Creation began on 10-03-16

Creation ended on 06-13-17

Fushigi Yugi Genbu Kaiden

I shall sacrifice for you!

A/N: To those that have read the prequel, have you ever felt like there was just something about what happened that you could have done to change the outcome? That's what I feel could be done about the story.

As he sat in his wooden throne, resting up after undoing all of the wrong caused by the accidental murder of a little boy by a drunk biker youth, which instigated the revival of a demon of vengeance known as Pumpkinhead to exact vengeance for the father of the boy, Brother Correction awaited the next situation the multiverse gave him to resolve with his divine authority. He prayed for the next mistake to be closer to mortality and more towards some kind of devotion that went beyond the ties of blood.

"Family is everything to anyone, but it doesn't always have to be about family," he told himself, looking down at his hands as he let them recover from the scrapes and cuts he sustained from saving the boy whose death would've brought great heartache and vengeance to the father that would go to the witch that knew of the vengeance demon. "I have saved countless families from despair, undid buildings and entire cities from being shattered, even aided in the rebuilding of multiple worlds. The power that courses through my being, my soul, endows me with an unbreakable will to save those deserving of life…and punishing those deserving of retribution."

Suddenly, a glass sphere of jade appeared above his head. It floated in front of him, revealing a disturbing series of deaths and suffering in an ancient kingdom associated with a celestial beast known as Genbu, the Black Tortoise or Snake and Tortoise. And a young woman who was destined by other forces to become the beast's priestess, the first of four, one for each deity, to fulfill the needs of the people of each kingdom and obtain the power of the associated deity to save each kingdom from disaster…and the man she fell in love with over the course of her journey to gather the seven individuals marked by Genbu to summon him, who was one of them.

"The Four Gods," he expressed, seeing the young girl's father stab himself in the heart in an attempt to save his daughter from Genbu before she made her third wish after her first two were to save the kingdom from a fatal ice age and heal those suffering from the chaos and war. "This is where I'll make myself known."

-x-

As Prof. Okuda prepared to stab himself in the heart, time seemed to stand still.

"Stop!" A male voice uttered to him, and he turned to see a man that didn't belong anywhere in Japan. "You don't need to do that."

"Please, stay out of this," he told the stranger, needing to save his daughter. "I have to do this."

"Except you don't have to. You don't have to cross that line. That's why I'm here. To save her."

Prof. Okuda looked at him and thought for a moment that he was crazy. When he decided to go ahead and end his life and save Takiko, all he felt was a wet spot on his chest that should've been blood…but wasn't. Looking down, all he saw…was water on his clothes. The knife was nowhere to be seen.

"Please," the stranger pleaded, slowly approaching him. "Let me have the book. I can save your daughter. That's why I'm here."

"What do you know about Takiko?" He asked him.

"I know enough to know that her final wish from Genbu must be fulfilled. But if I intervene, she won't die. She won't be sacrificed to Genbu. Please, trust me."

-x-

Time seemed to have lost any sense of motion for Takiko and Limdo. They were lost in a vast, white realm. There was no Bei-jia, no other Celestial Warriors, no Genbu. Even the metamorphosis that Takiko's body was going through was nowhere to be seen or felt.

"Limdo?" Takiko spoke, confused, wondering what was going on.

"Takiko," Limdo responded, just as puzzled by this phenomenon.

Just then, Genbu appeared in front of them, accompanied by a strange man with dirt-colored skin, dressed in strange clothes that didn't seem to belong to any part of Asia.

Genbu approached the couple and bowed his head to them.

"You still have one more wish, Priestess of Genbu," he told Takiko.

"I don't understand," she responded. "What has happened?"

"This man, unbound by any form of authority or power, has intervened and changed the outcome of fate. He has become…a bearer of the outcome."

Takiko looked at the stranger…and saw what had befell her happening to him. His hands turning into claws, a shell forming on his back, and a snake appearing on his left leg as scales began to form on the right side of his face.

"Why?" She questioned him.

Brother Correction, undeterred by the supernatural affliction to his body, walked over to the three and uttered, "I saw your fate. The fate of your father. I exist only to change the fate of those who deserve to live. It is my blessing and my curse, to do whatever I can to save others."

