I think I've kept you guys hanging long enough!
Enjoy!
Chapter 29 Our Longest Day: Part IV
"Ok ready? One, two, push!" Kuwabara shoved down on the hilt of his sword, wedging a rock up as Yusuke heaved at another, together managing to create a small opening. Kurama approached the hole.
"I'm going in. Do not move," He said and bent under the rock.
Yusuke whined under the weight, "Sure, take your time, we can do this all day."
Aya had remained still and silent the entire time, but with every moment, she had unconsciously gotten closer until she was practically leaning over them, her tail flicking sharply in agitation. Kuwabara, struggling to keep his make-shift wedge in place, grunted in effort, kicking his leg out at her.
"It would be a lot easier to do this without you breathing down my neck!" Kuwabara yelled.
She opened her mouth in what was meant to be a hiss, but paused and just frowned instead. Ears pressed low against her head, she scooted away. Ever since they had started digging out the tunnel, she had been extremely tense.
Yusuke glanced at her over his shoulder, "So what exactly is the deal with you two? This guy's obviously not just another co-worker. He's also human."
Aya bristled, "Our lives are none of your business."
Yusuke just rolled his eyes, "Oh please, don't bullshit me. At this point, you pretty much owe us your lives. "
Aya scowled and didn't answer at first until a few moments of silence passed and she finally relented, "Itsuki is... someone who has always been by my side. He's the only reason I'm here at all."
"What, he saved your life or something?" Kuwabara asked, now curious.
"He might as well have," Aya said, her voice becoming soft and sentimental. "Long story short, when I was just a kitten, I found myself running from a couple of demons and accidentally found myself lost in the human world. Itsuki was just an orphan child living on the streets. He mistook me for an ordinary cat at first, but he took me home with him and even nursed me back to health. We've been together since. "
"Ok, fine." Yusuke said. "But what made you guys come work for Asami? I'm getting the feeling that this wasn't your first choice for a career."
Aya turned away, "A couple of years ago, Itsuki was ambushed by some rogue demons. It was my fault... I did something stupid and he was just protecting me. That was when Asami showed up, defeating the demons in no time flat. She was going to kill us too, but I begged her for mercy and in the end, she offered me a deal. She'd spare us and even help him, but for a price." Aya touched the red band at her throat. "In that moment, I was prepared to do anything, so I said yes. So she saved him and I became one of her servants. I was prepared to leave his side forever, but of course when he found out, he had to come with me. We're all each of us has."
"Who would actually choose to come here," Kuwabara shook his head.
"He's not the only one," Aya said. "Shiro is the same way. Kuro has Asami's band of subjugation, but Shiro only came to stay with her brother. The things we do for the ones we love, huh..." She trailed off, training her eyes on the hole that Kurama had disappeared into a few moments ago.
Yusuke exchanged a glance with Kuwabara. They could relate to that.
"Hey Kurama, any sign of him?" Yusuke called.
There wasn't an answer for a moment and then, "I've got him, I'm coming out."
Aya got close again, more anxious than before. Kurama's figure emerged, dragging Itsuki's huge body out with him and Yusuke and Kuwabara released their burdens with loud sighs of relief. Not sparing a moment, Aya barreled past them, dropping to her knees beside Itsuki.
"Itsuki!" She cried, holding his face in her hands. Her eyes glimmered with tears at the sight of his rising and falling chest.
"He's badly hurt, but he's alive. I'm afraid the collapse broke several of his ribs," Kurama said.
Aya smiled, "I'd take broken bones any day." Then she deflated, letting out a quiet sigh.
Her cat-slit eyes flickered over them warily, "So I guess I'm in your debt now. I can't do much, but I can tell you how to find Asami." She briefly touched her neck, a dim look in her eyes. "As soon as Asami learns what happened, I'm done for anyways."
They were quiet for a moment until Kurama stood up again, "Your assistance would be appreciated. If we hurry, there still might be time to save you but only if we can defeat Asami. However, if we are successful and manage to save you, you both will willingly submit yourselves to Spirit World and be judged accordingly. Do we have an agreement?"
Aya just shrugged, a slightly sad, but amused grin on her face, "Hey, worst case scenario, I die, best case, I live. If there's any chance that I can survive and get us out of this together, I have to take it. So, deal."
She pointed down a hall and quickly described the way to get there. "You must be discreet though. If Asami senses you, she'll definitely change the path. You need to hurry."
Itsuki coughed sharply, startling Aya who went straight back to him. "Itsuki?"
He groaned lightly, muttering, "Why does it feel like I was trampled..."
"Oh don't be such a baby." Aya rolled her eyes and her voice was chastising, but the happy tears that streamed down her face spoke otherwise.
"Easy for you to say..." Itsuki flinched in pain as he shifted around, weakly lifting a large hand. Aya grabbed it, holding it tightly.
