Disclaimer: Don't own Yu Yu Hakusho... what? You don't own it, either, so
NYAH!
Quote of the Week: "Our kidney-shaped pool has a tumor..." - Fangirlitis
Ne, sorry it took so long to update this chapter, guys. Mark Wood is too stupid to put an extra key to the computer lab in the office, and he took a few days off of work - with the only key still in possession, mind you. (I think he's power-hungry... and he's only 16... oo;;)
::coughs:: Well, read and enjoy, minna-san.
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With a grin of satisfaction, the bottom hinge came apart and he propped the door against the wall, trying to resist blocking his ears as jazz music filled the hallway. Stepping onto the plush blue rug, he flicked the lights on and took the remote from Lyra's desk, shutting the stereo off. From the corner of his eye, he saw the water manipulator stir under the covers, one hand still clutched onto the cover of a thick textbook; figured that she had fallen asleep while studying.
"Hey, Lyra-chan... wake up; come on." He gently prodded her shoulder, and the girl's eyes fluttered open. Fighting a yawn, she pushed the covers away, and sat up, swinging her feet over the side. "What is it, Kuwabara? And what time is it..?" The redhead waited patiently as she looked at the clock on her nightstand, although he was nervously trying to hear what was going on downstairs.
Cursing; and it was coming from Urameshi. Whatever was going on down there, it had the detective all riled up.
"Kyuro woke me an' Urameshi up. Whatever went around eatin' people last ni- "
"You mean soul consumption? It's the same person?" Lyra snapped to attention, one eyebrow raised. She had read the article as well, like almost every other student on campus, and quickly slipped her slippers on, grabbing a jacket to put on over her gray sweatpants and dark blue t-shirt; she swung open the French doors and leaned over the balcony, drawn by the sound of fighting from the front lawn. Pushing the dew-laden tree branches away, she saw a sickening sight.
Koryu, fierce, proud monster he was, was curled up in a ball, his glossy coat reflecting the light of a swarm of fireflies and his iridescent fin dull and gray. "Ko-" A calloused hand was clapped over her mouth, and Lyra's cry was cut off.
"Hey, calm down or we'll be the next targets." Kuwabara's voice wasn't far above a whisper, and as soon as Lyra nodded Kuwabara uncovered her mouth. "Can't we do anything? I mean, if it's out there, we can't just hide up here while their souls are sucked out."
"I know, I know... but Urameshi probably has it all... under... control..." The words died in his throat, as the sun came up, painting the sky orange and golden-yellow, and a black shape stretched across the side of the roof. Mouth open wide, he jumped over the railing and ran across the roof, stooping down behind the corner of the roof and peeking out at the front yard. Yusuke was sprawled out in the dirt, too tired to move, as was Jin; Hiei was still seated on the front steps in a coma-like state, and Koryu was a shivering ball of fur. There, standing in the middle of it all, fireflies dancing about her feet, was a young woman.
"No, it can't be...it, she's dead...."
"Kuwabara, who's dead? Who is it?" Lyra had followed the redhead, and was now kneeling beside him, trying to look over his shoulder at the front lawn; the woman out front, she looked slightly familiar with her bluish- gray hair, which was cut short to fit the image of a business executive, although it was hard to place her, as the frst and only time Lyra had seen her, she was wearing flowing clothes in blue, sea-green, and purple instead of the long-sleeved, high-collared black dress. The eyes, although the same shade of white and just as blind, were lacking something... a spark, a sign of life, anything that might suggest that the mysterious woman was not some sort of automated robot.
But, as the shadow that extended from her feet unfurled its massive, torn wings, covering the side of the house and much of the roof, and the sinewy neck moved against the thatched roof, all doubt was washed away.
Cecilia... this phantom, this soul-eater, was dear old Cecilia. It was like the events over Christmas vacation had never happened.
"No... it can't be... we saw her die, right?"
"I'm as clueless as you are. Unless... of course! It had to be!"
"What?"
"He said it would get worse, and I bet he was planning this all along... damn necromancer."
"Kuwabara, there's no necromancer in this school that would raise the dead. Calm down."
"Gaah! I'm an idiot! I should've gone to one of the teachers, asked them to watch out for anything strange... wait! The offices; I might be able to warn them before she moves onto the rest of the school!" With a new look of determination, Kuwabara ran back towards the balcony, leaping over the railing effortlessly and throwing open the French doors. Lyra took another second, staring at the scene below her, before realizing she was alone; but, if anyone was seriously hurt down there... without a second thought, she was back on the balcony and barreling down the steps.
There was no way the Laird would know just when was a good time to strike, unless maybe he had planted some sort of monitoring device inside the house... Kuwabara went through all the possibilities his mind could muster, going down the stairs three at a time. Well, there was one sure servant left in the house, and the teen skidded to a stop outside Rachel and Erika's bedroom door as his eyes fixed on the clay creature that was perched upon the kitchen island, the sphere-shaped head glowing faintly, with a brighter spot positioned much like the pupil of an eyeball.
"You... so you're how he was able to spy on us..." He started for the golem, but stopped midway and stared.
Kurama, he was sprawled out on the couch, totally limp and unconscious, and Rogerik was passed out on the living room floor. On the steps, the dragonling screamed and screeched, trying to move Hiei by force, her wings useless against the fire demon's size. Yusuke was passed out, as he had seen earlier, and Jin was as well.
And Cecilia? Well, the disguised dragon made it quite clear that she was mindless to what she was doing. Even now, Kuwabara could feel the drain of energy that marked her now, and continued to stumble towards the living statue.
Almost there... he could feel the cool clay underneath his fingertips, and the golem was too busy scanning the entire struggle between Cecilia and the others to watch out for a supposed friend. Two fingers touched the celtic knot wings and the Japanese teen soon had it clutched in his grasp, ready to run out the door when Rachel's bedroom door burst open, and the young teacher came out, a handful of sprouting seeds at ready.
"And who do you think you are, you wench?!"
Ah... Rachel was peeved now... peeved indeed. The seeds were catapulted at Cecilia, newly grown shoots and roots looking for a place to anchor on to; the blind woman blinked once, and the seeds fell short of their mark, the embers dying away in the damp grass. This, however, didn't daunt Rachel at all; she just picked a bigger plant, this time the potted one in the living room.
The pot exploded, roots tangling and ensnaring anything in their way, stretching out the front door and wrapping up the dragon. Another blink, and the plant recoiled away from Cecilia, shrinking and shrieking all the way, until it huddled in the corner where the remains of its pot lay.
Deciding that now was as good a time as ever to escape to the offices, Kuwabara tucked the golem under his arm and rushed out, ignoring the draining aura that surrounded Cecilia. Faintly, he heard a voice calling his name from behind, then a dull thud; fighting back the urge to charging at the dragon, the redhead continued down the drive.
