tolerable well.
“All my life I relied on Suzaku too much.” Hotohori had said rather sadly, after reassuring Miaka that he truly did not blame her at all. “As a result I lose all that I care about. If I had spent time preparing my army first, instead of just focusing on summoning Suzaku then we might have a higher chance of winning. In the same way my obsession with calling out Suzaku caused Yuri to leave my side because she ended up believing that I would hate her for not summoning Suzaku at the cost of her own life.
“It doesn’t matter anymore. All we can do now is to fight to protect all those we love and care about. Whether it be a kingdom, or a person.”
But seeing the appearance of Seiryuu made him deeply shocked.
“Seiryuu is summoned, but how…” he chocked out.
He immediately thought of Yuri, she was from another world, could it be possible that she became the Seiryuu priestess with the hope of saving Konan through that action?
Konan might be safe but she would die…and if she dies…
“I will not be able to continue living.” he whispered.
He was in a great conflict, as he did not know which he wished for more. To have Seiryuu summoned by someone other then Yuri and possibly lose his own life along with his kingdom, or to have Konan saved at the expense of his beloved empress’ life.
“I am a human as well,” he said to himself, “and I am a man in love. If Yuri lives then I will feel guilty about Konan forever, but yet if she throws her life away for Konan I can never be happy again.
“Why do you do this to me, Suzaku? Is it simply not my fate to be happy? Why must I give up one of the two things that are both very important to me, either the woman I love or the country I desire to protect? Why can I not have both? Is it a sin for me to want to have both?”
“Seiryuu, as you requested, I summoned you.” Yuri stated flatly to the god that she was meant to own her allegiance to, she had to force her voice to remain cold as she was fighting back hysteria. She was tempted to start laughing manically due to the fact that she was going to die very soon. (3)
“Are you really willing to do this?” Seiryuu asked.
She nodded, “What else can I do now?”
“I will give you one last chance,” Seiryuu answered instead, his voice suddenly very gentle. “If you want to then I will take you back to Konan. Konan still have a chance of surviving…”
Yuri started to laugh, and this time the hysteria was so much more obvious to detect.
“After all that I have done there is no possible way for me to turn back.” She finally said when she halted the rather pathetic laughter. “I am a very selfish person, I want Hotohori to live although he will be in so much pain due to my death. I want him to live even though he would want to die for my sake instead of letting this happen. I choose to let him live by taking away his happiness.” (4)
She closed her eyes once more and whispered: “I am ready.”
Even though her eyes were closed she could see Seiryuu approaching her, then entering her body though rays of blue light.
“From now on you will see me whenever you close your eyes.” Seiryuu whispered. “And know that I will protect you, even from your own protectors- my other chosen ones.” (5)
The pain she felt was stronger then any physical pain she had ever experienced before. Staggering to the ground she felt tears running down her cheeks, making her already blurred vision even worse, and her body was trembling so badly that she could not even stand up again.
“It is done!” someone called out eagerly.
Was it? Raising her hands she saw that part of her arms was actually covered with the blue scales of Seiryuu. Her body continued to be in that unbearable pain. The best way to describe it might be that it was as if someone was biting her skin, a rather accurate description as Seiryuu would end up devouring her.
“It is done.” She repeated. Closing her eyes she did see Seiryuu standing in front of her as he had promised. He was watching her with a most strange expression on his face, was it because he already knows her wishes?
“You say you will grant me any wish that I make,” she whispered to him, “Even if I wish for Suzaku to be summoned by my half-sister?”
“I will grant it gladly.” He told her.
“Then that will be my first wish.” She said.
Opening her eyes she saw the shocked face of the seven celestial warriors as well as the emperor, so they heard her conversation with their god. If it wasn’t for the shield of Seiryuu protecting her, she had no doubt that she would be killed immediately.
“Why are you doing this?” the emperor demanded angrily. He was seeing all his ambitions of being the over ruler of the four kingdom slipping fast out of his hands. Unknown to him, Nakago was suffering a very similar disillusion.
But Nakago was also cursing his own stupidity, to trust this seemingly naïve woman completely when she turned out to be so devious! She might actually even be a spy from Konan…
Since her game was up Yuri decided that she might as well state her true identity. Smiling very coldly, she savoured in every moment as a triumph of Konan against Kutou.
