Chapter Nine
Disclaimer: I own nothing that belongs to the creators of Yu Yu Hakusho.
HUGE SHOUT OUT TO:
cocobyrd87 who reviewd on my story for chapter four and chapter eight! Thank you so much for your review and kind words of support!
So yeah...it's been a minute again, but I'm still here, still chipping away at it! I'll honestly have a ton more time over the summer to make updates much more frequently on all of my stories (I know I must have people chomping at the bit to see updates for my Inuyasha stories as well).
Thanks for your patience during all this and I really hope to hear from you guys again!
By they way, I have two more Yu Yu Hakusho stories to check out between updates:
Moon Roses
It's a relatively new fanfic and takes place starting basically at the Dark Tournament. It is a Sailor Moon crossover, so please go and check it out!
Doctor, Doctor
A fairly original timeline and a KuramaOC. The OC is a doctor that works with Kurama and gets caught up in his world when the Nether World comes back into play.
ONWARD!
"Finally! I get to go home! I can't believe it's been six months of this crap," Yusuke groans and stretches in his seat as he and I both sit on the train together, facing one and other. I raise an eyebrow at his sudden outburst, the kid having been virtually silent the entire way to the train station and for the majority of the ride thus far.
'Maybe's he's been afraid to talk and find out this is all a dream?' I can't help thinking in amusement, crossing my own tired legs carefully and relaxing back further against the backrest of my seat. I could still feel twinges of soreness in my muscles, the aches and pains of training having been with me and stayed with me since day one.
Even I hadn't been prepared for the intensity of Genkai's training schedule.
"Moan and groan all you like, but you and I both know you'd do the training again in a heartbeat if it meant the powers and skills you now possess," I reply evenly, lifting my own hand and looking down at it, a particular memory flashing through my mind as I do.
—
I frown, lifting my hand up with the palm facing outwards towards my invisible opponent.
"Good, now concentrate. Your powers are still there, you just need to visualize reaching them," even though she was standing behind me, I could see her critical frown planted on her lips in my mind, her arms no doubt crossed together against her chest. "Close your eyes, take a deep breath, and call it forward," I sigh heavily, doing as she said and closing my eyes, concentrating on following that tiny thread of my power to its source bubbling deep in my very core. I could feel the wind that blew lightly across the clearing gently brushing stray strands of hair against my cheeks, could smell the dampness of the grass under my feet from last night's rain.
But still I could not fully tap into that power. The Sacred Light that, even after my fall from Spirit World, shone dimly within me.
This had been a contention point between Genkai and I since training had started three months ago. I would try to tell her time and again that my powers were not what they had been when I was an angel - that my wings were gone and my powers with them. I could never achieve the things I had in the past, and this, to me, was undeniable fact. Even when I had gone up against Hiei, and I had used my Sacred Illumination attack against him, it had contained a quarter of the power that it used to when I was an angel. Before I lost my wings, that attack would have incinerated the fire-demon on impact.
Instead it just left him with a scar.
To Genkai this, my depleted powers and stubborn mindset, was simply another barrier she wanted me to bulldoze through.
And I was tired by this point. Physically spent. My humanoid body had been brought to its limits more times than I could count. To the point I was desperate to prove her wrong - or even right. Either way, I couldn't take much more of draining exercises she put me through on the daily.
I hated that I had wanted this. Badly.
I bite my lower lip firmly in concentration, feeling the spark and wave as soon as I hit that reservoir of power deep inside. It trickled upwards, as it had numerous times before when I had tried to access it. A slow and drawn out leak that I couldn't maintain.
"Let it go, Seraphina! Stop holding back!"
"I'm not holding back!" I shout back at the old lady behind me, arm trembling as the power slowly grew but quickly drained me. "Why would I?!"
"Because you're scared," Genkai answers, her voice still hard but less brash. "You're scared of what will happen when you do tap into your full potential. That the powers you have now are going to pale in comparison to what you once wielded," my eyes snap open at that, swallowing thickly as the realization rushed over me like a tidal wave.
She was right.
"And your powers will be greatly diminished," Genkai continues on, brutally honest, "but that is why you came to me, is it not? To get back to your former strength? To do so you have to accept your weaknesses first. Now, let go," gritting my teeth, chest tightening in my last unconscious effort to save myself to humiliation, I finally force myself to relax.
And I'm nearly overwhelmed.
I fall backwards onto my ass with the sudden burst of energy that rushes from the palm of my hand, uncontrolled. It streaks across the clearing as a blinding ray of light, kicking up blades of grass and clumps dirt in it's wake before it slams into the cliff-side of the mountain on the other end of the clearing. A large dust cloud forms, floating almost lazily upwards into the blue sky. I blink, mouth falling open slightly as I look from the clearing dust, then down to my hand in wonder.
It wasn't nowhere near as powerful as it could be, but it was a start. Finally.
I was shook out of my daze, however, by a very irate Yusuke emerging from the dust cloud.
"And how the fuck do you expect me to meditate when you're trying to kill me?!"
Whoops.
—
"Yeah, yeah, you're right," Yusuke agrees, bringing me back to the present. I drop my hand lightly to my lap, looking up into the brown eyes of the teenager sitting across from me.
"So what's the first thing you're going to do when you get back home?" I can't help asking curiously.