With a cry, her slipper-clad foot slid off the step, and Lyra fell, rather ungracefully, on her rear; her eyes shut in pain, the water manipulator slowly stood up and leaned against the couch armrest. "Ow..." she straightened up, brushing her long black braid over her shoulder, and opened her blue eyes.
What she saw nearly scarred her.
His intelligent green eyes were dull, half-closed as he shallowly breathed, and his red hair was a complete mess the kitsune was sprawled on the couch, his face pale; with a trembling hand, Lyra gently pressed two fingers to his jugular vein and felt her knees grow weak.
Kurama... he had almost no pulse at all; if she hadn't seen his chest rising and falling in slow motion, Lyra would have thought him dead – even his phenomenal spirit energy had diminished to nothing. A strange noise, somewhere between a choked sob and a scream, issued from her throat, and she backed up against the wall, sliding down it as her legs seemed to become too weak to support her. Now, she could see the others, in the same state as Kurama, and Rachel was slumped against her bedroom door, a thin vine wrapping around her torso; only the dragon hatchling, frantically flailing her wings as Cecilia came ever closer to her adopted parent.
"Lyra, hon, it's okay, calm down..." The black-haired girl barely realized that someone was clasping her slim shoulders, and the energy-draining abilities of Cecilia's aura was muffled. A wrinkled face blocked her view of the boys splayed out on the floor and ground, and the water-manipulator slowly seemed to realize that not everyone was gone –yet.
"Alright, you'll be fine. Now, calm down, hon, where did Kuwabara go to?" The haze was clearing from her eyes, and Lyra looked much more alert now.
"He went to the offices... he said that it was his fault that this was all his fault, that he didn't tell anyone..." Now, Lyra noticed the light golden shield that had been erected around the house, pushing the former friend back, and dulling her powers. Erika stepped back, her wizened eyes resting on the blond rogue on the rug floor, and nodded as a plan formed in her head.
"Lyra, I need to maintain the barrier that's keeping Cecilia away; you need to protect Rogerik while he goes after Kuwabara."
"I'm doing what?" The thief had managed to lift his head, and was now staring at Erika as though she had gone senile. "Look, I don't think that's my type of job. Yusuke, heck, even Hiei, would be better."
"No, it's going to be you; the offices are locked and rigged, and I know for a fact that none of the others here could hope to get in undetected." Rogerik groaned in defeat, hanging limply from the armrest of Kurama's armchair; with a grimace, he stood up, rather unsteadily, and moved over to Lyra and Erika.
"Fine, I'll do it," He said, obviously not very happy about it. Erika nodded, ducking back into her bedroom before reemerging with a small silver pocket watch. She flipped the engraved lid, and showed the thief the clock face; turning a tiny knob so that the little wheel inside that had a picture of a sun and moon (like the old antique clocks, that had the revolving wheel with the sky painted on it to distinguish between AM and PM) was equal, half a sun on the left side and half a moon on the right, and pushed it in. The numbers and hands turned from an antique watch face to a blank screen.
"Push that knob in while the wheel is half-and-half, and it doubles as a communicator. I'll be on the other end if you need help." She smiled faintly, and, pulling the knob out again, the screen faded back to a watch, and she snapped the lid shut, letting it dangle from it chain in between her fingers before letting it drop into the astonished teen's hand. He nodded dumbly, clipping the chain to a belt loop on his pants, and turned to Lyra, a wry grin on his face.
"Well, looks like I get the tough job again... Lyra, just make sure you keep that shield up, 'kay?"
The black-haired girl managed a weak smile and replied, "Of course. Besides, Lark would kill me if you got hurt." With a deep breath, she closed her eyes, opened them again, and, with a faint glow emitting from her azure irises, a glowing blue bubble surrounded Rogerik. The thief started at the end of her sentence, and noticed, sourly, that the shield was sound-proof; although Erika and Lyra seemed to be talking, no sound issued from their mouths; as he ran out the front door, flashing a thumbs- up to his roommates as they started to awaken, Erika's much larger shield loomed before him. Taking a deep breath, he charged on, ignoring the fearsome woman behind its golden brilliance.
There was a moment when, as he stepped through Erika's shield amongst a blinding flash of peacock blue and gold, the wind was knocked out of him and his knees became weak; as soon as he was completely through, though, the feeling was gone and he chased after the carrot-topped speck that was Kuwabara.
"Hey! Anyone in there! C'mon, let me in!" Kuwabara gave a furious kick to the front doors, yelping as the sturdy door made his leg numb from impact. No one answered, and the teen tried to kick in the door again with his other leg, again to no avail; the doorknocker was useless, as he had guessed, and all the lights were out, even those in the headmaster's quarters.
Wait, there was a light, emanating from a lamp, and it moved from one window to the next, shrouding the holder of the light. In seconds, the lamplight had descended down a set of assumed stairs, through a series of doors, and ended in the hallway; the doorway swung open, and Kuwabara ran inside, the golem tucked under his arm, jumping as the heavy doors slammed shut behind him.
Everything was dark for a moment, then the room burst to light as the wall sconces flickered and lit up of their own accord; standing in the middle of the room, in between two staircases, was a wrinkled old man who was stooped over, his neatly trimmed wispy beard a bright white.
"You called, young sir?" Judging by the old man's voice, he was ancient; Kuwabara was sure that if you hit him hard enough, a cloud of dust would rise up from his clothes (a black dinner jacket, black tie, white dress shirt, and black dress pants.) But, now wasn't the time to poke fun at old geezers, and he was definitely in a hurry - who knew how long Urameshi would be able to hold off the reanimated Cecilia.
"There was undead trouble at my dorm... I need to speak to the headmaster now!"
"Of course, sir. Take the stairwell to the right, go up to the fourth floor, bear left, and through the set of double doors. I bid you good night." With a bow, the old man disappeared up the left-side staircase.
"What a freak... ack! Better hurry..." Long legs pumping ridiculously fast, Kuwabara had sprinted up the stairs.
Always first up in the damn morning... his routine hadn't changed since January, and today was no different. Get up and get dressed, put on a pot of coffee, then go out to get the mail - most of which were letters to his students from home or, in rarer cases, the occasional Shounen weekly magazine. With a sigh, Suzuka opened the door to the beat-up mailbox and was about to shut it when he noticed a bright bubble of gold over the horizon.
"Now... why in the three worlds is an energy shield being put up this early..?" Squinting his eyes a little, the inventor almost dropped his stack of letters. That was the tantei's dorm...
A brilliant beam of blue shot into the sky, and a loud shriek followed it; there was a fight going on. Grimacing, Suzuka muttered, "Lovely, just what I need in the morning-"
The turf at his feet exploded, but he smartly leaped out of the way, the mail still in hand. A crater had appeared on his front lawn, and the blond youkai cautiously peeked over the edge of its smoldering ruins. "Well, what might this be?" He reached down, pulling out a small pill-sized metal capsule; at his touch, it flashed once then unscrewed into two halves, allowing a shower of sparks to escape.
