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Rg Veda X

So far this is only a collection of Tomo's synopsis for the monthly installment of Rg Veda in Wings.


first few pages show Karura-oh *really* dying. ;_; Sohma and Zouchou-ten are in tears.

Kujaku is still in the corridor that connects Zenmijou and Ashurajou. Now he has his stargazing wand out, and commands the stars to show him the future - the wheel of fate that has always been fulfilled, the fulfillment of the end that has been prophesized by Stargazers of all eras - he will witness this as one inheriting the blood of a Stargazer.

[This explains why Kujaku knew about Kuyoh's prophecy about the Six Stars, and why he was sometimes shown with the Stargazer's wand.]

Kendappa-oh tells Sohma that the reason she let Sohma go on her journey (although she didn't want her to), was because she knew that Sohma wouldn't give up on something she'd decided to do, without having done something first. Kendappa-oh knows Yasha-oh is strong, and as she didn't want Sohma to die, she thought that by having Sohma travel with Yasha-oh, Sohma wouldn't die so easily. (This must be the first time we see Kendappa-oh in tears.) She says she was hoping that Sohma would give up trying to kill Taishaku-ten, but as she hasn't, tells Sohma "it looks as if fate is not going to change, and whoever rebels against the Tentei dies", and draws her sword.

Yasha-oh and Bishamon-ten are still fighting. Yasha-oh deals Bishamon-ten a pretty good blow, but Taishaku-ten steps in, saying that he will prevent the prophecy from being fulfulled, because he has a promise that he must keep, even if he loses his life.

Now comes the flashback scenes of Kujaku as a kid. He is imprisoned with a Stargazer (his mom?). A man comes to see the woman - it looks like the previous Tentei (the one Taishaku-ten killed). It looks as if the man cares for the woman, but not for the child. At this point Kujaku doesn't have his wings, nor the third eye.

Then there's a cut of Kujaku with his wings. There's blood on the floor, and Kujaku himself is covered with blood. The following cuts shows the woman with her hands around Kujaku's throat. At that point Kujaku has his third eye as well.

Ashura has killed everyone in sight at Zenmijou. As he licks the blood on his fingers, he says that his wish is eternal nothingness and silence. Standing on top of a mountain of corpses, he says:
"... blood ... and fire ... and silence
Now that my half has been fully resurrected, the gate to Ashura-jou will open.
Let your master in, the castle of bubbles that is reflected on the water.
I am Ashura-oh, the 'toushin' (god of war),
The last king that has been foretold by Seishuku (fate),
The fulfiller of the prophecy and the destroyer,
I will be the one who destroys heaven!"

Han-nyara is still with her water mirror. She then 'sees' Kujaku stargazing with his wand. She notices his wings and the 'mark of daten (his third eye)', and is shocked to see a 'daten' stargazing. (Her exact words are "Why can a 'daten' handle the stargazing wand?")

Cut to the battle scene. Bishamon-ten and Yasha-oh are still fighting. Yasha-oh notices his Yama-tou resonating. He is worried about Ashura - he can't think of anyone in Zenmi-jou (and not fighting the remaining Stars) who is strong enough to kill Ryu-oh, who went after Ashura. Yasha-oh thinks of all the people who've died because of Taishaku-ten, and deals his biggest "Yama Tenrou-ken" to Bishamon-ten. Bishamon-ten gets the blow right in his chest.

Kissho-ten, who has been watching this fight all this time, rushes to Bishamon-ten's side. The conversation between the two goes:
"Bishamon-ten! Bishamon-ten! I don't want to see you to die. Please, please open your eyes."
"Kissho-ten ... You don't have to cry for me. I don't want to see you in tears ... yet I am always making you suffer and cry. That's why I've received my punishment. That's all. You were my flower, who was beyond my reach... But I wanted you, so I forcibly plucked it and hurt you. My only wish was to have.. you.. by... my... side ...."
"No-ooooooooooooo!"
(When Yasha-oh and Bishamon-ten started fighting, Kissho-ten realized that she loved Bishamon-ten even if she was pretty much a hostage. In the beginning of Vol. 9, Bishamon-ten tells Han-nyara that he had decided to stick with Taishaku-ten even if he 'can never see the one he loves again'. Another Kumara-ten & Kala pair.... Sigh.)

Bishamon-ten is dead. Taishaku-ten tells Kissho-ten how Bishamon-ten had requested that he be given Kissho-ten as his reward for joining Taishaku-ten's rebellion. Taishaku-ten also tells her that although her father, the previous Tentei, had been a good emperor, he had committed a sin that had made him 'worse than a da-ten'.

Taishaku-ten had promised to keep Kissho-ten alive for Bishamon-ten; now that Bishamon-ten is dead, he kills Kissho-ten.

