FicWad

Altered Realities


A/N: Thanks to my beta Miss Elf, and my good buddy Miss KittyLynne for their heartfelt encouragement. Couldn't have made it legible without you guys! Hugs!

Disclaimer: Not mine, no way, no how!

Warnings: Spoilers for entire series, Ova's 1 and 2. Takes place just after OVA 2. Swearing!

Rating for this chapter: 15+ for language

Chapter 2: Pandemonium


She dashed from the room, desperate to escape the nightmare that had dragged her in. 'I have to be dreaming, I was just in the royal forest a few minutes ago and now it seems like I am in the stronghold! Nothing makes sense, what the hell is going on!?'

"KOUJI! GET YOUR ASS OUT HERE, DAMNIT!" she cried as she rushed past his room making a beeline for the meeting hall. Kouji was her second in command, a man that she had put absolute faith in, and right now she needed his strength and guidance.

A fuzzy reply trailed down the hall after her, causing her to stop. 'He almost sounds drunk! But Kouji hasn't had a drop to drink in over six years, not since...' She cautiously made her way back to his room and found him sprawled out on the floor with a bottle of sake in one hand and a possessive arm around a buxom blonde woman.

Frowning she stepped closer to the prostrate form of her best friend and snatched the sake bottle from his hand. Tossing it to the side she rolled him over with the toe of her brown boots and squatted down to pat his face firmly. "Kouji, wake up! What the hell are you doing drinking, especially at a time like this?"

"He over did it tonight but it was a special occasion." The voice of her beloved sounded from the doorway.

"Kouji doesn't drink! He gave it up years ago because it made me nervous and he..." she broke off then changed the subject. "What was the occasion?"

She turned to look at him when he didn't answer right away, a look of confusion caused his face to scrunch up in to a frown. "The guys were celebratin' my comin' back from helpin' ya get rid of Tenkou. I'm full-time leader now..." he broke off when her face paled further. "What th' hell's wrong with ya, Mi-chan? Ya act like this is news to ya or somethin'."

She turned back to Kouji and resumed trying to wake him, tears of fear and frustration slipping down her cheeks. "Gods, Kouji, please wake up! I need you, please wake up!"

A grumble met her pleas as blue-green eyes fluttered for a moment focusing and unfocusing before coming to rest on her face, "Miaka-chan? What're ya doin' here, I thought you an Taka went back ta your world?" his voice was sleepy and soft.

"Wake up, Kouji. Sit up and talk to me! Damnit, this isn't the time to play around, I'm scared and you have to help me fix this!"

The blue haired man blinked up at her but sat up a bit unsteadily and glanced at the shocked Genrou standing in the doorway. "Why's she beggin' ta yap at me? Ain't you one a her seishi?"

Miaka inched backwards, "What?" Her hand flew to her mouth and she bolted to her feet. "This is a nightmare!" she stalked over to Tasuki and punched his shoulder. "Hit me back! Wake me up from this horror and let me go back to where things make sense!"

The tinkling of shakajou rings caught everyone's attention, "What's all the noise about, no da?"

She leapt at him, twining her arms around his neck and hugging him tightly in relief. "Chichiri! Thank the gods! Surely you can straighten this mess out!" she cried as she leaned back to look in to his face. "Why did the Shounin come back and why is everything so strange!" She paused as she took a good long look at his face. "Chichiri? What's that over your face?" A frown creased her brow, "Is that some sort of mask? Why would you wear a mask?"

Warm hands rested on her shoulders, "I think we need to talk, no da. You seem confused, are you okay?"

Short auburn hair swished around her shoulders as she shook her head. "No! What the hell is going on?"

The masked man wrapped his arms around her and shushed her cries, "What is the last thing you remember before you ended up here, no da?"

She struggled in his grasp but the monk refused to let her go. With a heart rending sob the tale of the summoning and what happened after spilled from her lips.

"He begged Suzaku to let him stay with me in Konan Country or to let me go to his world with him but Suzaku refused, said that the two worlds must be kept separate for balance to remain, so he asked Suzaku to make him forget me. Then he was gone. Tasu-chan left me there all alone, and I ran." Tears slipped over her cheeks as she pulled herself closer to his chest, hoping that her pain would recede if she could just get close enough.

