Fushigi Yuugi Fan Fiction ❯ Fushigi Yuugi: Daydream's Embrace ❯ Episode 7: Priestess's Reunion ( Chapter 7 )

Episode 7
Priestesses' Reunion
By: Nyan Nyan and Mrs. Tasuki

When Christina came to, she was lying on the cold tile floor of her basement. Her couch loomed above her; she figured that she had fallen off of the couch. But she didn't know why. She slowly got to her feet and sat down on the red sofa.

"This has got to be the weirdest fuckin' day I've ever been through. And that includes the time that Ryan dressed up like a leprechaun and chased me through the Ireland part of Busch Gardens," she said to herself. There was a crimson stain on the thigh of her pants, and it looked like blood. She started to roll up her pant leg when her arm started to hurt. She looked down and noticed a huge wound in her arm. It was beginning to scab over, but she couldn't remember ever stabbing herself with anything that would leave a mark like that. "Unless I sleep self-mutilate myself, I can't think of how that got there," she stated. She gingerly rolled up the rest of her pant leg with her right hand, and gasped when she saw another, equally large gash.

"What is this, the twilight zone?" she said to herself sarcastically. She glanced up at the television; it was still playing Fushigi Yuugi. "Episode 7," she thought as she saw Taiitsukun guiding Miaka and the rest of the seishi to her palace. Rocky mountains passed by below them. Christina ignored the T.V.; she was still trying to figure out what happened to her.

"Wait a second," she thought, "Only two episodes have passed... all this happened in an hour? My leg hurting, the fever, I think I fainted, and then my leg and arm getting sliced open...?"

She looked at the screen again. All of her wounds seemed to be a lot like the ones on Fushigi Yuugi, and in the same order too.

"I must be delirious," she thought to herself, she had to be. Why would she get injuries just like the ones Yui and Miaka received? "Wait," she told herself, "Miaka stabbed herself in the chest, not on her arm and leg, but why is this happening to me?"

*

The most disgusting thing the seishi had ever seen appeared before them. It looked like an old lady, but she must have been about a million years old, considering how many wrinkles were jammed onto her face. Her white hair was intricately done up with a large amount of combs. She was floating in the air and what seemed like a mass of ribbons was surrounding her body.

"AHHHH!!! You really ARE ugly!" Katherine screamed as she looked away in revulsion.

"So you're really Taiitsukun?" Nuriko asked doubtfully.

"That's right; I'm the ruler of this world... Hotohori! How dare you turn away?!" Taiitsukun shouted, seeing the emperor covering his eyes with his left hand.

"I can not bear ugliness..." Hotohori replied with an air of disgust.

"Be that as it may, Katherine and Hotohori, you're both badly wounded," Taiitsukun said. "I was testing to see how much you cared for each other, but I never expected this."

"Testing?" Hotohori asked, starting to raise his voice.

"Hotohori, calm down," Katherine warned. She didn't want him to kill her only connection to get back home.

"Nothing else to be done, I'll take you to my palace. We'll talk there," Taiitsukun commanded. A red carpet appeared below Katherine and her seishi's feet. They were quickly lifted into the air and rushed towards the palace.

"We won't drop to a bloody death, we won't drop to a bloody death," Nuriko chanted over and over as Katherine leaned over the edge of the carpet, watching the scenery fly by.

"Only chosen ones can come or even see this mountain," Taiitsukun explained. "Those with evil intentions will only see a desolate wasteland."

The view below was no less than breathtaking. Craggy cliffs jutted up into the sky and crystal clear waterfalls drifted down the cliff and mountain sides. Pink bubbles floated through the air. A palace was sitting atop the tallest peak, and the carpet flew down to its entrance. When they stepped off of the Nuriko looked like he was never so relieved to be on the ground. Katherine thought he was going to fall down on his knees and kiss the tile from sheer appreciation for being out of the air. Katherine looked around and saw a large room, with more of the little pink bubbles floating around.

"Now then," Taiitsukun started, "First we have to heal your wounds. Nyan Nyan!" the hag shouted. The pink bubbles that were floating in the air popped, and little green-haired girls fell gracefully from the air.

They ran around the seishi and Katherine yelling, "Fix! Fix! Heal! Heal!" and began to heal their wounds. One ran up to Nuriko and said, "I'll fix you too!"

