Disclaimers- I still don't own Yuyu Hakusho or Weib Kruez but I still wish I do.
Blood
Dark
Dust
Danger
These were just the few things she noticed when she tried to take a deep breath and found herself coughing. That's when she felt the heavy body on top of her. Hair fell on her face and when she tried to pull her right hand dust started pouring on top of her. She coughed again and found that her right hand was wedged between and who was on top of her. She tried to feel where her left hand was and felt it wedged above a head and the tons of rubble above.
Head?
She concentrated on moving her hand and feeling where her hand was. She was right, she felt hair on her fingers and a sticky substance on them. She cursed softly and tried to find the wound where the sticky substance came from. Her hand strained at the small space it was trying to get and she heard the unmistakable crack of bones breaking, she pushed that feeling away and found the wound, it was still gushing with blood. She cursed again and placed her hand on top of the wound to protect it from anything that might fall.
Yuko felt the steady heart beat of the person above her and knew who it was. She cursed softly again but then smiled. It had seemed that she's been cursing again too much. She strained to remember how they got in that predicament. She remembered blacking out before the rubble above her buried her but hearing a voice tell her that everything would be all right and as if by reflex she outstretched her hand beyond the person's head and protected them. However it had seemed that the minute she had lost consciousness she also dropped the shield crushing her hand and the body with the rocks and rubble. She concentrated on lifting her head to look over her body but all she saw was rubble. She felt pain and knew the rocks below were already penetrating her skin because of the weight that was above her. She knew it would be a while before they could get them out and unfortunately there was no time for it, there was no time to wait. She first needed to know how they were buried or trapped so she closed her eyes and concentrated a part of her energy in feeling her way around the both of them.
She found that Kurama's head was beside her, on her right, one of his arms were above their heads, the other one across her near her left head. She was under him, protected by his body but compared to Kurama she was in a much tighter position, her right hand was under Kurama's chest and her left was on top of the back of his head. She could wedge it out but the rubble would pose a problem. She opened her eyes as Kurama started to stir. He moved his head shifting some of the rocks and dust. Yuko concentrated on sending some ki to mend the bones and the skin on her left hand. That done she then concentrated on sending some ki unto Kurama's wound to close it and heal it. He stirred again and turned a little to look at Yuko.
"You all right?"
"I should be the one asking that, I'm not the one with a whole pile of rocks above me."
"Well I can't complain."
Yuko smiled and concentrated in putting the shield up again around them pushing the rubble a few inches above them. Kurama felt the shift of the rocks above his back and started to move and use his hands to support him, he looked down at Yuko and kissed her on the top of her forehead. Yuko looked at him and caressed his cheeks with her right hand.
"I never knew you had to go through all that."
"Neither did I but when Kathrin exchanged her soul for mine and it was returned to me; I just did."
"What do you plan to do?"
"The only thing I can do. I will kill my father and save Subete and you guys as well."
"Don't change Subete by going in the crystal; I don't want to lose you."
"There's no other way and you are not losing me."
"There is, find it."
"Ready to get out of here yet?"
"Whenever you are."
Yuko smiled and gather energy on her hands to blast through the rubble when light exploded through her surrounding blinding her for a moment, looking up she saw Kathrin looking at them. Yuko sent the energy heading her way and jumped out of the pile bringing Kurama with her. She landed near the location of their side and brought Kurama to lean on the wall.
"I need to save Kathrin first."
"Be careful."
"I will."
Yuko turned to face Kathrin as Kurama went to join the battle with the king. Yuko and Kathrin made their way towards each other. When they were a fair distance with each other, they started raining assaults towards the other. They moved around the now destroyed stadium trying to make the other person fall and drop. Yuko gathered energy and sent this towards Kathrin who was sent towards the seats. Yuko quickly went to Kathrin's side and sent a quick surge of energy through her body. She jumped back and waited for Kathrin's reaction. When Kathrin looked at her there was a sad smile on her face as she attacked Yuko. Yuko blocked and evaded her. She could see the tears streaming down her face but her attacks were still as powerful as she had started, not even missing a beat.
"Kathrin if you can hear me stop it..."
Kathrin rained more attacks and seemed to attack more than defend. Yuko was slowly being pushed to a corner and wasn't able to move from there because of the attacks she was delivering. Yuko couldn't defend some of the attacks and Kurama was able to help her by engaging Kathrin into a fight so that her attention would be diverted to him and Yuko would be able to get away from the corner. Yuko jumped away from the corner and Kathrin jumped after her, engaging her into the most violent fight they had been in. Powerful attacks collided with each other and sparks of electricity seems to pass through the both of them.
Meanwhile the others were not having any progress with the king either. They had not expected the king to possess enough power to defend from all their attacks. Aya and the other guardians seemed to be having even more problems; they seem to be losing their ability to control their powers and their attacks. Aya had seen a chance and attack the king then but he was expelled with so much force he slammed on the wall drawing blood and creating a dent on the wall. When he stood up the king was already putting up his shields and his "shell."
"You will never defeat me. You see after the successful operation of Yuko I had the scientists do the same experiment on me and this time it was so successful my powers are now triple of what you guardians possess. Hahahahaha."
"Rairan what are we going to do now?"
"We can't let him hide and we can't afford to lose. We have to fight him."
"And that shell thing?"
"Find its weakness. Come on."
They rained the thing with attacks and tried to find the weakness that lies within the shell's surface. They also avoided the colliding attacks coming from Yuko and Kathrin. Kurama would glimpse them from time to time to make sure Yuko was still all right.
Yuko knew there must be something to crack the trance Kathrin was in right now. She had been thinking deep to find a solution that might snap her out of the trance. Her tears had kept falling and her attacks had seemed to sway but only from time to time. Yuko was getting really tired and exhausted. She had used much of her strength and powers under the rubble and the energy field a while ago and it wasn't a walk in the park fighting her best friend since they had grown together, they had trained together and learn to fight together. She had always topped Kathrin but Kathrin was full of determination and untapped potential. Yuko was thinking these thought when Kathrin saw her chance and sent multitude of punches towards Yuko's direction sending her to the wall and seeing her chance again to kill her she had grabbed it.
