Prologue

It had been raining for fourteen days.

Three months ago, the weather would not have been such a reason to worry. After all, Alaric endured many months of heavy showers during the wet season. The problem was that the wet season had already ended, and drops of water were pouring ceaselessly from the bloody heavens. The streams and lakes had become roaring monsters, and most of the crops had been washed away by the unexpected deluge.

The people of Alaric wondered what could be causing the storms. Most assumed that a water demon had decided to flood their land as a practical joke, and went about their business as usual. But anyone who had been inside the palace during the past month knew what was really causing the storms.

In the palace, the great hall was dark and almost completely empty. Occasionally, a boom of thunder would sound, and the accompanying flash would banish the shadows and unmask the three people who occupied the hall. One, a man dressed in a robe of black velvet, was seated on a large chair made of ebony and gold. Beside the throne stood a man in a pale blue gi, along with a small man with a large, deformed head.

Shigure frowned, looking at Hiei when the younger demon was revealed by the lightning. His face was smooth and had an almost elfin look, but it seemed oddly rigid, the mouth set grimly and the bloody red eyes focused on the door at the other end of the hall. A moment later, a loud knock pounded on the door. Hiei seemed to have been expecting it, because he did not so much as bat an eyelash at the sound.

"Hiei-sama?" a voice called.

"Enter," Hiei commanded. His tone was dark and cold.

The door creaked open, granting access to a few rays of pale green light as a young boy approached the three demons. He was dressed in a cream robe that matched his fair face, and his sandy brown hair tumbled over cerulean eyes.

"I have just heard it from a guard in the dungeons," the boy said, bowing deeply. "He confessed."

The expression on Hiei's face did not change.

"Have him brought to the top of North Tower," Hiei ordered calmly. "Bind him to the lightning rod and leave him."

"Hiei-sama, may I speak?" the boy asked, playing with the sleeves of his robe nervously. "The assassin calls himself Makoto. He says that he was hired by someone of great importance in Gandara."

"Did he," Hiei murmured. His red eyes dropped to the floor and clouded over, and he soon became contemplatively quiet, as he had done more and more frequently in the past few weeks. Shigure had seen that kind of silence before and knew that Hiei would not be speaking anymore.

"Someone from Gandara ordered the assassination?" Shigure asked sharply. "Did Makoto give us a name?"

"No, sir," the boy said, bowing to the general. "He says that his family would be hunted down and tortured if he says who it was."

"As it is, every nobleman in Gandara shall be facing torture!" the deformed man interjected. "The death of —"

Shigure made a shushing sound, and the three demons glanced at their unresponsive master. They drew closer together and lowered their voices.

"As I was saying," the man muttered to the other two demons. "Hiei-sama won't let anyone escape unscathed. No one save Yomi himself could match him now. He has become so powerful, it would be impossible to stop him."

"And he buried his hiruiseki with Mukuro's body, to be sure that she could rest in peace," Shigure added. "Without the ki of the hirui to keep him stable, there's no way to tell what he could do."

There was another moment of pause, and then the deformed man cleared his throat.

"You had best get Makoto to North Tower," he said to the boy. "You don't want to make Hiei-sama angry, do you?"

"What? Oh, yes. Thank you for your time." He bowed to Shigure and the deformed man before rushing to the other end of the hall. As soon as he closed the door, the three demons were cloaked in darkness.

Author's Notes: I do not own Yu Yu Hakusho. There have been small changes in Togashi's story to make my story work, so consider this an alternate universe. One of the most notable changes will be explained next chapter. This story contains YAOI, SHONEN-AI, SADISM, and LEMONY CONTENT. Please leave now if you object to any of this. I accept constructive criticism, but NOT flames.