~Chapter 6~
Kurama nudged Arisa a bit as they reached the Dragon Black Topped Mountains. Arisa opened her eyes and looked up at Kurama with her ice blue eyes and blinked. "
"What's up Kurama?" she asked in a tired tone.
"Is the blade of your sword suppose to glow red like that?"
She blinks her ice blue eyes and looks down at the sword. Her black ears twitch a bit as she pulls her hood off her head and holds it up. "So, we're close, I'm guessing."
Nova looked over at her and blinked. 'What does that mean Arisa?"
DragonCloud, Makenshi, and Vash all looked over at Arisa. She blinked her ice blue eyes and looked at them. "Well…this sword has the power to find the one I'm looking for. The one I'm trying to keep from Yusuke."
"Oh," they all say in unison.
Arisa nodded as she grabbed the sword by the hilt and pulled it out of the sheath. She blinked a bit more looking at the blade glowing red. I've never seen it glow red before. Blue and green are the only colors I've seen it turn. I wonder if it is actually because the sister sword is close. Hmmm, I just don't know. I never learned when the sword would turn red. The note never said. It said when the blade glows red, follow thy heart. For love will lead you to the sword and a true prize indeed. I wonder what it means. Gah. All this she thought to herself as she as she watches the blade of the sword glow red.
About 20 minutes later they reached a cave in Dragon Black Topped Mountains.
"WAIT! Stop here!"
Nova looked back at Arisa. "Why?"
"Because. I have a feeling we should stop here."
DragonCloud blinked and looked at Nova and nodded. "We should believe because she has been right so far. So why stop trusting her word right now?"
"You have a good point Miss Cloud," Vash said.
DragonCloud blinked and looked over at Vash and smiled a little bit. "No need to call me Miss, just Cloud will do," then she blinked once more and then added, "or Dragon, just not DC. I hate when people call me DC," she looked over at Arisa while she was saying it.
A sweatdrop appeared on the side of Arisa's head as she looked at the blade. Vash scooted over to Arisa and looked at the blade. "Hmmm…never knew of a sword with a blade the glows red."
Arisa blinked her ice blue eyes and looked at Vash. "Well, it also glows Blue, and green. Blue when its disabling dark magic's and green when a demon is close by. But I have never seen it glow red before."
After that Arisa's mind went back to the note she found when she got the sword. When the blade glows red, follow thy heart. For love will lead you to the sword and a true prize. But, she thought, what is the true prize? What could be the true prize? She looked back down at the sword and just watched it.
Suddenly she got a funny feeling in her heart. She closed her eyes and saw something. Then she opened her eyes and looked at Kurama with worried eyes. Kurama looked at her and blinked. He could see the worry in her eyes, as could everyone else.
"Arisa," he started, "what's the matter? What's wrong?"
Arisa just sat there looking at him with her worried eyes. Then she placed a fake smile on and shook her head. "Nothing. Just started thinking about some bad things, that I shouldn't have been thinking about."
"Oh, well if that's the case, what were you thinking about?"
"Nothing important to worry you or anybody else about, because I won't let my worrying get to me, or to any of you. I won't let any of you get hurt, no matter what the cost is for me.
Then suddenly a gray mist appeared around the dirigible. Arisa's eyes grew wide with worry and once more Kurama looked at her as the others drew out their weapons. Kurama walked over to her and placed his arm around her shoulder. "Don't worry Arisa."
Arisa looked up at him and shook her head. "I'm not worried."
DragonCloud looked back at her smiling as bit. "Well, your eyes say different Arisa," DragonCloud pointed out.
"Yes, that they do Arisa."
Arisa blinked and shook her head once more. "No need to worry, I know that. I won't let anything happen to my friends," she told herself under her own breath.
She tightened her grip around the black hilt of the blade as it started to glow a brighter red.
Vash looked at her and so did Nova.
"What do you plan on doing Miss Arisa?" Vash questioned.
"Going out there. Open the door Nova."
"NO! You can't! If we loss you then…" she got cut off by Arisa walking over and opening the door herself. She then looked at Nova with her caring ice blue eyes. "I won't let anything happen to my friends. Like I said before. No matter what the cost."
"So, to keep your friends safe…you would have yourself killed?!" DragonCloud yelled out going into tears.
Arisa looked over at her with her ice blue eyes. She then closed them and nodded. "Yes." She opened her eyes back up looking out the door to the gray mist. "I would do anything for my friends Cloud, and I know you would to if you had the power to stop it. I know what we're up against and if I don't fight this dragon myself, and had you guys help…you'd all die. No matter how hard I were to try and stop it, you guys would die."
Kurama walked forward and over to her. "Is that what you saw Arisa?"
DP looked back at him. As she looked at him her eyes filled with tears. Then she nodded slowly looking back out the door. 'It is. I didn't want to worry you guys for it was the first time I saw something like that. In my whole life, nothing like this has happened to me. Yeah so what, I had a few when I was a kid about what the demon's I was fighting were going to do next. So it helped me and kept me a live for this long. I dunno," she sighed shaking her head. "I guess I'm suppose to interfere with these things. I'm doing this because I know I have to. Plus there is no way one little dragon is going to stop me from continuing on," She then placed her hand on the back of her cloak. She pulled it off and tossed it to the side. "Heh, now…time for me to be off."
