Dream: *dancing to some of her Japanese music*
Kurama: *watching*
Freckles: *having a panic attack* HAS ANYONE SEEN MUPPET OR CHUCHU???? THEY'VE BEEN GONE FOR THE PAST…HOWEVER MANY CHAPTERS!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Dream: *still dancing* Didja try lookin under that laundry basket that appeared out of nowhere?
Freckles: What laundry basket?
Kurama: *points* that one.
Freckles: o.o;;; oh… *turns over laundry basket*
Chuchu: HI SPECKLES!!!!!!!!!! YOU FOUND US!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! ^_^
Muppet: Dude, that was not cool. I did NOT like being stuck under a laundry basket with that ball of fluffy hyperness!!!
Dream: *still dancing* you know what? I really don't like to dance…
Freckles: o.O then why on Earth are you dancing???
Dream: *pauses* umm…*shrugs* beats me! *starts dancing again*
Freckles: -_-
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
The next morning came quickly. The group was eating breakfast. Arielle was holding her new sword protectively.
"I can't believe they let us keep the clothes we got." Margaret said.
"I want to burn mine." Autumn said.
"Can I burn it? Please? Oh please let me burn it!!!" Arielle pleaded.
"Hey, Autumn, where'd you get that necklace anyway?" Margaret asked.
"Err…Kurama gave it to me…" Autumn said.
"Hiei, I think you should teach Arielle and Margaret how to use those swords before we continue our journey." Kurama said.
"Kurama, I think you should keep your suggestions to yourself." Hiei glared at Kurama from the tree he was sitting in.
"I think Kurama's right." Dariken nodded.
Autumn, Kurama, and Thorn stared blankly at Dariken. Arielle grinned at the thought of being taught how to use her sword. Hiei finally agreed and spent a few hours teaching them the basics of using their swords. After that the group started walking again.
"How much longer?" Kuwabara whined.
"Kuwabara, you've been asking the same question over and over again for the past thirty minutes!!! BE QUIET!!!!!!" Kurama yelled.
"I was just asking…" Kuwabara sulked.
"Meh, I wish Koenma was here…" Tenka pouted.
Koenma appeared out of nowhere, "Aw, Tenka, I knew you cared!"
Tenka smiled, "GREAT! Now I can throw stuff at you!" He started throwing twigs and pebbles at Koenma.
"Knock that off!"
"Kutabare!"
"FRECKLES!!! NO CURSING!!!" Autumn yelled.
"Sorry…" Tenka sighed.
"Apology accepted." Koenma smiled.
"I wasn't apologizing to you, I was apologizing to her!"
"Why you…" Koenma started chasing Tenka around again. Everyone sighed and kept walking.
"Kurama, will you sing us a song?" Autumn asked in a sweet voice.
"What song?"
Autumn thought for a moment, "Sayonara wa mirai no hajimari!"
"Do you know every song that I've sung?"
"Pretty much." Autumn smiled.
Kurama sighed and started singing. After that Autumn asked him to sing Kurayami ni akai bara and Koori no Naifu wo daite. Hiei and Kurama started singing Wild Wind. Then Kuwabara decided they should sing eye to eye.
"MAKE HIM STOP SINGING!!!!!!!!!!!!!" Margaret yelled as Kuwabara began to sing.
Kuwabara looked hurt, "I don't sing that bad…"
Everyone started laughing at him. He sulked. Hiei and Kurama began singing any other songs of theirs that they hadn't sung. Jin and Touya sang their songs and Yusuke sang his songs. After all that singing they were finally at the waterfall.
The waterfall was falling down the side of a large cliff and into a small lake. The lake had a thin layer of ice over the top. A ledge along the side of the cliff led behind the waterfall. Kuwabara decided he would just walk across the ice.
"Umm, Kuwabara? I don't think that's such a good idea…" Autumn said.
"Why not?" He took a step on the ice and fell through into the lake.
