DIMS: Happy New Years!
Mara: This is the tenth and longest chapter of DA. Over 8 pages in word. (4141 Words)
Era: We've recieved a lot of support from our loyal fans
Arriana: Especially Insert Maniacal Laughter Here.
Mia: Who has reviewed almost every chapter of every story.
Emily*: Other supporters of this story have been...
Naoki*: Jasmine
Riley: Alice
Morashino: Engraved Angel
Itetsuku: Mary
Shimaru: Unolai
Sam*: Angelica
Sai*: Fox of the Fallen
Kagai*:TheAngelFromYourNightmares
Shakaku*: Bleeding Darkness Dragon
Amber*: Roses and Lillies
Hagi**: Zena Silverwing
Tenka: And of course, all of DIMS's friends.
DIMS: Thanks, all of you, both reviewers and not, for reading my story. This story has been on the net for over a year now since November 25th of '07 and I've gotten really far on this, an idea that just randomly sprouted in my head, thanks to you guys. It has now become a multi-chapter fic with a possible prequel, sequel, and multiple planned bonus chapters after the end.
Kotori: We would also like to thank Yoshihiro Togashi for creating the springboard that allowed this idea to come to light. We couldn't have come up with it ourselves.
Mia: We hope you enjoy this milestone chapter and continue to support us through the rest of the story.
DIMS: The names with *'s in front are my unpublished OCs. The name Hagi with the ** after it I borrowed from Blood + because he is Zena's fav character. With your support, my unpublisheds might someday become published OCs. If you are reading this a year or more after this chapter has been published, they may already be published, so go check out my profile!
Kotori: Begin
December 26th
December 27th
December 28th
December 29th
December 30th
December 31st…….Only a few hours remained until my thirteenth birthday. Thirteen. It is the age considered by many when a child begins to become an adult. Little did I know that it would do almost the opposite for me. All I knew was that there was a strange feeling in my gut. If I had ever learned anything from watching TV in department store windows, it was from Gibbs on the American TV show NCIS(1). Always listen to your gut.
Christmas had been the best day of my life. I had actually felt joy for one of the first times of my life. I had had fun; I had actually connected with other people. But the high wore off over the next few days until now. The gang had invited me to be there with them while they counted down the time to the New Year.
But I said no. I knew that tonight I was meant to be alone. And so there I sat, sitting once again at the edge of hell. A small part of my mind that had begun to grow since my arrival in Spirit World told me that maybe I should be worrying about my sanity. I growled. I didn't like listening to that little voice.
The voices of hell chorused a strange tune. The screams of the damned sounded different today, more tortured than usual. Why?
Something flashed in front of my eyes so quickly that I almost didn't comprehend it. Almost. It was a boy. He had jet-black hair, short and spiky. His eyes were a deep blue and his skin a pale white. But he was smiling, and in that smile, I could see the tips of his teeth were sharp and there was a certain fire in his eyes that reminded me of me. He was about my age in the memory, though I intuitively knew that he could change the age that he appeared to be at will. And then it was gone once again. I sighed.
Another flash assaulted me before I could blink.
I was in somewhere white. It was that boy again. We were playing in the snow. Tag. And then a voice called to me. Male. It was deep and powerful. I turned to look at whoever it was, but his figure blurred in my memory. I could feel my younger self smile and say something, but that too was fuzzy. The boy smiled at me and then, quick as lightning, threw a snowball at me. I could feel myself smile evilly at the boy before smashing snow into his spiky black hair.
The heat of hell was the next thing I felt as I finally snapped out of it.
This morning was passing so slowly. The sun had only moved a few inches. I was tempted to go visit heaven and scare some of the ferry girls as they delivered the charges. I could imagine their screams as I came, screaming hellishly with flames in covering my entire body. I cackled evilly in my mind and I almost left to go to the gate right then and there
I stood up and snapped out of it. I could feel two energies approaching me. Yusuke's and Kurama's to be precise. I sighed as I looked into their heads. I know I said it was rude, but it doesn't count when people are chasing and/or stalking you.
'Hah! I can feel her energy nearby! We're gonna get her this time.' That was Yusuke no doubt.
'I agree with Yusuke. We need to give her as much of a family experience as we can if we want her to be comfortable around us. I sincerely hope that she will agree to join us in celebrating this New Year.' That was the Voice of Reason, the name I had given to Kurama's mental voice.
