I can write one more chapter and then I'm going to have to stop for a bit while my grandparents are here. Just until next Sunday. I hope this can suffice until then. Now...ON WITH THE FIC!
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Kurama had been running for nearly ten minutes now, searching for Kairi in vain. He was drenched, but kept going, hoping against hope he wasn't to late. He was near the park now. Several figures came into view in the distance. As he drew closer, he recognized one as Hiei. Another was a wolf demon of some kind and the rest were a group of dead demons, laying on the grass.
"What happened?" Kurama asked when he reached them, sensing that a fight had taken place.
"Nightmare's demons," Hiei said, gesturing towards one demon who was still living with a skull tattoo on it's forehead. "This one got caught in his own sleeping gas."
"What were they doing here?" Kurama asked.
"They caught some girl and carried her off," Hiei answered. Kurama felt sick.
"What did she look like?" he asked, afraid of the answer.
"I didn't see her up close. Blond hair, short." Hiei said, not paying attention to Kurama's reactions. Kurama sighed slightly. If she was short, then it must have been Sazume and not Kairi. But if they got Sazume, then maybe...
"You shouldn't concern yourself with her. She'll be dead before the end of the day," a voice cut into Kurama's thoughts. He looked up to find the wolf demon staring at him. 'It' was a 'she!' She had cold, gray eyes with gray wolf ears and an equally gray wolf tail. Her brown hair was pulled back in a long braid trailing down her back, swinging freely from a metal cylinder an inch and a half long that was perched on the back of her head.
"And who are you?" Kurama asked.
She smirked slightly. "My name is Akira. Since you know about Nightmare, you may have heard of me. I'm the one who survived the Demonic Fusion."
Kurama's eyes widened in surprise. "What are you doing here?"
"I have a... 'hobby' of hunting these demons that work for Nightmare," she said, glaring at the bodies around her. "I saw a few others before. One, tall in a black robe, carrying a girl similar to the one Hiei saw, except she was taller," Akira added.
"Kairi," Kurama breathed. He felt as if heart had just frozen into a block of ice. They had Kairi! And if what Akira had said before was true, and if Nightmare lived up to it's reputation of killing its victims, then Kairi...
"You know this girl?" Hiei asked. Kurama stared at the wet grass for a moment, then nodded slowly.
"Yes. Her name is Kairi, and the other girl you saw was her younger sister, Sazume," Kurama said quietly. He had this horrible guilty feeling in the pit of his stomach. He had failed. He had tried to protect Kairi, but he had failed. And now she and her sister might have to pay the ultimate price because of it.
"Tell me," Kurama said, looking up at Akira, "what are the odds of Kairi or Sazume surviving this? Is there any chance at all?"
"It depends," Akira answered quietly. Her voice had lost its edge and the hard look her eyes held had softened. "They must have incredibly strong spirits and an equally strong will to live to survive the Spiritual Fusion. And even then, they still might die during the Genetic Fusion."
Kurama looked down at the grass again. He remembered Kairi's jump over the street and what Kuwabara had told him about her past. Maybe she had jumped because she didn't care about her well-being, because her mother's death had forced her to lose her will to live. But if that was true, then her chances of surviving the Spiritual Fusion were slim to none.
"The Demonic Fusion puts extreme pressures on the spirit and the body," Akira continued. "I won't lie. It's the most horrific torture anyone could go through." There was a shadow of pain in her eyes as she spoke and she lowered her gaze to the sleeping demon on the ground. "Sleeping Beauty here should know where Nightmare's base is hidden. If he wakes up soon, we might be able to get there fast and stop the fusion from taking place, but he's been drugged by the sleeping gas, like Hiei said, and we can't wake him. All we can do is pray that he wakes up before it's too late. And if not..." she sighed heavily and looked up at Kurama, "then I hope your friends are up to the challenge of enduring the Demonic Fusion." As she spoke, the demon on the ground groaned, the effects of the sleeping gas beginning to wear off.
"Well speak of the devil," Akira smiled as she stared down at the demon, the harsh, cold look returning to her gray eyes. "We might have our answers sooner then I would have hoped."
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Sazume slowly opened her eyes. She still felt groggy from the sleeping gas she had inhaled. Slowly, the room came into focus. She was lying on a cold, metal table. She could feel the freezing metal binds that held her on the table by her wrists and ankles. There was a blinding light above her, pointed directly at her face.
