On the Scale of Osiris
Chapter Four: My grave will give you light.
Botan hesitated before flying off, her oar hovering in the air a little ways above Kurama's head. "Are you sure you want to do this?" she asked one more time.
"Perfectly sure Botan. There's something I need to see."
"Then I can wait for you-"
"No." Kurama turned to smile at Botan. "I'll be fine, really."
Botan gave in, not understanding why Kurama suddenly needed to go back to the ruined arena of the Dark Tournament. But she respected Kurama enough to give him the benefit of the doubt that he knew what he was doing.
Kurama waited until he was sure that she had gone before he began walking towards the charred remains of the Tournament arena.
Nothing seemed to have changed from what Kurama remembered. It was all rubble from the arena's destruction. Kurama didn't even have the courage to scan the area, his human logic having long since caught up with his feelings. So what if he wanted Karasu back among the living for some reason that he still wasn't sure of, it didn't change the fact that Karasu was dead. Yes, it was about here that he had knelt, unfortunately in the "down" position so that the end result was that he lost the match in the Dark Tournament's eyes. Karasu looked down on the ground he stood upon. Here, right at this very spot was where he had unleashed the bloodthirsty plant that had destroyed Karasu. Kurama's eyes traced the ground where the shadow of the plant had fallen, the familiar scene playing though his mind. The green tendrils had speed along their course, growing bolder and stronger as they identified the source of blood which they hungered for. Kurama could almost see the tendrils even now, as if they were really there snaking their way towards the demon who was preparing to kill him, winding about his figure as the largest tendril attached itself to the small cut on his chest and began sucking the life source out of him. Kurama blinked as he watched the memory, but where the green tendrils faded as he looked at the real grounds, the figure did not. Kurama's eyes widened slightly.
He didn't move, just watched Kurama watch him. Golden strands played about his shoulders in the small puffs of wind that didn't seem to notice the tension in the air. But finally he spoke, his voice flowing over the air as it had during the Tournament and in Kurama's nightmares, spoke the words that had haunted Kurama for three days now even though it seemed like an eternity.
"The nightingale takes wing, its special song to sing, Come follow me this night, my grave will give you light." The figure smirked, "But how could you find a grave that does not exist, dear Kurama?"
"Why have you come back to haunt me Karasu?" Kurama asked bluntly. "Going through all the trouble of possessing a human is a bit much even for you."
Karasu laughed, the sound that sent involuntary shivers up Kurama's spine. "Nothing as complicated as that, my fox. The spell is a good one, and there is nothing that power cannot come up with in the Makai."
Kurama frowned.
"You didn't kill me, Kurama. Think very carefully and you will undoubtedly come to understand. Do you remember exactly how I 'died'?"
"All to well."
"You must have heard your team's analization of me, that I drew my power into my own body. In this form, my heart actually stops beating so that the explosive power which I gather into myself can travel freely through my bloodstream and therefore effect all of the cells in my body. By this same token, when the now dormant blood is sucked out of my body, my organs continue to thrive on this same power. Had the Tournament not been so impatient to get to other rounds and clear the arena for the next fight, I would have died as my control would have lasted only so long. But-" a predatory grin became prominent on Karasu's face, "-this was not the case."
"And you were able to replace the blood you lost."
"I knew you would come to understand."
"That still does not explain the human appearance and power signature."
"Makai is ancient, Kurama, something you should know well. There are spells for everything, ways to make the impossible an everyday reality."
"There is no spell to make a demon a human."
"Quite wrong, but it is a fairly recent creation, so therefore something that would have passed over you as you were in the human realm. And something that would have passed under Koenma's radar as it is sold on the "black market", as all the humans would refer to it."
"But why go through all the effort just to bring me to this place again?"
Karasu smiled and Kurama felt a chill begin to work its way up his spine.
"You should be able to figure that out as well kitsune." And part of him had figured out why Karasu had brought him here, and could only praise the demon for his resourcefulness, but the other half was only beginning to understand, as the other demon began walking slowly towards the kitsune.
"My people tend to live in seclusion, Kurama. Not that it is forbidden to leave and see the world, but we just normally choose not to. Sometimes I think my greatest error was leaving that place, but then sometimes I think I should go back and destroy it. You see, Kurama, it is very hard to live the same life style outside of our home. Everything is structured, from naming children, to teaching them how to fight, to mating. The last of which is the hardest thing to do outside of our race. The ceremony can be quite beautiful, at least in my mind. A challenge is set from one to another. If the challenge is accepted, they fight. No one has to win, and therefore no one has to loose, but blood must be spilt on both sides. Only then, after they have spilt blood for each other, do they mate.
"I am not your mate, Karasu."
Karasu's eyes glittered. "Really? I doubt that. When you first had the vague idea that I might be alive, the thought consumed you. Don't deny it, fox, I watched it happen. By the time you had seen the poem in its entirety, you longed for your irrational thought to be true. You might not have known why, but you did."
His yoko instincts were practically howling for Kurama to just agree all ready and jump the human-looking demon that n ow stood only an arms length away from Kurama. And for the first time Kurama did not listen to his instincts.
"No."
Karasu's eyes glittered, "Then we'll see how long you last, kitsune, before you change your mind."
