Chapter One: We need you

I growled to myself as I waited in line for the finals to start. I'd been one of the first people to get in line so I'd been there for a while. There was still a day left before and I was lying in a hammock I'd set up for myself. To drown out the insistent noise of the other demons I was listening to music on my iPod. "The Bleeding" by Five Finger Death Punch without the screaming was the song that played right now. It was great! And it provided me with the ability to think straight without the urge to kill anybody.

Unfortunately, whilst here, I thought about things I shouldn't. Why the hell am I here? I kept asking myself that countless times. I didn't need to be here. Team Urameshi was doing perfectly fine on their own. Besides, it's not like I'd be much help anyways even if they need their secret alternate. I say secret because they didn't even know about me. Or I assumed that was the case. I heard nothing and saw nothing that indicated otherwise.

Damn you, Koenma. Normally, I don't hate people I don't really know much about but the chief administrator of Spirit World really pissed me off. I hated him with a fiery passion, or in my case icy. I distinctly remember the day I got dragged into this mess…

{Flashback}

"Dammit! I'm so gonna be late!" I snarled as I leapt off the ferry and ran full tilt home. "!" I shrieked as I sprinted through town. Anyone in my way I just ran around, probably leaving them confused and frightened that they were nearly flattened by a teenage girl. I neared the cemetery and decided to take that as a short cut, especially if anyone tried to hassle me. I ran through the tombstones toward the back of the cemetery where a copse of trees grew. No one went in there except me and the rest of my coven. Everyone else feared the ghosts while we welcomed them. At least, we welcomed the benign ones. I always felt at home in the woods.

That was not to be the case today. As soon as I entered the trees, I felt the presence of something…not human. I skidded to a stop and focused. What was there? It wasn't a demon, so I was safe in that aspect. But it wasn't a ghost either. What the hell is going on? I took a few steps further.

"Show yourself!" I called. "Now!"

Suddenly, a figure appeared before me. After first it was just a blob but then it took a more definite shape. In no time the blob had taken the form of a baby floating in air. He looked like a young heir to royalty from the look of his Japanese uniform.

"Someone's impatient, I see," he said, his pacifier bobbing with each word.

I flinched. What the frig? He was much too young to talk! And he sounded older too! More like my age! What the hell?

"I see from your expression you've never heard of me. Not surprising because most humans in your world haven't. I am Koenma, chief administrator of Spirit World,"

I raised my eyebrow. "They must not have high standards…" I mutter.

He glared. "Hey! I'm the son of the king of Spirit World, missy! I could make your afterlife very unpleasant!"

"Whatever you say," I mumbled, still disbelieving.

He sighed. "Anyways, I'm not here to discuss that. Actually, I need you to do something for me,"

I narrowed my eyes. "Oh? And what would that be?"

"I need you to enter the Dark Tournament,"

"What is that?"

"It is a tournament where demons from all over compete in teams to see who is the strongest of them all. Each team has five fighters but can also have one alternate if one of their members dies. I need you to be an alternate for such a team,"

I glared. "Over my dead body! And if I enter such a tournament, it will be!"

"You have power, Alyss, you just don't see it,"

I blanked. "How the hell did you know my name?"

"Chief administrator of Spirit World, remember? And your name isn't the only thing I know. I also know about your condition,"

I raised my eyebrow. Does he know about…Nah, there's no way. I grinned. "Hah, you got nothing on me!"

"Oh really, now what if I told you…" That I'm a witch? Hah! Everyone on the island knows that. It's no big secret here. "I know about Badiyanu,"

I blanched. No, no it can't be. "But how did…"

He grinned. "That I will keep to myself. Now, are we going to be cooperative…or am I going o have to reveal your little secret?"

My eyes widened in fear. "You wouldn't dare…"

"Oh but I would. You see, I'm desperate to make sure the team I sponsor wins. Not just for their sake but for the sake of Human World as well. Desperate times call for desperate measures,"

I twitched. If more found out about me…Oh my god…I tried to find a way to counter it but was coming up short.

"I wonder how long you've been hiding it. A long time, huh? Would be a shame if all that hard work was all in vain just because you decided to say no,"

I ground my teeth together and hung my head in defeat. "When is this tournament?"

