Last revised: 01/15/00

Hotohori, flanked by Nuriko and Mitsukake, with Chichiri standing off to the side, stared at his Miko and the two friends who had suddenly become total strangers to him. He had seen Miaka ecstatic with joy and he had seen her distraught with despair, but he had never known her display such intense hostility as she glowered at everyone in barely controlled fury. Tasuki, usually so talkative and hot-headed, had barely said a word, much less utter a single obscenity or curse... and then there was the unnerving emptiness in the bandit's usually lively green-grey eyes. As for Tamahome... instead of being worried about Miaka's strange behavior, he had merely uttered a curt, "Get a hold of yourself, Wufei," to her before turning to watch Hotohori and his companions with cold, suspicious eyes.

Heero glared at his fellow pilots in their unfamiliar physical forms. With full access -- perhaps *too* much access -- to their host bodies' memories, they could have had a chance to conceal their presence in this strange world. That would have been the optimum solution. But now with Wufei's outburst, any opportunity to maintain a low profile was totally blown.

Not that he hadn't done his own part to screw up the situation. Heero knew quite well that he was not acting the least bit like Tamahome. Why hadn't he been more cautious? Perhaps it was because Tamahome trusted these people and considered them friends. It wasn't a comforting idea to think that his host's memories and emotions could affect his own judgment and behavior so much.

Nuriko said anxiously, "What the hell's wrong with them!? Why are they acting like this!?" He glanced worriedly at Chichiri. "Is it some sort of spell Nakago's cooked up?"

The magician took a step closer to Wufei who backed up and reflexively took up a defensive posture.

Chichiri blinked at the sight of Miaka move with the assurance of an expert martial artist and said hastily, "Miaka... or Wufei... or whoever you think you are, no one's going to hurt you! We just want to figure out what's going on, no da!"

Heero and Trowa exchanged a long look and came to a mutual, unspoken agreement. At this point, it was useless to waste time and energy in an obviously futile cover-up. A quick glance at Wufei got a reluctant nod.

The Wing pilot stepped forward and said flatly, "You've undoubtedly realized that while these bodies are familiar, we....," Heero made a sharp gesture to Tasuki and Miaka, "are not the people that you know."

"What the hell have you done to the Miko and the others?" Hotohori said in a tense, even voice. His white-knuckled grip on his sword and the stiff set of his shoulders were the only clear signs of his inner turmoil.

Heero snapped irritably, "Don't ask me. I have no idea how we ended up in this world or in these bodies."

Chichiri quickly blocked Nuriko's path as he took an angry step forward.

"Stay calm, no da. We can't do anything until we've figured out exactly what we're dealing with here, no da!"

Trowa folded his arms and said quietly, "In our world, a deranged scientist was attempting to break through interdimensional barriers in an insane quest for power. We tried to stop him, but it was too late. There was an explosion and we woke up here. That's all we know at the moment."

Nuriko eyed the redhead uneasily. It was rather unnerving to see Tasuki acting and talking in such a controlled -- one could say 'overly controlled' -- manner.

Chichiri rubbed at his chin and said, "I see, no da. Now, if you don't mind... errr, Wufei, is it?... I just want to see if I can figure out what's going on here. I promise that I won't hurt you, no da."

Wufei gave the mage a long, assessing stare, then nodded slowly.

"All right."

A soft greenish glow appeared around Chichiri's staff, then slowly flowed outward to fill the room. Heero tensed as the green light touched him, but when nothing else happened, he gradually relaxed.

Several long minutes passed in complete silence before the green glow abruptly faded. Chichiri took a deep breath.

"Well?" Hotohori asked in an unusually sharp voice as he gazed worriedly at Miaka and the others.

"Hmmm... there's good news and bad news, no da."

Nuriko muttered, "How did I know you were going to say that?"

Chichiri shrugged helplessly, "That's just how things go, no da!"

"What's the good news, then?" the emperor said.

"Our friends are basically intact and whole -- mind, body, and soul. Nothing seems to be missing. The only problem is each of their bodies appear to be carrying an extra soul... and it's this extra soul who's currently in control of their physical bodies.

"Then what happened to Miaka, Tamahome, and Tasuki!? Why aren't THEY in control of their own bodies!?" Nuriko demanded.

"I'm just guessing, no da, but it could have be that the shock of having another soul entity forced into their bodies somehow stunned the resident soul... a temporary effect, I hope, no da."

"And you call that good news? Then what's the bad news?" Nuriko exclaimed.

"When you have two souls in the same body, all sorts of strange things can happen, no da."