Kuwabara sniffed beside Yusuke who, despite his own misty eyes, yelled, "Are you actually crying?"
"Shut up Urameshi! I've just got something in my eye. What about you, huh?"
Yusuke shut him up with a swift punch to the face.
Aya ignored them, turning to Kurama. "I might never understand why you did what you did, but I... I can't thank you enough. Itsuki means everything to me. I'll remember the deal, so go now. You're wasting time here."
Kurama nodded, "Yes. Yusuke, Kuwabara," He called, abruptly cutting off their squabbling.
Kuwabara rubbed his eyes and fixed a steely glare on Aya who stiffened in confusion.
"Don't think this means I forgive you or anything for what you did to me at the park or anything else, but I'll let it slide this time. Consider yourself lucky." He motioned two fingers from his eyes to her and back.
Not really sure how to respond, Aya just chuckled awkwardly, incredulous. She couldn't really believe how things had just turned out.
Then they took off without another moment to lose and Aya simply watched as they went.
"Good luck," she muttered, cradling Itsuki's head. "For all of our sakes."
~.~.~.~.~
The crystal prison erupted with a giant shatter, sending countless shards flying. Hiei yanked hard on Ren's hand, tucking her tightly against his body as they flew backwards from the force of the explosion, blocking her from the shrapnel.
He collided against the ground hard, hissing sharply as he slid across the floor before coming to a stop. Pieces of crystal clinked and snapped under his weight as he sat up, readjusting Ren in his arms so her body wouldn't get cut from the ground.
She was completely nude, but this was no time to be bashful. It alarmed him with how pale her skin was; she was nearly white. She was breathing, but it was faint, and her eyes were even open, but Hiei had watched with his own as the light had left them. Like they'd found Yukina and Botan, they were only dim, glassy orbs that reflected and saw nothing.
For just a moment, when she had touched him, he'd really seen her, felt her, as he had many times before when they were still connected by the bond, as her very soul, he knew, had reached out to him. He'd been so close, but just as quickly, she'd slipped through his grasp leaving him with nothing but a fleeting warmth.
"Ren!" He shook her gently, but there was no response as her head slid back like a rag doll.
"Damn it!" He yelled, a slight tremble creeping into his arms. "Damn it!"
He'd been too late.
There was tiny clink to his side, followed by another, and another and soon the tiny pieces of broken crystal began to rattle into an echoing roar that only grew as the entire cavern began to shake. Hiei stood up.
Were the walls caving in?
Acting quickly, Hiei ripped off his cloak, wrapping it tightly around Ren's body as a make-shift cover so it wouldn't come undone and moved her onto his back. The walls were splitting apart now as glass and crystal splintered and shattered all around them. The entire room was going to come down on them if he didn't do something quickly.
However, there was a soft sucking sound that began to grow from above and he looked up to see a growing black hole opening in the ceiling much like the portal they'd taken to arrive in the palace. Hiei dodge a falling piece of the wall and made a decision. He didn't know how or why but if that was the only way he could go, he'd have to take it; as to where it led, he had a suspicion.
Chunks of the ceiling had begun to fall, but Hiei could use them. Holding onto Ren tightly, he leapt straight up, bouncing off the pieces that were falling in mid-air to propel himself even higher and with one more high jump, Hiei was swallowed by the black hole, leaving behind the crumbling room.
As he went up there was a moment of nothing, but then rather than moving up, he was falling down and into another room, one he'd been in before, he observed. As he'd thought.
He landed firmly on the floor, still holding Ren securely against his back. He stared straight ahead, immediately catching sight of the lone, prestigious figure that gazed coolly back at him as she stood beside her throne.
"Asami." He growled.
Asami merely inclined her head towards him in greeting, "You're just in time, Hiei." She gestured to the side and Hiei stiffened as a blue orb nearly identical to Ren's pulsed steadily like a heartbeat. There was a girl inside exactly as Ren had been, but this girl was even more pale and her hair was dark. And she was awake.
Shocking blue eyes blinked in a confused daze. He didn't need to be told to know who this girl was.
Kuri.
And sealed away inside her was Ren's soul.
"To be honest, you surprised me Hiei. You actually managed to worry me for a moment. I'm impressed that you were even able to break through Shiro's illusion and not only that, but you even broke through the crystal. However, it didn't matter in the end. In your arms now only lies an empty shell."
As she spoke, Hiei could feel the lingering warmth of Ren's skin begin to cool under his fingers. He clenched her body tighter as if he could keep the heat inside that way.
"No," He said, his entire body quivering in anger. "I'll get her soul back."
Asami smiled, walking towards the blue orb, "It's no longer even her soul. Though in a way, it never truly was. But I can understand some of what you must be going through right now. I am no stranger to loss."
Every word coming from her mouth was making his blood boil. How dare she even try to sympathize with him, dare to try and relate to him. It had him seeing red.
