Author's note: thank you so so much to ai12love for reviewing! =]
Disclaimer: I don't own Yu Yu Hakusho.. just my original content.
A startled cry from behind Kurama drew his attention. He looked over, his head swimming from blood loss. He saw Bluebell fall, the bomb wrapped around her neck had exploded… but luckily the plant he had wrapped around her ticking time bomb (it was called the demonic creeping ivy) had taken most of the force of the bomb. The ivy was designed to act similarly to a boa constrictor that had caught its prey – it wrapped itself as tightly around it as possible to suffocate it. In this case, because the stone was not living, it was so tightly wound that the explosion was mostly contained. The plant did not survive, the limp vines fell to the ground, but Bluebell did.
She picked herself up from the ground, he could see that she tried taking off the necklace but something was stopping her from doing so. Bluebell looked to him, a grateful smile on her lips.
The death of Karasu must have triggered the bombs – his last remaining energy passing from life into death. He had made certain that if he were to die, his bombs would set themselves off.
Kurama's vision swam again, and he dropped to his knees. Yusuke rushed up beside him, steadying him.
"Kurama you need to rest," he insisted. "I –" but Yusuke was abruptly cut off.
He heard the explosion before he saw it. His attention was on Bluebell as he watched her expression turn from that of relief into that of terror. He heard the shouts of spectators and Koto (the cat demon was trying to figure out what was happening), and he turned around to see one of the press boxes up in flames.
It was the press box that held most of the demon world elite. It looked like the explosion happened from the inside, the glass windows had been blown out and rained on the spectators below, impaling the unlucky ones. The inferno consumed the rest of the building, spectators who were still alive tried their luck by jumping through the windows, hoping to land softly on the stands below them. However, the force of the explosion destroyed many of the walls and support and the press box caved inward before falling down onto the stands below it.
The spectators in the stands were running for their lives as chunks of plaster and glass rained down on them. It was horrible.
"Dad!"
Kurama looked back to Bluebell, who, unlike the rest of the stadium, was running towards the inferno.
"No! Stop!" he cried out after her, taking a step or two before Yusuke stopped him from falling. He clenched his hand over her stomach in pain, drawing the hand away to see it stained with blood. His wounds were still fresh, any sudden movements would agitate them further.
"Yusuke, you have to stop that girl," he told his friend desperately, freeing himself from his aid. He knelt on the ground, refusing Yusuke's help again. "I wouldn't ask if there wasn't a good reason for it"
Yusuke looked confused, which was understandable. The girl had been on the opposing side, he didn't know her. But Kurama's desperation was enough for Yusuke to comply. The black haired boy nodded and started to run towards the ruined press box.
Kurama couldn't see her anymore, she had probably already jumped up into the mess. Hopefully Yusuke could get her out before she, too, died in the fire.
Limping over to the side of the arena, he slowly hopped off of it and only the ground. Sliding down the concrete he held back his pained moans – he was in worse condition than he realized.
But before he could tend to himself, he had to make sure Bluebell was alright. If it wasn't for her, he would have never gotten the potion that turned him into Youko and he would probably be dead right now.
When Yusuke didn't immediately return, a feeling of dread washed over him. Was Yusuke too late? Did something happen? It wasn't like him to lose his cool like this, but normally he didn't feel so helpless in these situations.
His green eyes watched the fire intently, looking for a shadow a shape... anything to appear from flames. He finally spotted something, sitting up more fully in anticipation.
Yusuke emerged from the flames, slightly charred but unharmed.
However, Yusuke was alone.
Kurama's mouth went dry, that couldn't be right. Yusuke wasn't that far behind, he must have seen her in there.
When Yusuke approached Kurama he shook his head slightly. "I'm sorry, I saw her run in there. But I was too late. I'm sorry, Kurama," he said politely, he didn't particularly care that this random demon (who was sided with Karasu of all people) was dead, but Kurama seemed to care so he was polite nonetheless.
Kurama opened his mouth to reply, but no words came out. He blinked and closed him mouth. He heard Yusuke and Kuwabara ask him about the girl, but he didn't reply. He leaned back, silent.
It was an odd sensation. He barely knew the girl, in fact her knew pretty much nothing besides her name and that Karasu was her fiancé. Yet her death impacted him, he felt guilty in a sense. She had saved his life, and he had tried (at first succeeded) but ultimately failed to save hers in return. It left a bitter taste in his mouth.
"Who was she to you?" Yusuke asked cautiously, careful with his words.
"No one, really. She was the one who got me the potion and Kuwabara his sword," he explained, "I suppose I felt as if I owed her."
Of course he was sad over her death, but in the end she was gone and he was still here. He would have liked to figure out the mystery that was Bluebell, but there was no sense in dwelling on 'what ifs'. He closed his eyes, focusing on his wounds. His logical side telling himself to forget about the strange she-demon.