"Yuko!"
"Rairan, Yuko's in trouble!"
"Kuwabara, can you reach her with the lightning sword?"
"No it's too far."
"Yuko!"
Kathrin had tried to fight the overwhelming darkness inside her. She could not take the fact that she had been fighting her best friend and had not done anything to stop the thing from trying to destroy her friend. She had cried and done her hardest to stop it but she could not. She had given up her own fight until she had seen Yuko fly towards the wall and her body quickly going there to finish the deed. Kathrin had released a new wave of her essence around her body in hopes of stopping the thing before it can kill her friend. When she opened her eyes she saw Yuko's hand glowing and going through her chest, turning around she saw her friend.
Yuko knew it was the only way to talk to her, the only way she could possibly take her friend and hear her explanation. It was the only way to kill her friend and save her. Yuko had found herself looking through her friend's thought and actions and then finding herself face to face to Kathrin. Yuko walked towards her and found the darkness surrounding her like a shield, a barrier. She outstretched her hand and Kathrin did the same. When their hands touched each other Yuko found the answers she was looking for and the reason why Kathrin had exchanged her soul for Yuko's. She found herself crying and Kathrin had wiped it away with her free hand.
"Don't cry, it's meant to be. As long as your father sits at the throne there is no reversing what is happening."
"Must I really sacrifice you to get to that goal?"
"You have gone this far. Don't turn around just because you see destruction and death before you. You can do it, many counts on you."
"But I can't do it. I can't kill you."
"Then I will have to do it myself."
With that Kathrin had let go of her hand and pushed her away. Back in reality Kathrin had pulled Yuko's hand away from her chest and turned around towards the guardians. She moved towards them and Yuko followed her but was not able to catch up, she needed time to get back on her feet from traveling through her darkened mind. She watched as Kathrin powered up and gathered all her strength and power and concentrated in one part of the shell. She turned back to Yuko and smiled gently, the song of the guardians of destiny rose from the depths of Subete, announcing the death of one of them. Yuko struggled to move and when she was able to be beside Kathrin, it was too late. She had released the power, creating an opening in the shell. The king had fired a large amount of power towards Kathrin and Yuko, Aya had pushed Yuko away to save her from the power surge and Yuko watched as Kathrin burned to her death.
"Kathrin!"
"Yuko stay here."
"Kathrin! No..."
The others concentrated on the opening Kathrin had created and slowly they were able to open it and expose the king from his hiding place. New assaults and attacks ensued but most of them were already tired and exhausted causing most of them to be sent to the walls and the ground. Yuko had powered up and raised her hand up on the sky. Calling on the last resources of Subete that she could use she used this last bit of power to heal and give her warriors and herself enough strength to continue the almost unending fight with her father.
"I will destroy you father and end your reign!"
"You can try Yuko but you can never stop me from ruling Subete!"
They had all powered up and continued the attacks they had left. They surrounded the king and rained attacks after attacks on him. Even Yuko was sending attacks to her father, hate and death in her eyes. The king seeing no escape chanted a powerful spell and directed it to the guardians. Yuko had seen this coming but she wasn't fast enough to counter the on coming attack or the spell. Yuko knew what the king was planning and she knew if she doesn't save her friends there was no saving them anymore. The king was planning to send the guardians back to the real world where they would die. Something the king had power over right now and something he could do without failure.
"Rairan!!!"
Yuko runs towards her four guardians but was too late, they were already levitated and headed for an opened portal. She had no choice but enclosed them in a globe like casing suspending them between the portal and Subete. The globe slowly sent the guardians towards Yuko and with it using Yuko's spirit like a faucet. Yuko was able to take Rairan's hand and with all her strength she held on even with the whips and slashes of power whipping behind her.
While this was happening Yusuke and the others fought the king with all their strength and newly acquired powers, as well as the new strength Yuko had fed them with. Of course they were stronger, faster, more powerful but whatever they were throwing to the king, it had seemed that he was able to return it three fold even though they had already been fighting for a while. It had seemed bleak for them all but inside their hearts they knew they could not stop, they could not fail. The fate of the world they live in was at stake. They were pushed to remember those people that gave them courage and strength, Yusuke just thought of Keiko waiting for him, Kuwabara was thinking of Yukina and his sister who would taunt him forever if he had failed. Hiei thought of his sister that was waiting for them to return and Kurama thought of the girl with them, full of sadness and determination and it gave him new determination and courage to continue. He heard the conversation that was happening between the princess and the guardians.
"Princess please let us go."
"No, I'm not letting you leave me again. I'm not letting you go and suffer the fate I saved you from. I'm not letting my father do to you what he had done before. I don't want you to die!"
Pain coursed through her body and at the same time in Kurama's as well. Unknown to Yuko Kurama had fallen from a blast the king had delivered because he was trying to help her with her guardians. He was now suffering more with the sorrow, pain and suffering Yuko was putting up to hold on to her guardians. Yuko had felt the slight pain. She had always been immune to pain and her thoughts were of her friends and her world sending the pain of her love at the bottom of her heart, how painfully it was causing her.
"Iiaah..."
She screamed as one of the more powerful attacks collides with her back. She almost lost her hold on Rairan but she was able to anticipate it and held on to him tighter.
"Princess listen to us if our fate is to die there's no stopping it. You have to let us go and save Subete!"
"No I'm not letting you leave me again!"
"Yuko we'll be all right. We have been encountering dead ends more dangerous than this."
"You have to trust us Yuko."
"We'll be all right."
"I don't want you to die.... I don't want you to die..."
"Yuko listen to me, we have talked about this. The fates have already planned our death. We told you, we will fall when the last letter of the epitaph is written and the book is closed. If you let us go you would be able to save Subete as well as everyone else!"
"I'm not letting you die! I won't watch you die and feel helpless like what I did with my mother and brother."
