"Fushigi Tabi"
(Mysterious Journey)
Fushigi Yuugi|Ranma 1/2

by Kevin Eav

Ranma 1/2 and all respective characters and situations copyright
Takahashi Rumiko, Shogakukan, and Kitty TV.
Fushigi Yuugi and all respective characters and situations copyright
Watase Yuu, Flower Comics, Studio Pierrot, and Movic.

Oh yeah... an' anyone else I forgot. :)  I don't wanna be suuuuued, I'm
too young to spend my life in court! ;.;

Author's Notes (The Foreword version): As always, I may (have and will)
deviate from the strict continuity of both Ranma 1/2 and Fushigi Yuugi.
But then, I did that the moment I started out, didn't I?  I hope you all
enjoy reading this as much as I enjoy writing it; I certainly wasn't
expecting chapter two to be out of my head -quite- so quick, but it
happened.

Opening Theme: "Iitoshii Hito no Tame Ni", sung by DoCo

Chapter 2 -- "Something Old, Something New"

"Suzaku no Miko thought that she had completed the tasks set forth to her
by the ShijinTenchiSho and the power of Suzaku.  She had even been able to
retain the presence of her beloved, Tamahome.  But on a visit to the
gravesite of a man previously connected to the ShijinTenchiSho, Tamahome
disappears as the sacred book burns down, taking the National Library with
it.  In the meantime, several young men and women in Nerima ward are
subjected to strange, fantastical dreams...

     The tea was served; perfect, as usual, for Kasumi's kitchen was one
of the rare polished jewels in Nerima, as much legend as fact, if a quiet
one.  The biscuits were tangy and sweet both, the dining room perfectly
swept.  It was, in short, a perfect idyll.

     The idyll lasted for all of two minutes.

     "WHAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAT?!?!?"

     Several chins impacted the low pine table with just enough force to
splinter it.  Fortunately, this particular table was a break-away model
that Kasumi had been special-ordering for years, and it simply split along
the long end, creating a strangely neat pile of cookies and tea for her to
clean up later.

     Cologne managed to remain unperturbed.  "Exactly as I said, 
Muko-dono."  She slid off her gnarled staff, perching on the tip of one of 
the halves of table.  "You have all been brought here--brought together, 
over the course of years--because of a deeper fate."

     "Yeah, right.  I bet this is another of your tricks to get me to
marry Shampoo, isn't it?"  Ranma sounded skeptical, forgetting, in the
heat of the moment, the dream he had experienced.

     Cologne sighed, "I admit that it would please me if you had married
Shampoo, but I can only give you my word that this is not a scheme, overt
or covert, to win your hand to Shampoo."  She hopped around the table's
pieces, stopping in front of Akane. "It is you who are in the biggest
trouble by far, Tendo Akane."

     All eyes focused on the young heir to the Tendo Dojo.  "M-me?" she
stammered, "Why me?"
    
     "Because, you are the one whose actions will determine the fate of
those you love.  Remember that." Cologne moved away even as Akane opened
her mouth to speak.

     "But I don't want to be responsible for their fates!! Mou, I don't
want it!" She crossed her arms, a stubborn gesture Ranma knew well.

     Cologne fixed her with a stare that seemed to pierce right through
her.  "It does not matter if you -want- it, it -will be-."

     A new voice piped up. "But what about us?"  It was Kuonji Ukyou who
had spoken. Her accompanying gesture encompassed Ryouga, Mousse, Kunou and
Toufuu, all of whom had been summoned (except Ryouga, who had the
uncanniest knack of being around when he was needed) at Cologne's
insistence.

     "All of you shall also play an important part in this.  Trust in
that.  I cannot reveal more than this.. not at this time.  Not until
another force reveals itself..."

^_^

     They were poring over a map; trying to figure out some connection
between the library and the other places where those who had been affected
by the ShijinTenchiSho; Miaka, Yui, Keisuke and Tetsuya had stuck pins
into the map, marking the National Library, the gravesite of ___, and even
the place where Nakago died.  But there was nothing.  Until Miaka's hand
passed over Nerima.

     She stopped, staring down at the map as the Nerima ward pulsated
under a soft, unmistakable red glow.  The chi of Suzaku.  Wordlessly, she
touched a finger to the map; traced over the document until she felt the
pull; as she stopped, a small beam of red light shot from her fingertip
and struck her in the forehead, lighting up the symbol of Suzaku burnt
there.  And she knew that she had to go there.  It took Tetsuya an hour to
convince her to wait a day at least so they could plan and such.