"That's why…" Autumn said -_-
"Baka ningen…" Hiei scoffed.
"Hey! I'm a human too!" Arielle said.
"Yes, but you're not a stupid human…you're just a human."
"Yay! Hiei likes me!" Arielle smiled.
"Uh…shouldn't someone make sure Kuwabara hasn't drowned?" Koenma asked.
Tenka had convinced Touya to refreeze the spot where Kuwabara had fallen through and they were both watching him try to get out.
"What are you doing??? Are you trying to kill Kuwabara???" Koenma yelled.
"Yes." Tenka replied simply.
Kuwabara opened his mouth to scream curses at them but since he was under water he started choking on the water.
Koenma then cracked the ice and Kuwabara jumped out onto the shore. He was gasping for breath, "It was really cold under there!"
"Why'd you save him???" Tenka pouted.
"Are we going to go into this stupid temple or not???" Autumn twitched.
"We should wait until tomorrow. It'll be too dark to see inside if we don't." Koenma said pointing out that it was already dark again. Everyone sighed and made camp. The next morning they were having trouble waking Autumn up.
Kurama was shaking her shoulders, "Autumn? Autumn, it's time to wake up…"
"…the muffins…ferret…bunny…cheese…aardvarks…" Autumn rambled about random things.
Everyone sweat dropped. Dariken sighed, "Well, I guess this must be the first full night of sleep she's had in a while…"
Arielle looked around, "Does anyone have a bottle?"
Hiei handed her one of the bottles Kurama had on the ground. She smirked evilly and went over to the lake. She filled the bottle with the ice cold water and walked back over to Autumn. She dumped the water over Autumn's head.
Autumn sat up quickly, "BLOODY HELL!!!!! WHAT WAS THAT??????????" She saw Arielle holding an empty water bottle and glared at her.
Arielle handed the bottle to Yusuke, "He did it."
"What?" Yusuke blinked before realizing what was happening, "NO I DID'NT!!!!!!!! SHE DID!!!!!!!!!!"
It was too late. Autumn stood up and was giving Yusuke a death glare. "BAKA KISAMA!!!!!!!!! WHAT THE HELL IS WRONG WITH YOU?????????" She then picked up a large tree branch and started chasing Yusuke around with it.
"I DIDN'T DO IT, YOU BITCH!!!!!!!!!!!!!" Yusuke screamed as he ran. He finally jumped into the lake and Autumn stopped chasing him and walked back over to Kurama.
"You do realize that Arielle was the one that dumped that water on you..." Kurama said.
Autumn smiled, "I know. It's just more fun to chase Yusuke cuz I know he won't hurt me."
Yusuke came back mumbling curses under his breath and now completely soaked. The group then walked inside the temple. Tenka was leading the way.
"Why do they call this the 'Temple of Storms'?" Thorn asked as they walked.
"Because the temple was built to honor the weather." Tenka replied casually.
The temple was lit by those same glow crystals. The group was walking down a long hallway made of black crystal. There were carvings in the wall every so often that depicted storms and strange demonic creatures. They were walking for hours on end until they found themselves at a fork in the hallway.
"Which way do we go?" Margaret asked.
Tenka blinked, "I don't know…Where are we going?"
Everyone fell down anime style. Autumn got up and glared at Tenka, "YOU'RE THE ONE WHO WAS LEADING US DOWN HERE! HOW CAN YOU NOT KNOW WHERE WE'RE GOING???"
Tenka rubbed the back of his nervously, "Well…umm…"
"Autumn, pick one and we'll follow you." Kurama said.
"Why me?" Autumn pointed at herself.
Kurama smiled, "Because I trust your instincts."
'The one on the left.' Autumn nodded and pointed down the tunnel on the left, "That way!"