“I am the priestess of Seiryuu, as I am from another world. But I have also been here for more then two years,” she spat each word out maliciously. “I am also the wife of the Saihitei of Konan, I am the Houkigou of Konan.”
She closed her eyes to face Seiryuu again, to tell him her second wish.
“I wish for Kutou to be a country that will be in peace with Konan, so I want the man who should be the emperor to be emperor.”
“In this way Kutou will be reborn,” Seiryuu nodded with approval. “I can grant you this wish as well, but my priestess, are you prepared to pay the price this wish demands?”
“Is my death not the price I pay to you to have my three wishes granted?” she asked, truly puzzled.
“This wish can be grant through the current emperor’s death, and the death of the rest of the seven celestial warriors, because as long as they live they will be a threat to you and Konan, as well as the new emperor. For this to come true, your hand must be the cause of their death.”
“If I am willing to die,” Yuri laughed sadly, “Then there is nothing else that I will not do. Grant me my wish.” (6)
Her eyes were forced open and reaching to the altar, her hands pulled out a pair of ceremonial swords. The swords were very decorative, but they were still fully capable of killing, as she would soon find out.
The shield around her was dispelled as soon as her hands touched the weapons, Soi and Suboshi immediately charged toward her with their weapons. Without even shaking, her hands drove the two swords into the two warriors’ heart at the same time.
By this time Yuri’s body was controlled by Seiryuu. But even though she could not move, her mind still flinched at the rain of blood that began to shower upon her as he continued with the killing through her body.
After her hands stabbed the emperor, they raised the sword again to severe the emperor’s head. Mechanically, she got on a horse with that trophy and started to ride toward a specific mountain.
Yuri realized that this must be where the rightful emperor of Kutou was hiding even without Seiryuu informing her.
The rebels guarding the entrance to the secret hideaway automatically parted when she stepped down from her horse, she wasn’t sure whether it was due to the mark of Seiryuu on her forehead, or because she was holding the head of the late emperor.
It could also be because Seiryuu made them give way to her. Either way, she didn’t care anymore. When she accepted Seiryuu into her body she was really accepting her own death, what should a person worry about when they were going to die soon?
Then she killed all these people, as it was her wish to Seiryuu. Before, she had gone into a mental shock just because of the killing of a bandit who would have raped her. Now, not so long ago, she had killed many people, some who were good, this knowledge was granted to her when she drove her swords into their hearts.
Nakago had wanted to manipulate her and make himself emperor, therefore destroying Kutou and later on he would wipe out the whole of Konan, the moment that Yuri killed him, she understood what Seiryuu had meant.
Nakago’s kingdom would destroy both Kutou and Konan.
He was the one person she did not regret killing, like the emperor. But many others were innocent, Soi would have been a very gentle and even kind woman if fate had not been so cruel to her. Up to her death, she did every thing for Nakago. (7)
Perhaps she had gone mad, it wouldn’t surprise her if she did. To kill one man had almost caused her to break down, now she had killed eight people. Maybe even more as she was sure that there had been guards who tried to prevent her from continuing her actions.
Seiryuu guided her to the right room, otherwise she would never have been able to find the man who was meant to be emperor, even if her body was walking properly. The hideout was full of bobby traps, secret passages and even fake doors.
If Yuri was in her normal self, she would have been shocked at the appearance of the man who was meant to be the emperor, but right now all she cared for was the complete fulfilment of the second wish, and then make her third wish.
The man who was meant to be the emperor was in his mid thirties, for his father had died at an old age. The main reason he was not expected to be the rightful emperor in this war filled country was because of his legs: he was crippled so badly that he could no longer walk by himself. But even though he was dressed plainly like everyone around him, there was an air of royalty that surrounded him.
Without a word Yuri threw the head to him.
“You are the emperor again.” she said flatly.
Seeing this the “emperor” quickly stood from his seat with the aid of his servants beside him to kneel right in front of Yuri.
“Priestess of Seiryuu…” he began.
“As I said, you are the emperor again,” Yuri repeated emotionlessly, “So go back to the palace and sort everything out. Bring peace to your people, Kutou certainly is in desperately need of that.”
“I will, priestess, and I thank you deeply for doing this. But why have you helped me? How did you even know about me?”