He smiled. "Good girl. It's in three weeks so I suggest you train. These fighters are strong but they may need your help. You'll be the alternate for Team Urameshi…"

{Present}

I snarled to myself. Koenma was going to pay for this. Where does he get off black mailing a girl when it's obvious that his team didn't need me in the first place? All the fighters had done terrific throughout this whole tournament. The only time I was gnawing on my thumb nail (my nervous tick, you could say. I don't bite my nails so they've like talons) was when Kurama looked like he was done for after fighting Gama then Touya. I wanted to throttle Baken for being such an asshat and was happy when Yusuke beat the crap out of him. Even after that, I just knew they'd make it, even with all the crapping rulings the committee threw at them.

I sighed to myself. What am I doing here? I'm no fighter. What did that tiny tot mean I have power? Okay sure, I was good at being a witch but that wasn't enough here. I couldn't wait for this to end so I could find Koenma and deck him! Making me train for three weeks straight, lie to my family about where I was gonna be these last few days, scare the crap out of me at the thought of fighting these monsters. Ugh! I'm so killing him.

I was so engrossed in my bloody musings of torturing Koenma and my loud music that I jumped when someone tapped on my shoulder. I looked to see it was Koenma's blue ogre servant. I slipped off my headphones to hear him.

"Yes, may I help you?" I said, trying to be polite.

"Lord Koema wants to see you," Ogre told me. "He says you're needed,"

I blanched. "What?"

"It seems…there's been a death in the team,"

My eyes grew wide as I digested Ogre's words. Oh crap. Can I deck him now? I sighed, trying to seem together. "Alright, can you take me to him?" I asked as I got up from my hammock and snapped my fingers so it would fold back up and put itself away in my duffle bag. Ogre nodded and led me into the woods. We stopped at a clearing where Koenma was standing by himself. He was in his teenager form, a form I saw near the beginning of the tournament when I was looking for a seat.

He turned as we approached. "Ah, I see you got my message,"

I crossed my arms over my chest. "Okay, binky boy, what the hell is this about someone dying on Urameshi's team? We both know there were no fatalities on our side in the semi finals,"

A sad look came into his eyes. What the hell? "Yes, Alyss, you are correct there wasn't a fatality on our side. But there's been an incident since then and we need you to take her place,"

No. "Her? You don't mean…"

"Yes. The one you will b replacing is Master Genkai,"

"But…But I don't understand, how could this happen?"

He sighed. "It's a long story and much too long for you to hear. Right now, you need to focus on preparing for the finals,"

"You don't think I'll have to fight in it, do you?" My voice cracked at the end. I could feel tears start to form in my eyes. This can't be happening.

"Let's hope we won't resort to that but we still need five fighters tomorrow or Team Urameshi will be disqualified," He walked up to me and place a hand on my shoulder. "You will do fine, Alyss. Train hard tonight and focus on the job at hand. I know you can help keep this team from losing,"

I shook my head. "What if you're wrong?"

"Well, let's not think about that right now," With that said, he and Ogre left the clearing. Once they were gone, I sank to my knees and let the tears spill. Oh god…I was gonna fight in the finals. But what if I failed? What if I ended up being the tiebreaker and I lost? Everyone else on the team was so much stronger, what help could I be? Nothing, not an ounce of help. My power lay in spells and puzzles, not battle tactics. I just hoped that I really wasn't needed. Yeah, just a space filler, that's all I'm good for anyways.

I wiped away my tears and stood, glaring at nearby tree. I charged at the tree and started pounding at it, leaving icy fist prints in the bark. I was so angry and scared. Angry at Koenma for dragging me into this, at Genkai for dying, this whole stupid tournament, my weakness, my secret…I slammed my fist one last time into the bark and spilt the tree, making it fall. I touched the pendant for the collar around my neck: a large pentagram with a stone in each point, one for each element in nature. The seal that trapped my own dark secret. I hope and prayed to the God and Goddess that I wouldn't have to use it. If I did, it would mean my death and I really didn't want to die. I haven't proven anything to the world just yet but maybe I wasn't meant to…yeah, there's that possibility.

