^_^; Sorry for not updating for so long! Gomennasai!
Yaoi-Rules: Hey! Thanks for being my faithful reviewer and enjoying the fic.
CrazedAnimeFanGirl: I see you're back. ^_^ Hope you like this one.
Squeakers: Hello once again. Thanks for reading this.
All right, I'd better get started on this chapter. Enjoy!
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Angels, Demons and Sacrifices
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
"Ow! Hey, watch it!"
Botan was dumped unceremoniously into an enclosure by two ugly demons. She rubbed her side and yelled, "Let me go or you'll get a life sentence in Reikai prison! I mean it!"
"It won't work."
Botan turned to see Keiko, Yukina, Shizuru and Medra. Shizuru was the one who had spoken.
"We've tried everything short of actually breaking out and wringing their necks," Keiko explained. "It just doesn't seem to affect them."
Slightly discouraged, Botan turned to examine the place they were in. "Where are we?"
Yukina said timidly, "We haven't figured that out yet."
They were in an enclosure that was roughly the size of a living room. Glowing, light blue walls surrounded them, as well as a sheet of it overhead, closing the structure off. Strong metal bars stood at the corners.
Seeing Botan's expression, Medra said, "We've tried everything we can think of to break the walls - physical force, spirit gun, swords, freezing... After the Spirit Gun bounced back and nearly killed us, we decided not to try anymore."
"So there's no way of getting out?" Botan demanded.
"None that we can think of."
Medra leaned against the wall. She hoped Kurama would be able to find them. She was bored out of her mind, and they still didn't know why they had been captured. And now Botan was here, too. ~Trapped in a box with a bubblehead...~ Medra could not suppress a bitter laugh. ~Geometric irony.~
"So... I hope you all are enjoying your stay."
Medra stiffened and turned towards the voice, crouching in a fighting stance. All the others turned, ready to fight, as well. (Well, perhaps with the exception of Yukina, who looked more like a startled deer...)
A tall man was standing just outside of their cage, his face half-hidden in shadow. As he moved towards it, a shaft of murky light fell upon his features. He was bald, with black eyes, and wore a hooded robe with the hood down. He seemed normal enough - until you looked into his eyes. They were cool and calculating, and behind them the mind of a true religious fanatic.
"Why don't you just let us go already, you creep?!" Shizuru snarled.
"Oh, no, my dear," he said silkily. If he had had a mustache, he would have twirled it. "I have plans for you."
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
"Well... here we are."
Yusuke, Kurama, Hiei, and Kuwabara stood staring at the old, run-down building. Kuwabara shivered. "Hey, you guys, I'm getting a really weird vibe off of this place. The power that's being used... it feels... unclean."
"Well, that matches up with what Koenma told us perfectly," Kurama stated, his eyes fixed on the building.
"Yes," Hiei agreed.
Yusuke looked a little blank. "Sorry, guys, I must have missed that part. What did he say about power?"
Hiei gave him a scornful glance. "I'll explain more once we're inside."
"Yeah, let's go."
They ventured into the derelict building, unknowing of what it had in store for them.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
"Why don't you tell us what these 'plans' of yours are?" Medra snapped.
"Gladly, my dear," he smiled smoothly.
Medra ground her teeth. ~That 'my dear' thing is really getting on my nerves,~ she thought.
In the true tradition of evil villians, the priest had started to tell them of his evil plans. "A long time ago, in the Makai, there was a great and terrible god named Thalkarsh."
"What is this, a bedtime story?!" Shizuru spat.
The priest only looked mildly amused. "Patience, my dear, patience."
"As I was saying, Thalkarsh rose to power swiftly, borne on the lives of his followers. Eventually, he was able to challenge the ruler of the Spirit World, Enma. But Enma beat him down and imprisoned him in a poket dimension, from which it seemed there was no escape. Then he had all the supporters of Thalkarsh exterminated." His face showed his contempt for the "great" ruler of the Reikai.
"Luckily, one of his loyal followers escaped, and came to this world. He gathered up a few faithful men, of which I was one, and attempted to free Thalkarsh. However-" His face darkened. "Your government found out about this and destroyed him at the last minute. Then they pitifully tried to cover up what was obviously an attack on forces they couldn't control." He spat on the ground.
"I escaped."
"For years, I have been biding my time, sacrificing people when I could, waiting for the right day for Thalkarsh to return. Now, only one more sacrifice is needed." He grinned evily. "That's where you come in."
"You see, a person gives off a great amount of spirit energy when they're about to die. This energy is maximized if the person goes through pain and torture before death."
"Blood magic," Botan whispered fearfully.
"Yes, that's right," the priest said, nodding in Botan's direction.
"So why the five of us, if you only needed one?' Keiko asked bravely.
"After such a long time trapped in that pocket dimension, Thalkarsh's power will be low," the priest explained. Then he grinned. "Your family and friends will make the perfect snacks."
All five gasped. ~He's going to sacrifice them-~
~It's a trap!~
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Yusuke punched out the center of yet another demon. "Geez, do these things ever stop coming?" he remarked sarcastically. "They remind me of those Cultivated Humans back at Maze Castle!"
"I know what you mean, Urameshi," Kuwabara said, decapitating another with his Spirit Sword. "There. That's the last one."
"Let's go then," Kurama urged, and they set off to find the girls.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Dun dun DUNNNNN...
Oh yes, I'm evil. Yet another cliffie. I apologize for the crappy writing. I'll make it up to you, I swear. Next chapter - they get their revenge! Or do they?... Review to find out! Ja!