"I don't want to hear another word from your disgusting mouth." Hiei spat at her. Her smile flattened, her eyes cold and taunting.
"You were too late, Hiei." She said, resting her hands against the orb. "You couldn't save her and you will have to live with that for the rest of your miserable life." She paused, raising the tip of her finger to the blue surface. She sent him a chilling stare.
"I hope this is painful," She said. "Knowing that Ren forfeited her life to save yours. There was no happy ending waiting for you. This was how it was meant to be. Humans and demons can't be together, can't be happy... but this time, I will be happy. My child and I, we will start over, and this time it will be different. This body may contain Kuri's soul, but her mind will be new, like a child's and I will raise her again, from the very beginning. We will finally be together, and we will be happy at last. "
Hiei barely heard her, paralyzed as he watched her draw her finger downwards. Unlike his futile attempts, the glassy surface split perfectly under her touch and Kuri's body slid out gently, hitting the ground with a soft splash.
Her long, black hair fanned out like a flowing river, hiding the majority of her body like a sheet. It rippled quietly, sliding over her white skin as her chest rose and fell gently, taking in air for the first time. She began to shift around, exhaling softly.
"Shh," Asami crouched over her now, gently resting her hands on her shoulders, "Yes, sweet heart. Easy now. Slowly..."
A chill swept through Hiei. He was watching the girl move right before his eyes yet he still couldn't believe it, could not bring himself to accept it. It couldn't be over. There had to be another way.
Asami was being very patient, removing the top layer of her kimono to drape it across Kuri's shoulders to cover her body.
"Hello, Kuri... it's alright now. Oh, it's been so long. I'm here to protect you now. " Asami cooed, running her fingers gently through Kuri's hair. Kuri lifted her head and stared. However, her eyes were misted over in a confused daze. They were looking but they weren't really seeing. Hiei continued to watch in stunned silence.
"There now," Asami smiled at her. "Your name is Kuri, and I am your mother." She raised a hand to cup her face, stroking it.
Kuri went rigid, her eyes blown wide.
Asami flinched away, startled by the reaction. "Kuri-"
"Mama..."
The single word wasn't uttered in a tone of confusion. It was one of heavy disbelief, even repulsion. The mist had cleared abruptly and Kuri's eyes shone with a sharp clarity.
Asami had gone dead silent, even taking a step back.
"This isn't possible," Asami's voice shook quietly. The way Kuri had just looked at her, the way she had said her name.
It was as if she recognized her.
Kuri's shoulders began to shake as she slowly lifted her hands, turning them before her eyes. She rubbed the skin with her fingers, as if checking that it was all real, staring at them in disbelief. A new look was beginning to take her eyes and Hiei was shocked to see growing horror and despair.
"What have you done?" Kuri whispered and then she dropped her hands, spinning around on the ground to search the room. Her gaze landed immediately on Ren.
"No...Ren." Kuri choked in anguish, but not before yelping as Asami grabbed a chunk of her hair and pulled her up to eye level. All the love had vanished from her face, replaced instead by raw and cold fury.
"How can you possibly know her name?" Asami seethed, pulling harder as Kuri. "You're not supposed to know anything. You died." Asami practically spat in her face."Who are you?"
Kuri's frame continued to shake, but her stare was steely and she looked at her mother right back.
"It's me."
Snarling, Asami threw Kuri away from her, sending her across the ground. Kuri cried out in pain as her new and frail body hit the floor, rolling to a stop near Hiei.
What was going on?
Asami panted heavily and stumbled to her throne, reeling in shock. She leaned against it, dropping her face into a hand.
Kuri's arms shook as she pushed herself up from the ground, her blue eyes glimmering with a deep pain. However, she moved determinedly and pulled herself over to Hiei's side.
Hiei almost stepped back away from her, but with one look, Hiei was shocked still by the genuine despair and worry on her face.
"Please," Kuri said. "Please, let me see her."
She means Ren, he thought and warily crouched down to meet her. As soon as he did, Kuri gently grabbed Ren's face, pushing away stray pieces of hair. She squeezed her eyes in pain and several tears slipped down.
"No..." She whimpered.
Hiei couldn't stay silent anymore, his chest tightening.
"Who are you?" He demanded.
Kuri turned to him, withdrawn, "You know who I am."
"I do," Hiei said. "But that's not what I'm asking. Asami was right. Even if it may be your soul reincarnated, you shouldn't have any memories."
"Ren isn't my reincarnation." She said. "She's only my descendant... This may not be my original body, and I may only be the shadow of who I once was, but these memories I have are my own. I am Kuri."
"No," He seethed, holding Ren tighter. "How is that possible?"
"Hiei," Kuri said. "You must believe me."
Hiei stiffened, "How do you know my name?"
