by: Asurahime
Azeruse was given a room in Kutou Palace. As soon as she was alone, she sheathed her sword and approached a mirror on her desk. She sighed deeply as tears began to trickle down her face. Who am I? Why can't I remember anything? Blue-green hair? Blue-violet and amber eyes? I didn't even realize how I looked like until now...
Soi entered. "How do you like it so far, Azeruse?"
"Soi-san, can I help you?" asked Azeruse.
"Well, since you're still new....", she did not go any further as she got a good look at Azeruse's tear-stained face. Soi was about to slap herself for not thinking. Why in the world do I feel like this? Why am I suddenly feeling pity for Suzaku no Miko? I guess there is no real reason why I should hate her now, she is Azeruse, a Seiryuu Seishi; not the Priestess of Suzaku. "Azeruse, why with the tears? Are you hurt?"
I'm crying?? Azeruse wiped her tears away from her face as the rest of the Seiryuu Seven entered her room. "Osaki ni shitsurei shimasu!!! I'm all right, I guess I'm just a little tired." "Are you sure? I will happily tear whomever made you cry limb from limb." said Ashitare.
"No, let me and my Ryuuseisui take care of them..... after I ask Yui-sama." said Suboshi.
"I'll lash them with lightning..."
"I'll split their souls."
"I'll place them into my 'Shin' and torture them."
"First I'll whip them, then I'll use them to practice my ki-blasting on."
A musical laugh was heard from Azeruse, who regardless of the brightness in her eyes was smiling brilliantly. "That isn't necessary, I'm fine. Please, don't slay anyone on my account."
Soi smiled back in return. The others left the room, but Amiboshi and Suboshi chose to remain behind and get to know more about the newest member.
"You don't mind, do you?" asked Amiboshi.
"No, I'm all right with it." answered Azeruse.
The twins exchanged puzzled glances. Who would have thought they would ever spend a casual afternoon with their one-time enemy.
Suboshi frowned. "Can't you remember anything at all?"
Azeruse shook her head sadly. "No, my memory only goes back until that time I woke up with a sharp pain on the back of my head. My memory is very obscure for anything before that. I don't even have a single inkling of my real name. Oh!! I am forgetting my manners; you all know my name, but I don't believe I have either of yours."
The twins smiled.
"I am Amiboshi, a member of the Seiryuu Seven. I can control my life energy and attack others by focusing my ki through my flute." said Amiboshi.
Suboshi went after his brother. "I am Suboshi, another member of the Seiryuu Seven; I am also Amiboshi's younger twin brother. I can control my Ryuuseisui by using pyschokinesis."
Azeruse laughed at their formality, causing both brothers to smile faintly. "All right, I'll play along. My name is Azeruse, the seventh member of the Seiryuu Seven. I can use sword techniques with my sword 'Asura', and I can heal to some extent."
Amiboshi and Suboshi stared at her in shock and confusion. "I didn't think that healing was a skill granted to any of the servants of Seiryuu. I guess Azeruse is an exception....."
Suboshi paled. "Aniki, what if she means healing through 'ki-raising' proce---"
Amiboshi kicked his brother head-over-heels. "Don't even think about that!!!"
Before the corundum blue-eyed girl could reply, a piercing cry erupted outside.
"NANI!!?" shouted Amiboshi as the three sprinted out of the room and to the open pavilion before the gates of Kutou Palace.
"Yui-sama, what's wrong?" demanded Azeruse.
The answer to her question was a dullahan, an undead spirit which somehow paralyzed and wounded the four others of the Seiryuu Seven. Even if he was slowed down, Nakago was still ki-blasting the monster to no effect; a few seconds later, his power was depleated and he fell to the ground like the others.
Amiboshi and Suboshi attacked before Azeruse could stop them, but their assault were as futile as the others'. Yui screamed as the monsted confronted Azeruse; the others could only watch in fear for the two.
"Azeruse-san! Yui-sama!! Get out for here while you still can!" shouted Suboshi.
Yui did not have to be told twice and sped away, but to the horror of the others, Azeruse held her ground and drew her sword.
"Azeruse baka!!! Don't be reckless and get the fuck out of here while you still can!!" shrieked Soi with what little strength she had left.
However, Azeruse only shook her head. "What kind of seishi am I if I run away and abandon you all at the first sight of danger? Daijoobu, I know what this moster is."
"No... Azeruse, listen just this once..." whispered Amiboshi, holding back a scream of pain and anguish.
The six victims cried out in anguish as the moster struck the girl. Blood trickled down the side of her mouth and a cut bled freely on her cheek, but she paid them no heed as she ran forward and slashed her sword through the adversary. "Asura Revenge!!!"
The dullahan was suddenly engulfed in a fireball which Azeruse slashed once horizontally and once vertically, causing it to explode. Despite that, the dullahan still barely clung on to life.
The others were speechless as the girl launched her final attack. "Rosario Impale!!" Azeruse seemed to split into five images; four images struck one-by-one in the north, south, west, and east points, a few inches from the monster itself. The fifth image, the real Azeruse, impaled the monster at the very center from head to toe. A white light flashed connecting the center image to the other four in the form of a cross. Then, with a trai of black smoke, the dullahan faded into thin air.