"Probably take a shower," Yusuke mutters grimacing as he reaches up to pull his dirty and ripped shirt away from his chest. I inwardly agreed that, that sounded like the best plan. Having run of out hair gel the first week in (clearly he really did use too much), his hair had long since lost it's typical style and now hung in raven waves down to the top of his ears near the front, and down to the back of his neck at the back. He almost looked like he had the beginnings of a mullet happening.
I highly doubted Keiko would be impressed with his new hairdo.
Yusuke was dirty, and smelly, having not took his hygiene as priority while at Genkai's (much to both Genkai's and mine's disgust). I, meanwhile, had made use of the natural hot springs on a nightly basis, but that also didn't mean I hadn't gone through any physical changes either.
I wasn't thinner, but I was certainly more toned.
"Then I'll probably find Keiko, take whatever lecture she wants to give me, and go hang out with her and Kuwabara to get caught up," Yusuke continues one, raising his arms to link his hands behind his head. "Maybe even get a chocolate milk shake, been craving one for months! How about you?" Yusuke asks then, tilting his head curiously at me. I give him a small smile, shrugging my shoulders.
"Probably go home and relax," I answer easily. It wasn't as if I could have Botan at my beck and call to keep me company. She was busy being a grim reaper, and Koenma's right-hand assistant as well (well, next to poor George that is). Besides, I honestly was tired and very much doubted that I would be good company. His question left an awkwardness hanging in the air that I knew for a fact was my own doing, because I couldn't help shifting uncomfortably as the thought hit me unbidden.
Now that Genkai's training was over…what would I do? What was my purpose now?
"Well…uh, did you want to come with?" Yusuke asks, voice awkward, and I can instantly tell that he was offering to be nice. I liked Yusuke, and he and I got along, but I also was able to realize something about him during our six months together that had me respecting the teenager even more.
He really wanted to keep Keiko out of his Spirit World dealings. Keep life and work separate as possible.
'And if I start hanging out with him that line he wants to draw for himself will get blurry. Besides, let's face it, being in the body of a woman in her early to mid twenties it would look weird to be hanging out with teenagers to begin with,' I reason with myself, even though I would honestly have liked to join him and the others.
It was for the best for both of us.
"Thanks for the invite, but I honestly am tired," I gently decline. "Besides, if anyone from school sees us hanging out together and remembers that I was a teacher there, they might get the wrong ideas."
I've never seen Yusuke's face go so red.
The poor kid even sputters slightly, clearly having not thought of this himself.
"R-right. Good point," He finally gets out weakly, his face slowly turning back to a semblance of normal color as he avoids all eye contact and looks out the window of the train instead.
We don't talk the rest of the trip.
The bus ride back to my area of town after the train was just as uneventful. Yusuke and I had easily parted ways at the station, him determined to find the nearest milkshake, and myself the closes bus stop that would get me home.
And I hadn't even made it through the doorway before Botan swooped in out of nowhere and steered me away by my wrist back down the hall, my key in my hand still poised to unlock the door.
"Botan?! What's going on?" I gasp out once the shock finally wears off at the elevator, Botan letting my wrist go so she could use that hand to press the button to call it to our floor.
It's only then that I notice she has a metal bat clutched in the other.
She glanced at me, a deep frown still marring her pretty features, before the doors to the elevator slides open and we both step in.
"Lord Koenma received a letter yesterday from The City of Ghosts and Apparitions," Botan begins once we're alone in the elevator. Her purple eyes are narrowed and focused on the flashing numbers over the door as we lowered to the main floor. "Come on, doesn't this thing go any faster? Would have been better to just take my oar from your balcony…," she mutters to herself, her body nearly vibrating with the need to move.
"I've not seen you this anxious in a long time," I comment with a concerned frown of my own, the grim reaper finally turning her head to meet my gaze. "What did the letter say?"
"The Four Saint Beasts were the ones that wrote the letter, and they're demanding immediate immigration into the Living World," Botan replies, and my eyebrow shoot upwards in surprise.
"What?"
"They have been sending spies through the barrier in higher numbers than ever before over the past few weeks," Botan goes on as the elevator finally stops on the main floor, letting us out with a soft 'ding' as the doors slide open. Botan takes off at a running pace through the lobby and out onto the street, and I quickly follow. "The last few days Koenma has had me capturing the spies that I find to bring to Spirit World for further questioning."
"I don't get it. We've always known that the Saint Beasts desired living in the Human World, but why are they acting now?" I ask, keeping pace easily with Botan as she leads us both down the sidewalk.
It's eerily empty, something I hadn't noticed on the way into my building.
"I'm not sure, but the Saint Beasts have used their spies to release Makai insects here, and they're starting to feed on the human," I feel my stomach drop at that. Makai insects were no joke. They would possess humans and feed off of all the darkness inside of them - the primal instincts that sane humans could typically hold back. The need for conflict, to hurt others, even to murder. If enough of them turned humans into blood-thirsty, zombie-like creatures, the whole Living World could be thrown into chaos.
And ripe for the taking by the Saint Beasts.
"Human World stands little chance if they're having to fight one and other," I comment lowly, frowning deeply as we round a corner. Botan was leading us towards the uptown area, and I had a strange suspicion she was on the lookout for the kid to get him involved too.
