Divine Intervention

By: Kyoryoku Nazo
..............
Chapter 8:
     Cowboys
..............

The Priestess found strength in others, and finally began his journey...


Duo's mouth hung open in shock as the character who introduced himself as 'Kuja' strode over to 
where he was still pinning Heero to the floor of the Duelist arena. The Ukyou no Miko flailed about
in his amber robes quite comically, spurting out curses that both were anatomically and sexually
impossible - most of them involving Duo, all of the Gundam doctors, and Nazo's sword.

Kenshin's eyes shown amber in anger, his hand reaching instinctively for a sword hilt that wasn't
present at the moment. At first, his rage was directed towards the purple-haired man who strode 
about in the attire of his Goddess, but soon shifted to Touga, who was doing his best to blend into
the scenery. 

"Kiryuu," the samurai said in a tone-less voice, "We have much to discuss."

Chichiri took the indirect dismissal as an order and waved his staff in the air, surrounding the
Ukyou no Seishi in the same black void that brought them to their current position. When the 
magical construct vanished, they were no where to be seen.

Duo collapsed on the floor, Heero having dissapeared from under his arms. Slowly, he rose to his
feet, glancing back over his shoulder to look over his Seishi. Xellos and Saionji both had the 
same slack-jawed expression of someone who just had their head treated with the back of a board. 
Mikage looked nervous, which was appropiate due to his surroundings and the impending inevitability
of his Duel. Tasuki on the other hand - Tasuki simply looked...lost. His shoulders were slumped, and
his head hung low, hiding his eyes. The tessen which he had drawn when the fight began dangled 
loosely from his fingers and clanged to the floor just a few moments later; the rest of him soon
followed.

Duo ran to his side, wrapping his arms around the fire Seishi, pressing his face against the taller
man's neck and whispered into his ear.

"It's okay koi...it's going to be okay..."


			*	*	*


When Tasuki woke, he was back in the bed that Mikage had shown them to the first night in
Nemuru Hall. At first, he couldn't remember anything about what must have put him to sleep in the
first place. 

'Well, I'm not in pain, so that means that there wasn't a battle or anything...'

Then it hit him. It hit him so hard, he almost groaned in mental anguish.

'Chichiri. Oh merciful pantheon of gods and goddesses... Why Chichiri?'

"WHY?!"

Duo stepped out from behind the door and slowly walked over to the bed. "If it's any consolation,
I know what it's like."

Tasuki looked up at his Priestess and honestly tried to smile. He knew that Duo was going through 
the exact same thing with that Heero of his. But it didn't make things any easier. Chichiri had been
his best friend through all the time that he spent in the service of Suzaku. Chichiri was the one
who believed in the goodness of people when everyone else had lost faith. Chichiri was the one who
stuck beside him against all odds, and LIVED to see the aftermath with him. He shared his house and
welcomed him as a friend. No, this was surely worse than losing a lover. And he wasn't even losing
him... he was still there. In a position that might mean that Tasuki would have to hurt or even 
kill him.

Tasuki groaned and buried his face in a pillow, pounding his fist against the offending mattress.
As much as Duo wanted to comfort him and hold him, something told him that now wasn't the time.
There were times when a person had to face their inner demon's alone and move on. The present was
painful, but open wounds would heal with time. With a reluctance that far surpassed the maturity 
he thought he possessed, Duo left Tasuki in the room alone and headed back out to the lounge to 
check in on the progress that the other four Seishi were making.

"...I should have seen this coming," he heard Xellos say as he came into earshot. "Kuja's symbol of
the Dragon that overlaps Ukyou's on this chart is the same as the next Seishi symbol on the 'map' 
we were looking at before."

