God, do I hate my band director... We have to go to an away game--on the flip side of Baton Rouge! That's a good four, five hours away from where I live. Just for a stupid football game. I'm being sick Friday. That or cutting, Mom can pick.
* * * * *
Cold as Fire
by Grace Musica
Chapter Eleven
Level Two--Omoi
* * * * *
Finally, FINALLY, they reached the end of the stairs. The four boys stopped for a short breather, Yusuke putting the crystal sphere in his pocket. They didn't need it anymore: This chamber was lit with torches all along the walls, and a huge fire burning in the hearth.
Kuwabara was the first to recover, as it were. He was also the first to get a really good look around. "Guys? You might want to take a look at this..."
The other three looked around, and were chilled at the sight. All around the room, various tools of torture were scattered about: There was a rack that looked like it had been used since about the 1400s; a metal box, barely large enough to hold a person, with spikes on all three sides and on the door; pikes; spears; swords; axes; a guillotine; guns of all shapes, sizes, and time periods; tools for cutting out togunes; jars for mummified organs; and--worst of all--half-mummified bodies. Fresh blood coated the floor and polluted the air. Also, various body parts were strewn around the room; a finger here, an arm there, legs, arms, rotting organs, not to mention the row of heads on pikes along the far wall. All in all, it was a pretty grusome scene.
The four recoiled in horror. "This guy is so dead," Kuwabara said, breaking the scilence.
"Right."
The voice was behind them. They turned around quickly and met a huge half-naked ogre-type demon, his one acid green eye staring down at them. "Do you like my personal chambers?"
"How about no?" Kuwabara shot back, crossing his arms.
"Oh, I'm sorry to hear that," the demon replied mock-sadly, smiling down malevolently at the boys as he brushed past them. "Oh, and please excuse me, I'm being rude. My name is Omoi the Executioner."
"And collecting is just a hobby?" Kuwabara asked through clenched teeth.
Omoi laughed at that. "I like you, boy. You've got spirit. I could make you a king of demons, if you would only fetch a part of your friends for my collection."
"Never! Spirit Sword!"
Omoi blinked. "Well, well. You've more spirit I've given you credit for." He picked a random wooden stick from a pile, and withdrew an axe. "Come on, boy. If you think you'll win."
"I KNOW I'll win," Kuwabara replied, leaping at Omoi.
Omoi easily blocked the slash, and the next, and the one after that. "Are you so sure, boy?" He switched to the offensive, whirling his axe around expertly before lashing out on Kuwabara, who blocked as many as he could, but ended up wih a shallow gash in his shoulder.
"You see, this is why humans should never be in positions of power," Omoi informed Kuwabara scholarly. "They either abuse their power or die. Either way, they fail." He swung his axe, catching Kuwabara off guard, and flung him to the other side of the room with the flat of the weapon. The boy was slammed into the wall, then crumpled like a rag doll. "You lose. Next!"
His one eye fixed on the other three. "Well? No takers? Should I just cut you down to size now?"
Omoi became aware of a kind of tingling sensation along his waistline. Actually, it was more of a burning sensation. It ran across his enire body, the feeling moving up from its origin. As his world shifted and he felt himself falling, he suddenly became aware of what he was feeling.
Pain.
He found himself staring at the room sideways. A thud made him look down with his one eye.
It was the lower half of his body.
Kuwabara appeared in his field of vision, Spirit Sword in hand. "I'll be the one doing all the cutting. You lose!"
Omoi saw his foe bring his sword hand down, then he saw no more.
* * * * *
Pain. Every part of her body was in pain. Particularly her shoulder and her head. Especially her shoulder and her head. She wanted to open her eyes, but she thought that it might hurt as well. Breathing hurt, but she instictively knew that altering how she was breathing would hurt more. So she laid upon the cold stone floor, playing 'sleep'.
Hiei, when will you come save me? I'm lost...
"She's awake."
What the hell?!
