by: Kawaii Kitsune
Disclaimer: Yu Yu Hakusho and all the characters in the wonderful show do not belong to me, blah, blah, blah. You get the point. No money, don't sue, blah, blah, blah. Moving on.
Note: italics indicate thoughts.
Someone was knocking on the door, the sound echoing through the rather empty room. The occupant looked at the door from her sitting position with feelings of confusion and a little bit of suspicion. All her years of experience had taught her that one could never be too careful. And it being nearly midnight, she wasn't expecting any visitors.
So she waited.
The visitors seemed to be very persistent and continued knocking. Wanting her peace and quiet back, she finally rose from the chair and walked over to the door. She leaned against the door and spoke through the wood. "Who's there?"
"Someone who needs some questions answered, Little Devil."
Akuma's eyes widened upon hearing her nickname being revealed, her mind registering who the visitors were. She opened the door slowly and just as she predicted, there stood Hiei and Kurama. Her second shock of the day came when she saw the unconscious body of Evangeline #20010 in Kurama's arms. Akuma opened the door wider to allow entrance to her unexpected guests.
"We're sorry to bother you at such an hour," Kurama apologized while placing the girl on a couch, "but you're the only one that we could turn to."
"What happened?" asked Akuma, "I thought Evangeline perished along with Hikoku and all of his minions."
"So did we," Hiei answered, looking at the girl, "Obviously, we were wrong."
"We need your knowledge," Kurama said, "Something's happening to Angel and we don't understand it."
"What's wrong with her? Describe it to me."
"Though her youki is steady and under control now, only two hours ago, her powers were going out of control. She began to shake and convulse, youki rising and falling to drastic levels. Then she froze the room. I was told her Koorime powers were tampered with and changed to control over the element of water. The ice was a complete surprise to me."
"Evangeline's powers are special," Akuma explained, "Her powers over water come from a combination of genetic manipulation and flawless control over her fire aspect. What is ice but the solid form of water? Simply melt the ice."
"How do you know this?" demanded Hiei, "You told me that it was top secret information."
"It was. But did you really think that someone like me would let that stop me from finding out? Before Koenma could destroy all the information from the project, I obtained copies of every single document, including the top secret ones." Akuma looked down at the girl, the product of a year's research and labor. "So, was that it? Or is there more to the story?"
"There's more." Kurama proceeded to continue and complete the explanation to Akuma.
"So, the flaws finally appeared."
"What do you mean by flaws?" Kurama inquired.
"Evangeline was not the first created in the project, but out of the ten original specimen, she was the only one that survived without fault. The rest of the group was overjoyed at the success but I had my doubts. I knew she was bound to have some flaws, and now they've shown themselves."
"What's happening to her, exactly?"
"She is losing control over her abilities and the conflicting powers are battling each other for dominance inside of her. The internal struggle is wreaking havoc on her genetic makeup, meaning her DNA is slowing breaking down. If this continues, she'll end up destroying herself."
There was nothing but silence for a while. Kurama gazed down at the sleeping girl while Hiei walked by a window and stared outward at the darkness of the night. Akuma, having answered all of their questions, left to make some tea for herself and her guests. She came back fifteen minutes later to the exact same scene with a tray.
She decided to break the silence. "Although I may not know how to cure her of this dilemma, there may be someone that does."
Kurama whipped his head around to face Akuma. "Who?"
"The Oracle."
"I've heard of her," said Hiei, "But she died thousands of years ago."
Akuma shook her head. "A new Oracle is born every century to replace the previous one."
"Where is the Oracle?" asked Kurama.
"In an uncharted land in the northern part of the Makai. It's mostly known as the Wasteland. Rarely does anyone travel there."
"I'm familiar with it. All my years as a youko have given me knowledge of practically all the Makai regions."
"There's nothing that the Oracle does not know. She may be your only chance of saving your Angel."
"Hiei, can you love her?"
They were walking in silence back from Akuma's home towards their own. It was well into the night and the streets were deserted. Every now and then a car would speed past and disappear down the road. Kurama still carried the unconscious Angel in his arms. The girl seemed to be sleeping peacefully which was a relief to the redhead. He smiled down at his daughter but then turned his gaze to Hiei when he did not respond.
"Hiei?"
"Do what you want."
"I want to do what we want," Kurama said, "This may be the only chance of having a child of our combined blood…but I want both of us to make this decision. If you can't accept and love Angel, then I'll detach from her."
"Do you love her?" "Yes, I think I do. She is the child of our blood and as such, I feel a connection to her. Don't you?"
He was met with utter silence.
Kurama could do nothing but sigh and continue moving. His feet were becoming painful from all the walking and his arms finally started to register the weight of Angel's body. The muscles seemed to slacken with every step. He feared that he would drop her any second. It was overly apparent that he was tiring.
"Hand her over," Hiei said as he reached for the girl.
"It's alright, Hiei-san." A weak voice suddenly spoke up before Kurama could reply. "I can walk on my own."
The demon couple looked on in surprise as the girl's eyelids slowly opened. After refocusing her eyes to her current surroundings, she placed an arm around Kurama's neck. Kurama, recovering from his surprise, finally registered what she was trying to do and slowly lowered his arm to place her feet gently on the ground. He then carefully let go of her but stayed close enough to catch her should she fall. Luckily, she didn't.
"When did you regain consciousness?" asked Kurama, now smiling and happy.
"I do not know the exact time but I would say around fifteen minutes ago," answered Angel.
"That means you heard everything," Hiei stated simply.
Angel lowered her head to hide her face and replied to an emotionless voice, "Yes, I heard."
"Angel, we were only- "
"It's alright, Kurama-san," interrupted Angel, "You don't have to explain." She raised her head to look the redhead in the eye and then bowed. "I would like to thank you both for going through so much trouble to take care of me. And don't worry, I'll leave now so I will no longer be a bother."
She turned to leave but a hand reached out and firmly grabbed her arm, preventing her from departing. "You're dying, Angel," explained Kurama, cutting straight to the chase, "And if you leave now alone, you'll probably be dead within two weeks."
"I understand," Angel answered, "And I appreciate your warning. But I was never meant to exist in the first place. No one will miss me."
"I care, so no matter what, I'm going to find a way." Kurama looked over at Hiei. "Alone, if I must." He then turned his attention back to Angel "And regardless of how you came into existence, you are alive now. Don't throw your life away."
The girl just stared at him for a long time but eventually, she nodded and accepted the meaning of his words. Kurama let out a sigh of relief and smiled.
"Arigatou, Kurama-san."
"Does that mean you'll be accompanying me to the Oracle?"
"If she knows the way to my salvation, then yes," answered Angel. She then cracked a small smile at her redheaded father.
"Hiei, will you be joining us?" asked the fox.
"Hn."
"What is your update?"
"Sire, everything is going according to plan."
"Perfect. The next phase will now begin."
End of Chapter Three
Finally finished another chapter. More of the plot revealed and hopefully that got rid of some of the confusion. But there's more to come! Hehehehe! ^_^ Anyway, please review.