“Seiryuu told me, he also said that you will be a good emperor. One that will end all this war, you will not attack Konan…” at the mentioning of Hotohori’s kingdom her voice was filled with sadness. “If you really wish to thank me then do this: withdrew all your army and promise to never invade Konan ever again. And teach your heir well to prevent all this mess from happening a second time. ”
“I will.” The emperor promised sincerely. “Priestess, since I became the emperor and until I lost the position due my brother’s usurp, I had tried to end the wars Kutou was involved in. I used to love warfare until I lost the use of my legs during my mid twenties. Since then I realize the horror of war. I admit that I was selfish and foolish, to only understand so late. But when I could no longer walk, I realized that so many would be suffering this hellish pain as I have by declaring war. For the first time I experienced the pain of war, and for the first time I discovered my buried conscious.
“I can not bear to have war as I know what these people would suffer, I can no longer inflict such pains on anyone now that I know how painful it is myself.” (8)
“All I want is for Konan to be safe.” Yuri repeated.
“I will arrange the withdrew of the armies and send ambassadors to Konan immediately. Priestess, what will you…”
“I will go back to Konan.” Yuri declared. “I will go and see the Saihitei. I want to see him one last time.”
“But Priestess…”
“I am Houkigou,” she smiled slightly. “Kutou’s priestess is also the consort of Emperor Saihitei. I love the emperor of Konan, so that is why I wish for Konan to be safe.”
In her heart, Yuri knew that this man would be a very good emperor, he would crush any more rebellions if necessary but he would never be like the last emperor, and many of the emperors before them, who sought to control all four empires.
She also knew that Kutou would be reborn under his leadership. Life for the people of Kutou would be quite hard in the next few decades due to the distrust the three other kingdoms held for past actions, but they would be able to live in peace with the rest one day.
This was the vision Seiryuu granted to his priestess. It was like a last gift for her.
She spent the next few days riding to Konan with an ambassador that also served as a protector. She was still in the robes of the Seiryuu priestess and she saw no point of changing them right now.
Her whole body began to be in great pain, the pain of being bitten was still there, and her escort told her that she was very pale now. She couldn’t even go to sleep due to the pain, so they rode without any rest.
They only stopped when they were a few paces away from entering Konan. This was done as she decided to make her last wish to Seiryuu.
Closing her eyes she spoke to the god and prepared to make her last wish.
“I am going to Konan to see Hotohori for the last time. That is not my wish though,” she quickly added, “My last wish is for Hotohori to be happy forever.
Seiryuu was standing right in front of her, that was why she saw the great pity in his eyes very clearly when he shook his head.
“This is one of the few wishes that I cannot grant for you.” He told her gently.
“Why? You said that you would grant all my three wishes!” Yuri protested angrily, almost shrieking like a child.
“You yourself should know why I cannot grant that wish. You must die, there is nothing I can do to prevent that. Do you know why the priestesses all have to be virgins if they wish to live?” at the shock of head he continued softly, “To call out a god the priestesses must give the most important thing they own to the god as the sacrifice. A virgin priestess will give the god her virginity, since you no longer own that, the next important thing you own is your body- your life. (9)
“Because you have to die, I cannot make the emperor of Konan happy. You should know that he can never be truly happy if you are not there.”
“Then what should I wish for?” Yuri whispered brokenly, “I have nothing else that I want which you can grant.”
Very gently Seiryuu approached her and picked her up so that he carried her in his arms. At the sight of the god’s hands she had flinched, as his contact had gave her so much pain during the ritual.
Surprisingly it didn’t hurt at all, it brought an almost familiar sensation, the feelings she had experienced whenever Hotohori carried her like this. Even though her body was still in pain, she felt a bit more comfortable because of the memories of being in Hotohori’s arms.
“That is why I do this,” Seiryuu said gently, “I will take you to your emperor, and then you can make your last wish.”
“Why are you taking me there?” she whispered, by this time she was unable to see anything at all, not even Seiryuu.
“Because you will not be able to last long enough to return to the palace.” (10)
The news of the complete withdrew of Kutou’s army at the borders naturally caused a great shock for everyone. Soon, the news of how Kutou has a new emperor arrived in Konan, but Hotohori and his advisors were still doubting the sincerity of these actions.