"I don't understand... why would a..." murmured Azeruse as she hastily sheathed her sword to come to the aid of the others.
Although paralyzed and still wounded, the others now held a certain respect in their eyes for their newest member. Once again, she was given another task; the others were still wounded grievously, but the palace servants were still too apprehensive to come out. Azeruse rushed to Ashitare, the most seriously wounded and drew her sword. The others thought that she has returned to normal and was about to slay Ashitare, so they started to get up; that caused them a considerable amount of pain, forcing them to fall back down.
"Don't worry, I won't hurt you." whispered Azeruse. I have nothing to lose... and anyways, I promised to protect Seiryuu no Miko, and I'm accomplishing that by helping you guys stay alive....
To everyone's shock, Azeruse slashed her own wrist, causing blood to flow into Ashitare's wounds. As soon as contact was made, the wounds sealed up and Ashitares was fully recovered. She went through all six of them, starting from the most seriously wounded to the least. In every one of them, Asura tasted blood from a new wound. Azeruse didn't seem to mind what happens to her, for even though she was losing a lot of blood, she still fully healed everyone.
After smiling at the now-recovered six, Azeruse cleaned her blood-stained sword, sheathed it, and then she started back towards the palace. The other six were still hesitant to leave Azeruse, for they were very concerned about her condition. Instead of leaving them to their fates, she saved their lives twice; by defeating the monster and drawing her own blood. Fortunately, Amiboshi suspected something wrong and caught her in time.
*~*~*~*~*
Azeruse regained consciousness as Yui and Soi cleaned and bandaged her wounds while Amiboshi and Suboshi paced furiously back and forth. The four gave sighs of relief when Azeruse opened her eyes and smiled painfully.
"So, you're finally awake Azeruse-chan!!" smiled Amiboshi, "You've been asleep for nearly a week, you know... about four days"
Azeruse's smile faded and she blinked. .........'You know?'.......... Why does that seem so familiar??.....
"Four days!?!" Azeruse then wiped away a drop of blood that appeared in the corner of her mouth; she tasted copper.
Yui tied the ends of the bandages. "Yes, four days is how long you've been asleep. Everyone's been pacing and are growing irritable out of worry that you might..."
Suboshi gave his brother a knowing look, which strangely made Amiboshi's face turn a very pretty shade of red.....
Soi smiled and hugged Azeruse, careful not to hit her wrists. "Azeruse-chan, Arigatou. I owe you my life. We never should have doubted you, and we won't make the same mistake twice.
Now that Amiboshi wasn't so crimson, he brushed her hair away from her eyes gently and whispered to her ears alone. "Yes, if you ever want my life, you can have it....."
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Preview of Chapter 4
Harmonies That Ring True
"Rekka Shinen!!" Tasuki shouted his incantation as the stream of flames once again burst forth.
The white figure sprinted past the Seiryuu group as if to intercept the flames. "Stop!!", cried a female voice as she quickly drew a crimson sword out of its scabbard and slashed through the core of the oncoming flame vortex. "White Wind!!"
A silver light emanated from the place where Azeruse entered the fiery maelstrom, and a moment later, the silver light transformed into a maelstrom of ice, dousing the flames of Tasuki's spell.
"What in the fu----" started Tasuki.
"I don't believe you have met... the Seventh Seiryuu Seishi. Furthermore, as long as the Seiryuu Shichi-seishi are gathered; Konan will fall, even if Seiryuu is never summoned." decreed Yui as she stood behind the white girl. "This is Azeruse, the replacement of Miboshi; and through her very being is the cause of your down fall..... I mean that literally."
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Chapter Notes:
Totemo hen, ne?! (Very strange, eh?!) What can come out of my pyroic mind... sigh... well, so far, I realized that when I created Azeruse I would give her the seriousness which Miaka sometimes lacks. I don't mean that in a bad way, but Azeruse is the side of Miaka that she is totally oblivious of; the sied of her that is more of the savior, less of the damsel-in-distress sort of thing. Yes, yes, I know that some of you are asking where is the Tasuki/Miaka pairing, don't worry it's coming. Although it's not a bad idea, I'd rather not pair Miaka and Amiboshi up. I just thought that I should tell about a few turning points that could totally separate Miaka from what she was, before.... other things.... Minna-san, did you notice that the others of the Seiryuu Shichiseishi are actually quite decent and sensitive? (Even Ashitare!!!) Oh, and for you non-Nihongo speakers out there, "Osaki ni shitsurei shimasu" means "Please don't worry! I'm fine!" Just a warning minna, there are cliff-hangers ahead, but I'm not telling what they are....... yeah, I know that some of you guys out there are wishing that I'd hang myself off a cliff... that sounds fun!!!!!
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Disclaimers:
Well minna, here we go again: the Fushigi Yuugi characters themselves don't belong to me, they belong to those people who thought of them in the first place. The attacks "Asura Revenge", "Rosario Impale", and the sword "Asura" belong to the game Saga Frontier, and therefore rightfully belongs to Squaresoft. Azeruse belongs to me though, and so does the attack "White Wind"(which just popped into my head and I wrote it down without thinking). Flames and comments welcome at [email protected], as usual! Jaa mata ne!
Shi Jin Ten Chi Sho^^Chapter Two^^Chapter Four