A/N: Second chapter. Please read!


Chiryo

Chapter 2

"Okay," Yusuke said, folding his arms and leaning back against the tree. "What've we got?"

Kurama spread out three maps. "This is the Human Realm," He said, pointing at the leftmost one. "This is Demon World," He pointed at the middle one.

Yusuke squinted at the maps. "You know, maybe my visions going or something, but there seems to be a pretty big hole in both those maps, Kurama."

Smiling, Kurama nodded. "There is." He unfolded the rightmost map and moved the map of Demon World over and placed the third map that he held between the first two. "This," He said, gesturing, "Is the Twisted Prison."

"With a name like that, I'm guessing it's not a good place to go for tea parties," Yusuke commented dryly, staring at the middle map for a moment.

"No," Kurama conceded. "It is not." He looked at Botan, who cleared her throat and began:

"The Twisted Prison is the space between the demon and human worlds, except it's twisted so that no one can get there, unless they have extraordinary power. In the past only one other person besides King Enma himself, has been able to open the path to the Twisted Prison. There, all the worst criminals are held captive between worlds."

"...And why do we care?"

Botan smacked him. "We care because we suspect Suzume is being held there!"

"Ow!" Yusuke clutched his head. "Botan, did you take lessons from Keiko or something?"

"Urameshi, shut up and let her finish!" Kuwabara snapped before Botan could retort.

"Thank you Kuwabara," Botan said, smiling. "As I was saying, the Twisted Prison holds all three worlds' worst criminals and also the most powerful. Among them, there is Raja, the oldest. He is from the earth demon tribes, one of the ancient ones who have the ability to live for centuries. When he was put in there, he was too weak to even open an eye, but we suspect that he has taken the time to grow much stronger and has stolen Suzume as his first step to begin coming back."

Riko studied the maps. "How does stealing Suzume help him get back?" She asked. Though she knew more about the mission than Kuwabara or Yusuke, even she had not garnered all the details. "I mean, even if all the powerful aristocrats die, the Twisted Prison will stay intact, won't it?"

"Yes, it will," Botan replied, nodding confirmation. "Stealing Suzume is practice. It is much easier to tear a hole in a prison for a child then it is for a grown demon. Getting the poison back into the other worlds and giving orders to his subordinates from his prison also afford him good practice."

As Botan finished, Kurama added, "And he hopes that King Enma will agree to some sort of treaty before he finishes killing all the aristocrats."

Yusuke frowned. "Whoa. Hold the phone, Botan. You want us to go to this Twisted Prison place and take on the most powerful criminal in existence? NO WAY."

Botan smacked him again. "Coward! But no, that's not what I'm asking. Koenma isn't stupid. He knows that you can't take on Raja. We need to take out Juniper. That's his most loyal subordinate. He is Raja's eyes on the outside world. Some of our other people are already on it. Your job is to go to the Twisted Prison to destroy this." Botan placed a picture of a giant tree next to the maps. "It's his power source (coincidentally, a juniper tree). Without it, he won't be able to make holes in the wall."

"Hm." Kuwabara looked up. "By the way, where's short stuff anyways?"

Kurama coughed.

Botan rolled her eyes. "Hiei is currently arguing with Koenma about why he feels that certain people should/should not be going on this mission." She glanced at Riko, who raised her eyebrows and shrugged.

Her only comment at the clear insult from Hiei was, "I feel so loved." It was followed by a snicker from Yusuke and a smile from Kurama, then, "When are we going, Botan?"

"As soon as Koenma convinced Hiei."

Yusuke hopped up. "Great. If it's gonna take that long, I'm gonna go home and take a nap."

Botan glared at him as he sauntered out. "That kid is unbelievable."

"But he's right," Kurama pointed out. "I too, believe that this will take some time."

"Don't say stuff like that, Botan. It makes you sound old," Riko said almost simultaneously, stretching lazily.

"He makes me feel old," Botan snapped and then shook her head. "It doesn't matter. Anyways, Riko, this information is for you. In the Twisted Prison, to get to the power source, you'll need to travel through almost the entire Twisted Prison. About halfway down, the Labyrinthine begins." Riko nodded. "There, there are stretched of long halls and then many rooms. In each room, there is a convicted criminal. The criminal will ask to fight with anyone of your group."

Riko's eyebrows came snapping together. "Ah. So that's why Hiei doesn't want me to go."

Botan nodded. "Yes. Last I checked in, he was threatening to join the convicts rather than 'fight a losing battle with a useless mortal'." She wiggled her fingers to let Riko know that she was quoting Hiei directly.

"Oh well. I'll just have to seem so tough that none of them wants to fight me," Riko said, flashing a smile.

Botan smiled a bit, but shook her head. "Yes, but, you know...practice your fighting okay?"

Looking unconcerned, Riko said, "Sure." She twisted the ring on her pinky, making it shimmer. Her eyes glittered in the same light. "I've been looking forward to using my new toys anyways." She began walking away and then stopped. "When do you think Hiei'll be convinced?"

"I don't," Botan muttered.

Kurama's lips twitched. "I'll go talk to him. We should be able to start tomorrow."

"Good luck," Botan said, again in a mutter. She was wearing an exhausted look that told Kurama that she had already been down that road and hadn't made any leeway.

Amused, Riko twiddled her fingers at the two and then made her way off into the distance.

End of Chapter 2


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