“What if it is a trick for us to lower our guard?” Hotohori said to Chichiri, who took the most active part in the discussion at the war council. (11)
“I agree but…”
“HOTOHORI! HOTOHORI!” this loud scream was naturally done by Miaka. Without offering any excuses, she charged in the private chamber and interrupted the discussion.
In her hand was Konan’s copy of the sacred book, the book that had been burnt in the unsuccessful attempt to summon Suzaku.
“How…” Hotohori began in confusion, suddenly, he thought of an explanation. He quickly turned to Chichiri.
“No, Tai Yi-Jun had nothing to do with this.” Chichiri answered before the emperor even asked the question.
“I found this in the temple just then. It might have been there for quite sometime for all we know…” Miaka began.
“That doesn’t matter now. I think we should still try and summon Suzaku, as Suzaku might still be the only way for us to solve all this problem without that much loss.” Chichiri suggested.
Hotohori nodded, he was actually wandering whether it was because of Yuri that this happened.
“Prepare the rituals as fast as possible!” he ordered his people, who were only too glad to that. But before he went to help them, he decided to go to Yuri’s section of the palace again.
Somehow, he had such a strong desire to do so.
Yuri finally woke up in her own chambers again. Staggering up she smiled very sadly as she looked at the surroundings. Hotohori had obviously spent a long time here as many of her objects were moved, but what made her more sad was that he had also tried to put all her things back the way she had left them.
“I am so sorry, Hotohori.” She whispered again.
“Who is in there?” that familiar voice of her two maids greeted her. “Who dares to enter the empress’ chamber?”
Upon seeing her the two girls shrieked and both knelt down in front of her, clutching onto her gown tightly.
“Mistress, what are you wearing…” one finally asked.
“Isn’t that the ceremonial robe of a priestess? But why is it blue…” The other squeaked out in horror.
“This is the ceremonial robe for the priestess of Seiryuu. I am wearing this because this is who I am.” She told them as she gently pried their hand off her dress. Walking to her dressing table she pulled out one of the drawers and took some of her jewelleries out.
“I do not need these trinkets anymore, if the emperor allows this- then I wish for these to be given to you two along with your freedom.”
“But mistress…” they began again.
Bending down she hugged them one last time and kissed them both on the cheeks, before patting their heads in that affectionate way she always used. After all this, they were still more close to her, and more like her sister, then Miaka.
“I release you two from my service and if you wish to then you can leave the palace. With my jewelleries you will be able to live in comfort. You could even help your father to set up a tavern somewhere else. Or perhaps you could get marry soon to a nice man each, I know you two sometimes like to look at the guards.” (12)
“We only want to serve you!” her two maids cried out simultaneously. “Please, mistress, don’t send us away.”
Smiling gently she hugged them again, whispering this to them: “But how can you continue to serve me when I will be dead soon?”
Then she stood up and stepped outside, prepared to find Hotohori. She realizes what she would do now, what her last wish would be.
Hotohori was making his way to the path that would take him to Yuri’s quarters, with Chichiri beside him. The other would forbid him to mope about in her room too much.
He still spent all his free time there, although he rarely gets any time to himself now. It hurt him to not be with her when he was in her chambers, but he felt more pain to not even have these memories there. If he could not be with her, then he would cling onto the memories of her presence.
Miaka would now be donning on the robe of the priestess of Suzaku, while Tamahome and Tasuki would be together- the two young men would be trying to reassure one another. It was strangely how he felt so much more older then them, when there was only a difference of two years. (13)
Chiriko would most likely be reading in the library, hoping to come up with something that could help them, while Mitsukake might be mixing medicines if he was not examining Nuriko.
Nuriko had returned as a very different person. The first thing Hotohori noticed was that his hair was cut very short, and even though he still acted rather feminine at times, he truly appeared as a man. He had mostly recovered from his wounds but upon Mitsukake’s advice, he was still resting most of the time.
When he first saw the woman stepping toward him he thought he was hallucination again. Clutching at his temple he decided that he would go and seek advice from Mitsukake after all.
“Houkigou…” one of the guard yelled this out, automatically kneeling down.
Surely it was not possible…
It was Yuri, but she appeared so different, almost strange! Her beautiful hair was no longer reaching to her waist, instead it barely touched her shoulders. Her face also appeared rather haggard, not that any tiredness or hair cuts would make her appear less beautiful in Hotohori’s eyes.