"The One who lives the Play," Saionji translated from the aging parchment. The green-haired Seishi
looked up to see the purple-haired man who sprawled across a sofa on the other side of the low-lying
table. Kuja had changed back into his regular wear as soon as the Ukyou no Seishi had vanished. That
is, if anyone could call his garb 'regular'. The jacket he wore boasted long white bell-sleeves and
high shoulders, but cut off at the mid-drift. As for his "pants"... his lower regions were covers 
with a matching violet undergarment that held a white skirt about his legs. Duo had referred to the
previously mentioned undergarment as a "thong". Also to the surprise of the Nazo no Seishi, the 
arrogant Kuja had performed this costume change entirely with magic.

'Great,' Saionji thought sardonically, 'Just what we need. Another pompus, purple-haired magicker,'

As if reading his thoughts, Xellos looked up from the charts and winked in his direction before 
turning back to the texts. 

'Actually, it wouldn't surprise me at all if he could,' Saionji smirked to himself and dove back 
into the array of sketches and spells. It was at that point that Duo coughed politely and drew
attention to himself in the doorway.

Mikage was the first to speak. "Is he okay?" Despite the fact that the Seishi had known each other
for such a short period of time, they were obviously bonding. Nothing but a good sign there.

"He'll be alright. I went through a similar ordeal and I'm still standing," Duo managed a wry grin
and sat himself down on the empty space next to Kuja. "I have to ask you, man," he turned to the
newest member of the ranks, "How did you do it? Fool all the Ukyou no Seishi, I mean. They're 
awfully crafty, and that counts for intelligence whether I'd like to compliment some of them or
not. That Touga especially."

"Well," the lounging man replied, sitting up slightly, "I did have a bit of help. It wasn't even my
idea. Most of it was Nazo's." He paused as he caught the suspiciously raised eyebrows all around
the room. "I jest you not. In my world, power conquest had begun to bore me, and when I was 
approached by a beautiful Goddess with the night sky in Her eyes, I couldn't turn down the offer to
outsmart some of the most arrogant individuals in all the planes of existance. With Her power, the
energies that manifested during the "visions" I performed were genuine, especially if one was only
looking for great power and not the specific residue that each deity gives off."

Xellos nodded enthusiastically, probably the only one in the room who caught and understood every
word that the fellow magician was dropping. Duo had a feeling that those two would get along quite
nicely. "I see!" the trickster priest exclaimed, leaning foward with excitement in his eyes, "And 
I'll bet that the reason you even bothered to actually dress for the part is so that if someone was
looking for a magical disguise, they'd still see you, because you really WERE in drag!"

Saionji grinned, still pleased with himself that it was his heated comment that sparked realization
for this scheme. "So. Tell us what wisdom Nazo bestowed on you. We're still in the dark here."

"Well, you've got a good start here with this map. It looks like the next symbol on the chart reads
'Bull-Man' if you want to translate it literally. Then it says, 'The One who Rules the Territory.'"

"That's vauge. And what's a Bull-Man?" Mikage asked, perplexed.

"Bull-Man, but only through literal translation..." Duo stood up and paced the room, finally 
stopping and grinning at the clever pun. 

"What?" Kuja asked, looking up from the text.

"Cowboy."


			*	*	*


The Ukyou no Seishi gathered in the amber-colored lounge of the house Kenshin had claimed as the
head-quarters for Ukyou in his own world. The worried expression that had been plaguing his face 
over the past week or so had vanished, and was replaced with burning anger that shown a brilliant
gold through his eyes, just as bright as the amber aura that fluxauted about the Ukyou no Miko.

It was raining outside. Warm, summer rain that coated the country side with a humid overcast. The
water was just warm enough though to bring one of the Ukyou Seishi back to his own 'self'. In fact,
Ryouga entered the room at that moment and closed the rice-paper door behind him, his eyes fixing 
on Touga with a death-glare.

"I honestly can't believe that you screwed us over that badly," he said flatly, pure disgust in
his voice.

For once, Touga's expression was that of dumbfoundment, his eyes wide and blank. "I was so sure...
so completely sure..."

