Not Okay : Forgive Me Father, for I have Sinned
A/N: Thank you for the reviews. Keep on leaving them. Oh, and for Harry Potter fans, PLEASE give my Chronicles of Severus Snape a try. Please. I really love Severus Snape. I love his character and his true loyalty. So yeah, Read and Review!
I
Hiei frowned, trying to act as though his heart hadn't stopped and that his blood wasn't ice cold. He tried to ignore the worry that Botan was seriously ill and that she needed help right away. He tried not to think of Kurama, not to wonder if he was okay... hell, Hiei's thoughts even strayed to Kuwabara, of all people!
"No Father of mine would threaten an onna."
Malik looked past Hiei to Botan.
"Who? Her?" His eyes were hooded and one of his fangs showed as he smiled darkly. "I didn't know that she was so important to you, son."
Hiei unsheathed his katana, gritting his teeth.
"It shouldn't matter. Women shouldn't be harmed."
Malik gave half of an uninterested shrug.
"It won't matter. She won't be living long anyway."
Hiei went forward and brought down his sword. As he tried to swing it into the shoulder of his own Father, he heard a hiss. His crimson eyes widened as he watched his katana melt.
"What the –"
Malik reached through the hot molten magma and tightened his hand around Hiei's neck.
"I'm full fire demon." His red eyes burned into Hiei's eyes. The half fire half Koorime felt his heart rate increase as his skin began to bubble and burn. "My heat outdoes yours."
Hiei kicked out his legs, landing a good thrust into his Father's neck. The fire demon choked and took three steps back, clutching his neck. He gave a few wheezed coughs and his eyes watered.
"Son of a bitch."
Hiei's pupils shrank as he tapped into the power of the Dragon of Darkness Flame. His entire body trembled and his lips pulled back into a maniac smile. He felt... he felt like his good old self.
"Don't...call... her that."
He flew forward punching, kicking, slicing and biting. Anything he could to make Malik bleed. Of course, his Father didn't just stand there. When Hiei stepped back, he was burned on his chest and neck.
Hiei Jaganshi jumped into the air, bringing his leg down onto his Father's shoulder, making his legs buckle. Malik whipped around and grabbed Hiei's arms, holding him as he head-butted him.
"You know what I am going to do to you?"
Hiei was being risen into the air. His eyes were watering as he realized that his Father wasn't even touching him. He just gestured with his hand and his demonic energy strangled his son for him.
"Do you want to know why I needed the girl?"
Hiei's legs began to jerk.
"She's the purest soul in the Three Worlds. Did you know that?"
Hiei's eyes were swimming with unshed tears.
"That was why she was screaming. All those times when she would burn you was because I was in her mind. Trying to see if she was the right one."
Hiei was released, only to fall on the ground, coughing.
"Right... for... what?"
Malik kicked Hiei in the ribs. The fire demon sputtered and made an attempt to scratch the demon. Instead of actually touching his Father, his skin began to melt away.
"I've been around for a long time." His eyes traveled to the ferry girl who was passed out on the dry rock. "The trick to immortality is two things. Offspring and sacrifice."
Hiei was lifted into the air once more, his head being slammed against the rock. He wasn't being choked off enough to pass out. Whatever his Father was planning, he wanted Hiei to be awake to see it.
"Botan is going to be killed. By me." A ghostly chill ran up Hiei's spine. "She is the pure one. She is the key to me getting my new body." He licked his claws that were covered in Hiei's blood. "You."
II
Hiei twisted and ran straight for his Father. He was burned, but he didn't stop. He didn't dare stop. He scratched Malik's neck. He didn't hit the jugular vein, but it was enough to make him close his eyes in pain.
That was when he started laughing.
"Hiei, Hiei, Hiei." His hands were covered in his leaking bodily fluid. "When will you get it?" When his hands were taken away from his neck, there was no blood. Not even a scratch. "I'm invincible."
Hiei felt his stomach drop. His face was stone cold, but he was starting to get panicky.
"That's what they all say."
Father and son were about to go at it again when they were blinded by the whitest light they had ever seen. As Hiei dropped to the ground, the oddest memory came to him. He blinked slowly as he saw a figure coming to him as his mind took over.
III
"I've never seen such sophisticated white magic!"
Hiei frowned as he lifted his hands. His wrists were shackled and he was pretty pissed about it. Stupid detective. Stupid detective's mate. Stupid kitsune.
It wasn't fair.
What really wasn't fair was the fact that he still was unable to figure out the baka ferry onna. What she had done back at the warehouse was incredible. Hiei Jaganshi rarely gave compliments, and she was one of the few recipients.
White magic...
That was it. It wasn't white magic at all. Hiei smirked as he looked at his guards. Well... I'm not going to stick around here and wonder about it. With a flick of his wrists, the shackles fell off of him. All it took was a gleam of his blood red eyes and the guards were dead.
Hiei knew he was going to be in deep shit, but he already was. He had nothing to lose.
His Jagan Eye was open and it got a lock on the onna's energy. With lightening speed that the Gods would be envious of, Hiei sped across Ningenkai.