She turned her head to one side to keep the light out of her eyes and caught sight of a demon standing a few feet away. The demon had a doctor's coat with rubber gloves and a mask on. He had his back to her and was fiddling with something on a table in front of him.
"Ah, you're awake," he said, turning to face her. He had something in his hand, but Sazume's vision hadn't cleared enough for her to see what.
"Whe..." Sazume tried to ask, but her mind seemed disconnected from her mouth. She concentrated hard and tried again.
"Where...am...I?" she managed to mumble.
"Sorry, that's classified," the demon doctor said mockingly. He placed the something in his hand over her mouth. It looked like a large glass jar with a plastic mask at the opening.
"Now just relax and breathe deeply," he said in a completely fake soothing voice. Sazume's mind was still clouded and by the time she realized just how dangerous it would be to obey the demon, she had already taken a breath. Something smoky, with the feeling of something alive, left the clear jar and entered her mouth, swimming down her throat and into her body.
"Good," the demon doctor said, removing the mask of the jar from Sazume's face.
"Now this may sting a bit at first," he said, "but that should go away once the searing pain kicks in." With that, the demon turned back to the table he had been working at before.
Sazume had just comprehended what he had said, and was about to ask what he meant, when a sharp pain went through her chest. Sazume moaned and tried to twist free of the metal binds holding her to the table. The pain grew worse with each passing second. She shut her eyes as tight as she could and bit her lip so hard that blood dripped down her chin. Then, the pain escalated to a point beyond what Sazume would have thought possible. Her eyes shot open again and she screamed louder then she had in her entire life.
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Kairi slowly, very slowly, drifted back into consciousness. She thought she heard a scream, but her head hurt too much for her to care. She cracked one eye open. A blinding light made her shut it again immediately. The pain in her head got ten times worse and she groaned in pain. Kairi tried to sit up, but something cold and smooth held her wrists and ankles down.
"Now, now. Relax," someone said from somewhere above her and to the right. Kairi opened her eyes again, slowly, letting them adjust to the light. Ignoring the pain in her head as much as she could, she tried hard to focus on the room. Someone in a white coat and wearing a doctor's mask was standing by the table she was laying on. He had something in his hand, but she couldn't see what. Was he a doctor? No. He was one of those horrible creatures that had been chasing her dressed up like a doctor. Kairi turned her head, and immediately regretted it.
"My head..." she moaned, shutting her eyes against the pain.
"Our sleeping chemicals do that sometimes. Dreadfully sorry," the fake doctor said. He placed something over her mouth.
"Now be a good girl and take a deep breath," he instructed. Alarms went off in Kairi's throbbing head.
'If he wants me to take a breath, then that's exactly what I can't do!' she thought. Kairi instantly began to hold her breath.
"Tsk, tsk," the demon doctor clicked his tongue, waging his finger at her. "You're only delaying the inevitable. You can't hold your breath forever."
'Watch me!' Kairi though, but she knew he was right, she'd have to breathe sometime. Finally, she could hold it no longer and had to take a breath. As she breathed in, she felt something smoky and somehow living go down her throat. Smoke couldn't be alive! Could it? So many strange things had happened already today that Kairi honestly wasn't sure.
"Now I won't lie, this isn't going to be a walk in the park. Feel free to scream, I have earplugs," the fake doctor said, taking a step back from the table Kairi was strapped to.
"What?" Kairi asked, but at that moment, she got her answer. A pain that rivaled the pain in her head shot through her body. Starting at her chest, her heart, and expanding outwards to the tips of her fingers and toes. Then it got worse...and worse...and worse...and worse! A high scream escaped Kairi's lips. It was like some wild animal had somehow gotten inside of her and was ripping her apart from the inside. The pain kept escalating until tears ran down her cheeks.
"I think this one might survive," Kairi was barely aware of a new voice saying from somewhere to her left. "We should administer the Genetic Fusion before the spirits are completely joined."
"Alright," the fake doctor from before said. Kairi was just able to make out his form standing above her once more.
"Relax. This will all be over soon," he said as he placed another mask over her mouth. This time, Kairi knew what it was. It was an anesthesia mask. As the gas flowed into Kairi's lungs, she began to feel sleepy. But the pain refused to leave her body, and she drifted off to sleep knowing that even her dreams would be filled with unspeakable pain and suffering.