For everyone else though, it was her outfit that caused the most shock. She was wearing the blue robe of the priestess of Seiryuu.
“You majesty, the empress’ gown…” a guard began.
“I don’t care at all!” Hotohori yelled out, he had recognized her clothing very quickly, but as he himself said, he truly did not care.
He ran to her while she remained completely immobile, her hands dropped to her side lifelessly when she saw him, she then sank onto the ground. As soon as he reached her he knelt down as well so that he could wrap his arms around her, he did all this and then he held her next to his body very tightly. At the first physical contact with her he began to weep, and the sudden damping of his own robe informed him that she was crying too.
“Yuri…why did you leave…do not ever leave again…I will die…I love you…Suzaku can be summoned…you don’t have to go…” he muttered incoherently between his tears.
Yuri said nothing, all she could do was to lean against him and let her tears fall out. After so long and so much, she was with him again. She missed him so deeply…the way he would hold her, the feel of his warm body against her’s, his gentle voice…
But this could not last, the pain in her body was a constant reminder.
Hotohori clung onto her so tightly because he knew that the moment he let go of her, she would be away from him again. Unlike last time, she would go onto a journey that he could not follow just yet.
“I love you, you did nothing wrong at all!” He whispered, kissing her tears away, feeling the teardrops stinging his lips. “Don’t leave me ever again, Yuri. When you were gone from me, I almost died.”
“You know I love you, that is why I left you.” She pulled away from his kisses, but not out of his embrace, that was something she could not give up just yet. Staring past his shoulders, she saw that every one else had arrived. Judging from their looks, they all seemed to have worked out her fate. (14)
Miaka clung onto Tamahome tightly, not wanting to suffer the pain of parting her sister and Hotohori must face, Tamahome returned her hold equally fierce, as he felt the same way.
Tasuki felt a hint of sadness as he looked at them, was this what it meant to fall in love? To suffer this much? Beside him, Chichiri and Mitsukake were both thinking of their partings with their own lovers.
Chiriko could not bear to look at Yuri at all. He was remembering his first meeting with her once again, her pleading for him to go to the place and find the priestess. The worst bit was not because he didn’t go straight away, but because he lied to her by saying that he would go. Perhaps he might have prevented his emperor’s pain, and his empress’ soon to be death.
Nuriko arrived too, deep in his heart he always knew that Hotohori would never love him even if he was a woman since the day he attended the emperor’s wedding. It was obviously that Hotohori was deeply in love with the woman whom he just crowned as his empress. But yet he had continued to hope foolishly.
Now he realized that he truly lost. Hotohori would not be with anyone else even when Yuri dies.
“Hotohori,” Yuri said again, looking deeply into his eyes. “I love you, always remember that. My time is running out…I did become the priestess of Seiryuu. I did it for Konan but it seems that this has been my destiny all along. Fate must have found it fun to toy with us. Making me arrive in Konan and falling in love with you when we could never be together during our life.”
“No!” he yelled out, pulling her to him once again. “Do not die, Yuri, I will do anything for you…”
“But there is nothing you can actually do for me.” she stroked his face lovingly, her fingertips touching his tears even as her own tears continued to fall. “I have to die, there is nothing anyone can do to prevent that, not even the gods themselves.
“My first wish was for Suzaku to be able to be summoned by Miaka, and it seems that Seiryuu granted it to me. Next I wished for Kutou to be at peace with Konan, this was granted by the death of the emperor. I can promise you that the new emperor of Kutou truly wants to have peace with Konan.
“As for the third wish, I had asked Seiryuu to let you live the rest of your life happily, but he said that he cannot grant it…”
“I cannot live with any happiness if you die, Yuri.”
“I am such a selfish person, Hotohori.” Yuri whispered, “I rather see you live and be sad, instead of dying but be happy. I had a chance, Hotohori, to turn away from all this madness. But I refused, because no matter what I cannot be with you as I am from a different world, so I rather go on this path. I cannot stand the idea of seeing you die before me…” softly she began to explain everything.
