"> Echoes of Destiny : Chapter Six: Trapped

Disclaimer: I don't own any of the characters, they belong to Watase Yuu and several other people. This is just fanfiction. Nakago and all other unnamed characters have been given names for the duration of this story.

Notes: Alternate Universe. Contains spoilers for entire series, hints of yaoi, language, and violence. Read at your own discretion. Again, pairings are not canon. This chapter is a little shorter because I want to keep the two worlds separate.

*thoughts*

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"Toroki! Go get the other one," Tatara replied, looking at the figures in front of him. "I wouldn't waste your time on the Seiryuu, my friend. They're all going to die soon anyway."

Mitsukake glared at the other man. "How can you be so cruel? The man I knew would never have done this," he replied.

Tatara smirked slightly and picked up the gun he had knocked from the older man's hand. "The man you knew is dead. He was dead when you met him, he just didn't know it," he replied. He tucked the gun into his belt and looked at the body at the older man's feet. "It wasn't quite as satisfying watching that creature die as I thought it would be. Too bad your wife can't bring the dead back to life anymore. I would have enjoyed making Miboshi suffer."

Houjun glared at the brunette as he tried to stop the bleeding from a gash in the younger twin's chest. "Isn't it enough that she is dead?"

The Byakko seishi was about to say something when his companion came back up the stairs. "He's not there. Nuriko and Soi are gone," Toroki replied.

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Saihitei looked up at the large house and sighed slightly. "I know I felt Chichiri's chi coming from inside here, but I can't feel it anymore," he replied. "He's not dead, he's just not here. Where do we try next?"

Taka shrugged and glanced toward the driveway. "He has to be here. His car's here and he would never leave it unattended," he replied. He was about to say something else when he heard a noise from behind him. He turned to see Shun'u and Doukun running up the driveway. "Looks like we're all agreed. This is definitely the place."

"But where is Mits? If 'Chiri's hurt, we're going to need his help," Shun'u replied.

"Chichiri isn't the one you should be worried about." Ryuuen stepped around the corner of the house and looked at his former friends. "Toroki has cast a spell on the house. No one can get in or out."

"How did you manage to get out?" Doukun asked, stopping the redhead from getting too close to the smaller man. "And why shouldn't we worry about Chichiri? He's our friend."

Ryuuen smiled sadly and motioned around the edge of the house. "Because we can stop them," he replied. He disappeared around the side for a moment, only to come back carrying the unconscious Soi and a red book. Saihitei and Shun'u immediately ran to take the brunette from the smaller seishi. Taka watched in shock as the smaller man handed the book to him. "I'm sure you know what this is, Tamahome."

Taka nodded absently as he took the book. He didn't have to read the name to recognize the one book he never wanted to see again. "I thought this was lost when Tetsuya died," he replied quietly. He clutched the book tightly to his chest and looked at Ryuuen. "Where did you find it?"

"It belonged to Chuin. It's the only thing he had when he came to live with us," Ryuuen replied. He glanced at his hand, which had obviously been bleeding, but was now wrapped in a makeshift bandage. "He thought he had lost it when we moved, but it had been sealed in a mirror."

Doukun walked up to the two and placed his hand on the younger seishi's shoulder. "We don't have time for the full story now, Soi is waking up," he replied. He looked closely at Ryuuen and smiled slightly. "Welcome back, Nuriko."

Kaen opened her eyes and looked up into a set of worried amber. "Miboshi ... Shun'u, Miboshi is dead," she replied, trying to sit up.

The redhead forced her to lay still and glanced at his companion. "It's okay, Soi," he replied, turning back to her.

Kaen shook her head and glanced around the small group. "Where is Houjun? Nuriko, where is Chichiri?"

Ryuuen sighed and knelt beside her. "He's still inside, Kaen. Don't worry, though. Shouka and Juan won't let anything happen to him," he replied. He sighed slightly and looked at Doukun. "Chiriko, you know what we have to do, don't you?"

