Promises of the Past pt. 12 Icy Blood
As the stars shined sadly in the twilight, Botan, Yukina, Sakura, and Keiko stayed by Kizna's bedside watching her pained form struggle to breathe. A soft knock knocked on the bedchamber door. Botan opened it.
"I've come to see my daughter," Queen Makoto murmured worriedly. "I've heard she's not well."
Botan shook her head.
"No," she began, "she's not well. We've called the doctors, and they still have not arrived yet."
"That's because the palace has gotten a new physician," Jesscheaux commented suddenly.
They turned to her.
"He arrived this morning. One of the servants informed him of the situation, and he's doing some tests on the Princess," she finished.
"But," the Queen argued, "I didn't send for a new palace doctor."
"We honestly have no idea what happened," Kohaku added walking inside the room with Jin. "But Doctor Takenaka suddenly decided he no longer wished to work here."
"Yes," Jin confirmed, "apparently the new doctor's name is, Kamiya Minoru."
Rei sighed. This is it, she thought despairingly. The end draws near. Hearing soft footfalls, she looked up.
"Hello, Fiore," she whispered emotionlessly.
"Rei?" he inquired worriedly. "What's wrong?"
She turned her head away.
"Nothing, Fiore," she answered lying. "There is nothing wrong."
With a worried look in his eyes, Fiore walked to her side and pulled her close.
'You're lying," he whispered into her ear making her shiver. "I know you are."
Rei's breath caught in her throat. She turned to meet Fiore's fierce, fiery blue gaze. His head began inching toward hers. Don't hold back, Rei, he thought. Just this once, let yourself go. Just for tonight. At the last moment, she turned away.
"No," she murmured hinting at a great longing, "we can't. Not now."
Fiore stepped back on shaky legs. A painful pang hurt his heart.
"I understand, Rei," he whispered making his way back to the Time Stream door.
As the large entrance shut with a loud bang, Rei looked up in shock. She felt a hard, icy blood flow through her veins. What have I done? She asked herself. I've just made the worst mistake I could've ever made.
Kamiya rubbed his hands together eagerly. Lady Ruka's forbidden magic seems to have worked well, he thought. That spell of hers has sent me to the moon, and that stupid Princess is dying from her very own Silver Crystal. Soon, I'll have everything I've ever dreamed of. He walked into the Princess's bedroom. Queen Makoto stood up.
"About my daughter, Doctor," she began worriedly, "what's wrong with her? Will she be all right?"
"Calm down, Your Highness," he answered calmly coaxing Makoto back to her chair. "For right now, all I can say is that she's very sick."
"Well thank you for stating the obvious!" Jesscheaux screamed angrily.
"Shh," Goemon whispered placing hands on her shoulders comfortingly. "Don't worry. I'm sure her Highness will be all right."
Kamiya let out a false sigh.
"Your Highness," he stated gravely, "your daughter is dying."
Botan summoned her oar and ran out of the palace leaving everyone crying in the Princess's bedroom. Hot tears filled her eyes. She hopped on her oar and flew deep into the afternoon sky headed for earth.
The twilight fell upon the earth, and Kurama stood watching from his balcony waiting for her to come.
Minutes passed. He waited. Slowly, the minutes turned to hours. Where is she? He asked himself sadly. He ran his hand through his long red hair and sighed. Then, Yusuke and the others walked in.
"Have they come yet?" Yusuke questioned longingly.
Kurama shook his head. The others sighed. Then, a crash echoed through the palace. Frightened, they turned to Kurama's balcony and watched Botan with tears streaming down her face scramble for the door.
"Botan!" Koenma cried worriedly flinging the balcony doors open. "What's wrong?"
"She's dying! She's dying!" Botan wept.
"What?" Kurama asked confused. "Who's dying?"
Through her tears, Botan looked up to him. Koenma ran his hands through her hair trying to calm her.
"Princess Kizna," she murmured barely audible, "is dying."
Suddenly, the Prince felt his whole world come crashing down around him.
"Botan," he begged desperate with longing, "you've got to take me to her. I have to see her."
Botan nodded and hesitantly pulling herself away from Koenma's warm and comforting grip. She summoned her oar.
"Get on," she commanded sniffling. "I'll get us to the Moon as fast as I can."