"Me? I'm not wounded," Nuriko told her.

"I'll fix your perversion!" the Nyan Nyan replied and was answered with a blow that sent her flying through the roof.

"There! All done!" Katherine's Nyan Nyan stated proudly as she rolled Katherine's sleeve and pant leg back down.

"Thank you!" Katherine gushed as she grabbed the diminutive girl and held her in a tight hug. The Nyan Nyan started to struggle from lack of air after a minute, and Katherine quickly set her down. "Sorry," Katherine apologized as the girl tried to catch her breath.

"In your present condition, you'll never make it back to your world in one piece," Taiitsukun told Katherine.

"But I have to get my friend!" Katherine explained. "We made a deal! I have to get back!"

"You don't have one ounce of strength," Taiitsukun argued.

"Then please, let her have my blood," Hotohori suggested.

"Mine too," Tamahome said.

"And me," Nuriko added.

"No! You can't! You're too weak as it is!" Katherine pointed out. She already knew that the offer would be made, but was still shocked at their selflessness.

"Very well," Taiitsukun said as bubbles encircled Katherine and her seishi.

"What's going on?" Nuriko asked.

"Tamahome, Nuriko, Hotohori. I will now use my will to pass your blood from your bubbles into Katherine's wound and into her body." Taiitsukun explained. "It will be painful. Bear it."

"Don't bother, I'm fine!" Katherine yelled. "We might have different blood types!" She already knew what would happen, but it still felt weird having them do something so noble for her.

"I'll fix that," Taiitsukun smirked.

Katherine's wounds opened up and she flinched in pain. Tamahome and Nuriko suddenly received cuts on their chests and Hotohori's wound reopened. Katherine looked down at herself and saw her clothes disappearing. Her clothes reappeared on the floor below her, leaving Katherine only wearing her underwear and bra. She struggled to cover herself up. Katherine watched in shock as her companions' blood flowed into her leg and arm. She felt their blood intermingle with her own and felt them become a part of her. The bubbles popped and they all fell to the floor.

"Tamahome! Nuriko! Hotohori! Are you okay?" Katherine asked as she ran up to each of them, not caring that she was wearing practically nothing.

"Yeah, I think so," Tamahome answered weakly with a half-joking attitude.

"I'm fine," Nuriko added.

"Thank you! Thank you! Thank you!" Katherine cried out spastically.

"Now that Katherine has been strengthened, I'll tell you how to return," Taiitsukun said. "Katherine, remember that you owe your life to Tamahome, Hotohori, and Nuriko."

"But we also owe our lives to her," Nuriko pointed out. Taiitsukun stayed silent and Katherine started to hurriedly put her clothes back on.

"Listen Katherine, you've stayed in this world too long," Taiitsukun said. "Therefore, you cannot return by simply finding an opening, like you did before. However, there are two things that connect you to the other world and will allow you to return. The first is something that is identical here and there."

"My friendship bracelet," Katherine said with a sigh, as she looked at the red bracelet dangling from her wrist. Her mind flew back to how Christina was doing. She felt terrible for putting her friend through all of this; hopefully the wounds weren't as severe to her as they were to Katherine.

"It must connect with someone who owns the identical thing. The second connection is a strong will and a strong bond. If the circumstances were normal and all seven celestial warriors were present, this would be easy. But all of you are wounded and the amount of spiritual energy needed is enormous." Taiitsukun continued.

"We can do it," Tamahome said fearlessly.

"I'm sure we can return her home," Hotohori added.

"Don't you worry about a thing," Nuriko finished.

"But you have to promise to come back, or I won't have anyone to laugh at," Tamahome joked. Hotohori drew Katherine over to the side, out of everyone else's earshot. Katherine could see Tamahome and Nuriko's curious faces trying to see over Hotohori's shoulder, eyeing them suspiciously.

"I don't know what I would do without you, Katherine, please come back soon." Hotohori confessed.

"Are we ready to commence? Concentrate your energy on Katherine." Taiitsukun instructed. "Katherine, picture your world in your mind and concentrate on the image."