Inside the blazing inferno Bluebell searched desperately for her father. He always sat near the front glass window next to the bar, yet he was nowhere to be seen.
"Dad? Daaad!" she called out, coughs raking her body as she inhaled the smoke and ash.
She shouldered past the people who were still trying to make it out, stumbling once or twice over fallen bodies as she approached the area her father usually sat.
Still, she saw nothing.
It wasn't until she saw one of the tables moving, as if someone were trapped underneath it, that she felt a sudden swell of hope.
She dashed forward, guarding her face from the flames as the heat grew more intense. Throwing herself at the table, and using her momentum, she grabbed, pivoted and moved the table aside.
"Drear?" she asked weakly, her hopes smashed as the ugly gray demon wriggled out from beneath the table.
"Miss Blubell?" he asked, standing.
"Where is my father! Where is he?" she asked desperately.
The most crazed look overtook his face. His exhausted features slowly twisted and curled in the most distorted, serpentine manner. His yellow eyes wild as he laughed, "The poor fool never saw it coming! Your bastard fiancé tried to take me down in the process… 'there won't be damage to anyone else' hah! It doesn't matter now, he's dead, too! I did it! I killed Yarrow… the elitist fool." He wasn't even necessarily speaking to Bluebell, he was speaking more to himself.
As the reality set in that her father was dead, she screamed in a mixture of despair and anger. "How could you!? You disgusting excuse for a demon!" she cried out, lunging at Drear.
She grabbed firmly around his throat, frantically trying to stop the manic laughter. He laughed, before coughing as his airway was restricted.
"I'll kill you!" she hissed, lifting and smacking his head into the floor.
"I refuse to die today," he shrieked, ripping at her hair. He folded in his legs, before kicking her off of him. He stood, coughing, and ran for the exit.
Bluebell rolled onto her side, winded from the kick and was struggling to breath in the fire. The flames started to consume the nearby tables, it would be only a matter of seconds before it reached her.
She couldn't get up, she couldn't move. The sudden loss of her father and the ash and heat rendered her physically and emotionally exhausted. "I don't want it to end," she whimpered, forcing herself to sit up.
"Good. If you had continued to lie there in defeat there would have been no purpose in saving you."
Bluebell looked to her left, shocked to see that man who called himself 'the observer'. He stood there in his 6'7" glory, appearing to be completely unaffected by the inferno around him.
He picked her up as if she were a ragdoll, cradling her effortlessly with on hand, her head on his shoulder and her body curved against his arm.
"You still possess my business card, yes?" he asked her, though it was more of a statement than a question.
She nodded, "It's in my bag in the hotel room,"
Then he teleported.
It was the oddest sensation. You go from having normal amounts of gravity to suddenly having none. The instant weightless sensation made Bell severely light headed, her stomach churned and her heart raced. But before her body could grow even slightly accustomed to the change, they were in her hotel room and the weight of everything returned.
The observer didn't even put her down. He zipped and grabbed her suitcase and small purse before teleporting once more.
This time when they landed, he set her on her feet. She stumbled, but caught herself and rubbed her eyes wearily. Now that the adrenaline was out of her system, the full force of her exhaustion rolled over her.
"Your card," he said, extending his hand.
"Oh, right" she murmured, reaching for her purse. Digging around she pulled out the black business card and handed it to the man.
He stepped away from Bluebell, holding the card up to an obelisk. The statue, she realized, was the one pictured on the front of the business card. It stood about 5 feet tall, was made of smooth, gray marble. The four-sided pillar narrowed towards the top and came together in a pyramid-like point. The man held the card to one of the flat surfaces on the top, and a green light emitted from the statue.
Bluebell took this moment to take note of her surroundings, though there wasn't much to see. They were in a dark forest. She blinked, dark was an understatement. The trees were a dark, dark brown with even darker green and purple leaves. Their thick trunks extended high up, where they fanned out, and their abundance of leaves blocked all light from the sky above. With no light filtering in, it cast the forest in a dark shade. One could not see more than ten trees in front of them, the rest beyond that indistinguishable from the blackness.
There was no wind, and very few living things could be heard slithering, crawling and pattering in the depths. The lack of… anything… added a very dense, heavy feeling to the air. It didn't feel humid, no. The air was neither hot nor cold. It just felt… foreboding. As if one should constantly be checking behind their backs for an unseen enemy, and it made Blue's heart race.
The 'whirring' sound of machinery returned Bluebell's attention to the obelisk. It rose from the ground, revealing a large black door.
He opened the door, and motioned for her to follow.
"W-wait," she stammered, flinching away from the cold look she received as he turned to face her.
"I do appreciate you saving my life," she started, "I hope there is a way I could repay you. But I really must go home. My mother… she doesn't know about my father's death!"