"The same way I know Ren's." Kuri said earnestly. "Don't be mistaken. That time, long ago, I did die. I died giving birth to my child. I had purposely let my body grow too weak, but when I decided that I was not ready to part from this world, it was too late. I realized that I would be abandoning my little girl in this world with my mother who would always be hunting. She would be never be safe and there would be no one to protect her. So I made a choice.
"I couldn't leave her behind... so I would be there for her, and all her children, always. I would never leave their side, and I would hide them away forever from my mother, if need be. So with the last of my strength, I used my power to seal myself away deep inside my own child where I would be passed on for the centuries that followed, through the generations. My spirit has never been able to pass on, trapped within the recesses of my descendants, but I've needed a special energy to survive and thus the traces of ki passed down to them from me served as the only way for my soul to continue to exist and it worked well, unexpectedly causing a side effect I hadn't intended. To all, they only appeared more and more like ordinary humans. There was no energy for them to draw on for I consumed it. Ren really is just human, as there are only drops, if any, of mine and her ancestors blood within her."
"Ren's power..." A memory of their time spent at Genkai's shrine stirred. "This was what Genkai had sensed from the start. Then this power that she possessed, it wasn't even Ren's; it was you."
"For all this time, I've remained asleep within her, but then my mother appeared and I began to wake up, reacting to her presence. I've been conscious ever since, sending her warnings in any way I could, trying to protect her."
"All of her dreams and nightmares..." Hiei realized. Kuri didn't answer, but she didn't need to. "Then the bond, was that also-?"
Kuri's eyes widened, "That's right! The bond! Hiei listen, at that time-"
"Enough." Asami's voice cut in, sharp and furious. "All this time, and to go so far as to hide your soul within another." She barked out a harsh laugh. "You feared me so much to go to that length?"
Kuri's eyes turned hard with pain, "Yes. Because I knew that you would stop at nothing until you got your revenge."
"Is that so..." Asami's quiet whisper chilled the room.
Hiei sensed him before he attacked, but with Ren in his arms he couldn't do anything and an instant later, a curved blade pressed against his neck. Hiei's blood boiled.
"Miss me?" Kuro hissed.
If he was here, then that meant Tatsuya...
Kuri yelled as Minoru appeared over her, gripping her shoulders and shoving her back down to her knees, trapping her in an iron grip. Weak as she was, there was no point in struggling.
Asami approached them slowly and they were helpless, forced to resign to just watching her come closer. Kuri, unable to fight, and Hiei, holding Ren.
"One day I knew you'd come back," Kuri said quietly. "But never had I imagined that you would go so far as to try and recreate me." Her words were bitter and full of pain.
"It didn't turn out as planned though, did it? You didn't want me, Mama. You never did. You're so full of bitterness and hatred that it consumed you... and I think that somewhere along the way, you realized that. No, you never wanted me. You said you want to be happy, but really you just wanted someone to rot away with you, wanted them to suffer as you do so you just didn't have to do it alone."
Asami made no indication that she'd listened to her, stopping in front of Hiei.
"Kuro," She gestured.
Hiei hissed sharply as Kuro kicked his side, more in anger than pain. It wasn't anything he couldn't handle, but he'd successfully been knocked off guard which was all Asami needed. In a flash, she had taken Ren from his very arms and proceeded to carry her back to her throne.
Kuri gasped in fear. Hiei immediately reached out as far as he could, shouting Ren's name, but was stopped when Kuro sharply pulled up on the scythe. He felt the blade dig into his skin and warm lines of blood began to trickle down.
Hiei growled menacingly. If it weren't for Ren being in Asami's grasp, he wouldn't have hesitated to try and snap his neck right then. He felt the dragon writhe beneath his skin in rage, but he had to keep it under control. Until Ren was back in his own arms, he knew that they knew that they had the upper hand.
Even with his powers, he was still just as useless.
"I'm really itching to free your head from your shoulders right now for what you got away with back in that cave." Kuro growled.
Hiei didn't stutter, still struggling although Kuro's blade continued to press deeper, "Abomination."
"Kuro," Minoru warned calmly, but Kuro disregarded him, his lips pulling back in a sneer. His black eyes were angry pools.
"I would really watch your mouth." Kuro said. "My hands might just slip."
"You have no power over me." Hiei said. "I beat you at your own game once, and I will again. Because I swear, if I lose her, I will have nothing left to hold me back, and then you will truly know hell. Your power is merely an illusion. I broke through your sister's, so don't think I won't break through yours."
"Shiro?" Kuro barked a laugh. "Don't make me laugh. It's impossible to break through Shiro's illusions. You couldn't break through her illusion without her choosing it to be so."
Kuro's confident tone caught Hiei off guard, and then it quickly became clear to him.
Asami paused in her trek, turning on the spot to glance at them, her expression unchanging.
"You don't know." Hiei said.
