On Pheonix Wings Ch. 2
By Elaine

A premonition.

Yes, that was what it was called. He always seemed to get those, and he always had no idea why. So many places, so many dreams... everytime something was going to happen, he was one of the first people to know. It was a great skill, one he took pride in, because it could not be learned like other skills. But it could be honed, and hone them he did. Now his dreams were screaming out to him. Something was going to happen, something big and dark and dangerous and he would be part of it. Whether he wanted it or not. And he supposed it was good that he would have time to prepare. He silently packed his meager belongings into an old duffel bag and slung it over his shoulder.

"Yo, Ryu...where you going?"

He turned around and recognised his partner. His rival. And his friend. He smiled slightly. "Somewhere."

"Uh-uh," Ken wagged his finger. "You can do better than that,"

He sighed. "I'm not really sure. I know something's going to happen and I want to be ready when it comes,"

"Oh, little feelings again, eh?"

"Yes," Premonitions. He seemed to get a lot of those.

"Hmmm...the last time you had one of those, I ended up fighting a mutant twice my size with some really sexy southern babe..." he chuckled. "I don't suppose I could come along, could I?"

"You have a wife," Ryu gestured to the pictures of smiling faces around them. "And a child,"

"Yep..." Ken grinned happily. Ryu was suddenly overcome with a bout of jealousy. His friend had a home to go to, a person who he loved and loved him, a family. And he...he was all alone. He pushed it down almost immediately, he had the fight. A goal in life and it was enough. These were little extras , nothing extremely important. Only the fight was important. Only the fight...

"I'd...better...go..." he murmured and walked to the door.

"Yeah, well...feel free to use any of the houses of ours that you come across, okay? None of that Asian politeness bull."

"Okay,"

"I especially recommend the condo in Shanghai, very beautiful and extremely romantic if you decide to hook up with someone there," he winked a few times. The hint sailed right over Ryu's head. For one with so many premonitions, he was rather clueless when it came to love.

"If you say so,"

"Well, I guess this is goodbye then,"

"See you another day, Masters."

"Bye, Hoshi."

He greeted Eliza and Mel in the kitchen and went through the normal customs of saying goodbye and thanking them for their kindness in letting him stay somewhere. It was all very sweet, but rather time consuming. And he had a feeling that time was one of the things that he needed right now. As soon as he was able to, he broke into a run to the airport. The feeling told him what he was looking for was in China. So China was where he'd go...

*~*~

Birdie looked around him at the plush surroundings. In front of him sat an extremely good looking woman. The woman apparently had a business proposal for him, though what someone with that stature would want with him, he wasn't sure.

"So you are Birdie?" The accent was Tokyo-ish with a slight unnatural ring to it.

"Wot's it to you?"

"We are interested in employing you as a member of our circle, you will be... a henchman...yes, that's your word for it,"

"Against what?"

"Right now it is confidential, let us just say there are those who are afraid of what we have to offer and may try to kill us. I must find a few people who are willing to fight them for me,"

"Are they powerful?"

"Extremely,"

Birdie thought for a minute, "Then maybe you should contact my old boss, he would probably be more interested,"

"Bison is dead," The woman replied evenly. "Therefore it is nearly impossible to contact him. We are trying to contact all of his old aquaintances...perhaps you could help me with that too,"

Birdie thought for another minute. "How much do you pay?"

The woman smiled. "We give you more power than your old 'boss' could ever imagine. And if you still want something more, I believe we can come to an understanding..." She clicked a button located on her chair. The walls opened revealing thousands upon thousands of gold blocks piled upon each other.

Birdie's eyes grew wider and wider, trying to encompass all the wealth presented before him. "Miss..."

" Please call me Syrena,"

"Syrena," Birdie corrected himself. " You...have got a deal."

~*~*

Sometimes, not many, but sometimes never the less... sometimes the man named Ryu Hoshi wondered where his life was taking him. He had spent the last twenty some years training. But for what? His friend had told him because there was a lack of other things to do, but he severely doubted that. Over twenty years, over two decades...it was a rather long time to train. Especially if one didn't know what he was training for. And now his feet, which seemed to have taken a life of their own, had run for hours on what seemed like a random destintion. But then again, many things that had happened during his lifetime seemed rather random. And they hadn't been. There was a reason why his father had mysteriously dissapeared. There was a reason why his mother had left him in the wild, all alone. There was a reason why the old man who had become his master had stumbled upon him that fateful day. He knew there was a reason, for everything had a reason. He just didn't know what it was. But something told him he would find out. And soon. He looked across the landscape, below him, the roaring waters of the Yang Tze tumbled. His hands clenched closer on his duffel bag as he saw a figure approaching.

"You know what I love the most about you?" The figure, which was dressed in purple asked. "I never have to come to you...you always seemto know where to go,"

"Hello Rose,"

"I suppose you don't know why you're here though, do you?"

"No." He sat down.

"Too bad, I guess I still have to do some explaining, hmm?" She sat down next to him.

"There's something bad about to happen, isn't there?"

"Unfortunately yes. Perhaps one day we can all gather to celebrate instead of to fight," Rose smiled wistfully at the waters below her.

Ryu shrugged. "Maybe someday, let us not waste any time now though, tell me what I should do,"

"Alright, you see...back when there was nothing but chaos..."

If anyone had bothered to look above the swelling waves of the Yang Tze river and onto the mountain tops, they would have seen a strange site indeed. The violet silhouette of a woman telling a tale to one enraptured audience member. And behind them, all of nature seemed to hold it's breath, waiting for the inevitable to happen...