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Kurama had been running for nearly ten minutes now, searching for Kairi in vain. He was drenched, but kept going, hoping against hope he wasn't to late. He was near the park now. Several figures came into view in the distance. As he drew closer, he recognized one as Hiei. Another was a wolf demon of some kind and the rest were a group of dead demons, laying on the grass.
"What happened?" Kurama asked when he reached them, sensing that a fight had taken place.
"Nightmare's demons," Hiei said, gesturing towards one demon who was still living with a skull tattoo on it's forehead. "This one got caught in his own sleeping gas."
"What were they doing here?" Kurama asked.
"They caught some girl and carried her off," Hiei answered. Kurama felt sick.
"What did she look like?" he asked, afraid of the answer.
"I didn't see her up close. Blond hair, short." Hiei said, not paying attention to Kurama's reactions. Kurama sighed slightly. If she was short, then it must have been Sazume and not Kairi. But if they got Sazume, then maybe...
"You shouldn't concern yourself with her. She'll be dead before the end of the day," a voice cut into Kurama's thoughts. He looked up to find the wolf demon staring at him. 'It' was a 'she!' She had cold, gray eyes with gray wolf ears and an equally gray wolf tail. Her brown hair was pulled back in a long braid trailing down her back, swinging freely from a metal cylinder an inch and a half long that was perched on the back of her head.
"And who are you?" Kurama asked.
She smirked slightly. "My name is Akira. Since you know about Nightmare, you may have heard of me. I'm the one who survived the Demonic Fusion."
Kurama's eyes widened in surprise. "What are you doing here?"
"I have a... 'hobby' of hunting these demons that work for Nightmare," she said, glaring at the bodies around her. "I saw a few others before. One, tall in a black robe, carrying a girl similar to the one Hiei saw, except she was taller," Akira added.
"Kairi," Kurama breathed. He felt as if heart had just frozen into a block of ice. They had Kairi! And if what Akira had said before was true, and if Nightmare lived up to it's reputation of killing its victims, then Kairi...
"You know this girl?" Hiei asked. Kurama stared at the wet grass for a moment, then nodded slowly.
"Yes. Her name is Kairi, and the other girl you saw was her younger sister, Sazume," Kurama said quietly. He had this horrible guilty feeling in the pit of his stomach. He had failed. He had tried to protect Kairi, but he had failed. And now she and her sister might have to pay the ultimate price because of it.
"Tell me," Kurama said, looking up at Akira, "what are the odds of Kairi or Sazume surviving this? Is there any chance at all?"
"It depends," Akira answered quietly. Her voice had lost its edge and the hard look her eyes held had softened. "They must have incredibly strong spirits and an equally strong will to live to survive the Spiritual Fusion. And even then, they still might die during the Genetic Fusion."
Kurama looked down at the grass again. He remembered Kairi's jump over the street and what Kuwabara had told him about her past. Maybe she had jumped because she didn't care about her well-being, because her mother's death had forced her to lose her will to live. But if that was true, then her chances of surviving the Spiritual Fusion were slim to none.
"The Demonic Fusion puts extreme pressures on the spirit and the body," Akira continued. "I won't lie. It's the most horrific torture anyone could go through." There was a shadow of pain in her eyes as she spoke and she lowered her gaze to the sleeping demon on the ground. "Sleeping Beauty here should know where Nightmare's base is hidden. If he wakes up soon, we might be able to get there fast and stop the fusion from taking place, but he's been drugged by the sleeping gas, like Hiei said, and we can't wake him. All we can do is pray that he wakes up before it's too late. And if not..." she sighed heavily and looked up at Kurama, "then I hope your friends are up to the challenge of enduring the Demonic Fusion." As she spoke, the demon on the ground groaned, the effects of the sleeping gas beginning to wear off.
"Well speak of the devil," Akira smiled as she stared down at the demon, the harsh, cold look returning to her gray eyes. "We might have our answers sooner then I would have hoped."
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Sazume slowly opened her eyes. She still felt groggy from the sleeping gas she had inhaled. Slowly, the room came into focus. She was lying on a cold, metal table. She could feel the freezing metal binds that held her on the table by her wrists and ankles. There was a blinding light above her, pointed directly at her face.