He's wasn't going to like that.
"Exactly, which is why you and Yusuke are going to go to Maze Castle and get to the bottom of things," Botan states decisively, and I snort a little in amusement.
"Don't think Yusuke is going to go quietly," I comment lowly, following Botan as she turns sharply down an alleyway.
"Doesn't have to go quietly so long as he goes," she quips back, before we turn down another more open alleyway at the back of a building. Botan skids to a halt at the opening of another alleyway, motioning for me to stop as well with her open hand. I frown curiously, pressing myself back against the building beside us as the Grim Reaper takes a batter's stance, holding the metal bat up with both hands clasping the handle. Tilting my head slightly to listen, I finally hear the sound of multiple footsteps getting louder, signalling that they were running towards us. Reaching out to feel, I can instantly tell the aura of one of the runners is that of an low-class apparition.
The other two auras I feel are Yusuke's and Kuwabara's.
The aforementioned apparition comes barreling out of the alleyway, dressed in a trench-coat with a large brimmed hat tilted low over it's face to shadow it. Botan takes quick and decisive aim, KO-ing the mysterious figure in one single swing. It lands in a heap on the ground, hat falling away to reveal green scaly skin and a lizard-like face.
Yusuke and Kuwabara, predictably, come stumbling out in front of us soon after.
Both of them take the time to look at the unconscious demon together, before slowly looking in our direction, mouths agape.
"Botan?! Sera?!" Yusuke exclaims, clearly surprised to see us both standing there. Kuwabara takes all of a second to catch up, his gaze going doe-eyed as he takes in my friend.
"Oh! It's the pretty lady! Have you been thinking about me?" He gushes without embarrassment, though Yusuke looks plenty embarrassed for him.
"I've been shadowing that one since he slipped through the barrier two days ago," Botan informs them, rather than answering Kuwabara's question. The love-sick boy's face straightens up into a more serious look as he stands straighter behind the Spirit Detective. Both boys look back towards the spy's unconscious form, curious.
"So…what is it?" Kuwabara asks lowly, shoving his hands into his pockets, Yusuke soon unconsciously mirroring the taller boy's pose as he too stared down at the apparition.
"He looks like he grew up to close to a nuclear plant," Yusuke quips sarcastically as his brown eyes look over the green skin and purple markings on the demon's face with calculation.
"I'm quite certain he's a spy from where you'll be going on your next mission," Botan, true to form, gets right down to business rather than easing the teenage boy in. Yusuke, predictably, throws a mini shit-fit.
"Okay, Botan, you can stop right there! Sera and I both just got back from Grandma's evil boot-camp today, and I deserve a vacation!" Yusuke insists grumpily, turning away from the scene before him. "Why don't you call back in two years?!" He exclaims, frustration clear in his voice as he moves to stomp away, leaving Kuwabara to stand awkwardly with us as he does. Botan huffs with irritation, and opens her mouth to no doubt make another blunt statement, before I intervene smoothly.
"Yo, kid, wait up," I call to him, Yusuke stopping in his tracks but not turning to look over his shoulder back towards me. "Listen, this guy is only the beginning, and the bad news is already here. A group called the Saint Beasts have sent what we call Makai insects to the Living World."
"Sounds like a job for the exterminator, not me," Yusuke states snidely as he turns to look over his shoulder at me finally, brown eyes betraying the boredom that his face tried to portray. They sparked with interest, even though still guarded as normal.
"If only it were that easy," Botan comments, frowning.
"These insects can possess people and make them act on their darkest urges, controlled by the parasite as it burrows in their brains and feeds off of their darkness," I go on, frowning all the more. "A single swarm of Makai insects could turn a city of humans into mindless zombies, intent on creating chaos wherever they go. It starts as a city, and grows and grows, toppling governments through the infection of world leaders until, eventually, nobody is left. Then the the four Saint Beasts will swoop in and easily take Human World for their own," I pause for a moment to let what I just said sink in, his body unconsciously turning ever more slightly towards me as the weight of my words hit home. "This is the type of stuff from nightmares, Yusuke," I give it to the kid straight, knowing from our time together that this was what he responded best to. His frown deepens, tell tale creases on his forehead showing that he was worried, even if he would never admit it.
We had his attention.
"Who are these stupid Saint Beasts?" Yusuke asks, and Botan steps forward this time, taking over.
"They are four of the most notorious criminals in all of Spirit World. The title 'Saint' was given to them by their followers. Years ago they were chased by a coalition of pursuers, and they evaded capture by locking themselves into a booby-trapped fortress. Since then a whole city has formed at it's base, filled with vile crooks who view these beasts like Gods."
"The City of Ghosts and Apparitions," I fill in, frowning as I look towards Botan when she moves down the alley that Yusuke and Kuwabara had come from. I tilt my head curiously, following her along with Yusuke and Kuwabara, lifting an eyebrow at them when we come across five unconscious teenage boys, knives scattered about the ground around their forms. I could instantly tell something was off, the aura radiating off of them causing a shiver of disgust to rush down my spine. It felt cold and slimy, like the very insects that were currently hiding out inside of their bodies. If the signature the Makai insects gave off wasn't proof enough, the grey, unnatural tone of their skins was a good clue too.
