Kenshin: "Hanyou stay up after midnight to finish this for you, so you better review."
Me: *yawn* "Uh, yeahI don't own Ranma 1/2, Demon Diary, Inuyasha, Yu-Gi-Oh, or anything else that turns up"
=^o.o^=
The cold midnight breeze made me shiver as it blew around my untidy hair. I was thankful that they had such a thing as a hairbrush in the wold of the Demon Lord, and that Erutis had had a spare one. I winced in pain as I remember the pain I had gone through to try to brush my hair out of that braid I had worn since this morning. Or had it been last night? I didn't know how time differed between our wold and theirs.
I pulled the cloak tighter around me for warmth. I actually love cold weather, and this was paradise for the moment. It had finally dawned on me that this was real and really happening. At first it had all been as if inside a dream: fun and exciting, but bound to end soon to the tune of your alarm clock. But that hadn't been the case. I did not wake up in my bed after falling asleep from exhaustion on the spare bed in Erutis's room. I had woken exactly where I had fallen asleep. I wasn't sure how long it had been since I had come here, but I had either not slept long or slept for days, because it looked as if the sun was about to rise.
It was obvious that something was going on. Eclipse seemed to be acting pretty dodgy, and Kenshin was refusing to fill me in. Takumi had been missing, even though everyone claims he has gotten into worse trouble before. Erutis claimed there had been strange reports from the nearby marketplace. And from what I had heard, the others were here: Jamie and Cassidy, along with Set who was wandering around somewhere in the castle. And people do not get sucked into other worlds for no reason.
"You usually aren't an early riser."
I sprang back into the present.
"Why are we out here? Can we go back inside now?"
I turned to Kenshin standing next to me.
"You don't have to be standing out here."
Kenshin snorted.
"I prefer not to depend on a helpless girl's eyes to see."
"Helpless? I was able to survive a Crusader, and the word you use is helpless?"
"You're being attacked by a Crusader, and what do you do? Stab its eyes?"
"At least I didn't run around screaming like a girl, like some do."
"You fell 20 feet."
"And survived."
"And what if you didn't? You shouldn't have been up there in the first place."
I had started yelling, while Kenshin was arguing in a normal tone.
"Maybe I wouldn't have if you hadn't run of saying 'I have better things to do'.
"I did not say that. And there were important things to discuss."
I had run out of things to say except for that one last resort.
"Why do you care anyway? If I die, you'll just come back as someone else."
Kenshin looked at the moon and didn't answer. I sighed. At the moment, I was the victor.
"What time is it, anyway?"
"Exactly 3:17 AM on Thursday morning. You have been missing in your world for forty-nine hours and sixteen minutes. The sun should begin to rise in one hour, fifty-six minutes."
"I need to know how many seconds too."
Kenshin ignored me and continued to stare at the moon.
"Look, Ken, I just wanna know how long we're going to be here."
That got his attention.
"Since when did you call me Ken?"
"Don't try and change the topic."
Kenshin sighed. "I don't know. I really don't know."
"Is there anything you can tell me?"
"Not at the moment. Not until Set shows up."
I sulked. "Oh, I get it. It's some crazy spirit thing."
"Not exactly."
"Whatever." I turned to walk back to the room I was staying in.
"Riyo, stop."
Even though I didn't have to obey to such a command, I stopped and turned back to him.
"What?"
He was gone. I noticed that my night vision had greatly improved.
Take off your ring, Kenshin's voice rang in my head from his soul room.
"Dang, Kenshin," I mumbled. "Must you do this?"
Shut up and take off the ring.
"Can't make me," I mumbled.
Would you prefer to end up in my soul room permanently?
"Fine," I mumbled as I pulled of the ring to summon it into its weapon form. I remembered how once I had to suffer trying to have a conversation with Set on the phone because he "accidentally" locked Jamie into his soul room. When I finally got through to her, she didn't seem to pleased. "What do you want now?"
"You to be more aware of your surroundings!" Kenshin shouted through me as he used my body to whip around and slice off the head of some shadow creature creeping up behind me. It screamed in pain as it returned to the darkness from which it came. The apparition quickly faded away until all that remained was a single small black stone where it had stood.
