^_^ Only a chapter or two to go! Keep those reviews comin'!
Naoko Kensaku: ^_^; Sorry. I didn't know if you meant to count it as a review. Your story's doing really well... except people won't review it.
Woodsmaster: Thank you!
Yaoi-Rules: Thanks again!
CrazedAnimeFanGirl: O.o *pokes* Are you all right?
Aoi Me: *cringes* Mrrr! Don't hurt me! Gomen about the prologue. And yeah, you were really close. It's just that the rest of the fics will have the pairing as already there and I had to establish it somehow.
Well, on to the fic.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Angels, Demons and Sacrifices
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Eventually, the Reikai Tantei came to a huge set of doors. They stopped, eyeing the doors warily.
"Kuwabara, do you sense anything in there?" Yusuke asked.
"Hold on a second."
Kuwabara closed his eyes and tried to sense what lay beyond those doors. He could sense traces of the girls' spirit energy, overlaid by the unclean power he had felt earlier. He shuddered and moved away from that. Checking around, he couldn't sense anything else major. Except...
There was something, there, in the back of the room. Barely enough to be noticeable, it pulsed slightly. He came a little closer. It seemed so faint... but the longer he stared at it, the greater it seemed. It was like staring into a puddle and seeing it deepen into a pool... then an ocean...
"Kuwabara? Kuwabara!"
He jerked and stepped back from the spot. Now that he looked at it from a distance, it didn't seem so bad after all. Probably just a ghost. Still... you couldn't be too careful...
He came back into his body and opened his eyes. "The girls are definitely in there, and they're being held by a lot of energy," he reported. "And there's a slightly bad spot near the back we don't want to go near."
"All right, then let's go," Yusuke said.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
When pushed, the doors creaked open with a terrible groan.
~I don't like this,~ Kurama thought. ~It seems far too easy - like a trap. But we have no other choice.~
In the gloomy darkness of the huge room, only one thing could be seen clearly - the glow of the girls' cage. They moved towards it cautiously.
Suddenly, a glowing cage sprang up around them. Before any of them could move, a ceiling had appeared, closing it off. "What?!" Yusuke immediately fired the Spirit Gun he had held ready.
It bounced off the wall and headed straight back at him.
"Aaaah! Everybody duck!" Yusuke hit the floor, along with Kurama. Hiei simply dodged it. But Kuwabara stood his ground, getting out his Spirit Sword. When the bullet came to him, he whacked it with the flat of the blade, and it bounced to the ceiling and faded.
"Finally."
All of them got up and stared angrily at this man. "Kuwabara, I thought you said no one was here," Yusuke hissed.
Kuwabara stared at the man. "I couldn't feel his spirit energy... and I still can't. I don't think he has any spirit energy. His aura's like a vortex with his shields down. It just sucks in whatever you throw at it."
"I have waited for this day for such a long time," Vironem continued, as though he hadn't heard them. "The time is at hand. When Thalkarsh rises, he will feast upon your souls, and be as mighty as he once was. But first-" Now he turned back towards the girls' cage. "-he needs a final sacrifice. Now, who shall have the honor?..."
Medra and Shizuru both had a grim expression their faces, thinking ~I'm not going down without a fight...~ Yukina stood back, frightened, but determined to freeze the evil priest if he got near her. Botan hovered in the background, looking worried but unable to do anything. Which left...
"Keiko," Vironem breathed. "You shall be the sacrifice."
"NO!!!!!"
Yusuke was shouting and pounding on the walls of the enclosure, but Vironem didn't even appear to notice. He kept his eyes fixed on Keiko's.
"She won't go!" Medra declared fiercely. "We'll keep her here!"
"Oh, will you?" the priest smiled.
Keiko's eyes went blank, and she started moving towards the wall as if in a trance. All four tried to hold her back, but the wall that she walked through as though it were water seemed like cement to them. She walked straight up to the altar and laid down on it.
Yusuke kept pounding on the walls. His spirit energy was increasing to nearly dangerous levels. "Hey, watch it, Urameshi!" Kuwabara yelled as he was pushed to the opposite side by a stray blast of spirit energy.
"I won't-" -pound- "-let Keiko-" -pound- "-be a-" -pound- "sacrifice!!!!"