"Know?" Kuro said in aggravation. "Know what?"
"Your sister is dead."
"That's impossible," Kuro said instantly.
"No, it's not." Hiei said. "She pierced herself on my sword, thinking that she might accomplish keeping me away from Ren in her death, but it was in vain. She died for nothing."
Kuro's black pits had begun to widen as Hiei's words sunk in. With an angry yell, Kuro pressed the blade deeper, eliciting a grunt from Hiei.
"Shut up. She's not dead. She's not-"
"Kuro." Asami's voice was tipped with a dangerous edge. "Enough."
The blade's pressure against his neck disappeared as Kuro's grip slackened. Hiei could see his weapon begin to shake.
"What? It's not true. It's definitely not-" Kuro said, but Asami cut him off.
"Your sister is dead. I watched her pitifully impale herself. I had expected more from her. In the end though, she only proved herself a failure, nothing but useless scum. It was quite disappointing. But, no matter. I acquired what I wanted, but even that," Asami said bitterly, words dripping in poison. "Proved to be a failure as well."
"Shiro is... she's... no." Kuro was frozen stock still, his eyes wide and unmoving. His eyes were trained on Asami, all others in the room forgotten. "You...you even watched her? You just let her die?"
"She had expended her uses. I no longer needed her." Asami said coldly.
The scythe began to rattle in Kuro's anger, his entire body alight with a dangerous aura. "Shiro..."
A black line of liquid, thick and black as oil, seemed to seep from the black pit that was Kuro's eyes. It was silent and glided as if it didn't even exist. The next moment, Kuro had leapt over Hiei and was descending over Asami, scythe raised high and deadly.
"You bitch!"
Asami merely closed her eyes. "What a nuisance." Raising a single finger, she swiped it quietly in the air.
The red line around Kuro's neck flashed for an instant and then his head was flying from his shoulders. Immediately, the body and scythe fell down, the head flying backwards and rolling to a stop to the side. Hiei was close enough to see the expression of anger and deep despair within those dark pools a moment longer before like his sibling, the body began to flake away into dust. Hiei could not tear his eyes away from the spot.
"Now then," Asami said, finishing her trek to her throne as if nothing had just happened. She waved a hand beside her and the thick purple vines that had previously been holding Kuri's prison began to shift and move, creeping forward and growing upwards until they settled as a rugged platform which she lay Ren gently on.
Though free from direct threat, Hiei dared not make a move, his eyes slowly flicking between Ren and Asami. She had slain her own henchman without a second thought, only proving what Hiei had already known. They were only tools to her, he understood, and he knew that she would stop at nothing, even going so far as to reinvent her own daughter to get her way, to play out her delusional fantasy that could never be. She was prepared to destroy everything for it.
"Minoru, if you'd please." Asami said, settling down on her throne.
Hiei moved to help Kuri who was roughly shoved away by Minoru. He took long, unhurried steps to Asami, picking up Kuro's scythe that had clattered to the floor. Asami took it from him with a chilling smile.
"Now, what to do with you two..." Asami thought out loud, tapping a long white finger on her chin.
Hiei was tense and Kuri was silent. He kept glancing over to Ren, Minoru now idling right beside her, the wheels turning. When Kuri had been explaining, an idea had sparked in his mind and he had begun to hope as he hadn't dared before. She had said that she'd been inside with Ren all this time, and if what had been taken was truly just Kuri's soul, didn't that mean that Ren's was still there? It just had to be. If he could somehow get her, and manage to escape with Kuri, she might know something about bringing her back.
Asami followed Hiei's gaze and then blinked, suddenly looking excited as an amused twinkle came into her eyes.
"Of course! How did I not think of this sooner?" She said and then waved her hand again. An invisible wind assaulted them. Hiei was able to hold his ground, but Kuri was easily swept away by the force. She landed against a wall and purple vines appeared out of them, wrapping themselves around her body and trapping her there. Asami wasn't finished.
From the entrance, the doors burst open and a flood of hundreds of demons flooded through them, bustling and snarling. Hiei whirled around, his hand instantly around his sword and prepared to kill all he needed too. However, they avoided him completely and instead surrounded him, trapping him in a ring like area. Asami held out a hand and ES flew in, guarding on the edges of the large circle.
"What is this?" Hiei snorted, turning back to Asami. "These weaklings are no match for me. You think you can stop me with them? This is mere child's play. I won't let my guard down again with your disgusting bugs either." He held up a fiery hand in example.
Asami simply shook her head. "I'm aware, Hiei. By no means do I think these wretches would be a challenge for you. It is not my intention to insult you either, so no, they will not be your opponent. Minoru, did you retrieve Tatsuya's flute?"
Minoru nodded and pulled out a small cylindrical tube from his sleeve and exchanged it for the scythe. Asami took the flute gently, and for a moment she seemed a little sad as she looked at it.
