Dream: Well hello everyone! Welcome to the first chapter of the sequel to Zero's Curse!
Zero: *twirls finger* whoopee
Dream: *tapes Zero's mouth shut*
Zero: MMMF! *scratching at tape*
Dream: As I was saying...The title Hikari no Naka de means Amidst the Light. The original title was Midnight Wishes but I like this better. So yeah...oh and in case anyone reading this hasn't read my other fanfics *cough* Mike *cough* this first chapter will have sort of a summary of what's happened in the previous stories so you don't have to read them....Even though I wish you would .
Zero: *rips the tape off his mouth* ITAI!!!!!
Dream: baka ratbat...
Zero: I am not!
Dream: are too and do the disclaimer
Zero: fine. Dream does not own Yu Yu Hakusho. If she did then there would be muffins raining from the sky. She also does not own Flash or Hinote. She owns everyone else that's in the story for now. And the pairings, for anyone that doesn't know are Kurama/Autumn Hiei/Flash
Dream: Oh! Anyone that sent in characters I'm going to try and get them in the story ASAP. Most likely before chapter 10 because I have to set the story up within the next few chapters. And if anyone wants to be in the story there's still time so check my profile thingy for details.
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The Beginning of the Beginning:
The silence of the warm spring night was broken only by the sift thud of running feet on the beach. Sand was being kicked up as four figures ran along. Three of them were chasing the fourth. The one being chased was a girl.
She was wearing jeans, an orange tank top with the image of a phoenix on it and a long light blue jacket shirt. Her camouflage sneakers kicked up the sand as she ran with her blackish brown hair blowing behind.
She was running from three lizard-like men. They had yellow scales and reptilian red eyes. They had lizard tails swishing behind them. Their faces were curved into grins as they chased the girl. Two of them were carrying clubs and the third, their leader, was carrying a poisoned dagger.
The girl looked over her shoulder at the lizard men. This proved to be a stupid thing to do because she lost her footing and fell face first into the sand. After sitting up and spitting some sand out of her mouth she noticed the lizards were surrounding her.
"Oh poo..." The girl muttered.
The leader of the lizards smirked and raised his dagger to strike, "Well thanks for the fun chase, little missy, but now we really have to be finishing our mission..."
"LITTLE MISSY?!?" The girl made a gagging motion, "Never call me that again!!! It's sickening!"
The leader blinked, "You do realize I'm about to kill you right?"
"Yes but little missy??? Couldn't you say something better than that? I mean honestly if I'm gonna die I don't want to be completely humiliated beforehand!"
The lizards looked at each other with expressions that clearly said 'What the hell?' The leader raised his dagger again to strike. The girl looked around frantically for some way to defend herself. Her gaze fell upon a seagull feather lying on the ground nearby. She smirked as she grabbed it and began to focus her energy into it. As the lizard brought his dagger down for the kill the girl brought the feather up to meet it.
A clash of metal was heard and the lizards were shocked to see that instead of a feather the girl now held a shining white bladed sword. The hilt of the sword was silver and had a feathery appearance. There was a shining clear gem embedded into the hilt that seemed to reflect the light of the stars and moon.
"What the...?" The leader stepped back in shock.
The girl chuckled, "You mean you took a mission to kill Phantom Harmony and you didn't know about her feather sword?"
The lizards exchanged nervous glances. Two of them ran, but the leader remained. He took a fighting stance and took out another dagger so that he was holding one in each clawed hand. He glared at the girl and let a menacing hiss escape his throat, "You might have been a strong demon, Black Angel, but as a human you are weak."
The girl's cloudy blue eyes lit with amusement as she wagged her finger in a scolding manner, "Tsk tsk tsk...Underestimating your opponent is a fatal mistake."
The lizard scoffed and charged at her. His movements were slowed greatly by the sand so she easily sidestepped him and knocked him to the ground with the flat of her sword. As he fell he dropped his daggers. After kicking the daggers out of his reach she put her foot on his chest and held the point of her sword up to his neck.
"If I spare your life you must give me your word that you will leave me alone or else next time I will not be so merciful."