     That night, she slept--dreamlessly, or so she thought, while her
dreamvision was filled with images of people she thought she didn't know,
but who felt so familiar it was as if she had spent a lifetime with them.
The names floated to her lips, stopped just inside her mouth, for her to
discover later.

^_^

     Because Cologne had refused to divulge any more information, the
group had drifted from talking about the dreams they had each had into
bickering, practicing, and Ukyou attempting to win her Ran-chan's
affections once more, an attempt which ended with an angry Akane armed
with a bucket of cold water.

     Elsewhere, another group of young men and women were receiving
another call... summoned by one whose purpose was unknown; the soft,
seductive voice promised them all that they dreamed of and more, if they
would simply follow his lead.

     A young man, already a Prince, promised a dynasty larger than the
world had ever seen... a young woman, promised the heart and soul of the
only man who had ever turned her eye.  Another, promised an end to the
torment that none but she had ever experienced.  An eclectic group, drawn
together by a burning desire to attain the one thing they had been denied.

^_^

     The train to Nerima was short; mercifully so, as Miaka sat by the
window, staring out without focus, as Tokyo passed by, on a grey,
featurelss day.  She ignored even the food proffered her by Keisuke;
Tetsuya tried his best to comfort Yui, distressed by her friend's lack of
life.  Attempts at conversation failed; all of the four group could feel
that they were at the cusp of another change in their life... that they
were about to embark on a second journey; but this time, they had no map,
no guide.  And it scared them all.  They were, after all, just kids, the
oldest of them just barely in their twenties.

^_^

     The Tendo household was no less lively than it could be; mayhem and
chaos reigned rampant, barely controlled.  Ranma and Ryouga had retired to
the dojo for a 'friendly' practice session; that had drawn the attention
of both Ukyou and Akane, which in turn had brought Kunou and Mousse, and
this group had split along one line; Akane and Ukyou cheering on Ranma,
Kunou and Mousse cheering on Ryouga.  The latter had just leaped into the
air for a powerful flying kick when, as if someone had shut the current of
life in Nerima off, everything seemed to stop.  As a group, everyone in
the dojo looked towards a point... they could feel something important
approaching... something momentous.

     *CRUNCH*  Ryouga's foot met with the side of Ranma's head, taking the
young man down with much force.  Ranma's hands rose, fingers crooked into
an expression of surprise, as Ryouga landed. "Heh, sorry Ranma.  Maybe we
should go see what's going on, hmmm?"  His erstwhile opponent mumbled
something into the cracked floorboards, the others already filing out into
the front yard.

^_^

     Guided by Miaka, the cab wound its way slowly through the streets of
Nerima, through a residential section, a business section, and another
residential section.  Keisuke commented on the peaceful look, but no one
answered.  Finally, they came to a large, plaster and wood gate, above
which the sign read "Tendo Dojo--Musabetsu Kakuto Ryuu".  Miaka paused,
one hand on the gate, looking back to her two friends and her brother for
support.  It was then that it happened.

     A blue lash of energy reached out, smashing the thick pine door into
splinters; Miaka shrieked and stumbled back, already off-balance; Keisuke
lunged forward--too late--as another blue lance reached out for Miaka.

     She was saved, by a blur of red and black that had her in its arms
even as the energy ripped a gash into the concrete and tamped dirt of the
sidewalk and the Tendo front yard.

     Cries of surprise echoed from several directions; confusion reigned,
but no more attacks came as Ranma, that blur, deposited Miaka on her feet,
next to her brother, then wheeled around to face the source of the attack.
Miaka quietly crumpled into her brother's arms, unconscious.

     "HERB?!?!?"  This from Ranma, Ryouga, Akane, and Mousse; for they had
been there, had been involved when Herb had come for revenge on Ranma.
But it didn't seem quite like him.  

     Yui, Tetsuya and Keisuke shouted another name at the floating figure,
garbed in Chinese armor. "NAKAGO?!?!?"

     There was another figure; it stood--in the air--and between the
people on the ground and the sun, so that it would presumably be difficult
to recognize him.

     But they did.  Well, some of them did--or thought so.  "HAPPOUSAI?!?"
Ranma sounded indignant, and rightfully so, for Herb had been an enemy
once, and Happousai still was, for all his posturing about training Ranma
to be the next heir to the Tendo Dojo.