Tears started streaming down her face from pain or sorrow they were not sure maybe even from both. The power attacks were still batting her back making it raw and red. She was enduring too much and there was no saying when she was going to fall or collapse. They knew she was stubborn and whatever they say she wasn't going to let go, they knew she meant well and that she would not do any of it if she wasn't saying the truth but they could not turn away from their duty, they had done it once and they were not going to commit the same mistake, it was time to die if it was meant to be. Rairan smiled towards Yuko and Yuko knew what they were thinking, their eyes were saying the same thing...
Goodbye...
Rairan pulled his hand away from Yuko's hold causing her to fall back and escape one of the blasts raining her back, disconnecting the shield holding them back and sending them straight to the portal and to their death. Yuko looked up, regarding the pain that had exploded on her back from connecting to the rocks and her raw back; she had shouted after them,
"Rairan, Kenren, Mamomi, Yokan!!!"
When the portal closed the voices of the four guardians echoed in her ears and the different colors symbolizing their powers entered her body indicating the death or lose of the guardians.
"We'll never leave you. We'll always be by your side."
"Rairan!!!"
"Yuko watch out!"
Yusuke stopped a red ball from hitting Yuko by standing in front of her sending him to one of the pillars and under tons of rubble. Yuko was indifferent from the things around her she was more occupied on looking at where the portal used to be. From that space a wall like mirror appeared and showed them what was happening in the real world. Yuko crawled towards it and watched what was happening much to her disgust. She was crying tears of pain, sorrow and hatred. Yuko watched as the final battle between her guardians and Schwartz commenced. Yuko knew too well what was ahead and knew that the only way to stop it was to kill her father. Aya was battling Crawford, Ken was being smashed on one of the pillars by Farfello, and Omi was telepathically smashed to one of the pillars and fell on the ground. He saw Ken being beaten and hurled himself towards Farfello causing Farfello's attention to be diverted to the young man, kicking him over and over again. Yoji on the other hand was battling Schuldig with his wire with not much luck. This was happening while Yuko had looked around at her fallen friends. Kurama was suffering the worst and Yuko hated herself for sending that much pain.
She attacked her father with all her remaining strength and even when she knew it was not enough she continued to rain her attack. Gathering strength from Yuko's attacks the others followed her lead even with their badly beaten bodies; Yuko's mind had only one thought, I'm going to kill him, I'm going to save them, I'm not going to let them die... She was about to deliver a combined attack when something skipped in her heart causing her to look at the mirror like wall. She knew there was no time to look, she knew there was something wrong, she knew what it meant and though she did she could not stop looking at the wall, anticipating the thing that was going to happen causing her to drop down her guard and got hit by the king's attack. She was sent flying to the last concrete wall making rubble fall down and bury her under it. She felt the excruciating pain burst through her whole body but she disregarded this and sent a ki blast to remove the rubble and she turned to the mirror like wall just in time to see the floor under her guardians and the Schwartz collapse burying the eight people under tons of rubble.
She watched as the building collapse slowly and buries the people she had cared for. The building continued to collapse and sink to the lake it was located creating a white cross, the direct meaning of their group WeiB Kreuz. It continued to sink and the cross stood like a monument against the blue water. She was disregarded for the moment giving her time to crawl out towards the wall and look at it earnestly, willing them to surface from the lake. When that did not happen the tears that fell from her eyes were not enough to take even a little bit of the pain she was feeling, the hate that was surfacing and the death she wanted to give her father. She was emitting a silver aura making her noticeable to the other warriors and the king. She stood up, the aura bursting out of her, healing her friends, killing Kurama with the pain, stress and the over power he was receiving and restoring her strength, will and fitness. The dust swirled around her, trapping her inside its vortex.
"RAAAIII-RAAANNN!!!"
The three remaining warriors and even the king turned to the suffering princess. The dust erupted around her and she slowly turned and her features started to shift and change. Her hair was turning a light whitish silver color with a dim white glow. It was growing straight and long, her clothes turned into a flowing, fit off-white color. From her back two white wings started forming and white feathers started falling behind her.
When she was looking at them her eyes were different, they were radiating the same silver glow she has when she was in Youko form but they did not hold any life into them or any light of hope, they were just glowing as if dull. The markings on her face vanished but the marking appeared on her arms but they were lighter, the markings were like Omi's. Her aura was silver but sparks of lightning seem to run on her hands as blue fire erupted around her. She slowly walked towards the king, destroying the things that got in her way. Yusuke and the others moved out of the way but the king was standing his guard, smiling evilly towards her.
"You have been awakened. A worthy opponent now that there are no more obstacles. The chemicals and the blood seems to have altered your features but you are still who you are."
"You will die..."
It was the only thing that came out of her mouth and it sent chills up their spine. It was cold, frosty cold and it seem to send blasts to the direction of the king. Yusuke had checked up on Kurama and when he found out that there was no pulse or life from him he had moved back and shouted.
"Yuko Kurama's dead."
"I know he's dead."
The king looked at Yuko questioningly. Yuko on the other hand smiled bitterly towards him and pulled a long staff from thin air. It looked like crystal, the handle a clear thin crystal ending with a small orb below the color of dark green. Another orb was located on the other side but this time it was slightly bigger and the color of gold. On closer look it looked liked a crescent moon inside a glass orb. There were wings on either side of the orb and it was the color of white and a blue flame topped the staff. She held it carefully showing its fragility, spinning it and then letting it stand beside her.
The king pulled a sword from behind him and attacked the princess. She evaded and used the staff to shatter the sword the king held. The king shook his head and continued his attack by raining Yuko with black aura balls and all Yuko did was twirl the staff in front of her dissipating the balls as they struck her staff.
"Surrender Father. There is no more escape."
"You should be the one to surrender. Join me and let us rule both the real world and Subete."
"No, it would disrupt the balance and the scale. I will not have any part of this."
"Then you will die."
"No father, you will die..."