Yaoi-Rules: Hey! Thanks for being my faithful reviewer and enjoying the fic.
CrazedAnimeFanGirl: I see you're back. ^_^ Hope you like this one.
Squeakers: Hello once again. Thanks for reading this.
All right, I'd better get started on this chapter. Enjoy!
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Angels, Demons and Sacrifices
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
"Ow! Hey, watch it!"
Botan was dumped unceremoniously into an enclosure by two ugly demons. She rubbed her side and yelled, "Let me go or you'll get a life sentence in Reikai prison! I mean it!"
"It won't work."
Botan turned to see Keiko, Yukina, Shizuru and Medra. Shizuru was the one who had spoken.
"We've tried everything short of actually breaking out and wringing their necks," Keiko explained. "It just doesn't seem to affect them."
Slightly discouraged, Botan turned to examine the place they were in. "Where are we?"
Yukina said timidly, "We haven't figured that out yet."
They were in an enclosure that was roughly the size of a living room. Glowing, light blue walls surrounded them, as well as a sheet of it overhead, closing the structure off. Strong metal bars stood at the corners.
Seeing Botan's expression, Medra said, "We've tried everything we can think of to break the walls - physical force, spirit gun, swords, freezing... After the Spirit Gun bounced back and nearly killed us, we decided not to try anymore."
"So there's no way of getting out?" Botan demanded.
"None that we can think of."
Medra leaned against the wall. She hoped Kurama would be able to find them. She was bored out of her mind, and they still didn't know why they had been captured. And now Botan was here, too. ~Trapped in a box with a bubblehead...~ Medra could not suppress a bitter laugh. ~Geometric irony.~
"So... I hope you all are enjoying your stay."
Medra stiffened and turned towards the voice, crouching in a fighting stance. All the others turned, ready to fight, as well. (Well, perhaps with the exception of Yukina, who looked more like a startled deer...)
A tall man was standing just outside of their cage, his face half-hidden in shadow. As he moved towards it, a shaft of murky light fell upon his features. He was bald, with black eyes, and wore a hooded robe with the hood down. He seemed normal enough - until you looked into his eyes. They were cool and calculating, and behind them the mind of a true religious fanatic.
"Why don't you just let us go already, you creep?!" Shizuru snarled.
"Oh, no, my dear," he said silkily. If he had had a mustache, he would have twirled it. "I have plans for you."
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
"Well... here we are."
Yusuke, Kurama, Hiei, and Kuwabara stood staring at the old, run-down building. Kuwabara shivered. "Hey, you guys, I'm getting a really weird vibe off of this place. The power that's being used... it feels... unclean."
"Well, that matches up with what Koenma told us perfectly," Kurama stated, his eyes fixed on the building.
"Yes," Hiei agreed.
Yusuke looked a little blank. "Sorry, guys, I must have missed that part. What did he say about power?"
Hiei gave him a scornful glance. "I'll explain more once we're inside."
"Yeah, let's go."
They ventured into the derelict building, unknowing of what it had in store for them.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
"Why don't you tell us what these 'plans' of yours are?" Medra snapped.
"Gladly, my dear," he smiled smoothly.
Medra ground her teeth. ~That 'my dear' thing is really getting on my nerves,~ she thought.
In the true tradition of evil villians, the priest had started to tell them of his evil plans. "A long time ago, in the Makai, there was a great and terrible god named Thalkarsh."
"What is this, a bedtime story?!" Shizuru spat.
The priest only looked mildly amused. "Patience, my dear, patience."
"As I was saying, Thalkarsh rose to power swiftly, borne on the lives of his followers. Eventually, he was able to challenge the ruler of the Spirit World, Enma. But Enma beat him down and imprisoned him in a poket dimension, from which it seemed there was no escape. Then he had all the supporters of Thalkarsh exterminated." His face showed his contempt for the "great" ruler of the Reikai.
"Luckily, one of his loyal followers escaped, and came to this world. He gathered up a few faithful men, of which I was one, and attempted to free Thalkarsh. However-" His face darkened. "Your government found out about this and destroyed him at the last minute. Then they pitifully tried to cover up what was obviously an attack on forces they couldn't control." He spat on the ground.
"I escaped."
"For years, I have been biding my time, sacrificing people when I could, waiting for the right day for Thalkarsh to return. Now, only one more sacrifice is needed." He grinned evily. "That's where you come in."
"You see, a person gives off a great amount of spirit energy when they're about to die. This energy is maximized if the person goes through pain and torture before death."
"Blood magic," Botan whispered fearfully.
"Yes, that's right," the priest said, nodding in Botan's direction.
"So why the five of us, if you only needed one?' Keiko asked bravely.
"After such a long time trapped in that pocket dimension, Thalkarsh's power will be low," the priest explained. Then he grinned. "Your family and friends will make the perfect snacks."
All five gasped. ~He's going to sacrifice them-~
~It's a trap!~
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Yusuke punched out the center of yet another demon. "Geez, do these things ever stop coming?" he remarked sarcastically. "They remind me of those Cultivated Humans back at Maze Castle!"
"I know what you mean, Urameshi," Kuwabara said, decapitating another with his Spirit Sword. "There. That's the last one."
"Let's go then," Kurama urged, and they set off to find the girls.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Dun dun DUNNNNN...
Oh yes, I'm evil. Yet another cliffie. I apologize for the crappy writing. I'll make it up to you, I swear. Next chapter - they get their revenge! Or do they?... Review to find out! Ja!