"I ended up in the forest. Then there was a woman saying that she could grant my wish to be with Tasuki but she stole the tessen and then there was this black light, then... I was here..." Sobs shook her slender shoulders as her tears soaked the front of Chichiri's shirt.

"Hush now, no da. We'll get everything straightened out in the morning. Let's all get some sleep, no da." Chichiri wiped away her tears and smiled softly at her.

She nodded mutely and turned to the men standing behind her. "Kouji, take me to my room please. I want to talk to you about a few things." With that she turned and walked passed the silent monk.

Tasuki looked at Kouji. "I'll take care of her. Go back ta sleep."

Kouji's eyes twinkled with merriment, "Yeah, you'll take care a her alright. You've been dreamin' a 'takin care a her' fer the last three years."

Tasuki growled, "She ain't my Miko! I don't know 'er at all, how th' hell could I have been dreamin' 'bout takin care a her if'n I don't even know her! My Miaka's in her own world... with Taka..."

Kouji grinned, "Since ya put it that way, I guess it wouldn't hurt fer me ta 'take care a her' then, ne?"

"Damnit! Stay away from her ya damned hentai!" Tasuki's fists clenched at the thought of his best friend doing what he had implied.

Chichiri rubbed a hand over his face, his patience wearing thin at the by-play between the two friends. "Neither of you are going with her, no da. I'll take care of her, and not in a hentai way!" The monk stepped out in to the hallway and almost bumped in to Miaka, he blushed guiltily at the astounded look she was directing at the doorway beside him.

She straightened and began walking slowly away, "That was about the Miaka in this world, not me. They'd never think of me that way, hell, my own Tasu-chan didn't even want to remember me, why would either of them think any differently?" She whispered to herself as she shuffled off down the hallway alone.

Chichiri was stunned at the amount of self-loathing in her voice, though she probably didn't intend for him to hear her words. "Miaka-chan?"

She turned, eyes gone glassy with repressed tears, "Yeah?"

He opened his arms and she flew in to them for the second time that night. He brushed his fingers through her short hair and patted her back, rubbing reassuringly over the emerald green material. "You can talk to me, no da. I might not be the same man you know in your world but I am a very good listener."

Her arms tightened around his waist, "It's too long a story to tell, and the night is almost over." Her voice hitched against a sob that threatened to break free. "You don't even know me but you want to help me anyway, my Chichiri-san isn't like that. If you have a problem he waits for you to come to him. I think I like you this way instead."

He smiled behind his mask at her compliment, "Let's go get some sleep, no da. I don't know where any spare rooms are but you can sleep in my room if you like, I will sleep on the floor."

Miaka smiled slightly, "That's okay Chichiri-sama, I'll be fine on my own."

She pulled away from his arms and walked down the hallway towards the back of the Stronghold, out of sight.

ooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo

Miaka stepped out on to the training grounds at the rear of the building and looked around. Small things were changed here and there; the training dummies were at the opposite end of the training area, there were more trees clustered around and the sparing ring looked largely unused, but for the most part it was the same as back home.

She ran her fingers over the practice weapons along the wall with a sigh before allowing her hands to stop at a familiar pair of short swords. These were the first weapons she had ever handled in combat, at the time she had never hoisted a weapon for anything other than practice but that had changed the moment The Blue Bastard had entered her life.

Shaking off her frightening memories, she hefted the short swords and began an easy kata, the sword swipes flowing easily in the practiced movements. Shifting in to a more difficult kata once she had warmed her muscles, she allowed her thoughts to roam over the events of the last day.

It had been an emotional wringer in the most literal of senses; her beloved had left her, forgotten about her, her tessen had been stolen and she had been thrust in to a world where things made no sense.

From what she could gather from the little that had been unwittingly admitted to her, she was in a world where she did not exist except in the form of a Miko from a different world. Her best friend was instead a best friend to her Shounin and the Suzaku wizard was a monk of sorts who hid his face behind a silken mask. She wondered what else about this flip flopped world could be different from her own.

The sound of applause broke her from her reverie, and when she turned to see who had intruded on her exercise she was surprised to find the small woman from the woods standing not three feet from her.

"Well done, little seishi. Quite impressive for a mortal." Her sweet tones unnerved Miaka in a way that she could not explain.