The lizard gulped and nodded slightly while eyeing the blade nervously. The girl let him up and watched as he ran away. She then called her sword back into a feather and sat down on the sand looking out at the water of the bay. The water's mirror like surface was broken only by the occasional small waves. The night once again fell into silence.
Let's take a moment to look over my life, shall we?
'And just who is "we"?'
I'm pretending that this is all part of some crazy story that complete strangers are reading in order to pass their time and that at any given moment they could just click a little 'x' button and CLICK! No more story! So, I wanted to tell those strangers about my life so they know who I am and stuff.
'Autumn?'
Yeah-ha?
'No more thinking for you.'
Aww man! But I'm not done telling the readers about my life...
'There are no readers!'
Well why not? Is this a bad story that nobody wants to read? Is my life really that boring?
'There are no readers because this is not a story, baka!'
Oh be quiet. Let me have my fun.
'Tch, fine.'
Anyway, it's been about a year since I started having these weird dreams about places I didn't know existed. It wasn't until this voice started talking to me in my head that I found out that my dreams are actually memories. At first I thought I had finally gone crazy but then I actually began to listen to the voice. Then I was sure I was crazy.
'Are you blaming me for your insanity?'
Yah who else would I be blaming?
'Hmm...Yourself maybe?'
Oh stop being so grumpy.
'Just shut up and get back to talking to your imaginary friends'
But, Harmony, how can I shut up and talk at the same time?
'Is it your mission to constantly annoy me?'
GAH! How'd you find out???
'Just continue with your pointless rambling.'
Ok! The voice is actually the demon half of my spirit. We are technically the same person but since we have different personalities we sometimes seem separate. My dreams were her memories. As it turns out, I was a famous fox demon in my past life. Phantom Harmony, a.k.a the Black Angel, was one of the only four survivors of a race of kitsune known as the Mist Mountain Kitsune. They were killed by a dragon demon that trapped their souls within an amulet made of dark energy. It was Harmony's self-appointed task to hunt down the dragon and destroy that amulet thus releasing the trapped souls. After leaving her former home she met Koenma who convinced her to become a Reikai Tantei in order to help keep some sort of peace in Makai.
Well, to make a long story short, Harmony, on her quest to destroy the amulet, met up with a few different demons. She met Tenka Hikage, Lord over a tribe of rabbit demons known as the Kiri Mori Rabbits. He is cursed to remain physically a child for the rest of his life. He cast the curse on himself so he doesn't really mind. Harmony also met Lioness, a lion hanyou (half demon) from the Sky Lion tribe. Lioness became sort of like an older sister to Harmony and Tenka became sort of Harmony's adopted son. She also met an annoying little orange bird, Jouka, which followed her around forever more.
Harmony met Youko Kurama one day while she was in the woods near her house. As cheesy as it may be she fell in love with him that day as they talked. Decades later she met him again when he was stealing from the Temple of Storms and she let him get away with it. He hinted at the fact that he loved her and actually kissed her...aww!
'Oh shut up'
Anyway, Harmony fled to Ningenkai some time after that for two reasons: 1) She wanted to avoid having to complete a mission to kill him and 2) An oracle had told her that she wouldn't be able to destroy the amulet unless she achieved spiritual balance or some such junk.
That's where I come in! Well...actually I came in a bit later...or technically I was there all along since I'm part of Harmony's spirit but yeah...
All of this was quite fascinating to me.
'Oh really? Then why did you conveniently seem to fall asleep every time I started telling you this story?"
Because, Harmony, you're boring.
'Oh gee thanks.'
You're very welcome. Now as I was saying I found all of this to be quite fascinating. I mean, if you're going to be insane and talk to a voice in your head it might as well be a cool voice, ne?