The king rushed forward towards Yuko and Yuko had just stood there when they had been a few inches apart a blinding light erupted around the stadium. It was only a bit of flash that blinded them but when they looked back the king was gone and Yuko was standing looking at a black pool of liquid. Yusuke and the others went to Yuko and found tears in her eyes as she touched the liquid with the lower part of the staff. The liquid evaporated into black smoke.
It was over...
The king was defeated...
He has died...
The guardians had died...
They had won...
And Yuko was now queen...
Everything was back to normal...
"What's going to happen now?"
Yuko turned to the speaker and nodded towards Hiei.
"I replace the core?"
"Core?"
"Replace?"
"What are you talking about?"
Yuko smiled to them gently. Of course they did not know. Only the guardians knew why she had returned and risked everything. The guardians and the other residents of Subete that treated her as a friend, yes she should not forget Kurama who had told her not to do it, to find another way. They did not know that they had just returned the rightful core to her world. A thing she had escaped and yet had not. There was no use escaping it now.
"Follow me."
She had said simply. Yuko walked towards an opening and while she did they noticed how graceful she moved and how pearl like orbs seem to fall from her. Everything she come across returns to its original beauty and everyone who died along the path rose up again and bowed to them. A door appeared before them and it opened slowly emitting bright light as they entered it. It revealed a giant crystal with a black core, when Yuko walked towards it, it seems to open and the black core slowly disintegrated. When this was happening Yuko turned to them and said,
"This is what I mean. I will replace the core."
"What about Kurama? What would happen then?"
"It's the only way to save him, the only way to change Subete back to normal and return the balance, the only way to return you."
"You had not answered our question."
She was crying now, not tears nor pearls but blood... She was crying with blood. And yet... and yet there were life in her eyes, smile in her lips and finality in her words and movement. Those droplets had not fallen to the ground but dissipated into light and energy as they fell towards the ground. She did not move to wipe them either.
"Yes Kurama is dead. The last blow he received did not kill him but I did. The silver aura a while ago killed him... That and the immense pain I was causing him. It's impossible to explain how and why this happened but it had already happened and there's nothing else to do but accept and repair. Something I'm about to do now."
"There must be another choice?"
"There are no other choices for the people of Subete. The law of Subete must prevail... An eye for an eye... a tooth for a tooth... a life for a life, my life for his... I thank thee for helping u... me..."
Yes, me...
There's no one left anyway...
They are dead...
I can change that but they could never return...
Yes, helping me...
Helping me in returning to the accursed life I tried escaping...
They will live...
They will escape...
Even at the cost of mine...
Yuko bowed to them and made her way towards the crystal and as she did, her life force seems to seep out from her and dissipate out the room, making her glow dull and lifeless, she in fact had seemed lifeless. She entered the crystal and placed the staff behind her. It slowly faded as if consumed by flames. She placed her left hand to her right shoulder and her right hand to her left shoulder and crossed her thighs as her clothes faded as if consumed by fire as well. This was happening as the crystal closed in front of her, making her form hazy and blurred from their sight.
In the stadium where Kurama was left behind, the life energy entered him and slowly the glow of life had returned to Kurama sending him back to the reality of things. He slowly woke up and felt extreme pain explode through his body, mainly his heart. He stood up and started walking, as if following something. He entered the opening since it was calling him. He saw Yuko inside the giant crystal as it closed in front of her. He couldn't believe it. The event that he, they had tried to stop had happened anyway, all their hard work for nothing. He walked passed his bewildered comrades and reached for the crystal. When his hand came in contact to the crystal a girl appeared beside him, looking exactly like Yuko. It smiled and turned to the others.
"It's time to go home."
She said as she waved her hand and opened a portal. She seemed sad and miserable but the smile remained on her lips.
"Go back home, there's nothing more you need to stay here for. The spirit world is back as well as the balance."
One by one they had entered the portal except for Kurama. The girl turned to him, he still touching the crystal and looking intently at the girl inside. She walked towards him and whispered.
"She's not coming back. She chose what she had to do."
"A life for a life. I know..."
"There's no point in staying here. It is over. Subete will go back keeping the balance, oblivious to humans..."
"Then there's no point in living either."
"No, you are wrong. The people of Subete are forever the prisoners of fate. We can't escape it, we have no choice but to follow what is predestined to us. You on the other hand have a choice... There's always something to live for, you just have to find it."
"But our souls, the bond..."
"It was never meant to last, it was never meant to be... It was predestined... The bond was superficial, for you to help, for us to win... Everything in Subete was predestined and it will change because of her choice."
"You lie..."
"I do not..."
"I will not believe that."
"There's no need too, I told you, you have a choice..."
It was over in a flash of light. It blinded him and when he opened his eyes he found himself in Gensai sama's temple. He sighed and placed his hand down. He had a choice? He turned and saw the others heading towards the beach as if nothing happened in a place called Subete, as if Subete never existed. When they got to the beach, Kurama had turned and saw a cliff... The wind whispered to him.
"Look, that's the beach we are heading too in a few days."
She never did get to go. He watched as everyone enjoyed the serenity of the beach and the sunset. Keiko was extremely quiet, he could not blame her, it had been three years and Yusuke has not returned. Kurama had stopped looking at her and turned to the sunset. Just then he heard Keiko shouts to the sun.
"Yusuke! It's been three years! I'm not waiting for you anymore! I can't wait for you anymore! Where are you?"
Kurama smiled bitterly, he knew what Keiko meant, he knew how she felt. Just then they all turned feeling the unmistakable aura of Yusuke and found him standing there holding his bag and looking at Keiko. Keiko rushed to him and hugged him causing the both of them to unbalance and fall on the water. Keiko kissed Yusuke and Kurama felt happy for the both of them and yet he felt...
Sad.
Depressed.
Lonely.
Envious.
Miserable.
Those were just the few words and even then they were not enough to describe how much he had really felt...
"There's always something to live for, you just have to find it..."
It whispered in his ears. He turned but found no one. The wind again... He turned to the lovers playing in the water, Kuwabara playing with them, Yukina enjoying herself. He looked past them and to the sunset...