Grayish-silver sparks erupted in the air, and the inventor's look turned from shock to anger; there was trouble on campus - as if that wasn't obvious - but it was much more than a schoolyard fight. This was a seriously high-level enemy, and, storming up the porch to retrieve a pair of goggles and a jacket, the teacher felt that he was indeed entitled to take part.
They had ruined his lawn, after all.
He left the porch, descending down the basement to his personal rooms, and packed a small bag with a variety of bottles and pouches, then pushed a large red button on the wall, smiling in devilish satisfaction as a section of the wall slid up, and the familiar grinding of gears was heard as the storm hatch tilted upwards to form a ramp for the shining, highly polished mechanical behemoth hidden in the basement.
It was purring at the thought of a ride, without so much as a speed limit to make it slow down, and that was what the inventor was hoping for.
'Of course it's locked... nothing could ever be easy for me.' The thief mentally griped, unlocking the large brass tumbler. The lock mechanism clunked, and the door creaked open. Poking his head in, he peered into the unlit hallway and strained his ears. No one was coming. Good.
He flattened himself against the wall, crouching underneath the tall windows and trying to keep the curtains from moving too much. From up above, there was a slight click, and the thief paused, trying to make out any movement above his head. A minute or two passed, and he continued on his way, one hand searching the wall in front of him for a light switch. Grinning, he felt the light switch underneath his fingers and was about to move the little slider-piece when the lights flared on.
Rogerik swore, a hand flying up to protect his eyes from the sudden flash.
"Young sir, just what are you doing up here so late? The office is closed now..." The speaker was an old man, more like ancient, really. Rogerik blinked a number of times, then managed to choke out, "I, uh, got lost... I'm really sleepwalking, so I'll just mosey on out, if you don't mind." He took a few wary steps backward, had groping for the door.
"Ah, well, sir, I'm afraid that you won't be moseying anywhere... you see, master Givanni is quite fond of his privacy, and gives me the leniency to do what I wish with trespassers such as yourself." The old man cracked his wrist in a move so sudden that Rogerik was sure he had broken it; but, inches from his left ear, the long red curtain fell, sliced neatly in half at a steep angle. It took another wrist-crack, this time followed by the fall of yet another curtain, for the psychic to piece two and two together - the old man was doing this.
"I told her that Yusuke would do a better job, but nooo..." he stopped his whispered complaint just in time to duck out of the way as a horizontal karate-chop was aimed around his head from the other end of the room, and ran towards the door, painfully conscious of the deep gashes in the hardwood floor. From the corner of one eye, he saw the ancient butler draw back both arms, held in front of him like and X or cross, and squeezed his eyes shut as he leapt forwards, waiting for the invisible attack to shred him to pieces.
It didn't come.
Cracking one eye open, he peered over at the old man and saw that his arms were being held back by something much taller than he was; and whatever that thing happened to be, it was black, furry, and smiling, showing off a set of incredibly sharp and white teeth.
"Hey, share the fun, now."
Great, now he was hallucinating... but the creature - whoever it happened to be - did sound remarkably like Shikyo, although the words were nearly growled out instead of the teacher's usual smooth voice.
With a snarl, the old man's arms were twisted completely backwards and, although he gave no recognition of pain, had most likely been popped out of their sockets. The cat-demon stepped back, admiring his handiwork with a casual ease, then stepped towards the thief.
"You know, you really should be go-"
The snap was nearly deafening, and aside from a new hole in the wall, a half of the whiskers on the left side of Shikyo's face floated down. Turning around, the both of them watched in disgusted fascination as the butler snapped his arms back into their sockets while standing on one foot; he had attacked through a kick.
"Ne, scratch that... I'll catch up." A slight grimace on his furred face, the demon pushed Rogerik towards the staircase on the right and crouched down, his long claws unsheathed and his tail twitching madly. The psychic opened his mouth, but closed with a snarl from Shikyo and slowly backed towards the stairs; taking one last look, he dashed up the steps.
"Maaa! Maaa!" She flapped her wings, air rushing over the snow-white membranes and through her snowy mane, but still, he wouldn't budge.
Hiei had been in pretty much the same position for about a half hour now, red eyes half-lidded and staring into the space beyond the strange glowing barrier that had been set up. Cecilia, still human-like in appearance, stood outside the glowing wall in a trance; her sightless eyes were dull and her hair hung limply. Even her huge shadow was drooping, the illusionary wings tattered beyond recognition and the great talons were split and cracked.
"Hiei, answer me, man!" Yusuke roughly shook the demon by the shoulder, perhaps for the tenth time, but Hiei's expression didn't change. It was like he was frozen in that spot. Jin, his red hair sticking out in all directions and his sky-hued eyes wild, descended enough to sit Indian-style in the air next to Yusuke; his mouth was set in a troubled frown, one fang poking over his lower lip.
"Oi, I think he ain't goin' to be moving anytime soon, Urameshi. If I didn't know better, I'd say he was a victim of her intimidation stare..." The wind master put emphasis on 'her' and waved a hand in front of the fre demon's face. "Yep, that's the problem; he prob'ly won't wake up 'til Cecilia is put down."
"You're kidding me," Yusuke stated, looking away from his teammate. "There's no way Hiei could ever be scared by her; it's impossible."
"No, it's very possible." The voice came from inside, and both roommates looked over; Kurama, brushing his crimson hair out of his face, had recovered remarkably from the dragon's aura-sucking power. The fox had managed to stand up, ergo without most of his usual grace, and was now being questioned by Lyra about his own physical well-being.
"Kurama, are you sure you're okay?"
"I'm fine, Lyra-san, stop worrying." The fox turned from Lyra to Erika, and bowed his head. "Thank you for setting up that shield, Erika-san."
"Oh, it's no problem, dear. But, I was wondering if you might have any idea as to ridding ourselves of that carcass out front."
Brown eyes flashed, and Yusuke, without really meaning to, found himself defending the dragon. "Hey, that isn't any corpse, you know! She gave her life saving us!"
Erika, her wrinkled face blank of any readable emotion, placed a hand on the spirit detective's shoulder. "Yusuke, I know this might be a little hard for you to understand, but that isn't Cecilia..."
"Eh, Erika, what're ya sayin'! Who else has a shadow like one of those flying lizards-" Jin stopped his furious rant with a glare from Yusuke, and meekly settled down. "Well, as I said, who else could it be?"
"Oh, that is her, in a way..."
"Then stop contradicting yerself! It's confusing!"
"Do not question my motives." The old woman whapped Jin lightly on the head, barely managing to reach despite standing on her tiptoes. "Now, as I said, that is not entirely Cecilia. It is her body, yes, but not her soul. Whoever summoned her back to our realm must have acquired a soul to inhabit her corpse."