Kujaku is still star-gazing, and he 'sees' Kissho-ten die. There are some flashback scenes of Kujaku as a kid ... he is looking from behind some bushes ... watching Kissho-ten and the previous Tentei playing.

At Zenmi-jou it's now Yasha-oh vs Taishaku-ten. Yasha-oh fights Taishaku-ten with all his strength, but his blow only chips some beads around Taishaku-ten's neck. Taishaku-ten then commands the thunder to fall on Yasha-oh. It's a close call; Zouchou-ten steps in to shield Yasha-oh from the blow. Yasha-oh is safe, but Zouchou-ten loses his sword-wielding hand.

Zouchou-ten tells Taishaku-ten that he cannot understand Taishaku-ten anymore. Zouchou-ten had loyally served Taishaku-ten up til now, but he cannot believe that Taishaku-ten is willing to kill even Kissho-ten to keep control of Tenkai.

Taishaku-ten simply answers "I don't care about Tenkai. I have one promise to keep, no matter how high the price is."

Then Ashura appears. Yasha-oh doesn't recognize him until he hears Ashura speaking.

Ashura tells that he has been freed from the 'blood seal', now that the keys to the seal, which were embedded in the foreheads of Kala and Shashi, are back in his Shura-toh, thus fully resurrecting the sword.

Taishaku-ten says that the the blood seal apparently wasn't enough to change the course of the stars.

Kujaku is now foreseeing the wheels of fate turning towards the 'end'... Yasha-oh asks Ashura whether he knows who killed Ryu-oh. Ashura admits that he did. Yasha-oh asks why Ashura, one of the Six Stars, killed one of his fellow Stars, when the Six Stars are the ones that can defeat heaven (which they had interpreted as Taishaku-ten). Ashura answers that the Six Stars are the ones that will destroy this Tenkai.

Ashura starts wielding his Shura-toh and says that 'the evil that will be destroyed' (another line in the prophecy) is anything that Ashura himself considers evil. His wish is the destruction of all things, and to fill Tenkai with blood and flames. And with one blast Zenmi-jou is gone.

Ashura tells Yasha-oh that he had warned Yasha-oh not to disturb his sleep. He had told Yasha-oh that the price of doing so would be more than Yasha-oh can ever pay, yet Yasha-oh had awakened Ashura. Taishaku-ten steps forward, stopping Ashura with his sword. He whispers "I will keep my promise," and there is a small 'flashback cut' of Taishaku-ten killing the previous Ashura-oh.

Taishaku-ten and Ashura are fighting. The adult Ashura is strong, and even Taishaku-ten is having a hard time defending himself. Yasha-oh seems pretty shocked at seeing Ashura actually enjoying the fight. Ashura says that the Ashura clan, the god of war (the strongest god in Tenkai) who prefers blood, flames, and slaughter, was brought into this world to destroy everything.

Taishaku-ten says that this - the "true Ashura-oh" - was what Ashura-papa had feared so much.

Yasha-oh's sword (Yama-toh) then starts resonating with Ashura. It looks as if the 'black Ashura' is going to disappear, but Ashura gets up and tells Yasha-oh that he is going to kill Yasha-oh for interfering. (Remember Kujaku said in an earlier volume that only Yama-toh can 'put back the bad Ashura'?)

Kujaku is thinking back to the time when he created a sword to resist fate. He gave that sword the power to 'lead' Ashura, and gave it to the Yasha clan to ensure that it would eventually end up in Yasha-oh's&127 hands. At this point, it looks as if Ashura will indeed end up destroying Tenkai as prophesized. Kujaku is wondering whether the time that Yasha-oh and Ashura spent together holds any meaning for the adult Ashura, and whether the course of stars is something that just cannot be changed.

The last episode ended with Sohma lying wounded, and Kendappa-oh walking slowly towards her.

The opening page shows Kendappa-oh crying, with her tears falling on Sohma. Kendappa-oh tells Sohma that "You can't beat Taishaku-ten ... (here she wipes her tears) so the least I can do is to kill you myself ..."

Sohma closes her eyes. Kendappa-oh strokes Sohma's cheek, then pierces her body with her sword. (Yes, CLAMP shows Kendappa-oh's huge sword going completely through Sohma's body.)

Sohma starts coughing up blood. Then Kendappa-oh takes Sohma's right hand (which is still holding her moonrang), and digs the moonrang into her throat. She then says, "It's no use living in Tenkai, where you are no more ..."

Sohma opens her eyes, and reaches out for Kendappa-oh, while calling her name. She touches the earring Kendappa-oh is wearing. (Sohma had given Kendappa-oh one of the earrings she was wearing when she decided to leave Kendappa-oh to travel with Yasha-oh; Kendappa-oh had worn the earring since then.)