"I can hear your thoughts, dirtblood. You'd do better screaming for him."
Tensi moved slowly, her joints creaking--apparently she had been lying on the cold floor longer than she had thought--and stood, her hair plastered to her forehead with a combination of sweat and blood. She looked like hell, and she knew it, but she didn't care at all. Her sword was gone--she knew it would be--and so was her bag. Damnit... I need what's in that bag!
"You mean the medicine in your bag? Dirty leaves and such?" Kurai Maho asked innocently. "Oh, I already knew about that. They're gone now, each and every one of them." She gestured towards the fireplace, where Tensi just made out the ends of the bag, smoldering in the hearth.
DAMNIT!
"Chain her up!" Kurai Maho ordered to the only demon left in the room. "Make it nice and tight, especially around her neck."
"Yes, Mistress," the deep voice responded, moving towards Tensi.
"But first--" Kurai added, almost as an afterthought. "I want to hear her scream. Since she's so fond of this Hiei, make her scream for him."
* * * * *
They were running again, but not up or down any stairs, thankfully. Yusuke, in the lead again, had the Fire Crystal out. Hiei was right behind him, followed by Kurama, who was answering Kuwabara's questions about what had happened after Omoi died.
"Everything dissapeared after Omoi did. What's up with that?"
"Well, there are two theories that I can think of," Kurama answered. "One: The entire thing was an illusion, which I dobut, and two: Omoi had some type of demon spell over the entire room that died when he did. Frankly, I'm glad that it all vanished. That was just sick."
"I agree."
* * * * *
"HIEI!"
It was a panicked, tortured scream, immediately recognizable as Tensi's, and it chilled them to the bone. They stopped in their tracks. The three tallest looked over at Hiei, who had gone completely white. Please, please not again!
Kurama placed a comforting hand on his friend's shoulder. "We're almost there, Hiei. She'll be fine. I'm sure of it."
"Damn strait she'll be fine!" Yusuke agreed; his opinion of the girl had changed greatly since thier departure on the stairs. "You'll see. Come on, let's not waste time."
* * * * *
* * * * *
Cold as Fire
by Grace Musica
Chapter Eleven
Level Two--Omoi
* * * * *
Finally, FINALLY, they reached the end of the stairs. The four boys stopped for a short breather, Yusuke putting the crystal sphere in his pocket. They didn't need it anymore: This chamber was lit with torches all along the walls, and a huge fire burning in the hearth.
Kuwabara was the first to recover, as it were. He was also the first to get a really good look around. "Guys? You might want to take a look at this..."
The other three looked around, and were chilled at the sight. All around the room, various tools of torture were scattered about: There was a rack that looked like it had been used since about the 1400s; a metal box, barely large enough to hold a person, with spikes on all three sides and on the door; pikes; spears; swords; axes; a guillotine; guns of all shapes, sizes, and time periods; tools for cutting out togunes; jars for mummified organs; and--worst of all--half-mummified bodies. Fresh blood coated the floor and polluted the air. Also, various body parts were strewn around the room; a finger here, an arm there, legs, arms, rotting organs, not to mention the row of heads on pikes along the far wall. All in all, it was a pretty grusome scene.
The four recoiled in horror. "This guy is so dead," Kuwabara said, breaking the scilence.
"Right."
The voice was behind them. They turned around quickly and met a huge half-naked ogre-type demon, his one acid green eye staring down at them. "Do you like my personal chambers?"
"How about no?" Kuwabara shot back, crossing his arms.
"Oh, I'm sorry to hear that," the demon replied mock-sadly, smiling down malevolently at the boys as he brushed past them. "Oh, and please excuse me, I'm being rude. My name is Omoi the Executioner."
"And collecting is just a hobby?" Kuwabara asked through clenched teeth.
Omoi laughed at that. "I like you, boy. You've got spirit. I could make you a king of demons, if you would only fetch a part of your friends for my collection."
