Disclaimer: I don't own Fushigi Yuugi.  Don't sue.

Foreword: It seemed like people wanted to know what the reincarnated seishi looked like in this story.  I didn't feel like putting the outright detailed descriptions in the story itself, so it's on my web site (http://members.tripod.com/chibigreenmagic/fushigiyuugi/thenewwarriors/characters.htm).

"(regular)" – talking

{(italics)} – reincarnate to past incarnate (mental)

[(italics)] – past incarnate to reincarnate (mental)

'(italics)' - thoughts

*-(italics)-* - flashback

~Strange Journey: Phoenix's Love~

Chiriko was so happy to see Suzaku's shrine again that the first thing he said was, "Wai!  It's so good to be back again!"  He earned some strange looks from Hikaru and the rest since they thought that Tsunami was saying that she had been there before.

Lee coughed politely.  "How could you of been here before?"  Tsunami took over her body again and sweatdropped.

"Of course I've never been here!  It must have been déjà vu from my past life," she said quickly.  {I hate lying to them…}

[Since we are in my world now, why don't we just tell them?] he suggested.

She gave a mental shrug.  {I would feel uncomfortable telling them that.  But…you're right.  I'll tell them.}  She was shaken out of her conversation when she realized that Hikaru and Lee had begun to fight yet again.  Kotori looked distinctly uncomfortable, and she kept on glancing from the magnificent, golden statue of Suzaku to the fighting pair.

Vidal also saw the glance and swiftly used his shakujo to separate them.  He jangled the end, playful but threatening, between their faces.  "Behave.  We are in the shrine to the god we're supposed to be serving."  They looked like sheepish children for a second before trading mischievous glances.  Suddenly, Vidal found himself pushed back to the ground minus his kasa, kesa, and shakujo.  "HEY…!"

Hikaru did a little victory dance as she donned the kasa.  "Look at me!  I'm Chichiri!"  She held up the shakujo triumphantly.

"I got the cloak!" Lee said triumphantly.  Both of them began to run as Vidal chased after them.  On one side of the room, Nyo, Rei, Tsunami, and Kotori watched their antics with amused interest.  On the other side were Rayna and Tahir.

Rayna sighed as she watched them circle.  "They're behaving like little kids…  I can almost see them in an anime, running around in chibi form."  Tahir gave her a questioning glance.  "You know, SD.  When they shrink."  He still looked puzzled.  "Ah, the anime deprived," she sighed again.

"The only anime that I've ever seen was a few scenes from Fushigi Yuugi that Tsunami and Hikaru showed me," he admitted.  "I've never really been into that, though I have known a few people that were."

"You should watch it.  There's lots of guys that are almost as good-looking as Hotohori was," she said with a grin.

He looked up at the statue of Suzaku with a distant look in his eyes.  "I thought I only liked guys," he said softly.  "I only seemed to be attracted to them, but…then I met Kotori…"  Rayna kept her face stoic, but inwardly she winced.  "I had a crush on her for a while, but now… I think-"

He trailed off when the large doors to the shrine opened.  People dressed in traditional Chinese garb stepped in.  One had brown hair and brown eyes, and he looked vaguely related to Kotori.  He seemed surprised to see them.  His face lit up when he saw Kotori.

"You're back!" he exclaimed.  "I knew it!  I knew that you would return!"  He ran forward to sweep her up in a bear hug.

She giggled, but there were tears of relief in her eyes.  "Onii-san, I am glad to be back."  Eventually, they pulled apart.  "I would have told you I was going," she said once she regained her composure, "but I did not know until I was pulled into another world.  Let me introduce you to the Suzaku's seishi!  Everyone, this is my onii-san, Kazuo!"

Kazuo looked surprised.  "Y… You…are…seishi…?"  His eyes widened, and he turned to look at Kotori.  "That means…you…are…the priestess…?"

"That's right!"

He groaned and put a hand to his forehead as if he had a growing headache.  "Dear Suzaku… Okaa-san is going to flip."  He looked at Kotori and the seishi seriously.  "We should go to talk to Otou-san first."

"Hai!"

********

It was less than a day later that they found themselves on the road and traveling towards Taikyoku-zan.  "Man, that guy sure got us out of the city in a hurry," complained Hikaru from atop her brown horse.  "He wasn't acting like a very good father."

Kotori smiled.  "He is a very good ruler!  It's hard for a ruler to act like a father at the same time.  He does as much as he can for his children, so I don't mind when he acts a little brusque."