Kendappa-oh tells Sohma that she is sorry, but that she "cannot go against something that I have decided myself." There is a flashback to when Taishaku-ten killed her father, the previous Jikoku-ten. Kendappa-oh had decided then that since Taishaku-ten was the strongest one in Tenkai, she was going to serve him, and live only with 'strong people.' She had also decided then that she like strong people, and detest weak people.

Kendappa-oh continues, telling Sohma that she is strong, but there is no way she can defeat Taishaku-ten. She also says that she cannot break her vow, but ...

"neither can I live in this world without you," and completele slashes her throat with the moonrang. She then falls, face down. Her last words are "Sohma, I love you."

Sohma cries out "Waga kimi!," while holding Kendappa-oh. She manages to sit up, and jiggles the sword (still stuck in her) so that blood starts dripping from her wounds. She implores Kendappa-oh to drink her blood, because as a member of the Sohma clan, she can make Kendappa-oh immortal by giving her own blood. Sohma tells her she doesn't want her to die.

Taishaku-ten then approaches Sohma, and pries her away from Kendappa-oh. Sohma curses Taishaku-ten, then dies. Zouchou-ten reproaches Taishaku-ten for his cruel act, but Taishaku-ten answers that "Kendappa-oh does not wish to survive. To be left alone, in a world without the one you love, is painful." He then tells Zouchou-ten to get out of the castle (Zenmijou).

There's another episode here.

The final episode starts out by Taishaku-ten saying that he had promised Ashura-oh that in exchange for making Ashura-oh his own forever, he would never let the Six Stars come together, and if they did come together, that he would kill Ashura.

Taishaku-ten gets his sword out, ready to fight. The fully resurrected Ashura appears. Ashura is now protected by armor.

Yasha-oh is remembering Kuyoh's words - that "Ashura will kill you in the future," and wonders whether no one can escape from fate.

Now Ashura rushes toward Yasha-oh. Yasha-oh, resigned to die, closes his eyes. At the last moment, Ashura stabs himself in the chest with the Shura-toh. Ashura is enveloped in 'vines' (the same stuff that had cocooned baby Ashura for 300 years). Ashura and Yasha-oh reach out for each other, but the 'vines' cover up Ashura before their hands touch.

Zouchou-ten, Hanrya-nya, Taishaku-ten's son, and several ladies of the court have been watching all this from a distance. Hanrya-nya tries to kill herself. Zouchou-ten grabs her sword to stop her. Hanrya-nya pleads Zouchou-ten to let her die, since she has lived only for Taishaku-ten. Zouchou-ten takes her sword away, saying that he's seen enough people die before his eyes.

In the end, the entire castle looks as if it's been covered with the 'vines.'

Kujaku is thinking how similar he and Ashura are - both children who shouldn't have been born. Cut to Kujaku's flashback to when his mother and he were imprisoned. His mother is begging to be released from the dungeon. Kujaku approaches her, but she tells her "If only you were never born, all this wouldn't have happened."

The previous Tentei comes to see them. Kujaku asks him to release his mother, who is sick. Father simply grabs Kujaku to reveal the third eye, which resulted because he committed incest, and calls Kujaku "the cursed son." Kujaku answers that he will die if he is unwanted, so would father please save his mother. Father leaves.

Kujaku is desperate to get his mother out of prison. If his existence is hurting her, he feels it is better that he die. This is when he wings starts growing. His mother approaches, and proposes that they both die. She starts strangling him, saying "we're both unnecessary. We shouldn't have been born." Kujaku closes his eyes. Mother then stabs herself with her stargazing wand and dies. (I guess this is the wand he's been using?)

End of flashback. Yasha-oh is calling Ashura's name. Kujaku says that Ashura risked his life to protect Yasha-oh, and that he will never awaken. Yasha-oh decides to stay and wait, since he promised never to leave Ashura alone.

Kujaku tells Yasha-oh that even if Ashura awakens, Ashura does not have the ability to procreate. Because Ashura-oh tried to change fate, his only son was born neither male nor female. If Yasha-oh and Ashura were to live only by themselves, both the Ashura and the Yasha clan will die out. Yasha-oh answers that even if that happens, he will keep his promise.

Many many years pass by - so long that no one remembers what once happened there anymore. Yasha-oh is still waiting. Kujaku drops by. Yasha-oh is still determined to wait, one thousand, two thousand years more. Kujaku decides that he is also going to believe in another miracle. So he stabs himself with his stargazing wand, and by sacrificing his stargazing blood, commands the heavens to hear his voice - "Awaken, Ashura." Kujaku disintegrates, but Ashura's cocoon is broken.

Ashura realizes what Kujaku had done, and is crying, saying that "everyone died because of Ashura." Yasha-oh comforts Ashura, saying that he needs Ashura, and that he can live because Ashura is there for him. He tells Ashura "Let's stay together as long as we are alive - this is our promise."

So that's it!

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