She turned around and smiled to all her friends as she then jumped out of the dirigible. Everyone ran to the door and watched her as she fell and then soon spread out her dark blue angelic wings and fly off towards the source of the mist.
Nova closed the door as Kurama sat down and closed his eyes. DragonCloud and Makenshi sat down next to one another. DragonCloud laid her head against Makenshi's shoulder with a sigh and closed her eyes, not falling asleep though. Nova and Vash did the same. Vash sat down next to Nova and she laid her head on his shoulder closing her own eyes.
Makenshi looked over at Kurama and sighed a bit as Kurama returned his gaze.
"Do you think she'll be okay Kurama?" Makenshi asked as he looked down at the ground.
"Sure, but not to be rude or anything, why do you care if Arisa will be okay?"
"Because, she's the one who saved me from a terrible fight. She risked her life to save me. And so did Cloud along with Nova. But Arisa did the most. And she's a friend. I met her before I had met any of the others. She was the on who introduced me to DragonCloud," Makenshi sighed some more.
"Gee, I hope Miss Arisa will come back safely. I'd sure hate for anything bad to happen to her, after all she has risked for her friends," Vash added in as he looked down at Nova, whom, by the way, had fallen asleep. "Heh, she's asleep."
"I don't blame her for falling asleep," Cloud suddenly spoke out. "She's tired out. Stopping the dirigible here is giving her time to rest. It's giving us all time to rest."
"Yes, you do have a point there DragonCloud," Makenshi said.
"I wonder what's going on with Yusuke," Kurama suddenly brought up.
"I wonder what's going on with Arisa," DragonCloud sighed.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~Yusuke~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
"Come on!" Yusuke shouted out.
"Can't we just take a break buddy."
"Yes, Yusuke we need a break. Its not easy for us."
"No! We have to find Hiei and then get to that sword before Kurama and them."
"Why? I don't see the point in trying to get the sword when only DP can seek it out."
"Heh, I have to try and get it from her…wait, you said her just seeking it out, and nothing about her being the only one to touch it."
"Yes, only her and the spirit detective can handle that sword."
"What!? She lied to me!!! That girl lied to me!!" Yusuke shouted out.
"Heh, seems like she did Yusuke buddy."
"Oh shut it Kuwabara. Come on, we need to find Hiei.'
Yusuke started to walk again as Botan and Kuwabara stayed put. Botan and Kuwabara looked at one another shaking their heads. 'Do you think Yusuke will ever figure out that Hiei is on the dirigible that Arisa is on?" Botan asked.
"Nope. He couldn't figure it out if his life depended on it."
"Yeah, I guess you have appoint. Oh well, we might as well let him think we are going the right way."
"Yep."
Botan and Kuwabara followed Yusuke again as they "looked" for Hiei. Who had been on the dirigible the whole time.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~Dark Princess~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
She looked around in the air wondering where it was.
"Gah! Where is this blasted dragon?!"
Then out of nowhere the dragon appeared behind her with its mouth opened. Suddenly she was grabbed out of the way before the dragon closed its mouth on her.
She looked at who had saved her and was surprised to see that it was Botan.
"Botan!? I thought you and Kuwabara were keeping Yusuke out of my way!?"
Botan smiled and looked at her as Arisa flew next to her oar. "Kuwabara has that job now. I told Yusuke that I had other business to attend to in the Spirit World."
"Oh, well you might want to get to the dirigible."
"Why? Because of that dragon?"
"Yes. I don't need you to get harmed. So just go on back and tell them that I'm fine. I'm sure everyone is really worried, especially Kurama."
Botan nodded as she headed off towards the area the dirigible was in.
Arisa continued to look around for the dragon. "Where did it go!?" she yelled a little bit.
Then suddenly a loud roar came from behind her as the dragon suddenly appeared. Arisa turned around and held her sword out in front of herself. The dragon opened its mouth and blew out fire at her. She quickly ducked under the fire and the dragon followed her every move. She tried to slash at it, but it was no good. The dragon just ducked right under it or moved to the side.
The dragon continued to attack her as well, but she dodged out of the way. She started to think to herself as she was dodging its fire, how am I suppose to beat this thing if I can't even hit it. Just then the sword started to glow red once more. She blinked and looked down at it. The dragon stopped where it was at and looked at the glowing sword as well. She blinked her ice blue eyes and looked up at the dragon. She noticed this was her chance and that if she didn't take it, her and her friends would most likely be killed.
She charged at the dragon with the sword glowing. Now as she charged it started to glow blue more then red. She held the sword up over her head and brought it down at the dragon. The sword missed hitting the dragon, the dragon flew further away from her and roared about to breath fire when out of the sword came a blue light at the dragon forming a slash. "STARLIGHT SLASH!" The slash hit the dragon, as blue light formed around it and then, when the light vanished the dragon was gone.