"Chichiri! What sorts of things?" Mitsukake said with a worried frown.

"That's more good news and bad news."

Nuriko flung up his hands and yelled, "Argh! Just spit it out, okay!?"

"Well, since those ARE our friends' bodies to begin with and they're all linked by fate and destiny to Suzaku, I don't think that it's likely that THEIR souls are in any danger of being cast out of their bodies or otherwise erased, no da. Now if the interlopers were ordinary souls, it would likely that the these invading souls would eventually be forced out, rather like a body fighting off a disease...."

Nuriko heaved a sigh of relief. "Great! If all we have to do is wait...."

"But I don't think any of these people have what you could call ordinary souls, no da."

"Oh great...." Nuriko muttered.

Hotohori thought, (No. I don't think there's anything at all ordinary about these three souls, as Chichiri calls them. They have the eyes of warriors who have suffered and yet endured... people who refuse to surrender or give up, no matter the odds. They're *not* going to just conveniently fade away.)

"And if they're not ordinary?" the emperor said aloud.

Chichiri continued in a somber voice, "In that case, the longer their souls occupy our friends' bodies, the more likely that the invading soul and the resident soul are eventually going to merge together... a process that's likely to be irreversible, no da!"

"But... but if they merge... does that mean that Miaka... Tamahome... Tasuki... they won't be...."

The mage nodded and sighed softly. "She won't be the same Miaka that we all know and love. Something within her will be fundamentally changed, and the same goes for the rest of our friends. "

Wufei waved Miaka's -- now his -- hands wildly and shouted "NO! I utterly refuse to be stuck with a weak, gluttonous, nitwit female like HER for the rest of my life. I won't!"

"How dare you speak of Miaka like that?" Hotohori said in a low, dangerous voice.

Wufei glared back angrily and retorted, "Oh, perhaps you're ready to fight and die for your precious Miko, but would you like the prospect of literally BECOMING her!?"

Hotohori, Nuriko, and Mitsukake flinched rather guiltily at the prospect.

The Chinese pilot smiled sourly and said, "I didn't think so."

Heero's scowl told everyone just how much HE liked the thought of merging with Tamahome, whose passion and willingness to express his feelings -- to the world, if necessary -- left the Wing pilot both annoyed and strangely envious.

Trowa characteristically kept his thoughts to himself, but Heero thought it was safe to assume that the Heavyarms pilot wasn't too thrilled about the possibility of being assimilated by the personality of an impetuous, pain-in-the-butt ex-bandit who took an unholy joy at 'accidentally' torching *him* at the least provocation....

Heero gritted his teeth when he realized that the last thought was much more Tamahome's opinion than his own.

(Damn it. I can't afford to relax. It's too easy to get caught up Tamahome's emotions and memories,) the Wing pilot cautioned himself.

Even as Heero was doing his best to keep his thoughts straight, Trowa was finding that it took a conscious effort to remain still and centered. He firmly suppressed the urge to stomp around the room and start yelling at exasperation. Throwing a temper tantrum would be a mere waste of energy, but still....

"Then we've got to get these extra souls out of Miaka and the others right now!"

"That's obvious, Nuriko. But the important question is how are we supposed to accomplish that?" Hotohori said, discretely rubbing the bridge of his nose in an effort to massage away what promised to be a nasty headache.

With a slight shrug, Trowa said, "I have no desire to steal anyone's identity. Nor do I have any desire to lose my own. Since we have no idea how we ended up in your friends' bodies in the first place, I don't have any suggestions on how to leave."

"Why not?" Nuriko said in a rather suspicious voice. "If you're seriously about what you say, why don't you just... up and leave?"

"Because that's not how it works, you fools!" a cackling female voice said as an extremely old, extremely ugly, and extremely wizen old woman popped into their midst, her face only a few inches away from Heero's.

He recoiled wildly and landed on his rear, even as he automatically grabbed for his gun before realizing that guns didn't even exist in this world. Not that firearms would do any good against the old crone....

"Taiitsu-kun!" they all shouted.

The old woman who was also THE Creator glared around her, then finally let her gaze settled back on Nuriko.

"You think I'd be here if this mess was so easy to take care of? If they were ordinary souls, they never would survived the trip." She then glared at Heero. "Why are mortals such fools, to tamper with the walls between worlds just for the fun of it?"

He didn't bother to reply, but simply gave her a hostile stare.

She snorted, then continued, "As no ordinary souls could have survived to reach this world, no ordinary human body could have housed such souls. That's why these outworlders ended up in the bodies of the Suzaku Seishi. Some of them, anyway."