"Yeah, well 'sure' doesn't cut it!" spat Sephiroth. "We looked like idiots in front of them! There
is nothing more in this world that I hate than showing weakness! Especially to people as weak as
they are!"

In the midst of the seven standing men, Rei sat quietly on the couch in the middle of the room, her
face blank and emotionless. One of the Seishi who had been standing but not aruging finally joined
her, looking into her red eyes with nothing but honest compassion, a weary but honest grin on his
face. His dramatic spiky hair contrasted hers, limp and blue, but there was something truthful 
about him. Something that made the only female amoungst either Nazo or Ukyou ranks smile.

"If you ask me," the man said, shifting so that his long, red coat fell comfortably about his 
frame, "Nothing that bad happened back there. They still don't have all their Seishi, and we didn't
really lose. Besides, it would have been a shame if anyone got hurt. Like I always say, love and
peace!!"

Rei's smile widened just barely, but enough to have it returned by the one called Vash the Stampede.
The two of them proceeded to just sit back and watch the argument commence, laughing every so often
as a particularly good insult was thrown into the quarry.


			*	*	*


"Damn," Spike muttered aloud as the Bebop dodged yet another asteroid by just mere inches in it's
flee from the offending space pirates. Faye's voice came over the com-system, screaming obscenities
as usual, elicting no more than a tired sigh from the green-haired bounty hunter.

Just one of those days...

He's that that dream again last night. The one with the tall, pale woman with the long, black hair.
Her eyes were like windows to the void of space behind her that was ever present in those visions.
She was beautiful, but not in a way that sparked any sort of physical desire. It was more of a 
sense of respect that this woman embedded in Spike's mind. Respect and a strange yet comforting
warmth. However, the dream had a slightly different ending this time. This time, she ended the
conversation with the phrase "Soon we meet."

A loud crash jerked his attention back into the here and now, caused by the spin-out and explosion
of the pursuing ship. 

Well. So much for that.

Spike allowed himself a confident grin, and was just about to turn the Bebop back around when he
saw something in front of him out the window. 

"What's wrong?" Jet's voice came from over the speaker, when it became obvious that Spike's piloting
was taking second fiddle to something else.

"I see...nothing..." was all the bounty hunter could reply.

"That's great Spike, now turn this thing around before you hit something. 'Sides, when has nothing
ever caused anyone trouble.?"

"That's just it, man, I see NOTHING. There's a big blotch of black where there should be...somthing!
Asteroids, a moon, stars, ANYTHING! It's just a void..."

As the ship continued foward, that nothingness grew larger until the soft sparkles of white were
visible from the cockpit. Spike was trying despretly to get control of the vessel back, but it was
too late. The Bebop was on a head-on course into a seemingly endless void of nothing.

"Soon...we meet."


			*	*	*


Mikage rose from the lounge and walked towards the door to the outside without a word and it took a
moment for the rest of the Nazo no Seishi to realize he wasn't part of the conversation anymore.

"Hey, where are you off to?" Duo demanded, rising to his feet.

"I told you yesterday," the Black Rose leader replied blanky, "I Duel. Now, actually."

"But you can't! We need your help! This is completely out of the blue!"

"No, actually, it doesn't get more in the blue than this," said the pink-haired man with a weak
smile. "He's calling me. I can hear him." Mikage continued to walk towards the door with a 
determination that struck a chord in the Priestess of Nazo.

'He's not acting particularly sane at the moment...' Duo thought. "Whose calling you?"

"Akio."


			*	*	*


By the time the Nazo no Seishi and their Priestess had caught up with Mikage, he had already 
confronted the pink-haired girl named Utena who was the original suspect for the Nazo no Seishi in
the dimension of Ohtori Academy. He was going on about a woman named Takako, insisting that he and
this Utena were alike, and that together they could find the secrets of Eternity.

Tasuki was with them now, having roused enough spirit within himself to be productive. In fact, he
might have blocked the whole ordeal with Chichiri out of his mind, for he was taking just as much
initiative as the Miko.