I chuckled in my mind. No one, not even Koenma knew that my birthday was today, or he would have told them. And I didn't want to be near anyone, not today. And so I used what little Angelic energy I could access to disappear into the mountains. The last thing I heard was Yusuke cursing that I had disappeared. Again.
The cold air of the mountains bit at my fingers and nose. I had not bundled up at all this winter—I didn't really need to when my element was fire—but the atmosphere was so thin here that it penetrated my defenses.
Snow was falling so thickly that I could barely see my hand in from of my face. I stumbled into a small cave and sat down. The stone was cool and smooth beneath me as I slipped into a meditative state, allowing the darkness to smother my senses.
I was about ten years old and I had fallen about 150 feet from one of the roofs. I had broken a leg. Sure the height would have killed a human. But if you haven't guessed, I'm not exactly human. Even more unfortunately for me I was in an unused area of the palace. I could be stuck there for days before the leg healed, and even then it might go crooked. I shuddered at the thought of having a bone re-broken…again.
Then a girl appeared by my side in a flash of black lightning. I recognized her as the girl from one of my memories. The one with the brown hair and the lilac eyes. She looked about eleven or twelve.
"Kotori, how many times do I have to tell you, use your wings!"
I grinned sheepishly and rubbed the back of my head "Sorry_____" the name was fuzzed out.
"Don't apologize to me, squirt. Apologize to Mom. She was watching you this time and she freaked out when she saw you fall."
"It's not my fault," I whined. "You know my wings are messed up!" I spread them carefully. It was true. One of my wings was crooked.
"And it won't be so once you reach maturity in the human realm. Once you access your true powers, your wings will right themselves." I groaned as I felt the familiar lecture coming on.
She rolled her eyes at me. "Besides, it is your fault. You know that only experienced flyers are supposed to go up that high."
I used a very simple technique. The Shadow Angel Death Glare of Doom, or so I had called it. She rolled her eyes once more before picking me up very gently in her arms—she could tell that underneath it all I was scared—and spread her perfect bat-like wings. They were the wings of immaturity, but at least she could fly straight.
I was twelve and running away from home. The sister just one generation above me was leaving, the same girl who had rescued me when I had broken my leg. I spread my wings. Still crooked. I looked once over my shoulder, glared, and jumped off the cliff.
I almost instantaneously knew that I was an idiot. The next thing I knew, the black haired boy I had once played tag with had caught me. Next I was on the cliff again.
He was looking at me, half amused, half annoyed.
And then I felt the strong slap to the back of my head.
"Yow!" I cried as I put my hands over the offended area. "What was that for!"
"Being an idiot," he replied. He was taller than me, having taken the form of a fifteen-year-old. All the better for lecturing stupid little me.
"Who are you to call me an idiot!" I shouted at him, enraged. "You're not the one who has to watch your sisters leave for a hundred years at a time. You don't have to know that when it's your turn, you won't even remember them for the first thirteen years of your life, knowing that you'll have to live life as a human! I'm not proud of it! I don't want to be a part of it!"
The next thing I knew he was holding me to his chest and I was crying. He rubbed my back soothingly. "Shh, shh. It's gonna be okay."
"Kotori!!" a small voice shouted at me. I looked behind me and saw a young girl with short, unkempt bloody hair and lilac eyes.
I knelt down to her level as she came up behind me. She was about 8 in appearance and two generations below me, meaning there would be one other after me before she had to go to the human world.
"What's wrong Asha(2)?" I said soothingly. She looked like she had been crying for a long time. I committed the name to memory immediately. Other than Koneko, it was the only name that my memories had revealed.
"Why do you have to go! Why can't you stay here with me!"
I sighed as I remember how ________ had felt. Even in my thoughts, the name had been blurred out, though I could tell I was referring to the white haired sister in the very first memory I had gotten.
"Asha, it is our duty to the world. Without us, the whole world would fall apart and there wouldn't be anything left. Someday you will understand."
"I don't wanna understand! I wan you to stay with me!" she cried in her young voice. Her face was a mask of juvenile anger and disappointment.
I mentally checked the time. If I didn't merge my soul with the baby soon, it would be too late. And so I did the thing that would change my soul permanently.