Don't touch it!
Kenshin appeared in his physical form and picked up the stone. He inspected it carefully, then handed it to me.
"Should be safe. Keep it by you, and don't loose it."
Kenshin looked at the setting moon and twitched his nose uncomfortably. "Can we go in now?" he said in a slightly whinny voice.
I sighed. "You go ahead. I'm going to look for Jamie. I have a suspicion that she's up already." I looked hopefully at Kenshin. "Maybe she just might have and idea of where Set is."
Kenshin crossed his arm from the freezing breeze. "Fine. But keep in mind that I didn't get as much sleep as you did."
=^o.o^=
Takumi lay in wait as he watched Riyo and Set walked towards his hiding place. His tail twitched nervously. Kenshin shouldn't be able to locate him with the charm he had used. But then again, his magic had become rusty from lack of use. He had not expected his uncle to find him here.
"Are you sure you know your way around here?" Riyo questioned
"Um, not exactly."
Riyo aimed a whack at his head.
"But I'm sure that this was the way Erutis lead her," Kenshin quickly added.
"Well, as long as I keep track of the way back to Erutis's room"
Takumi sighed with relief. They had stopped looking for him. He could now carry on without being noticed. Takumi waited until he could no longer hear their footsteps to jump down from the top of the column he had been hiding on. He'd be able to find them later, when they were least expecting. But for now, it was a good thing he knew the castle so well. While the two were wandering around lost, Takumi could sneak in and finish a little business he had waited so long to finish. Do it tonight, and he wouldn't have to worry about it for a few more decades.
Takumi gave himself a running start and began to glide down the corridor. As he felt the breeze blow through his hair, the light of the setting moon glinted off the ruby on the index finger on his right hand. He pulled the gold ring off his finger as he landed in front of a closed door. Takumi couldn't help but chuckle to himself. To think that Kenshin was still wandering around the castle without a clue while what he was seeking was so close by.
The wooden door opened easily, just as he'd expected. The only rooms with high security were Raenef's and Eclipse's. Of course, if they had known what else was going on here, maybe that wouldn't be so.
There was only one person sleeping in the room. Obviously Set had yet to come out of hiding. This was perfect. He could strike fast, make a run for it, and then keep low until his uncle left. And he would finally get a load of worry off his back. For a while, at least.
Takumi stood beside Jamie's sleeping form and rose the sword parallel to her neck. He hardly ever used it, so it should have been sharp enough to slice right through. Takumi grinned.
"Farewell. See you in the next century."
Takumi began to swing the sword down upon his victim. CloserTakumi could hear the whirling of the blade. So closereally closethe sword stopped a few inches above her neck, and swung back over his head. Takumi refrained from yelling in surprise for fear of waking her. So closeso close to freedom.
"Oh, no," said a cold voice. "I have feeling we'll be seeing each other again quite soon."
Takumi loosened his grip on the sword, and turned around to meet his attacker. Set stood there, gripping the edge of the blade with his right hand. He was gripping it so hard that blood was dripping done the golden metal. He seemed slightly out of breath, as if he had arrived there in a great rush.
"Let go of my sword."
Set cocked an eyebrow. "Your sword?"
Takumi gulped. "If I let go of it, you'll kill me."
Set sighed. "Yes, I probably would. An if you don't I'd probably kill you anyway." Set raised his other hand and a dark ball of energy appeared. "Unlike you, I still have a free hand."
Takumi gulped again. He was in a tight spot. If he remain there, he was most likely going to be killed. If he let go of the sword and ran for it, he'd still probably end up dead, either from decapitation or dark energy. Even if he got away, Set would get him sooner or later. And he'd be leaving behind a perfectly good sword. For now, what he needed was to stall for time, and look for and opening. And he knew just the trick.
"Why are you so thirsty for revenge? I mean, it's just a stupid little sword."
Set's eyes narrowed. "Stupid little sword? First of all, never refer to a weapon as stupid and little. And second of all, both you and I know that this weapon, which, by the way, you were about to kill both me and my hikari with, is much more than it seems. And you know what happened on that day that you stole this sword from me? You, a little bastard, stealing from me, a professional grave robber? Along with that sword went my dignity and honor. And I wouldn't mind getting that back."
