Well, here I am! I liked how part
one went so well that I decided to go
on ahead with part two. That's good,
ne? With the ending of the last one,
I thought someone out there must be
wanting more, so I decided to be nice.
(I'm always nice! What am I saying?)
Anyway, I can't seem to find many
Fushigi Yuugi fanfic pages. If you
know of a good one, please send me
the addy! Oh, by the way, in case
anyone is wondering, I'm going by the
magna on this, so if things are a wee
bit different, don't be mad. (I've
checked and they're pretty close but
I just thought I'd mention it.)


Searching
Part two



____________________________________________________________

    Deep in the darkest caves of Earth, a great evil
slept. She had been waiting, undisturbed for years,
while her power and the access energy she'd kept
warded and stored up grew. Her servants were all
already awake, but the power it had taken to send
the half of them away had delayed her own awakening.
Now she stirred, stretching the arms that hadn't
moved in years, and opening the eyes that hadn't
seen the real sun in so long that not even she could
remember.
    One thing rested on her mind.
    Revenge.
    Thin lips curled into a smile that was as evil
as the being it belonged to.
    Yes, revenge was good. That little brat and her
friends would pay.
    And oh! Would they suffer! They should have known
they couldn't defeat her!
    They should have known that no one crosses Beryl
and lives for long.
    The smile grew, revealing a small pair of sharp-
looking fangs. No one crossed Beryl and got away with
it. They would pay.
    Her most useful servants, her kings, appeared by
her at her summons, ready to assist her to the new
base of power. Their eyes literally glowed with the
dark energy she used to control them. They were
stronger than they'd ever been. Victory was assured
to her this time. She wouldn't let it slip through
her fingers again.
    Yes, revenge was good.
____________________________________________________________

    Hotohori sat alone on the railing of one of the
palace balconies, holding his chin in his hand. He
was in a bad mood, and had been for quite some time,
but an emperor was not supposed to get in bad moods.
In fact, an emperor was not supposed to care about
anything other than the welfare of his country.
Hotohori's father had been the perfect emperor. Not
even his family came close when compared to Hong-Nan.
    But Hotohori wasn't his father, and the thoughts
dominant in his head were doing absolutely nothing
to help his mood. It was a familiar mood though, like
the kind he was continually in before Miaka came.
    His life had been lonely. With a father that only
cared about his people, and a mother that only sought
to train her son into being her puppet, he hadn't had
much affection growing up. After a while, he invented
someone who would love him if his parents would not.
    At first, when he was younger, the person was an
imaginary playmate who thought the world of the
young emperor-to-be, and would never abandon or hurt
him for any reason, but as Hotohori got older, things
like that were harder to think about. Soon, he changed
his dreaming style. He imagined the perfect girl
instead of the perfect friend. Someone who loved him
who he could love back. It was just as simple as that.
It was all he ever wanted.
    After the death of his father, Hotohori learned
of his destiny to protect the priestess of Suzaku.
His dream maiden took on a whole new look as he
decided that she must be the one he'd been waiting
for.
    Then Miaka finally came. She was cute and
affectionate, and fit his dreams almost perfectly.
    But even now he knew that she didn't love him,
and never would. Any fool, even a lovestruck one,
could see her feelings for Tamahome.
    Hotohori sighed. She'd just come back from a
long visit to her world to restore her health and
had immediately set out to find Tamahome who had
left a little after she did. She'd taken her other
protector, Nuriko, with her, but Nuriko had since
come back, bearing stories of the new Seishi they'd
found.
    That was good for Hong-Nan, but at the moment,
Hotohori didn't care. What was on his mind was more
important to him.
    For months, his advisors had pressured him to
find a bride. When Miaka had shown up, he'd thought
his worries about an Empress were over, but now it
appeared they were worse than ever. None of the
women he'd seen could even come close to the
unbreakable standards he'd set when he was younger.
Yet, he had to find a bride...
    Footsteps brought him out of his thoughts as
Nuriko approached him cautiously.
    "Your majesty, you should rest," he said,
sounding a little worried. Hotohori noticed that
the other man was once again dressed as a girl.
"Your majesty has not eaten or slept for days!"
    "We are too preoccupied with affairs of state...
as well as with Miaka..to eat," the young emperor
replied, choosing his words carefully as always.
He couldn't let Nuriko think that he had given up
on Miaka, because then he would think that *he*
had a chance. That would never happen. Hotohori
was not interested in other men. "If only we knew
she were safe..."
    "Please don't worry. Tamahome and Chichiri are
with her. Besides, she *is* the priestess of Suzaku!"
    Hotohori sighed again, not liking how desperate
he sounded. "Perhaps you are right. Her indomitable
spirit will grace our presence soon enough."
    Seemingly satisfied with his answer, the purple-
haired man walked off and Hotohori returned to his
thoughts.
    He hadn't realized he'd fallen asleep until
he woke up some time later. The sky was dark and
filled with stars. He hoped no one had seen him
in such an undignified position-sleeping in public,
of all things!-but knew if they had, no one would
mention it.
    He was about to leave when a shooting star caught
his eye. There was something different about it, but
he couldn't place what until it began to make its
way *toward* him.
    No, it can't be coming toward me! That's impossible...
    Even so, closer and closer it came.
    Hotohori took a step back from the balcony just
as the star fell into the fountain right below him.
    Without hesitation, of even caring if anyone
saw him rushing, he ran to the fountain. What could
it mean? Things didn't usually fall from the sky
right into one's garden. At least not in this part
of China.
    The passageways to the garden were blessedly
empty and he reached the fountain without trouble.
The emperor stopped short as he saw what his "star"
really was.
    Standing calf-length in the cold water and
soaking wet was the girl who he'd dreamed of all
his life.
____________________________________________________________

____________________________________________________________
To be continued
    Well? Comments? Is this a good spot to
        put a (hopefully) cliffhanger?