*~Tokyo, Japan*~

The monster called Syrena looked down at her vast empire, the bustling streets of Tokyo. Fools, they were all fools. Thinking that they were safe from whatever destiny had planned for them. Syrena chuckled icily, her grim wolf like face appearing especially animalistic and traced one taloned finger across the window. Soon, so soon and all those people would know it's true ruler. Not the emperor, not the Yazuka, no...it would be her Lord, The King of Darkness and Chaos.

"Master," a voice behind her called. It was one of the lower creatures the Lord had given her. "One of the yazukas have requested a meeting with you,"

"Ah yes," Syrena chuckled. She passed her hand over her face and felt the transformation take place. Now an imaginary wind tousled her long luxurious hair, her cold gray eyes appeared as warm as the summer sun, and her sunken cheeks took a brighter and more beautiful sheen. "He can come in now,"

A nervous old man approached into the room. She remembered him. A very influential leader of the Japanese mafia. He had once been so very proud, at first too proud to accept her 'protection'. But he had changed when his wife had mysteriously dissapeared...Syrena grinned.

"Ah Hoshi old friend, so what information do you have for me?" Syrena asked in the beautiful voice. She steeped her fingers and rested her chin on them.

The man relaxed slightly. "We have information regarding the people you have asked us to watch. The japanese man is leaving for China today..."

"The girl?"

"Still in school, nobody has contacted her yet,"

"The officer?"

"No one has contacted her either, we have five or six men watching

"The gaijin boy?"

His voice trembled slightly and he almost lost his bearings for a moment. "We can't find him anymore,"

"Excuse me?"

"He-he has dissapeared from his apartment, nobody knows where he has gone," The man was becoming increasingly agitated.

"You have failed me Hoshi," Syrena replied calmly. "You know the punishment for failure,"

"N-no, I have not! We, my people will find him!" the man cried, falling to his knees.

Syrena smiled. Fear was oozing out of his pores now. How she loved that smell. It was the scent that had kept thousands of kingdoms running for so many years. The one that was the key to this kingdom. It was her key. She licked her lips. This only made the man even more nervous.

"I shall give you one more chance, Hoshi..." she replied. "If this happens again..." she came closer to him. "Have I told you what a beautiful son you have? He has the most wonderful eyes," She turned her back to him. "It would be such a shame if they were to be damaged..."

A look of complete and utter horror passed the man's face. "D-do not worry, I shall find him! I promise!"

She watched him from her office window. How fragile he looked getting into the stunning black car. All humans were like that...so fragile...so easily bent and so easily broken...She turned on the speaker.

"Yes, Master?" "Get me a ride to Osaka, I have quite a few important things to say in the next meet,"

*~*~

There was darkness. Then a small click and the small room was filled with light. He glanced at the wall in front of him. Beautiful designs had been carved into it. It was a mosaic depicting a war scene. Men fought against men on gruesome detail, horses seemed to whinny in fear, spears and swords seemed to clash everywhere and near the top of the wall, a pheonix and a dragon attacked a vile looking shape. He stood in front of it and seemed to touch some places at random. A few seconds later, there was a grinding sound...of rusted wheels finally coming into use and the picture seperated, revealing a secret room.

He sighed. "It has been to long," he said quietly and crossed the threshold.

The room was sparsely furnished. It had one small oaken desk residing in one of the corners with a ancient and slightly tattered book on it. In the center of the room was a stone pillar that reached to his chest and had as many engravings on it as the mosaic at the door. Gently,almost lovingly, he picked up the old book. Written in gold on the cover were four characters. He knew it to be an ancient form of Chinese. Book of Elements. The book of The Seven. He carefully flipped the pages, almost lovingly, before finding the passage he wanted. Slowly and in a soft, melodious tone, he chanted it, growing stonger and louder in every verse. The song got faster and faster and louder and louder. He could feel the power of the words resonating within the room, could feel it swirling around him, cloaking him in an aura of light. When he reached the last word, he cried out even louder than he had before and struck the middle of the stone with all his might, the room ringing as his fist impacted with the metal bell inside. As the ringing subsided, he heard the voice, calling out to him. With open arms, he reached to embrace it. He had almost forgotten the exhileration of being in service. The unending joy...

Are you ready?

Oh yes, oh yes, oh yes...

Will you serve me?

Yes My Lady, I would do nothing else...

So you will go back to what you once were?

Of course, my Lady. Mold me to your will...

Then all is good.

A blinding flash of light, and all went black.

*~*~

"Lady, the raven has just gathered another for the seven!"

"Really?" Lady Takashi turned and set her unblinking golden eyes on the girl. "I have to admire her efficiency... what about the new Restorer? And...Gen... Have they come yet?"

"No, my Lady... we have not heard a word of Master Gen or the new Restorer,"

"Oh I see," her eyes turned down in dissapointment. "Well, continue looking, I am sure he will come,"

"Yes, my lady..." the girl paused for a second. "um...Master Gen will not have forgotten all about us, right?"

"Of course he hasn't forgotten, what makes you think that?"

"Well, we all know what he sacrificed in the last war, how much pain he was forced to go through...and everyone knows that he is skilled at making potions for the mind...he may have..." The girl breathed deeply, almost afraid to continue. "there is a spell to wipe away certain memories..."

Lady Takashi laughed slightly, "Gen is not like that, he'll remember,"She gave the girl a reassuring pat on the shoulder. "You shouldn't worry about things like this..."

"Yes Lady," The girl left.

"He'll remember," she whispered to herself. "He would never forget us..." the words seemed sort of empty now that there was no one to reassure but herself. "He would never forget us..."