Silence reigned, until Lyra timidly asked, "So, there's not a trace of our Cecilia in there?"
"I'm afraid there's nothing of her that we knew... And I doubt her essence could be recalled, even if we found out how she was brought to our plane of existence from Reikai." Kurama had made it to the door with little help from the water manipulator, and was staring at the black ball that was Koryu. "Is there anything we might be able to do about Koryu-san? I think I might have some herbs that might work..."
"No. That rat is NOT going in MY house." Yusuke gulped slightly at the dirty look that Lyra gave him, but his expression remained stubborn. There was a slight crackling noise from the barrier, and the five companions looked back to see the golden light that was Erika's shield flicker and jump. "Uh, you know, you better move him... yeah. Come on, we'll help."
Yusuke hoisted Koryu's ebony head up, bracing the weight against his shoulder, and Jin flicked his wrist, watching with satisfaction as the creature's long body was lifted in the air and safely carried inside. Within minutes, Lyra and Erika were tending to Koryu's wounds while strengthening the wall between them and Cecilia.
The she-dragon's eyes flashed as a wispy aura roared up in her right arm, and she aimed a furious swiped at the shield, attacking as though talons were at her fingertips instead of nails. The barrier cracked at the brunt of her attack, but sealed itself, although the spot was undoubtedly weaker than before.
"Alright, I'm tired of this!" Yusuke took aim, blue reiki gathering at his pointer finger. "You guys in?"
"Very well, Yusuke."
"Yeah, let's just get this over with and go to sleep."
With a crack, a red rose was transformed into Kurama's rose whip and the fox expertly cracked it mere inches from the barrier's edge, watching as the Cecilia-double snarled at its green tip. Jin, not be outdone, felt the winds rise beneath him as a small whirlwind formed around both his arms.
And then they waited for the wall to break.
"Ah, headmaster?" Kuwabara lightly rapped on the door. He was so high- strung; would he make it in time? Had Cecilia already finished them off? Was the Laird too far to capture already?
So many questions, so little time...
He nearly jumped a foot when the door opened with an ominous creak, and he poked his head in. The room was pitch black, but there was a slight motion from the far side of the room and the fireplace ignited, crackling and blazing as though it had burning for hours.
"Kuwabara, what a nice surprise! What brings you out here at this time?" Givanni was seated in the cushy chair behind his desk, hands folded on its mahogany surface. He motioned for Kuwabara to sit down, and the teen complied, placing the golem on the headmaster's desk. With a smile, Givanni waved a hand at the tray of decanters and bottles on the corner of his desk.
"Can I get you a glass of water? Tonic? Maybe a little wine, as long as you don't tell anyone-"
"No, that's not what 'm here for! ... I, uh, well," Kuwabara took a moment to get his wits together, then, while Givanni was still stunned, shouted, "A dragon - I mean, Cecilia - attacked us! An' Urameshi an' the others are still stuck back there, and I dunno is they're still kicking, but even if they are, Cecilia is the one who attacked those people last night and she's being controlled by Laird Michealangelo! He's been spying on us since he left, and he's been using that golem to do it!'
The smile faded from Givanni's face, and his glass of wine stopped half-way to his lips; the head master sighed, placing the glass on his desk, then folded his hands in his lap. "Tell me again, and slower this time."
"Cecilia, the dragon that helped us over Christmas, is back. She's attacked my friends at our dorm, and is being controlled by Laird Michealangelo, who left on a trip and has been using this golem to spy on us." Kuwabara took a breath after all of this, and stared somewhat hopelessly as Givanni stayed mute. The headmaster took a quick sip of his wine, and gave a sidelong glance at the clay golem sitting on his desk.
"Are you sure this is the Laird's tool for spying?" he asked slowly, letting the wine roll on his tongue. At Kuwabara's nodded reply, he stood up with a sweep of his cotton haori and placed a hand on the quivering creature's sphere head.
"Why, hello, Laird... you are watching this, aren't you? I knew you wouldn't leave here without some sort of connection."
The golem stiffened, and its wings drooped. Taking this as a "yes", Givanni continued.
"Quite easy to piece together, hm? Well, now that your own student turned you in, what are you going to do, my friend? Leaving without so much of a note, then plotting against me... clever, but still easy to figure out."
The golem twitched its long neck under the headmaster's touch, and Kuwabara looked from one to the other.
"You can talk to him, through that thing?" He pointed to the golem, and Givanni's easy-going smile once again graced his features. "But of course, Kuwabara. And to tell you the truth, he's watching as I speak."
"Er..."
"Now, now... calm down; I doubt he could do anything from such a distance. I've had an eye on him myself, and from what I've learned, he's secluded himself somewhere in south-western Makai, am I correct?" The question was aimed at the golem, and it dutifully nodded its head. "Ah, that's good. It's so nice when a plan comes together!"
"What plan?"
"Well, not only do I plan on pursuing the Laird once I get the chance, but I've also sent an employee of mine to search the grounds for anyone who might be in league with the necromancer. Hey, don't give me that look - you turned him in, so I hold you innocent for the Laird's actions.
"But, you see, you did make one mistake, as did he... and I'm afraid the punishment must rest on you, Kuwabara."
The redhead slowly stood up and backed away towards the door; Michealangelo's golem shrilly screeched, its Celtic-knot wings beating the still early-summer air. Givanni didn't move, but stood there with that smile on his face, confident in the knowledge that his door was firmly locked. With a snap of his fingers, the figure in the portrait by the door seemed to move - no, it was moving - and, although canvas and paint could not possibly do such a thing, grasped the edge of its frame. Its long spindly fingers clutched at the wood portrait frame, it's suit-clad torso leaned out, and in one slurred moment of surprise, it had a fistful of Kuwabara's hair in its hand. The teen yelped in pain, desperately trying to break the portrait's grip, but froze as Givanni stepped over; the headmaster still wore that same careless smile and leaned forwards, hands shoved in his pockets, to whisper in Kuwabara's ear.
"You see, Kuwa-san, Michealangelo is the good guy... not me."
There was sinking sensation in the pit of his stomach, and he felt the room grow dim. But when he hit the floor, he vaguely realized that it wasn't the rich, velvety carpet of before...
It was a bed of fire-colored leaves.
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Ah, would finish the last few fight scenes this chapter, but it's already thirteen pages long and you guys have waited almost an entire week; I'm cruel like that. But, the next chapter will be up by the end of the weekend! ...I hope. ;;
Which means the hatchling REALLY gets her name, Cecilia's appearance is ACTUALLY explained, and Kuwabara FINALLY is rescued from a horrible life in...
... a pile of leaves...
Er... yeah.
Oh, as an extra-side-chapter/outtakes-thingy (which will be put up when this is done), I'm taking questions for the original characters for a Q&A session, and if you guys want to know how I got the idea for characters/places/events in this story, you're welcome to ask that too.
