Please enjoy!
Raye
---------------------------------
Starlit Reflections: Dark Quarter
by Raye Johnsen
raye_j@yahoo.com
*****
Fushigi Yuugi is copyright Watase Yuu, Flower Comics,
Studio Perriot, Pioneer Entertainment, Viz
Communications and other interested parties. The
characters and situation are used without permission
for personal entertainment only, and no copyright
infringements are intended. No profit is being made
from this fic; if there was, Tasuki and Tamahome would
lighten me of it, as soon as they could.
Before we begin: This series is a prequel, of sorts,
to my alternate universe FY fic 'Starlit Reflections'.
You do not have to have read 'Starlit Reflections' to
understand the main story of 'Dark Quarter'.
However, the prologue you are about to read is set in
the main 'Starlit Reflections' continuity, between
chapters ten and eleven, and you will need to be
familiar with elements of 'Starlit Reflections' to
fully understand and enjoy it.
*****
Prologue: Voice Across Time - Nuriko
I stretched, yawning, as the young maidservant left
the Imperial Library. She had finished lighting and
trimming the lamps as I had been reading, and now
passed soundlessly out of the room. She did cast a
glance back at me as she withdrew, a gently
admonishing and inviting glance. I didn't need to
hear her speak to know what she would say: "Missing
dinner, young master? It will do you no good - come
with me and I'll take care of you."
If only she knew....
I stood and reshelved the scrolls and parchments I'd
been reviewing. Sairou's plight at the time of the
appearance of the Priestess of Byakko was of no help
to us.
It was depressing how little historical precedent
there was. The advisors would run around like
frightened chickens if we couldn't show then that what
we were about to do had been done successfully before.
Whenever, that was, that Lord Hotohori *did* decide
what we were going to do.
Lord Hotohori hadn't actually given me the order to
find possible solutions in the historical records, but
I'd go absolutely crazy if I *didn't* do something,
and reading old scrolls had a lot less potential to be
embarrassing and/or destructive than throwing things.
I was still living down the plum tree.
And anything was better than the daze Tamahome had
fallen into. Yesterday he had sat unmoving on the
rail of the verandah so long that two enterprising
young sparrows had begun to build a nest on the top of
his head. It had taken my conscience standing behind
me with a broadsword to prod me into gently lifting
the small structure off his hair and into a nearby
tree. The servants watched him to make sure he didn't
hurt himself - and, if I were honest, for the
entertainment. He did some very silly things. And,
if I were honest, I'd admit I was often among the
watchers.
The rack beside the records of the Byakko
Shichiseishi was, if possible, even dustier. I sighed
as I pulled documents, books and scrolls off it at
random. The most notable result of my research so far
was that I was getting a crash course in absolutely
trivial facts, none of which I needed to know. I
didn't follow fashion right *now* - finding out that a
hundred years ago girls used to shave their hairlines
to give themselves high foreheads wasn't exactly
earthshattering for me.
Kourin would be interested, though, so I made a note
of it.
I opened the next book, glanced at it, and then took
a second look. It was a very long look. I'm sure I
was blushing bright red as I gently closed the book
and set it aside. I'd never seen a pillow book
before; Kourin would *definitely* be interested in
seeing it, if the librarian would let me borrow it.
A slender hand pressed itself down on the table in
front of me. I glanced up, yelped, and fell off my
chair.
"*Here* you are," Lord Hotohori said flatly.
"Nuriko, do you know how long I've been looking for
you?"
"Since dinner?" I guessed, scrambling to my feet.
"Dinner," Lord Hotohori said, in a low, dangerous
voice, "has been waiting for you. And I am *hungry*."
Uh-oh.
"I'm sorry," I apologised. "I thought it was a Court
Dinner tonight." A sudden thought hit me. "A Court
Dinner... waiting for *me*... oh no. You *didn't*."
Lord Hotohori sighed. "You're in luck. I cancelled
the Court Dinner earlier today."
I sighed with relief.
"But it would have been waiting for you if it *had*
occurred."
I should've known I wouldn't get off that easy.
******
"... So I've been trying to find some historical
precedents," I finished my explanation.
Lord Hotohori nodded and took a mouthful of rice. I
took advantage of the pause to feed myself.
Eating at the Emperor's table has some benefits -
when Lord Hotohori takes his meals alone, or only with
me, I will find my dish heaped with all my favourite
foods and cooked to perfection. And if the cooks
complain that Lord Nuriko has given to the Emperor his
fondness for such plebian foods as sweet fried tofuu,
I say in return: that just because he's the Emperor is
no reason for him to be denied a treat that any poor
person within his realm may enjoy.
That is another reason to avoid Court Dinners. I
have quite a collection. Maybe one day one of them
will prove effective in getting me out of the things.
"I understand your wish to help me," Lord Hotohori
said calmly.