In a final burst, his energy soared-
Vironem, poised over Keiko with a knife inches away from her heart, looked up-
-just as the walls started to fracture.
CRACK!!!!!!
Suddenly, the walls shattered. The priest stepped back, a stunned look on his face. "B-but... h-how..." he stammered. "Those walls were made to be proof against any spirit energy!"
Yusuke stood, radiating spirit energy in a visible aura, with two pissed-off demons and a furious human behind him. "Guess you underestimated us," he said in a low, dangerous voice.
For the first time, Vironem seemed to realize exactly how bad his situation was. He tried to back away, babbling the beginnings of a spell...
"Spirit Gun!"
"Rose Whip!"
"Spirit Sword!"
"Dragon of the Darkness Flame!"
... but he didn't get far before their rage caught up with him.
Keiko blinked and shook her head. Yusuke rushed to her side, asking, "Are you all right?" Meanwhile, Hiei and Kurama had gone over to the girls' cage and quickly disabled it.
"Finally!" Medra exclaimed. "I was beginning to think we'd never out of there."
"Thank you for saving us," said Yukina shyly, which launched Kuwabara into an epic tale of his heroic exploits. Hiei growled under his breath and looked ready to beat up Kuwabara, until Kurama put a gentle hand on his shoulder.
"Well, guys-" They looked up to see Yusuke bringing Keiko down from the altar. "Let's go home."
All of them nodded and headed for the doors. They were stopped by a low chuckle. Yuske's eyes narrowed, and they slowly turned around.
Vironem's body had sunk out of sight into a swirling black vortex that had opened up behind the altar. And rising up from that space was a huge, dark figure. "Thank you..." it said in a deep, rumbling voice.
"...for bringing me back."
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
O.O He's alive! You guessed it - Vironem was the final sacrifice. I know demons aren't usually supposed to kill humans, but Koenma gave them special permission in this case, seeing as how Thalkarsh was a threat to all three worlds.
*looks over chapter again* T_T Am I losing my touch?! This chapter also sucked. Gomen. Please, stay with me... there's one more chapter, and the next fic will be better, I promise...
Naoko Kensaku: ^_^; Sorry. I didn't know if you meant to count it as a review. Your story's doing really well... except people won't review it.
Woodsmaster: Thank you!
Yaoi-Rules: Thanks again!
CrazedAnimeFanGirl: O.o *pokes* Are you all right?
Aoi Me: *cringes* Mrrr! Don't hurt me! Gomen about the prologue. And yeah, you were really close. It's just that the rest of the fics will have the pairing as already there and I had to establish it somehow.
Well, on to the fic.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Angels, Demons and Sacrifices
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Eventually, the Reikai Tantei came to a huge set of doors. They stopped, eyeing the doors warily.
"Kuwabara, do you sense anything in there?" Yusuke asked.
"Hold on a second."
Kuwabara closed his eyes and tried to sense what lay beyond those doors. He could sense traces of the girls' spirit energy, overlaid by the unclean power he had felt earlier. He shuddered and moved away from that. Checking around, he couldn't sense anything else major. Except...
There was something, there, in the back of the room. Barely enough to be noticeable, it pulsed slightly. He came a little closer. It seemed so faint... but the longer he stared at it, the greater it seemed. It was like staring into a puddle and seeing it deepen into a pool... then an ocean...
"Kuwabara? Kuwabara!"
He jerked and stepped back from the spot. Now that he looked at it from a distance, it didn't seem so bad after all. Probably just a ghost. Still... you couldn't be too careful...
He came back into his body and opened his eyes. "The girls are definitely in there, and they're being held by a lot of energy," he reported. "And there's a slightly bad spot near the back we don't want to go near."
"All right, then let's go," Yusuke said.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
When pushed, the doors creaked open with a terrible groan.
~I don't like this,~ Kurama thought. ~It seems far too easy - like a trap. But we have no other choice.~
In the gloomy darkness of the huge room, only one thing could be seen clearly - the glow of the girls' cage. They moved towards it cautiously.
Suddenly, a glowing cage sprang up around them. Before any of them could move, a ceiling had appeared, closing it off. "What?!" Yusuke immediately fired the Spirit Gun he had held ready.