Ciao!
Quote of the Week: "Our kidney-shaped pool has a tumor..." - Fangirlitis
Ne, sorry it took so long to update this chapter, guys. Mark Wood is too stupid to put an extra key to the computer lab in the office, and he took a few days off of work - with the only key still in possession, mind you. (I think he's power-hungry... and he's only 16... oo;;)
::coughs:: Well, read and enjoy, minna-san.
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With a grin of satisfaction, the bottom hinge came apart and he propped the door against the wall, trying to resist blocking his ears as jazz music filled the hallway. Stepping onto the plush blue rug, he flicked the lights on and took the remote from Lyra's desk, shutting the stereo off. From the corner of his eye, he saw the water manipulator stir under the covers, one hand still clutched onto the cover of a thick textbook; figured that she had fallen asleep while studying.
"Hey, Lyra-chan... wake up; come on." He gently prodded her shoulder, and the girl's eyes fluttered open. Fighting a yawn, she pushed the covers away, and sat up, swinging her feet over the side. "What is it, Kuwabara? And what time is it..?" The redhead waited patiently as she looked at the clock on her nightstand, although he was nervously trying to hear what was going on downstairs.
Cursing; and it was coming from Urameshi. Whatever was going on down there, it had the detective all riled up.
"Kyuro woke me an' Urameshi up. Whatever went around eatin' people last ni- "
"You mean soul consumption? It's the same person?" Lyra snapped to attention, one eyebrow raised. She had read the article as well, like almost every other student on campus, and quickly slipped her slippers on, grabbing a jacket to put on over her gray sweatpants and dark blue t-shirt; she swung open the French doors and leaned over the balcony, drawn by the sound of fighting from the front lawn. Pushing the dew-laden tree branches away, she saw a sickening sight.
Koryu, fierce, proud monster he was, was curled up in a ball, his glossy coat reflecting the light of a swarm of fireflies and his iridescent fin dull and gray. "Ko-" A calloused hand was clapped over her mouth, and Lyra's cry was cut off.
"Hey, calm down or we'll be the next targets." Kuwabara's voice wasn't far above a whisper, and as soon as Lyra nodded Kuwabara uncovered her mouth. "Can't we do anything? I mean, if it's out there, we can't just hide up here while their souls are sucked out."
"I know, I know... but Urameshi probably has it all... under... control..." The words died in his throat, as the sun came up, painting the sky orange and golden-yellow, and a black shape stretched across the side of the roof. Mouth open wide, he jumped over the railing and ran across the roof, stooping down behind the corner of the roof and peeking out at the front yard. Yusuke was sprawled out in the dirt, too tired to move, as was Jin; Hiei was still seated on the front steps in a coma-like state, and Koryu was a shivering ball of fur. There, standing in the middle of it all, fireflies dancing about her feet, was a young woman.
"No, it can't be...it, she's dead...."
"Kuwabara, who's dead? Who is it?" Lyra had followed the redhead, and was now kneeling beside him, trying to look over his shoulder at the front lawn; the woman out front, she looked slightly familiar with her bluish- gray hair, which was cut short to fit the image of a business executive, although it was hard to place her, as the frst and only time Lyra had seen her, she was wearing flowing clothes in blue, sea-green, and purple instead of the long-sleeved, high-collared black dress. The eyes, although the same shade of white and just as blind, were lacking something... a spark, a sign of life, anything that might suggest that the mysterious woman was not some sort of automated robot.
But, as the shadow that extended from her feet unfurled its massive, torn wings, covering the side of the house and much of the roof, and the sinewy neck moved against the thatched roof, all doubt was washed away.
Cecilia... this phantom, this soul-eater, was dear old Cecilia. It was like the events over Christmas vacation had never happened.
"No... it can't be... we saw her die, right?"
"I'm as clueless as you are. Unless... of course! It had to be!"
"What?"
"He said it would get worse, and I bet he was planning this all along... damn necromancer."
"Kuwabara, there's no necromancer in this school that would raise the dead. Calm down."
"Gaah! I'm an idiot! I should've gone to one of the teachers, asked them to watch out for anything strange... wait! The offices; I might be able to warn them before she moves onto the rest of the school!" With a new look of determination, Kuwabara ran back towards the balcony, leaping over the railing effortlessly and throwing open the French doors. Lyra took another second, staring at the scene below her, before realizing she was alone; but, if anyone was seriously hurt down there... without a second thought, she was back on the balcony and barreling down the steps.
There was no way the Laird would know just when was a good time to strike, unless maybe he had planted some sort of monitoring device inside the house... Kuwabara went through all the possibilities his mind could muster, going down the stairs three at a time. Well, there was one sure servant left in the house, and the teen skidded to a stop outside Rachel and Erika's bedroom door as his eyes fixed on the clay creature that was perched upon the kitchen island, the sphere-shaped head glowing faintly, with a brighter spot positioned much like the pupil of an eyeball.
"You... so you're how he was able to spy on us..." He started for the golem, but stopped midway and stared.
Kurama, he was sprawled out on the couch, totally limp and unconscious, and Rogerik was passed out on the living room floor. On the steps, the dragonling screamed and screeched, trying to move Hiei by force, her wings useless against the fire demon's size. Yusuke was passed out, as he had seen earlier, and Jin was as well.
And Cecilia? Well, the disguised dragon made it quite clear that she was mindless to what she was doing. Even now, Kuwabara could feel the drain of energy that marked her now, and continued to stumble towards the living statue.
Almost there... he could feel the cool clay underneath his fingertips, and the golem was too busy scanning the entire struggle between Cecilia and the others to watch out for a supposed friend. Two fingers touched the celtic knot wings and the Japanese teen soon had it clutched in his grasp, ready to run out the door when Rachel's bedroom door burst open, and the young teacher came out, a handful of sprouting seeds at ready.
"And who do you think you are, you wench?!"
Ah... Rachel was peeved now... peeved indeed. The seeds were catapulted at Cecilia, newly grown shoots and roots looking for a place to anchor on to; the blind woman blinked once, and the seeds fell short of their mark, the embers dying away in the damp grass. This, however, didn't daunt Rachel at all; she just picked a bigger plant, this time the potted one in the living room.
The pot exploded, roots tangling and ensnaring anything in their way, stretching out the front door and wrapping up the dragon. Another blink, and the plant recoiled away from Cecilia, shrinking and shrieking all the way, until it huddled in the corner where the remains of its pot lay.
Deciding that now was as good a time as ever to escape to the offices, Kuwabara tucked the golem under his arm and rushed out, ignoring the draining aura that surrounded Cecilia. Faintly, he heard a voice calling his name from behind, then a dull thud; fighting back the urge to charging at the dragon, the redhead continued down the drive.
