It was a dark, stormy night; how many ghost stories began with that rather hackneyed sentence? The first story that used that sentence may have cast a foreboding air that sent a shiver down your spine but no more. Now, you could say: "Rabbits grazed in the meadows" and you'd have a more eerie effect. So, due to this fact and my overwhelming prejudice toward clichés, though this story will begin at night, it will not, however, begin on a dark and stormy one.

It was a bright, cheery night, the stars shown vividly overhead but they paled in comparison to the festival lanterns. Paper lanterns were tied to strings and strewn carefully from wooden post to wooden post, and under the heartening light, demons of every size, shape and form had gathered from across the borders of the Demon world just to pop a few balloons with darts and to catch a couple of goldfish. Dressed in their finest; they carefully tossed a small ball into a floating cup in hopes of winning their blushing girlfriend the giant teddy bear leaning against the far wall.

Other attractions were pitched on the outskirts. A sign was planted deep in the ground outside a large red and white stripped tent, inscribed with fading gold letters reading: HALL OF MIRRORS.

A carousel twirled in the golden light to a lively tune as small demon children sat astride plastic animals as they rode up and down and round and round. Their light-hearted laughter filed the air and floated away on the cool, summer breeze.

The stage is set, enter the players.

Amidst the heavy-footed imps and chattering creatures, a small group of humans wandered under the confetti. A motley crew to be sure, in the lead, with such a sour expression on his face that it lead one to believe he'd rather not be wearing the traditional kimono that he was currently dressed in. The raven-haired youth scanned the grounds with such air that you would imagine him a commander in the middle of an intense battle then a happy carnival-goer.

Behind him, was a rather tall teen with fiery red hair who was much more jovial. He had a strikingly more casual atmosphere as he patted his companion on the pack.

"Lighten up, Urameshi! You're at a fair for Pete's sake!"

The leader grunted, "I know, but I'm just a little worried. This place is chock-full of demons after all..."

"Aw," Said the carrot-top with a careless wave of his hand, "Just do as I do and blend in."

Behind him was a diminutive fire demon with even more of a sour look on his face than that of Yusuke's. His features darkened considerably, he folded his arms and scoffed. "Really, how do you expect to blend in when you shout at the top of your lungs like that?"

"I DO NOT SHOUT AT THE TOP OF MY LUNGS!"

"Case in point." The demon smirked.

"Hey! You tricked me into doing that!" The teen cried pointing an accusing finger.

"What an astonishing insight."

"Quiet both of you!" Yusuke snapped. "Kuwabara," he addressed the red head, "Have you seen Botan?"

"Nuh-uh." He shook his head. "She was right here a minute ago! Short stuff, did you see where she went?"

"How on earth should I know? Do I look like her keeper?" Hiei stated coolly.

"Ugh, Great. Now we have to look for--"

"I got cotton candy!"

"Gah!" Yusuke jumped back at the sudden outburst from behind.

"Yusuke, don't be so jumpy."

The speaker was beautiful young girl, with long light-blue tresses framing her face. Her amethyst eyes were filled with laughter as she handed the teen the confection.

"Pink for you." She giggled and turned to Kuwabara and the demon.

"And blue for you two."

"Gee! Thanks, Botan!" Kuwabara exclaimed as he bit into the cloud of sugar.

"What is it?" The fire demon said, handling the object cautiously.

"Oh! Hiei, it's candy. You eat it." She demonstrated by taking her own cotton candy and taking a slow bite.

He studied the candy closely with his red eyes before sticking out his tongue warily and licking the sugary puff. He pulled back suddenly, eyes widening with wonder. After a few moments of his supreme fascination there was something of a smile slowly spreading to his features before it was quickly wiped away.

"Thanks." Hiei said grudgingly as he took another bit.

Botan smiled, had she not known him that well she might have been insulted. But she'd been around the stoic, little demon long enough to know that had he truly not liked it, he would have tossed it over his shoulder and merely grunted.

She smiled back gently and turned to Yusuke. "So, where to first?"

"I'll tell you where to! To our mission!"

"Come on, Urameshi! Can we have a little fun?" Kuwabara argued.

"Yes! We are at a carnival!" Botan agreed.

"No! We have a mission to carry--"

"Oh! Don't be such a spoil sport!" And with that Botan grasped his arm and tugged him toward the Hall of Mirrors.

One minute Yusuke was standing under brightly lit lights and colorful streamers, the next he found himself in an eerily quiet, dim surrounding. It was so strange that it was so loud out there that you could hardly hear yourself think over the bustling crowd and yet in the large tent a whisper seemed even louder than a herd of elephants stampeding across the plains. The sudden absence of sound sent an involuntary chill down the raven-haired youth's back.

I'm sure you've seen a carnival mirror before. If you haven't don't put it on your list of things to do before you die because, frankly, you aren't missing out on much. What it really is, is a day when someone got the bright idea to take a piece of reflective material and bend it just so that when you look at it, instead of just some regular reflection blinking back at you, your image in warped. Your face may seem sort of crazy or all at once you look shorter and stouter than you really are but other than that, it's nothing really special.