I looked at her coldly, glaring even. "Has it ever occurred to you that I don't want to stay around you, you little brat?"
She stared at me open mouthed. I forced myself to walk away from her. But what shocked me the most was that saying such a horrible thing to my baby sister barely hurt at all.
11:55
11:57
11:59
Midnight
Pain coursed through my body. I screamed and screamed as one final memory coursed through me.
I stepped through the heavenly white portal. I felt myself merge with my small new body. My "mother" began to scream and was soon crippled with the pain as my body said it was ready to be born. From the energy around her, I could tell that the small unit of Angels(3) and Demons—true Hell demons(4), I mean—had found her.
It was only a few hours longer that I was in there. After what seemed like forever I finally I came out and hit the cold air. My mother was dying. I could feel the life force slipping out of her and being absorbed into my new body. I hummed a tune of dying to her and told her my name. She would think it was her own idea.
I smiled as she said it. I would do my best to allow her to die in comfort. It wasn't her fault she had to bear me. I hummed. Her grip on life faded. The black haired boy whom I had seen in the other memories—I suddenly remembered that he was called Aleksei(5)—took her soul. I said my goodbye to him. I would not see him again for at least thirteen years.
The old woman picked me up. Her human skin fell away to reveal a small black haired girl with piercing unhealthy pale skin and red eyes, quite different from Hiei's in that they didn't hold hate or anger, but a strange childish evil as well as a strange love for me that I didn't understand at the moment. The other young men and women also changed to reveal a small group of young Demon and Angel Children.
I looked around in wonder. These people were all glowing! Why were they glowing? And why was the strange scary red-eyed girl holding me again? My memories began to fade; my human mind damming up what it felt would traumatize me. I soon fell asleep. When I woke up I would be in a dumpster. I would be found by another alley woman. And I would have lost my memory.
I felt my human body die. It was no longer needed. I had finally caught up to the age that my soul had been when I had been put into my human body. It burned away, pain searing through my consciousness. And yet, I knew that the transformation that had been almost impossible in my physical body could be done at will and—I gasped. Those memories that my human brain had kept at bay flooded my mind. It was as though I had never forgotten.
Finally, the pain receded and I could tell that there were two powerful energy signals in the cave with me. My eyes were even sharper now. Though my human body and mind had been advanced, it was nothing compared to this. I looked at myself. I looked exactly as I had before. The only difference was the tattoo of a dragon that wrapped itself around my torso and up my neck, starting under my left ear and ending at my right ankle. I turned to my mother and my mother and grandfather and bowed.
"It's good to be back," I said, reveling in the fact that my voice was as it should be. Powerful and strong.
"It's good to have you," said my mother. She was beautiful Her skin was milk and her eyes were deep obsidian. Her hair was the color or caramel and it fell around her shoulders in a waterfall. Two wings with dark feathers protruded from her back.
Which reminded me. I flexed my wings out of my back and stared. There they were, two perfectly straight, feathery adult wings. They were the color of coal.
"You've grown, little one," said my grandfather.
He was handsome and young looking, maybe seventeen. His eyes were red, different than both Hiei's and the Demon Girl. They were closer to burgundy and they didn't have the fire that the other two sets of eyes had. All that was in those eyes was an eternity of wisdom. His short red spiky hair contrasted with his pale skin. Two straight horns grew from his head and bent so that they curled, following the curves of his skull. They were black and had swirls of red and silver in them. His clothes were black, and my mother's were white.
"We've left some of your things near the entrance of the cave, Kotori. Don't fail us." My mother said this quietly, staring into my eyes. The depth of her gaze almost me want to flinch. She disappeared in a dark, cold wind.
My grandfather looked at me with kinder eyes. I knew that my mother cared. It was tradition for her to remind the Angel of duty, while Keishin(6), my grandfather gave encouragement.
"Malachi(7)," he said. And then a broad grin appeared on his face. "You will do wonderfully."
"I won't disappoint you," I said, looking him in the eye.
"I know you won't," was all he said before he too disappeared.