They all sat kneeling around her, sending their life force into her. Katherine pictured her home, her family, and her friends. She felt a flash of heat run through her body. It was an odd feeling, almost as though something was trying to pull her through the air. When she opened her eyes she found herself back in the Important Documents Reference Room, she saw everything in a tint of red that slowly faded away. She stood up cautiously and gave herself a moment to collect her thoughts. "Okay, the first thing I need to do is call Joan, that is, if she isn't here looking frantically for me already," she mumbled as she walked out of the room. As she walked down the stairs, to the main lobby, she passed an elderly lady, who scanned Katherine from head to toe, just shook her head and walked away. "What's her problem?" Katherine wondered. It was then that she noticed her clothes, torn, dirty, with blood stains on sleeve and pant leg. "Oh well, I have bigger things to worry about..." she mumbled as she reached the desk. "May I please use the phone?" Katherine asked the librarian, who was typing something into the computer.

"Sure," the librarian absentmindedly said, not bothering to move her eyes from the computer. "Press nine and then punch in your number," she said in an overly-polite voice.

Katherine picked up the phone and dialed the number to her sister's cell phone as quickly as she could.

"Hello?" Joan said through the receiver.

"Hi! Can you please pick me up right away?"

"Can't you wait just one more hour?"

"No, I can't! Please please please please please! This is REALLY important," Katherine begged, becoming desperate.

"What's soooo important that you can't wait one more hour?" Joan replied sarcastically.

"I... I can't tell you... but I HAVE to get over to Christina's!" Katherine yelled, now becoming agitated.

"If you wait one more hour I'll drive you over to her house myself," Joan said, turning off her cell phone.

"Joan? Joan?!" Katherine screamed into the phone for only the dial tone to hear; then she slammed the phone into the receiver. The librarian glared up from behind the desk, obviously angered by the noise. "What am I supposed to do for an hour?" she thought as she walked away from the main desk ignoring the glare the librarian was giving her.

*

An hour later Joan drove into the library parking lot to find Katherine sitting on the curb waiting for her. As she drove closer she saw that her sister's clothes were torn with large bloodstains on them, yet Katherine did not seem hurt. "What happened to you?!" she asked, shocked, she knew her sister was not the fighting type, unlike herself, in Tae Kwon Do class her favorite part was sparring, while her sister's had always been learning new katas. But Katherine just ignored her and climbed into the passenger seat.

"I'll explain later. Just please get to Christina's and hurry!"

Joan couldn't protest, since she had already promised that she would drive her there. "Okay..." she answered, worried that maybe Katherine had gotten into a horrible fight. It was then she noticed an old book resting on Katherine's lap. "What's that?" she asked out of curiosity.

"Just a book I checked out for my research project," Katherine lied. She knew her sister wouldn't believe her if she told the truth.

Joan could tell she was lying; Katherine had always been a horrible liar, but there was something about the way she said it... Joan knew that there was nothing she could say or do to get her sister to tell the truth.

*

They pulled into Christina's driveway. Katherine jumped out of the car as quickly as she could, even before the car came to complete stop. "I'll be back in about twenty minutes!" she yelled as she ran down the hill to Christina's back yard.

"I wonder why she didn't use the front door like a normal person," Joan mumbled as she turned on the car radio.

*

Katherine knew that Christina would most likely be in the basement; since her house was built on a hill there was a door outside that led right to the basement. Katherine knocked on the door softly, hoping that Christina would be the one to answer it.

"Who in the world would knock on that door?" Christina wondered as she stood up and walked over to answer it. She opened the door to find her best friend, Katherine, standing there. "Katherine, is that really you?" she asked as she stared at Katherine's torn clothes and knotted hair.

"Who else would I be?" Katherine answered as she walked inside.

"I dunno... You could have been Leatherface, and I could have opened the door and got ripped up by a chainsaw. Or you could have been leprechaun, and you could have kidnapped me and made me eat Lucky Charms for all eternity, or-"

"I need to talk to you!" Katherine said anxiously, changing the subject.

"About what?" she asked, her eyebrow lifted up in question.

"About Fushigi Yuugi."

"What is so important that you have to break into my house?" Christina asked, not believing that her friend invited herself over without even asking.

"The fact that I got sucked into the book."

"What are you on?" Christina asked while chuckling, believing that Katherine's statement was a joke.

"Nothing! I'm serious!"

"Katherine!" she said now, now worried that her friend had gone insane.

