Chapter One

Maya Wasn't exactly sure how she had gotten here, or even where Here was. All she knew was that she was standing in front of a rather large desk, with a girl who had blue hair beside her, mumbling something about this being the third this week. The third what, and what on earth was she doing in this strange place? She couldn't even remember what she had been doing ten minutes ago, before she had been led here from darkness. 'Darkness'? Hm.

"Boton, the stakes are getting higher. We cannot afford to let this one get another teenager. People are beginning to panic, and soon, if this isn't handled, my father will step in. Take any measures you can. Inform Yusuke that there was another, and to keep his eyes peeled. Tell him that he and the others, including Hiei and Kurama, need to be ready to go on a demon hunt." Maya's moss colored eyes widened as she took in the teenage boy before her. He had stood from his large twisting chair behind the desk, and was now facing her, allowing her to see the word 'Jr.' printed on his forehead. He held a blue pacifier between his lips, which were pursed together in a manner that indicated great stress, even for the pacifier. Wasn't he too old for one of those things anyway?

"Yes sir. Koenma, what if we don't get any new leads, and the demon disappears, like Sensui had?" The blue haired girl, Boton, asked. Her voice was filled with worry, and Maya could only stand there, confused and irritated. They had been talking around her, as if she wasn't even there. These people, who didn't even know her, were shunning her!

"Look, I am standing here. I may look and feel like an idiot, but could you at least take the time to explain where I am and how I got here?" Maya asked impatiently, feeling her head shake back and forth in utter irritation. "I am not just an earless, mindless statue."

"My… Koenma, are you sure?"

Maya felt like her head was going to explode. She had even taken the time to get their attention, yet they were completely ignoring her still!

"I'm sure. Maya, I apologize, I didn't mean to exclude you from the conversation, I was merely telling Boton what needed to be done. I guess now would be a great time to explain what is going on." He nodded to Boton, all of which left the room. At her leaving, a blue creature sauntered into the office. "Have a seat." He took the time to gesture to a chair that hadn't been there moments before, and Maya did as asked. "Now, as to where you are, you are in the Spirit World. Boton found your body this morning, however, we do not have room in the spirit realm for you, since your death was so sudden."

Maya's irises widened to their full value, seemingly giving a deer in the headlights look. She had died? This morning? How? Her head began to swing back and forth once more, even more violently than before. This couldn't be happening, it just couldn't be! She had lived in a small town, where nothing ever happened…

"However, you are an unusual case. You cannot go back to your body, since it was tattered so much… But you cannot remain here. I do have a way to get you back to the Human realm, but it will take some major string pulling and effort. If you can have a body, it will have to be a new one, practically manufactured here in Spirit World. That is, unless you want to go around like Boton, able to do both jobs? You do, after all, have extraordinary power."

"Power?" She asked, the first of many things that she needed to ask about. "What do you mean, powers?"

"Well, as I can see here…" In front of him, Jr. held a small folder that withheld many papers, and his eyes were roving over it in a quick manner as he settled to lean against his desk right in front of her. "Boton had watched you use a few spirit abilities, such as the spirit gun and a protective barrier. No normal person can use those abilities, and not be noticed by others."

"So… If I am dead, and Boton brought me here… Does that mean she is a Grim Reaper?"

Koenma's laugh sounded odd to Maya's ears, making her feel out of place. "In a way, yes. Now, for the other things I need to explain…" He snapped the folder shut and let his eyes meet hers full on, making Maya feel small despite her being only a few inches shorter than him. "Earlier, I mentioned demons. They are foul creatures that, many centuries ago, hunted humans for the glee of it. Some demons still do that, as witnessed by your appearance here in my office. However, they were confined to another realm, the Demon World. A barrier was put between the worlds of the Human and Demon, yet a few minor demons are able to slip through, causing a few mishaps in the towns."

"So you mean to tell me that all of my childhood fears and bedtime tales were actually real?" She interrupted, feeling the gears in her brain working on overdrive. Over a matter of… two hours by her watch, Maya's entire world had dissipated, and turned into a science fiction movie. How in the hell was she supposed to cope with this?

"Well, it depends on what stories your family told you as a child. Some stories were over exaggerated by mankind, making the situation sound much worse than it actually was. However, some situations are actually real. It all depends on what you wish to believe. You can either believe all demons are monsters of the world, or only some can be depicted as such." Koenma said slowly, making a point that this was no rhetorical question. What he was saying was actually a question about her opinion on the matter, and that her answer just may change everything for her.

She bowed her head in thought for a moment, knowing that her opinion shouldn't be said irrationally. She had no more room for mistakes, and was frankly scared to make another, especially in front of Jr. here. "Well, here's what I have to think…" she began, wording her thoughts before continuing any further. "What do you think they imagine us to be? Weak, right? Well, if I have powers, like you say I do, then I wouldn't necessarily be considered weak. So if we were to look at it like that, and all people though demons were evil and monsters, then there has to be some sort of good to balance the bad, right..?" she said cautiously, feeling proud of herself for thinking through her response. "I mean, not everyone can be totally evil, otherwise the human race wouldn't exist, right?"

She looked up from her hands, and saw that Koenma was gone. Did she answer wrong? Where did he go, and how did he leave without her hearing him go? Her head swiveled around on her shoulders, and her eyes roved the room. No sign of him anywhere… But his voice coming from behind her nearly had her jumping into the air. "Good answer, Maya! Most people wouldn't have even thought twice about their answer. So, here." Her eyes rolled to his hands, where a small egg resided. "This egg holds a small creature, and this creature feeds off of your energy. I am giving it to you to hatch. If you give off an aura of kindness and love, and goodness, the creature will hatch into the reflection of such aura, and aid you in the future. However, if you give off a horrid aura and feelings of anger constantly, the creature will hatch, and devour you whole."

Maya lifted her eyes from the gold egg, and glanced at his smiling face, disbelief written all over her own features. "You want me… to hatch an egg that could kill me?" was all she managed to say.

"Yes. I have no worries about you as of yet, and I'm pretty sure you won't have any problem being kind to the people around you. However, for now, you will be with Boton, and you will meet Yusuke, and assist him in his search for the demon. George is already getting started on creating a false body for you to use temporarily, until your power is strong enough to recreate your original body. I will also tell Genkai that you will need spiritual training. You may go now, Boton is outside the door, waiting for you."

"Okay, but one last question…" She said, standing in front of him and blocking his way back to his desk, taking the egg from his hand. "How did I die?"