Yusuke looked skeptical, "Maybe you trust her instincts Kurama, but I don't. Give me one good reason why I should trust her with this decision…"
Autumn pulled a book out of her bag. It was thick and looked like it could do damage. Yusuke gulped before starting to walk down the tunnel whistling. Autumn smiled and put away her book. Everyone else followed as she walked down the hall.
After walking for a few more hours everyone was starting to get ticked off.
"I knew we shouldn't have trusted you!!!" Yusuke was yelling at Autumn.
"Stop yelling at me! This way was just as good as the other way!"
"She's right, Yusuke." Kurama said.
"Of course you say she's right! She's your girlfriend! You would say she was right even if she murdered us all here and now! I'm sure that's what she's trying to do, too!" Yusuke yelled.
"Autumn would never do such a thing!"
"Would too! In case you haven't noticed, she's a bitc…" Yusuke was cut off by Kurama punching him in the gut. (o.O now you know how edgy they all are)
"She is not!"
"Children! Would you please stop fighting??? There's one good way to find out what's up ahead!" Dariken yelled.
"And that would be?" Yusuke asked while still holding his stomach in pain.
"Hiei's Jagan eye." Dariken replied.
"I already tried that. The path up ahead has a spell on it." Yusuke stuck his tongue out at Autumn. "And the other path leads to a dead end." Hiei finished and Autumn smiled smugly at Yusuke.
"Yusuke, I believe you Autumn an apology." Kurama crossed his arms.
"Sorry…" Yusuke muttered softly.
"What was that, Yusuke?" Autumn smiled.
"Sorry." Yusuke said a bit louder.
"I can't hear you." Autumn crossed her arms.
"I SAID I'M SORRY, OK? HAPPY NOW?"
"Very. Now let's keep going!" Autumn pointed down the seemingly endless tunnel and started walking away happily.
"Why are you so happy all of a sudden?" Arielle asked.
Autumn turned around with a candy cane hanging out of her mouth. She took it out and smiled, "I brought a week's worth of sugary things."
Dariken twitched, "YOU HAVE SWEET THINGS??? GIMME!!!! GIVE ME THE SWEETS!!!!!!!!!!!"
Autumn threw a candy cane at his head. He snatched it and started petting it, "My Precioussss…"
Everyone stared at him. He looked around, "What?" He then ate the candy cane in one bite.
"Umm…Dariken…?" Autumn said.
"Mm?"
"You were supposed to take the plastic off of it first…" Autumn sighed. -_-
"Oh…" Dariken blinked.
The group walked on for another hour before they finally saw a room up ahead of them. Autumn ran out into the room and looked around. The room appeared to be made of black crystal. It was being lit by golden glowing crystals. She walked forward until she was standing in the middle of the room.
This is a trap, isn't it? 'Yes. As soon as the others get inside the room all the exits will be blocked and we will be cut off from the others.' Should I turn back? 'No. We can handle this.' Autumn put her hands in her pockets and waited looking directly ahead of her.
Once the others were inside a screen of black magic blocked off the doorway they had just come through and the exit on the other side of the room. Kurama tried to run to Autumn but was sent back by another force field. "Autumn!"
Autumn glanced behind her at him and smiled. She then turned back to look at the shadowy figure that had appeared in front of her. "Nuala, why have you led us here?" she called out.
"Why, for revenge, of course! You're pretty much useless without your friends to help you. It'll be like squashing a bug." Nuala had been pacing back and forth in front of Autumn and now stopped and glared at her, "Unless what I suspect about you is true…"
"Oh? And what do you suspect about me?"
"I suspect that you are Phantom Harmony."
Autumn smirked, "If I was Phantom Harmony, why would I have hidden it from my friends?"
"Because you don't want to be found. You decided to 'help' when really what you were doing was trying to steer them off course, am I right?"
"Perhaps. Perhaps not. That's for me to know and for you to try and find out."
"It must be true if you said that!"
"No, I just like toying with people. It's fun." Autumn smiled cheerily.
Nuala blinked, "Wait…it's not true?"