"Wait!" Yusuke yelled. "Take us with you."
"I can't," Botan sniffled, "I can take only one at a time on this. I'll come back for you all later."
The others nodded. Kurama sat down beside her holding tightly to the wooden oar. A cool night wind blew through the open balcony doors. Then, Botan and the Prince sailed through the air traveling quickly through the bitter winds. Koenma ran out onto the balcony and watched. A feeling of dread settled in his heart.
The Moon Queen and the others sat around her bed crying and whispering words of comfort. Goemon held Jesscheaux close. A river of crystalline tears fell from her green eyes. Jin held Kohaku close with his hands resting comfortingly on her shoulders.
"Will you be all right?" he inquired worriedly.
Kohaku nodded staring blankly at the form in the bed withering before her eyes. Then, the bedchamber door crashed open.
Not used to the lighter gravity, Kurama stumbled into the bedchamber with Botan walking in teary eyed after him. Jesscheaux, Kohaku, and Jin glared.
"You!" Jesscheaux cried slapping Kurama hard in the face. "This is all your fault! You did this to her!"
Ignoring the stinging in his cheek, Kurama looked sadly at the pale form lying in the bed. - "Kizna,"he whispered longingly as he ran clumsily to her side.
Jesscheaux stormed after him.
"Did you not hear what I just said!" she screamed angrily with hot tears running down her face. "This is all your fault!"
"It is not his fault," a voice corrected. "The Princess did this willingly. She brought it upon herself."
The others turned to the door and watched as Rei walked into the room. Jesscheaux stared at her best friend shocked.
"She's wanted to do this," she continued. "She's wanted to do this for the longest time. It was a dream. Her dream."
"But we wanted this too," Sakura whined. "Why is she the only one getting punished for this?"
"Because, she is the next owner of the Silver Crystal," Rei answered. "Only the owner and its heirs can use it. My Queen, would you summon the Silver Crystal here?"
Queen Makoto nodded. She folded her hands and whispered a prayer. The room filled with a bright white light. When the light faded, the Moon Queen held a small glowing crystal in her hands.
"Do you think they'll be all right?" Yusuke questioned worriedly staring out into the star- filled sky.
"They will," Koenma answered. "I've ridden on Botan's oar once, and as long as you're with her, you'll be able to breathe in space. Hopefully, there is a decent amount of oxygen on the moon for his Highness to survive."
Kuwabara, Yusuke, and Hiei nodded worriedly.
"I wouldn't worry," a seductive voice added making the Generals look up. "The Prince is doing just fine. Can't say the same for that Princess though."
They looked up and found Ruka standing the doorway smirking. She's different, Yusuke thought suspiciously. Very different. He studied her. The Ruka before them with the gray ashen skin, frightening gold eyes, and tangled dirty hair wasn't the Ruka they knew .
"What do you mean?" Kuwabara questioned glaring threateningly at her.
Ruka smiled a smile filled with fangs.
"Why, she's dying of course," she replied with her voice filled with false sympathy, "and once she's gone, a grief stricken Prince will come to me, and I shall bring him all the comfort he needs. Soon, he'll fall for me, and he'll be mine."
"You witch," Koenma insulted angrily. "How do you know of this?"
Ruka smirked.
"Why," she boasted, "I have word of a new doctor has started working for the Moon Kingdom palace. And guess who sent him there."
Koenma and the other Generals glared.
"You didn't," Kuwabara sneered. Ruka nodded.
"So," Hiei continued glaring at her, "you somehow disposed of the first doctor. Sent the second one to replace him, and now you may have killed the one thing that has ever made the Prince happy."
"That's about it, Lord Hiei," Ruka bragged smiling. "Would you like to do anything about it?"
Glaring, Hiei unsheathed his sword. The others followed his example. Smiling calmly, Ruka snapped her fingers. Hiei, Yusuke, Kuwabara, and Koenma's eyes went wide with fear.
Demon dogs growled menacingly at Koenma. Hina stood in front of Kuwabara grinning maniacally. Frightened, Hiei stared into the vicious eyes of a large black dragon. Yusuke watched the giant snake tower over him baring long white fangs.
Grinning, Ruka snapped her fingers sending the demons after them. They dropped into a fighting stance and charged.