"Why don't you take a look at these boys that you knocked out?" Botan suggests, pointing to their prone forms as Yusuke and Kuwabara step up closer. As if planned perfectly by the Grim Reaper herself, a Makai insect slowly crawls out of the mouth of one of the boys, Yusuke and Kuwabara both making noises of disgust as they watch it stand there for a moment, before fluttering away overhead. With reflexes that I had further developed under Genkai's training, I reach up and snatch the bug easily between my index finger and thumb before it could get away.
"Please tell me that thing didn't just come from that guys throat?" Yusuke asks in disgust as he eyes the fluttering insect pinned between my fingers. Kuwabara, meanwhile, looks incredibly queasy as he clasps a hand over his mouth, the sound of him gagging muffled behind it.
"This is what we were talking about earlier," I inform him, showing them both the mosquito-like bug. "A Makai insect. They come from the deepest and darkest parts of Demon World."
"As Sera said before, these insects feed on a human's darkest desires, and will manipulate them to act upon inner violent tendencies and the need for destruction. It will be a disaster," Botan frowns even more, before I surge my energy forward into the insect, the pureness of my aura burning the insect to a crisp. I dust my hands off, sighing heavily then.
"Which is why we need to go to Maze Castle to get to the bottom of all this before the worst happens," I add lowly, Yusuke frowning and shaking his head.
"Woah, woah, wait. If we leave then there isn't anyone here to keep the people safe! Isn't there some way to warn them? To cure those already infected?" He demands.
"Ordinary people can't see the insects, and the inflicted would seem as if they are merely psychotic. Finding a cure won't exactly be the foremost in people's minds," Botan reasons ominously.
"So what the hell are we supposed to do?!"
"Sera was already on the right track. The solution does reside in Maze Castle," Botan sighs, frowning. "The only way to save the city is to kill the Makai insects, and the only way to do that is by destroying the whistle which the enemies possess," she elaborates, Yusuke's expression quickly changing to one of surprise.
"A whistle?"
"Without the whistle's sustained frequency, the Makai can't live outside of Spirit World," I add in. "And there is only one known such whistle in existence, and it's in the possession of the Saint Beasts."
"Well, how long do we have before these so called 'Beasts' leave the castle and come to Earth themselves?" Yusuke asks thoughtfully, his brown eyes slightly narrowed in thought. Clearly he was running through options in his head right now.
"The only good news right now is that they can't. For years Spirit World has had them trapped inside of their city by a barrier wall," I frown, crossing my arms under my chest. "They're no doubt using this Makai insect invasion to force Lord Koenma into a corner where he has to let down the barrier, or risk the end of the Living World as we know it."
"So they give you the whistle if you open up the wall," Yusuke clarifies.
"Instead we will make a small breach in the wall to let you and Sera in," Botan replies, finally divulging the plan. "Eventually, though, they'll find the hole themselves."
"And what if we're not able to beat them?" Yusuke asks seriously, turning to look towards Botan and I with his lips set in a serious frown.
"I don't think I would have to tell you what would happen if all the demons from that city were unleashed on Earth," Botan replies evenly, the clear implication hanging heavy in the air.
Utter devastation.
"I have to be honest, Botan. This takes the record for confusing," Yusuke admits, his face set with a serious frown.
"Yes," Botan easily agrees, "just try to remember the basics: you're good and the entire city is bad. Destroy the whistle and defeat the Beasts and the case will be closed."
"Okay!" Yusuke sighs, his expression dropping to one of exasperation mixed with annoyance. "I just can't believe that Koenma expects me to take on a city of demons on my own!"
"Hey!" I exclaim, feigning hurt. "What am I, chopped liver?"
"Fine, just two of us then," Yusuke amends, still not looking impressed with the idea. "Don't they send teams out for this kind of thing?!"
"What about me, Urameshi?" Kuwabara speaks up then, all three of us looking towards the tall boy in shock. Botan makes an awkward noise deep in her throat, before quickly trying to backtrack everything she had just said.
Clearly she had forgotten that Kuwabara was not to be privy to information regarding Spirit or Demon Worlds.
"Oh Kuwabara, there is no such thing as demons! Yusuke and I were just joking!" She laughs nervously while waving her hands back and forth in a dismissive manner. I lift an eyebrow at her lame attempt to cover up.
"I think it's a little late, Botan," I mutter lowly to myself, shaking my head in embarrassment at my best friend's behavior.
"I'm not dumb!" Kuwabara readily agrees. "Or blind," He adds lowly, looking down towards one of the other bodies on the ground. I look as well, seeing another Makai insect buzzing over the mouth it had just exited from. It goes to fly away, but with reflexes that impressed us all, Kuwabara reaches out and snatches it in his hand. His actions work well to solidify his next statement. "We all know that I can see supernatural stuff a whole lot better than Yusuke, and I'm not going to sit around my house while Yusuke doesn't see things and lets big monsters and insects take over my city!" He goes on, almost as if performing some heroic speech.
Well, I had to admit, the kid's got flare.
"'Cause I'm Kuwabara, and in case you guys forgot, I've got a sword!"
"Way to stick the landing," I can't help muttering sarcastically as the three of us look at Kuwabara, dumbfounded. "I mean, the speech sounded good, convincing even, up until that last bit."
