[ Watashi ]

[ Tomodachi ]

[ Saint Seiya ]

[ Clamp ]

[ Fanfiction ]

The swing creaked noisily as I sat down on it. Out of habit, I pushed, swinging myself a bit. I looked at the children and students on their way to school and closed my hands on the swing's chains, sighing. Gods, I was so tired. I closed my eyes. There was an insistant ache in my back and my neck. My whole body was cramped. We had spent the whole night walking in the city. A city which never slept. Flashing lights were dancing in front of my eyes. There was a light sound as someone squatted down behind me, and I felt fingers gently, skillfully stroking the base of my neck. I yielded to the touch and slowly relaxed. I sighed blissfully as the ache was vanishing as if by magic, and another hand joined the first to massage my cramped shoulders. I gave in to the tender carress, and leaned back against Kujaku. His lips brushed mine, and I opened my eyes, smiling happily. He asked gently :

"Is it better now ?"

I nodded.

"Mmmh... Yes, it helps immensely... Don't stop... Don't ever stop..."

He chuckled, saying mischievously :

"I'd like nothing more than that my lady... But we are in a public place you know..."

I blushed suddenly, and Ashura giggled. Yasha looked on us critically, and I felt like an unruly child. Ashura yawned loudly.

"Oh I'm exhausted. We've been up all night..."

She shook her head, looking at me with wonder.

"And you had to work from dawn yesterday because of that event... How do you manage it ?"

I smiled.

"Force of habit..."

I sighed, my cheerfulness gone in the blink of an eye.

"Hell, how many times will we have to search this cursed city ? I've had enough of this game of hide and seek. We're as stuck here as we were at home."

Yasha shook his head.

"You're too impatient Fiona."

Before I could answer, Kujaku whispered in my ear :

"The lord Yasha is right my beloved lady. It takes time to unravel a Prophecy. Be patient..."

Suddenly, I realised that they were as anxious as I was, as worried and frightened, as bone-weary as I was, and bowed my head, whispering :

"I'm sorry... I'm acting like a spoiled child, I'm so selfish..."

Kujaku hugged me gently, lightly kissing my right shoulder.

"It's okay. Don't worry about it. We're in this together."

Ashura nodded.

"Yes, there's really nothing to reproach yourself about. So... Now that the sun is up, what do we do ? Go to school with all the children ?"

She chuckled, and I felt a warm feeling in my heart. It was incredible how she managed to detach herself from grave matters and enjoy a short moment of complete respite. She was so happy right now...

"Ii kagen ni shiro yo, temeera..."

We all turned towards the street.

"Tenkousho nichi ni chikoku saseru ki ka ?"

That voice was spilling venom.

A young man was standing there, as if expecting something... But those deep purple eyes, this face... Suddenly, indistinct shapes appeared beside him and chaos erupted in the quiet street. Kujaku hugged me protectively and both Yasha and Ashura tensed, Yasha closing his right hand on that saber of his. Suddenly, it stopped, and we saw a man sprawled against a wall, badly hurt. The young mand had a feral smile, and yelled at them, attacking at the same time. This... Light, power, flowing from him... What was that ? Magic ? In a few seconds, the five men were defeated, and I saw with horror their features beginning to melt, as if bathed in acid. I made as if to rush forward, but Kujaku held me back gently, whispering :

"No Fiona. Don't... There's nothing you can do..."

Once it was over, I realised the young man was holding what looked like a bird by its claw. The poor animal was shrieking ineffectively, powerless against his tormentor. I tensed. No. I couldn't let... Suddenly, he released the bird, which flew away as quickly as it could. The young man bent down to retrieve his fallen case, and during a second I saw his eyes. I shivered. There was a devouring light burning in them, these were the eyes of a predator, of a hunter who would let nothing get in his way. He walked away, and impulsively I moved to follow him, but Yasha put a restraining hand on my right wrist, shaking his head and whispering :

"No. It's dangerous, we're not alone..."

He gestured towards a nearby tree and suddenly I saw two people on one of its strong branches, attentively watching the young man's disappearing back. A young teenager girl, likely still in high school and another young man also in uniform. The girl's long raven black hair was flying with the wind. Damn, what was going on here ? Who the hell were they ? What were they ? They stayed like that a minute or so, then suddenly jumped from the tree, vanishing instantly.

"Gods rot it !"

Belatedly, I realised that I was the one who had cursed, and blushed. I stood up from the swing, and walked slowly towards the now empty street. Everything was quiet and peaceful. I went to the opposite wall and leaned a hand on its burnt surface. This little fight had been reality all right. Ashura joined me and sniffed curiously the damaged place, grimacing.

"Yuk... That wasn't very nice. Poor old wall..."

Yasha shook his head.

