Chapter 28: Beginning of the end.

"WHAT?! What do you mean she's gone?!"

"Don't be such a fool detective, how could it possibly have more than one meaning?"

"Shut up Hiei, this isn't time for your damn attitude problem! I can't believe she just left us like that, that little bit-"

"Watch your tongue." Hiei snapped at him sharply before he could insult Ceraza, Yusuke growled.

It was 9:00am, the team had only just began to wake up when Hiei told them all the news of Cerazas departure during the night.

"Calm down Yusuke, surely you knew this was going to happen?" Kurama tried to calm him, but Yusuke huffed in annoyance.

"How the hell is anyone supposed to know what she's thinking? We're not all frikkin' telepathic like lover boy here." He spoke, pointing at Hiei with his thumb.

"Look, all this fighting won't help anything." Boton added in, placing her hands on her hips.

"Well, What are we supposed to do now?" Kuwabara asked, silencing the room.

When Ceraza accepted Koenmas request to join the team as a substitute, she'd never imagine anything like this would happen. In the course of a month, Ceraza had lost her master, her sister and her mother, new friends, old enemies..

Kisame had taken so much from her; the people she cared about get hurt. This has to stop.

If Kisame hadn't sent Kaidou after her, she would have been besides her master during her fight with Toguro. If Kisame hadn't have been so power driven, Ceraza wouldn't have been locked up, there for her mother would have no reason to release her and would still be alive. If Kisame hadn't sent Katsumi to kill Ceraza, she too would not be in the condition she is in.

If none of this would have happened.. Ceraza would never have fallen in love with Hiei Jaganshi.

Because leaving him, became the hardest part.

/Flashback\\

"See ya'.. Hiei."

"One last thing." He called; Ceraza stopped but kept his back to him.

"As soon as the sun rises, I'll inform the others and we will find you. I'll kill anyone in the way."

"Well then, I guess I better get a head start." She grinned over her shoulder.

/End of flashback.\\

"Master, are you sure this is wise?" Spoke KouHei into her mind, Ceraza sighed.

You know I don't have a choice.

"A wise leader once taught me, there is always a choice.."

She was young and reckless, not to mention naive.

"If there was ever a time when you were any of those things, it's now."A new voice added.

TadaKei you have been silent for some time now.She replied to the Griffin, ignoring her statement/insult.

"This is not wise Lady Ceraza."

I will not tell you this again, this is my choice. My fight and mine alone. As my Eiodins you will do as I say no matter the consequences.

"We do not fear for ourselves Master, but for you. We will follow you to the end, you know this."

That ended the conversation. By now Ceraza had gained a good distance from the Island her team were currently at. Luckily her home Island was not far from there, but only an Asakura could find it among the fog and mist.

It made Ceraza sad slightly to think of what had become of her home island since her farther had taken leadership. She once remembered the island being sunny and bright. Clear skies and laughter. But now nothing remained but darkness and sorrow, everything she once remembered was nothing but a legend, a myth, a story people would tell their children.

Stopping at the ocean, Ceraza raised her right and and closed her eyes for a moment. She concentrated her energy into the air around her and opened her now glowing eyes. The thick fog before her began to split and she took this opportunity to use her incredible speed to run on top of the water towards her destination.

Already Ceraza could sense the darkness and sorrow from her home. Dark clouds lingered above, threatening rain, maybe even thunder. With a sigh she increased her speed, soon reaching her destination.

She'd be lying if she thought things were going to go smoothly once she arrived. Kisame had clearly wanted to test her ability, and so had his strongest clan members patrol the village, their Eiodins beside them as they walked. Cursing to herself, Cerazas speed decreased as her eyes scanned the area, in attempts to get by without being noticed.

Kisame wasn't only testing her strength physically, but emotionally too. He knew she didn't want to harm members of her own clan.

'If I'm caught, I won't be able to kill them all and still have the strength to fight Kisame..'

So hiding her spirit energy and silencing her footsteps, Ceraza entered the village, keeping her head low. She noticed a hooded jacket hanging on a line close by, so swiftly she stole it. Putting on the jacket quickly, she raised the hood in order to hide her noticeable hair colour, allowing a shadow from the hood cast over her face.

This will have to do.

A few moments passed and so far so good, no one had seemed to notice her presence. Ceraza made sure to make eye contact with no one and to stay away from the guards as much as possible.

But things are never that simple.

Clearly her antisocial behaviour had caught the attention of a guard that was stood nearby. Pushing off of the wall he was learning on, his made his way towards Ceraza. Her eyes landed on him for a moment once she noticed his movements and her pace quickened. Even though this guard did not have his Eiodin beside him, he was still a dangerous threat.