"Hai. We have to use the book."

"You're crazy," Taka replied. "We can't use this thing. It nearly killed Miaka and Yui and it did kill Tetsuya. I will not let it hurt anyone else."

"Tamahome, listen. I heard Toroki talking to another seishi. The book is the key. Since we were all born in this world, we have to go into the book world to find the Mikos," Ryuuen replied. He stood and looked at the taller man. "And think about it, maybe your friend really isn't dead."

Taka stopped and thought for a moment. "You could be right, Nuriko. The book pulled me in before. Perhaps he ... but what about the kids? They were lost too. Would the book have done that?" As he spoke, a soft red light started emanating from the book. After several moments, he nodded slightly and looked at the others. "Alright, but Miaka and the children never find out."

"Agreed," the other five seishi replied in unison.

"So, how will going into the book stop them from hurting 'Chiri?" Shun'u asked.

Doukun helped Kaen to her feet before turning to the former bandit. "Simple. We go back inside and the book does the rest," he replied. "It's getting inside that's a problem."

Ryuuen smirked slightly. "Leave that to me," he replied, cracking his knuckles.

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"How in the world could they have gotten out of the house? Apparently your spell isn't as good as you thought, Toroki," Tatara replied. He glanced from the now bound Suzaku seishi to his fellow Byakko, waiting for an answer.

Yenting chuckled hoarsely and looked at the brunette. "Or you underestimated Ryuuen. That isn't a very smart thing to do," he replied.

"What? Do you think we're scared of that little twig of a boy? He may have the strength of ten men, but in this world, physical strength doesn't matter much," Toroki replied. He finished tying a rope around the arms of Kotoku and Chuin before moving to stand beside Tatara. "My spell is fine. He must have found a way around it."

Tatara sighed and looked around the room. Chuin and Kotoku were still unconscious; Juan and Houjun were watching him from the other side of the room, but since he had threatened Shouka, neither had tried to escape; the aforementioned woman was tending the wounds of the younger twin and Jason while Tatara kept her husband's gun aimed at the back of her head; Yenting was still sitting in the chair the healer had helped him into earlier, too weak to move, so the Byakko hadn't even bothered to tie him to the chair. Unlike the other Seiryuu seishi, he didn't lose consciousness when Eeyan died, instead, it seemed to have made his thinking a lot clearer.

The brunette sighed slightly. "The point is, he's out. And he'll get the other seishi. We can't take on all of them at once, Toroki," he replied. "And we can't go back to Sami without Chow."

"Then you're in for a bad day," Ryuuen replied. The purple haired man smirked from the doorway of Yenting's study as an orange blur ran past him and knocked Tatara to the ground.

Shun'u kicked the gun out of the other man's hand and glared at him. "Don't even think about touching Nuriko."

Saihitei grabbed a sword from a display on the wall and lowered it to the other man's neck. "If I were you, I'd listen to him. Just be glad he doesn't have his tessen anymore."

Toroki looked shocked for a moment before reaching for his own gun. As his hand neared the belt holster, he was hit by a bolt of lightning and knocked into a bookshelf with a sickening crunch. As he collapsed to the floor, Ryuuen turned slightly and smirked at the blonde behind the desk. "Sorry we're late," he replied. He walked over to Tatara and looked at the prone Byakko seishi. "Your little friend will go back and tell Hatsui that his little game, is over. The book is ours."

Tatara's eyes widened slightly as the redhead pulled him to his feet. "You're coming with us, plant boy," Shun'u replied. He grabbed the ropes Taka had taken off of Houjun and tied the older man's arms behind his back. "There, that should hold you. But just to be safe ..."

Saihitei used the handle of the sword to knock the other man out. "Now what do we do with him? We can't really let him go back and tell the others we've got the book," the former emperor asked, pointing to Toroki.