"It's truly a pity..." she muttered, fingering the instrument, but then the gleam returned to her eye. From the side, Kuri gasped.
"No!" She said in horror, as she realized what she was going to do. "Hiei, she's going to-"
Asami started to play, and Kuri didn't need to explain as Hiei watched in transfixed horror as Ren's body began to twitch and move to the sound of the music. Her expression never changed, her entire demeanor as limp as it had been, but she moved as if she had been connected to some invisible strings. She rose quietly like a ghost, and slid off the platform, slumping. She began to walk forward. The sea of demons even parted for her and she easily glided through until she too was standing in the ring with Hiei.
His breath caught as he suddenly realized what Asami was planning to do.
Pausing in her playing, Asami reached out a hand and the skin around her wrist split open as red cords zipped out. They wound around Ren's arm tightly, wiggling, and weaved in between her fingers, encasing her hand first before proceeding to wind further down, twisting into a sharp point. Ren raised her arm across her chest, changing her stance. Her eyes stared listlessly ahead; on him, but not seeing him at all.
"You both have gone through so much trouble to bring ruin to my happiness, so I think it's about time I've returned the favor. For if I can't have happiness, then I am fully prepared to destroy yours and what better way to do it than before your very eyes. You, Hiei, will be the one to do it as well." Asami raised the flute back to her lips.
"What will you do now Hiei? Will you strike your beloved down before she can kill you or will you give in and let her end you instead? Live to see yourself kill or be killed by the one you love most. The choice is yours. I eagerly await to see what you decide." She began to play.
Ren charged, arm raised over her head.
No! Hiei dodged the slice, leaping away from her attack. He barely had time to collect himself at all as she viciously pushed forward with her attacks, a marionette at the complete and utter mercy of Asami.
Fighting back was unthinkable. Ren had to be there still, somewhere deep down. He only had to reach her. And if she wasn't...even knowing that what stood before him could truly be nothing but an empty shell, he just couldn't do it.
Her moves were slow and sluggish compared to his own speed, but they were precise and deadly enough as he retreated, remaining on the defensive.
There just had to be a way to reach her. This couldn't be how it all ended. Not after everything.
She lunged, aiming for his shoulder, but he easily side-stepped the attack and grabbed her hand, halting it in mid-air. He brought his face to hers, burning eyes staring desperately into her lifeless ones.
"Ren, you have to snap out of it! Wake up!" Hiei shouted at her, but there was no response. "
"Hiei, behind you!" Kuri shouted.
"Damn!"
Hiei grunted from the stabbing pain as the cords pierced straight through his shoulder.
From behind?
He released her arm and jumped away from her, watching as the cords wrapped back around her hand, twisting back into a single point. Hiei squinted, holding his injured shoulder. The cords can move then... This wasn't good at all.
"You're desperate cries fall on deaf ears. You're talking to nothing more than a corpse, Hiei." Asami chuckled. "Why do you keep running? You can't keep this up forever. "
Hiei stood back up, assessing his situation. Asami was right. It would be easy to cut her down as Asami was making it no difficulty to do so, but he'd already decided that that was out of the question. She was also right in that he couldn't keep this up forever. He could for quite a while, but eventually he would be worn down.
Ren attacked again and Hiei kept talking. "Listen to me. Hear my voice and remember. You have to fight her!"
Ren's attacks became more ferocious as time pressed on, showing no sign that she could hear him. Her speed only continued to increase, her attacks becoming more difficult to avoid as the cords began to snake off of her hand and aim for his vitals. Each time she would land a hit, the cords would cut right through him without mercy. As they continued their deadly dance, Hiei cursed when he began to feel his body physically begin to tire.
"Come now, Hiei," Asami said. "I'm getting bored."
He crouched down, staring at her from a distance. Blood began to drip from his wounds. She'd managed to create a deep gash on his arm and face, and had pierced through his leg twice. The wounds weren't life threatening, but the ones on his leg, he realized, really debilitated his ability to keep away from her. Asami had her moving nearly as fast as he could go.
As he watched her though he realized something else. The way Asami was manipulating her body was relentless and brutal. He could see as Ren's body, still only human, began to bruise and become beaten from the violence of her own attacks. In the process of trying to get him and making Ren's attack more powerful, Asami was destroying her body.
Taking a deep breath, Hiei tried again, "Remember, Ren! Remember how we met. Remember the others, remember all those horrible mornings, remember your uncle and the fire. Remember the time you beat me at Genkai's!"
She attacked, he dodged.
"Think of your mother..." Hiei shouted. What could he say? How could he reach her?
"No... think of me." He said.
Hiei spun around, throwing her away from him when she tried to take him from behind.
"You're sorry? If you think I'm ever going to forgive you, you can forget it. You made a promise to me and broke it. How dare you think your life is worth more than mine? You were a fool then, and you're a fool now! So wake up! Think of all the people who need you!"
