(Please note: Fushigi Yuugi and characters are the property of Watase Yuu, Flower Comics, etc. Oh, but Yume is mine I guess :). Anyhow, that's my disclaimer. Don't bother suing me, I don't even own my own computer.) (Possible foul language and spoiler warning!) *** *** *** Bishonen no MikoŠ presents: Beautiful Dreamer (Episode 2) *** *** *** Yume rode at the head of the small group as they approached the cave in which Tenkou had been sealed. It had been days since they left Kutou, but Yume was still wired with excitement and anticipation. Her little brothers now rode with Chichiri and their father, leaving Yume, Koji and Tasuki on offensive. But no one expected to see the tibetian prayer wheel that suddenly appeared behind Tasuki and Koji, spinning onimously. Before anyone could react, the ground began to shake and monsters of all shapes and sizes spilled out. "What the hell?" yelled Koji in alarm as a slimy creature lunged for him. "It can't be... Miboshi?! But the bastard died!" Tasuki screamed as he wheeled his horse around to flame some monsters. Yume also pulled out her tassen and swung it in a circle, temporarily keeping the monsters at bay. But as she tried to rejoin her group, she suddenly felt a presence behind her. Unable to turn fast enough, she tried to counter the attack with her tassen, but it was too late. Long fingers closed around her throat and dragged her off her horse. Dropping her weapon, she used both hands to try and pry the hands off her, but a sudden electrical shock knocked her out tempoarily. Nakago had handed Aoi over to Chichiri and now the two bandits and the Kutou emperor were circled around the mage, protecting the kids. But as Nakago looked around desperately, he realized that Yume had been seperated from them and was now being held by a dark, ominous figure. Tenkou... An evil chuckle came from among the monsters, and finally, Miboshi materialized as well, prayer wheel in hand. "Miboshi! Kisama..." cursed Tasuki, but even the blasts of fire from his fan could not reach the magician as he hid behind the barrier Tenkou had constructed for him. "Tenkou-sama needs Yume's help," Miboshi said thinly. "You see, they only managed to seal his body, not his soul, but now, he needs a new one. I do too. You would do nicely, Suzaku seishi Tasuki." "And what the hell makes you think we'll let you take her!" Tasuki roared. "Brave words, but what is a mere human, even a seishi, to a god?" asked Tenkou. He had the half conscious Yume suspended in a glowing sphere before him, and then reached in to stroke her face almost tenderly. *Wake up my dear, and show me the fear within...* "She is very pretty Nakago," he said cryptically, delighting in the shocked look that flitted across Nakago's face. Meanwhile, Yume gingerly opened her eyes. Her first thoughts were of her travelling companions and especially her family, but she found out quickly that she was the one in trouble here. *I don't want to become a liability...* she thought. As soon as Tenkou realized she was awake, he looked into the globe and said, "You will soon be my new body. Does that please you?" "Bite me," said Yume, recalling the snappy little phrase she learned from Seiryuu no Miko's boyfriend Tetsuya. She didn't know why she suddenly thought of it; it had been years since she had visited the other world. Tenkou slapped her at the remark, but Yume couldn't help but smirk at him in return. "I have no time for your games," he sighed, and he sent another burst of electricity through the globe, shredding most of her clothing off. Nakago's eyes widened and he spurred his horse foward, his eyes burning with hate. But suddenly Tasuki went charging past him, screaming, "I'll never let you touch her fucker!" Tenkou muttered, "Fool," and sent a poweful chi blast at the bandit. A blue shield suddenly flared around Tasuki, protecting him from most of the blast's effect. The redhead gritted his teeth and managed to gather his own chi, calling out, "Lekka... Shien!" The flames raced towards Tenkou, but he simply moved Yume into the path of the flames and somehow, they were snuffed out. Nakago frowned as he held back the chi attack he had been building up, now afraid that he'd hurt his own daughter. "A weak effort at best," gloated Tenkou, then he added, "You are in love with her, aren't you, Suzaku no seishi Tasuki?" Koji