Miaka stood in a circular room. The walls-or rather, wall- were covered in mirrors, from tiny hand compacts to full length ones.
"What am I doing here?"
"Hello, little miko. Are you feeling well?" asked a disembodied voice.
"What do you want from me?!" yelled the brunette, clenching her fists.
"Have you learned no manners child? Answer me and I'll answer you."
"What?! Well, I'm fine." Miaka began looking around, but all she could see were thousands of reflexions everywhere.
"Very good. You are here because I wish you to be. What I want... well, you'll see in time."
"What's that supposed to mean?!" Miaka was getting rather hysterical.
"As I said, you'll see." The voice chuckled slightly.
"Tamahome and the others will rescue me! You'll be sorry then!"
"Oh, will I?" the voice turned cold. "I don't think so."
"Wha-what do you mean by that?"
"Let me ask you a question, little miko. What is your special power?"
"Excuse me?"
"Well, all your seishi have special powers like super strength or healing. So, what do you have?"
"I, uh, I don't know. Just to summon Suzaku, I guess." Miaka's confused expression bounced back at her from every direction.
"You guess?" the voice held an amused tone.
"I-I've never really thought about it," Miaka admitted.
"What do you do if you are in trouble?"
"Normally Tamahome or someone else rescues me. I never really have to worry."
"And what would happen if they were... no longer there?"
"No! Don't hurt them!" Miaka yelled. She walked up to a hand mirror and smashed it. The room flashed red and Miaka lunged back. The mirror became whole. It seemed to whine a little.
Miaka stared at it and nursed her hand. It bled from several cuts around the second knuckle.
The red light throbbed for a moment and resumed a more normal stark white colour.
"Insolent wench! How DARE you do such a thing! I would not think to harm your precious Tamahome! No, little miko, I want to show you your very own special power. It is a powerful survival skill, coveted by many."
Miaka blinked in confusion. "Why would you do that?"
"You require a lesson. But you will not understand unless you know." The voice paused, as if nursing a bomb. "Yours is the power of the Glamourie."
"The what?"
"A Glamourie is a magickal ability that allows the possesser to be attractive to anyone, male or female. In males that feeling is almost always love and in women it makes them greatly devoted to the person. That is in your case, of course. For a male, his men would be devoted and his women would fall over him for his attention."
"So, you mean, everyone likes me because of the Glamoo-thingie?"
The voice sighed. "Yes. In fact, it is the ONLY reason that Tamahome and Hotohori are so devoted. Everyone feels it, even Nuriko."
"No, that's not true! Tamahome loves me because I'm me!" Miaka's fists clenched once again.
"So sure, are you?" The voice was sly.
"Yes! Even without my power, Tamahome would love me just as much!"
"Prove it."
"How?"
"You would relinquish it to me for, say, a day and at the end, you would have your answer."
"Deal!"
"Place your hand on one of the mirrors." Miaka hesitated. "Don't worry, they won't hurt you." Miaka placed a hand on a mirror which began to glow with a yellow light. The glowing began to be overtaken by shadow. When the mirror was nothing but shadow, Miaka looked up to see all the other mirrors begin to be overtaken by shadow.
"Wha-what's going on?"
"Don't worry, this won't hurt a bit." The voice chuckled as Miaka's vision blacked out.
Miaka woke up in an alleyway in the city that the others were in. She rubbed her eyes and got up, dusting her skirt off.
"Hah, stupid voice. I wonder where Tamahome is?" Miaka looked around the alleyway and walked out to the street. She had to rub her eyes again from the light. About 25 metres away, she spotted Tamahome at a fruit vendor buying supplies for the journey to the next town to look for other Suzaku seishi.
"Tamahooooooome!" cried Miaka and ran up to him and glomped him happily.(1)
Tamahome looked down at the girl clinging to him and frowned. "Excuse me miss, but who are you and why are you hugging me?"
"Buh-but Tamahome, don't you recognize me? It's me, Miaka!" She stared into his eyes. They were full of polite curiosity and confusion.
"That's not true. You look nothing like Miaka. Besides, Miaka's with Nuriko, right Hotohori?"