Ren jumped the distance for another attack. Closing his eyes for an instant, he raised his sword and allowed his body to move, blocking her attack for the first time. Catching her off guard, she staggered backwards and Hiei knew he had the perfect opportunity. But he didn't take it.
"Our friends, who are putting their lives on the line for you, your uncle who's still waiting for you so he can wake up..." Hiei felt himself begin to tremble. Whether it was from rage or anguish, he couldn't say. "And me."
"Fight back!" Asami called out to him, rising. "Fight back!"
Hiei continued without missing a beat, "You asked me on that hill if I was happy. From the beginning and for a long time, I have lived my life alone, but through the years I gained comrades and allies until eventually, it became enough. Yet, you came and everything changed. That's not how it is anymore and it can never be again because now... " Hiei clenched his fist, eyes on fire. "How could you ever think I could be happy without you?
"You've obviously made your decision," Asami said. "So be it. I'm beginning to tire of these games and your ramblings. I won't drag it out any longer!"
In the next second, with an alien strength not of her own and perhaps breaking her own wrist in the process, Ren knocked the weapon out of Hiei's hand. This time, he was the one to stagger backwards, and he fell hard on one knee.
She raced forward. The world became slow around them.
She was really gone then. Nothing reached her.
Ren as he knew her no longer existed. Yet, looking at that expressionless face that had worn so many other emotions before, that had smiled, laughed, cried... he still couldn't do anything. He couldn't beat her, couldn't even try.
He had promised to protect her with his life and in the end, he had failed. The moment she had become his opponent, he had lost. How was he to know that it would come to this?
"Hiei!" Kuri shouted in fear, but Hiei began moving too late, unable to recover from her previous attack fast enough. The blood-red cords were coming right for him, but he refused to close his eyes or look away. If he was going to die, he was going to die with her face being the last thing he'd see, knowing how he had failed her in the end, how he was unable to save her.
"I'm sorry."
Kuri squeezed her eyes shut unable to watch, and Ren brought the point down, straight for the kill.
NO!
Hiei's eyes went wide with shock. The point had stopped inches away, hovering and shaking in place. He didn't dare move, but his mind was reeling.
He had just heard that. No lips had moved, neither from his or hers, but he had heard that, clear as a bell, the shout echoing in his mind.
He knew that voice.
Ren's expression hadn't changed in the slightest, but there was an abrupt flicker in her eyes, like a passing shadow, and then a single drop of water landed on Hiei's face.
Asami lowered the flute from her lips, eyes wide with rage.
"Impossible!"
Another drop of water fell and then another before Ren had tears quietly cascading down her face. Her entire body had slowly started to tremble. The cords on her arm began to slide off.
"What's this?" Asami cried out in anger. "Why has her body stopped responding to my control?"
Unable to contain her anger any longer, Asami waved her hand and another burst of wind sent Ren's body skidding across the ground.
"Ren!" Hiei shouted. She had heard him after all. He had gotten through to her.
"Curse you! I've let you live this long Hiei, but no more. I've grown weary of you!" Asami yelled, but as she spoke, from behind him there was an indiscernible shout followed by a loud blast.
Hiei turned towards the sound without thinking, covering himself to avoid the effects of the blast. However, it was a grave mistake because it was then that Asami's cords came out of her wrist and sailed straight for him, prepared to spear him through. Realizing too late, he struggled to move, but his injured leg gave out and he went back down. It was coming too fast, he wouldn't be able to get out of the way in time.
Then he saw her, stretching out, reaching. He felt arms wrap around him tightly and for a moment he was warm.
~.~.~.~.~
Hiei run! Get away from me, please!
But no matter what I said, no matter how loud I screamed, nothing went through. Trapped in my own body, I was forced to watch as I continued to fight Hiei who wasn't fighting back.
From the moment he'd broken me out it had been like this. I could hear and see everything, but I couldn't move or take control as if I were paralyzed. I couldn't do anything.
It was all a horrible nightmare.
Then Asami had started playing the flute and my arms and legs began to work, but I wasn't the one moving. I had no control over my body.
Fight back, Hiei. I thought desperately, choking on a sob that had no sound. Please fight back. I can't stop!
"Ren, you have to snap out of it! Wake up!"
I'm trying, but I don't know how. I can't do it! You have to run away Hiei!
I stabbed Hiei in the shoulder and still he did nothing.
"Listen to me. Hear my voice and remember. You have to fight her!"
I remember. I thought in despair. I could never forget. I'm right here, but I can't break free from myself! Hiei, please... please... I begged to no one as I helplessly watched as I continued to slash Hiei, followed by two hits through his leg.
I can't reach you.
But Hiei still refused to back down.
"Remember, Ren! Remember how we met. Remember the others, remember all those horrible mornings, remember your uncle and the fire. Remember the time you beat me at Genkai's!"