"I had never seen anything like it. The power that boy used... It was so strong... So... Raw... And why did the guys attacking him dissolve like that ? What about the bird ?"

Kujaku said simply :

"Magic."

Yasha asked him curtly :

"You know about this ?"

Kujaku smiled tiredly.

"No. No I don't, don't be so suspicious my lord Yasha please..."

He looked up the cloudy sky.

"I don't know what kind of power that boy used, but the bird... That had the smell of magic..."

I went to him, asking :

"The boy's face... Kujaku do you...?..."

He nodded, sighing.

"Yes..."

He looked at me, a grim expression on his face.

"Yes, the person Kotori-chan loves. The one she called Kamui-chan..."

I felt a cold fear inside my heart.

"Then the Seeing... She..."

He smiled bitterly.

"Oh yes, it would seem that the Vision is much more connected to the pretty Kotori-chan than we had assumed..."

I shook my head desperately.

"But certainly she can't be..."

He hugged me gently.

"I don't think so, I hope she's not our enemy. I can't see her that way myself. Maybe this young man is the only thing tying her to the Vision..."

Yasha came to us.

"Does this mean we might find an explanation ?"

Kujaku shrugged.

"Perhaps... I am also curious to know who was watching this boy so carefully and why... There seems to be much, much more than meets the eye going on here. I am beginning to think that we are up against something really powerful..."

Ashura sighed.

"Okay, but we won't find the answer if we stay here the whole day to discuss like old ladies... Let's do something !"

Kujaku nodded.

"Sure. Do you have the foggiest idea where the Togakushi Shrine is ?"

She shook her head.

"Well, neither do I. I am tired, and Fiona is exhausted. I say we go back to the training center, rest a few hours and then try to determine where that shrine is before coming back..."

Ashura blushed, embarrassed.

"Oh yeah... I didn't think of that, I'm sorry..."

Kujaku patted her head fondly and Yasha glowered at him.

"It's okay my pet, we all want to get out of this labyrinth..."

I yawned loudly, coming out of the train station. The few hours of rest had turned out to be a full day of work for me, and of map search for the others. But the good thing was that Pascale had given me this day off instead of yesterday. A good thing we were friends and she was fair. I knew a lot of riders who'd never have given a thought to compensating for a groom's lost day off. I was greeted on the outside by a continuous flow of water and sighed. Great. It was raining, and not likely to stop. I looked up the dark gray sky and shook my head.

"Okay, so the shortest way is this one..."

Ashura began a long detailed explanation of the way to the Togakushi Shrine, and I chuckled. Yasha hugged her.

"Beloved... Just lead us will you ?"

She smiled happily at him, nodding.

"Okay Yasha... Here we go !"

Kujaku's arm embraced me soflty and we smiled to each other. It was incredible how Ashura could make us feel happy, could bring laughter in our hearts even though the situation was more than serious. We bought two umbrellas just outside the station, and began to walk.

Cherry trees... I tensed and Kujaku hugged me, kissing my brow.

"Hush, don't be afraid love... He won't have another chance at you, I promise."

I leaned against him, trying to absorb a little bit of his warmth to fight the cold, icy fear roving in my heart. Eventually, we saw a gate, and stopped. Ashura checked her map and nodded.

"It's here !"

Funny, it was so quiet... Silent. Even though the weather was bad, the atmosphere felt... As we came in front of the door, it was opened and we were faced by the tall figure of Fuuma.

Pain.

Sorrow.

Horror.

Fear.

Exhaustion.

I shuddered. Something was wrong. Completely wrong here. Fuuma's face was expressionless. Suddenly, the frail figure of Kotori appeared at his side.

"Is it another guest Onii-chan ?"

Black. They were both dressed in black from head to toe.

Death.

Someone had died. As she saw us, Kotori raised a hand to her lips, whispering :

"Fiona-san... Kujaku-san... Ashura-san and Yasha-san... Oh..."

Tears were brimming in her eyes. She was practically screaming sorrow and horror. I gritted my teeth, fighting the urge to turn away and run, flee this place.

"Get away from here !"

The voice was full of fury. I looked up, to see the young man named Kamui beside Fuuma and Kotori. His eyes... I shivered. The light in them devoured the soul, it was unbearable.

"How dare strangers come at a time like this ? Leave this shrine !"

I winced, as if he had physically struck me. How could anyone be so angry, so sad ? His anger had burnt away everything else. Even Subaru Sumeragi hadn't been like that. Kotori said weakely :

"Don't Kamui-chan... Don't... They couldn't know... They're my friends..."

He looked at her, and for the first time I saw something like gentleness in his eyes. I felt strangely relieved to think there was something left of a human being inside him. Fuuma put a hand on Kamui's shoulder, and suddenly I heard Kujaku gasp. He froze, hugging me fiercely, holding on to me as if for dear life, whispering my name. Before I could ready myself, the Vision engulfed me.

