As an added note, the prologue was originally not a prologue at all and was written as one continuous chapter one; I later split the two because of the length, however. Sorry if it's a bit confusing.
Chapter 1
Remembering Rivers
The ruler blew away the dust that had collected over the front cover to reveal the word "REIKA" in big, bold, black letters. As if the album were made of glass, he carefully opened the book. Upon the very first page, he felt himself be pulled into the past. He quickly found a younger image of himself in the front; Boton was on his left hugging two Brooklyn blondes- Jade and Holly. In the back row stood an overzealous George; next to him stood a human man who'd later fall from grace- Toguro. Right in front of Toguro stood a younger girl with bright pink hair and a huge smile upon her face that even her partner couldn't deny. Looking at this picture and the way her eyes glinted with admiration, it was no surprise to know that she'd one day grow to be great like the one she admired the most. To the left of them stood a brooding man with glasses and dog ears; he looked to be stubborn and unaffected by the contagious glee, but if one were to look closer, they would find a protruding smirk of pride upon his lips. And last was the tallest and fiercest of the group- a creature of darkness and light by the name of Adeimus.
All were beaming- it was the day of their lives, he'd remembered. They all looked roughed up- Holly had a broken arm, Theo looked like he'd been thrown into a blender, Adeimus had several gashes and broken bones, and Jade was covered from head to toe in bruises, band-aids, and lacerations- yet none of this effected the happiness that burst from the page. This, he beamed in pride, was the first victory- the formation of a team that contained both human and demon alike. It was a team that was destined to fail before it could start. But in all of the chaos, it was her that brought them together- the leader of Team Reika, his very first Spirit Detective team. This photograph was taken after they'd done the impossible- they'd won the Dark Tournament. Together, they'd proven all three worlds wrong.
Turning the page, he was confronted again by haunting jade eyes. This picture was taken after the tournament, right before that. He flipped through the course of pictures- all of the same day. It was a cool down period, he'd said, but in truth, he'd made a bet with "Reika"-the name that Jade was given in correspondence to her massive amount of spirit energy and the vast control she held over it. The bet was simple- if the team won, then Koenma would do them a favor. And the favor? The biggest party the Spirit World had ever seen. He was surprised at the request, and he had his theory- it was most likely Holly's doing. Koenma had thought the party would be stiff and wouldn't be so well received, but again, he was happily mistaken. Again, the team made a miracle happen, and the ball became the greatest night of his life.
Koenma rested his elbow on the table and sat his head upon his palm. His lips twitched into a fond smile as he reached the next page- another group photo of everyone at the party dressed up. Everyone was stunning, but none more so than her. She was the greatest surprise, he remembered with a chuckle as he flipped the page to find a close-up of Jade on the banister. Her face was soft and warm- a feat very rarely seen of the fighter-tomboy he'd come to know so well. Of course, the stunning photo was Boton's craftsmanship; the sneaky reaper had twittered all over the hall taking candids, but she really outdid herself on this one. Jade had arrived alongside Holly in a floor-length shimmering white dress. Her hair, which normally sat upon her crown in an intricate twist held by a solitary ribbon, was let loose and curled slightly at her waist. Her sun-kissed skin and her choice in attire made her eyes stand out like two sparkling jade jewels. Lord, she looked so beautiful, so free. Behind her, he found his own image, gazing at the blonde in awe.
Holly was also at her best that night. She wore a sapphire gown, the color matching her eyes and the spark only she could ever possess. Her hair was left identical to her cousins, as it fell straight into cascading curls; her bangs were also curled and framed her face. Her face was set permanently in the photo as a euphoric happiness that everyone in the room seemed to share. She stood next to Jade, making the fact that the two were related all the more apparent; next to the either, it was nearly impossible to tell the difference. Only a pair of haunting, unique eyes could separate the dynamic duo at that moment. He remembered how they had walked in, arm and arm, down the curving staircase to steal away the attention of every eye in the room. It was true; the two, when together, were an unstoppable duo and the world was their oyster. And it was their night, after all.
Koenma flipped the page to find the last two members of the team- Thaddeus and Adeimus.
