Desert Rose

My mind's
In frozen dreams
The rotten flesh
Of bitter lies
Welcome to where time stands still
None leaves and none ever will Can't hold it
It burns
Each night I cry in pain And blood tears I cry
Endless grief remained inside
And blood tears I cry
Endless grief remained inside

- Blood Tears by Blind Guardian

Prologue

A smirk formed on perfect lips as the cries of innocents flooded his ears. Sweet, sweet blood flowed wherever he stood. He dipped his claws into the flesh of one dead human and lifted them to his mouth, tasting the beautiful coppery tang that drove his existence. He turned to leave, but a flash of red caught his eye. His smirk turned into a savage grin. The fox started the hunt…

Panting followed the boy as he ran, frantically looking for an exit. Tears rolled down a porcelain face. His entire family killed by the blood lust of a demented fox demon. He ran and ran down the stone corridors, searching in his mind for what he knew of the renowned kitsune. What he remembered was not of any comfort. He knew he would be stripped of everything of worth, tortured, and killed in a cannibalistic fashion, if he did not die of blood loss first. His chest heaved with a sob as he passed another member of his family.

The prey was not far now… Silver hair flowed behind him like silk, beautiful and untainted. Everything about him was silver, gorgeous and deceiving. His white pants and shirt were stained with a deep red, and his smile was anything but innocent. He smelled the fear radiating off the human in waves, smelled the grief, the hopelessness. It drove him, fed his sick desires. He saw the shock of red hair again, and jumped from his level of the castle to the humans. The prey had been captured.

Minamino Shuichi cried out as he was shoved violently to the ground, his head colliding with the stone floor. A wicked smile shined down on him, teasing. He leans forward, thin lips brushing his ear.

"Hello, human."

The human shivered and gagged, smelling the blood of his kin on the kitsune's breath. Vines sprung from the walls, taking the place of cold hands. Terrified green eyes looked anywhere but the dancing golden orbs of his killer. A claw traced his cheekbone, drawing a drop of blood. The demon bent down and licked the cut, savoring the taste. Young blood always tasted so good… Shuichi turned his head away from the sting. The fox growled, and grabbed his face, his fingers digging into Shuichi's cheek and neck.

"Don't you dare turn away from me. I want those lovely eyes on me as I take everything from you."

Another savage grin, as the claws danced down and ripped the boy's shirt, marring his pale skin. The boy hissed in pain, refusing to give the kitsune any satisfaction. Golden eyes narrowed and his claws moved lower, to Shuichi's stomach. Claws dug in deep, and a scream resounded throughout the stone hallway.

"Hmm… Music to my ears."

The demon dug deeper, and tore out the chunk of flesh. Screaming, screaming… The human's body shuddered and the emerald eyes fluttered shut. Pressure was delivered to the boy's profusely bleeding stomach. More screams, tears, and blood gushed. The eyes opened again, hazy with pain. The demon licked his lips. The boy whispered,

"Yo-youko…"

'Youko Kurama, actually.'

The demon said this casually. He dipped his head again, and licked around the area that he tore out. The sweet taste of blood filled his essence, it was euphoric and intoxicating. Shuichi coughed up blood, his human body failing fast. Youko shook his head with another sinister grin.

"Don't go dying on me just yet, aka-chan (1). We've just started the fun!"

A plant writhed around the boy's neck and healing energy restored his life force a miniscule amount. Tears poured down his face.

"No, no!"

He writhed again, trying in vain to lash out at his tormenter. A chunk of Shuichi's leg was torn out. He screamed and screamed. Youko drowned in the noise, loving it, feeding on it. He traced a line down the boy's chest.

"Such a pretty thing. If you weren't human, I'd keep you. Oh well."

Large emerald eyes stared at him, unable to look away from the enchanting gold that looked so beautiful, if not for the wickedness they held.

"Have you noticed your hair, aka-chan? Lovely color. Can you describe it for me?"

Shuichi shuddered, and whispered in a horse voice laced with pain and hate.

"R-r-red…"

A chunk of his hair was ripped violently from his head.

"Ruby?"

Another patch of hair was removed. Frantically the boy searched in his head for other adjectives for the color of his hair, his mind barely functioning.

"Crimson?"

-Rrrriiiippp-

"I d-d-don't know!"

His reflection was mirrored in Youko's eyes, terrified, exhausted, dying, and… bleeding…

"Blood! M-my hair l-looks like…"

Another scream resounded as another chunk of flesh was torn from his body.

"Exactly, human… A beautiful blood red. Drown in it…"

Fading fast, Shuichi looked around desperately, hoping for some kind of savior. No such luck. He was down to his last few seconds. His bleeding chest heaved as his eyes started to empty. Youko looked on in dissatisfaction.

"Hmm… Humans are so fragile."

He picked up one of Shuichi's limp hands, and sighing, ripped it off. Shuichi was numb now; he just looked on with near-dead eyes.

"I'll keep this as a reminder of you."

As the last of Shuichi's life force drained away, he saw blurry images of his family, and just as he was about to fade out into sweet oblivion, a sharp, clear pain ripped through his chest. He gazed up, and the last thing he saw as his soul escaped his body was the clear golden eyes of a surprised fox demon and beautiful black feathers, swirling around him.

'You what?'

A very irate child sat in a throne-like chair, glaring at a tall winged being.

"They mixed, sir, I killed them both at the same time. It was unintentional and will never happen again."

'Indeed it will not. Guards!'