"He's worried about his country," mused Chiriko through Tsunami.  "I can see why.  The air feels dry and the land looks parched.  Several shops in Konan that should have been open today were closed, and most of the shops that were open were not food stores."  He sweatdropped after he finished speaking.  I hope they don't think I'm strange for knowing that much…

His worries were relieved when Vidal spoke.  "I noticed that, too.  However, we have to remember that the biggest problems are the rebels and bandits near the border.  Thankfully, Taikyoku-zan is far enough away from that area that we shouldn't run into any trouble, ya know?"

Because Nyo was riding on the same horse as them, Tsunami and Chiriko were the only ones to hear her murmur, "It depends on your definition of trouble."  Tsunami glanced sharply behind her, but Nyo only smiled and winked.  "Don't worry.  It's just me.  I won't cause you any trouble."  But Tsunami still frowned; something told her that it wouldn't be quite such a smooth journey.

********

Nyo clapped her hands happily as they entered a dark and creepy forest some days later.  "Yay!  We're almost there," she said with a big smile before dismounting.  She ran out in front of the horses so that they all came to a halt.  She held her hand out, palm forward.  "Stop right there.  Before we get any closer, I'm supposed to test all of you."

From a hidden pocket in her dress, she dug out a small mirror and threw it up in the air.  It reflected a ray of sunlight in midair.  In that flash, all of the seishi and the miko suddenly vanished.  The mirror landed face-up on the ground and slowly began to grow.  The horses started slightly at the sudden lack of weight on their backs, but they held their places.

"What happened to my big brother?" Rei worriedly asked.  Her face was scrunched up and it looked like she was about to cry.

Nyo smiled reassuringly.  "Don't worry, Rei-chan.  They'll be fine…I think.  Taiitsu-kun just wanted me to test them a bit before they entered her mountain, just to make sure that they can handle summoning the beast-god.  Do you understand?"

Rei still looked very unhappy, but she nodded reluctantly.  Suddenly she said, "If you hurt my big brother, I'm not going to forgive you."  It was the first threatening thing she had ever said to anyone.  Her eyes were serious as she clumsily dismounted the horse and walked over to kneel at the edge of the mirror.  She peered into it until she could see the shadowed form of Lee in the black background.

Lee glanced around him.  The Nyan-Nyan had thrown the mirror, and then he had found himself in the darkness.   "Where am I?" he asked aloud.  "Kotori?  Anyone?"

"Lee?"  The voice sounded distant and muffled, but it was definitely Kotori's voice.  "Where are you?  Where are we?"

"I don't know.  Keep talking, and I'll try to find you from your voice, okay?"  She paused, and then kept up a one-sided conversation about the legend of Suzaku.  It sounded to him as if she was trying to reassure herself.

"…And so the Suzaku no Miko, Miaka-sama, was finally able to summon Suzaku and restore balance to the Heavens.  Seiryuu was sealed…"

He could hear her voice more clearly now.  He knew that he was getting closer.

"…Some say that he vowed revenge…and yet did not want to fight his own brother.  Taiitsu-kun…"

Briefly, Lee wondered if Taiitsu-kun was the one that had sent them here, wherever that was.  The Nyan-Nyan had mentioned something about a "test".

"…Disapproved of their argument as the tipped sides of the scale once again sent their countries into war…"

Kotori's voice was beginning to recede again.  Desperately, Lee ran towards it… and was knocked back by a clear wall that the darkness had hidden from him.  "What?!"

"Is something wrong?  Lee?" he could hear Kotori ask.  Then he heard her scream.

His symbol glowed on his forehead as he frowned grimly.  'I don't care what type of wall is in this weird place!  I'm not letting Kotori get hurt!'  And he punched straight through the wall.  Some shards of the glass-like substance cut into his fist and hand as the entire thing shattered.  He didn't notice.  He had followed his punch's momentum forward and was running towards Kotori's voice.  He saw the shadow-like thing attacking her.  His speed increased, and then he felled it with a single blow.  It turned into dark smoke and dispersed

"Kotori…?"  The girl seemed shaken, but otherwise unharmed.  She ran to him and buried her face in his shirt.  Awkwardly, he put his arms around her and let his presence comfort her.

Tsunami knew she was in trouble when she saw two people standing across from her.  If they were two everyday people on some beach in Florida she may have been wrong.  But she was right, of course, though her judgment might have been hastened by the fact that one person looked like a gothic version of herself and the other looked like a dark version of Chiriko.  Not to mention that they were in some type of dimly lighted black room.

Gothic-Tsunami was wearing all black in a tight-fitting style.  Dark-Chiriko was dressed in black where the normal Chiriko would have been dressed in green, and his increased height and more defined features suggested that Dark-Chiriko was around Tsunami's age.  Tsunami stood still.  She didn't know what to do, but she had a feeling that running would not help.

