The Spoils of War
Chapter One
Introductions
Since the beginning of creation the universe has remained in a constant balance. Light and dark. Good and bad. Just and unjust. Heaven and Hell. You get the point. Two worlds of creation, where all things upon are destined to die. And two worlds to over see those worlds, two worlds of eternity, otherwise known as the afterlife.
Up until 500 years ago it remained this way, and the four worlds thrived. But, of course, a healthy hunger for power was what threw the balance off. After a fight, good triumphed and the universe was restored to its proper functioning balance. At least as functioning as a world of destructive apes and chaotic demons can be with only one afterlife to over see them all.
But somewhere between the time of creation and the present, someone came up with the idea to create something of their own. While this practice is very common, what exactly they created was very uncommon. So uncommon that to this day it is still the only one of its kind, making it extremely valuable to whoever has possession of it. Unfortunately for the three worlds of human, spirit, and demon, it has been kept within the family for generations. At least it was until the last of the line lost it to the wilds of Makai. And as every story goes, now that it is free of its guardian, someone wants it.
Isn't life just peachy?
"Koenma I've already told you I don't know where it is!" she yelled.
"But you know who does! You gave it away, who did you give it to?!" The godling yelled in return.
"You mean you don't know? My my Koenma, your ogres are losing their touch." she smirked.
Currently the young prince sat in his office, half standing half sitting behind his desk. In front of him, guarded by two large ogres, sat a she demon, who was currently glaring fiercely at him. Large black bat ears were flattened against a long mane of black hair. She sat cross legged, being forced down by the large hands of the ogres, as a pair of black wings fluttered behind her in annoyance.
Cold blue eyes of the demon stared into the brown eyes of the currently teenage prince. The stare off continued for several minutes and then the prince blinked.
"Damn."
"Ha!" the demon cheered.
Rolling his eyes his face became serious again. "It belonged to you. You were responsible for it. I know you wouldn't have given it away to just anyone." He began, his voice soft. "Please Komori, I need to know so I can send my team after it."
"What do you mean 'were'?" she asked incredulously.
"Komori!" he roared
Komori sighed. "Koenma, nothing you say or offer is going to convince me to tell you." she said simply, a very determined look on her face.
"Even your freedom?" the prince asked. He watched the demon's ears perk and her eyes staring at him with disbelief mixed with a small amount of hope, and smirked. That got her attention.
"Freedom huh? All for just telling you who I gave it to?"
"Yes, just for the name."
Komori looked up to the bright ceiling as if contemplating. It only lasted for a moment before she turned back to him. "How about instead of giving you the name for your boys to just run around and play with I go with them and show them exactly what they need and exactly where to find it? Because if I just give them a name they are going to be running around for the demonsies to find before they can get it for you."
"Oh I think they could handle themselves, Komori. They have plenty of experience with Makai." Koenma replied.
"Maybe so, but Koenma, the only way I'm going to give them the name is if I can go with them."
"Why do you want to go with them Komori? I thought you hated going to Makai."
"Oh, I do. But I want to see it, just one last time." the demon smirked, her eyes sparkling.
"So, why are we here again? Weren't we fired?" Kuwabara asked as he lounged on a couch in Koenma's office. Botan had come to them with some urgent message in the dead of night and brought the four ex-detective team back to a very familiar office. However the toddler was no where to be seen.
"Yes we were, but it seems Koenma hasn't lost his need for us yet." Kurama replied calmly from leaning against a nearby wall. Even he looked slightly miffed by being back.
"Well this is a damn great time to summon us back after two years! And he isn't even here! Botan, you said he called us here, so where the hell is he?!" Yusuke yelled, not very happy about being pulled out of bed at 3 in the morning.
"Umm...well...he was here when I left. Although I remember him saying something about having to get someone out of Spirit prison. I don't think he was too happy about that." The grim reaper responded, trying her best to remember. She too had been only partially awake when Koenma had summoned her.
Both Kurama and Hiei visibly stiffened for a moment at the mention of the prison they had narrowly escaped. Perhaps in the end it had been worth it, and they were no longer in any danger, but deep down the fear still remained.
"Isn't that where they keep all the really bad demons?" Kuwabara asked, having only heard of the place.
"Yes, all the demons that have committed heinous acts against Reikai are sentenced and held until they can pay off their debt or until their sentence ends." Kurama explained calmly.
"So why would Koenma be getting someone out of there?"
Kurama was about to reply again when the doors suddenly swung open and two people, one familiar and one not so, walked inside, neither saying anything. One was obviously the Rekai prince, who floated over to his desk. The other was a figure dressed in black rags that covered every part of their body, only a pair of eyes glowing from the shadow of the hooded cape. They followed him to his desk, jumping up and sitting on top of it, much to the disapproval of the prince.