"Nope! Don't you think that if I was Phantom I would've been able to avoid this trap?"
"I suppose you're right…" Nuala was eyeing her suspiciously.
Autumn was still smiling cheerily. I wonder how much longer I can keep this up…
"Well, that's too bad! I guess you won't be able to stop me from killing you, then!" Nuala shrugged.
"Guess not!" Autumn's smile widened.
"Why are you so happy?" Nuala blinked.
"Candy canes! You want one?" Autumn held one out to Nuala.
Nuala arched an eyebrow at her, "No…You do realize you're about to die?"
Autumn nodded happily while eating the candy cane. She figured that if she played dumb she might be able to trick Nuala into letting her guard down.
Nuala narrowed her eyes at Autumn. She then smiled, "You know what?"
Autumn shook her head, "What?"
"How do I know you aren't toying with me right now? You did say that you thought toying with people was fun…"
Autumn blinked, oops… Out loud she said, "Guess you'll have to take my word for it!"
Kurama was clenching his fists and gritting his teeth. Yusuke put his hand on Kurama's shoulder, "You okay?"
"Oh sure, my girlfriend's about to get killed and I can't do a thing to help her. I've never been better! How about you?"
Yusuke sighed and looked away. The others decided to leave Kurama alone as well.
Nuala was holding a ball of dark energy in her hand and she was taking a step towards Autumn. Autumn still had a candy cane hanging out of her mouth. Nuala threw the ball at Autumn. Autumn dodged it and ran. Nuala summoned a reddish black orb.
"This energy ball will be drawn to anything that has the scent of a human on it and is moving fast. Have fun." Nuala threw the ball.
Autumn took her candy cane out of her mouth and flung it across the room at one of the force fields. She then dove to the ground and watched as the orb exploded against the force field.
"Clever. Unfortunately those tactics won't keep you alive for long." Nuala took a step towards Autumn.
Autumn turned to run again but Nuala was in front of her. She blinked, "How did you…?"
Nuala grabbed Autumn's throat and pushed her up against the wall, "I'm a demon you idiot, I can move faster than you." She then summoned another orb and readied herself to strike, "Any last words?"
"Yeah. Kurama, I love you! Take care of Freckles for me, k?" Kurama nodded.
The next thing Autumn saw was black. She sighed, "Am I dead?"
"No, if you were dead, Botan would be here instead of me." A voice said from the darkness.
"Who's there?"
"Don't you recognize me?" A figure stepped out of the shadows as Autumn sat up.
"PHANTOM?!? But…but…how?"
"Nuala's last attack knocked you unconscious. It would've killed you, but I was able to secretly shield you. Right now she thinks you're dead so we've got some time to think."
"Ok, thanks!"
"…she still will kill you if we don't achieve balance. Even then she might kill us since we don't have a weapon."
"Do you really think I'm that stupid? I put one of Jouka's feathers in my pocket!"
"You did? That's great! Alright, listen up. You and I are the same spirit just different parts of it, right?"
Autumn nodded happily, "That's what Tenka said."
"We have to combine our strengths in order to defeat her!"
"Will we kill her?"
"It depends."
"On what?" Autumn tilted her head to the side.
"On whether or not she decides to give in. She knows she can't beat me."
"But I'm not as strong as you…I have no idea how to use a weapon!"
"We'll be acting as one. I will guide you with my knowledge and you will guide me with yours."
"Whoa! I have knowledge? O_O"
Phantom laughed and held out her hand to Autumn. Autumn took it and they both smiled.
~*~Meanwhile, right after Nuala had attacked Autumn:
Nuala shook the limp body and turned to grin at Kurama, "Humans are such frail creatures, wouldn't you agree, Kurama? Well this is what you get for falling in love with one!" She casually tossed the body aside.
Kurama's eyes were filled with tears. Tenka had his eyes closed tightly and was clinging to Kurama's leg. The others were stunned as well.
