Okay, so as I write this, I'm in the car going to Cleveland. This is why I haven't post my new story yet. Fortunately, this gives me a good excuse to write this chapter! Oh, and Fanfic-Lover, than you for giving me the proper spelling. I always seem to forget the right spelling.
Hiei: Just say the disclaimer already so you can type the story.
Me: You do it!
Hiei; Oh, all right. Sroa Dwin doesn't me or anyone else except for Z, Hannah, and Alex. So don't waste her time by suing!
Me: Onto the chapter!
"So let me get this straight, Botan – you want us to go into some graveyard in the middle of the night, find some old geezer and beat the crap out of him," said Yusuke.
"There's more to it than that, Yusuke," corrected Botan. "He's wanted on Koenma's Top Ten list, and he's been known to resurrect himself if any part of him isn't burnt or disintegrated."
"Fine, fine we'll do it," Yusuke told Botan.
"Oh good, I had feeling you'd say that," she replied. "We think he'll strike around midnight two days from now. Good luck!" she called as she flew off on her oar.
Yusuke watched her go, and then walked out of the warehouse as if nothing had happened.
Hannah clicked the alarm button on her clock, trying to stop the annoying buzzing sound it was producing. It worked. She looked out her window to see it was raining. Or rather, pouring. She smiled. She loved rain.
Normally when her alarm went off, she just turned it off and went back to sleep. It was, after all, set to ring at five in the morning. But not today. Instead she got out a set of clothes and went to take a shower, making sure to wash her hair thoroughly. When she came out, she wore black pants and a brown mock turtleneck.
Hannah then proceeded to brush her hair, taking time to make sure that all the tangles were removed. This took awhile because she hadn't brushed her hair for two days. When she was done she put her hair in a bun and went downstairs.
When she entered the kitchen, she was surprised to see a plate of bacon and a bowl of cereal at her place. She looked around the kitchen, thinking that Z would be around. He wasn't. She shrugged and sat down to breakfast.
Shortly after she had finished breakfast and cleaned up, Hannah heard the doorbell ring. She opened the door and let Alex in, closing the door behind her. As Alex collected Hannah's homework and put it in her bag, Hannah went to the closet and put on her blue cloak. After a moment's consideration, she also put on a pointed hat, much like what witches wore except straw-colored. It was, after all, raining.
When Alex looked at her, she asked, "No roller blades?"
"'Too slippery. C'mon, let's go," Hannah replied. They opened the door and went outside.
As they walked, Alex was silent. Normally she would try to persuade Hannah to come to school, but today she didn't say a word. Hannah knew why, of course. This was the third year anniversary of Alex's father's death. Hannah knew where she would be tonight, too. At the graveyard.
"Want me to come with you?" she asked kindly. Alex looked at her, eyes bright. She nodded. "Meet me at my house after school and I'll walk with you," Hannah told her as reached the school.
"Okay," Alex replied, her voice quiet. She went inside as Hannah went around the school to the roof. Knowing that she would get little sleep that night, she sat down next to an air vent were she could hear the lecture. Seeing there was a little ledge above where she sat, she brought her knees against her chest and pushed her hat over her eyes. Not bothering to open her eyes, she listened to the lecture.
"Hey kid, are you awake?" asked a vaguely familiar voice. She blinked and pushed her hat back. She hadn't realized she had fallen asleep until she had heard someone ask her a question.
"Um, yeah. What time is it?" she asked. She knew who he was, if only by reputation. He was the famed Yusuke Urameshi, the toughest punk at Sariyashiki Jr. High.
"I dunno," he replied. "But there's only one class left, so it's probably in the middle of the afternoon."
"Thanks. See ya!" Hannah dashed off the roof before Yusuke could say anything else.
When school had let out, Hannah and Alex walked back to Hannah's house to do their homework. After they had finished that, they decided to watch a movie until 11:30, since they had several hours. They got through one movie and half-way through another before Hannah realized it was time to go. They quietly put on their coats (or in Hannah's case her cloak and hat) and went outside.
Silence reigned during their stroll to the graveyard. No words were needed. Few knew, but not only Alex's father killed in a car accident, but Hannah's father was killed in the same accident. When they reached the graveyard, they walked around until they found Alex's father's tombstone. Alex stared at it.
"You'll be alright?" Hannah whispered. She nodded, not taking her eyes off the tombstone. Hannah left and went to find her own father's tombstone. She found it close by.
Crouching down, she made sure it was the right one. It was. She looked at it, lost in thought.
A sudden scream pierced the air, bringing her back to reality. She stood up for a moment, wondering whose voice that was. It hit her. That was Alex's! She ran towards where she had left Alex.
She soon found Alex, and saw why she had screamed. There was a wall of corpses between her and Hannah, and they were closing in on Alex fast. Hannah ran after them, hoping to save Alex.
Just as she almost reached her, the zombies parted in front of her, and she reached Alex.
"Alex, are you okay?" Hannah asked. Alex nodded.
"Yes," she whispered, although she didn't sound alright to Hannah.
"But not for long," called an unfamiliar voice. It was the kind of voice that could play the emperor in Star Wars. Hannah slowly turned to face the owner of the voice.
He had long, black hair about the same length as the redhead she had met a couple of days ago, with bleached white highlights in it. He had dark eyes that were cold and skin as pale as a dead man's. He wore worn out dark robes that billowed around him. He was grinning.