Heero abruptly sat up. "What do you mean, 'SOME of them'? You mean that there are more of us here?"

"Yes. But of the nearly hundred souls cast into the void, only a handful survived the journey to this world."

Trowa stiffened and quietly asked, "How many?"

"I'm certain there were at least eight souls who crossed the void... maybe a few more."

"If three of them are here, that means that...," Nuriko said.

"At least five more remain at large and undiscovered," Taiitsu-kun muttered grouchily.

"But where are they?" asked Hotohori.

"Don't you fools ever listen to a thing I say? No ordinary human body could host such souls. So where else would you expect to find bodies with powers on par with the Suzaku Seishi!?"

Nuriko grew abruptly pale. "You don't mean the Seiryuu Seishi!"

"Perhaps. Then again, perhaps not. Remember, there are FOUR gods of this world. But for certain some of the outworld souls now reside within the bodies of those dedicated to Seiryuu and its miko." She nodded significantly, then turned toward Heero and his companions. "Go seek out the other souls from your world. Only then will I be able to determine whether there's any place for you to return to." She smiled toothily. "Be warned. Your world might exist no more. In which case.... We shall see."

Wufei snapped, "Wait a moment! I somehow KNEW Heero and Trowa the moment I saw them -- or at least I knew there was something strangely familiar about Tamahome and Tasuki. But I can't sense the others' presence at all."

"Of course not. You can detect each other's presence only because you're in the bodies of the Miko and her Seishi, who are all linked together in the service of Suzaku," the Creator snapped.

Trowa quietly said, "But we don't have a similar link with the Seiryuu Seishi or the Seishi of the other gods, so we have no way of telling whether they contain a soul from our world or not. And vice versa."

Taiitsu-kun peered at Trowa and muttered, "You've got a good set of brains... which is more than I can say about that red-haired idiot whose body you're occupying." She smiled slyly, "But his heart is definitely much better shape than yours, so you might learn something from him."

The old crone shrugged impatiently and said, "Locating the other souls is your problem, not mine. I have enough to do trying to get things back in order."

Hotohori stepped forward and said urgently, "But Chichiri said that if these strangers' souls stay in our friends' bodies, there's a serious risk of...."

"Of the souls merging. Quite right, pretty boy."

"And we have no idea how long it's going to take for them to find the other souls," Mitsukake said anxiously. "If the search takes too long...."

"Then I suggest you hurry. Because if their souls merge, then the issue of returning to their world becomes totally moot. They'll become one with their host, never to be separated."

"But isn't there any way we can separate their souls from Miaka's and the others' bodies right now?" Nuriko was starting to sound a bit desperate.

"No. At the moment, they're well and truly stuck in your friends' bodies. And before you ask, a wish from Suzaku or Seiryuu might force them out of Miaka's and the others' bodies, but the summoning won't work as long as there's a foreign soul within the Mikos. Of course that won't be a problem if the two souls fuse together."

And on that encouraging note, Taiitsu-kun disappeared.

"That's fucking great."

Heero and Wufei both turned to stare at Trowa, who blinked at them in faint surprise. Then his eyes widened a bit as he realized what he had just said.

Wufei said in a disbelieving voice, "Trowa, did I just hear you utter an obscenity?"

The pale skin that was the curse of redheads made it impossible for Trowa to hide a faint blush of embarrassment as he nodded curtly.

"I was... concentrating on something else."

(Probably worrying about Quatre...,) thought Wufei.

Heero snorted, then turned to Wufei, "We'll just have to try to keep ourselves as separate from our host's personality as possible." He then glared at Wufei. "And whatever you do, do NOT start calling me 'Tamahome' in that... that voice of hers."

Wufei flushed and retorted, "Then stop staring at my chest, Heero!" as the Chinese pilot very belatedly pulled Miaka's bedrobe over her exposed breasts.

Trowa interrupted the developing argument with a calm, "We have other problems to worry about."

"Which are?"

"How to locate the other souls and what to do once we've found them. Taiitsu-kun stated that several souls from our universe are contained within the bodies of the Seiryuu Seishi. But we have no easy way to determine which of them harbor an extra soul or not."

"We can wait and see if they try to kill us or not," muttered Nuriko.

"That's not a perfect test," the Wing pilot said harshly.

"What do you mean?"

In a cold precise voice, Heero replied, "When the dimensional breach occurred, five of us were in the middle of infiltrating an enemy base that contained at least a hundred OZ personnel. There's significant chance that any soul entities we encounter are going to be hostile enemies."