He finally came to a small cottage. His eyebrows furrowed as he came closer. It was her energy, but it was weaker than when he last encountered her. He picked the door open and went inside.
His bare feet were silent on the wooden floor. Using his ears, nose, and Jagan Eye, he turned left and went down to what seemed to be one of the main rooms. He saw her siting in a chair, soaking her hands.
As she looked up at him, he saw that she was crying.
"Hiei? What are you doing here–"
Hiei flitted so that he was inches away from her, a finger on her lips.
"Quiet, baka onna."
He looked down at the water and almost jumped away from her when he saw her hands.
They were blistered and black in some spots. He stuck his finger in the water and with a pop, the entire basin had evaporated. Her pink eyes never left his, her breaths coming quickly, but she was silent about it.
"Onna." She never flinched. "What happened to your hands?"
The onna, Hiei believed that her name was Botan, tried to cover them up. Now that the water wasn't obstructing his vision, he saw that there were wrinkles twisting up and down her arms. They were bruised and badly burned.
"It's... nothing." She glared at him. "Aren't you supposed to be in prison?"
Hiei ignored her question.
"Your hands were not like that when you were healing the baka detective's mate." He touched her hands, only for a fleeting moment. "This is not an ordinary injury." He didn't allow her to look away, his Jagan still open and glowing. "How did you slow the demonification process?"
The ferry girl stuck out her chin and stood.
"I can't tell you that. Sorry."
Hiei was about to step forward. He was going to knock her unconscious with his Jagan Eye and then read her mind, so his curiosity would be quenched.
But the damn Rekai prison guards had come for him. With a loud bang and a few things broken, not to mention two wrists and a toe, Hiei Jaganshi was bound and gagged.
His eyes pierced the onna's, who had a look on her face that said, 'Serves you right'.
Onna, you are going to tell me. Sooner or later, I'm going to be able to wield a power like that.
So Hiei was thrown back into prison. No big deal. He got roughed up a bit, but he just spit in their faces. Everyone was a fool.
He only agreed to help out Koenma because it was more interesting than just sitting in a damp cell for all of eternity.
That was when he saw the ferry onna again. When he rescued Yukina. After everything was said and down, she debriefed Yusuke and Kuwabara. Then she turned to Yukina, grinning from ear to ear.
"Yukina! It's so nice to see you out of harms way." She offered her hand. "My name is Botan, and Koenma has allowed you to stay with me at my house."
Yukina had released her hand and threw her arms around the ferry girl's neck, tear gems falling onto the ground.
"Oh, Botan! Thank you so much!"
The ferry girl was only a bit flustered, but she just smiled and said that it was okay. She would do anything for a friend.
That was when her eyes slowly flickered to Hiei's. He narrowed his eyes as he communicated with her using telepathy.
Your hands are better.
She didn't say anything and just slipped her arm around Yukina and led her away, summoning her oar and offering Yukina a spot.
IV
Botan's eyes opened slowly. She was so... hot. She was going to die. She knew it. She coughed and blood came up.
Hiei... he's going to die... I can't... I can't let that happen to him.
Her hands scrambled for a sharp rock. When she found one, she cut into her skin, hissing as the granite made her flesh sting. Blood dripped thickly onto the rock.
Using her pointer finger, the ferry girl drew a circle with her blood. Panting, she swiped her wound again. Like a painter, she drew a star inside the circle. It was what nigens would call a pentagram. It was what Rekai spirits called a last resort.
"Rekai, your faithful servant is asking you one last time to use your power." Her heart fluttered, and not in the good and natural way. In the cardiac arrest way. "Please, I, Botan the ferry girl am asking you for your help." The blood pentagram began to glow. "Use me to my full potential." Light poured out, going into the ferry girl. "Give me all of your power." She took in a long breath. "I give myself to you."
Then all went white.
V
Malik squinted. He couldn't see a goddamn thing. He hissed as his skin began to burn and peel away. That got his attention. What the fuck... I'm a fire demon! His claws began to itch. He saw his son cough on the ground.
What the hell is going on?
VI
Hiei opened his eyes. He felt someone touching him. Their hands were cold. It felt good against his burned skin. Their touch felt like water. Smooth... calm.
"Relax."
Hiei's eyes shot open.
"Botan?"
She didn't answer as his body was flooded with an odd tingling sensation that ended with a frosty chill. He knew what happened. She had healed him again... but it was different from the last time. Before it had been slow, like she was concentrating on only healing him and then powering down.
She wasn't powering down this time.
He got up and turned to her as the light began to dim so it was only outlining her. Her eyes were pure white and her hair was out of its ponytail. It danced wildly around her as though there was a ferocious wind.
There wasn't even a breeze.
"Are you ready, Hiei?"
Hiei frowned.
"What are you talking about?"
Her voice was different. It was very wispy. Like the voice of an angel.
"Let's take this guy out." Her pure white eyes moved to his own. "Come on."
Hiei watched Malik's eye shoot open. He was obviously not expecting this.
"What they hell are you doing, Botan? What did you do?" She looked over her shoulder and Hiei followed her gaze to the blood pentagram on the ground. The blood drained from his face. "You sacrificed yourself? Why? To who?"