"You've got a lot of explaining to do toddler." Yusuke said, growling softly at his ex-boss.
"I'm well aware Yusuke. First off I'd like to introduce the person who is going to be helping you out on this mission, her names--" Koenma began
"A mission?! No way toddler, we were fired remember? You can't make us do shit for you!"
"No, but after you hear the problem I have a feeling you'll be wanting to do this. Its something of a personal interest for all of you." Koenma explained. "Komori, perhaps you could explain this better." he said to the person sitting upon his desk
"Probably, but watching you try is extremely amusing so I think I'll let you continue." they replied. There was a smirk in their voice, which was rather feminine.
Koenma shot the figure a look and then turned to the others. "For the past two years, even since the tournament ended, we have been working on pulling the spies out of Makai, while making sure things remain stable. With everything suddenly thrown out of whack we wanted to make sure that Ningekai wasn't in risk"
"You were there toddler, Enki declared peace remember?" Yusuke interrupted, not liking at all where this conversation was going.
"Yes, but that was Enki. Although he might be king that does not mean that everyone will be so eager to follow his rule. In fact that is where the problem is. It seems there is are a group of demons in Makai's underground are preparing to assassinate the king and use a very powerful weapon to set up their own rule. They don't seem to agree with your set up Yusuke."
"Well screw them! I worked hard on that damn thing, they can just get used to that." Yusuke yelled.
"And you can tell them that yourself. We're going to go find them." The woman called Komori said from the table. She had been silent this entire time, and now that she spoke her voice was still and demanding. Like Kurama's got when he was being serious about something.
"Oh really? And who died and made you Queen of the World."
"I did." Komori replied simply, a smile spread across her features. She had pulled her hood away, revealing her demonic features, much to the surprise of at least two occupants of the room.
However Yusuke's surprise was quickly swept away, replaced by annoyance. He began to retort but the demoness turned her blue eyes fully towards him, blue boring into brown, and spoke again.
"Yusuke, son of Raizen, as nice as it is to think you have a choice in the matter, the truth is you don't. None of us do. Now either you can accept this and we can get this finished up a lot faster or you can do this the hard way and it can take much longer. Either way we will be going to Makai, and retrieving the Circle of Fear. So, my lord, will we be doing this the easy way or the hard way?"
Everyone paused a minute, staring at her. Even Hiei, who had been watching from the corner closest the door, was looking up at her with a raised eyebrow. She was serious, dead serious. Her eyes were still tuned to Yusuke, awaiting a response.
The teenager shifted slightly under her glance but then sighed, "So when do we leave?"
Komori grinned and turned back to look at Koenma, who was staring at her in disbelief. "Hopefully as soon as possible, right Lord Koenma?" she said, now sounding like a teenager sucking up to a teacher for a better grade.
"Tomorrow evening, from Genkai's temple." he said, rolling his eyes at the grinning demon on his desk. "That should give these four time to prepare for their departure."
"So how long are we going to be gone this time?" Kuwabara asked.
"A week at the least, a year at the most." Komori replied. She was given several different looks in response. "Fine, a month or two at the most. It depends on where everything is and how far we are going to have to go to find them."
Again more confused looks. She sighed, Koenma hadn't told them anything about it. "I'll explain tomorrow before we leave since it doesn't look like prince boy is going to be doing it for me."
Yusuke opened his mouth to comment but Koenma cut him short. "We'll meet you tomorrow around sunset."
It was an obvious dismissal and slowly the four got up and left the room, one muttering something under his breath while another reprimanded him.
Komori watched them go and after several minutes jumped from her perch and began to follow them out. At the door she stopped, turning back slightly to the prince sitting behind the desk. "I'm expecting you to pay me back in full."
"I have already repaid you one debt. You know that you can count on me to keep my word." the prince replied calmly. Komori continued to stare at him, as if questioning his sincerity.
"Don't worry, my debt will be paid." Koenma sighed.
She stared at him for some time longer before she turned and walked out the door.
"It has begun then."
"I suppose so. A thousand years and this is still burning strong. I wonder if he even knows yet."
"Knowing him, probably not. Once upon a time he would have caught on before it even happened, but I'm not so sure now."
"He'll figure it out in due time I'm sure."
"Well of course. She won't want him to be totally dumbfounded until the end. That takes the fun out of it."
The other laughed. "So how long do you think it will take him?"
"Five pounds of gold says a week."
"You're on."
A repost of an old story that I've suddenly picked up again. No changes have been made to chapters expect the changes to the story title.
I don't own Yu Yu Hakusho, but I do own Komori, and a few other characters that will show up and be mentioned later in the story.
Read and review.