Takiko could also see blood seeping out of his mouth; if he did take on her suffering into himself, this must've also meant that he took her illness, as well.

"It's okay, really," he told the priestess, still sounding like he was undeterred by what was happening to his body. "I have done things like this for a long time. It's what I live for. Please. Do what you were going to wish for. It's all I ask."

Takiko had been ready to accept her fate as the priestess, but now this man had taken her fate upon himself to save her life and allow her to pursue a future with Limdo. She was grateful to him, but felt that her third wish should've been used to save him.

Please, don't, she heard his voice in her head. I won't let you throw your happiness with Limdo away. I will tell you, my life has been spent undoing the awful, unforgivable fates of innocent people for so long, it's become my common practice. I've been around many places, called by many names, lived many lifetimes, encountered many deities and spirits. Takiko Okuda, your life is your own now. Live, be with Limdo, embrace the future that is yours.

Takiko approached him and caressed his still-human facial cheek.

"Thank you," she praised him.

"No sacrifice for the people that need hope, no hope for the people that will sacrifice."

She then returned to Limdo's side…and knew what to make for her final wish.

"Are you ready, Limdo?" She asked him.

"I'm ready," he answered her.

"Kai-Shen!"

-x-

Even though he had been devoured to fulfill the requirement of Genbu's priestess, Brother Correction didn't disappear from existence. He appeared again beside Prof. Okuda, who seemed concerned about progressing in the story of the Genbu Priestess.

"You're here?" He gasped. "My daughter? Is she…"

"Pick up where you left off in the book, please," Brother Correction told him, and he opened the book back to the page he stopped at.

He looked back and forth between the book and Brother Correction, tearing up at what was written that detailed his daughter's fate.

"Thank you," he praised the mysterious man that saved his daughter's life.

Brother Correction bowed his head to the creator of the translated version of The Universe of the Four Gods.

"May you find peace with your daughter as she finds happiness with her husband," he told him.

-x-

Returning to his wooden throne with a glad heart, Brother Correction conjured a copy of The Universe of the Four Gods that was an exact duplicate of the version Prof. Okuda had made, opening to the pages that detailed the fate of Takiko Okuda. In it, Takiko had made her wish to be with Limdo, no matter what fate befell them, that they would always find one another as their hearts were one, a love that would transcend time and space. Because of his presence, the wish was made more powerful than it could've been with just the power of Genbu alone, so he saw the great result. He saw Takiko and Limdo spend many years in Bei-jia, blessed with twins, a boy and a girl, until they passed away together in their sleep.

Even though the story ended and Takiko was returned to her world, exactly as she was before she ended up in Bei-jia, the power of her wish proved strong…as nearly a day later, a man bearing the likeness of Limdo had moved to town…and possessed more than just the Genbu Celestial Warrior's likeness. The man had the Genbu Celestial Warrior's memories and feelings of Takiko.

Brother Correction even saw how Takiko pleaded with her father to not bury the book and had faith in the succession of the next priestess. He had faith, too, in the succession of priestesses. Especially the Priestess of Suzaku after changing the fate of the Genbu Priestess, since she could help in changing the fate of the Seiryu Priestess, fulfilling the book's roles.

"If something else of this sort happens again in the future, I shall do the same for them as I did for Takiko," he told himself, closing the book with a smile at the fact that Takiko out-of-book life with Limdo included their second wedding. "I shall make the necessary sacrifice for their happiness. I can make the tribute that no one else has to or should be made to make. Whoa… I guess Takiko's third wish drained me a lot more than I had expected it to. Nothing a little rest won't mend. Maybe I've earned a small nap. Ahh…"

His head fell back on his throne…and his daylight domain turned dark and quiet. The book fell out of his hands and onto the ground…and was immediately picked up by Genbu, who set it down on a nearby stand…and vanished.

Fin

A/N: I've finally read the entire prequel series of Fushigi Yugi Genbu Kaiden, and almost thought it was going to break my heart a lot more than I had expected it to. Really love Yuu Watase's work and hope to see another Fushigi Yugi series in the future. Peace out, everyone.