"Terrific," Nuriko muttered.

"Do you think your two missing friends managed to... make it here?" Mitsukake asked tentatively.

Heero said flatly, "If I survived, Duo would have."

(If we're talking about the strength of soul, spirit, and heart, then Duo and Quatre are probably the strongest of us all...,) the Wing pilot thought to himself. The alternative was unacceptable. Not that he wanted Duo to be trapped in the same precarious situation as he, Trowa, and Wufei currently were, but given a choice between that and possible oblivion....

Apparently Trowa's thoughts followed the same path as Heero's, because he simply stated, "The same with Quatre."

As for Wufei, he said nothing aloud, but within his own mind, he knew that Treize also would have survived. There was no question about it.

"Then it gets even worse, no da," Chichiri said quietly.

"How could it get worse?" Wufei muttered.

"I'm sure you're well aware that the Seiryuu Seishi and their Miko are in sworn opposition to Miaka and the Suzaku Seishi. That's not even mentioning issues of personal revenge, especially between Tamahome and Suboshi." He glanced significantly at Heero. "If any of you get overwhelmed by the memories and emotions of your host body...."

"We could end up fighting each other... possibly to the death," Wufei said in a taut voice.

The monk nodded somberly.

With a slight frown, Hotohori said, "Luckily, we had Taiitsu-kun and Chichiri to explain what happened to our friends. I'm certainly not happy about the situation, but I understand that you are certainly not to blame. We'll do everything in our power to help you, and not only for our friends' sake. Unfortunately, we don't know if your missing friends will have similar good luck dealing with the Seiryuu Seishi. Somehow, I don't think that the Seiryuu Seishi will react kindly to discovering that some of their members have been possessed by souls from another world."

"Duo's like a cat. He'll find a way to land on his feet, somehow," Wufei said with a sour smile.

Heero gave his fellow pilot a cold stare and snapped, "Certainly, IF someone else doesn't do anything stupid to ruin his chances of keeping things under control."

Wufei blushed furiously and glared back at the Wing pilot.

Unsettled by the exchange of nasty looks between Miaka and Tamahome, Hotohori hastily interrupted by saying, "So now what are you planning to do?"

Heero merely shrugged and said flatly, "We go hunting for the Seiryuu Seishi and their Miko."

[ Kutou royal palace ]

As he dressed in Nakago's clothes and armor with unconscious ease, Duo was carefully sorting through the warlord's memories of the Kutou Emperor's court, trying to get some idea what kind of mess he was getting into.

(Sheesh! What a den of rats. Half these nobles would just love to stab this Nakago guy in the back if they could and the other half's too busy sucking up to him.)

Strangely, the situation wasn't completely unfamiliar to Duo. The politics in the court of Kutou weren't all that different from the street gangs of his childhood. There were the same sorts of power games and dirty dealings, only differing in the scale of things.

Duo sighed quietly to himself. It was a bit disconcerting to realize that he and Nakago had basically used the same tactic to survive... and even thrive.

Masks. It all came down to masks... masks that hid the darkness and pain inside... masks that deceived and lulled suspicions... masks that allowed just the right amount of strength to shine through, but concealing one's true power....

He had developed the reputation of a jokester, cheerful and easy-going, but no pushover -- but that happy-go-lucky surface hid the ruthlessness and determination that gave him the strength to do whatever was necessary to achieve his goals. Few people had ever seen that side of him and all of them were dead, mostly at his hands. Not even Heero knew....

As for Nakago, he was one smooth bastard, hiding the bitterness and hatred from years of humiliation and abuse behind a facade of cool control and politeness. Even the damn emperor, who damn well should have known better, bought Nakago's act. And the nicely calculated show of power -- enough to instill respect and fear in the people around him... but not too much fear. That would have been just as bad as too little fear. Those fancy-dressed idiots would be pissing in their robes if they only knew how much power Nakago truly had....

However, Nakago's carefully constructed mask left Duo with a bit of problem. Because if that mask cracked or if Nakago's act faltered in the slightest, everything could easily go straight to hell, one way or another. Basically, Duo could not afford to let anyone in Kutou know that anything strange was going on with their Shogun.

(That's right. Gotta play it cool. These guys are like a pack of starving alley dogs. They're just dying to rip him apart or get him under their control the first chance they get. Let them catch the smallest sign of weakness and everyone's screwed. Friggin' terrific! And I thought infiltrating into OZ bases was bad.... I could really use someone I can trust at my back. Hell, I wish Heero was here! Damn it! He was just starting to open up... to trust me and my feelings for him, but now this shit has to happen! Although... maybe it's better that he's not trapped in this crazy zoo with me....)