But demon carnival mirrors are nothing like this. In fact, they are a hundred times better! What they did was take a perfectly normal mirror and cursed it. And when you glance in it, you see yourself as you might look, if you were:

Short

Tall

Fat

Skinny

A hairy monster

Born with two heads instead of one

A bird

A duck

An umbrella

A Band-Aid

A piece of liver

Or anything else that popped into the creators' mind while they were cursing the mirrors.

At present, Botan was closely studying her reflection in a mirror that showed exactly what you would like if you had been born of the opposite sex, and was extremely surprised that she actually made a pretty handsome boy.

"Hey, Botan!" said an extremely tall and homely looking red head with pigtails walking up beside her. Then, the carrot top catching her reflection in her mirror abruptly screamed.

"Dude, Kuwabara, you make one ugly chick." said a black-haired beauty as she laughed and showed off a freshly manicured hand while doing so.

"At least I ain't wearing red nail polish."

It was Yusuke's turn to scream.

"You disgust me." Said a short girl who strode past the mirror too fast for anyone to get a good look at.

Botan, losing interest in this mirror went to the next, and saw herself as she would like as a house cat. Funny, she'd never seen a cat with blue fur before.

Kuwabara and Yusuke were having a field day. Running from mirror to mirror and making fun of each other's reflections.

"Aw...Yusuke makes such a pretty flower."

"Why look, Kuwabara! You're a weed!"

Hiei, who despised such activities, found a secluded spot in a dark corner where we was safely hidden from the glassy gaze of the mirrors.

Botan continued her journey through the mirrors, until she happened upon a strange one.

Now, the mirrors didn't always project what you would look like if you were such and such. Sometimes they reflected something much more interesting. For instance, one particular demon was hit with a sudden stroke of pure genius (or at least he thought so), and he cursed a mirror that showed what the perfect animal for you would be. (He made this primarily to decide whether or not to choose a dog or a cat. In the end it was neither. The mirror reflected a snake.) Following his example, cursors all of the world started making all sorts of (what they would later be called) clairvoyant mirrors. Mirrors that answered questions like:

What is the perfect house for me?

What would be a good book for me to read?

What hairstyle would make me look best?

Things like that. They weren't exactly a clairvoyant, but the demons' really couldn't have cared less if the word fit or not.

Where were we? Oh, yes. Until she happened upon a strange one.

Looking back at her was perhaps the most handsome man she'd ever seen in her whole life. He was tall, with hair as red as a rose's petal, and eyes just as green as its leaves. But perhaps the thing that shocked her most about the image was that this man was dressed in nothing but a very loose fitting white robe, giving her a very good view of his pectorals and torso.

Blushing fiercely, she averted her eyes downward. There she got a glimpse of a small plaque inscribed in elegant letters the words: WHO YOU WILL MARRY

Blushing even more, she back as far from the mirror as possible and turned her back to it.

It was then she noticed the utter emptiness of the room. All three of the boys were missing. 'Probably off looking for the popcorn vendor', she thought, sighing; and went to locate her missing comrades.

All at once, what little lights had been in the Hall of Mirrors flickered out of existence, plunging Botan into darkness. Her heart raced and sweat trickled down her forehead.

"Hello?" She called timidly, prayer for an electrician to answer.

No such luck.

Complete and utter silence followed. Her heart was pounding even harder now.

"Hello?" she tried again more boldly.

"Hello." Said a voice from behind her.

Spinning quickly around she came face to face with a demon. A demon's whose face was oddly transparent. A demon who happened to be completely engulfed in an eerie blue light.

"G...g...g..." She stammered.

The demon whisked a stray lock of silvery (and transparent) hair back behind his shoulder.

"Ghost?" He offered, a sly smile playing across his pale (and transparent) lips.

She clapped her mouth shut and nodded dumbly.

He rolled his yellow (and transparent) eyes and scoffed. "Go ahead. Scream. Run away. Typical."

She was more than happy to oblige.

Well, that's it for chapter one! So, what'd you think? Anywho, this Frith and I'll basically be writing all odd chapters in this story. And when I say "odd" I of course mean odd numbered not odd strange. (Though it may be that too.) Chapter two will be written by the ever talented Nijiko! And you definitely don't want to miss that!

Hello everyone! I'm Nijiko-chan! The "N" part of FN Productions! As you know...this is a joint account...and you guys are probably wondering..."How come you are in a joint account with the great Frith and not me!?" Well...it wasn't like "Hey Nijiko...wanna be in a joint account with me?"! This account actually sprouted from my own fic, a joke we we're having. So that is just how things went...so know i shall shut up and allow the fic to go on.

Check out our other fics!

Definition of a Fox by Nijiko-chan and When the Stars Fade by Frith!

Ciao!