Gothic-Tsunami spoke up.  "If you didn't notice, we're your dark sides.  We're your doubts, your worries, your frustration, etceteras and so forth.  And we're here to fight you."

"I don't fight."  She looked down at the ground.

Dark-Chiriko spoke up.  "Why not?"  He stepped forward menacingly.

Chiriko commented, [This could get ugly.]

{Thanks for the vote of confidence,} she replied sarcastically.  {I think I know how to get rid of them.  It should be fairly simple.}  She smiled.  "It's simple.  You are part of Chiriko and I.  Even if I did fight you I could never lose, but I would never completely win.  Human beings continually have to fight the darkness within them."

The two dark sides blinked in surprise, and suddenly vanished along with the dark room.  Tsunami found herself standing in a nice dining room.  She smiled.  "I didn't expect the answer to actually be that stereotypical, but whatever works…"  She looked around herself.  "This somehow reminds me of something…"

There was a small popping sound, and then there were many more people in the room.  Ira looked very tired, like he had just used his powers or had a fight, or possibly both.  Kotori and Lee were hastily disengaging themselves from a hug in embarrassment.  Rayna and Tahir were both blushing about…something.  The last thing she saw made her eyes widen in surprise.  She nearly burst out laughing because she knew it would happen sooner or later.  Hikaru and Vidal were kissing quite passionately, oblivious to anything else.

When they stopped for breath, they finally noticed everyone else in the room and turned a very bright shade of red.  "Er…um…" went Hikaru.

"Daa…" went Vidal.

Tsunami giggled.

And then everyone yelled out in surprise and fear when something very ugly appeared in the room.  "AAAAAAHHHHH!"

A vein in Taiitsu-kun's bulldog-like, old, wrinkled face twitched.  "Quiet down, you nitwits, unless you don't want my help."  Everyone froze.  No one made a sound.  "That's better.  Nyan-Nyan!"

Nyo popped into the room.  She had brought along Rei and Tama-neko.  The latter quickly ran over to Ira and sat on his shoulder, and the former ran to Lee and gave him a hug.  "You called?" the Nyan-Nyan said.

"Prepare the guest chambers.  The Suzaku will be staying on this part of the mountain until the Seiryuu arrive.  Your job is to watch them."  As suddenly as she had appeared, the mother of the four gods and the creator of their universe vanished.

With a smile, Nyo bowed to them all.  "Right!  I'll show you to your rooms!"  With a 'poof', she was in a tour guide's uniform.  "What happened in the test Taiitsu-kun told me to give you anyway?"  The seishi paused for a second, unsure of what to say.

*-Ira looked sadly at all the people around him.  They were all injured or dying, but he knew that his power could only help one of them.  One, a woman holding a dead baby, asked, "What will you do?  Who will you help?"

He frowned.  "I can't save them all… I wish I could, but I can't…" A determined look came into his eyes.  "But I will help who I can!"  He advanced towards the wailing dying… and they vanished.-*

*-Rayna and Tahir found themselves sitting in the middle of nowhere.  They tried walking off, but always found themselves back where they started.  After a moment's confusion, they decided to sit down and wait for something to happen.  The wait was beginning to bore them, and Rayna asked a question that had been plaguing her mind.  "Tahir… When we first came into the book, back at the shrine, you said that you had a crush on Kotori.  Then you were about to say something else, but you were interrupted.

Tahir blushed.  "Yes.  You see…" he fidgeted slightly, "…I…I don't have a crush on her anymore.  I think…that I like you."  There.  He had said it.  It had been bothering him for a few days.  He met Rayna's eyes, and saw that, this time, his love was returned.  Their heads came closer together, and then Rayna kissed Tahir on the lips.  Then she simply leaned against him.  Both of them were blushing.-*

*-Hikaru finished fighting off the last of the demon-like creatures with Vidal's help.  Together, they had easily defeated several in this dark place.  "Whew!  It's a relief that they're all gone!" Hikaru said with a smile as she sheathed her fan.  Her "Rekka Shinen" spell had taken out quite a few of the creatures.

Something rushed at her out of the darkness.  It was another creature!  But before she could even react, Vidal was there, and he destroyed it with a ki blast.  The demon was so close that the explosion blew him back, and he landed on Hikaru.  He got up, apologizing quickly, but Hikaru noted that he was blushing.  She wished that if he would just admit it if he liked her.  Finally she said, "Fuck this."  Vidal stopped his apology abruptly.  "Vidal, do you like me?" she asked.