"I thought angels were supposed to be nice?" Kuwabara quips, almost pouting because of my remark.
"Archangel," I remind him easily.
"Well, Yusuke, I guess there's no point in arguing with the eager," Botan adds weakly, Yusuke surprisingly having nothing to comment for himself.
"Looks like you got your team," I add lightly, Botan turning and walking towards a door that led into the basement of one of the buildings. We all follow her wordlessly, and as she opens the door dust flies up, obscuring our view for a moment before revealing a stone staircase.
"Watch for dust," She warns a little too late, Yusuke and Kuwabara hacking away behind us, before moving down the stairs.
"Gee, thanks for the warning," Yusuke bites out, before following Botan downstairs, along with Kuwabara. I take the rear, reaching back and closing the door behind me with a firm pull, the stairs going dark. When I get to the bottom and into the large storage room, there is a single window that allows in enough light to see Botan already on the floor knocking her hand around to no doubt find the trapdoor into the city.
"Knocking the floors of random warehouses. Seems like fun to me," Yusuke mutters sarcastically.
"This is where they were supposed to have put the breech in the barrier," Botan hums slightly as she continues to look. I chew on my lower lip, before stepping forward.
"Here, Botan, let me try," I murmur, pressing the flat of my hands together at the center of my chest. I close my eyes for a moment, searching for a disturbance in the aura of this room, knowing that would be where the opening was. I had learned this trick long before I had become guardian of the Artifacts of Darkness, back when I had to use such breeches to travel between all three Worlds on covert missions. I finally feel the distantly familiar tingle at the base of my skull, and opening my eyes as I push my hands away from one and other and outwards. A piece of the flooring pops up, revealing the entrance.
"Bingo," Botan nods, smiling at me before looking down through the green haze that floated just below. Yusuke and Kuwabara come to stand on either side of her, as I walk forward to stand at the edge myself beside Kuwabara.
"You are going to give us a rope ladder or something?" Yusuke more so insisted than asked, his voice pitched high with nerves.
"No, jumping down should land you all safely at the outer bank of the city," Botan replies easily, as if this were an every day event. For her and I it would have been, but I could see how Yusuke and Kuwabara might be nervous. The grim reaper then looks towards Kuwabara with kind eyes. "You know you don't have to go through with this if you don't want to. No one will hold it against you," She offers the out sweetly, and Yusuke decides to try and take advantage, knowing it wasn't meant for him.
"Oh, okay. Goodbye," He states easily, happily, before turning to try and leave. I can't help rolling my eyes, watching as Botan sticks her leg out to stop him by tripping the teenager.
"Not you!" She exclaims as he hits the floor hard. "The Spirit Detective does not have a choice in this! Kuwabara does!"
"Don't worry about me, lady. I sort of feel like a Spirit Detective myself now," Kuwabara states, and I can't help lifting an eyebrow at his positive attitude.
'Or his insanity. Normal people would have laughed off this entire notion of demons, angels, and grim reapers, or ran for the hills. Not literally jump feet first into this world.' I chew on my lower lip, gazing at Kuwabara. 'This boy is either extremely brave, or nuts.'
"And as for Detectives, there is no turning back!" He declares.
Before jumping into the void by himself with a mighty yell.
"Well holy shit," I mutter, truly impressed, before stepping forward myself, looking over my shoulder towards Yusuke and Botan's still stunned expressions. "See you on the other side, Urameshi," I give him a mock salute, before jumping in as well.
The silence between Worlds was always something I had enjoyed when passing through, because for a spare few seconds literally nothing existed. Everything was washed away in a green haze for a few blissful moments. Closing my eyes, I take a deep breath, allowing the weightless feeling to wash over me.
I missed this.
The minute I passed into Spirit World I could feel the change in my stomach, the force of gravity pulling me downwards rather than floating weightlessly in the void. Opening my eyes just in time for the flash, I find myself ten feet above the ground, quickly landing with practiced ease in a crouched position.
It didn't look like Kuwabara had fared as well, judging by the scrapes and dirt on his face.
"Yeah…if you could have waited I would have warned you about that," I tell him lightly, the teenager glaring at me as he crosses his arms over his wide chest. "Yusuke should be here any min-"
The thump of a crash landed and a shout of pain announces the Spirit Detective's arrival.
"Damn!" Yusuke exclaims, rubbing his face as he stands, before all frustration drops from his expression as he clearly takes in the fortress on the horizon. I'm already facing it myself, arms crossed as I take in a deep breath, nearly choking on the heaviness of the demonic energy coming from the city. "Well, this must be the place," Yusuke goes on to observe as I nod my head. Yusuke and Kuwabara both step up to either side of me, taking it all in as well. There was one thing, though, that put me on edge more than the booby-trapped building in front of us.
It's quiet…too quiet.
That was, until the ground in front of us starts to break apart, revealing cloaked beings that had been hidden underneath.
Their hoods were up, obscuring their faces from view, but multiple clawed hands reached out towards us threateningly as dozens of these figures made themselves know. I swallow heavily, knowing exactly what these things were. These were humans that have been fully possessed by the Makai insects, ones that the spies of the Saint Beasts have managed to bring back to The City of Ghosts and Apparitions over hundreds of years.