I attacked, he dodged.
"Think of your mother." A pause. "No... think of me."
Another attack, another dodge.
"You're sorry? If you think I'm ever going to forgive you, you can forget it. You made a promise to me and broke it. How dare you think your life is worth more than mine? You were a fool then, and you're a fool now! So wake up! Think of all the people who need you!"
Hiei abruptly lifted his sword and I was knocked backwards. He had managed to stop Asami's attack. This was the perfect chance! He could stop me! He could get away.
But my heart only dropped when he didn't do anything.
"Our friends, who are putting their lives on the line for you, your uncle who's still waiting for you so he can wake up..." Hiei felt himself begin to tremble. Whether it was from rage or anguish, he couldn't say. "And me."
"Fight back!" I heard Asami. "Fight back!"
Please, for your own sake, listen to her! I couldn't take this anymore. This was unbearable. You're throwing your life away for nothing! This isn't what I wanted.
"You asked me on that hill if I was happy."
My world vanished away and all I could do was stare at him, stunned, and listened.
"From the beginning and for a long time, I have lived my life alone, but through the years I gained comrades and allies until eventually, it became enough. Yet, you came and everything changed. That's not how it is anymore and it can never be again because now... "
Tears came hot a heavy. Don't say it, don't say it please! It hurts!
"How could you ever think I could be happy without you?
"You've obviously made your decsion." Asami said. "So be it. I'm beginning to tire of these games and your ramblings. I won't drag it out any longer!"
I lunged forward, knocking his sword out of his hand and across the room. I felt my wrist nearly snap from the speed of the hit alone. I couldn't feel anything, but it didn't matter. None of it mattered.
Hiei was down on one knee, the places where I had injured him before no doubt the cause.
Then I was racing straight for him. My arm rose, and I couldn't stand it any longer. He wasn't moving! He wouldn't be able to get out of the way!
As if from far away, I could hear Kuri call out his name in fear, but Hiei didn't react, only keeping his eyes on me. They continued to gleam in fiery determination. They would until the very end.
Please, get out of the way! Run! Run! I was screaming the hardest I could, fighting desperately against invisible chains in my immobile prison, but it all seemed futile.
Then I heard Hiei's final words, just as I thrust the point down over the space between his eyes.
"I'm sorry."
And something shattered inside of me and I felt the invisible walls begin to crumble down. With everything I had, I desperately tried one last time to fight back.
This was never what I had wanted to happen. I hadn't done all of this just to have Hiei die right before my eyes.
No...no...
I had wanted him to live.
NO!
I stopped my body, right before it was too late. Hiei looked so surprised, I really wanted to laugh and cry.
Ren.
I went still with shock. That hadn't been my own thought.
Hiei, I heard you! I'm sorry. I'm so sorry.
The tears were coming fast and hard, and with joy I realized that it was becoming easier to hold back my arm as I continued pushing. I was regaining control again!
However, the joy I felt vanished when I was yanked away from him. I landed nearby but I still lacked complete control. I had to do something.
Just... a little more! Just once more! Come on, come on, damn it!
There was a big blast near the front of the room but I only saw Asami's attack heading straight for Hiei. He wouldn't be able to avoid her direct attack.
I barely felt myself begin to rise, fueled by only one purpose.
MOVE!
~.~.~.~.~
The demons that were unlucky enough to be caught in Yusuke's blast evaporated, clearing a path into the room.
"Hiei!" Yusuke shouted, followed by Kurama and Kuwabara who had weapons bared. However, that had been the wrong thing to do and they all could only watch as Asami took advantage of the distraction to attack Hiei. They wouldn't make it over there in time.
Then a smaller body threw itself in from the side, encasing Hiei in its arms right before Asami's cords speared right through.
So... yeah... :I
Please don't hate me. I know cliff hangers are the worst, but they're always the perfect points to leave off at. *cries* And this IS a five parter so it can't be helped. (That's right, there's only one more part!)
I'm sorry for not updating for so long. I had so much difficulty writing this chapter, I don't know why! So frustrating! I had no motivation, no inspiration, nada! I'm still not so sure I'm pleased with how it's written, but I just needed to get it out for y'all.
I know a lot of things happened in this chapter o_o I hope it isn't too confusing... it all makes sense in my head, I just don't know if I'm conveying it well. And if you understand, but you think it's far-fetched or dumb, then sorry, but it's my story and it makes sense in this world XD I still hope you all are still enjoying it. We're nearly there.
If all goes according to plan then there's only TWO MORE CHAPTERS. ASLDJFASL.
Okay, bye bye for now c: Love you all sooo much. Thank you so much for continuing to stick with me.
Please please please review! It's because of y'all and all the people who continue to read, favorite, and alert that I've made it so far.
Love, InuChimera7410