She turned her head to one side to keep the light out of her eyes and caught sight of a demon standing a few feet away. The demon had a doctor's coat with rubber gloves and a mask on. He had his back to her and was fiddling with something on a table in front of him.
"Ah, you're awake," he said, turning to face her. He had something in his hand, but Sazume's vision hadn't cleared enough for her to see what.
"Whe..." Sazume tried to ask, but her mind seemed disconnected from her mouth. She concentrated hard and tried again.
"Where...am...I?" she managed to mumble.
"Sorry, that's classified," the demon doctor said mockingly. He placed the something in his hand over her mouth. It looked like a large glass jar with a plastic mask at the opening.
"Now just relax and breathe deeply," he said in a completely fake soothing voice. Sazume's mind was still clouded and by the time she realized just how dangerous it would be to obey the demon, she had already taken a breath. Something smoky, with the feeling of something alive, left the clear jar and entered her mouth, swimming down her throat and into her body.
"Good," the demon doctor said, removing the mask of the jar from Sazume's face.
"Now this may sting a bit at first," he said, "but that should go away once the searing pain kicks in." With that, the demon turned back to the table he had been working at before.
Sazume had just comprehended what he had said, and was about to ask what he meant, when a sharp pain went through her chest. Sazume moaned and tried to twist free of the metal binds holding her to the table. The pain grew worse with each passing second. She shut her eyes as tight as she could and bit her lip so hard that blood dripped down her chin. Then, the pain escalated to a point beyond what Sazume would have thought possible. Her eyes shot open again and she screamed louder then she had in her entire life.
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Kairi slowly, very slowly, drifted back into consciousness. She thought she heard a scream, but her head hurt too much for her to care. She cracked one eye open. A blinding light made her shut it again immediately. The pain in her head got ten times worse and she groaned in pain. Kairi tried to sit up, but something cold and smooth held her wrists and ankles down.
"Now, now. Relax," someone said from somewhere above her and to the right. Kairi opened her eyes again, slowly, letting them adjust to the light. Ignoring the pain in her head as much as she could, she tried hard to focus on the room. Someone in a white coat and wearing a doctor's mask was standing by the table she was laying on. He had something in his hand, but she couldn't see what. Was he a doctor? No. He was one of those horrible creatures that had been chasing her dressed up like a doctor. Kairi turned her head, and immediately regretted it.
"My head..." she moaned, shutting her eyes against the pain.
"Our sleeping chemicals do that sometimes. Dreadfully sorry," the fake doctor said. He placed something over her mouth.
"Now be a good girl and take a deep breath," he instructed. Alarms went off in Kairi's throbbing head.
'If he wants me to take a breath, then that's exactly what I can't do!' she thought. Kairi instantly began to hold her breath.
"Tsk, tsk," the demon doctor clicked his tongue, waging his finger at her. "You're only delaying the inevitable. You can't hold your breath forever."
'Watch me!' Kairi though, but she knew he was right, she'd have to breathe sometime. Finally, she could hold it no longer and had to take a breath. As she breathed in, she felt something smoky and somehow living go down her throat. Smoke couldn't be alive! Could it? So many strange things had happened already today that Kairi honestly wasn't sure.
"Now I won't lie, this isn't going to be a walk in the park. Feel free to scream, I have earplugs," the fake doctor said, taking a step back from the table Kairi was strapped to.
"What?" Kairi asked, but at that moment, she got her answer. A pain that rivaled the pain in her head shot through her body. Starting at her chest, her heart, and expanding outwards to the tips of her fingers and toes. Then it got worse...and worse...and worse...and worse! A high scream escaped Kairi's lips. It was like some wild animal had somehow gotten inside of her and was ripping her apart from the inside. The pain kept escalating until tears ran down her cheeks.
"I think this one might survive," Kairi was barely aware of a new voice saying from somewhere to her left. "We should administer the Genetic Fusion before the spirits are completely joined."
"Alright," the fake doctor from before said. Kairi was just able to make out his form standing above her once more.
"Relax. This will all be over soon," he said as he placed another mask over her mouth. This time, Kairi knew what it was. It was an anesthesia mask. As the gas flowed into Kairi's lungs, she began to feel sleepy. But the pain refused to leave her body, and she drifted off to sleep knowing that even her dreams would be filled with unspeakable pain and suffering.