"Fate must be Chosen..."

Blood. Death.

"But the Future is set..."

Dragons.

"Heaven and Earth will fight..."

Two dragons. Two swords. Two men. Holding on to each other.

"Love will fight Love..."

Touching as if lovers. Each the other self of the other. Sharing a soul. Sharing a love. Twins...

"Hate will fight Hate..."

White, pure angel falling. Bleeding. Dying. Swords clashing. Dragon crying, howling. Dragon laughing. Bathing in the angel's blood.

"Once the Seals are broken..."

Dragon dying. One man. Weeping. Weeping tears of blood over the body of his other self, over the body of the angel.

"Chaos may yet awaken..."

Sword coming down. Striking. Blue sphere shattering. Like a mirror. Pieces of broken glass flying. Cry... Dragon's and man's keen rising above the sound of the earth shattering.

Darkness. For eternity.

I trembled convulsively, and Kujaku hugged me tight, trembling too, whispering :

"Don't... Fiona... Love don't let it out... Please keep it..."

I couldn't. I shook my head. I couldn't. The pain... The sorrow, the despair... They were too strong. Unhuman. Terrible... I raised my head, looking up at the sky, and keened, grieving for the angel, for the dragons and the two men, for every living thing who would die, and for the earth itself.

"Fiona... Fiona... Listen to me... Love, it's over..."

My throat was raw. My soul was ripped to shreds. Oh sweet goddess... Kujaku was rocking me gently.

"Fiona..."

A hand touched my left cheek, wiping at the tears.

Golden eyes.

Knowing, seeing the sorrow. Understanding. Slowly, I regained control and closed my eyes shut tightly, gritting my teeth, my whole body tensing. Hell. It wouldn't happen. It couldn't. It...

"Now what was all this nonsense about ?"

I opened my eyes suddenly, to gaze into the purple eyes of Kamui.

Kamui.

Fuuma.

I looked at the both of them, paralyzed, unable to move. I looked at Kotori beside them and felt like screaming. They... No. I shook my head, denying the feeling. No, it simply couldn't be. Shit, Kamui was likely in this up to his neck, but neither Fuuma nor Kotori could possibly have anything to do with it. I shivered. The Vision had unbalanced me. I was losing my grasp of reality here. Damn. I had to get a grip on myself and stop seeing the cursed Prophecy realised in the people around me. I took a deep breath and said in a hoarse voice :

"It's okay... I'm okay now..."

Ashura nodded, and Kujaku made me face him, kissing my tears with an infinite tenderness and whispering :

"Oh Fiona... I... I' so sorry... My poor love, I..."

I kissed him desperately, silencing him and Ashura said :

"We are sorry about this. As we are sorry to have intruded in a private matter. We will leave you now, in the hope you can find it in your heart to forgive us. It was never our intention to do harm."

But... What about the Vision ? What about Kamui ? What about getting answers ? Kujaku and Ashura gently pulled me along with them and I let them, unable to fight them.

I shook my head.

"Why didn't we stay ?"

Ashura said gently :

"We couldn't. Clearly something very sad and grave had just happened. It would really have been very bad to stay. They would never have helped us in these circumstances. I know I would never have..."

Yasha nodded.

"Someone died. I'd say one of the parents of Kotori and Fuuma... It would really have been wrong to stay Fiona."

I sighed.

"I understand, I'm sorry. I didn't perceive that, I was..."

Kujaku squatted down in front of me and took my hands into his.

"You were trapped in my Vision. It had you, it tore your soul apart. You felt... You felt all that happened..."

He stroked my face soflty.

"It is like Sumeragi said : you have a gift of empathy..."

I bowed my head.

"Forgive me, I couldn't keep the pain inside. It was too strong, I thought... I thought I would go mad..."

He gently kissed my brow.

"Shhh... Don't worry about it. The only thing that matters is that you're all right..."

I protested.

"But... They must have noticed, they must be wondering..."

Ashura smiled reassuringly.

"I don't think Kamui gives a damn about us, and both Fuuma and Kotori were engufled in their sorrow."

I nodded absentmindedly, my eyes losing focus, my mind seeing the Vision again, feeling...

"We are all going to die. This world will die... He will kill everything..."

Kujaku shook me, saying urgently :

"Hell ! No Fiona ! No we aren't going to die. Humanity will live, we have to believe that ! We have to ! There is always place for hope, always !"

I looked at him.

"But you Saw..."

He leaned my head against his shoulder.

"Yes, I Saw. But that doesn't mean anything. The Prophecy was the same, nothing has changed but the images and the feeling accompanying it. Now at least we know another one of the actors in this play."

Yasha looked in the direction of Tokyo.

"Kamui."

End of Part 4.

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