looked over at his friend, but Tasuki only gave a toothy grin and said, "So what if it's true?" Yume gasped. "Love is a weakness... let me show you strength," said Tenkou as he built up a chi attack of his own and let it fly at Tasuki. The bandit didn't even try to evade it as it struck, sending him flying back several hundred feet. He sent out several more blasts to incapacitate the rest of the group, then turned his attention back to Yume. "Aren't you scared?" he asked mildly as he shredded the rest of her clothing up with electric bursts. She glared at him balefully, then with much effort turned to see her family and friends watching her but unable to do anything against Tenkou's spell. Nakago looked especially shocked, unable to lift a finger to help her. In a low voice, she looked Tenkou in the eye and said, "Tenkou, I will kill you myself." "Oh?" He sent a final blast through the globe, destroying the remanents of her outfit. But as the bits of her sleeves disintegrated, everyone gasped to see "yoku" on her arm, glowing a bright red, Suzaku red... "Yume..." said Tasuki in shock as he saw his own seishi symbol on the girl's arm. Had she always been blessed with that power? For as long as he could remember, she could use his halisen, so he had split it to make two matching tassens. But was that why? A Suzaku symbol on a Seiryuu's child? "Your secret is out little girl. I knew you had this power. Maybe after I take over your body, I will use it to kill your friends and family? Oh, but I suppose I must leave one of the little boys alive for Miboshi to take over." He looked at Aoi and Akai clinging to Chichiri, their eyes wide. "And I don't suppose your mother would suspect that I was you, well, maybe she would, after I kill your baby sister..." So intent was Tenkou on his threats that he did not see Yume shut her eyes and move her lips in a near silent chant. The four directions of the sky. By using the way, mind and goodness, Please tell the protector of the south, Suzaku, and the east, Seiryuu, Now I will complete the words. From the sky to the earth, Come to us physically. Through the four ultimates, Please make extinct every kind of evil. Only I wish . . . . . . Please listen to this . . . Please come down to us from the sky! She recited this, as one by one, every Suzaku and Seiryuu symbol lit up on her body, with "oni" and "kokoro" flashing alternating on her forehead in red and blue. When Yume opened her eyes once again, she was in a mysterious place, far from the battle. And before her stood Suzaku and Seiryuu. In unison, they asked her, "Art thou the miko who summoned me?" "Yes." "Very well. Thrice I will merge with you, and thrice you will use my power. Before speaking thy wish, thou must say, 'Kaijin.' Understandest thou?" "Yes," she agreed, and both gods turned into light and entered her body. As she opened her eyes once again, she called out, "Kaijin!" Tenkou was still standing before her, but he was looking very uncertain now. Yume smirked at him one more time, then said forcefully, "Give ME the power to destroy Tenkou once and for all!" The globe she was in suddenly shattered and Yume felt a frightning rush of power run through every cell in her body. Concentrating all her chi into her hand, she rushed foward and punched at Tenkou, sending foward a chi blast so powerful that it enveloped the demi-god. As Tenkou tried to ward off her attack, Nakago suddenly weaved in his chi blast with Yume's as Chichiri cast a holding spell and Tasuki attacked with his tassen. Tenkou's very soul was trapped, consumed, and finally torn apart. As everyone watched the blast, Miboshi tried to take advantage of the situation, but before he could escape or possess Akai or Aoi, Yume turned around and sent a chi blast to destroy him as well before she collapsed in exhaustion. "Yume!" yelled Tasuki, rushing to her side and nearly knocking Nakago out of the way in the process. She was kneeling on the ground, gritting her teeth. Nakago quickly threw his cloak over her and held her tightly. "They're tearing me apart," she said weakly, managing a weak smile for the sake of her brothers, who were squeaking out her name in fright. "All four of them..." "All FOUR?!" "Genbu, Byakko, Seiryuu, Suzaku... the other two came because I had wished for the power to destroy Tenkou, and only the four