"What do I have to do to prove it to you?!" Katherine asked, now becoming agitated. She didn't have time to go through the whole story. Time passed faster in the book, and many months had likely passed as Katherine remained outside of it?

"Where's the proof then? Why don't you show me Hotohori's Chinese take-out box?" Christina asked sarcastically, referring to the little hat Hotohori wore on top of his head. She knew that Katherine hated it and always joked about how she was going to steal it, so then he wouldn't be able to wear it anymore.

"I don't have it! He wasn't wearing it at the time."

"You're kidding, right?"

"Fine then, don't believe me. But what happened to you today?" Katherine knew that Christina must have had an awfully weird day if everything that happened to her over the month or two she had spent in the book happened to her best friend also.

"Well, my leg started to bleed, then I fainted, then my arm and leg started to bleed again."

"Well, MY leg was almost broken from the falling pagoda, I fainted from exhaustion, and I stabbed myself in the arm and leg when I was trapped inside the mirror." Christina just stood there in silence. "C'mon! We have to pack!" Katherine said, realizing precious time was being wasted.

"You know, I think you're insane!"

"I don't care! Just trust me!" Katherine replied as she grabbed Christina's arm and dragged her to where her room was.

*

"I wonder what is taking them so long," Joan mumbled as she looked at her watch. When she looked up she saw Katherine and Christina coming up the hill carrying what must have been four or five boxes, suitcases, duffle bags, and Rubbermaid bins filled with who knows what.

"What in the world?" Joan wondered as they approached the car. Christina and Katherine put the boxes in the car and climbed into the back seat. Joan turned around to see a look of eagerness on Katherine's face, while Christina was just looking at her best friend as if she had gone insane. "Katherine, what's going on?" Joan asked in a serious tone.

"I promise I'll tell you once we get to our house."

"Okay..." Joan answered, becoming more and more worried. Ten minutes later they reached Katherine's and Joan's house.

"Wait right here," Katherine said to both of them as she ran into the house as quickly as she could. Less than fifteen minutes later she came back out with even more boxes and bags. "C'mon!" she yelled as she opened the trunk to take out Christina's stuff, "we have to hurry!"

Joan stepped out of the car and approached Katherine cautiously. "Katherine..." she said, ever so gently, as she put her hand on her little sister's shoulder.

Even though Joan said only one word, her body language told it all. "YOU TOLD HER!!!" Katherine yelled at Christina, who was standing behind Joan looking at the ground. Katherine took a step back and just chuckled. "I know you guys think I'm nuts... frankly I think I'm nuts too, but... but just give me one chance to prove myself."

"Look! Katherine!" Joan said, about to give her some tough love.

"One chance! That's all I'm asking for!" Katherine interrupted.

Before Joan could say, "No!" Christina spoke up and said, "Fine..."

Joan just gave her sister's friend a look of shock. "Christina! You can't actually believe that-"

"OF COURSE NOT!" she interrupted, "but what's one chance gonna hurt? She's already as insane as they come."

Katherine's eyes widened, "Thank you! Thank you! Thank you!" she said to Christina, even though Christina had just insulted her, she honestly didn't care. "You won't regret it!" she continued. "Now, Joan, you stand back! Oh wait! Lemme get the book!" Katherine reached into the passenger seat, from the window of the car. She ran back as fast as she could, even though they were only a few yards away, and came to a sudden stop. "Christina, touch as many boxes and bags as you can!"

Christina gave her a look of doubt, but did as she was instructed to do so.

Katherine touched the two boxes Christina didn't reach, and closed her eyes. "Please work! If you don't I'll be shipped off to the insane asylum by tomorrow..." Katherine thought as she slowly opened the book.

Joan saw a red light burst out of nowhere. She closed her eyes from the blinding light; the only thing she heard was Christina scream. When she opened her eyes again everything was back to normal, except that Katherine and Christina were nowhere to be found. She sank weakly to the ground. "No way! No blasted way..." she said as she stared at where Katherine and Christina had been standing five seconds before. She noticed the book Katherine had been holding was where it had fallen in the driveway, with words appearing mysteriously on its pages; she reached over and picked it up. "The Priestesses of Suzaku," she read out loud, as she tried to figure out what just happened.

To be continued...