Chapter Three

Halfway across the world, lightning shattered the sky.

Shigure, who had been walking along a corridor with two of his officers, paused in his steps when he heard the loud crack of lightning. He looked out the window as the light around North Tower faded. The change from pure gold to impenetrable black had a certain aesthetic quality to it. The crisped corpse on top of the tower probably didn't share his sentiment, though. The corners of Shigure's mouth turned up in a grim smile.

Satisfied that justice had been served, Shigure continued on his way down the hall. The officers, a pair of reptilian demons whose forked tongues tended to flit out of their mouths whenever they spoke, promptly resumed their security report. Of course, Shigure was already aware of everything that happened in Alaric and only pretended to listen.

"There's been more damage from the floods to the south, sir," one of the officers was saying as they were bathed in the green glow of the entrance hall. "In the village of Kurogawa, the river rose to twenty-five feet and the bridge was swept away. Casualties include—"

"Enough," Shigure said, raising his hand to stem the flow of information.

They had reached a set of doors that were nearly twice as tall as Shigure. They tapered to a point at the top, and impossibly narrow lines of gold were etched into the black wood, creating detailed images of dragons feasting on an army of demons.

Shigure opened the doors and stepped inside the banquet hall, peering through the shadows that hung in every corner of the room. He approached the back of the hall, waiting for an objection from the young lord who sat in the throne, but none came.

"Finally sleeping, are you?" Shigure asked, leaning down to look.

Indeed, Hiei was sleeping. His head was bowed, his chin nestled in the dip of his collarbone, and his arms were wrapped about his knees. He looked so young and almost innocent that Shigure stopped to wonder if Hiei was really old enough to rule an entire country. He dismissed the thought quickly. It was best to assume that the lord had reached his hundred years and leave it at that.

Shigure carefully took up Hiei's sword from where it was propped against the base of the throne and hung the sheathed weapon on his own belt. He then moved toward Hiei and, as cautiously as he could, scooped the young lord into his arms.

Annoyance and disapproval sparked in Shigure's chest at the lightness of his burden. He knew that Hiei had not eaten, slept, or bathed since Mukuro's death, and while a human would have been overcome by such conditions weeks ago, demons were much more durable. Even so, Hiei's neglect of his own body had taken its toll. He couldn't weigh more a hundred pounds. Sleeping was a start, but Shigure was determined to get him to eat something. He would force feed him if necessary.

Breathing another sigh, Shigure drew Hiei close. It felt awkward at first, but he got used to it quickly enough. As Shigure watched, Hiei curled up comfortably and clenched one hand in the front of his pale blue robes.

"Ah, Lord Hiei," Shigure said mockingly. "Still the little imigo, aren't you."

Hiei mumbled something in his sleep that sounded suspiciously like "no." Shigure merely smirked and pulled Hiei closer, turning toward the open doors. Outside, the two officers looked at Hiei concernedly as Shigure approached.

"Is he okay?" the officers asked.

"Asleep," Shigure assured them both. "About time, too."

"He's not so scary when he's sleeping," one officer commented, peering at Hiei curiously.

"Quiet, he might hear you," hissed the other. "I'll bet you think he's scary when he sets the Kokuryuha on you."

Shigure chuckled, and the officers laughed in turn, their narrow tongues flicking in and out of their scaly mouths.

"Go around and make sure that no one disturbs his sleep," Shigure ordered, still smirking. "If anyone wakes him up before he's ready, that person will find his head on a pike."

"Yes sir," the two officers said in unison. They ran off, and Shigure began to walk, holding Hiei against his chest. He left the entrance hall and made his way to the other side of the fortress, where Hiei's suite was located. When he reached the door to the lord's bedchambers, Shigure had to move his burden to one arm and use the other to open the door. Once the door was open, Shigure shifted Hiei to both arms and stepped into the pitch blackness of the room.

Pitch blackness that, to Shigure's surprise, was not pitch blackness at all.

He glanced at the large window opposite the door, where the heavy drapes were thrown to either side. Moonlight shone like silver through the window, bathing the room in a pale blue glow. It seemed that the storms were dying down.

Shigure moved toward the bed. It was too large for Hiei, he noted absently. He remembered that Mukuro had done it on purpose, hoping that her successor would take the hint and choose a mate to fill the empty space. Shigure shook his head at the thought. Hiei would sooner bring his sword to bed than a person.