Theo leaned against the banister well out of the way, but not far enough to escape Boton's overzealous need to imprint the moments of that night. Theo was a tall, lanky man; his eyes swelled with pride, even more so in the photograph. This was one of Boton's favorites, he'd learned once he received the stack of photos, mainly because of the miracle she'd caught forever. Theo, ever the stoic demon, was smiling. That alongside his white tux and slicked back hair made he look like a completely different person.
Off to the side, watching the blond of his dreams, was Adeimus. His eyes, a strange black with golden irises, were glued onto her as she danced and twirled with her bubbly cousin on the dance floor. The towering tank of a man was also at his best- he wore a sharp black tux and his hair was tamed and trimmed. If not for his pointed ears, eyes, and build, he could have passed for a human.
Koenma brushed his fingers over the woman's bright, reddened cheeks. "Jade," he whispered softly as his eyes caught those haunting jade orbs yet again.
He flipped the page and felt his heart fumble in its beatings. This photograph had been what hurt him the most, but now the hurt fell deeper, but for an entirely different reason. He'd asked her to dance. Funny how such a simple gesture could end so many things all at once… Jade had accepted. The two were swept onto the dance floor, a world all its own- a place of magic. Behind them, one second too late, was a lanky, disheartened teen with soft brown hair and the saddest eyes the Spirit world would never see. If only, he'd thought, If only he'd taken that last step…
The veins in his hand pulsed under pale skin as he balled his hand into a fist; roughly, he gripped the cloth over the twisting organ in his chest. He braced and turned the page. Here, before him, were two photographs, both depicting the growing love between the two that could have been his once upon a time…
He quickly flipped, a heavy cloud of guilt threatening to strangle him. How could he wish ill upon one of his own! Especially with what really happened to him-
The next page soothed his raging soul. It was the one moment he truly wished to never forget… He remembers it so clearly as if it were just minutes ago, not the near century that had passed…
He rested both elbows onto the table and sighed comfortably as his chin fell into his palms. Koenma didn't know how long he sat there, staring at a single second captured in time. He didn't know when the ghosts of those from so long ago drifted from the page to recreate the single most important event of his life.
"Come in," the tiny ruler grumbled as he continued to furiously stamp the never ending sea of paperwork. "Prince Koenma." The ruler looked up immediately, the stamp falling from his pudgy fingers. "Jade!" He exclaimed, his eyes wide in surprise. His alerted eyes darted over to the clock on the wall. The connection between his mind and his eyes was delayed; he blinked once. The clock struck midnight. His eyes slid back to his visitor. "Happy Birthday!" Koenma was unsure the resulting dizziness was caused by the sound level after silence, or if it was a side effect of the smile plastered across her lips. Jade shuffled forward with a rather large box talking up both her hands from the large doors towards his desk. With a gentle care she rarely ever showed, she set the box gingerly overtop the papers he was looking over. Flicking a few stray hairs back into place, her eyes dulled from glowing happiness to muddled confusion. "What are you doing?"He blinked, "Paperwork." "I see that," she frowned as she rubbed the nape of her neck in confusion, "But why? It's your birthday! You shouldn't have to do that!" He sighed, "I'm the Ruler of Spirit World; that little innuendo says that I do." "Not today!" She exclaimed with a sure nod, "I'll do the paperwork." "What! But-" "If King Enma has something to say, then he can say it to me," she announced as she grabbed one stack after another and placed the piles into boxes. "But-" "Oh!" She suddenly spoke as she shot up from her seat upon the floor beside his chair, "That reminds me!" Dropping the stack of papers in her hands to the floor, she turned to face him. "What do you want for your birthday?"
The question acted as a rug being pulled from beneath his feet; it was a first for him- someone asking what he wanted- and it irrevocably stole away all of his words. His eyes fell to his desk in awe of the seemingly simple question; his chestnut orbs rested mindlessly upon the large, white rectangular box Jade had brought with her. What did he want? His heart struck yet again; it screamed at him to answer her with the truth- that all he really wanted was her. But he could never voice it… he couldn't at the ball, he couldn't now. His tiny fists clenched in frustration. "I-" He choked on his words. "You know," Jade started absentmindedly, "My family's really big on birthdays, and for every birthday there's a certain tradition that we always follow…" Koenma didn't look up… oh, how he wished now that he had!