"A treat!" One of them giggled, the others murmuring in agreement as their yellow eyes shone brightly from under the darkness of their cloaks, filled with hunger. I could even catch the glint of fangs on a few, drool dripping down to wet the ground beneath them.
"Here we go," I murmur, backing up with the boys to stand back to back with them, hands up and ready. "Listen, let them come to us. If we separate, we can't cover each other's backs."
"I say we divide and conquer! Just clobber these assholes as we go!" Yusuke announces, fists raised and ready.
"We will move when there is an opening. Until then we can't advance through," I argue, frowning as I tense, hoping Yusuke wasn't about to pull one of his notoriously head-strong stunts. "This isn't a street fight, kid. There is no unwritten code amongst punks. Everything goes with these guys."
"What are these things?!" Kuwabara asks, tense as he gazes on his first ever demon.
"What you're seeing is the future of Living World if we can't stop the Makai insects," I reply ominously, Yusuke quickly picking up on what I was saying.
"These used to be human?!"
"They have been fully possessed by the Makai bugs, and brought back here by spies to serve as mindless bodyguards to the Saint Beasts in their Castle. They're beyond help, Urameshi," I tell him, trying to make what we're going to have to do next a little easier on both him and Kuwabara. I turn my gaze over my shoulder for only a moment to look into the troubled brown eyes of the Spirit Detective, who was clearly warring with himself now. "There is no returning from this zombie-like state at this point. They're gone," I emphasize, keeping eye contact until I could finally see the resolve in his own.
Then it starts.
The first zombie launches itself at Yusuke, the boy quickly punching it away. The others soon follow, all of us having to hold them off.
The ones we took down, two would appear in their place.
'We're sitting ducks here!' I growl, hitting another one of the nasty creatures away as it tried to jump on me. 'They're going to overrun us if we can't get the upper hand soon,' I take the spare moment I have between attacks to look down at my hand, debating. 'I'm not an endless well of power, not yet. If I use the type of energy we would need to take these guys all out at once, I won't have anything left for when it really is going to matter against the Saint Beasts,' gasping, I feel one of them grab at me from behind, the boys having wandered away from our circle in their attempts to fight these creatures off. I feel its claws cut through the back of my shirt and drag down, ripping the skin of my back apart as it does. Gritting my teeth against the pain, I reach behind me over my shoulders with both arms, grabbing handfuls of it's cloak and pulling it up and over my head, throwing it down to the ground. With a frustrated yell, feeling my anger boil as it was fuelled by the pain in my back, I kick the zombie like a football, it's body landing yards away with a solid 'thump'.
"Little bastard!" I seethe, cutting off the next one as it attempted to take over where it's companion failed.
Kuwabara's frightened screams filled the air, causing my blood to run from red hot anger to cold fear in an instant.
"Urameshi! There is too many of them!" Kuwabara screams from where he's pinned against a nearby tree by a dozen of the creatures. "I'm not sure, but I think they want to eat me!" He shouts, before slowly being dragged down and disappearing beneath the large group.
Well, he's not wrong.
I move, dodging the next zombie and rushing forward, mind now made up. If I was going to save Kuwabara's life, I had to act, and fast. Clenching my right hand into a fist, I draw my arm back as I charge across the clearing, not nearly as fast as I had once been, but faster than any other normal human being.
"Sacred Illumin-"
A lightening strike cuts me off as I skid to a halt, feeling the disturbance in the very air. Looking up I can see a portal opening, two bright orbs of light, one red, the other blue, floating down out of it. My heart leaps into my throat, the aura of one of the orbs unmistakable as they both race towards the tree that Kuwabara was pinned under.
Kurama was here.
Swallowing thickly, I have to raise my arm to block out the blinding light as the orbs both settle on a large lower branch, Kurama's and his companions bodies materializing. The zombies, having obviously felt the strong signatures, are scared off, running for cover. When the light fades, I look up into the tree, already certain of what I would see.
"Well that worked, whatever it was…" Yusuke trails off as he and Kuwabara come together, looking with me upon the new arrivals. I can't help my heart from thudding almost wildly in my chest as I lock eyes with Kurama, his own green ones staring calmly back into my own.
It's his companion that has my eyes widen and heart still as I slowly look towards him.
Hiei?
"W-what?" I gasp out before I can stop myself, the fire-demon smirking at my loss for words caused by his appearance.
"It seems you could use some help," Kurama states smoothly, his own full lips curving upwards at the one corner in a ghost of a smirk.
"If those nothings were too much for you, we're going to have some serious trouble," Hiei adds, his tone cocky as ever. Another lightening strikes, and almost as if they had planned some sort of dramatic entrance, both the demons leap from tree together, landing simultaneously on the ground next to one and other.
Why did I feel a sudden rush to my head as I gazed at them both?
"Well, well, well, the thieves," Yusuke comments lightly, humor clear in his voice.
"Hello," Kurama greets with a small smile.
"Well…what are you doing here?" Yusuke asks the question I couldn't manage to verbalize in my own shock as I looked between both the demons, but my gaze seems to settle on Hiei now, remember our last encounter.
Where I had left a large scar on his back in the shape of grotesque wings.