With one last, amused smile, Shigure leaned forward and lowered Hiei to the bed, carefully removing the long robe that covered the smaller demon's body. Hiei breathed out a sigh and rolled onto his side, curling up in a fetal position. Shigure stared down at him for another moment, his smirk giving way to an unreadable expression. His hand moved closer to Hiei's face. After a moment of hesitation, he brushed a few strands of hair away from the closed Jagan.

"Sleep well, my lord." He moved away from the bed, closing the door behind him and leaving Hiei to his dreams.

It was so dark.

Hiei ran through the blackness, trying to catch up to a glittering blue light in the distance. That light was his, he needed that light, it was the only thing that would make this darkness go away...

He couldn't stop running. He knew that if he stopped running for even a moment he would cease to exist. He could hear It behind him, snapping and writhing and rustling. He feverishly pretended that he could not hear what was behind him, could only see that shimmering blue light.

The light took shape. First it was an aqua-haired woman in a pale kimono, and then it became a woman with red-gold hair. He knew that woman, but she looked different somehow. Of course, being chased by It, he had no time to wonder what could be different, only knew that she didn't look the way she usually did. She glanced over her shoulder with two whole, bright blue eyes, smiled at him with a whole, beautiful face. Around her neck was the glittering blue light, contained in a sphere that he knew he should recognize but didn't.

Just as he was about to call for her to slow down, he tripped. He hadn't tripped over his own feet, and there was nothing in the deep emptiness that could have tripped him, but he fell all the same. He groaned in pain and raised his head just in time to see the beautiful woman and the blue light fade into the darkness.

No! Hiei tried to yell, but his voice didn't come. And as soon as his salvation disappeared, he felt It on his feet, and ankles, and calves; clawing, scratching, tearing at his flesh. He screamed and sobbed as he rolled onto his back, kicking wildly at the shapeless blackness that threatened to devour him. It crept up his legs, and then he felt It creeping inside his wounds, opening them, bathing him in blood that was darker than black.

Suddenly, there was a flare of white light and the blackness released him. He rolled onto his stomach again, crawling away from It, and he collapsed when he could go no further. To his surprise, his head did not fall on the empty blackness of the ground.

Hiei blinked rapidly, his breathing ragged. He had landed in someone's warm lap. He stared at the smooth golden cloth that pooled around the person's folded legs. Placing his hands on either side of those legs, he slowly pushed himself up and found himself staring into the face of what he thought must be an angel. That face was achingly beautiful, and it wore a gentle, comforting smile that made its face glow in the darkness.

He collapsed onto the angel and let it wrap its slender arms about him. As he sobbed helplessly, the angel rocked him back and forth and smoothed his hair back, comforting him. It felt so good—the way the angel gently rolled him onto his back, pressed a hand over his stomach, and oh that felt good—that hand moving over his belly, down to a part of his body that ached more than any other, and he needed this so badly...

Hiei mewled weakly, arching his back and moving his hips up to better feel that comforting touch. The angel fondled him gently, and Hiei felt shockwaves running through him. Soft lips pressed down onto his mouth, granting him a taste of some sweet, tangy fruit that he couldn't name, and then that mouth moved downward, to his neck, his chest, his stomach... He cried out, burying his hands in long red hair and desperately trying to push that mouth further down.

The angel giggled, pressing its cheek to his clothed groin and rubbing against the hard mound there. The angel's beautiful green eyes peered up at him, never leaving his face as he panted softly. Hiei mewled again, pushing his hips upward once more, and the angel rubbed its mouth against his cloth-covered body. He felt his belts coming undone, his breeches sliding off his hips, and he cried out in pleasure at the sensation of warm lips against his bare flesh...

Hiei groaned in his sleep and turned over, laying on his other side. The sheets were plastered to his sweat-soaked body; it was uncomfortable enough to pull him halfway out of unconsciousness. As soon as he became aware of the tightness of his breeches, he rolled out of bed and stumbled into the bathroom that adjoined the bedchamber.

He felt around for the shower stall, turning the tap and standing beneath the cold spray. It took a good ten minutes, but the freezing water that pounded on his flesh and soaked his breeches slowly brought Hiei out of his semiconscious state. He opened his eyes, watching the tiles spin before him. His lips trembled with need, and he could feel every inch of his skin burning. Unable to make his eyes focus, he closed them, only to find the image of the angel burned on the back of his eyelids. It made him want to scream and tear out his hair in frustration.

And, for the first time in weeks, his mind wandered away from Mukuro's death and began to clear.