I will find you...
Owari? (End?)
Blood
Dark
Dust
Danger
These were just the few things she noticed when she tried to take a deep breath and found herself coughing. That's when she felt the heavy body on top of her. Hair fell on her face and when she tried to pull her right hand dust started pouring on top of her. She coughed again and found that her right hand was wedged between and who was on top of her. She tried to feel where her left hand was and felt it wedged above a head and the tons of rubble above.
Head?
She concentrated on moving her hand and feeling where her hand was. She was right, she felt hair on her fingers and a sticky substance on them. She cursed softly and tried to find the wound where the sticky substance came from. Her hand strained at the small space it was trying to get and she heard the unmistakable crack of bones breaking, she pushed that feeling away and found the wound, it was still gushing with blood. She cursed again and placed her hand on top of the wound to protect it from anything that might fall.
Yuko felt the steady heart beat of the person above her and knew who it was. She cursed softly again but then smiled. It had seemed that she's been cursing again too much. She strained to remember how they got in that predicament. She remembered blacking out before the rubble above her buried her but hearing a voice tell her that everything would be all right and as if by reflex she outstretched her hand beyond the person's head and protected them. However it had seemed that the minute she had lost consciousness she also dropped the shield crushing her hand and the body with the rocks and rubble. She concentrated on lifting her head to look over her body but all she saw was rubble. She felt pain and knew the rocks below were already penetrating her skin because of the weight that was above her. She knew it would be a while before they could get them out and unfortunately there was no time for it, there was no time to wait. She first needed to know how they were buried or trapped so she closed her eyes and concentrated a part of her energy in feeling her way around the both of them.
She found that Kurama's head was beside her, on her right, one of his arms were above their heads, the other one across her near her left head. She was under him, protected by his body but compared to Kurama she was in a much tighter position, her right hand was under Kurama's chest and her left was on top of the back of his head. She could wedge it out but the rubble would pose a problem. She opened her eyes as Kurama started to stir. He moved his head shifting some of the rocks and dust. Yuko concentrated on sending some ki to mend the bones and the skin on her left hand. That done she then concentrated on sending some ki unto Kurama's wound to close it and heal it. He stirred again and turned a little to look at Yuko.
"You all right?"
"I should be the one asking that, I'm not the one with a whole pile of rocks above me."
"Well I can't complain."
Yuko smiled and concentrated in putting the shield up again around them pushing the rubble a few inches above them. Kurama felt the shift of the rocks above his back and started to move and use his hands to support him, he looked down at Yuko and kissed her on the top of her forehead. Yuko looked at him and caressed his cheeks with her right hand.
"I never knew you had to go through all that."
"Neither did I but when Kathrin exchanged her soul for mine and it was returned to me; I just did."
"What do you plan to do?"
"The only thing I can do. I will kill my father and save Subete and you guys as well."
"Don't change Subete by going in the crystal; I don't want to lose you."
"There's no other way and you are not losing me."
"There is, find it."
"Ready to get out of here yet?"
"Whenever you are."
Yuko smiled and gather energy on her hands to blast through the rubble when light exploded through her surrounding blinding her for a moment, looking up she saw Kathrin looking at them. Yuko sent the energy heading her way and jumped out of the pile bringing Kurama with her. She landed near the location of their side and brought Kurama to lean on the wall.
"I need to save Kathrin first."
"Be careful."
"I will."
Yuko turned to face Kathrin as Kurama went to join the battle with the king. Yuko and Kathrin made their way towards each other. When they were a fair distance with each other, they started raining assaults towards the other. They moved around the now destroyed stadium trying to make the other person fall and drop. Yuko gathered energy and sent this towards Kathrin who was sent towards the seats. Yuko quickly went to Kathrin's side and sent a quick surge of energy through her body. She jumped back and waited for Kathrin's reaction. When Kathrin looked at her there was a sad smile on her face as she attacked Yuko. Yuko blocked and evaded her. She could see the tears streaming down her face but her attacks were still as powerful as she had started, not even missing a beat.
"Kathrin if you can hear me stop it..."
Kathrin rained more attacks and seemed to attack more than defend. Yuko was slowly being pushed to a corner and wasn't able to move from there because of the attacks she was delivering. Yuko couldn't defend some of the attacks and Kurama was able to help her by engaging Kathrin into a fight so that her attention would be diverted to him and Yuko would be able to get away from the corner. Yuko jumped away from the corner and Kathrin jumped after her, engaging her into the most violent fight they had been in. Powerful attacks collided with each other and sparks of electricity seems to pass through the both of them.
Meanwhile the others were not having any progress with the king either. They had not expected the king to possess enough power to defend from all their attacks. Aya and the other guardians seemed to be having even more problems; they seem to be losing their ability to control their powers and their attacks. Aya had seen a chance and attack the king then but he was expelled with so much force he slammed on the wall drawing blood and creating a dent on the wall. When he stood up the king was already putting up his shields and his "shell."
"You will never defeat me. You see after the successful operation of Yuko I had the scientists do the same experiment on me and this time it was so successful my powers are now triple of what you guardians possess. Hahahahaha."
"Rairan what are we going to do now?"
"We can't let him hide and we can't afford to lose. We have to fight him."
"And that shell thing?"
"Find its weakness. Come on."
They rained the thing with attacks and tried to find the weakness that lies within the shell's surface. They also avoided the colliding attacks coming from Yuko and Kathrin. Kurama would glimpse them from time to time to make sure Yuko was still all right.
Yuko knew there must be something to crack the trance Kathrin was in right now. She had been thinking deep to find a solution that might snap her out of the trance. Her tears had kept falling and her attacks had seemed to sway but only from time to time. Yuko was getting really tired and exhausted. She had used much of her strength and powers under the rubble and the energy field a while ago and it wasn't a walk in the park fighting her best friend since they had grown together, they had trained together and learn to fight together. She had always topped Kathrin but Kathrin was full of determination and untapped potential. Yuko was thinking these thought when Kathrin saw her chance and sent multitude of punches towards Yuko's direction sending her to the wall and seeing her chance again to kill her she had grabbed it.