One week. One week had passed since Karasu had issued the ultimatum of "We'll see how long you last" and Kurama was now caught in the aftereffects. Karasu had completely vanished from Kurama's life and had left the kitsune utterly alone. It had taken a few days to see the results. He had started to stop caring. His grades had dropped enormously, and now his mother was worried too. But he would be damned before he let her take him to a shrink.
Now, lying in bed, Kurama's eyes were locked on the dresser drawer in which were locked the only clues he had of Karasu's existence. And like some drug addict, Kurama was suffering. That's what Karasu was, Kurama had decided. A drug. Like a steady poison, the longing now flowed through Kurama's veins, urging him to do something, anything, to satisfy the need. It was just to much. It really was.
"Well Kurama, you dug this hole, now you have to climb out of it." he murmured to himself. Karasu had offered him a way out and yet he had not taken it. Well, now he would. The only thing to do now wa to find Karasu.
Kurama stood and walked to the window Hiei was so fond of using instead of the door. Slowly at first, then gaining speed, his limbs began to lengthen. His hair began to lose it's color, the strands becoming longer and more wispy than his normal crimson locks. His eyes became cat-like and glittered with anticipation as he silently opened the window. The youko was on the prowl.
Karasu stiffened momentarily sensing the sudden movement of his youko. A slow smile crept across his face. So his youko was coming. That hadn't taken as long as he thought it would. Moving away from the bar, Karasu walked towards his room. It wouldn't take the youko long to find him, but he might want a little help.
Once inside, Karasu let go of the spell that held him in human form, regaining his demon shape and power. He instantly felt the youko begin moving in his direction. Leaning against the wall, he waited. He didn't have to wait long.
Kurama barely fought with the lock on the door before it opened smoothly, revealing the room it had kept him from and the demon that he was looking for.
"Lock the door behind you, Kurama. We wouldn't want any humans to come in here, now would we?" The sensual voice drifted around Kurama's ears and the kitsune fought down a shiver. The door locked quietly behind him and he turned to look at the demon standing at the other end of the dimly lit room.
"What do you want, Kurama?" The question hung in the room for a moment, flitted around like a breeze, before Kurama answered.
"You."
The kitsune pounced, bringing his mouth down upon Karasu's own in a brutal kiss. Karasu's tongue slid along his in a sensual dance as the two fought for dominance. Breaking away slightly Karasu murmured, "Then let me give you what you came for."
Kurama growled as he was pinned to the wall, Karasu's lips and tongue working their way down his neck.
"Stop with the foreplay Karasu."
The demon's eyes glittered. "Now why would I want to do that?" Karasu found himself thrown on the bed with and irate and lustful kitsune on top of him.
"Because if you don't hurry up and take me, I'll take you."
Karasu easily flipped their positions. "Very well then."
Hiei's eyes shifted open and he stretched slightly. Then the fire demon the figured out what had woken him from his sleep and groaned. Sometimes the Jagan was too much, he decided. Well, in this instance he wondered if even someone like Kuwabara would be able to sense the spike in two demon energies. One screamed in a mix of pleasure and pain, as the other lapped up the blood from the bite mark he had just inflicted on his mate. Hiei smirked. At lease it made sense to him that if you felt all the "blood" draining out of your body at one time, you'd become a bit paranoid about making sure you still had blood in your body. Hiei shifted and turned over on the branch he was sleeping on. He could go say, "I told you so," to Koenma later. After all, he had understood what was going on long before the toddler had.
Koenma fought back the urge to groan as he looked at the fire demon across the room from him.
"I must say it's surprising that you would vouch for any demon's extended use of the human realm, Hiei, much less Karasu's."
Hiei didn't move. "Karasu and Kurama are bonded. To separate them like that for an extended period of time would kill them both." he spoke bluntly.
Of course that did make sense. Blunt sense, but sense. Koenma would never purposefully destroy any of those working for him, and now this meant making sure Karasu had contact with the human realm periodically. Damn it all.
"I will work something out Hiei. Karasu is a demon, and thus dangerous."
"So am I. So is Kurama."
"But while you both have proven yourselves trustworthy, Karasu has not." And will not for that matter, Koenma spoke under his breath. "I said I would work something out Hiei, and I will."
Hiei seemed satisfied and left. Koenma sat for a long time thinking. This development was something he would have to think over. Karasu would not allow harm to come to Kurama if he were to be allowed in the human realm, but Karasu had killed quite a few humans during his short stay... even if he had used conventional human methods. Yes, something would have to be worked out, and soon. Koenma could sense something bleak was approaching the human world, a feeling which he had started to have since a few weeks after the Dark Tournament ended. At first he had thought it was because of Karasu, but now it seemed that he had been wrong. The thing he sensed held more evil for mankind than Karasu did, especially at the moment, and it seemed to be growing. Yes, he would have to do some serious work to figure out exactly what was going on and to somehow work out an arrangement for Karasu and Kurama. Arg, he thought sullenly as he resigned himself to an afternoon of steady work. Why couldn't things ever be easy.
The End
Author's Note:
Thank you so much to everyone who reviewed, it meant a lot to me. But here's the question I'm posing to you. This story is finished, but as you all know, the post Tournament plot doesn't end there so... should I write a (longer) sequel that deals with the whole demon portal with the AU twist of Karasu being alive and mated with Kurama? Leave your thoughts in a review please! And we'll see what happens from there.
signed,
Rio the FlowerofBlackFire