"There is no home for you to return to," he stated bluntly. When she opened her mouth to say something, he raised his hand for her to stop. "With the death of your father and fiancé, a gap of power appeared in the Quest clan. Without your lineage, the imbalance of power will have caused the secondary households to battle for that position. Your family was easily the strongest of them all and was able to rule without contention, mostly. Without that rule, the clan will battle each other and Mikami will fall."
Bluebell shook her head. "But I'm the heir! I can take over!" she stated, her eyes flashing dangerously as she met his gaze, "Or do you not think it's possible for me to rule simply because I am a woman."
"No… It is because you are a woman that you will rule. But not now. I can foresee their power struggle beginning within the next day or so. As you are now, your position for power would be challenged. You would not win. You must forget Mikami, its downfall is inevitable and it cannot be saved. Now come," he ordered, and walked through the door and down the steps it led to.
He led her through a mind-numbingly long series of stairs and hallways. Everything was dark, and she was doing her best to keep up.
But she grew tired and sore. Her skin was dirty from ash, and her lungs stung with each breath. But their journey finally ended as he reached another black door. Opening it, she was led into a large entryway not unlike that of a castle's. It continued for about fifteen feet before the floor met a giant staircase. The stairs led to a giant double door, before the stairs continued up and curved towards the left and right (they led to separate wings of the castle). Armors and tapestries lined the entryway, Bluebells shoes clicking softly on the stone floors and she and the man approached the giant double doors. He pushed them open with little effort and Bluebell gazed in wonder at the enormous ballroom.
It was at least two stories tall, with stain glass windows that rose from the ground and all the way to the ceiling. The room must have been removed from the forest, for light shone through the stained glass windows, painting the floor in a rainbow of colored light. The floor was white marble, with gold spindling accents that twisted and curled in a pattern throughout the floor. At the far end was a glass door that supposedly led out to balcony.
But what really caught her attention were the ten-foot, throne like chairs off to the left side. The man walked to, and sat in the left chair and Bluebell finally noticed the other two people.
A tall, beautiful woman with dark brown hair pulled into an elegant bun on her head. She was draped in a dark purple silk dress that encased her chest fittingly, before the rest of the rich fabric spilled down to the floor. Over her shoulders was a gold shawl, and her arms were clad in elegant gloves of the same purple silk material. Her face was as void of emotion as the man's was.
The other person seemed to be nothing more than a child. He was the only one who showed emotion, his face bubbling with excitement. His curly light brown hair bouncing as he moved. He was dressed in formal pants and a less formal dress shirt.
The boy ran over to her, grabbing her hand and leading her to them. Though he was small, Blue could tell he possessed a tremendous amount of power.
She was unsure of what to do when she approached them, and looked to the boy for help.
"Your father had enough sense to at least bow," the woman remarked coldly.
"You knew my dad?" Bluebell asked insistently, ignoring the woman's remark about her manners.
"Yes, we did. We trained him, and now we are going to train you."
Bluebell must have appeared as visible shocked as she felt for the small boy giggled. These were the people that trained her father?
"Don't look so surprised," the little boy stated, "We are more than we seem. We are observers of the Makai, we know more than you could ever wish to know!"
"Ok, you've mentioned this observer thing before. But I've taken Makai history lessons, and I even managed to pay attention in a few of them. I've never heard about any so-called observers. So why should I believe you? Are you some sort of "defender of the realm" type of nonsense group?" she asked indignantly, her manners entirely lost. She was tired, hurt, and was dragged to this place by these weird people. She could care less if she were being rude or not.
"You've got more attitude than your father, he just accepted what we said without question," the woman said, though a slight sliver of amusement could be detected. "But to answer your question – no. We are not defenders of the Makai… we do not concern ourselves with the well being of its inhabitants. All we concern ourselves with is order. And with the death of your father, the order was suddenly removed. Without the control of the black market, demons and humans alike will try to vie for control of it. The black market will break into several markets, who will compete with each other. Without order being restored, the land could be destroyed. And that is what we care about… not the demons or people or anything living, but the land itself. Without it, we do not exist."
The man took over, "To put it in a way that you will understand, we only exist because the Makai does. We have been here as long as it has… our sole purpose is to create order."
Bluebell frowned, "But why tell me this? What do I have to do with any of this?"
The man leaned forward from his seat, his elbows resting on his legs. "Because you need to be the one to restore and retake power over the market and reunite it under one rule after it has broken. We need you for your power, how you rule is of little concern to us. You could be a fair ruler, or a tyrannical one. We do not care. We just need to restore the order."
Bluebell raised a hand her to head, massaging her temple. This was all too much, too quickly.
However, they wanted her to rule. They wanted her to take power. Her eyes shone with a power-hungry lust as she looked back to the three 'observers'. "Teach me… I want that power. I want my rightful place as heir."
A smile twisted her lips, she wanted the power they offered her. She didn't care how long or painful the road was to gain it, she would have it. And with that power, she would take back her family heritage and then some…