He was angry, his flat voice sparking. He grabbed her wrist. She shrugged.
"That's what friends do."
She vanished and Hiei saw that she reappeared by Malik's side. He tried to scratch her, but when he pulled his hand back, frost had settled on it.
"Hiei..."
The Forbidden Child saw her face. It was calm, but her hands were shaking.
"Hn."
"Summon your Dragon of Darkness Flame." She bowed her head. "It's the only way."
Hiei was silent as he clutched his right arm and screamed as the black tattoo grew more vivid and began to move. His eyes almost rolled into the back of his head, but he felt a cold hand on the back of his neck. When the Dragon was out, roaring, he turned to the ferry girl. She nodded, and Hiei sent it after Malik.
The fire demon roared as he attempted to absorb it, just as Hiei and done in the Dark Tournament.
That was when Botan reached out and touched the Dragon. Hiei watched as the Dragon of Darkness Flame turned snow white. Malik let out a scream as purity consumed him, his soul of sin unable to corrupt the pure.
He was gone, and the White Dragon dissipated.
Hell's Mouth rumbled, the entirety of it shaking. Hiei saw Botan's hands jerking. Her eyes looked at him and she tried to smile.
"Bingo."
The light vanished and her pink eyes came back. But as soon as Hiei saw them, they rolled back into her skull, her entire body going limp. Hiei grabbed her and began to run out of the cavern of bubbling magma. Boulders fell from the roof of the cave and lava was shooting up from the floor.
"Onna!" Hiei sprinted. "Botan! Stay with me!"
He reached the dark entrance and he leaped up into the cold air of Makai.
VII
Hiei ran a few dozen paces before falling to his knees. His heart was pounding as he turned back to look at Hell's Mouth. An otherworldly roar bellowed from the deep and magma shot up into the sky with a deafening crack. The cave imploded on itself, sinking into the depths of Makai.
The Forbidden Child turned to the ferry girl, pinching her cheek.
"Botan! Come on, baka! Don't toy with me!"
He shook her. Her neck was so loose and her hair was falling over her face. Hiei suddenly went very... very... cold.
He dropped her onto the ground. She didn't make a sound. He started to breathe faster. Just like when he had been running too fast at the beginning of his twisted tale. His chest heaved as his clawed fingers felt up her neck.
Nothing.
Hiei let out a strangled wheeze as he pressed his lips to her forehead. She was clammy cold.
No.
He pinched her nose shut and pressed his lips against hers, breathing for her. He forced demonic energy to course through her. She pulsed once, but didn't maintain herself.
Hiei held her close to him, his chest rising up and down faster and faster. He was getting dizzy as he hugged her tightly. Fiercely.
That's what friends do.
Hiei's neck snapped back as he let out a bellow into the heavens.
VIII
Koenma felt a heart stopping tug. His entire body trembled, and when it was done, the Prince was left weak and pale. He clutched his heart as he teleported.
He appeared by Kurama. By this time, the Prince of Hell was crying.
"Kurama? I thought you were in Hell's Mouth."
The kitsune was spaced out.
"We were forced out. Amiri made us appear here."
Kuwabara and Yusuke saw the Prince and they bounded over.
"What's wrong with you?"
With tears running down his pasty face, Koenma looked like he had caught cancer.
"My power is gone."
Yusuke's mouth dropped open.
"What?"
Koenma sighed.
"All of it. Half of Dad's too." He wiped cold sweat from his forehead. "Botan is using it."
All was silent.
"She can do that?"
"Yes. But it's... it's not recommended using Rekai power. It recoils."
Everyone was silent for a long time. It was about twenty minutes when Koenma gasped and the color flushed back to his face. The sweat was gone and his eyes held their old sparkle again. He rubbed his face.
"It's back."
That was when they heard a primal scream. Their heads turned to see two people. They were far away, but that didn't matter.
IX
"Hiei! Hiei, what happened?"
The Forbidden Child was clutching Botan like she was his favorite toy. His eyes, however, told a different story. They were self-destructive. Loathsome. Suicidal.
"She's dead."
Yusuke and others all felt it. A cold squeeze on their heart. A wave of ice cold water slamming into them.
"B-but."
That was when Koenma saw a mark on her arm. Her skin was cut open.
"She... she sacrificed herself."
Hiei stood and gave the ferry girl to Koenma.
"Hn." He kept on looking up, like he didn't want to meet anyone's eyes. "I... I told her not to do it... for me... ever again."
Kurama felt his eyes travel down to the ground. His eyes widened when tiny little spheres clinked to the ground.
Tink.
Tink.
X
A/N: ATTENTION! NOT THE LAST CHAPTER! Oh, and uh, sorry about the terrible cliffy. But hey... REVIEW! rawr. Is this blackmail? No. Not technically lol. Okay, look, I know that it was really sad... but... if you review, I will update and when I update, I will turn those frowns upside down. Review please.
-mia
p.s. Was anything out of sort to you? OCCness? Lame lines? Tell me please! I need to know so I can sleep at night.
P.s.s. I just got my wisdom teeth out and... what a weird experience! I opened my eyes twice during the procedure, but that's all I remember!