"Never! Spirit Sword!"
Omoi blinked. "Well, well. You've more spirit I've given you credit for." He picked a random wooden stick from a pile, and withdrew an axe. "Come on, boy. If you think you'll win."
"I KNOW I'll win," Kuwabara replied, leaping at Omoi.
Omoi easily blocked the slash, and the next, and the one after that. "Are you so sure, boy?" He switched to the offensive, whirling his axe around expertly before lashing out on Kuwabara, who blocked as many as he could, but ended up wih a shallow gash in his shoulder.
"You see, this is why humans should never be in positions of power," Omoi informed Kuwabara scholarly. "They either abuse their power or die. Either way, they fail." He swung his axe, catching Kuwabara off guard, and flung him to the other side of the room with the flat of the weapon. The boy was slammed into the wall, then crumpled like a rag doll. "You lose. Next!"
His one eye fixed on the other three. "Well? No takers? Should I just cut you down to size now?"
Omoi became aware of a kind of tingling sensation along his waistline. Actually, it was more of a burning sensation. It ran across his enire body, the feeling moving up from its origin. As his world shifted and he felt himself falling, he suddenly became aware of what he was feeling.
Pain.
He found himself staring at the room sideways. A thud made him look down with his one eye.
It was the lower half of his body.
Kuwabara appeared in his field of vision, Spirit Sword in hand. "I'll be the one doing all the cutting. You lose!"
Omoi saw his foe bring his sword hand down, then he saw no more.
* * * * *
Pain. Every part of her body was in pain. Particularly her shoulder and her head. Especially her shoulder and her head. She wanted to open her eyes, but she thought that it might hurt as well. Breathing hurt, but she instictively knew that altering how she was breathing would hurt more. So she laid upon the cold stone floor, playing 'sleep'.
Hiei, when will you come save me? I'm lost...
"She's awake."
What the hell?!
"I can hear your thoughts, dirtblood. You'd do better screaming for him."
Tensi moved slowly, her joints creaking--apparently she had been lying on the cold floor longer than she had thought--and stood, her hair plastered to her forehead with a combination of sweat and blood. She looked like hell, and she knew it, but she didn't care at all. Her sword was gone--she knew it would be--and so was her bag. Damnit... I need what's in that bag!
"You mean the medicine in your bag? Dirty leaves and such?" Kurai Maho asked innocently. "Oh, I already knew about that. They're gone now, each and every one of them." She gestured towards the fireplace, where Tensi just made out the ends of the bag, smoldering in the hearth.
DAMNIT!
"Chain her up!" Kurai Maho ordered to the only demon left in the room. "Make it nice and tight, especially around her neck."
"Yes, Mistress," the deep voice responded, moving towards Tensi.
"But first--" Kurai added, almost as an afterthought. "I want to hear her scream. Since she's so fond of this Hiei, make her scream for him."
* * * * *
They were running again, but not up or down any stairs, thankfully. Yusuke, in the lead again, had the Fire Crystal out. Hiei was right behind him, followed by Kurama, who was answering Kuwabara's questions about what had happened after Omoi died.
"Everything dissapeared after Omoi did. What's up with that?"
"Well, there are two theories that I can think of," Kurama answered. "One: The entire thing was an illusion, which I dobut, and two: Omoi had some type of demon spell over the entire room that died when he did. Frankly, I'm glad that it all vanished. That was just sick."
"I agree."
* * * * *
"HIEI!"
It was a panicked, tortured scream, immediately recognizable as Tensi's, and it chilled them to the bone. They stopped in their tracks. The three tallest looked over at Hiei, who had gone completely white. Please, please not again!
Kurama placed a comforting hand on his friend's shoulder. "We're almost there, Hiei. She'll be fine. I'm sure of it."
"Damn strait she'll be fine!" Yusuke agreed; his opinion of the girl had changed greatly since thier departure on the stairs. "You'll see. Come on, let's not waste time."
* * * * *