"So you decided to come looking for me after you dragged me from my own world. How kind of you." Miaka spat the words at the tiny woman through clenched teeth.

The woman laughed softly, "My, my, my. What a temper! Here I was expecting some gratitude for getting you back together with your love. Such is the way of a fickle heart!"

Miaka ground her teeth; "This is the wrong world, you dumbass! My Tasu-chan doesn't exist here!"

"Ah, but he does. You never said, 'Tenkou, take me to my Shounin's world and allow us to be together!' You just said that you wanted Tasuki, and Tasuki is whom I brought you to."

A sly smile settled on full lips as the demon woman continued. "Don't worry, only a few weeks left until my plans are complete. Surely you can deal with the wrong man for that long. You lasted with, who you refer to as 'The Blue Bastard', for almost three weeks! Not an easy feat for such a young girl."

Rage colored Miaka's vision red and she struck out at the small demon woman with the short swords still clutched in her hands.

Tenkou dodged the strikes easily, "Where is all of that grace I saw just a few moments ago? Surely your anger wouldn't cause you to strike blindly at an opponent." With a laugh Tenkou vanished in a flash of dark energy.

She threw down the short swords in fury and stomped back inside the Stronghold, anger lighting her yoku symbol to the point that it shed enough light for her to see with little problem.

"Fucking bitch! What the hell does she know about that bastard anyway? It was almost as if she knew exactly what he did to me..." Horror leached the newly bloomed flush from her cheeks and she sank down to the floor. "If she could find out then anyone could find out! No, don't think like that, Gena. Kouji is the only one who knows everything and he'd never tell." Tears welled in her eyes, "Gods, Kouji, I could really use your shoulder to lean on right now."

"Will my shoulder do instead?"

Miaka lurched to the side, pulling daggers from sheathes strapped to her forearms and pointed them menacingly at the man who had snuck up on her.

Hands held up in front of him in a show of submission, Tasuki looked down at her and sighed. "If I was gonna hurt ya I'd a done it while you was puttin' yer tongue down my throat."

Miaka turned her face away and resheathed her daggers. "It was a mistake. I thought you were someone else and by the way you responded I'd say you thought I was someone else too."

Tasuki frowned at her logic and crouched down beside her. She continued without looking at him, "I should have realized you weren't Tasu-chan, you were too passive when I kissed you at first. My Tasu-chan always had the upper hand when it came to that sort of thing." Miaka frowned, "Does your Miaka enjoy a passive lover?"

Tasuki's eyes widened and a blush worked its way in to his face, "I'm not a passive lover, I was just surprised! I mean I'm not her lover, she has Taka."

Miaka hid a small grin behind her hand at his admission then frowned. "There is no Taka in my world, so who was he in yours?"

The fiery seishi sighed, "Tamahome was reincarnated in Miaka's world as Taka... what th' hell are ya laughin about?"

Miaka pressed both of her hands over her mouth to hide her smile. "Tamahome was in love with your Miaka? Ha ha! If Tamahome had come after me I'd have laid her out! So your Miaka is a lesbian? Why are you lusting over a lesbian?"

"TAMAHOME IS A MAN!"

Miaka frowned, "No she's not, at least she had better not be since she's sleeping with Kouji!"

Tasuki turned green. "Why'd ya have ta tell me that? Thinkin' a Tama and Kouji together is just sick!"

Miaka hid another smile behind her hands. "Alright you big baby, I'll shut up about them." She frowned for a moment, a thought crossing her mind. "Do you have a tessen?"

He blinked at her abrupt change of topic, "Yeah, why do ya wanna know?"

"Let me see it." She held her hand out.

His hand carded through his hair and he blew out a breath, "I don't have it on me right now, but it's in my room."

Miaka stood and looked down at him, "Aho! There is a demon woman loose and she's already stolen my tessen, who's to say that she won't take yours!"

Tasuki grinned, "There's a ward on th' mountain, no demon c'n step foot here without us knowin'."

Miaka reached down and fisted his shirt in her hands. "Well you might need to check that ward because she has already been here!"

Tasuki's eyes widened as he grabbed her hand and raced through the maze of hallways to his room.



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So, how's that for chapter 2? Thanks Miss Elf-chan and Miss Lynne-chan, you guys are the BEST!

LOVE!