"Hey, you there, stop."

Damn it.

She didn't listen.

"I said stop!"

She broke into a run, people in the street stared at the scene but none intervened. The guards were known to be violent with civilians, so no one wanted to get in the way. She weaved around corners, jumped over obstacles, anything she could to get away without a fight.

"Hey, over here!" A voice called from the distance, Ceraza looked to her right and noticed a small child beckoning her to follow him. She heard the footsteps of the guard getting closer, so what choice did she have?

The small child disappeared into the darkness of the alley; Ceraza quickly looked behind her to make sure the guard would not be able to follow her, and ran into the alley. She growled in aggravation when coming to an dead end.

"In here!" The small voice cried again, this time from beneath her. She looked down to see a small sewer opening and a small Childs hand again beckoning her to follow. She jumped down the whole without hesitation.

She found herself standing in complete darkness, straining her eyes slightly in attempts to find some source of the child that brought her here. She was about to call out into the darkness but silenced herself when hearing the guard above her, mumbling to himself while he tried to locate her.

Ceraza held her breathe and waited, her ears straining to listen to the footsteps of the surface.

"Damn kids.." She heard the guard mumble before his footsteps descended away from her, she sighed with relief. Now she had to find the child that brought her here.

"The power of Will that shows us the way, guide me KouHei, lend me your strength.. senses of the tiger!" Ceraza concentrated her powers for a moment as ears of a white tiger appear on her head; her eyes became 'cat like' and her teeth and fingernails sharper. Her eyesight and hearing, along with every other sense in her body had increased tenth fold.

There.

Turning her head to face the darkness, Ceraza saw a figure, but not the child.

"Leave." The figure spoke.

"I'm sorry," Ceraza started, trying to be more relaxed as to not threaten the person. "I don't want to cause trouble I just-"

The figure charged at her, drawing out their sword, "Leave!"

Ceraza was quick to draw her blade and defend herself, but the power of her opponent pushed her back slightly. Ceraza growled in annoyance, wanting to avoid fighting as much as possible.

"I don't have time for this." She flipped her opponent over, and pinned them to the ground, her blade against their throat.

"Takumi!" Footsteps could be heard running towards them along the sewer path, causing Cerazas' head to snap to the direction it came from, the voice causing memories to flood her mind, that voice..

"Mai?" She questioned in surprise. The person beneath her saw their opportunity and flipped Ceraza off by a kick to her stomach, causing Ceraza to stand and stumble backwards, her attacker immediately got to their feet and pushes Ceraza against the wall, their own sword against her shoulder, threatening to pierce it.

"Takumi, stop!" And just like that, everything stopped. Like it never even happened, like none of them were really there. Her attackers' breath was fast and rugged. Ceraza could smell his desires to continue, but the new voice caused him to stop, and he obeyed.

"Wait.. Takumi?" Cerazas voice was softer now; her eyes showed confusion as she finally looked at the face of her attacker. He was handsome, no doubt about it. His deep green eyes contrasted with his rick purple hair, a light cross scar on his left cheek that could only be noticed if you looked for it.

His eyes widen in surprise, as did the females whose voice caused him to stop.

"Impossible.." He breathed, his eyes scanned her face.

"Ceraza?"

No doubt lingered in Cerazas' mind after that. It was obvious to her that these two were Takumi and Mai Asakura, both siblings, twins to be exact. As for a long time, they were Cerazas' best friends. Mai threw her arms around Cerazas' neck, hugging her tightly.

"You idiot! Why did you come back?! He'll kill you!" But Mais' words began to fail her as soft sobs escaped her throat. Ceraza sighed and patted her back slightly in a way of hugging her back. "It's good to see you too, Mai." It was then Takumis' turn to scoff.

Ceraza let go of her friend and turned to him with a small smile, she opened her mouth to say something but was interrupted. "Don't." Was all he said, raising his hand to cut her off, before Ceraza could question him, he had already began to walk away into the darkness, back the Mai had come from.

"Don't worry about him, he's just-" Mai started with a nervous look.

"It's fine.. he has every right to be." Ceraza watched the purple haired demon walk away into the darkness, a soft voice pulled her attention back to Mai and the child behind her.

"Mai-Chan? Can we go back to the others now?" The small child asked, tugging on Mais' sleeve gently while looking up at her with his innocent eyes.

"Others?" Ceraza asked, watching Mai nod and smile at the kid, her eyes moved to Cerazas and sadness flickered through them.