gods in unison could do it. And I still have two more wishes..." "Don't, Yume! It was hard enough for Miaka, and she only had to deal with Suzaku! But all four gods..." She coughed up a little blood. "What are you talking about? Nothing's gonna happen to me... really... Does anyone have any wishes?" "I hardly think our wishes are worth dying for," said Tasuki somberly. "But there's nothing I want, you see..." she said. "And so I give you one of the wishes, and the other will be for my father." It was true; Yume finally realized that there was nothing more she wanted in life, well, except for maybe one thing... "Then..." Tasuki cleared his throat; this was hard for him, especially since Nakago was right there listening. "Then, I want to be 17 again. So that I can... er, be with you." She looked up at Tasuki hesistantly, and made up her mind. Kissing the Suzaku seishi full on the lips, she hoped that he understood her as well. He smiled crookedly and nodded. "Very well... Kaijin!" "Wait... wait a sec!? You gotta recover before you ask for your next wish dummy!..." Tasuki began to say in warning, but Yume was already making her wish, and before Tasuki could even say another word, he suddenly felt... different. Blinking in surprise, he looked at Nakago dumbly and asked, "Uh, do I look 17?" The emperor nodded a little, then turned his attention back to Yume. "There's nothing I want Yume... I have everything I ever hoped for," he told her softly. "Well, I'm glad you don't want to be a god no more," Tasuki said to himself outloud. Yume groaned. "Yume, does it hurt that much?" asked Nakago, more concerned than ever. "No... I'll be okay," she managed. "But Tasuki's comment was so bad..." Everyone blinked and sweattled as Yume smiled thinly, then said, "Well, one more wish, ne?" "Just hold on to it Yume. You never know when you will need it." "I guess so, father..." She pushed her blonde hair out of her face, crossing her eyes as she looked up at it, but as she did, Tasuki suddenly grabbed her hand and said, "You know... it isn't so bad, Yume." "What?" "Your hair, I meant. I rather like it." Yume just sat there for a moment with her mouth open, then she finally smiled up at him and said, "Tasuki... I think... I think that's the nicest thing anyone's ever said to me. Thank you." She reached up and kissed him again. "Ne, Yume, would you quit that? Nakago's gonna kill me," hissed Tasuki. "No, I won't. You don't like it?" she hissed back. "I didn't say that! I just said that..." While the two argued back and forth, eventually coming to near-blows, Nakago stood up and gave them their privacy. He walked over to where the others were and sat down on a rock, grinning ever so slightly. "What is it tousan?" "Why are you smiling?" "What are neechan and niichan doing?" "What is it no da?" Chichiri finally asked. "I think Yume is ready to rule Kutou, don't you? I am giving up the throne to her." "What? Why?" asked Koji, shocked. "I don't want it anymore. And she has all the seishi's powers and that one last wish also... I can't think of anyone with better qualifications, could you?" Nakago leaned back and looked up at the sky. *I wanted revenge against the heaven which made my life hell... but I've changed my mind,* he thought, and smiled even more as he heard Tasuki and Yume making up just as quickly as they had begun arguing. *** *** *** Author's notes: Wasn't that a fast story? Yep, just crankin it out! I have no vague idea what happened to Tenkou, but then again, that wasn't the real point of this fic. And how was Yume able to summon all the gods? *giggle* Okay, so maybe I went overboard on her powers? But I really liked her, so that's why I did it, even if it is cheesy. Well, I accomplished what I set out to do, which was to put a capper on the "Second Chance" fic. So I guess this isn't really much of a sequel, but more of a epilogue? In case you're wondering how the relationship between Tasuki and Yume came up so fast, I was writing under my own assumption that Tasuki had a thing for her for quite a while and that's why he always came to see her. Certainly, anyone who wants to write about this is free to :). If anyone wants to reach me, come to my Shrine of Bishonen at: http://www.aestheticism.com/visitors/Miko/ or you can e-mail me at: bishonennomiko@rocketmail.com Bishonen no Miko, February 9, 1997