"I've got an idea," Yenting replied. He stood shakily and looked at the other seishi. "I thought it was bad sharing a body with Chiriko, but Nakago ... don't even get me started."

"Miboshi!?"

The blond nodded slightly then closed his eyes to concentrate. A few moments later, Toroki's body stood and looked at Kaen. "Good shot, Soi. I think this one's extra crispy," he replied, smiling slightly. He tried to take a step forward and almost fell. Juan ran over to him and caught him, being careful of the broken ribs.

Kaen shook her head slightly and looked at Miboshi. "How? I mean, I know you used to do that all the time, but ... how?"

"It isn't easy," he replied. "But it comes in handy when someone tries to shoot your friends."

"He was trying to kill Chichiri, I didn't have a choice," Juan replied.

Houjun shook his head slightly and placed one arm around his wife's shoulders. "Tomo wasn't trying to kill me. He was just trying to make it look that way. That chi ring could have sliced me in half at any moment, but it barely cut me," he replied. "The pain was just an illusion. A way to bring you all here."

"Why? Most of you hate Tomo and you never even met him," Yenting replied.

"This is why," Taka replied, holding up the red book. The Shi Jen Ten Chi Sho glowed slightly with a red and blue light. "Nuriko said it was in his things. And now that I've seen him, I know why."

He stood from beside the small man and opened the book. As he did, a red and blue light enveloped the room and moved out into the house. When it faded, the house was empty. No sign of the battle was left behind, save a few drops of blood on the staircase, a hole where the front door used to be and a book, lying on the floor of the study.

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Miaka knocked softly on the door, so as not to wake it's occupant. "Come in, Miaka. I'm not sleeping," a voice from within replied.

The brunette smiled slightly at her daughter before opening the door and walking in. "I was hoping you weren't, but I wanted to make sure," she replied. She took the tray from her daughter and placed it on the small table beside the bed. "How are you feeling today?"

The figure in the bed glanced at the younger woman before looking to her old friend. "Something's wrong, Miaka. I may not be Seiryuu no Miko anymore, but I do know that one of my seishi is dead," the blonde replied.

"How could you know that, Aunt Yui?" the younger woman asked. She sat on the edge of the bed and looked at her namesake. For the last fifteen years, Yui Kajiwara had been living with the Sukunami family, ever since the day an horrific plane crash claimed her husband and three children and left her paralyzed from the waist down. At the time, they said it was a miracle anyone had survived, out of 147 passengers and crew, 49 were killed on impact, 57 survived with no major injuries and 32 were seriously injured. The other nine were never found, including Tetsuya and their three children, Kei, Toin and Mori.

Yui smiled slightly at the young girl and placed her hand on her niece's arm. "I don't know how I know that. But I do know that something has happened to one of the Seiryuu no Seishi," she replied. She then turned to Miaka. "Have you heard anything from Taka or the others?"

Miaka shook her head and sat beside her old friend. "No, not yet. But I didn't really expect to hear anything so soon. I'm sure that as soon as they know something, we'll hear from them," she replied. "I kind of hope he is Nuriko. I miss having all of them around."

Yui nodded and glanced out the window. "I just wish I had had a chance to tell the others what happened to ... I'm sure they'll find out soon enough," she replied. She smiled sadly and turned back to her old friend. "Who would ever have imagined that Tetsuya and I would become parents to one of the people who nearly cost me my life?"

"Fate's a bitch, Yui," Miaka replied. She noticed the confused look on her daughter's face and smiled. "I'll explain later, dear. Why don't you go downstairs and make sure your brother is staying out of trouble." As soon as she was gone, the brunette turned back to the blonde figure on the bed. "I felt the book, Yui. Someone has found it and used it."

"I guess it's appetite isn't satisfied yet," the blonde replied. She sighed and leaned back against the pillow. She took her old friend's hand and gripped it tightly. "Don't worry, Miaka. I won't let that damn book take anyone else I love."

~Fin~