"A lot has changed since you left.."

A lot has changed was an understatement, everything had changed. Ceraza stood in the far corner of this underground cavern, it reminded her much like a cave. Everything was dark, damp and drained of all happiness. This is what her people were left too; those who opposed Kisame had fled here, under the city among the sewers. Many members of her clan were here, men, woman and children of all ages. They huddled in their groups, talking among themselves; many children clung to their parents, not used to such darkness.

Ceraza had learned three important things in her small time on this land;

Kisame had complete control of the city above, his soldiers roamed freely, and doing as they wish hurting those they wish. Most of them being past criminals taking opportunity of such free times, driving fear into those who opposed them. These soldiers were called the Yami, and they were fearless.

Mai and Takumi were the 'leaders' of those who rebelled against Kisame, they lived underground; surviving however they could. Leaving the Island was not an option as they would be caught by the Yami and killed swiftly. Those who rebelled and lived here were called the Hanran.

And finally, Ceraza knew she had to do something, to stop all this madness. She couldn't let her people continue to live like this, for the clan to be so separated.. she had to save them. But she knew it wasn't going to be easy, and sacrifices would have to be made.

"Sad isn't it? For so many of us having to hide away from everything above. Some of the Yami are our friends.. family.. but they still would not hesitate to kill any of us." Voice Mai as she stood beside Ceraza, watching the others with a sad smile.

"More like Pathetic." Mumbles Takumi, kicking a stone beneath his feet. Ceraza and Mai ignored his statement and continued to talk.

"How long has it been like this?" The red head asked, watching some children nearby.

"Ever since you left-" Mai started but was cut off.

"That long?! It's been over a hundred years!" Cerazas eye were wide with surprise as she looked at Mai beside her. "It cannot be.. for our clan to fall down to this."

"We are fewer now.. many had tried to escape but none have succeeded.. the Yami are too many."

"We have to do something-" It was Takumis' turn to speak.

"We?! There is no we. It's your fault it has come to this in the first place! Now you want to take charge and try to make it right?!" His voice gradually getting louder, now attracting the attention of the others.

"And I suppose you have a plan? I won't just sit by and watch this! We have to get you all of this island and-"

"You will only get more of us killed! Wasn't your sister enough?!" Cerazas' eye widen in realisation. That's why he has been so angry at her since her arrival, he thought Katsumi was dead. Memories flashed before her eyes of the fight she and previously had with Kisame, she winced in remembrance.

"Katsumi.."

"If you're here then she's dead right? She was sent to kill you.. I tried to stop her, I begged her but she wouldn't listen!" He spat his words with venom.

"I don't know." Ceraza finally whispered while looking at the ground, her bangs covering her eyes that threatened to spill tears.

"W-What? What do you mean you don't know?!" Takumi yelled, his temper growing worse. "Did you just leave her?!"

Cerazas silence caused Mai to gasp. "You couldn't do it.. could you?" Ceraza shook her head in reply.

"I tried to warn her, but she wouldn't listen. She stayed with me and my friends.. but Kisame found us, I tried to stop him, but he was too strong, I was too late.." A single tear fell from her eyes, the other members of the clan now gathered around to listen.

"I don't know if she's dead.. because I left to come here.. to find Kisame and end this." Finally Takumi gathered enough strength and punched Ceraza in her face, sending her to the ground.

"So you just left her there?! Are you crazy?! She's you're sister!"

"You think I don't know that?! I had no choice!"

"There's always a choice! You were the one who taught us that!"

Silence ran throughout the sewers as no one said a thing, Takumi was right but there was nothing Ceraza could do now. Katsumi was back with the others, and she couldn't leave this island now.

Unless..

"I have an idea."

"I don't like this one bit Ceraza."

"It'll be fine Mai. Trust me on this."

"But you-"

"I'll be fine, this way everyone wins. I get to do what I came here to do, and you can all be free of this place. " Mai sighed in defeat.

"He'll kill you, you know.."

"..I know."

Mai and Ceraza were currently above the sewers, running from alley to alley as they watch the Yami carefully not to get spotted. They had to carefully mark each the Yamis' location and figure out the best way of attack.

Ceraza had come up with a plan. She knew that Kisame is waiting for her, that's why the Yami have increased in numbers. But there was no point in trying to make a deal with Kisame for their life, so Ceraza knew she had to become the distraction, to make the Yami chase her so the others could get off the Island and back to Urameshi and the others. There, they would be able to start a new life, away from this dreadful place.

"Alright, here's the plan."