With a cry, her slipper-clad foot slid off the step, and Lyra fell, rather ungracefully, on her rear; her eyes shut in pain, the water manipulator slowly stood up and leaned against the couch armrest. "Ow..." she straightened up, brushing her long black braid over her shoulder, and opened her blue eyes.
What she saw nearly scarred her.
His intelligent green eyes were dull, half-closed as he shallowly breathed, and his red hair was a complete mess the kitsune was sprawled on the couch, his face pale; with a trembling hand, Lyra gently pressed two fingers to his jugular vein and felt her knees grow weak.
Kurama... he had almost no pulse at all; if she hadn't seen his chest rising and falling in slow motion, Lyra would have thought him dead – even his phenomenal spirit energy had diminished to nothing. A strange noise, somewhere between a choked sob and a scream, issued from her throat, and she backed up against the wall, sliding down it as her legs seemed to become too weak to support her. Now, she could see the others, in the same state as Kurama, and Rachel was slumped against her bedroom door, a thin vine wrapping around her torso; only the dragon hatchling, frantically flailing her wings as Cecilia came ever closer to her adopted parent.
"Lyra, hon, it's okay, calm down..." The black-haired girl barely realized that someone was clasping her slim shoulders, and the energy-draining abilities of Cecilia's aura was muffled. A wrinkled face blocked her view of the boys splayed out on the floor and ground, and the water-manipulator slowly seemed to realize that not everyone was gone –yet.
"Alright, you'll be fine. Now, calm down, hon, where did Kuwabara go to?" The haze was clearing from her eyes, and Lyra looked much more alert now.
"He went to the offices... he said that it was his fault that this was all his fault, that he didn't tell anyone..." Now, Lyra noticed the light golden shield that had been erected around the house, pushing the former friend back, and dulling her powers. Erika stepped back, her wizened eyes resting on the blond rogue on the rug floor, and nodded as a plan formed in her head.
"Lyra, I need to maintain the barrier that's keeping Cecilia away; you need to protect Rogerik while he goes after Kuwabara."
"I'm doing what?" The thief had managed to lift his head, and was now staring at Erika as though she had gone senile. "Look, I don't think that's my type of job. Yusuke, heck, even Hiei, would be better."
"No, it's going to be you; the offices are locked and rigged, and I know for a fact that none of the others here could hope to get in undetected." Rogerik groaned in defeat, hanging limply from the armrest of Kurama's armchair; with a grimace, he stood up, rather unsteadily, and moved over to Lyra and Erika.
"Fine, I'll do it," He said, obviously not very happy about it. Erika nodded, ducking back into her bedroom before reemerging with a small silver pocket watch. She flipped the engraved lid, and showed the thief the clock face; turning a tiny knob so that the little wheel inside that had a picture of a sun and moon (like the old antique clocks, that had the revolving wheel with the sky painted on it to distinguish between AM and PM) was equal, half a sun on the left side and half a moon on the right, and pushed it in. The numbers and hands turned from an antique watch face to a blank screen.
"Push that knob in while the wheel is half-and-half, and it doubles as a communicator. I'll be on the other end if you need help." She smiled faintly, and, pulling the knob out again, the screen faded back to a watch, and she snapped the lid shut, letting it dangle from it chain in between her fingers before letting it drop into the astonished teen's hand. He nodded dumbly, clipping the chain to a belt loop on his pants, and turned to Lyra, a wry grin on his face.
"Well, looks like I get the tough job again... Lyra, just make sure you keep that shield up, 'kay?"
The black-haired girl managed a weak smile and replied, "Of course. Besides, Lark would kill me if you got hurt." With a deep breath, she closed her eyes, opened them again, and, with a faint glow emitting from her azure irises, a glowing blue bubble surrounded Rogerik. The thief started at the end of her sentence, and noticed, sourly, that the shield was sound-proof; although Erika and Lyra seemed to be talking, no sound issued from their mouths; as he ran out the front door, flashing a thumbs- up to his roommates as they started to awaken, Erika's much larger shield loomed before him. Taking a deep breath, he charged on, ignoring the fearsome woman behind its golden brilliance.
There was a moment when, as he stepped through Erika's shield amongst a blinding flash of peacock blue and gold, the wind was knocked out of him and his knees became weak; as soon as he was completely through, though, the feeling was gone and he chased after the carrot-topped speck that was Kuwabara.
"Hey! Anyone in there! C'mon, let me in!" Kuwabara gave a furious kick to the front doors, yelping as the sturdy door made his leg numb from impact. No one answered, and the teen tried to kick in the door again with his other leg, again to no avail; the doorknocker was useless, as he had guessed, and all the lights were out, even those in the headmaster's quarters.
Wait, there was a light, emanating from a lamp, and it moved from one window to the next, shrouding the holder of the light. In seconds, the lamplight had descended down a set of assumed stairs, through a series of doors, and ended in the hallway; the doorway swung open, and Kuwabara ran inside, the golem tucked under his arm, jumping as the heavy doors slammed shut behind him.
Everything was dark for a moment, then the room burst to light as the wall sconces flickered and lit up of their own accord; standing in the middle of the room, in between two staircases, was a wrinkled old man who was stooped over, his neatly trimmed wispy beard a bright white.
"You called, young sir?" Judging by the old man's voice, he was ancient; Kuwabara was sure that if you hit him hard enough, a cloud of dust would rise up from his clothes (a black dinner jacket, black tie, white dress shirt, and black dress pants.) But, now wasn't the time to poke fun at old geezers, and he was definitely in a hurry - who knew how long Urameshi would be able to hold off the reanimated Cecilia.
"There was undead trouble at my dorm... I need to speak to the headmaster now!"
"Of course, sir. Take the stairwell to the right, go up to the fourth floor, bear left, and through the set of double doors. I bid you good night." With a bow, the old man disappeared up the left-side staircase.
"What a freak... ack! Better hurry..." Long legs pumping ridiculously fast, Kuwabara had sprinted up the stairs.
Always first up in the damn morning... his routine hadn't changed since January, and today was no different. Get up and get dressed, put on a pot of coffee, then go out to get the mail - most of which were letters to his students from home or, in rarer cases, the occasional Shounen weekly magazine. With a sigh, Suzuka opened the door to the beat-up mailbox and was about to shut it when he noticed a bright bubble of gold over the horizon.
"Now... why in the three worlds is an energy shield being put up this early..?" Squinting his eyes a little, the inventor almost dropped his stack of letters. That was the tantei's dorm...
A brilliant beam of blue shot into the sky, and a loud shriek followed it; there was a fight going on. Grimacing, Suzuka muttered, "Lovely, just what I need in the morning-"
The turf at his feet exploded, but he smartly leaped out of the way, the mail still in hand. A crater had appeared on his front lawn, and the blond youkai cautiously peeked over the edge of its smoldering ruins. "Well, what might this be?" He reached down, pulling out a small pill-sized metal capsule; at his touch, it flashed once then unscrewed into two halves, allowing a shower of sparks to escape.