Takumi was glade that he often had to practice keeping a poker face. He had succeeded in not calling attraction to what was behind Set.
"I give you permission to whatever to my nephew after all of this get straightened out."
Set whirled around without letting go of the sword. Kenshin and Riyo stepped out of the shadows. They almost looked as if they had walked a mile to get there. Actually, with Kenshin leading, it was quite likely that they had walked a mile to get there.
Set put on a begging face. "Oh, please? Can't I at least maim him right now? What could be so urgent that-"
"We were attacked by a servant of the dark."
Set expression totally changed. "What? Here? How could they have found us already? There are only two so far!"
Kenshin shrugged. "Dunno. There was only one. Most likely it was just sent out to look around. We got it before t could report back."
Set was too baffled to notice Riyo walk up and grab on to the middle of the blade.
"Let go. Both of you."
"No!" both Takumi and Set barked. Everyone fell silent as Jamie groaned and turned onto her side.
"Set," reminded Kenshin. "You know the rules."
Set loosened his grip.
"Takumi"
"But Uncle Kenshin"
"Why shouldn't he hurt you? I did warn you."
Takumi whimpered and slowly let go of the sword. He braced to be sliced. Instead, Set let go along with him.
"Thank you," said Riyo. She set the sword down at the foot of Jamie's bed and looked around. "Now all I wonder is where's Cassidy." Just as she said that, there was a loud crash and a high pitched scream.
=^o.o^=
Laurie couldn't help but feel content at the moment. She had finally gotten her hands on the fifth Ranma 1/2, after weeks of reminding Jamie. She had had hardly any homework, her sister was at her friends, and her mom had finally stopped bugging her. No she could read in peace. For some reason she felt guilty about Riyo. She had felt like it was her fault she was missing. It had always been her job to make sure all her friends didn't get into to much trouble. What ifLaurie tried to shake the thought from her mind. Riyo had a tendency to wander off from the group. Her independence often made others nervous, and tended to get her into trouble. This time, she probably just wandered off too far. She would probably turn up soon.
Laurie tried to stop thinking about it by reading Ranma 1/2. She was relieved to see that Ranma did not get eaten by a shark, but disappointed to find out hat neither did Akane. Laurie was totally into the book when she heard a crash in her sister's room next door. She jumped with surprise, then sat there totally frozen on her bed.
"Dang, Bakura," said a strange voice. "Are you sure this is the right place?"
"Well, how am I supposed to know?" said another voice with a British accent. "I've never been here. Ask the mortal."
"I-I don't k-know. I've never b-been h-here," said a nervous third voice that Laurie definitely recognized. How could she forget the voice of a person that much of a perverted sense of humor. She winced. What the hell was he doing in her house?
"Useless," said the second voice. "I told you he wouldn't make a good hostage. He was probably why we ended up here."
Laurie hear footsteps come towards her door.
"Well, there's got to be some way out."
Bakura walked right in without noticing her.
"C'mon, we have to get there before the rest."
Marik followed in dragging Max behind him. Laurie hoped that they really couldn't see her and that they weren't just ignoring her. Too bad. Max saw her right away.
"You! You're the taller girl with the poofy hair!"
Bakura and Marik caught sight of her.
"You know her?"
"Yeah, she's friends with that girl you're looking for."
Marik grinned. "A much better hostage." He dropped the ropes he had been holding Max by. Marik grabbed one of Laurie's arms and Bakura grabbed the other, dragging her off the bed.
"Wait, what do you think your doing!" Laurie yelled. She struggled out of Bakura's grip, but he quickly grabbed her again.
"We don't have much time! We'll tie her up at the next place we land!" Bakura yelled. He pulled out a bronze sword, and a swirling door of silver appeared in Laurie's room.
"Wait!" called Max. "Aren't you going to untie me?"
"Why should we?" asked Marik.
"Let's go," barked Bakura.
And with that, Bakura and Marik jumped into the swirling mass of silver, dragging Laurie along with them.
TO BE CONTINUED