“That is why I choose to call out Seiryuu and save both kingdoms in the process. But the pathetic truth is that I actually don’t really care about Kutou or even Konan, I only did it so you will be safe. I think I only love Konan so much because you are the emperor, and you love your kingdom. I guess you can say it is always you that I love, not Konan.” Raising her hands the sleeves fall down to reveal the large parts of her flesh that were now covered with scales. “As I said, my time is running out.”
“You cannot leave me, Yuri, you know that I will die if you do so. You still don’t believe me, but I truly value you above my kingdom. If my kingdom is gone, I will be sad but I can still manage to continue living as long as you are beside me. But if you die right now…I truly do not know how I can continue living.”
“I know you will be sad, so that is why my last wish to Seiryuu was for you to be happy. But he cannot grant it. I know I shouldn’t come as that will make you more sad but I have to see you one last time…”
“Then take me with you!”
She pressed her hand against his mouth, silencing him, and let him hold her a bit longer, before she withdrew her hand to kiss him. Closing her eyes, she faced Seiryuu for what she now knew to be truly the final time.
“I have only one more thing in my life that I would wish for, Seiryuu, I do not want Hotohori to see my death.”
Hotohori suddenly found his vision gone, there was nothing but darkness stretching before him. He tried to hold onto Yuri but she shook his hold off very easily.
“This is not meant to happen!” he screamed as he felt someone grabbing him, restraining him. Was it Nuriko? It might have been. But he still attempted to fought that strong grip off and run to Yuri although he didn’t know where she was at all.
If she must die, and he could not follow, then at least let him hold her a bit longer; let him embrace and kiss her one more time; and let him be able to spend a last night with her.
But she was gone, torn out of his embrace.
“This is not meant to happen,” he repeated. He had thought that she would be with him again as soon as Suzaku was called out, but now she would be gone even before his own god appears. What was all this for? To meet the woman he loves only to have her snatched from him. What did he do to deserve this cruel torture from fate?
Instead of returning to be with him once again, she arrived to say farewell. It seemed that he only held her for that few seconds in his arms before this blindness took over.
Her death would hurt him, but to not be able to see her before she ended up being devoured by Seiryuu was even worse. (15)
“At least leave me a body to mourn over!” he yelled bitterly. “Can I not even have this?”
Yuri stepped away from Hotohori, although it pained her so much to do it. She had the urge to continue holding him, and she almost asked Seiryuu to kill Hotohori with her, as he had offered. So she would not have to face death alone.
But Konan need their ruler, and Miaka need him to summon Suzaku. Miaka’s own wishes were not grant, and maybe Suzaku could help Hotohori even though Seiryuu was unable to.
She kept her eyes on Hotohori, who was held back by Nuriko as he was trying to make his way to her even though his eyes could no longer see. She would no longer be here when he next see with these eyes.
I am sad at this but I do not regret my actions, she realized, that is how selfish I am.
“Nuriko, marry him.” Saying this still made her cry even more. “Give him the son I can never give him.”
“What nonsense are you saying?” Nuriko snapped, struggling to keep Hotohori under control. “The emperor will never be able to be with anyone else other then you. Beside, I am a man as well.”
If it wasn’t for the current situation then Yuri would have laughed, but her body was in so much pain that she couldn’t even manage that. It was all she could do to not scream, as she did not want Hotohori to suffer more by hearing her cry.
She continued to keep her eyes on Hotohori, remembering his face so that she would not fail to recognize him when they finally meet again...
Strangely she was no longer afraid of dying at all now, the pain became so great that she welcome an end to it by dying. Her only regret was that she had to leave Hotohori now.
Hotohori was the last sight her eyes saw before they lost their ability of seeing when Seiryuu dug his way through her body, causing her vision to blur so much that nothing was visible anymore.
Seiryuu allowed her to finally find a release from all these pains by dying, then he ate the rest of her corpse. When he stepped out into his human form, there was no trace of Yuri left at all.
Yuri was wise to not let Hotohori see her death, as what the rest saw would haunt them for the rest of their life: the way the body ended up when the god was borne from it- the flesh was ripped with blood splattering everywhere. The devouring almost seemed like a mutation of Yuri’s corpse. (16)
“What is it all for?” Hotohori whispered when he finally regained his eyesight. Taking her strand of pearls out he crushed it between his hands and asked why all this had to happen again.