Grayish-silver sparks erupted in the air, and the inventor's look turned from shock to anger; there was trouble on campus - as if that wasn't obvious - but it was much more than a schoolyard fight. This was a seriously high-level enemy, and, storming up the porch to retrieve a pair of goggles and a jacket, the teacher felt that he was indeed entitled to take part.
They had ruined his lawn, after all.
He left the porch, descending down the basement to his personal rooms, and packed a small bag with a variety of bottles and pouches, then pushed a large red button on the wall, smiling in devilish satisfaction as a section of the wall slid up, and the familiar grinding of gears was heard as the storm hatch tilted upwards to form a ramp for the shining, highly polished mechanical behemoth hidden in the basement.
It was purring at the thought of a ride, without so much as a speed limit to make it slow down, and that was what the inventor was hoping for.
'Of course it's locked... nothing could ever be easy for me.' The thief mentally griped, unlocking the large brass tumbler. The lock mechanism clunked, and the door creaked open. Poking his head in, he peered into the unlit hallway and strained his ears. No one was coming. Good.
He flattened himself against the wall, crouching underneath the tall windows and trying to keep the curtains from moving too much. From up above, there was a slight click, and the thief paused, trying to make out any movement above his head. A minute or two passed, and he continued on his way, one hand searching the wall in front of him for a light switch. Grinning, he felt the light switch underneath his fingers and was about to move the little slider-piece when the lights flared on.
Rogerik swore, a hand flying up to protect his eyes from the sudden flash.
"Young sir, just what are you doing up here so late? The office is closed now..." The speaker was an old man, more like ancient, really. Rogerik blinked a number of times, then managed to choke out, "I, uh, got lost... I'm really sleepwalking, so I'll just mosey on out, if you don't mind." He took a few wary steps backward, had groping for the door.
"Ah, well, sir, I'm afraid that you won't be moseying anywhere... you see, master Givanni is quite fond of his privacy, and gives me the leniency to do what I wish with trespassers such as yourself." The old man cracked his wrist in a move so sudden that Rogerik was sure he had broken it; but, inches from his left ear, the long red curtain fell, sliced neatly in half at a steep angle. It took another wrist-crack, this time followed by the fall of yet another curtain, for the psychic to piece two and two together - the old man was doing this.
"I told her that Yusuke would do a better job, but nooo..." he stopped his whispered complaint just in time to duck out of the way as a horizontal karate-chop was aimed around his head from the other end of the room, and ran towards the door, painfully conscious of the deep gashes in the hardwood floor. From the corner of one eye, he saw the ancient butler draw back both arms, held in front of him like and X or cross, and squeezed his eyes shut as he leapt forwards, waiting for the invisible attack to shred him to pieces.
It didn't come.
Cracking one eye open, he peered over at the old man and saw that his arms were being held back by something much taller than he was; and whatever that thing happened to be, it was black, furry, and smiling, showing off a set of incredibly sharp and white teeth.
"Hey, share the fun, now."
Great, now he was hallucinating... but the creature - whoever it happened to be - did sound remarkably like Shikyo, although the words were nearly growled out instead of the teacher's usual smooth voice.
With a snarl, the old man's arms were twisted completely backwards and, although he gave no recognition of pain, had most likely been popped out of their sockets. The cat-demon stepped back, admiring his handiwork with a casual ease, then stepped towards the thief.
"You know, you really should be go-"
The snap was nearly deafening, and aside from a new hole in the wall, a half of the whiskers on the left side of Shikyo's face floated down. Turning around, the both of them watched in disgusted fascination as the butler snapped his arms back into their sockets while standing on one foot; he had attacked through a kick.
"Ne, scratch that... I'll catch up." A slight grimace on his furred face, the demon pushed Rogerik towards the staircase on the right and crouched down, his long claws unsheathed and his tail twitching madly. The psychic opened his mouth, but closed with a snarl from Shikyo and slowly backed towards the stairs; taking one last look, he dashed up the steps.
"Maaa! Maaa!" She flapped her wings, air rushing over the snow-white membranes and through her snowy mane, but still, he wouldn't budge.
Hiei had been in pretty much the same position for about a half hour now, red eyes half-lidded and staring into the space beyond the strange glowing barrier that had been set up. Cecilia, still human-like in appearance, stood outside the glowing wall in a trance; her sightless eyes were dull and her hair hung limply. Even her huge shadow was drooping, the illusionary wings tattered beyond recognition and the great talons were split and cracked.
"Hiei, answer me, man!" Yusuke roughly shook the demon by the shoulder, perhaps for the tenth time, but Hiei's expression didn't change. It was like he was frozen in that spot. Jin, his red hair sticking out in all directions and his sky-hued eyes wild, descended enough to sit Indian-style in the air next to Yusuke; his mouth was set in a troubled frown, one fang poking over his lower lip.
"Oi, I think he ain't goin' to be moving anytime soon, Urameshi. If I didn't know better, I'd say he was a victim of her intimidation stare..." The wind master put emphasis on 'her' and waved a hand in front of the fre demon's face. "Yep, that's the problem; he prob'ly won't wake up 'til Cecilia is put down."
"You're kidding me," Yusuke stated, looking away from his teammate. "There's no way Hiei could ever be scared by her; it's impossible."
"No, it's very possible." The voice came from inside, and both roommates looked over; Kurama, brushing his crimson hair out of his face, had recovered remarkably from the dragon's aura-sucking power. The fox had managed to stand up, ergo without most of his usual grace, and was now being questioned by Lyra about his own physical well-being.
"Kurama, are you sure you're okay?"
"I'm fine, Lyra-san, stop worrying." The fox turned from Lyra to Erika, and bowed his head. "Thank you for setting up that shield, Erika-san."
"Oh, it's no problem, dear. But, I was wondering if you might have any idea as to ridding ourselves of that carcass out front."
Brown eyes flashed, and Yusuke, without really meaning to, found himself defending the dragon. "Hey, that isn't any corpse, you know! She gave her life saving us!"
Erika, her wrinkled face blank of any readable emotion, placed a hand on the spirit detective's shoulder. "Yusuke, I know this might be a little hard for you to understand, but that isn't Cecilia..."
"Eh, Erika, what're ya sayin'! Who else has a shadow like one of those flying lizards-" Jin stopped his furious rant with a glare from Yusuke, and meekly settled down. "Well, as I said, who else could it be?"
"Oh, that is her, in a way..."
"Then stop contradicting yerself! It's confusing!"
"Do not question my motives." The old woman whapped Jin lightly on the head, barely managing to reach despite standing on her tiptoes. "Now, as I said, that is not entirely Cecilia. It is her body, yes, but not her soul. Whoever summoned her back to our realm must have acquired a soul to inhabit her corpse."
