"I'll take that as a yes. Good work team we will meet tomorrow morning. Kurama take her to the holding cell." Koenma orders.
He nods his head acknowledging Koenma's orders and walks over to Phoenix and lifts her up. He makes his way to the holding cell with the others following behind him.
Phoenix is seven years old and she is sitting in her room thinking of a way to escape her captors. A woman comes into her room.
"Takeshi-Sama will see you now Phoenix." She says.
"That's nice what are you telling me for. I'm not going to him." Phoenix responds coldly.
The woman pulls her by her hair and drags her down the stairs.
"You will serve your master." She growls.
Phoenix struggles beneath her grasp but it only tightens. Phoenix's little body bounces off of the stairs as she is being dragged down. The woman throws her in a man's lap.
"She is still disobedient my Lord teach her a lesson." The woman whines.
The man name Takeshi-Sama looks down at Phoenix with his piercing eyes. He slowly raises his hand and she flinches; but instead of hitting her, he runs his fingers through her long black hair.
"If you do what I ask of you Phoenix I promise to show you all of my secrets and teach you my power." He says silkily.
Phoenix glares at him coldly. "I don't care for your secrets or your powers for the price I have to pay for them." She says in defiance.
His eyes widen as if she slapped him in his face but he does nothing but smile coyly at her.
"That is not a request Phoenix it is a direct order." Takeshi retorts.
He picks her up and carries her out of the house and to his secret chambers. He throws her to the ground and walks out of the room. Phoenix takes this chance and heads for the exit. She turns and looks to see if he has returned and then places her little hand on the door and begins to open it. A hand grabs her arm and she jerks awake.
Her eyes open slowly to a blazing light; she shields her eyes trying to focus on the light. An outline of a large window comes into focus. She sits up but screams as a spasm of pain runs through her. She grabs her waist and looks down to see it bandaged up. She slowly sits up on the bed and this causes her head to throb in pain.
"Fuck! Must have been one of those nights again." She says to herself and looks around the room she is in.
"Where the hell am I?" She asks herself.
She slowly gets out of bed and heads for what she thinks is the bathroom.
"Chaz?" She calls out but does not get an answer. She lets out a sigh.
"We must have got separated last night."
She walks into the bathroom and begins to wash her hands and face. Once done she looks in the mirror and jump back at the sight of herself.
"Holy shit who kicked my ass?" She gasps.
Her left eye is swollen with a deep purple color around it, her lip is split, and a huge laceration is on her forehead. She turns her face back and forth to inspect the split knots on both of her cheeks.
She becomes angry as she touches her face tenderly. Her hands wonder to the metal collar she has on and in an instant everything comes into perspective. Her rage slowly begins to build as she remembers the battle she had with the Urameshi Team and the girl with the same eyes as her mother. She growls at the sight of herself and slams her fist into the mirror breaking it.
"Those bastards! I'll kill them when they come to get me!" She growls to herself.
She stomps back to her bed and sits on it patiently waiting for someone to come and get her. A few moments later, the lock to her door clicks and she sits patiently until the person who is entering comes in. It is Kurama. Before he has time to close the door behind him, she launches herself at him, latching her hands around his neck.
"You bastard! How dare you! I will kill you for your abuse." She hisses.
Her eyes have become a deep burgundy and her fangs begin to grow. She opens her mouth wide to bite his neck when electrical volts run through her body. Her body jerks madly and drops to the floor, convulsing from the electrical current running through her.
"Koenma will see you now." Kurama says tonelessly.
Kurama reaches down and lifts Phoenix up but she is out cold. Kurama snorts "What a fool." He says to himself. Her lifts her up and throws her over his shoulder. A few moments later he walks into Koenma's office; the rest of the team is already in there. He places Phoenix down on the seat in front of Koenma's desk.
"She attacked me when I went to get her and the collar went off." Kurama answers the question before it is asked.
Koenma sighs heavily. "I hate to admit it but the kid has a lot of heart." He says. "Asiya will you please wake her up?" Koenma says.
"Yes sir." Asiya answers.
Asiya reaches out to Phoenix, and shakes her gently. Phoenix's eyes open up slowly. She jumps up instinctively causing Asiya to jump back.
"Have a seat Phoenix." Koenma says.
Phoenix sits down in front of his desk and looks directly at him. He meets her gaze and begins.
"I'm not quite sure if you remember what I told you last night so I will repeat myself. You are being charged with the countless brutal murders of innocent youkai and humans, the numerous murder attempts on my detectives and the breakout attempts of your parents. Your sentence is that you keep that collar on for all eternity as punishment for your crimes. That collar will go off the minute you try to attack myself or any of my detectives, escape, and if you try to get into any contact with your clans-men." He starts.
"Also instead of placing you in spirit prison to rot, you will help us infiltrate the lair of the Devil's Eye and assassinate your master. If you refuse to carry out your sentence then you will be put to death." He finishes.