"Say 'stay out of trouble' and you'd be nearer the
mark," I said wryly. "Or have you forgotten the plum
tree?"
He grinned. "I don't think you'll *ever* be allowed
to forget the plum tree," he said seriously.
I sighed. "So I'm trying to behave. It's not easy."
"Especially as the Emperor will be demanding the
attendance of Lady Houki tomorrow."
His timing was impeccable. I'd just taken a mouthful
of apple cider and it took all my self-control not to
choke. "Wh-what?" I eventually wheezed.
A twisted half-smile flashed across his lips. "You
*are* my current official choice for Empress," he
commented.
"Now I wish I hadn't told you that," I said, in a
resigned tone. "What do I have to do, anyway?"
He lifted an eyebrow at me.
"Oh."
"Don't worry, I just have to be seen to be spending
time with an appropriate Empress-candidate," Lord
Hotohori said, "so we'll just walk in the gardens.
And we can watch the advisors have fits over my
chivalry."
"They have fits over me no matter *what* I do," I
mourned, "no matter *what* identity I'm in."
He shrugged. "It keeps them young."
"I think they'd prefer a different method."
"Probably," he said cheerfully. *He* wasn't the one
being named in nightly prayers among the things to be
delivered from.
Or maybe he was.
Dinner ended and I stood to retire for the night.
The book I'd borrowed from the Imperial Library
slipped from where I'd had it propped against the side
of the couch and landed with a /whump/ on the floor.
"What's this?" Lord Hotohori asked, picking up and
flipping it open.
"No, don't!" I said quickly, but not quickly enough
to stop him looking. I felt myself blush as he opened
the cover.
"This is about you?!" he said in a wondering tone of
voice.
"What? No!" I said. I might *read* a pillow book,
but *pose* for one...!
"But it says so right here. 'My sister-in-duty,
Nuriko of the Suzaku -'"
"May I see." I held out my hand, and didn't make it
a question. He handed it over.
"Of course."
I looked at the first page, and realized that I'd
borrowed the wrong book. The one I thought I'd had
was still safely in the Imperial Library, and this
volume....
"You're right," I said, in a wondering tone of voice.
We both sat down again. "It says:
"'To my sister in duty and destiny, Nuriko of the
Suzaku. I pray thee, do not turn away from this
account, my sister. My God Genbu, Who with His
brothers lives outside time itself and so knows far
more of the workings of destiny than thee, I, or any
of our acquaintance, doth assure me that it will fall
into thy hands. And only into thine; from the moment
I closed it, until thou didst lift it from its dusty
rack, it hath lain untouched and unread.
'While Holy Genbu assureth me that this, my
remembrance of my journeyings, trials and joys as a
Shichiseishi of Genbu, shalt bring thee strength and
eases to thine own pains, I cannot see how it may.
Thy burdens are thine own, and this account cannot
take any of thy responsibilities from thee. Thou art,
as thou hast ever been, a Shichiseishi, with all the
pain thy destiny entails.
'Yet my account may yet assist thee, for it will show
thee that thou art not alone; thy destiny is hard, but
not lonely. Even as I have drawn strength and love
from my star-brothers, so too may thee from thine -
and from me also, sister in destiny.
'My sister Nuriko, I beg of thee one favour. When
thou hast read this journal, I beg of thee that thou
burn it. For while I, as thy sister, shalt have no
secrets from thee, still I would not share those
secrets with others. As one woman to another, I ask
this - not for myself, but for all those whose secrets
I have written here - for my star-brothers, whose
secret stories should remain secret, between
Shichiseishi. If thou dost share these tales, I pray
thou wilt share them only with thine own
star-brothers.
'Thy sister across time,
Mei Ling, Shichiseishi Uruki of Genbu.'"
My eyes met Lord Hotohori's across the table, still
strewn with the remnants of food. I reached down and
turned the page, but before I could begin reading, he
reached over and closed the book.
He looked at me seriously. "Read it tonight, and if
you can share it with us, tell me tomorrow," he said.
I nodded. "I will. If I can," I replied.
******
Author's Notes:
1) Although the custom among the nobility of Imperial
China was to have a group of servants waiting at the
side of the dining room during the meal, to take
orders to the kitchen, clear away the used and empty
dishes, fetch articles their masters might require and
perform other minor services for their masters, I have
chosen to not have this custom in the Konan of
'Starlit Reflections'.
2) 'Pillow books' were scrolls or books traditionally
presented to brides on their wedding night, just
before they went to their husbands. They contained
detailed drawings of sexual intercourse in various
forms and positions, with instructions for the
inexperienced bride.
=====
raye_j@yahoo.com
http://www.thejohnsens.com/index.html
"'I run, therefore I am'; more accurately,
'I run, therefore with any luck I'll still *be*'."
- Rincewind's philosophy, as explained in "Interesting Times"
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