DISCLAIMER: The only things I own are Thia, The Pearl of Three Worlds, and Tsurin. I'd gladly give the rights of The Pearl and Tsurin away. In exchange, all I want is Kurama. Please? Pretty-pretty please???

Chapter 20: Plots and Plans and Evil Lords

The golden thread-like chain twinkled in the gloom of the cave. It was beautiful enough on its own, but with a certain ¾ inch stone hung upon it, it was perfectly delicate, and fit for a princess.

It was quite out of place in the calloused and wrinkling hands of the bloodthirsty and maniacal Lord Tsurin. Few could call this demon handsome, particularly with his ugly blue-gray skin that was more gray than blue, his conniving yellow and orange eyes, and deteriorating fangs. Not only that, but where once was firm muscles now was flabby hanging tissue. His nails curled beneath his fingers, yellow and fungus-y. Not handsome? Yeah, right. More like disgusting. And there was no beautiful personality to make up for his lack of attractiveness.

Was it a wonder that he had no heir?

But now the lord made a signal to the guard at the door, which the guard then pulled open to reveal a horrific sight of starved and shackled hostages, a hundred of them. They were demons, many of them defenseless and terrified. After all, Tsurin couldn't very well afford any volunteers, could he? He could, however, afford to use slaves and servants he'd acquired over the years.

They stood all in a circle surrounding a symbol marked on the stone floor with iron. A triangle in a circle. Tsurin made his way to the very center, ignoring the pleas that assailed him as he did so, his footsteps heavy with his weight. Then he began the chant in a language never heard by humans ever before:

"O, Sacred Pearl of the Three:

Your master implores you

To let him go free

Between the worlds you bind.

He offers you this gift:

A hundred demon souls."

As soon as Lord Tsurin had finished, a loud rushing noise was heard and the pearl around his neck began to give off an evil black light. Terrified beyond belief, the sacrifices began to struggle against their shackles, screeching at the top of their lungs when they found that their feet stuck fast to the floor.

Complete darkness consumed the room and the screeches were cut short. The cave began to shudder menacingly, and had anyone been unoccupied, they would've wondered if it might collapse.

Then, light, in the form of mysteriously re-lit candles, cast itself all over the cave. There was nothing left of the sacrifices except their empty shackles. No bodies. No skeletons. No clothes. Just shackles.

Lord Tsurin had been hoping to see more carnage, but smiled all the same. The plan was working deliciously.

An annoying 'wheeeeee!'-ing sound made its way to Voldemort's ears. How he just wanted to smash that damned Communication Plate! How could an evil lord concentrate on his world domination plans when the thing just went off, completely breaking his focus?

"This is Lord Voldemort," he answered the plate. That ugly fool, Tsurin, was on the other end.

"Ah, Voldemort! I've done my part. Now it's your turn. And make sure you don't screw up, human!" With that the demon turned away from the Communication Plate on his end.

How DARE he even INSINUATE that I, the DARK LORD Voldemort might... SCREW UP!

Somehow, he managed to get his anger under control and hung up his end of the plate. (He wanted sooo badly to just go, "Crucio! Crucio! Crucio!") He then made his way past his adherents, down a stairwell in their secret hideout, and to the very lowest basement in the place. On the floor of it was a triangle in a circle made of coal and ash. No amount of wind would ever disturb this symbol, though.

Voldemort outstretched his hand over the symbol and uttered the single word that would unlock the binding spell he had put upon the place when he had first come across it.

After all, this was a secret hideout. No one was supposed to come across it, using the Pearl or otherwise, except for who he decided would come across it.

That done, the Dark Lord took out the plate once more and summoned Tsurin.

"It's done, you great oaf," were the words that he spoke, and turned the device off again. There! That would show that imbecile to insult the one and only Lord Voldemort!

The agitation that the demon lord felt was drowned out by elation. His fleeting thought was merely Betrayal will be so sweet.

Finally! Lord Tsurin reveled in the feeling of triumph. Or, well, near-triumph. So his last three attempts to finish off the team of that foolish Spirit World prince had failed... miserably. Even dark lords had their off days! There would be no mistakes this time around, of that he was completely sure.

But in any case, the ritual of the Pearl went on. He stood perfectly still in the middle of the triangle and chanted:

Pearl of Wisdom and Power

With the sacrifice of souls and blood

Deliver me this hour

Into the World of Life.

Send my body and soul

To the fifth Sacred Site

Blackened by ash and coal-

Deliver me."

A rush was delivered to Tsurin's head and the world went black.

The sight of a dazed and dizzy Lord Tsurin almost made Lord Voldemort laugh. Almost. Rather, he just gave the disheveled-looking demon a cold glare.

"Lord Tsurin. At last we meet in person."

"Ha! You look as weak as you always did, Voldemort! Hah!" And with that Lord Tsurin collapsed on the floor. His host swept out of the room in an icy rage.

"Wormtail!" he barked at the Animagus. "Lord Tsurin is in the basement. See that he is taken proper care of."

Take the trash out where it belongs, a part of the evil lord's mind screamed at him. However, he needed to make plans. And these plans included the foolish and treacherous, though undoubtedly useful, Lord Tsurin of the Demon World.

Responses:

Karuto-chan—I'm sorry that I forgot to thank you in the last chapter!

Minakara, YYH-Yu-Yu-Hakusho-Fan/Hiei=Hot, the Legendary Beckster, and slave2anime—Thank you, thank you, thank you! (x1,000,000)

TTrunks—Thanks so much for answering my question-thingy!

fleetgoddess14—The school is- Bobby: That's undisclosable information, isn't it, r.i.p? ::death glare:: Erm, well, the answer to your question is in the next chapter, so stay tuned!

Rose—::hands you a pint of EverFreez Breakthrough Berry Ice Cream:: Once again because you mentioned the word 'kissage'! Thanks for answering the question as well as for taking the time to review!

Meghann/xKitsunex—heh-heh...Um. What e-mail?... lol... I triple-checked that I'd packed the butcher knives before I left home. And I took along a bottle of rat poison. You know. JIC the house had rodents. Or monkeys. ::cough:: Anyway! My brothers don't call me names anymore. I kinda... kicked them. And I may have thrown a couple of shoes. And, um, Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire. Violence sure solves everything, doesn't it? Well, thanks for reviewing and for answering my question!

Author's Note: Are you wondering why Tsurin's so lucid all of a sudden? So am I. Yeah, yeah, this chapter is short (the story part isn't even 1,000 words long!) and I'm not all that sure that the last Dark Side chapter was all that much of a success, but I wanted to explain the Pearl a little further, and what it's like. I'm nuts, I know. I've written down an entire history for the damn thing and I don't want all of that time and effort to go to waste.

And I know that my attempt at poetry, or at least my attempt at rhyming verses, were bad. I'll just say that in the original language they rhymed, but in English, not so.

I just thought of something. Should I create a sequel to this fic, like when they're in the final year? I've got a wicked idea planned if I decide to do it and my reviewers don't bail out on me... ::evil laughter::

Review!!!