Two horned demons that resembled street thugs lumbered in, and grabbed the man's wings, and ripped them off. Black feathers danced as a scream ripped through the air, a scream of the damned. The room shinned with a white light, and then the man was gone. The child sighed and gestured for the guards to leave. He gazed with sad eyes upon a spear that seemed to radiate bi-polar auras. He rested a hand on the spear and a similar light flooded the room.

After the light subsided, a teenaged boy stood before him. Beautiful emerald eyes gazed back at the child, seemingly empty. His hair fell in waves over his back and chest, shimmering. It was a deep red color, almost a blood red. Pale porcelain skin and a delicate figure almost gave him the appearance of a woman, save the toned muscles that rippled under the silky skin.

The boy's eyes closed, and suddenly, his whole demeanor changed. Shoulders straightened, stance steady, and the biggest change of all were his eyes. What once were soulless orbs now reflected thousands of years of pain, hate, and greed. They were whirling pits of emotion, fear, anger, lust, confusion, and most of all, a great sadness. The child, who watched this process with a schooled face, looked into his eyes with wonder. So much emotion, and then…

Nothingness. The redhead closed off like a candle that had been blown out. His eyes were totally and completely shielded. Walls of sheer willpower were staring back at the child, simply showing curiosity. What the child wouldn't give to see those eyes again. A calm, light voice spoke from dry lips.

"Where am I?"

The child shook himself out of his stupor, and he grabbed the spear that had previously emitted so much power. He laughed silently, thinking about how light it felt. The weight of what it had been made of was almost too much for even him to hold.

"You are at the gate way to the Spirit World. You died, remember?"

It seemed cruel the moment it came out of his mouth. Again the eyes seemed to hold agonizing pain, and then nothing again.

"I do. Who… am I now? I remember things that do not belong to me. Two sets of memories, it seems. One of them is slightly… horrific."

The child grimaced, a funny look on the face of a toddler, but neither was in a laughing mood.

"I feared this. You are the byproduct of an unforgivable mistake. My… messenger was sent to kill a certain demon, Youko, a kitsune that has been a huge problem for me over the last few millennia."

The corners of the redhead's mouth turned down slightly.

"Ah, you know, then. Minamino Shuichi was a young human, age 15. His family was famous for fighting off demons. Unfortunately, they were so good that they earned the attention of Youko, and were all slaughtered in a most heinous fashion. Apparently, young Shuichi was the only one left, and Youko caught and tortured him. Shuichi had just died when my messenger arrived, and he threw his spear at Youko."

The beautiful boy looked confused.

"How does that explain why two souls are merged? And who am I? Shuichi or Youko?"

The child tiredly sighed, a heave that did not seem right for a person of his seeming age.

"The spear was meant to send his soul straight to the Ninth Ring of Hell, but instead, it went all the way though, and hit Shuichi as his soul was leaving his body. Something went wrong with the spear, and the souls mixed and created you. You have no name, no home, but now, you have a job to do."

The redhead stood there, digesting this information. What seemed like hours later, he nodded.

"What do you require of me?"

The voice held no emotion; the redhead wasn't even there. He was lost in his memories of two past lives, one filled with evil, and the other with innocence.

"The messenger did not complete his time in this position. His soul was sent to Hell for making another soul suffer his job. You are the Angel of the Dead, you will guide souls to the Spirit World to be judged, and if I should require it, you will carry out death sentences on the most evil of souls. This is what you receive for Shuichi's life, but for Youko, you will be an outcast from the Angel society, to carry out your days alone, or even worse, with demons. This part of your soul was hated in all the worlds, and you will be looked upon with hatred. Demons who had been previously used by Youko will look at you for retribution. This is your reward and your punishment."

As the child spoke, the redhead began to shriek with pain. His shoulders hunched, and great black wings sprung from his shoulder blades. His back was bleeding, but the wound healed within seconds. The wings were huge, and they were covered with black feathers the gleamed in the light of the room. Some of them were almost tinted red, seemingly taking from the teen's hair. His previously naked body was now covered with Chinese style pants and tunic. Both were black. A red mark, almost like a giant scratch, was stitched into the cloth, spanning from his left shoulder around his stomach to end at the bottom of his right leg.

The child stood and transformed into a more teenaged version of before. He lifted the spear and held it out to the teenaged boy, looking him straight in the eye.

"This is yours. It may not be a spear for you, but whatever it is, it will serve you and you alone."

The sad angel took the spear, and a light blue aura surrounded the spear and the boy. The spear changed into a red rose, with prickly thorns all up the stem. The redhead grasped it so that his fingers would not get pricked, but it was inevitable. A wince, and a trickle of blood welled up on his thumb.

"First blood. It is yours now. I am not sure as to the powers you retain from your former life, but this may be a hint. Now… You need a name."

The judge of the Spirit World's ageless brown eyes gazed into the depthless orbs of the newly christened Angel of Death.

"Your name will be Kurama, and my name is Koenma. I am the son of King Enma, and I judge all souls that pass through these gates. You will bring them to me. When I do not have a job for you, however, your time is your own. Do with it what you wish. Your time as my messenger will be determined by the quality at which your job is preformed."

The angel nodded, turned, and walked out the doors to the Human World, shoulders weighed down with the knowledge of an eternity of wandering.

Five thousand years later, a baby with a dark patch of hair lay in his mother's arms, with not a care in the world. Little did he know that he would one day change the worlds and the life of a sorrowful angel forever.

(1)- aka-chan: essentially, it's an endearing nickname, like calling someone Red. In this case, it's meant to imply that he is inferior

A/N- Um… Yeah, I was in a weird mood when I wrote this, and I wrote it like a half year ago. So… should I continue? Any helpful criticisms would be welcome.