'Then again,' I feel the tingling another my own scar that ran from my clavicle to my belly button, 'technically we're now even.'
We had both left permanent marks on one and other.
"Even that fool Koenma knew it would take more than human power to kill the Saint Beasts," Hiei speaks up, obviously completely ignoring the fact that I was here as well.
Maybe that was for the best? That he just overlook my presence altogether? Would make having to work with him through Maze Castle a whole hell of a lot easier if I could pretend that he didn't exist either.
"By aiding in this mission, Koenma has assured us that we can clean our slate," Kurama adds in, opening up about the real reason they were both here.
I fight down this insanely stupid feeling of disappointment that he hadn't come to help simply because he knew we would need it.
That I might need it.
Yusuke laughs lightly, "I guess Koenma must have heard me complaining," he jokes, before turning towards Kuwabara. "Hey, Kuwabara, let me introduce you to these guys. That's Hiei," he indicates towards the bored looking fire-demon, "and his name is Kurama."
"A pleasure," Kurama greets in a much more warm fashion than Hiei. That was to be expected though. I look from Kurama, who had his gaze on Kuwabara now, towards Hiei.
Only to lock eyes with his own crimson ones.
He had been staring at me.
I refrain from taking an intimidated step back. I mean, what the hell was my problem?! I had already beaten this guy once! Now that I had undergone Genkai's training, I could certainly do it again.
So why was his stare, his very presence, putting me on edge now?
"Well, I don't have a clue what's going on, but it sure is nice to have a helping hand," Kuwabara, ever friendly, openly accepts their help. Hiei thankfully breaks our quiet staring contest to instead look at the taller teenager.
"Helping is not the right word," Hiei states evenly, taking Yusuke and Kuwabara off guard. "Koenma may regard us as equals, but I do not. Once inside the Castle I suggest you let us do the work. As far as I'm concerned we are babysitting," I can't help rolling my eyes at that, Kurama looking amused himself.
Kuwabara, predictably, was not impressed.
Kuwabara leans forward, face angry. "Listen you puny jerk-face," I can't help lifting an eyebrow at that particularly interesting insult, "I'm going to have to beat you up if you keep talking down to us that way."
Hiei, obviously, doesn't back down, simply staring up at Kuwabara with little interest. "Let's avoid fighting, you're not worth it."
"Oh, that's it!" Kuwabara cries out angrily, reeling back to deliver a punch I already knew wouldn't make it's mark.
I'm shocked, however, when Hiei moves smoothly out of the way to come to stand directly in front of Yusuke and I.
"You two are a different story," he amends, looking between Yusuke and I. I fight back the urge to step back away from his overbearing presence. His aura licked at my own like a hot flame, actually causing me to break out into a slight sweat, and he smelt of burning pine, the aroma wrapping around me like a warm blanket. His crimson eyes look between Yusuke and I equally. "I plan to take my revenge on both of you, so consider this fair warning," I swallow thickly, knees feeling weak, and heart racing. Hiei's gaze slowly moves from Yusuke to me then and settles, a curious glint in his eye as he watches me.
Yeah, I'm just as weirded out by my reactions to you too, buddy.
Then…I see the corner of his thin lips quirk slightly, but the movement is so quick that it's gone in a flash and I'm left wondering if I had seen it at all.
"Oh, you're ignoring me, huh?!" Kuwabara's gravelly voice thankfully breaks the tension as he tries to land another punch, Hiei easily dodging backwards and away from us out of the way.
And I take a deep, much needed breath.
What had that been about?
"Let's finish this current business before you start your own," Kurama gently reminds Hiei then, gazing down at the shorter demon, before turning his green eyes back towards me. The fox-demon offers a small, calming smile, and just like that I felt my entire body relax.
I trusted Kurama. When and how that happened, I don't know.
I trusted a demon.
"Don't worry, three-eyes. If we survive this I'll be glad to take you on," Yusuke meets the challenge easily, an undeniably excited look in his eyes as he does. I realize, with no small amount of suprise, that Yusuke is interested to see how he measures up to the fire-demon now after all the training from Genkai. "Now is this a perfect team, or what?" He goes on optimistically, and I hold back a snort of derision, before we all wordlessly start towards the Castle once more. The silence doesn't last for long, broken my Kurama's concerned observation.
"Seraphina, you're hurt." He notes, obviously taking in my bloody back. I look over my shoulder towards him, giving the concerned fox-demon a small smile to ease him.
"It's just a scratch, really. Probably looks worse than it is," I tell him honestly, already feeling my energy working towards healing the torn skin. I wasn't as quick to heal as I had been while an angel, but after Genkai's training my powers had doubled and so had my ability to recover from wounds. "I'll be fine, Kurama." I insist, feeling my stomach flutter when his concerned gaze didn't waver even after I assured him. Turning my head forward once more so he couldn't see the tinge of a blush I could feel beginning to burn on the tops of my cheeks, I can't help reflecting on how oddly nice it felt to have him worried about me.
To feel like he cared.
'Jesus, Sera, get back in the game. This isn't the time or place,' I berate myself forcing the butterflies and the blush back down.
Did I seriously have a harmless crush on a demon?