A dismembered dog's head flew threw the air. The limp body grew two heads. The leftover head grew a body. Koenma's eyes went wide. The army of demon dogs quickly multiplied with every swing of his sword. A large black dog pounced on Koenma's shoulders making him fall to the floor. He screamed. The dogs surrounded him with barred fangs ready to bite.
The dragon raced towards him. It's loud roar shook the palace.. Hiei prepared to strike. He swung his sword and watched the dragon melt the hard steel with one touch of its fiery flesh.
"Try again, Hiei!" Ruka mocked. "That dragon is made from the fires of the Underworld itself. I dare to try and stop it."
The dragon swung around and raced towards Hiei with it's large mouth agape. Hiei gulped and dropped into a defensive position. The beast around him making the air in the room swell several hundred degrees. The black fire dragon had swallowed him. Large black flames surrounded him burning him. Hiei screamed with pain and dropped to his knees.
"You know you ripped my heart out when you left me, Kazuma," Hina sneered stalking towards him.
Kuwabara backed away until he hit the wall. He stared at her with frightened eyes unable to move.
"Now," she whispered with a threatening calm, "I'd like to return the favor."
A cold, dead hand plunged into his chest. Kuwabara screamed with pain. He cried out at the sharp and suffocating feeling. With her dirt and blood-stained hands, Hina grinned and pulled out the throbbing red organ from inside him. Kuwabara collapsed to the floor in a mangled, bloody heap.
The snake plunged its fangs into Yusuke's skin. He cried out. He felt and icy blood run through his veins. He fell to the floor convulsing with the snake's venom running in his veins.
Laughing, Ruka watched the others fight a losing battle with demons that only they could see. Their minds were totally under her control.
Queen Makoto studied the crystal in her hands. Two small silver strings strung from it. Makoto followed the two strings to where they ended.
"It's a bond," she gasped.
"A what?" Yukina questioned.
"A bond," Rei answered, "it can never be broken, and it's very important factor in terms of destiny. It's what ties people together so they can find their one true soulmate. Everyone has one from the very first day they were born."
Kurama turned away from her and looked down on the thin silver string stringing his and Kizna's ring fingers together. He took Kizna's cold hand in his. My soulmate, he thought sadly. My soulmate is dying. He stared at the silver string ending on Kizna's finger. His eyes welled with tears.
"Tell me, Rei," Sakura began, "do we all have one? – I mean, do Botan, Yukina, Keiko, and myself have one too?"
Rei nodded.
"Who are they tied to?" Yukina questioned. "Do you know?"
Rei shook her head.
"Only you can know that," she said, "and only you can find out. All I know is that it can tie people who are meant to be together. It can tie two hearts, two fingers. It can and will tie anything."
Sakura and Yukina nodded.
Ruka surveyed the four unconscious bodies lying on the Prince's bedchamber floor. She bent down and placed her cold fingers on one of their throats.
"You're all right," she smirked feeling a pulse beneath their skin. "It was all an illusion. Now, you all belong to me."
She snapped her fingers making their eyes fly open. They turned to her with the usual warmth in their eyes missing. They blinked. A false warmth radiated from them. She walked up to them and studied them.
She leaned down to Hiei and found a slight part in the middle of his spiky black hair, a green tint in his skin, and a small slit in his forehead where a purple eye watched her. A black dragon tattoo wound itself around his arm. She smiled. Perfect, she thought handing him a white bandanna. Just perfect. Hiei placed the bandanna around his head covering the third eye. She looked to Yusuke and found small black markings across his face and neck. She ran her bony fingers through his now ankle length locks.
"You'll have to shorten that," she commanded. "Understood?"
Yusuke let out a soft growl in understanding. Ruka smiled. She turned to of Kuwabara. He grinned showing a mouth full of fangs and piercing red eyes. She nodded in approval. Her gold eyes turned to Koenma. He barred his long fangs.
"Good," she complimented as she ran her fingers through his hair finding small horns amidst his brown locks. "Wonderful."
She stepped back and watched the Prince's Generals slowly transform back into their human forms.
"You're all perfect," she whispered dangerously. "You'll do well in the upcoming battle. Now, here are your targets."
She pulled out a set of pictures of Yukina, Botan, Keiko, and Sakura's faces. The possessed Generals looked up to her and grinned.
"We," she paused grinning madly, "attack tonight."