Silence reigned, until Lyra timidly asked, "So, there's not a trace of our Cecilia in there?"
"I'm afraid there's nothing of her that we knew... And I doubt her essence could be recalled, even if we found out how she was brought to our plane of existence from Reikai." Kurama had made it to the door with little help from the water manipulator, and was staring at the black ball that was Koryu. "Is there anything we might be able to do about Koryu-san? I think I might have some herbs that might work..."
"No. That rat is NOT going in MY house." Yusuke gulped slightly at the dirty look that Lyra gave him, but his expression remained stubborn. There was a slight crackling noise from the barrier, and the five companions looked back to see the golden light that was Erika's shield flicker and jump. "Uh, you know, you better move him... yeah. Come on, we'll help."
Yusuke hoisted Koryu's ebony head up, bracing the weight against his shoulder, and Jin flicked his wrist, watching with satisfaction as the creature's long body was lifted in the air and safely carried inside. Within minutes, Lyra and Erika were tending to Koryu's wounds while strengthening the wall between them and Cecilia.
The she-dragon's eyes flashed as a wispy aura roared up in her right arm, and she aimed a furious swiped at the shield, attacking as though talons were at her fingertips instead of nails. The barrier cracked at the brunt of her attack, but sealed itself, although the spot was undoubtedly weaker than before.
"Alright, I'm tired of this!" Yusuke took aim, blue reiki gathering at his pointer finger. "You guys in?"
"Very well, Yusuke."
"Yeah, let's just get this over with and go to sleep."
With a crack, a red rose was transformed into Kurama's rose whip and the fox expertly cracked it mere inches from the barrier's edge, watching as the Cecilia-double snarled at its green tip. Jin, not be outdone, felt the winds rise beneath him as a small whirlwind formed around both his arms.
And then they waited for the wall to break.
"Ah, headmaster?" Kuwabara lightly rapped on the door. He was so high- strung; would he make it in time? Had Cecilia already finished them off? Was the Laird too far to capture already?
So many questions, so little time...
He nearly jumped a foot when the door opened with an ominous creak, and he poked his head in. The room was pitch black, but there was a slight motion from the far side of the room and the fireplace ignited, crackling and blazing as though it had burning for hours.
"Kuwabara, what a nice surprise! What brings you out here at this time?" Givanni was seated in the cushy chair behind his desk, hands folded on its mahogany surface. He motioned for Kuwabara to sit down, and the teen complied, placing the golem on the headmaster's desk. With a smile, Givanni waved a hand at the tray of decanters and bottles on the corner of his desk.
"Can I get you a glass of water? Tonic? Maybe a little wine, as long as you don't tell anyone-"
"No, that's not what 'm here for! ... I, uh, well," Kuwabara took a moment to get his wits together, then, while Givanni was still stunned, shouted, "A dragon - I mean, Cecilia - attacked us! An' Urameshi an' the others are still stuck back there, and I dunno is they're still kicking, but even if they are, Cecilia is the one who attacked those people last night and she's being controlled by Laird Michealangelo! He's been spying on us since he left, and he's been using that golem to do it!'
The smile faded from Givanni's face, and his glass of wine stopped half-way to his lips; the head master sighed, placing the glass on his desk, then folded his hands in his lap. "Tell me again, and slower this time."
"Cecilia, the dragon that helped us over Christmas, is back. She's attacked my friends at our dorm, and is being controlled by Laird Michealangelo, who left on a trip and has been using this golem to spy on us." Kuwabara took a breath after all of this, and stared somewhat hopelessly as Givanni stayed mute. The headmaster took a quick sip of his wine, and gave a sidelong glance at the clay golem sitting on his desk.
"Are you sure this is the Laird's tool for spying?" he asked slowly, letting the wine roll on his tongue. At Kuwabara's nodded reply, he stood up with a sweep of his cotton haori and placed a hand on the quivering creature's sphere head.
"Why, hello, Laird... you are watching this, aren't you? I knew you wouldn't leave here without some sort of connection."
The golem stiffened, and its wings drooped. Taking this as a "yes", Givanni continued.
"Quite easy to piece together, hm? Well, now that your own student turned you in, what are you going to do, my friend? Leaving without so much of a note, then plotting against me... clever, but still easy to figure out."
The golem twitched its long neck under the headmaster's touch, and Kuwabara looked from one to the other.
"You can talk to him, through that thing?" He pointed to the golem, and Givanni's easy-going smile once again graced his features. "But of course, Kuwabara. And to tell you the truth, he's watching as I speak."
"Er..."
"Now, now... calm down; I doubt he could do anything from such a distance. I've had an eye on him myself, and from what I've learned, he's secluded himself somewhere in south-western Makai, am I correct?" The question was aimed at the golem, and it dutifully nodded its head. "Ah, that's good. It's so nice when a plan comes together!"
"What plan?"
"Well, not only do I plan on pursuing the Laird once I get the chance, but I've also sent an employee of mine to search the grounds for anyone who might be in league with the necromancer. Hey, don't give me that look - you turned him in, so I hold you innocent for the Laird's actions.
"But, you see, you did make one mistake, as did he... and I'm afraid the punishment must rest on you, Kuwabara."
The redhead slowly stood up and backed away towards the door; Michealangelo's golem shrilly screeched, its Celtic-knot wings beating the still early-summer air. Givanni didn't move, but stood there with that smile on his face, confident in the knowledge that his door was firmly locked. With a snap of his fingers, the figure in the portrait by the door seemed to move - no, it was moving - and, although canvas and paint could not possibly do such a thing, grasped the edge of its frame. Its long spindly fingers clutched at the wood portrait frame, it's suit-clad torso leaned out, and in one slurred moment of surprise, it had a fistful of Kuwabara's hair in its hand. The teen yelped in pain, desperately trying to break the portrait's grip, but froze as Givanni stepped over; the headmaster still wore that same careless smile and leaned forwards, hands shoved in his pockets, to whisper in Kuwabara's ear.
"You see, Kuwa-san, Michealangelo is the good guy... not me."
There was sinking sensation in the pit of his stomach, and he felt the room grow dim. But when he hit the floor, he vaguely realized that it wasn't the rich, velvety carpet of before...
It was a bed of fire-colored leaves.
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Ah, would finish the last few fight scenes this chapter, but it's already thirteen pages long and you guys have waited almost an entire week; I'm cruel like that. But, the next chapter will be up by the end of the weekend! ...I hope. ;;
Which means the hatchling REALLY gets her name, Cecilia's appearance is ACTUALLY explained, and Kuwabara FINALLY is rescued from a horrible life in...
... a pile of leaves...
Er... yeah.
Oh, as an extra-side-chapter/outtakes-thingy (which will be put up when this is done), I'm taking questions for the original characters for a Q&A session, and if you guys want to know how I got the idea for characters/places/events in this story, you're welcome to ask that too.
Ciao!