"Yuko!"
"Rairan, Yuko's in trouble!"
"Kuwabara, can you reach her with the lightning sword?"
"No it's too far."
"Yuko!"
Kathrin had tried to fight the overwhelming darkness inside her. She could not take the fact that she had been fighting her best friend and had not done anything to stop the thing from trying to destroy her friend. She had cried and done her hardest to stop it but she could not. She had given up her own fight until she had seen Yuko fly towards the wall and her body quickly going there to finish the deed. Kathrin had released a new wave of her essence around her body in hopes of stopping the thing before it can kill her friend. When she opened her eyes she saw Yuko's hand glowing and going through her chest, turning around she saw her friend.
Yuko knew it was the only way to talk to her, the only way she could possibly take her friend and hear her explanation. It was the only way to kill her friend and save her. Yuko had found herself looking through her friend's thought and actions and then finding herself face to face to Kathrin. Yuko walked towards her and found the darkness surrounding her like a shield, a barrier. She outstretched her hand and Kathrin did the same. When their hands touched each other Yuko found the answers she was looking for and the reason why Kathrin had exchanged her soul for Yuko's. She found herself crying and Kathrin had wiped it away with her free hand.
"Don't cry, it's meant to be. As long as your father sits at the throne there is no reversing what is happening."
"Must I really sacrifice you to get to that goal?"
"You have gone this far. Don't turn around just because you see destruction and death before you. You can do it, many counts on you."
"But I can't do it. I can't kill you."
"Then I will have to do it myself."
With that Kathrin had let go of her hand and pushed her away. Back in reality Kathrin had pulled Yuko's hand away from her chest and turned around towards the guardians. She moved towards them and Yuko followed her but was not able to catch up, she needed time to get back on her feet from traveling through her darkened mind. She watched as Kathrin powered up and gathered all her strength and power and concentrated in one part of the shell. She turned back to Yuko and smiled gently, the song of the guardians of destiny rose from the depths of Subete, announcing the death of one of them. Yuko struggled to move and when she was able to be beside Kathrin, it was too late. She had released the power, creating an opening in the shell. The king had fired a large amount of power towards Kathrin and Yuko, Aya had pushed Yuko away to save her from the power surge and Yuko watched as Kathrin burned to her death.
"Kathrin!"
"Yuko stay here."
"Kathrin! No..."
The others concentrated on the opening Kathrin had created and slowly they were able to open it and expose the king from his hiding place. New assaults and attacks ensued but most of them were already tired and exhausted causing most of them to be sent to the walls and the ground. Yuko had powered up and raised her hand up on the sky. Calling on the last resources of Subete that she could use she used this last bit of power to heal and give her warriors and herself enough strength to continue the almost unending fight with her father.
"I will destroy you father and end your reign!"
"You can try Yuko but you can never stop me from ruling Subete!"
They had all powered up and continued the attacks they had left. They surrounded the king and rained attacks after attacks on him. Even Yuko was sending attacks to her father, hate and death in her eyes. The king seeing no escape chanted a powerful spell and directed it to the guardians. Yuko had seen this coming but she wasn't fast enough to counter the on coming attack or the spell. Yuko knew what the king was planning and she knew if she doesn't save her friends there was no saving them anymore. The king was planning to send the guardians back to the real world where they would die. Something the king had power over right now and something he could do without failure.
"Rairan!!!"
Yuko runs towards her four guardians but was too late, they were already levitated and headed for an opened portal. She had no choice but enclosed them in a globe like casing suspending them between the portal and Subete. The globe slowly sent the guardians towards Yuko and with it using Yuko's spirit like a faucet. Yuko was able to take Rairan's hand and with all her strength she held on even with the whips and slashes of power whipping behind her.
While this was happening Yusuke and the others fought the king with all their strength and newly acquired powers, as well as the new strength Yuko had fed them with. Of course they were stronger, faster, more powerful but whatever they were throwing to the king, it had seemed that he was able to return it three fold even though they had already been fighting for a while. It had seemed bleak for them all but inside their hearts they knew they could not stop, they could not fail. The fate of the world they live in was at stake. They were pushed to remember those people that gave them courage and strength, Yusuke just thought of Keiko waiting for him, Kuwabara was thinking of Yukina and his sister who would taunt him forever if he had failed. Hiei thought of his sister that was waiting for them to return and Kurama thought of the girl with them, full of sadness and determination and it gave him new determination and courage to continue. He heard the conversation that was happening between the princess and the guardians.
"Princess please let us go."
"No, I'm not letting you leave me again. I'm not letting you go and suffer the fate I saved you from. I'm not letting my father do to you what he had done before. I don't want you to die!"
Pain coursed through her body and at the same time in Kurama's as well. Unknown to Yuko Kurama had fallen from a blast the king had delivered because he was trying to help her with her guardians. He was now suffering more with the sorrow, pain and suffering Yuko was putting up to hold on to her guardians. Yuko had felt the slight pain. She had always been immune to pain and her thoughts were of her friends and her world sending the pain of her love at the bottom of her heart, how painfully it was causing her.
"Iiaah..."
She screamed as one of the more powerful attacks collides with her back. She almost lost her hold on Rairan but she was able to anticipate it and held on to him tighter.
"Princess listen to us if our fate is to die there's no stopping it. You have to let us go and save Subete!"
"No I'm not letting you leave me again!"
"Yuko we'll be all right. We have been encountering dead ends more dangerous than this."
"You have to trust us Yuko."
"We'll be all right."
"I don't want you to die.... I don't want you to die..."
"Yuko listen to me, we have talked about this. The fates have already planned our death. We told you, we will fall when the last letter of the epitaph is written and the book is closed. If you let us go you would be able to save Subete as well as everyone else!"
"I'm not letting you die! I won't watch you die and feel helpless like what I did with my mother and brother."