"He's completely lost his mind," the fire Seishi muttered under his breathe. Xellos had conjured up
a viewing portal so that the Nazo no Seishi could keep watch on Mikage without risking discovery
by Akio. "Either that, or it's all an elaborate trick to get Akio to believe the same thing..."

"And make him think that Mikage isn't worth the trouble of keeping as a peon anymore," Kuja finished
his thought for him. "There's nothing worse than having an underling whose more of a basketcase than
you are."

Duo raised an eyebrow at that but held his tounge. 'This guy's weird. But he can't be evil in any
way or Nazo wouldn't have brought him to us. He must have some experiance as a leader though, so
his knowledge will come in handy when dealing with freaks like Akio and Touga.'

At this point, Utena was running out of the room and Mikage was escorting himself to an elevator on
the other side of the dormatory with an eerie non-chalance.

"He's going to the Arena," Saionji said urgently, rising into a tense position, waiting for Duo to
take some kind of action.

"Let's go," the Priestess replied, taking off in the direction of the forest-covered arena. As he 
ran, his standard priest-clothes which had just rematerialized hours ago were once gone, replaced by
the flowing black robes of the Priestess of Nazo. His braid flew behind him as he gained distance
in front of the others. 

"Holy stars..." Saionji paused in his sprinting just long enough to admire the rainstorm of black
rose petals that fell from the sky. Whether it was an omen sent by Nazo or Akio, no one had time to
contemplate.

Duo was the first one to reach the Arena, grasping the stone handle as he had just a few days before
when he was last in this world. Strange, it seemed as if more time had passed in this land than in
his recollection. 'Wouldn't surprise me,' he though. 'Stranger things have happend recently.'

As before, huge columns of water appeared from hidden chutes within the Arena's trees. As the doors
parted however, it was Tasuki who noticed that behind the towering spiral staircase, there was an 
elevator. 

"Ah to hell with that!" he spat, stamping his foot in rememberance of the long stair climb he'd 
undertaken in the past. 

Much to Duo's amusement, it appeared as if Saionji was also unaware of this contraption. He
thought he saw the green-haired Seishi rubbing his back, most likely from muscle cramps
aquired by climbing those very stairs.

"Let's go," the Priestess said without further hesitation, jumping ahead in his strides and 
entering the ornate iron-wrought elevator.


			*	*	*


By the time they reached the top of the Arena, it was obvious that Mikage had beat them by a long
shot. Swords clashed about the huge marble floor, and both Duelists jumped and dodged the...

Desks?

The whole Arena was covered in rows and columns of school desks, each with a photograph of a 
young boy on it. Mikage lunged and swung at the pink-haired girl named Utena with an almost
heart-breaking grace that any swordsman would envy. Although Utena was holding her own
against the Black Rose leader, Mikage was certainly the dominating force in the duel. From the
sidelines, a dark-skinned girl in a huge red dress looking on the battle impassively.

'Himemiya', Duo thought, remembering his encounter with Utena before. 'She really cares about the
Bride. She sure seemed hostile enough against me when she thought I might be dueling against her.
Maybe that's the defining factor here. Everyone else just wants to possess something. Whether it's
power or the Bride herself. I don't think that Utena is in it for that. She really must care about 
that Himemiya girl. She fights with as much passion as Mikage fights with skill.'

At that moment, a familar voice rang out across the void of the Arena. A voice that made Duo's 
skin crawl.

"You've served your purpose Mikage," the voice stated with an obvious smugness.

All of a sudden, the pink-haired Seishi stopped cold, his attention drawn to the side of the Arena.

'No,' Duo thought, 'The desks...the pictures on the desks!' The Priestess of Nazo jumped out from
behind the gateway into the Arena and crept from desk to desk, hiding his pressence and praying 
to his goddess that Akio's attention was too caught up in Mikage to notice him.