"Go ahead and put me to death brat because I would rather die than betray my kin." Phoenix refuses hatefully.
Koenma smiles as if he knew she was going to say that.
"I knew you were going to say that. So this is what I'll do to persuade you if you do not carry out your sentence then I will put your parents to death in front of you." He counters fiercely.
Phoenix's eyes widen in anger and her body begins to tremble with rage. She wants nothing more than to attack Koenma; but she does not remembering what will happen if she does.
"Fine but if I agree to carry out my sentence, then you need to do something for me." She fires back.
"You are in no position to negotiate Phoenix." Koenma snaps sharply.
An evil grin spreads across her face.
"On the contrary Koenma I am in the perfect position to negotiate. I am the only one who knows their weaknesses. But here are my terms you take this damn collar off of me and when I am done helping you, my parents and I are free to go and live our lives in peace." She finishes.
"You are a fool Phoenix; do you really think that your parents would ever forgive you for working for me? They are heartless killers and your master's top henchmen. Both of your parents worked very hard to please him and because you are their daughter and you showed them such dishonor by selling out to me they will surely kill you to prove their worthiness to their master." He responds in a patronizing voice.
"Liar! They would never turn against me. I am their daughter." Phoenix retorts childishly.
"Stop lying to yourself Phoenix you know as well as I do that as soon as they find out you are working for me, regardless if it was to save their lives, you will be their next mark." Koenma says simply.
Phoenix looks away from Koenma and sits in silence for a moment silently brooding, knowing that what he says is true. A low rumble vibrates in her chest, showing her frustration and anger at the fact that she really has no choice.
"Fine. I don't have much of a choice do I." She says glowering at him.
"I will help your detectives but only if you allow me to see my parents one last time, take this collar off of me, and when I am done let me go. Only when you meet those conditions, will I do what you ask." She says.
"I will allow you to see your parents Phoenix and I will let you go on your way when this is over but that collar is staying on you." He responds.
"You will not take this collar off of me?" She challenges.
"No." He answers.
Phoenix snorts at him and then looks out of the window. She is quiet for moment when a thought occurs to her and a mischievous smirk spreads across her face. She gets up from her seat abruptly causing the Prince of Reikai and the Detectives to jump slightly.
"Forgive me Koenma-Sama but since I've had this collar on me, I suddenly suffer from a case of amnesia and I don't remember anything about the Devil's Eye or Takeshi-Sama." She walks around her seat. "I'm not much help to you anymore brat so just put me to death." She says simply, bowing before the prince and then sits down.
Koenma slams his fist on his desk in anger in response to her action.
"Dammit Phoenix you will help us with that collar on." he yells.
She looks at him with a blank expression on her face.
"Phoenix? Who is Phoenix? Where am I? How did I get here? Who are you?" she asks innocently.
Koenma's face burns red with fury. Phoenix smiles sweetly at him.
"Oiy 'andsome you're lookin a 'lil bit down. Was it something I said?" She says in a patronizing English accent.
"YOU WILL NOT COME IN HERE AND GET YOUR WAY! I AM THE ONE IN CHARGE NOT YOU!" He screams getting up from his seat.
Phoenix smirks at him arduously.
"Face it Koenma you need me to get what you want and without me you have nothing. You know as well as I do that you will never get as close to the Devil's Eye and my master as I can get you. You have no choice but to give me what I want. Me, I have nothing to loose I already lost everything dear to me so nothing matters. So if you want me to help your detectives you will take this damn collar off of my neck!" She says coldly.
"Fine I will grant you your requests but on one condition." He says.
"And what is that?" Phoenix asks bored.
"From now on your soul belongs to me and if you betray me or my detectives I am free to do whatever I wish with it agreed?" He says putting his hand out.
Phoenix takes his hand in hers. "Agreed." She says shaking it.
Koenma removes a key from his desk and walks over to her. He places the key into the collar and unlocks it. He removes the collar from Phoenix's neck and she shakes her head relieved to have that thing off of her and begins to rub her neck.
Koenma looks over at his detectives. "Can you excuse us for a moment I need to have a couple of words alone with Phoenix." Koenma says.
They nod their heads in acknowledgement and walk out of Koenma's office.
"Phoenix I understand you are half vampire is that correct?" He asks.
"Yea so what of it?" She answers with a question.
"How many days can you go without feeding on blood?" He asks.
"Three days why?" She asks.
"Because from now on you will be on house arrest at the Urameshi Mansion. The detectives will be with you at all times if you need to leave the premises to feed, you may do so at night." Koenma says.
"Can I go alone?" Phoenix asks.
"NO. Just because I took that collar off doesn't mean I trust you." Koenma answers.
Phoenix bites her thumb. "Koenma-Sama. Please let me feed alone. I don't know if I will be able to control myself from attacking anyone of the detectives. When I feed I'm not exactly myself and I don't really have control." She implores.
Koenma narrows his eyes into her. "Well then you will just have to learn to restrain yourself because you will not be allowed to go off and feed alone." Koenma states with finality.
