Disclaimer: YuYu Hakusho is copyrighted and belongs to its creator, Togashi Yoshihiro.
Author's Note: This chapter is dark. Very dark. Could be loads darker, too.
Genre: Supernatural, fantasy, humor, horror, and not so much general. It is also an AU, an "alternate Universe" for the setting.
Rating: Mature…for obvious reasons.
OLD FRIEND
Part Three
[Dark Remnants of Dead]
"I'd give my heart, I'd give my soul
I'd turn it back, it's my fault
Your destiny is forlorn
Have to live till it's undone
I'd give my heart, I'd give my soul
I'd turn it back
And then at last I'll be on my way."
-Within Temptation; Jillian (I'd Give My Heart)"
oOo
Upon reaching the eighth level, she had entered into a dancing fog of energy. Being that her intuitive senses were incredibly strong, she possessed the ability to see what others could not.
Dark spirits were flying about, drifting and cascading through the air. In the human sense, they were defined as being "boogers"; the capers that go bump in the night.
These creatures were morbid, pitch black figures, and all were various shapes and sizes that she could not describe them all.
They were riveting as they waltzed around, and though they were ghosts, their joints crackled and their bones jingled with every movement. Withered loose flesh hanging off their bones, their eyes black and hollow, skin sunken in and clinging to every joint imaginable that can be perceived to be the human's skeletal structure. They were garbed in elaborate and elegant attire that could be dated back to the 1700s and fit that of what the English had worn in those days. These corpses swayed with much majesty, held high reverence and possessed a personality that is to be desired.
Shizuru was not afraid of them, however, and neither was she alarmed.
The room was extravagant, lush in antiquity. To stand in the shadow of the morbid, gothic stylizations, was to bathe in the aura of another time… One of refinement, mysticism, and majestic beauty; if death was ever once perceived to be beautiful.
Three of the specters came towards her, their sallow, death-like features reminded her of "The Dance Macabre"; which had intruded in the artwork during the late medieval period.
"Beware…" One of the spirits cautioned. "For beyond this floor lies The Grisly Terror."
Another nodded in agreement, then chimed in, adding his own two cents into this conversation; "She has bestowed many of horrid fates upon mortals, bringing them face to face with their own mortality."
The third had moved in closer, now standing beside her. His garments stated that he was a French marquis.
"Once, she had unleashed a terrible disease, the ones the mortals call 'The Black Death'." He informed. "She lingers like a horrifying shadow. In her mind, lies horrendous nightmares and monsters that one dares no attempt to utter, let alone even think about. They are appalling and apocalyptic."
"You don't say." Shizuru remarked, unmoved by their warnings. "And what of you? Are you afraid?"
"No. She is her highness." The third one had answered quite promptly. He had taken off his hat, bowing his head and his torso slightly forward in a courteous manner, when he had mentioned her title. "With a single command, we do as she pleases. We are her shadow."
She didn't know whether to believe those words or not. Perhaps the spirit had been speaking "figuratively"...
They all seemed to praise this "Queen", setting her up high on a pedestal, speaking and singing in tongues that sounded much like gibberish to the human ear.
Genkai said had said once said that her brother's powers were like that of an egg, and that they had yet hatch… And by this time, she honestly wondered how much power did he truly hold.
She then left the scene in a hurry, feeling that she had wasted too much valuable time.
She marched through the crowd and entered the next hall, finding her way into yet another room...
Abruptly, she ceased in her tracks.
Shizuru stared in awe, with eyes transfixed upon a fountain flowing with blood.
Although, it wasn't so much of a fountain as it was a bleeding tree, and a twisted, leafless mulberry at that. Some of its branches were coiled and wretched, its trunk furrowed, and its disfigured shape was littered with tumor-shaped knots. Its bark was blackened, perhaps from the blood that had seeped through. It was a marvel, really, to see how a tree was flowing with blood instead of sap.
And in the stone, near the roots of the tree, was a peculiar looking symbol.
Three rings were encompassing one another, and in the inner most circle was something even more uncanny. It appeared to be two stars jointed together; like Siamese twins, except with two heads and one complete body. The six-pointed or two headed star had formed, in its design, what looked to be a shape of an eye right in the center.
So far, very little blood had collected around the base of the suffering tree, around the roots.
She had no idea as to what this meant, but she had an eerie feeling that it was foreshadowing something significant…
…Something that had to do with her baby brother…
Refusing to stand there any longer, she quickened herself to reach the final level.
It seemed that there was the only place he could possibly be.
She passed many rooms on this floor, refusing to be further distracted from her goal. It was as if many things were trying to deter her, to tempt her away.
Nevertheless, she was determined.
Damn, she so badly needed a cigarette, she could practically taste it.
...TBC...
Author's Comments:
The tree does have a meaning. You'll have to figure it out. If you can recall what I've written so far, perhaps you can.
This is perhaps my shortest chapter so far. The song "Jillian" by Within Temptation, by the way, is Shizuru's theme song in this story; the lyrics are from her point of view.
I want to thank all who have reviewed the last chapter. Thank you KM17 and Saya. I am glad that you have all enjoyed that chapter. It pleases me to know that.
Thank you all for reading, please review. FFN is still acting strangely.