Hotohori turned around and nodded. "That's right. Miaka's in Nuriko's capable hands." Hotohori sighed slightly. "Nuriko's really amazing, don't you think?"(2)
Tamahome smiled slightly. "He sure is." Tamahome was secretly thrilled. Hotohori had once confessed to him that he really liked Nuriko but his obligations as emperor forbade him to consider such a liason. As if summoned, Nuriko ran up, wringing his hands in a distinctly feminine way. Miaka sneered slightly.
"What's wrong Kiki?" asked Hotohori, noticing Nuriko's state.
"I can't find Miaka! She's gone!" cried Nuriko, clearly upset. Miaka felt better that Nuriko cared so much- "Silly girl, she'll get herself killed and then we'd have to find another priestess. She hasn't got the best track record for sense, you know. The whole writing up food items on Tasuki's papers or the 'She's NOT a demon!' thing! What a pain." Hotohori hugged Nuriko close and stroked his hair.(3)
"She's a character, that's for sure," said Tamahome, smiling slightly at the sight of Hotohori and Nuriko *finally* getting close.
Miaka pouted. Just then, Tasuki and Mitsukake walked up.
"Yo, what's going on?" asked Tasuki, eyes going from the emperor to Nuriko to Tamahome. "Miaka's missing," said Hotohori simply.
"Again?" Tasuki bared his fangs in a feral grin. "Now Chiri will have to take my suggestion of chaining her to the bed."
The others laughed at that and Miaka slugged Tasuki in the arm. It didn't affect him in the slightest. Her hand throbbed as the cuts reopened.
"Are you hurt?" inquired Mitsukake.
"Hai." Mitsukake took Miaka's hand in his and examined the wound.
"Hmm, needs a bandage," he said, bandaging the hand in question. "Now run along and be more careful, little girl." Mitsukake turned her around and gave her a little push. A stream of people cut her off from the others and she was pushed across the street. Soon, she completely lost track of them.
"Oh no, what now?" she moaned. She began to walk until she spotted an officer. Miaka smiled and walked up to her.
"Hello, my name is-"
"Not now, little girl, I'm very busy. Why don't you find your mom or something." The officer walked away, leaving Miaka staring. She kept walking, trying to talk to other people.
Miaka was soon exceedingly frustrated and around 4 pm, very hungry. She stood in the market square and screamed "PAY ATTENTION TO MEEEEEE!"(4)
No reaction. She stared at a sushi cart, the latest wares steaming in the sun. She grabbed a few and started chowing down in only the way she can. The vendor noticed.
"Hey you little thief! What do you think you're doing?!" Miaka stared at the man. No one had spoken to her like that before.
"I'm not a thief! My name is Miaka and-"
"Forgive my niece, she's always hungry, no da, "said a familiar voice. Sure enough, Chichiri stood behind her and handed the vendor a sack of money for the food consumed. It didn't faze him when he got no change. He steered Miaka away from the corner and down an alleyway.
"Listen, no da, you shouldn't steal, it's not nice. If you're that hungry, a local monastery will feed you, no da." Chichiri's ever-smiling face peered at her, making sure she understood. Miaka burst into tears.
"Oh, doesn't anyone recognize me?! It's ME, Chichiri, Miaka!"
"Miaka, no da? Everyone's been looking for you. What are you doing here?" Miaka realized that Chichiri DID recognize her and burst out afresh, burying her head in his chest. Awkwardly, he stroked her head and soothed her.
Tasuki discovered them like this when he walked by. "Oi, 'Chiri, why does that girl have her head buried in your chest, no da?" He smirked at the use of 'Chiri's catch phrase. Chichiri glared at Tasuki but was inaffective because of the smiley-mask.
"It's Miaka, Suki. It seems as if no one has recognized her today." Tasuki looked at Miaka, or what he could see of her. Miaka detatched herself from Chichiri to look at Tasuki. "That's not the food vacuum. You're imagining things 'Chiri." Miaka started crying again. "Way to go, no da! You made her cry." Chichiri glared blisteringly at Tasuki, effectively melting the mask on his face. Tasuki eeped and hid behind his metal fan-thingie.
"Gomen nasai, 'Chiri. Sumimasen, Miaka-sama." Chichiri rolled his eyes.
"That's it, everyone INTO the hat." Chichiri swept off his kesa and held it so that Miaka and Tasuki could enter. They climbed in and Chichiri followed. The kesa drifted slowly to the ground and sat there. An object that looked very similar flew up to the hat and sat down next to it.