It bounced off the wall and headed straight back at him.
"Aaaah! Everybody duck!" Yusuke hit the floor, along with Kurama. Hiei simply dodged it. But Kuwabara stood his ground, getting out his Spirit Sword. When the bullet came to him, he whacked it with the flat of the blade, and it bounced to the ceiling and faded.
"Finally."
All of them got up and stared angrily at this man. "Kuwabara, I thought you said no one was here," Yusuke hissed.
Kuwabara stared at the man. "I couldn't feel his spirit energy... and I still can't. I don't think he has any spirit energy. His aura's like a vortex with his shields down. It just sucks in whatever you throw at it."
"I have waited for this day for such a long time," Vironem continued, as though he hadn't heard them. "The time is at hand. When Thalkarsh rises, he will feast upon your souls, and be as mighty as he once was. But first-" Now he turned back towards the girls' cage. "-he needs a final sacrifice. Now, who shall have the honor?..."
Medra and Shizuru both had a grim expression their faces, thinking ~I'm not going down without a fight...~ Yukina stood back, frightened, but determined to freeze the evil priest if he got near her. Botan hovered in the background, looking worried but unable to do anything. Which left...
"Keiko," Vironem breathed. "You shall be the sacrifice."
"NO!!!!!"
Yusuke was shouting and pounding on the walls of the enclosure, but Vironem didn't even appear to notice. He kept his eyes fixed on Keiko's.
"She won't go!" Medra declared fiercely. "We'll keep her here!"
"Oh, will you?" the priest smiled.
Keiko's eyes went blank, and she started moving towards the wall as if in a trance. All four tried to hold her back, but the wall that she walked through as though it were water seemed like cement to them. She walked straight up to the altar and laid down on it.
Yusuke kept pounding on the walls. His spirit energy was increasing to nearly dangerous levels. "Hey, watch it, Urameshi!" Kuwabara yelled as he was pushed to the opposite side by a stray blast of spirit energy.
"I won't-" -pound- "-let Keiko-" -pound- "-be a-" -pound- "sacrifice!!!!"
In a final burst, his energy soared-
Vironem, poised over Keiko with a knife inches away from her heart, looked up-
-just as the walls started to fracture.
CRACK!!!!!!
Suddenly, the walls shattered. The priest stepped back, a stunned look on his face. "B-but... h-how..." he stammered. "Those walls were made to be proof against any spirit energy!"
Yusuke stood, radiating spirit energy in a visible aura, with two pissed-off demons and a furious human behind him. "Guess you underestimated us," he said in a low, dangerous voice.
For the first time, Vironem seemed to realize exactly how bad his situation was. He tried to back away, babbling the beginnings of a spell...
"Spirit Gun!"
"Rose Whip!"
"Spirit Sword!"
"Dragon of the Darkness Flame!"
... but he didn't get far before their rage caught up with him.
Keiko blinked and shook her head. Yusuke rushed to her side, asking, "Are you all right?" Meanwhile, Hiei and Kurama had gone over to the girls' cage and quickly disabled it.
"Finally!" Medra exclaimed. "I was beginning to think we'd never out of there."
"Thank you for saving us," said Yukina shyly, which launched Kuwabara into an epic tale of his heroic exploits. Hiei growled under his breath and looked ready to beat up Kuwabara, until Kurama put a gentle hand on his shoulder.
"Well, guys-" They looked up to see Yusuke bringing Keiko down from the altar. "Let's go home."
All of them nodded and headed for the doors. They were stopped by a low chuckle. Yuske's eyes narrowed, and they slowly turned around.
Vironem's body had sunk out of sight into a swirling black vortex that had opened up behind the altar. And rising up from that space was a huge, dark figure. "Thank you..." it said in a deep, rumbling voice.
"...for bringing me back."
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
O.O He's alive! You guessed it - Vironem was the final sacrifice. I know demons aren't usually supposed to kill humans, but Koenma gave them special permission in this case, seeing as how Thalkarsh was a threat to all three worlds.
*looks over chapter again* T_T Am I losing my touch?! This chapter also sucked. Gomen. Please, stay with me... there's one more chapter, and the next fic will be better, I promise...