"You see," he said, still grinning, "I need two blood sacrifices tonight, and you just happen to be in the way." Alex looked at him with wide eyes. Hannah could tell she was shivering with fear.
"As it ever occurred to you that we might not want to be sacrificed?" Hannah asked, stepping forward. He smirked.
"Ah, but you see, you don't have a choice," he told her evilly. Hannah glared.
"Then could you at least tell us what were being sacrificed for?" That was Alex.
"Very well then, if you wish," he said. He began to give a lengthy explanation about necromancy and its various ways of spell casting. Hannah paid no attention to him as she looked at the sky. Most of the sky was covered, except for the moon.
The moon was full.
Suddenly it was as if a barrier was broken, and she felt a burning rage inside of herself. She knew exactly what she was going to do about it, too. She took a defensive stance facing the necromancer and put her hands behind her, with space in between them. Blue lightning struck once, then twice nearby. She paid it no mind.
To those watching her, it looked as if her eyes had turned yellow and had started glowing. Then a blue ball of light appeared in between her hands, and it started to grow.
When it was stabilizing, Hannah started to speak.
"Ha..." The necromancer looked at her to see what was wrong.
"Do..." Suddenly he stared at her, wide eyed and afraid.
"KEN!" As she shouted that last syllable, she thrust her palms out in front of herself, as a huge cylinder of blue-white light bigger than she was shot out of where the ball used to be. The necromancer was hit by the blast and engulfed in light.
When the blast was over, Hannah went over to where the necromancer used to be. All that was left of him was a small pile of dust. She looked around to see if the zombies were still around. They were gone. As she was turning around something tugged her ear.
"Are these real?" asked Alex, still holding an ear. But wait...her hand was above Hannah's head. Then why...? Hannah felt the top of her head. She felt two furry ears poke out of her head. Curious, she tried wiggling them like she had seen in cartoons. It worked.
"I guess..." She could feel that she had a tail too, but she didn't want to tell Alex just then. Something told her that Alex might freak out if she knew.
A breeze blew past them, bringing an array of scents to Hannah's nose. Including the scent of people. She couldn't explain how she knew all this, she just did.
"People are coming," she told Alex, pricking her ears slightly. Alex, after seeing what had just happened, decided not to ask Hannah how she knew people were coming. They didn't have to wait long before they heard voices.
"Hey guys, did you feel that blast? The spirit power of the person who made it was skyrocketing!" said a vaguely familiar voice in the distance.
"Well yeah, Kuwabara. I mean, how many people do you know who can do that everyday?" asked a more familiar voice. Hannah recognized the speaker as Yusuke.
"We'll just have to hope that whoever it was is on our side," commented grimly another vaguely familiar voice.
"Hn." That voice was both right behind Hannah and completely unfamiliar. Hannah turned to see who had spoken, startled. She saw a young man wearing all black, except for a white band of cloth that covered his forehead. His blood-red eyes were staring at them, emotionless.
Hannah watched as the other three guys caught up with them. They were the three guys she and Alex had met yesterday.
"Hiei! Are they the ones who fired that blast?" asked Yusuke.
"Hn. Ask them yourself," was his reply as disappeared from sight.
Yusuke opened his mouth to speak when he suddenly started fishing for something in his pocket. Alex nearly burst into laughter when he pulled out something that looked suspiciously like a small mirror cased in pink plastic. Hannah merely raised an eyebrow, amused. He opened it, revealing it to actually be a radio with a small screen. On the screen was a blue-haired girl.
"Yusuke, Koenma and I have found some vital information regarding your case, and we need you to come right away," she said. "Oh, and don't forget to take those two girls with you. They'll be very important for your mission."
"Right." Hannah and Alex stared at him.
"Well? You coming or not?" he asked, slightly irritated. They looked at each other. Hannah shrugged her shoulders and they followed his lead.
After everyone was introduced to one another and Koenma explained the situation at hand to Hannah and Alex, Yusuke spoke up.
"Alright, pacifier breath, what is it this time?" he asked, still irritated.
"Well apparently, this lich is more than just some necromancer," began Koenma. "Not only does he have the ability to bring back the dead, but he can also make living copies of himself, complete with spirit energy and even a part of his own soul."
"So in other words, there are multiple liches, all of which are exactly as powerful as the original," replied Yusuke.
"Exactly," said Koenma. "So I'm assigning you some help."
"Actually, they volunteered for the job," corrected a voice. Hannah opened one eye sleepily to see who it was. As soon as they had reached Koenma's office, she had declared herself exhausted and plumped into a chair, refusing to even keep her eyes open.
The voice belonged to Z, only he had brown fox ears and a brown fox tail tipped in white. She grinned weakly at him, too tired to be startled by his appearance.
"Hello, Z," she mumbled, both eyes now half-open. "What're you doing here?"
"I'm a Spirit Mechanic."
Well, there's the second chapter for you. Sorry if some characters seem OOC, I've only really studied Hiei's personality, so I'm having a bit of trouble making everyone else sound right. Oh, and I'll probably only be able to update every weekend at best 'cause of schoolwork. Next time:
What? Mirror demon? What's that?
Visitors! Will they survive the girl's training?
Please review!