During the summer I got involved in one of the new Reikai Tantei's missions and met Kurama's human form. The mission was to recover some sort of crystal feather. They were being 'helped' by a seer lady known as Nuala. My friends Margaret, Hinote, and Flash got involved in that mission too. So did my rabbit, Freckles, Hinote's dog, Tundra, and Margaret's cat, Precious. That mission became quite crazy and hectic. We met up with Dariken, Harmony's older brother, and Thorn, a dragon demon that happens to be the daughter of Harmony's enemy. At one point Freckles and the other animals we had with us were able to talk...and sing....it was horrible. Kurama figured out about Harmony since I wasn't really doing a good job at hiding my secret. Stuff happened, yadda yadda, and at the end we got the crystal back and I got Kurama's phone number so we could keep in touch.
After that there were a few more missions. The second mission, which took place around Christmas, was to find Phantom Harmony. Yeah, not good. Kurama, Yusuke, and Kuwabara came as foreign exchange students to my school. The first day he was there Kurama and I became boyfriend and girlfriend. That day we got a riddle thing from Koenma that was supposed to be a clue to help find Harmony. Kurama was trying to help me keep the secret but pretty soon Hiei figured it out.
Then we went to Makai because of another riddle. We investigated around the Mist Mountains. Nuala turned Freckles into a rabbit demon. As it turns out he is the reincarnation of Tenka Hikage, Harmony's dear little friend. Emphasis on little. At the same time the mission was going on I was having dreams about what happened to Harmony's family. They were really depressing but, according to Tenka, necessary for the completion of Harmony's quest.
After a third riddle we went to investigate the Temple of Storms. It was there that I got into a fight with Nuala. Harmony and I finally opened up our minds to each other which sort of brought our spirit into balance and using our combined strengths we won the fight. Then we met Zero, Thorn's twin brother. He had been working with Nuala and had helped to set up this whole thing. In the end Harmony destroyed the amulet and all of us got to enjoy a nice holiday party at Thorn's.
Next, Zero escaped from Reikai prison and came to Ningenkai to ask me for help. Apparently, he had been cursed to turn into a human by a wolf demon, Megumi. Megumi was the niece of a friend of Harmony's mother. I agreed to help Zero. Eventually we joined up with my friend OkageHime, Flash, and the Reikai Tantei who were looking for Zero. Megumi turned me, Flash, and OkageHime into animals. That was pretty fun, except when Flash and OkageHime dropped me from the air. We went on a long journey to regain our former selves. Zero and I argued a lot but after a while he started warming up to us. Eventually we got turned back and had a run in with Zero's father who kidnapped me, OkageHime, and Flash. Harmony put our lives in danger by taunting the guard and Flash got to use a katana to kick some demon butt. After that I got amnesia at one point because I was blackmailing Yusuke with a videotape of him in a bunny suit. Sounds like loads of fun, ne?
Recently things have been pretty quiet...Unless you count the assassin demons that keep coming after me.
'I am so going to murder Koenma...'
Hinote recently discovered that he has a demon half too. His demon half is Vladimir. Vladimir is a vampire. A really old vampire and I mean REALLY old. 12,824 years old to be precise. Apparently he and Kurama had known each other long ago. They were really good friends. I wonder how he'll react to finding out that Vladimir, or Vlaud for short, is back?
Flash also has a demon half. Her demon half is Lioness, Harmony's close friend. Harmony was really surprised to find out that Flash was Lioness because Lioness had disappeared about 200 years ago in some tournament thingy against some demon dude named Crone.
This leads me to my present location. It's about midnight on Friday April 2, 2004. I'm sitting here at the bay looking at the reflection of the crescent moon. It's so much quieter here than at my house. I came here to think about how much life can change in a short amount of time.
I miss Kurama...I haven't seen him since Valentine's Day! Sure, I've been talking to him on the phone but it's just not the same. I wish there was another mission or something...
'Someone's coming!'
Autumn sat still and focused on the approaching footsteps. The footsteps ceased about a foot or two away from where she sat. Silence followed as neither Autumn nor the newcomer moved. A deep male voice finally broke the silence.
"Hello Autumn or should I say Phantom?"
Autumn tensed but did not turn around. She held the seagull feather tightly preparing for another fight. When she didn't respond the figure behind her took another step forward. This caused Autumn to stand and turn around to face him with a fighting stance.
"Ah. So you did hear me." The man chuckled.