     Cologne's quiet voice cut through the air. "Tenkou."  She perched
calmly atop the unruined section of the gate. "It's been a long time."

     Happousai hissed and glowered; when he spoke his voice echoed with
unearthly tones. "Yesssss.... yes it has.  A long time I have waited...
pent up in this... this pervert's body... you won't win this time!"  And
with that, in a flash of light more brilliant than the sun, Happousai and
Herb vanished.

^_^

     Miaka, shaken up by the sudden attack, had fainted; Kasumi quietly,
with Keisuke and Yui's help, got her installed into the guest bedroom; Yui
elected to stay with Miaka, to watch over her, and so was left with a
supply of washcloths and cool water.

     Down in the miraculously cleaned living room, Cologne was once again
bombarded for answers to the new questions that had popped up after the
sudden attack.  Only Genma and Soun were not present; they were fixing up
the gate, the percussion of their hammers and Soun's quiet sobbing making
for strange background to the young group.

     "One at a time, one at a time, please!"  Cologne's calls for order
eventually permeated through and got the young men and women she faced to
quiet down.  Ranma, as he was wont to do, got in the first question.

     "Who is Tenkou and why did you call Happousai by that name?"  Ranma's
voice carried much of the indignation of the rest of the group, and his
question was quickly echoed and chorused by "yeah!"s and "who -is- he?"s.

     A sigh.  "That is a difficult question to answer.  Tenkou is...
negative.  He -is- evil.  He is the embodiment of all that is dark and
twisted in this world.  Happousai was simply his... hidden embodiment in
this world."

     "In -this- world? C'mon, you old crone, what do you mean by that??"
Ukyou, this time, her tone skeptical, unamused.  "And why was he floating
in air?  He's never done that before."

     "For a very long time, Ukyou, he has contained himself within
Happousai; only giving vent to very little of his true power, little by
little, until the time was right and the seal was destroyed."

     Keisuke suddenly struck his left hand with his right fist, a gesture
of understanding. "The ShijinTenchiSho!"  The others looked at him.

     "Yes, exactly, Yuuki Keisuke; the ShijinTenchiSho had many purposes,
one of which was to keep this world's Tenkou sealed away.  When it was
burned, so was its duty failed."

     Everyone opened their mouths to speak, again, when a sudden, soft
thumping, like feet in stockings, could be heard.  And then Ranma was
wrapped in soft arms, a smallish, warm body pressed against his side, from
which a single word was uttered.  "Tamahome!"

To Be Continued

Ending Song: "Positive", sung by Sakamoto Chika

Next: Miaka has found Tamahome! Or has she. Suzaku no Miko finds herself
struck by the past and the present, confused by what she sees in her
mind's eye.  Don't miss our next chapter, "The Mirror Has Two Faces".
What lies in store for Suzaku no Miko?


Author's Notes (The Afterword Version):

     Wow.  I did not expect that I would get the second chapter written so
quickly.  Folks, this represents a milestone for me; the first chapter of
any of my individual stories that is both multi-chapter -and- has gotten
to chapter 2.  I hope you like what you're reading; this chapter is
significantly shorter than Chapter 1, which I'm not really -very- pleased
with, but at the same time, it was a much faster-paced chapter than I
expected.  I am shooting for a minimum of 10k per chapter, and so this one
rounds out at about 11k of story, so I think it's okay, maybe.  I'd like
longer chapters, but when I attempt it, I end up delaying; so instead I
try to pack as much story into each chapter that I felt was represented in
an episode of Fushigi Yuugi.


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| ukyou@maison-otaku.net | Church of Ryouga (1st Deacon, Sacred Compass |
|http://www.maison-otaku.net/~ukyou/ (Under construction, as always. :) |
|    Kaoru no Miko,  Yakumo no Miko,  Kenshin no Miko,  Nima no Miko    |
|   Shidou Hikaru no Miko, Ryuuzaki Umi no Miko, Hououji Fuu No Miko    |
|           Yes, I MUCK.  Where?  Just about everywhere. ;)             |
|"We are the music-makers; we are the dreamers of dreams." - Willy Wonka|
|               "Yooh! Obake-chan!" - Tasuki, Fushigi Yuugi             |
|       "Sana-chan, there's trouble! Use your henshin burachaa!"        |
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