Utena seemed to notice that something was wrong, and charged the Black Rose leader with her
sword firmly in hand. Duo's breath caught in his throat as his eyes were blinded by the shine of
that perfectly sharpened blade.

'I'm not going to make it...'

Utena lunged one final time, her legs leaving the ground with the Sword of Dios pointed straight
for Mikage's chest. The castle above the Arena *screamed* and bells sounded out of nowhere.

"MIKAGE!" Duo yelled, jumping from behind the desks just as they began to move of their own
accord. They slid towards the center of the Arena, and almost bowled the Priestess over, giving
him just enough of a view to see the blade of Utena's sword graze the fabric of Mikage's jacket,
slicing the black rose from his lapel.

Black petals scattered into the air as Akio's voice called out across the void.

"Graduate."


			*	*	*


After what seemed like both a few seconds and a few millenia, Duo recovered enough to realized
that he was spinning through a vast expanse of stars. This couldn't be another one of Nazo's 
manifestations. He was somehow moving... and... the rest of the Seishi were with him.

"What happened?" he called ahead to Kuja, who was reclining with his hands behind his head in
a position that suggested he would be laying on his back if there was anything tangible to lay on.

"I'm not exactly sure, but the surroundings seem safe enough. Light of Nazo and all that."

The Priestess turned around and saw that Mikage was close behind him, a relaxed grin spread 
across his face. Duo smiled. This must just be another Portal. He hadn't remembered the actual
travel process taking place in the past occurances, though.

Then, without any given warning, a good-sized red spaceship was directly ahead of the 'floating'
Senshi in the void, hurtling towards them at a fascinating speed. By reflex, Duo reached foward
for thrusters that didn't exist on a Gundam he wasn't in.  

'Oh shit...'


			*	*	*


"OH SHIT!" Spike screamed as the Bebop flew further into the void without his control and 
suddenly, to make matters worse, six bodies manifested out a nowhere, right in the path of where
the unstopable ship was headed. A few of them were pretty enough to be girls... in fact, ALL of 
them were. 

'There's a group of dead broads floating around in space, and now I'm gonna have to scrape 'em
off my ship once I get it to slow down a little,' he thought with a black sense of humor.

As if to answer his thoughts, feminine laughter surrounded him in all directions and flooded his
mind.


			*	*	*


Once again, white light grew about the Seishi and their Priestess, followed by the gentle and 
musical laughter of the Hawk Goddess of the South...


			*	*	*


The next thing Duo knew, he was face down on pavement, with small bits of rock, wood, and 
glass pressing into his cheek. The smell of cars and outdoor markets filled his nostils. 'Am I 
back home?' he thought. At least he wasn't in pain, just incredibly exhausted and still shaking
from the fear embedded in his thoughts. Slowly he sat up, surveying all of his limbs to check
for injuries, then glancing around to take mental count of the Seishi who should be near by.

'Everyone's here...who the hell is that?' His eyes caught sight of a second green-haired Seishi in
the Nazo ranks, only this man's hair was shorter and...puffier. He wore a blue suit-jacket, 
although too much more wasn't obvious since he was laying face down. 

Duo slowly got to his feet, "Tasuki?" he called out softly, still looking for his fiery lover.

"Hnnnn," came the reply from under a pile or cardboard garbage.

The Priestess smiled slightly. 'He's fine.' "Saionji? Mikage? Kuja? Xellos?"

Mumbled replies emerged from him in all directions, followed by the rustling of clutter that
suggested movement. The Nazo no Miko took that as a sign that he should survery the 
area, and moved out from the alley they'd 'landed' in and looked out at the street.  'It looks
enough like Earth. But is it my world? What year is it?'

The sunlight hit him like a hammer as he emerged into a bustling street. Huge billboards 
sporting kanji were everywhere on every store. 'Okay, so I'm in Japan...' As he scanned the
area further, he caught sight of a familiar metal structure in the distance. A tower that had
become synanoymous with the theme of one city standing against the odds.