Nuala's evil laugh rang out through the cavern, "So ends another worthless human life!"
"Her life wasn't worthless! She had a good heart and you killed her! Are you happy now? Are you happy that you've destroyed my life as well as hers???" Kurama closed his eyes.
Nuala laughed again, "Yes, yes I am."
"C'mon Kurama, you would've gotten over it eventually! I mean there are tons of other girls out there who're much prettier and much nicer… Why spend your entire life mourning me?" A voice said from behind Nuala.
Everyone looked. Kurama's eyes went wide, "Autumn?"
"You didn't think you'd get rid of me that easily, did you?" Autumn smiled as she stood up and brushed herself off. Kurama smiled lovingly at her.
Nuala's jaw dropped, "How can this be? How can you still be alive and uninjured???"
"Oh, that…Yeah, I lied to you. I really am Phantom Harmony."
"WHAT??? YOU MEAN THIS WHOLE TIME WE'VE BEEN LOOKING FOR YOU???" Yusuke yelled across the room.
"Yup. Dariken, Kurama, Thorn, Hiei, and Tenka were helping me keep the secret."
"Traitors…" Yusuke glared at all of them.
Tenka frowned, "Momma! Why'd you make me worry like that?"
Autumn didn't have time to answer because Nuala threw another orb at her. She did Phantom's little trick with the feather sword only this time the hilt was orange, and sliced the orb in half. "Now that's not very nice, couldn't you see I was in the middle of a conversation?" her voice sounded different. It sounded wiser and somewhat distant. Her eyes had grown stormier.
Nuala stood there with her mouth hanging open, "But…you…I…"
Autumn smirked, "I suggest you run."
Nuala started running towards the exit. Autumn chased after her and caught her by the hood, "That reminds me. You have two things to do before I release you into the custody of the Reikai Tantei…"
"And they would be…?"
"Remove these force fields and change my rabbit back to a rabbit."
"Fine…" Nuala waved her hand and the force fields disappeared. Kurama rushed over and pulled Autumn into a hug.
"I thought I'd lost you!"
"Kurama…you're…crushing…me…"
"Oh, sorry…" He loosened his grip on her.
Botan appeared out of nowhere, "Good job! You've caught Nuala!" Botan said to Yusuke because he was holding Nuala's hands behind her back.
"Hey! I caught Nuala! And she still has to change my bunny back!" Autumn called over.
Botan noticed the feather sword in Autumn's hands. She smiled, "So you are Phantom…"
Nuala chanted a spell and Tenka turned back into a rabbit. A necklace in the shape of a carrot with orange crystal making up the bottom part and green crystal making up the top part fell next to him. Nuala glared at Autumn, "That necklace is so that he can change back and forth from rabbit to demon as he pleases. I just want you to know that I hate you."
"Ok!" Autumn smiled. Botan took Nuala then disappeared.
Yusuke walked over to glare at Autumn, "You mean to tell me that all this was for nothing because this whole time you were Phantom Harmony???"
Autumn's feather sword turned back to normal as Kurama let her go. She swayed a bit and grabbed Kurama's arm for support, "Oi, I feel really dizzy…How can you fight like that, Kurama?"
"You'll get used to it." Kurama smiled.
"Hello? Answer my question!" Yusuke yelled.
Tenka had changed himself back into a demon with the necklace. He stood, "We're not finished here yet…Look!" He pointed at a demon beast that was coming down the hallway that Nuala had come through.
"What is that???" Arielle asked.
"Stay Back!" Hiei commanded.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
Dream: Well that's it! I hafta hurry with this cuz I want to finish on Christmas day! And that's TOMORROW!
Freckles: o.O wow that sux…
Dream: Yeah, but the story's pretty much finished, thank goodness…
Kurama: Y'know, it took you less than a month to write this story but months to write the first one…
Dream: Let's just say I've been more focused with this one… -_-
Freckles: Neway, please R&R!