Out of nowhere, he felt something soft and warm touch his cheek. The sensation ignited a storm in his veins and set his face on fire. Too soon, the warmth left his cheek, which instantly became unbearably cold. He looked over quickly to see the swish of gold and blue; his face lit up again when he caught a flash of the most amazing shade of red upon her cheeks.
"Happy Birthday!" Boton yelled as she burst through the door which had been left slightly ajar; following immediately after, Holly dashed into the room. The mirror image of his leading detective threw her arms out into the air with a great big smile as she happily shouted, "Happy B-day, Princy!" The two approached his desk in a similar fashion that Jade had, with each carrying a bag in each hand. His eyes widened in surprise as Boton began to pull streamers out of the paper bag; they were throwing him a birthday party! Jade, who had wandered away from the small group, rejoined the growing group to open the white box; inside sat a massive white cake with the words "Happy 637th Birthday, Koenma" written sloppily in icing. Holly chuckled as she danced over to Jade's side, "They wouldn't let us have 637 candles because it's a fire hazard, so we settled for 4, since, well, you look like a four year old." Koenma chuckled as he discreetly wiped at the water threatening to leak from his eyes as his ogre assistant, George, ducked in and out of the room to usher more of the spirit world's employees from the hall into the room. "What's wrong?" Jade whispered from his left. Koenma glanced over at her, then back quickly to the cake, "I've never had a birthday party before- or a cake for that matter." Holly nearly dropped the lit match in her hand into the cake. The only two humans in the room gaped in horror at the revelation.
"MY LORD!" George yelled out as he burst through the door after rounding everyone up; the ogre had in one hand a bottle of wine and in the other several bags of food. Tears began to fall freely from his eyes as he skipped forward, "HAPPY BIRTHDAY, Lord Koenma!" Koenma was so filled with disbelief and happiness that he didn't even bother to shout an insult about the crowdedness of the room or for having beverages and food in his office. "Make a wish, Koenma," Jade chuckled as she joined her cousin's side across him.
He wasn't sure how long he'd stared at the bright flames that adorned the show of affection. He didn't realize that his heart was beating faster than normal, nor did he realize that his hand had slipped to his cheek in hopes of finding something there. His eyes fluttered shut in hopes of his deepest desire, his most desperate wish coming true. Slowly, his lips parted and his breath left his lungs to extinguish the lights before him…
"Koenma, sir!" He snapped to attention and quickly closed the book, returning it to its hiding place right as the blue haired reaper stepped into his office. "What is it Boton," he asked, his anger having been swept away in a single instance of nostalgia. "Sir, they've reached the border to the ruins," she spoke, careful not to say something that could offset his anger. He reached down and picked up the remote lying on his desk and clicked a button. In response, the large screen across him light up with color to reveal his team on the right course. His fingers danced across the pad making the screen zoom out to reveal the direction in which the detective was heading. "The Aquadon Ruins…" He whispered. Boton, seeing the sadness in his eyes, left quietly.
The broken buildings, the battered earth, the silence- all of it seemed to morph before his very eyes. The shambles of rock seemed to lift from the ground to find its proper place in a structure; the scattered plates of earth and the dead vegetation seemed to suddenly revive into luscious greens and hues of every color. The silence, all in one foul swoop lifted like a veil and filled the room with life and noises one would find in such a thriving port city…Aquadon.
"The demon port?" Theo retorted with a snort. "Why would we go there?"
Koenma sighed, defeated, "There's been a hiccup in Spirit World management. I know its meager work compared to previous cases you've taken, but, quite frankly, Spirit world's overbooked as it is. We don't have a single reaper to spare for this assignment, and our only option is to send you guys out." "Um?" Holly raised her hand curiously, "Are we getting paid?" Koenma sighed again, "Yes, Holly, you will be paid." "Alright! I'm in!" She chirped as she pumped a fist happily into the air. Theo grumbled as he pushed his glasses up the base of his nose with his middle finger, "Better be paid quite handsomely." "Any other concerns or objections?" Koenma asked flatly, serving a dead-panned stare to every occupant in the room. Adeimus shrugged. Jade, seeing all of the actions, voiced the answer, "We'll take it." Koenma sighed in relief. "Good. So here's the rundown of the mission. Like I said, it's very simple…"
"And it was supposed to be," he whispered forlornly, returning his precious bound treasure again to his desk. Still guised as the man he always wanted her to see, to love, he flipped to the page that depicted the screaming halt of the spirit world.