He hesitated to answer.  "Er…"  His blush grew, and finally he just nodded.  He was pretty surprised when he ended up holding Hikaru, and even more surprised when she kissed him.  Actually, he didn't mind at all.-*

 "Nothing happened," Kotori and the seishi replied to the Nyan-Nyan's question.

She looked at them with disbelief and didn't tell them that she had seen it all in the mirror.  'I think Taiitsu-kun likes to play matchmaker…'  "Right… Now, follow me!  I'll show you to your rooms!"  Now all they had to do was wait for the Seiryuu seishi to arrive.

~TBC~

~Akugis: Geiko Commercial Parody~

Chibigreen does not own Geiko.  She doesn't even use Geiko.  But she thinks the Geiko/Gecko commercials are very funny.  And she doesn't own Magic Knight Rayearth, either.

Tsunami vs. a Tsunami

Tsunami: I am Tsunami, not to be confused with a tsunami, which can destroy hundreds of homes in a single instant.  In fact, tsunamis have been recorded to reach heights of-

Hikaru: Yeah, yeah, sure.  It's my turn now.

Tsunami: *pouts*

Hikaru (the reincarnated Tasuki) vs. Hikaru (from Magic Knight Rayearth)

Hikaru: I am Hikaru, the reincarnated Tasuki, not to be confused with Hikaru, the Magic Knight of Flame, who can instantly summon a fire god mecha and get two really good-looking bishies to fall for her.  Hey, wait a sec…!  I have two bishies that like me, too!  Who wrote this $@#%&! thing?!

Ryan vs. Tomo

Ryan: I am Ryan, not to be confused with Tomo, who can instantly scare hundreds of fans by wearing horribly clashing makeup… and then instantly win over hundreds of fans by removing said makeup from his face.  Why do they like him anyway? *grumbles*

Warren vs. Miboshi

Warren: I am Warren, not to be confused with Miboshi, who can instantly cut decades off of your lifespan with one easy demon summoning.  Or, if you prefer, he can just possess you.

Miboshi: …That's just cruel, Warren…

Seiryuu vs. Suzaku

Seiryuu-seikun: I am Seiryuu, not to be confused with that idiotic red chicken, who can be instantly sealed up by me, leaving all of his precious seishi to die.  Hahaha!

Suzaku vs. Seiryuu

Suzaku-seikun: I am Suzaku, not to be confused with that immature blue lizard, who can instantly be betrayed by his own priestess and get pulverized by me.  HahaHA!

Approximate Translations:

arigatou – thank you

chibi – child, in some cases referring to when anime characters are super-deformed (SD)

kasa – fishing hat

kesa – the cloak that Vidal/Chichiri wears

miko – priestess/maiden

okaa-san – mother/mom

onii-san – elder brother

otou-san – father/dad

seishi – celestial warrior(s)

shakujo – a staff such as Vidal/Chichiri's staff

-zan – Mount/Mountain

Chibigreen's Ending Rant: Oops…this chapter is out a bit late.  I had lots of school related stuff to do.  *nod*  Anyhow… Many more people reviewed this time than usual!  I was quite surprised, to tell the truth.  Maybe I should almost kill off characters more often-

Rime: I'll help!

Chibigreen: *clears throat* Ahem.  But I won't, because I just love all my characters!

Rime: *pretends to gag*

Nyo: Shut up!  *smacks Rime with a mallet*  Chibigreen, get working!  There's still more to do.  *starry eyes*  And all the reviews… Su-go-i!

Chibigreen: Okay… Well, now this fic is going to end in the foreseeable future… Hmm, two or three chapters and an epilogue, maybe?  And then the continuation fic with Tomo/Nakago… *begins to outline the plot*  Hmm…

Fiery-Ice – Wai!  Thanks for all the compliments!  ^___^  It's always nice to know that people like my fic.

ember-fang – I hope that the slight Lee/Kotori romance in this chapter was okay.

Lanen – I guess Miboshi is getting normal…for a reincarnated mage/split personality.

RyogazGal – Kouji does do angst well, even if I feel sorry for making him feel angsty.  ^__^;;

shareefa – Thanks a bunch for adding me to your favorites list! ^___^ Don't worry; I'm going not going to stop writing this fic until it ends.

PrincessKitty-Chan – No, I do not have something against Soi.  *rolls eyes*  Or you.  I'm glad you still like the fic, even if you probably know more about what's going to happen next than anyone else.

Kaneta – Yep, the plot thickens!  Nice sound effects.  ^___^

Flying heart – Well, I put the descriptions of their looks up on my website.  I may eventually write the descriptions into my story.  I don't know. *shrugs*

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