Tears started streaming down her face from pain or sorrow they were not sure maybe even from both. The power attacks were still batting her back making it raw and red. She was enduring too much and there was no saying when she was going to fall or collapse. They knew she was stubborn and whatever they say she wasn't going to let go, they knew she meant well and that she would not do any of it if she wasn't saying the truth but they could not turn away from their duty, they had done it once and they were not going to commit the same mistake, it was time to die if it was meant to be. Rairan smiled towards Yuko and Yuko knew what they were thinking, their eyes were saying the same thing...
Goodbye...
Rairan pulled his hand away from Yuko's hold causing her to fall back and escape one of the blasts raining her back, disconnecting the shield holding them back and sending them straight to the portal and to their death. Yuko looked up, regarding the pain that had exploded on her back from connecting to the rocks and her raw back; she had shouted after them,
"Rairan, Kenren, Mamomi, Yokan!!!"
When the portal closed the voices of the four guardians echoed in her ears and the different colors symbolizing their powers entered her body indicating the death or lose of the guardians.
"We'll never leave you. We'll always be by your side."
"Rairan!!!"
"Yuko watch out!"
Yusuke stopped a red ball from hitting Yuko by standing in front of her sending him to one of the pillars and under tons of rubble. Yuko was indifferent from the things around her she was more occupied on looking at where the portal used to be. From that space a wall like mirror appeared and showed them what was happening in the real world. Yuko crawled towards it and watched what was happening much to her disgust. She was crying tears of pain, sorrow and hatred. Yuko watched as the final battle between her guardians and Schwartz commenced. Yuko knew too well what was ahead and knew that the only way to stop it was to kill her father. Aya was battling Crawford, Ken was being smashed on one of the pillars by Farfello, and Omi was telepathically smashed to one of the pillars and fell on the ground. He saw Ken being beaten and hurled himself towards Farfello causing Farfello's attention to be diverted to the young man, kicking him over and over again. Yoji on the other hand was battling Schuldig with his wire with not much luck. This was happening while Yuko had looked around at her fallen friends. Kurama was suffering the worst and Yuko hated herself for sending that much pain.
She attacked her father with all her remaining strength and even when she knew it was not enough she continued to rain her attack. Gathering strength from Yuko's attacks the others followed her lead even with their badly beaten bodies; Yuko's mind had only one thought, I'm going to kill him, I'm going to save them, I'm not going to let them die... She was about to deliver a combined attack when something skipped in her heart causing her to look at the mirror like wall. She knew there was no time to look, she knew there was something wrong, she knew what it meant and though she did she could not stop looking at the wall, anticipating the thing that was going to happen causing her to drop down her guard and got hit by the king's attack. She was sent flying to the last concrete wall making rubble fall down and bury her under it. She felt the excruciating pain burst through her whole body but she disregarded this and sent a ki blast to remove the rubble and she turned to the mirror like wall just in time to see the floor under her guardians and the Schwartz collapse burying the eight people under tons of rubble.
She watched as the building collapse slowly and buries the people she had cared for. The building continued to collapse and sink to the lake it was located creating a white cross, the direct meaning of their group WeiB Kreuz. It continued to sink and the cross stood like a monument against the blue water. She was disregarded for the moment giving her time to crawl out towards the wall and look at it earnestly, willing them to surface from the lake. When that did not happen the tears that fell from her eyes were not enough to take even a little bit of the pain she was feeling, the hate that was surfacing and the death she wanted to give her father. She was emitting a silver aura making her noticeable to the other warriors and the king. She stood up, the aura bursting out of her, healing her friends, killing Kurama with the pain, stress and the over power he was receiving and restoring her strength, will and fitness. The dust swirled around her, trapping her inside its vortex.
"RAAAIII-RAAANNN!!!"
The three remaining warriors and even the king turned to the suffering princess. The dust erupted around her and she slowly turned and her features started to shift and change. Her hair was turning a light whitish silver color with a dim white glow. It was growing straight and long, her clothes turned into a flowing, fit off-white color. From her back two white wings started forming and white feathers started falling behind her.
When she was looking at them her eyes were different, they were radiating the same silver glow she has when she was in Youko form but they did not hold any life into them or any light of hope, they were just glowing as if dull. The markings on her face vanished but the marking appeared on her arms but they were lighter, the markings were like Omi's. Her aura was silver but sparks of lightning seem to run on her hands as blue fire erupted around her. She slowly walked towards the king, destroying the things that got in her way. Yusuke and the others moved out of the way but the king was standing his guard, smiling evilly towards her.
"You have been awakened. A worthy opponent now that there are no more obstacles. The chemicals and the blood seems to have altered your features but you are still who you are."
"You will die..."
It was the only thing that came out of her mouth and it sent chills up their spine. It was cold, frosty cold and it seem to send blasts to the direction of the king. Yusuke had checked up on Kurama and when he found out that there was no pulse or life from him he had moved back and shouted.
"Yuko Kurama's dead."
"I know he's dead."
The king looked at Yuko questioningly. Yuko on the other hand smiled bitterly towards him and pulled a long staff from thin air. It looked like crystal, the handle a clear thin crystal ending with a small orb below the color of dark green. Another orb was located on the other side but this time it was slightly bigger and the color of gold. On closer look it looked liked a crescent moon inside a glass orb. There were wings on either side of the orb and it was the color of white and a blue flame topped the staff. She held it carefully showing its fragility, spinning it and then letting it stand beside her.
The king pulled a sword from behind him and attacked the princess. She evaded and used the staff to shatter the sword the king held. The king shook his head and continued his attack by raining Yuko with black aura balls and all Yuko did was twirl the staff in front of her dissipating the balls as they struck her staff.
"Surrender Father. There is no more escape."
"You should be the one to surrender. Join me and let us rule both the real world and Subete."
"No, it would disrupt the balance and the scale. I will not have any part of this."
"Then you will die."
"No father, you will die..."