"*&%*$#?" asked the newcomer.(5)
"(*&^.*(^&^!" replied 'Chichi's kesa in disgust. The new hat made a sympathectic noise and they flew off to find Tamahome.
Miaka, Chichiri and Tasuki all emmerged in a fluffy pink cloud room. Chichiri smiled and called, "I'm home, no da!"
Dozens upon dozens of little Nian-nians came pouring out of every conceivable opening chanting "Heal and fix, no da! Fix and Heal, no da!"(6)
One presented Chichiri with a new smiley mask and Chichiri accepted it gravely.
"Domo arigato, no da!"
"No problem, no da!" giggled the Nian-nian.
"You have returned with Lady Miaka and Tasuki Chichiri. What has happened, no da?"
"Ahhhhhhhhhh! A ghoul!" screamed Tasuki, hiding behind Chichiri.
"I am not a ghoul!" yelled the old bag as she yanked out a giant rubber hammer and smacked him with it. "I must write to Cologne and tell her I sympathise with her," she muttered. Meanwhile, Miaka was sniffling as the Nian-nians surrounded her.(7)
"Heal, no da!" crowed one.
"Fix, no da!" called another. They crowded around her and fixed her hand.
"Hmmm, you missing something, no da," mused a less hyper Nian-nian. (8) She looked Miaka up and down and pulled out a tiny mirror. "Ah hah! You missing glamour, no da! What happen?" Miaka hugged the little girl happily.
"You are right! I thought it was a dream! I was in a round room filled with mirrors and there was a voice that said my power was the glamourie, no da." Miaka frowned slightly, wondering where that came from.
"It's true. That is indeed your power," said the old bag/ghoul.
"Why could Chichiri tell who I was?"
"Because he was never affected by the glamourie originally."
"Ah." Chichiri looked at the mirror, looked at Miaka and looked back at the mirror.
"I know how to get your power back, no da." Chichiri touched the mirror and it bacame a giant grey, swirrling portal. "Let's go, no da."
"Thank you for your help," said Miaka. Tasuki edged around them and got into the portal.
"You are welcome, no da." Miaka and Chichiri got into the portal.
They emmerged in the darkened mirror room.
"Naka no sugata, make yourself known, immediately," yelled Chichiri.
"Why hello Soo-chan. And you brought Miaka-sama and Doroboo-chan too, I see."
"What did you do to Miaka?"
"I only showed her what life was like without her power. She'll appreciate it more, don't you think?"
"I want it back!" cried Miaka.
"Of course dear. The mirrors held it when you were gone." Miaka put her hand back on the mirror and was soon overtaken by brilliant light.
Miaka stood in Tamahome's arms, now rejoined with her love. Hotohori hovered not far behind. Nuriko was happy but once again ignored. Chichiri stood on the sidelines, watching. Tasuki pulled up a section of wall and leaned next to him.
"Whatch'a thinkin'?"
"That I would like to jump your bandit bones, no da," said Chichiri slyly. He spotted his hat fly by with another and called out "Be back by midnight!"
"(^%*^$&, no da!" called his hat and Chichi and Suki linked arms and headed to their bedroom for the night.
The End
The nicknames:
Physh liked 'Chiri, I like Chichi. I call him both.
Kiki: Nuriko. I know how dumb that is...
Suki: Tasuki. Had to call him something!
The Japanese:
naka no sugata: inner reflexion
doroboo: thief (bandit)
soo: monk
1. Even in a FY fic, I had to add in some GW. That is Relena's most annoying line. (Heeeeeero!)
2. Hotohori and Nuriko would make a good couple damnit!
3. "She is not a demon!" (demon) "Bleeeeurgh" Cracks me up, even now!
4. Hey Physh, remember this? But Miaka DOESN'T get a plate lobbed at her head. Darn.
5. Physh's picture of the alien ship trying to talk to Chichi's hat. Kawaii, no da!
6. Well, he learned it from somewhere, no da!
7. The whole 'old ghoul' skit from FY/Ranma 1/2 *snicker*
8. Yes, I realize that a non-hyper Nian-nian does not exist.
This story has a moral, no da!
1) Messing with Miaka's head is fun but way too easy.
2) The whole 'no da' thing is catching, no da!
3) Hotohori is a jerk!
4) Yes, even the HAT says 'no da'!
Gwynn 'How was that for a first try?' Whitelock
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