Jaila Heyn 
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Title:The Phoenix Generation
Series: Fushigi Yuugi
Rating: G
Pairing: Tas/Nuri
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This is an AU fic, set right at the end of the FY TV series, as if the OAVs never happened. Enjoy!
-Jaila Heyn
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The Phoenix Generation Prologue
Five years ago:
Buildings collapsed into rubble, the sound mingling with the screams of terror,
shock and pain. People gathered in whatever shelter they could find, confused and afraid
of what was happening. One moment, it was a normal bustling business day in Tokyo,
and in the next moment, the skies darkened, and the mass destruction began. Most
observers attributed this sudden change of events to the rather large red phoenix engaged
in battle with an equally large blue dragon above their very heads. Each blow dealt
resulted in more destruction for the city below. The local news and doomsayers alike
reported the event as the end of the world, and urged citizens to make peace with their
respective gods. The battle itself lasted for what seemed like hours, each combatant
gaining the upper hand and maintaining it, only to be overpowered by its opponent.
Those sensitive to mystical energy could sense the sheer power generated by the fight,
and could "see" their energies has a red, cloudy haze that enveloped their sight. The
phoenix, in a desperate surge of strength, sent the dragon to its doom. The haze lightened
to red as the bird called out its victory to the heavens, becoming visible to everyone as it
and the phoenix became brighter and brighter still. The glare was blinding, and people
had to shield their eyes. Hot red light slowly covered the battlefield, expanding to
encompass all of Tokyo in its intensity.
Then, there was nothing.
Two years later:
The world knew that day as Red Haze, a day of great strangeness and mystery, for
the day after went on as normal. The citizens of Tokyo woke up in their respective beds
and went on their respective ways as if nothing had happened the previous day. There
were no destroyed buildings, no dead bodies, not a single chunk of rubble lay in the
streets. In the memories of a large amount of the population, Red Haze never happened.
Most of those who could vaguely remember the event dismissed it as some sort of mass
hallucination.
However, a few others could not forget the events of Red Haze. They saw the
battle in daydreams; occasionally they would get red vision—seeing the world though red
shaded glasses. As months passed though, their numbers dropped and the remaining ones
worsened, the symptoms expanded to include dreams, night terrors, and hallucinations.
The few worst cases boggled psychologists when they did not respond to any kind
treatment and developed other mental disorders from simple mania to outright
schizophrenia. What was even stranger was the visions of one case corresponded to the
others and vice versa. When two such cases would encounter each other, both reported
the feeling of deja vu, that they knew each other. This small group was known as the
Phoenix Children, after the prevailing symbol in all of their dreams, a fiery phoenix.
With each Child discovered, the medical community would clamor to admit them into
intuitions, exposing them to unique and often brutal methods of treatment. Families
became desperate to cure their children, and quite happily signed them over to doctors.
Dr. Jyou Ryouji, a novice psychologist, was one such doctor. He dedicated his
life's work to the study of the Phoenix Children, and argued that they could not be
properly studied locked away in mental intuitions "like animals." His theory was quite
unpopular in the mental health community, who had convinced the public that the
Phoenix Children were a liability until their condition was studied fully. The Children
endured the worst treatment of any of other patients, and according to Dr. Ryouji,
unfairly so. Nevertheless, without any kind of support, he disappeared into obscurity for
a year.
After his self-imposed exile, Dr. Ryouji opened Tombiki Clinic, completely under
his funding. There he promoted his alternate method of treatment for Phoenix Children;
to treat them as human beings, not deranged patients. Surrounded by mountains,
Tombiki Clinic promised freedom and afforded enough privacy to test this theory.
Frustrated with the lack of progress, other hospitals freely transferred their "incurable"
Phoenix Children into Dr. Ryouji. New cases were referred the Clinic as quickly as they
were diagnosed. The Clinic gained much publicly when their first three patients
responded so well that they remained there working as fully functioning staff, two of
which even earning bachelors degrees. The response was quite positive, and Dr. Ryouji
earned more funding from outside investors.
Tombini Clinic got the most fanfare when, after a long a protracted legal battle
with a large state hospital, Dr. Ryouji admitted the very first diagnosed Phoenix Child—a
15 year old girl found wandering the streets the day after Red Haze. She was severely
delusional, hallucinating of events that, according to her, occurred at the same time as the
battle between the phoenix and the dragon. No one claimed this girl, even the family that
she led authorities to, insisting that she was part of them. The people she named as
friends either did not know her or simply did not exist, and her madness grew into
episodes of screaming fits. She became so violent that she was kept secluded and tied to
a bed for two years. The location of that bed changed as hospitals kept transferring her as
she worsened. Her symptoms became the template used to diagnose the other Children.
No treatment affected her condition, and finally, the medical failure known as "Miaka"
was transferred to Tombiki Clinic. The statement Dr. Ryouji gave to the press promised
to unlock the secret of Miaka's delusions, and use that to help the other Phoenix
Children.
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Jaila Heyn
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