I sighed to myself. Well, no use moping about. I needed to train. I took a deep breath and focused my energy, locking on any moisture in the air. There was plenty plant life and being that this was an island the close proximity to the ocean allowed for a lot of water vapor. When you're a water witch like myself, such things were an asset and gave you an advantage. I'd even learned to "see" with the water in the air if the need arises. However, I wished I had someone to train with. The real thing was better than a simulation. Unfortunately, I didn't feel confident enough to ask any of Team Urameshi. I was actually scared to meet them. They'd probably feel my dismal aura and laugh at me.

I frowned and started working with the water in the air, molding and shaping it into various shapes and weapons and working with each possible form for any situation. This allowed me to get the right feel for each weapons. My best were whips, staffs, arrows and other long range attacks. Close range wasn't my style nor my strong suit. That was my older sister, Alex. We always joked that she was the samurai and I was the ninja. As I trained, my thought turned to my family.

Poor Alex, she probably was getting real worried about me. I haven't even been able to send a letter or an email. I promised myself I would explain everything to her once all this had been over with. Hopefully she'd understand why I had to leave without so much as a word. The Aunts would probably kill me if they found out so there was no way I was telling them. Not a chance! Kylie and Antonia…maybe, after easing them into the idea of course. But I was definitely coming clean to Alex. I only wish…

My thoughts were stopped short as I felt a presence nearby. I was in the middle of bringing down my water staff so when I brought it down in a final stroke, I looked over to see who was there. My eyes grew wide at the sight of who was watching me.

There, just on the edge of the clearing, his immense spirit energy radiating from him, was Hiei. I froze and stared into his crimson eyes with my dark brown ones. I was kneeling to ground but even if I were standing, I'd probably still feeling like I was shrinking under his gaze. Yet, I was also mesmerized. I was a small bird under a serpent's stare. Or should I say dragon's?

Hiei and I stared at each other for the longest time. I was frightened; I knew he could feel that. Out of all the members on the team, Hiei was the one that I feared but also admired the most. I don't know why but something drew me to him from the moment I saw him enter the area in the first round. Granted my fear only intensified when he unleashed the Dragon of the Darkness Flame. And it didn't help that I was close to the section that got roasted! But even as I feared him, there was longing to learn more about him. Don't ask me why! I have no clue! There's just something about him that makes me want to see the real Hiei inside. Like that'll ever happen.

Finally, after what felt like an eternity, Hiei looked away and continued walking. It was like a spell had been broken. I let out a breath I hadn't realized holding and looked up to see night had fallen. Damn, I still didn't feel ready enough for the finals. I stood and touched the seal on my neck. Please don't make me resort to this…

I walked to the hotel and up to my room. My duffle bag was already sitting there in the living room thanks to a transport spell I'd done on autopilot when Ogre led me to Koenma. I opened the duffle bag, laid it on its side and crawled in. Inside was a bedroom. Thanks, Alex! This place was too creepy for me not to stay in my room-in-a-bag. It's a spell my sister invented so she wouldn't have to worry about lodgings. She put the spell on my bag so I wouldn't have the same issue either just in case. There was even a bookshelf with all the spellbooks I'd need and random books to keep my company. On the wall were Halloween lights in the shape of a spider web. I turned on the lights on the wall and turn off the over head light before getting dressed in my pajamas.

I turned at looked in the full length mirror. My hair was dark brown to match my almond shaped eyes and fell just past my butt. Half a foot of the ends was dyed sky blue. I was olive toned thans to all the time I spent in the sun at home. My appearance was average, not pretty but not ugly either. Only thing that made my stand out was my hair and when that had a habit of getting over shadowed.

Ready to die, little one? A creepy voice rasped in my head.

I sighed. "You've been awfully quiet,"

The voice laughed. Why yes. It's been so boring here and you thoughts are no better. "Oh, what if I lose? How can I compete with them? Oh, deary me!" Feh!

I smirked. "That's what you get for listening to my thoughts,"

I have no more choice in it than you do, you little brat!