"We're in Tokyo. We're in freaking-ay Tokyo!"

"Tokyo..." Tasuki grumbled as he stepped out of the shadows and next to his Priestess. "I've
been here before... when the Suzaku Seven banished that damned wannabe god."

"But is it the same Tokyo? Or another of the planes of existance?"

A tan colored van drove by at that exact moment, and Duo felt a warm and dull *pang* in 
the back of his mind that told him that something important was on that automobile. 
Acting on the hunch, he took off after it, yelling back over his shoulder at Tasuki, "Tell the
others to follow me! Xellos can teleport the group of you, or whatever I'm sure of it! But he's
not conscience yet and I've gotta follow that van!"

Tasuki nodded slowly and watching as Duo took off down the sidewalk. Glancing around,
he felt increasingly out of his element. From what he'd picked up from the way Duo would
carefully phrase things that had anything to do with technology, he gathered that the Miko's
world was much more advanced than any of the Seishi's they'd encountered so far. Now he
knew what Duo must have felt like the first time beast gods or magic was mentioned.

He sighed and turned back to the ally, "Hey, Xellos! We've got a situation here!"


			*	*	*


"Oi! Wait up!" Duo yelled after the van as he finally caught up to it at a stop light. He was
panting and out of breath at this point, resting his palms on his knees as soon as he saw
the passenger side window roll down.

"What is it?" asked a friendly looking brown-haired young man.

"This is gonna sound crazy, but I've got the strangest feeling that there's something important
having to do with this van."

"Let us pull over," the man replied. Duo nodded and followed the vehicle to a nearby clear
spot of the road. Upon closer examination, it looked as if the van was not only a reliable
means of transportation, but also either a house or business of some kind. Reading the kanji
on the side, his suspicions were confirmed.

'Kitty in the House Florists'

As the van stopped, four young men, including the one who had spoken to Duo at the light
stepped out and looked over the Priestess with a wary eye. As he looked down, Duo noticed
that he was still wearing the robes of his position.

'Ah dammit,' he thought. 'Now they think I'm some sort of corner side freak.'

"Okay," he said slowly, eyeing over the strangers who by their van must be florists. "Does 
the name Nazo mean anything to any of you?"

The florist with the blood-red hair which hung long in tendrils at his ears narrowed his violet
eyes every so slightly. "No," was the only response.

"Well... that depends on whose asking," said the tallest of the group, a man with chin length
dirty-blonde hair and sunglasses.

The red-haired man, grabbed the taller man by the shoulder and whispered harshly, "What are
you talking about, Yohji?"

The man named Yohji slide his shirt up slightly, revealing a black, glowing kanji symbol on his
left hip. 


			*	*	*


"Ow.." Spike rubbed his head and sat up, only to see four young men sitting on their heels,
looking at him. "Where the hell am I?"

"Are you the... Bull-Man?" Kuja studdered in broken English. The other three Seishi leaned
in closer, each of them a shining example of someone Spike would call a 'weirdo'.

"Who are you guys?" he asked, rubbing his head, trying to stop the marching band that was
currently parading down the streets of his brain.

"I am Tasuki, of the Nazo no Seishi. And this is Xellos, Saionji, and Kuja."

"Nazo?" Spike's eyes widened as the sudden mental image of the beautiful black-haired woman entered
his mind. He grinned and suddenly felt a million times better. "Whatever weird-ass scheme you
guys have going, count this cowboy in!"


*************************************
GUNDAM WING, FUSHIGI YUUGI, RUROUNI KENSHIN, SLAYERS, SHOUJO KAKUMEI UTENA, COWBOY BEBOP, 
FINAL FANTASY, RANMA 1/2, TRIGUN, WEISS KREUZ, AND NEON GENESIS EVANGELION BELONG TO THEIR 
RESPECTIVE CREATORS
ORIGINAL FICTION IS CONSIDERED PROPERTY OF KYORYOKU NAZO
*************************************

...see you space cowboy