I slowly walked towards the entrance to the cave. There, I found a set of black clothes not unlike my own. The only difference was that these allowed for both the extension of my wings and the transformation into my more powerful form. They were also much sturdier than the clothes Koenma had given me. They were simple: a pair of black cotton pants and a light yet sturdy tunic. Along with these there was a black leather vest, a pair of black leather shoes, a black leather pack, and a pair of leather gloves. Wrapped in the cloth of my black cloak was a sword and dagger, both with a silver dragon wrapping around the hilt with crystals of blood in place of the eyes. Finally there was a necklace. It was the body and head of an Asian style dragon mounted on a dragon's claw. Held within the four-toed claw as a red orb of crystallized Hell Fire. I quickly pulled it over my neck on its simple black cord. It was my family crest.
I looked outside of the cave. Snow was still coming down in torrents and the wind shrieked. I followed my elders' example and disappeared in a whirl of black fire.
I arrived in my room only minutes later. As I was hiding all of my new—or should I say old—belongings, I caught my own eye in the mirror. I stopped to look more carefully. My eyes had turned the dark purple of maturity, the color that they had been flickering to on and off for the past two months. I grinned wickedly, my now permanent fangs gleaming in the light. Now I could begin to do my job correctly. The earth was at a bit too much peace. It had been a whole four years since the War on Terror had ended(8). Time to shake things up.
As I thought of all of the things I could do with my new maturity, a ridiculous line from an old pull-ups commercial ran through my head. I almost laughed aloud at it. "'Cause I'm a big girl now!" Yes, I was a big girl now. And I wouldn't be getting much bigger.
Happy Birthday to me, happy birthday to me, happy birthday Kotori, happy birthday to me. Heheheh.
Dims: Yeah, Kotori is kinda going a bit nutso again at the end. All of that progress with the Spirit Detectives lost. Or is it? Found out next time on DA! (Notes are after this brief plea for help)
Riley: Hi, I'm new here. I'm going to be in the story "The Chronicles of Riley McKliney", also possibly called "Time to Shine" If you have any title suggestions, please PM them to…
Dims: Me!
Mara: And here are your notes:
1:Okay, NCIS, best TV show ever. Deals with naval crimes. The main characters are: DiNozzo, Mcgee, Abby, Ducky, Kate (dead), Ziva (Kate's replacement) and Gibbs the awesome ex-marine with two or three ex wives.
2: Asha is a female Sanskrit name with the meaning, "Wish, hope, desire" I thought it was pretty and the first two meanings are really cute for this character.
3:Angels are different than Shadow Angels. Angels are liked the people in floaty white robes with wings and halos and stuff (just no halos). They are the children of heaven, not dead human souls who were awesome or anything. They generally take a form relative to their age, though they all prefer young forms. These angels are children, only about 300 years old
4:Hell Demons are the real demons that are the minions of the Devil. Like the Angels they are the children of Hell. They also prefer younger forms. These are also young, at the age of 300 years. This unit is sent out to the human word to keep these kinds of things running smoothly, like how Botan helps the death system run smoothly.
5:Aleksei, also spelled Alexi, is a name I stole from the young son of Czar Nicholas the 2nd. I prefer the spelling with the ks, so I used that one.
6:Keishin is a Japanese name meaning "wise truth, wise mind, wise command, growing wisdom" I decided I wanted to give the Devil my own name. So there.
8A: Malachi is a male Hebrew name meaning "My angel." He calls her that because he loves her and she is a Shadow ANGEL.
8B: Pronunciation. The "ch" is pronounced like in the word Loch (which is not pronounced Lock). It is the Hebrew pronunciation. English doesn't have a letter for it, so transliteration (putting a language into the letters of another language) gave it the letters ch. If you have trouble thinking/pronouncing it, pronounce the ch "hee". The "ch" sound is made at the back of the throat.
9:I decided to have the war over to give Kotori an excuse to make something bad happen because that fits her young immature personality better than doing good. This takes place in 2013, though the tech will be about the same level as today, maybe a smaller i-pod size or something, because I'm not thinking that there will be a huge tech jump in the next 4 years. This also means that the war on terror in my story ended somewhere in the beginning of 2009.
Era:…That was a lot of notes…
DIMS: There was a lot to explain!
Kotori: (glares) If you don't review this I'll eat you.
Dims: And on that happy note, Happy New Years!
My Unpublished OC's: Please donate to the DIMS Unpublished OC's Fund. Donations are simple and take only a little of your time. To donate, please press the review button now (give readers puppy dog eyes of doom.)
Dims: muwahahahahaha! Puppy eyes of doom!
~owari