I narrowed my eyes. "Yes, you did have a choice. A long time ago,"

The voice smirked. Yes, but as they say "Desperate times call for desperate measures" and I have a feeling you'll know that soon enough.

I snarled. "Keep quiet, you banshee. I have no time for your rasping!"

The voice just laughed again. Fine then, sleep and know it'll probably be your last night on earth. But rejoice! You'll see your mother soon enough…

I growled and threw myself into bed, throwing the covers over me in defiance. I hated that voice, I hated it! But I was tired and soon, sleep over took me.

"Mom? Mom, you down there?" I called, quietly coming down the stairs. I hugged my stuff rabbit close to me. I know I'm only eight but give me a break! I crept quietly into the sitting room and nearly jumped out of my skin.

Standing there in the middle of the living room was a woman; a scary woman, at that. She had long, lank black hair that looked like she hadn't washed or brushed it for days. Her dress was old and worn with patches everywhere. Her skin was ghostly pale, almost translucent. In her hands was a large scythe, like that of a grim reaper's. But it wasn't that scythe that scared me. It was her smile, which reminded me of those insane children in my ALICE game…and her eyes. They were dark, so dark I couldn't see any indication of colour in them. They had this manically look in them that chilled me to the bone.

The woman saw me and grinned even wider. "Well, hello, child," She smiled. Her voice reminded me of poison honey. "You must be little Alyss,"

"H-how did you know my name?" I asked in a timid voice, clutching my rabbit closer to me.

She just continued grinning. "Oh, I know your mother quite well," She gripped the scythe tighter. "Very well…"

"Stay away from her!" A voice called. I looked to see my mother standing at the top of the stairs.

"Mom!" I cried.

"Go back upstairs, sweetie," My mother soothed as she came down the stairs. "I will handle this…"

The woman laughed. "Why, Cecilia! How nice it is to see you! I was just saying hello to your little brat,"

"Leave my daughter out of his," My mother growled, holding her hand out for a fire ball to appear. "You have no right to be here, Badiyanu,"

I started to creep back up the stairs when Badiyanu turn her crazed eyes to me.

"Oh, but I do. I've come to destroy you hunters once and for all!" Badiyanu swung her scythe toward my mother. Next thing I know, there's fire everywhere.

"Mom! Dad! Help!" I cried, trying to run to my room and hide from the flames. There was a wailing shriek and I turned to see a figure writhing in the flames.

"You bitch! Look at what you've done!" Badiyanu shrieked. She turned and I could see in the light of the flames her eyes had a hint of red in them. They grew wide at the sight of me and a smile twitched at her lips. "A body…And a young one at that…" She took a step towards me.

"St-stay away!" I cried, tears running down my face as I tried to back away from the crazed woman. "Mommy! Daddy!"

She chuckled darkly. "Your mother is gone, child. She can't hear you or save you," Badiyanu took another step and reached for me, wrapping her cold fingers around my neck. I kicked and squirmed as she tried to squeeze the life out of me. The air grew cold and the fires died down only to be replaced by icicles. One shot up from the ground and impaled Badiyuna. She screamed at the pain and coughed up blood but the evil grin stayed.

"Sorry, little girl. That's not going to work. Your body's still going to be mine," She hissed and squeezed harder. My vision grew dark and as I started to fall unconscious, I heard a voice call my name…

I awoke to see a light in my room. On the wall was a window that showed me what the weather was like outside. Surprisingly, it was sunny. And it was probably the last I'd see for the finals had arrived.

Author's Note: Hello everyone! This is only my second YYH story that I've posted amd I've only just started them both ^^" so please be kind! This story is mainly from Alyss's point of view but I will give you indications if it changes and to who it changes to as I will shift in the future. There ws just no point in shifting in this chapter.

Special Thanks: littlekawaiifirefox! For all your help in keeping this story alive! I was so close to giving up on this when I had that giant kink you helped me work out. You've been such a great help and I thank you for it! =^.^= I really hope you enjoy this, Fox!

To anyone who is reading this story, please reveiw it so I know what people think! Reviews are what inspire me to write but without that inspiration I can't write. Just look at my very first story, Day and Night! So please, if you want more of this and you want it soon, review!

TTFN, Ta Ta For Now!