Arisa slowly made her way back to the dirigible. She opened the door and landed as she folded her wings behind her back and made them vanish, she reached down on the ground and grabbed her cloak. She placed the cloak on and sat down as everyone crowded around her asking her if she was okay, except Kurama and Makenshi.
She looked at them and then leaned her head on Kurama's shoulder, closed her eyes, and fell asleep.
Everyone blinked and looked at one another then back at her. Then they all looked at Kurama. He sat there looking at her as he smiled. Makenshi smiled some as he looked at Arisa and then looked at Kurama. Makenshi and Kurama looked at one another and nodded then Kurama went back to watching Arisa as Makenshi sat down.
Everyone sighed as they sat back down where each of them were before.
"Botan, what happened to Arisa?" DragonCloud asked.
"I don't know. She made me come here right after I saved her," Botan responded.
"Saved her?!" Nova and DragonCloud half shouted in unison.
"Bingo. But, it wasn't that bad. She seems to have found out how to use that sword that was left to her. Or at least one of its powers."
"Botan, do you know anything about this sword we are after. Or this sword Arisa has right now?" Kurama asked as he looked at her.
"I know a little bit, not a whole lot. Very little is known about this sword Arisa has right now and the sword she is seeking. Hiei you can come and join us now. Anyways, the sword, which Arisa has in her position, now, has a power inside of the blade. The power appears at different time according to what is going on around the person holding it. She seems to have figured out the starlight slash technique. That's is the attack formed when the blade turns blue. That's pretty much all that is known about that sword. The sword we are seeking, I don't know much about because Lord Koenma refused to inform me on it." Botan informed them.
"The sword we are seeking right now has more powers then the sword Arisa has right now," Hiei spoke up. "The sword is extremely powerful. It could take out 7 dragons with one slash attack. The blade has more magical powers endowed into it. It also has the powers of white magic and black magic. The sword Arisa has right now is only dark magic. That's all I know about these swords."
"Wow, that powerful huh?" DragonCloud spoke up after there had been silence for about 10 minutes.
"I can't believe Arisa has that much power in her hands, and will have more soon," Nova said.
"I know. But why does she have to have this sword to find the one she is seeking?" Makenshi asked.
"Because, the swords are related. This sword DP has right now, Darkness Star, is the sister of the sword she is seeking, Artemis. So of course the sword can seek the other out. Artemis was hidden for everyone because of the power that it holds. Nobody has been able to control it," Hiei informed as he looked at Kurama. "You do know Kurama, that she might not be able to control that sword's power. It could kill her."
Kurama nodded. "Yes Hiei, I know it could. But…" Kurama started before Nova and DragonCloud cut him off.
"KILL HER?!?!" They yelled in unison. "Nobody ever told us about this!"
"I believe Arisa can handle the sword's power. Every other person who has had Artemis in their position has tried to use it for their own good. Not anybody else's. Arisa is doing this for her hometown, for her friends, for the ones she cares about the most. So I believe in her," Kurama protested. Then he looked up at Hiei. "And you should believe in her as well Hiei."
Hiei looked at Kurama oddly and then looked away to the ground with that attitude look on his face. "Why should I?" He looked back at Kurama. "Tell me why I should believe in her as well."
"Because she's a lot more powerful then you think she is Hiei. She's done a lot for her city, her friends, and even some of her enemies, trust me, I should know about the enemies. She saved me and I was trying to kill her for no reason, no matter how badly she got hurt trying to save me, she refused to give up," Makenshi responded for Kurama.
Hiei looked at Makenshi and blinked. "I don't think I asked you," he said coldly.
"Hiei, he said exactly what I was going to say. I know I can't say anything about the enemies, but I do know she won't give up no matter how badly she is wounded. She'll never give up. She's just as stubborn as you are Hiei," Kurama backed Makenshi up.
DragonCloud looked at Hiei. "Do you plan on believing in her now Hiei? Because I know I believe in her, and so does Nova, Makenshi, Botan, Vash, and Kurama. I also believe Kuwabara believes in her, our whole hometown believes in her. A lot of people believe in her, why do you think he hasn't given up?"
Hiei looked over at DragonCloud and blinked once more. "Are you saying she takes on fights knowing she may get hurt badly or even killed because she…"
"Doesn't want to disappoint anyone that believes in her. Yep. That's exactly what I mean. And when Nova or I tell her to stop and give up she refuses. Like Kurama said she's just as stubborn as you can be, if not more."
"Heh, I didn't think that was possible," remarked Nova.
"Shut up," Hiei snapped at Nova.
Arisa woke up and smacked Hiei on the head with a fan she pulled from her sleeve. "Don't tell her to shut up. She's stating a fact."
Hiei glared at Arisa and then shook his head, knowing he wasn't going to win, he leaned his back up against the wall of the dirigible and closed his eyes, crossing his arms over his chest.
Everyone laughed a bit as they looked at him giving up.
"I can't believe Hiei gave up," Nova laughed.
"Neither can I," remarked DragonCloud.
Hiei mumbled a few things as they kept laughing a little.