We make it to an opening in the rocky cliff-side below the fortress, the archway designed to look like the skull of a large demon. Fangs were cut out along the top of the arch, and above the arch two small holes for nostrils and two larger ones above them for eyes. We all stood together, me between Yusuke and Kurama, gazing at the opening with a mixture of emotions. Kurama, Hiei, and I were all calm, whilst Yusuke and Kuwabara looked a little nervous.
"Well, this place is homey," Yusuke mutters sarcastically as we gaze through the opening and down the brick hallway that led deeper in.
"So, I uh…guess we're just going to walk right in?" Kuwabara asks, sounding unsure of his plan.
"Any prize worth having usually requires a risk," Kurama comments wisely from beside me.
"I say we make them come out here and fight us up front like their not a bunch of sissies," Kuwabara openly challenges, and I can't help a small smile at his statement.
Demons did not work that way.
"You're sense of strategy is amazing," Hiei comments sarcastically from the other side of Yusuke.
"Are you talking to me, runt-boy?!" Kuwabara demands obnoxiously, Yusuke hunching his shoulders slightly with annoyance at the bickering.
"Let's go!" He bites out, no doubt hoping to stay off another embarrassing verbal match on Kuwabara's part.
"Stupid dwarf…" Kuwabara mutters lowly, but it's loud enough that everyone can hear him. Hiei, not surprisingly, doesn't rise to the bait, and we enter the cave silently with one and other. The hallway is dimly lit as we move further in, the natural light from the entrance slowly dimming away from sight the further we traveled down the brick hallway. Soon, ahead, we could finally see another large square doorway opening up to a new area, but are stopped short by our first encounter within the fortress.
A flying, demon eyeball.
"Thought I'd seen it all," I mutter in disgust, watching the tentacles that twitched under the body of the demon, the body made up entirely of the eye. It's bat-like wings fluttered lightly to each side as it came to hover before us.
"Welcome to Maze Castle," the creature greets, it's hazel iris gazing at us all.
"Woah, it talked!" Kuwabara exclaims in disbelief. My hands tighten into fists at my sides, getting ready for whatever might be in store for us.
"Those who enter Maze Castle must be tried by the Gates Of Betrayal," The demon goes on, and I can't help the frown of confusion at it's words.
"What do you mean 'tried'?" Yusuke asks, and I watch closely as the bat demon turns and flies back through the opening without word to the wall opposite of us in the next room. As it hovers there a small section of the brick moves out of the way, revealing a lever.
My eyes widen with realization.
This was one of the traps.
"No!" I shout, about to send a blast of energy at the demon, but it was too late. One of it's tentacles had already reached out to grab the lever and pull it downwards, setting into motion the next series of events. The ground below us shook, and for a split second I was worried that the floor would open up into some sort of pit of doom.
"Urameshi! Why did you have to ask?!" Kuwabara shouts nervously as we all looked around frantically to find the source of the shaking.
"The ceiling!" Kurama suddenly shouts out, all of us looking upwards. My stomach sinks as a large section of the ceiling above us falls quickly downwards.
Leaving us all no choice but to catch it.
Bracing my hands up against the brick, my knees buckle under the sudden weight. Grunts of effort can be heard from the others, and as I look around I can see everyone trembling with the effort to save us all from being squished to death.
"Heavy, isn't it?" The demon's voice drifts over us from somewhere outside. I grit my teeth, frustrated with myself. I'm better than this. I should have sensed the danger and reacted sooner. "Sensors in the corridor are most intelligent, and a complex assembly of gears measures the ceilings weight precisely to the strength of it's victims. Of course, there is a catch. Just enough leeway remains for just one person to escape, leaving their friends to be crushed by the weight."
"Hence the Gates of Betrayal," I mutter lowly, gritting my teeth. "How poetic."
"Dammit!" Yusuke grunts lowly as the demon floats down to the small opening, so it can see us and we it.
"The decisions must be made quickly. Not even the five of you combined can hold the ceiling for long. Insist on teamwork and everyone will be crushed. Only by turning against your friends will one of you escape. Only the traitor among you deserves to enter Maze Castle," the demon breaks out into maniacal laughter, before flying away and out of sight once more.
"Boy I'd like to get my hands on that bat thing," Kuwabara grunts, all of us continuing to struggle under the weight of the ceiling. Suddenly the weight increases, causing us all to grunt and bend down further.
"Stay focused on the weight or you'll kill us all!" Hiei shouts Kuwabara, clearly pissed.
"Oh sure, blame me! I bet I'm holding up a lot more weight than you are!" Kuwabara bites back, somehow making even this into a competition.
"Unbelievable," I mutter to myself, arms starting to shake from exhaustion.
"Shut it, Kuwabara!" Yusuke shouts back at his friend.
"Well I'm not about to die for the sake of you worthless humans!" Hiei snaps back, and I feel my blood run cold. Hiei would do it too. I knew without a single doubt that he would leave us here to die if it meant that he would live.
"Don't you even consider it, Hiei!" Kurama bites back at the fire-demon, his voice trembling with effort.
"Man, I knew we should have played some trust games." Yusuke quips sarcastically, and I can't help rolling my eyes.
No amount of trust games would have prepared our rag-tag team for this.
Annnnddd there ya have it! I hope you enjoyed this chapter and I really look forward to hearing from you guys soon!
Until next time
T.O.T.