The king rushed forward towards Yuko and Yuko had just stood there when they had been a few inches apart a blinding light erupted around the stadium. It was only a bit of flash that blinded them but when they looked back the king was gone and Yuko was standing looking at a black pool of liquid. Yusuke and the others went to Yuko and found tears in her eyes as she touched the liquid with the lower part of the staff. The liquid evaporated into black smoke.
It was over...
The king was defeated...
He has died...
The guardians had died...
They had won...
And Yuko was now queen...
Everything was back to normal...
"What's going to happen now?"
Yuko turned to the speaker and nodded towards Hiei.
"I replace the core?"
"Core?"
"Replace?"
"What are you talking about?"
Yuko smiled to them gently. Of course they did not know. Only the guardians knew why she had returned and risked everything. The guardians and the other residents of Subete that treated her as a friend, yes she should not forget Kurama who had told her not to do it, to find another way. They did not know that they had just returned the rightful core to her world. A thing she had escaped and yet had not. There was no use escaping it now.
"Follow me."
She had said simply. Yuko walked towards an opening and while she did they noticed how graceful she moved and how pearl like orbs seem to fall from her. Everything she come across returns to its original beauty and everyone who died along the path rose up again and bowed to them. A door appeared before them and it opened slowly emitting bright light as they entered it. It revealed a giant crystal with a black core, when Yuko walked towards it, it seems to open and the black core slowly disintegrated. When this was happening Yuko turned to them and said,
"This is what I mean. I will replace the core."
"What about Kurama? What would happen then?"
"It's the only way to save him, the only way to change Subete back to normal and return the balance, the only way to return you."
"You had not answered our question."
She was crying now, not tears nor pearls but blood... She was crying with blood. And yet... and yet there were life in her eyes, smile in her lips and finality in her words and movement. Those droplets had not fallen to the ground but dissipated into light and energy as they fell towards the ground. She did not move to wipe them either.
"Yes Kurama is dead. The last blow he received did not kill him but I did. The silver aura a while ago killed him... That and the immense pain I was causing him. It's impossible to explain how and why this happened but it had already happened and there's nothing else to do but accept and repair. Something I'm about to do now."
"There must be another choice?"
"There are no other choices for the people of Subete. The law of Subete must prevail... An eye for an eye... a tooth for a tooth... a life for a life, my life for his... I thank thee for helping u... me..."
Yes, me...
There's no one left anyway...
They are dead...
I can change that but they could never return...
Yes, helping me...
Helping me in returning to the accursed life I tried escaping...
They will live...
They will escape...
Even at the cost of mine...
Yuko bowed to them and made her way towards the crystal and as she did, her life force seems to seep out from her and dissipate out the room, making her glow dull and lifeless, she in fact had seemed lifeless. She entered the crystal and placed the staff behind her. It slowly faded as if consumed by flames. She placed her left hand to her right shoulder and her right hand to her left shoulder and crossed her thighs as her clothes faded as if consumed by fire as well. This was happening as the crystal closed in front of her, making her form hazy and blurred from their sight.
In the stadium where Kurama was left behind, the life energy entered him and slowly the glow of life had returned to Kurama sending him back to the reality of things. He slowly woke up and felt extreme pain explode through his body, mainly his heart. He stood up and started walking, as if following something. He entered the opening since it was calling him. He saw Yuko inside the giant crystal as it closed in front of her. He couldn't believe it. The event that he, they had tried to stop had happened anyway, all their hard work for nothing. He walked passed his bewildered comrades and reached for the crystal. When his hand came in contact to the crystal a girl appeared beside him, looking exactly like Yuko. It smiled and turned to the others.
"It's time to go home."
She said as she waved her hand and opened a portal. She seemed sad and miserable but the smile remained on her lips.
"Go back home, there's nothing more you need to stay here for. The spirit world is back as well as the balance."
One by one they had entered the portal except for Kurama. The girl turned to him, he still touching the crystal and looking intently at the girl inside. She walked towards him and whispered.
"She's not coming back. She chose what she had to do."
"A life for a life. I know..."
"There's no point in staying here. It is over. Subete will go back keeping the balance, oblivious to humans..."
"Then there's no point in living either."
"No, you are wrong. The people of Subete are forever the prisoners of fate. We can't escape it, we have no choice but to follow what is predestined to us. You on the other hand have a choice... There's always something to live for, you just have to find it."
"But our souls, the bond..."
"It was never meant to last, it was never meant to be... It was predestined... The bond was superficial, for you to help, for us to win... Everything in Subete was predestined and it will change because of her choice."
"You lie..."
"I do not..."
"I will not believe that."
"There's no need too, I told you, you have a choice..."
It was over in a flash of light. It blinded him and when he opened his eyes he found himself in Gensai sama's temple. He sighed and placed his hand down. He had a choice? He turned and saw the others heading towards the beach as if nothing happened in a place called Subete, as if Subete never existed. When they got to the beach, Kurama had turned and saw a cliff... The wind whispered to him.
"Look, that's the beach we are heading too in a few days."
She never did get to go. He watched as everyone enjoyed the serenity of the beach and the sunset. Keiko was extremely quiet, he could not blame her, it had been three years and Yusuke has not returned. Kurama had stopped looking at her and turned to the sunset. Just then he heard Keiko shouts to the sun.
"Yusuke! It's been three years! I'm not waiting for you anymore! I can't wait for you anymore! Where are you?"
Kurama smiled bitterly, he knew what Keiko meant, he knew how she felt. Just then they all turned feeling the unmistakable aura of Yusuke and found him standing there holding his bag and looking at Keiko. Keiko rushed to him and hugged him causing the both of them to unbalance and fall on the water. Keiko kissed Yusuke and Kurama felt happy for the both of them and yet he felt...
Sad.
Depressed.
Lonely.
Envious.
Miserable.
Those were just the few words and even then they were not enough to describe how much he had really felt...
"There's always something to live for, you just have to find it..."
It whispered in his ears. He turned but found no one. The wind again... He turned to the lovers playing in the water, Kuwabara playing with them, Yukina enjoying herself. He looked past them and to the sunset...
I will find you...
Owari? (End?)