There was a sudden knock on the door.

"Enter," said Duo in Nakago's deep, rich voice.

A guard opened the door and dropped respectfully to one knee.

"Lord Nakago, there's something wrong with Lady Soi."

Sapphire blue eyes narrowed, Duo said, "What do you mean?"

"The servants heard hysterical shouting and things breaking inside her chambers just now. We thought it might be an assassin, but when we opened the door, there was no one in the room. She threw a vase at us and we... errr, left her alone."

Duo suppressed the urge to grin. With Soi's lightning powers, it was no wonder the guards and servants didn't want to piss the woman off and risk being turned into a charcoal briquette.

"Anything else?"

"She was babbling something about... a hero, I think, my lord."

(A hero? What the...? Wait, can she be talking about Heero!? Shit! I remember hearing that stupid shout of Relena's, but I thought it was all a bad dream! Damn it, she could blow everything if I don't get her under control NOW.)

"Fine. I'll deal with it. You may go."

"Yes, Lord Nakago," murmured the guard as he backed out of the room.

Before he stepped out of Yui's chambers, Treize tried tugging the blasted schoolgirl's skirt down a bit more.

(This is ridiculous!)

As he checked his appearance in the mirror one more time, he pondered what he had learned about Yui in the last hour. Although she was a girl, he was gratified to find out that Yui was in excellent physical shape and a born athlete. However, for a man raised from birth in an atmosphere of intrigue and deceit, he found the girl's naivete, obtuseness, and stubborn blindness to the truth appalling. In his experienced eyes, Nakago's manipulations were fairly blatant, but it was equally obvious that the real Yui couldn't see beyond her own sense of betrayal and anger.

(She's really not that much in love with Tamahome. It's more a nasty combination of infatuation, jealousy, and vindictiveness.)

And while he can understand Yui's anguish over being raped, he didn't consider it to be sufficient excuse for her foolishness. It wasn't as if she was unique. Unfortunately, rape was one of the most frequent violent crimes committed against others. At least she doesn't even remember the actual event.

Treize smiled grimly to himself.

Some people are not so lucky.

As Duo took the familiar way to Soi's room, a passing courtier smirked lewdly to his companions and said in a clearly audible voice, "Off to bring your pet bitch to heel, Lord Nakago?"

Duo stopped, then slowly turned to stare at the courtier. The foppish man had been chuckling at his little verbal jab, but his smirk abruptly disappeared from his face when he saw Nakago's sinister little smile. It was Duo's favorite 'I'm-busy-now-but-I'll-deal-with-you-later' grin.

It suited both the occasion and Nakago perfectly.

Then Duo continued on his way, leaving the offending nobleman sweating and quivering nervously in his elaborately embroidered boots.

When he arrived at Soi's chambers, it was clear that she was still on her own little rampage. As he dismissed both the guards and servants, then watched them hastily scurry away, Duo absently thought, (I suppose there *are* certain benefits being a ruthless powerful bastard.)

He calmly entered Soi's bedroom and locked the door behind him. As soon as he saw her, he knew that he was right. Although it was Soi's body who was yelling incoherently and tossing things around, he was certain that Relena was running the show. And knowing what Nakago did about Soi's life, he had a pretty good guess why Relena was so totally freaked out.

With a silent snort of amusement, he thought, (Not so easy to ignore the dirtier aspects of existence, is it, Relena? Not when you can remember every cold, hungry, terrified, and painful moment of Soi's life....)

She abruptly whirled around, vase in hand. But she froze in mid-throw as soon as she recognized Nakago... and more importantly, the fact that the man in front of her really wasn't the Shogun. Before she could do or shout out anything stupid, Duo took several swift steps, grabbed Relena by the throat, and pinned her firmly against the wall.

"Well, imagine meeting you here, Relena," he said with a wicked little grin.

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All rights and privileges to Shin Kidousenki Gundam Wing are trademarks and property of Sunrise, Bandai, Sotsu Agency, and associated parties. All rights and privileges to Fushigi Yuugi and all characters are created by Watase Yuu and are property of and owned by Flower Comics, Shogakukan, Studio Pierot, Bandai Visual, TV Tokyo, and Movic. The characters of these works are used WITHOUT permission for the purpose of entertainment only. This work of fiction is not meant for sale or profit.

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