Phoenix opens her mouth to protest but Koenma places his hand up to stop her.
"You may go now. When you go out there tell the detectives that this meeting is adjourned and to show you to the room you will be staying in from now on." He says shooing her out of his office.
Phoenix walks out of Koenma's office and sees the detectives standing there waiting. They all look up at her
"Koenma said that the meeting is adjourned and that you have to show me to my room." Phoenix says plainly.
Yusuke snorts at her and walks back into Koenma's office, followed my Kuwabara, Kurama, and Asiya.
"This way." Hiei says coldly.
Phoenix follows him and starts to read his thoughts
.
...I can't believe Koenma took that collar off of her. But I'll be watching her I would be more than happy to put her out of her misery. Just give me a reason.... He thinks to himself grudgingly.
"That was harsh." Phoenix says out loud.
Hiei looks at her stunned to hear her voice.
"What?" he asks turning on her.
"Nothing." She answers tonelessly.
He looks in front of him. "You are a mind reader aren't you?" He asks not looking at her.
"Yea so. What's it to you?" She says.
"Nothing. That is good to know." He says and the two of them walk on in silence until they reach her room. Hiei lets her in and then turns and walks back out of the door. Before he walks out he turns to her and says, "I want you to know that I will be watching you and if you step out of line once I won't hesitate to kill you."
Phoenix smiles at him.
"Ohhhh you look so sexy when you are being threatening. Maybe we can play some time." She teases.
He walks out of the room and slams the door behind him very agitated. Phoenix lets out a small laugh in response.
"I'm going to have fun with him. He is so serious" She says to herself.
Phoenix begins to explore her new room. She has a walk in closet that is empty, two dressers and a four-poster bed.
"Damn I forgot to ask Koenma about getting my clothes." She says to herself and lies down on her bed.
She looks out of the window, it is midday, and she lays on her bed and stairs out her window longingly. Her eyes start to fill up with tears as the realization sinks in that she will probably never be free again. …Even if I help them succeed in taking down the Devil's Eye, which I will Koenma will probably never let me go… Tears begins to well in her eyes and she allows her tears to silently fall down her cheek; after several moments of crying Phoenix closes her eyes and welcomes the comfortable darkness.
6 hours later.
Phoenix opens her eyes to someone knocking on her door. She rolls out of bed and opens the door to see the girl with her mother's eyes standing on the other side. Her eyes darken at the sight of her and she grips the door to hold herself back from grabbing the bitch by her throat.
"Wow you heal fast." The girl says tonelessly.
"What is your name?" She spits at her.
"Your bruises they are completely gone. Just look." She says ignoring her question.
"Unless you tell me what your name is and what the hell you want go away." Phoenix hisses and makes to close the door but the girl places her hand up to stop her.
"My name is Asiya." She sighs heavily. "And I was sent up here to see if you are hungry." She answers simply.
Phoenix looks at Asiya's neck, wishing she could sink her teeth into it but shakes this thought off.
"Yea." She says bitterly.
"Well food is ready so come and eat." Asiya says and walks out of her room but stops when she realizes that Phoenix is not following her.
"What is wrong? I thought you said you were hungry." She asks turning to her.
"I'll eat later." Phoenix answers solemnly.
"No you will eat now." Asiya retorts coldly.
"Excuse me?" Phoenix counters just as cold.
"Either eat now or don't eat at all." Asiya answers back sternly.
"Well if that is the case then I won't eat at all." She fires back. Phoenix tries to shut the door on her once more but Asiya blocks it with her foot.
"Look Koenma wants us to take you back to your Guardian's house to get all of your stuff. If you don't come down and eat now, you may not get a chance to eat later." Asiya says in a softer tone.
"I see. Well first off we don't need to go to my Aunt and Uncle's house, we can go back to my house to get my things. Most of it is there anyway." Phoenix replies.
"Oh. Well are you coming to eat or what?" Asiya asks.
Phoenix doesn't answer her and walks out of her room and descends down the stairs. Asiya follows behind her and points to the kitchen. She walks into the kitchen unnoticed and sees everyone at the table eating. Botan is standing by the plates serving herself a plate. Phoenix walks over to Botan to grab a plate but Botan doesn't notice her either. She reaches for a plate and just as she grabs it, Botan looks over at her and jumps at the sight of her dropping her plate on the floor.
Phoenix chuckles at this. "I would of never imagined death to be so jumpy." She says sarcastically.
Phoenix serves herself a plate of food and goes into the living room.
She sits on the windowsill and starts to eat. Her thoughts become lost in the forest and she begins to long for her freedom. Depression starts to overtake her and by the time everyone is done eating her eyes are now gray.
Kurama, Hiei, Yusuke, Kuwabara, Asiya and Botan come out of the kitchen.
"Are you ready to go and get your things?" Kurama asks.
"Yes." Phoenix answers solemnly.