The pages were clustered with overlapping photographs and newspaper articles from the human and demon world alike. Headlines in bold black letters splashed across the pages, reading: "NOTHING LEFT OF PORT CITY" "HUNDREDS MISSING, QUESTIONS LEFT UNANSWERED" "WATERS SWALLOW CITY WHOLE". The headlines took all three worlds by storm, and left all three worlds speechless. They were left without answers, and because of the predicament and the lack of evidence, they probably never would. In a single night, the Makai's greatest pride, a city that attracted both demon and human alike, disappeared without a trace- an entire city! And out of every city in every world, it had to be fate's humor that the city where he'd sent her just happened to double as their gravesite. Koenma flipped the page and felt his strained image crumble, just like the stone blocks in the photos before him.
Seven days. It took seven days for the tide to recede after the merciless waters had claimed the city and all who held ground there. On that seventh day, the world stopped as kings, rulers, families, peasants, businessmen, all gathered on that barren ground to stare in baffled wonder upon what once was a thriving city so full of life.
Koenma flipped to find the photos a reaper of his- he couldn't recall the name, and probably never would- had taken of the scene. All around was nothing but silence, he remembered; everything in the photo was still, much more so than even a photo could reveal. The skyscrapers and buildings had fallen to mere rubble; if any still stood (which some did), they were distorted by the pressure of the elements and dulled with a thousand years of time. The greenery that had once made the city beautiful was nowhere to be found. All that littered the broken streets were remnants of the sea. The once proud, paved roads were reduced to gravel, most of which was carried out to sea by the currents. The docks were twisted into distortions that only a massive torrent of angry watery barrages could achieve.
And in the silence stood a single man, staring across miles and miles of solitary land. The silence was deafening, he'd remembered. The roaring silence of abandoned streets and broken, empty buildings drowned out the rumbles of the rolling thunder. Silence… the word described every witness that came to stand on that cursed grounds… the grounds that had been swallowed by the darkness of endless sea… the grounds that returned, but with something missing…
"My god," the brunette whispered, shock tightening his ability to breathe. His eyes swept over every inch of rubble, all in the hopes of spotting single face, a corpse, a lock of golden hair… His eyes failed him, and he fell to his knees. "W-where… are all of… the people?" The Ruler's eyes began to blur and darken as tears and unconsciousness began to creep upon him. "Koenma, sir!" An ogre stumbled, only to fall beside his liege. "Wh-where is… the team? Where did everyone go, sir?" The teen's brown eyes lifted to the blackened water at the wrecked city's shores. The only word that could fall from his lips was a word he would forever remember as being a haunting reminder carved into a weathered stone. "Gone…"
Heaving a burdened sigh, he lifted his glistening brown eyes towards the large screen across from him. The chocolate orbs latched onto a teenage boy, who in more ways than naught resembled his most precious memory, the legend that he'd never have again. "Please, Yusuke," he whispered, his façade falling to reveal the child he truly was underneath. Small beaded tears formed around the corner of his eyes as the said windows to his soul fell open to reveal what was held inside, "Please, be safe…"
Please, He thought as he flipped to the last page, a snapshot of two identical stones bearing the names of two people he loved so devoutly, Please, not you too… One single drop of water fell onto her stone. No matter how hard he tried, he couldn't stop the sea of his tears from drowning all that he had left- a grave remembrance and a heavy promise weighing down upon his fragile heart.
"Jade," he whispered to the stone, disregarding the smell of fresh dirt and the freezing cold temperatures the snow brought down upon the night. Koenma leaned his forehead against the hard rock and whispered, as if in the ear of a lover, "I'll never forget…"
"Please, for all our sake," he spoke to the unresponsive screen, "Don't become another victim, Yusuke…"