Seiryuu turned to Miaka, who immediately paled slightly. But she met the god’s gaze bravely, determined to not shame her dead sister, who was his priestess.
“Priestess of Suzaku, it is my priestess’ wish for you to summon Suzaku, and I granted her wish by restoring Suzaku’s sacred book to you. Will you summon Suzaku? Or will you let your sister die in vain?”
“I will summon Suzaku.” Miaka replied steadily.
At that moment, Hotohori finally saw a resemblance between the pair of half sisters.
1 I guess Yuri is one of those Japanese people who does not believe in reincarnation- she’s not religious at all so I guess it’s quite possible that she might just think of death as a long sleep.
2 This is done as otherwise he might recognize Yuri from what he had heard from Hotohori and Miaka. This story has a lot of bit that doesn’t make sense if you think about it, so my advise is don’t think about this fan fiction in too much detail. I guess I’m saying don’t do a ‘this should have happened as that happened, or this shouldn’t have happened if that never happened.’
Basically, the seven celestial warriors of both sidesare all alive in this fan fiction, although some are severely injured. (like Nuriko, Chiriko) Basically those who were meant to die are now all just seriously injured.
3 Yuri’s not going mad or anything but she is getting a bit hysterical after all that happened, mostly it is due to the knowledge of her going to die soon as the price she must pay for summoning Seiryuu. I think that knowledge is enough to make anyone a bit hysterical.
4 The idea of the selfishness of people who are sacrificing themselves for the sake of another was pointed out to me in Tokyo Babylon (by Clamp) through Seishiro’s speech. He has a good point, the sacrificial action at that person’s own expense was done because that person believed it would be better for the other person. Basically Yuri knows that her death will make Hotohori really sad, but she rather let him live and be sad, instead of dying happily.
5 Referring to the seven celestial warriors of Seiryuu, who are meant to be protecting their priestess.
6 In this story what happens is that Yuri will tell Seiryuu her wish, and then confirms that she want it to be grant after Seiryuu talks to her about it.
7 I don’t like Nakago at all even after what happened to him, as I still don’t think that is right. But I rather like Soi. I was really touched when I saw her first meeting with Nakago, especially what she said. And another bit in the manga that made me really sad is actually when Nakago told her that she is not the one that he loves.
8 For the sake of this story, there will be a very idealistic new emperor for Kutou.
9 Obviously that is not the real reason in the manga as to why the priestesses have to be virgins because they still get eaten. But I think this idea will fit in my story, since I said at the front: a woman can still be a priestess even if she is not a virgin (like Yuri), the only problem is that she’ll get eaten by the god. This is my theory of why this would happen: because she can no longer use her virginity as the offer/sacrifice, she have to give up her body instead- which would kill her. This is what will happen to Yuri and this is why Miaka will not die when she calls out Suzaku (Which she will).
10 From the manga it seemed that Yui was undergoing great pain even in the first few days, and it seems the same thing happened to the first priestess. I get the conclusion that the time frame is really short, it seems that the priestess don’t have that long a time before the end up being devoured- even if they didn’t make all their wishes- like the very first priestess.
11 Chichiri seemed to be the one that would understand the most about these kind of stuff along with Hotohori (as he is the emperor). Although Chiriko might be able to help too- provided that the word doesn’t disappear a the most vital time.
12 Just in case anyone forgets, Yuri’s two maids’ father had been a tavern owner, and Yuri had worked in there for a week. The tavern was at a rather bad location, the street it was in was filled with cheap tavern and brothels. Once, Yuri even mentioned how that tavern get mistaken for a brothel sometimes.
13 In my story, Hotohori’s twenty, not eighteen. I really do feel that Hotohori will probably get on way more better with the older of the seven: Chichiri and Mitsukake.
14 They all know the legend and what happens to the priestess if she was not a virgin. Since Seiryuu is summoned, and Yuri appears dressed as the priestess of Seiryuu it is clear that she must be the priestess of Seiryuu, and since they are all aware that she had been married to Hotohori for two years, it is obvious to them that she will die. That is why everyone ends up thinking what they think.
15 He’s basically saying that he want to see her one last time. Even though seeing her die will be painful, he still rather see that as he want to see her until she is gone, until he can no longer see her..
16 When I read about Yui’s death I really have the impression that Seiryuu was borne from her body, hence this part in my story.
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