He was wearing a black and purple robe. His eyes were closed. He had many ears and a couple of horns. His long black hair moved slightly in the wind as he stood there seeming not to be paying attention. He seemed familiar to Autumn but she couldn't figure out why or why he had his eyes closed.
"Who are you?" Autumn asked.
The figure gave a slight bow, "My name is Yomi. I was a companion of Youko Kurama's a long time ago."
That's why he looks so familiar! He's from the show! That also explains why he's got his eyes closed...Autumn nodded in understanding.
"Why are you here?" She was still tense.
Yomi frowned slightly, "An enemy of Kurama's is after his life."
"Have you told him?" Autumn asked, relaxing.
"No. Kurama and I are no longer close. I have no desire to speak to him but I do not wish to see him killed."
"So...why tell me?"
"I figured you would be able to protect him."
Autumn was twirling the feather between her fingers. She stopped and looked up at Yomi. "And how exactly am I to do that when he's in Japan and I am not?"
"I've already gotten that worked out. You and two others will be sent to Tokyo as foreign exchange students. While there you will keep an eye on Kurama."
Autumn smiled at the thought, "Who are the two others?"
"Flash a.k.a Lioness and Hinote a.k.a Vladimir." Yomi waved his hand to indicate that that wasn't an important detail.
"I thought so. Do they know yet?"
Yomi nodded and laughed a bit, "Yes. Unlike you, they were at home at such a late hour of the night."
"Morning. It's past midnight so it's an early hour of the morning not a late hour of the night." Autumn pointed out while grinning.
Yomi shook his head, "So technical. Fine, what are you doing out here at such an early hour of the morning?"
"Enjoying the scenery and thinking about things." Autumn answered. She started twirling the feather between her fingers again, "So when are we leaving and where are we staying?"
"You will be leaving on Thursday. Flash will be staying with her aunt and uncle. Hinote will be staying with the spirit detective, Yusuke. You will be staying with Kurama's family. The three of you will be staying in Tokyo for the rest for the school year and into the summer. Perhaps longer. It depends on how long it takes for you to stop Karasu."
Autumn nodded and there was silence for a moment until Yomi's words sunk in. "WOOT! I get to stay with Kurama!" she squealed happily.
Yomi shook his head and chuckled. Autumn frowned when she realized the last thing he had said. "Karasu? You mean that bomb guy Kurama fought in the Dark Tournament? Isn't he you know...dead?"
"He survived, barely, and was healed back to full health. Now he's going after Kurama again." Yomi had his hands in his pockets.
"Well that sucks." Autumn was starting to lose focus again as her mind drifted to thoughts of marshmallow fluff.
Yomi decided that, since Autumn wasn't asking questions, he would say the rest of what he had to say before she completely spaced out. He held out to her an envelope which snapped her attention back from the fluff to him. "This is a letter to your mother saying what you've been told just now about going to Tokyo as a foreign exchange student. It also contains the plane tickets for you and your friends. DO NOT LOSE THEM."
"Why does everyone always assume that I'll lose things? I don't lose things. I misplace them and then never see them again." Autumn grumbled.
"Now remember, DO NOT mention my name to anyone other than Flash and Hinote and even then be careful."
Autumn took the envelope and saluted even though she knew he couldn't see it. "Yes sir! I'm sure working for you will be much more fun than working for Koenma ever was!"
"Good luck and goodbye." Yomi said before leaving.
Autumn sat back down on the sand to look at the bay again.
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Dream: alright! So, how was it? Let me know in a review.
Zero: This fanfic site has been down a lot recently don't you think?
Dream: yeah, eventually I'm going to start putting my fanfics on my website but that's not too high on my priority list right now.
Zero: you have a priority list?
Dream: Yup! See the thing that's first on my priority list for tomorrow is updating my cyoa. Then I have that banner I have to make for mike...and then maybe the next chapter of this or something...
Zero: well reader people, as you can see this story is going to be pretty long.
Dream: It's really weird...while I was summarizing my first three stories I realized that Echoes in the Wind was the one that seemed to have the longest summary. Maybe that story just had a lot more important stuff in it...Oh well! I'm off to do whatever now! Ja ne!