Inside the Central tower a.k.a. Training Room
"Dad! Let's go! I wanna battle you!" Mystic hollers as she gets her double- sided spears ready, sharpening the blades. She pricks her right index finger and one drop of her crimson blood dripped onto the spears head; she quickly wiped it off, pleased at the fine cut it gave.
The room was full of all kinds of swords, throwing knives, mostly any kind of dangerous and sharp weapons you could think of, they were in that very room. The weapons sharpener sat near the window Clawdea had been up against back when Rolan had kidnapped her. Mystic started to sharpen her fifth and last double-sided spear and put them in a long and narrow sack that she fastened over her right shoulder and over her chest refastening in the back. Lec entered the room with Clawdea and White winged inuyasha following behind him. They made their way towards the center of the room where an outrageously big circle lined their arena; Mystic was waiting as Lec made his way into the ring, while Clawdea and White winged inuyasha went to the chairs against the wall and sat down, anxious to see if Mystic would lose (since she's got the temper of a roaring geyser.)
"Alright Mystic. Let's do this." Lec exhales as he unsheathed his katana, which had been sharpened before hand; Clawdea grabs a stop watch form her inward pocket of her tunic. "You know the rules. First person out of the ring loses."
"Ready?" Clawdea calmly says as Lec and Mystic enter the beginning stance. "And begin." Clawdea clicks the start button and they take off in a flash of light. "How long do you think this one will last White winged inuyasha?" Clawdea said in a monotone as she stared into the ring making out the fierce fighting.
"5 minutes at a bare maximum mother. Mystic has really been pissed off lately about her latest defeat by dad. Heh." White winged inuyasha laughs as he too focuses on Mystic's butt getting kicked.
Fighting at breakneck speed, Lec tries to hit Mystic on her left shoulder; she ducks and stabs Lec on the lower portion of his left arm, making a slight pierce of the skin. Barely flinching Lec makes 7 slices on Mystic's legs. Realizing her mistake too late she stabs her spear into the ground and with grace, grabs onto it and kicks Lec square in the chest. He goes flying onto the ground, skidding to a stop bare centimeters from the circle's edge; Lec does a back flip and gets back into the fight. He slices the spear into several pieces as he kicks Mystic outside of the ring, making a light imprint into the wall; she falls down and the match is over.
"And the winner once again is Lec. Excellent job, the both of you." Clawdea stops the watch and walks over to Mystic while White winged inuyasha gets up and goes by his dad, complementing him on how he defeated Mystic again for the 3rd time in a row these past two weeks.
"Don't worry Mystic. You just need to practice a little more. You and I can train after dinner." Clawdea said as Mystic got up and cracked her spine back into place; that bag of spears lightly pushed it out of alignment just enough so that it acted as a shock absorber.
"Ah..." Mystic lightly complained. "mom, can you tell me the story again?"
"Which one?"
"The one when you and dad faced off during the Dark Tournament. Who won?" Mystic loved that story, but it also puzzled her because Clawdea had left out the aftermath of what had happened to her ribs; she's got a permanent scar just below her breasts which show of the pain she endured.
"It was a draw. Your father and I were evenly matched. Neither of us could beat the other without the match ending up in death and we couldn't do that since we loved each other too much." Clawdea spoke as she and Mystic made their way to Lec and White winged inuyasha.
"Ha! Way to go dad! You kicked Mystic's ass real good!" White winged inuyasha cheered, not knowing Mystic was right behind him.
"Hm.she just needs a little more training, then she just might beat me." Lec says calmly as Mystic's left eye twitched, just like Clawdea's did.
"Might, dad? Heh, as soon as I train some more, I will beat you, you know that right?" Mystic said, slightly cold.
"Of course. You are getting stronger every minute that you train Mystic. Why do you keep wanting to fight me?" Lec questions Mystic.
"Because I want to join one of mom's groups that travel. I want to see the world."
"White winged inuyasha, do you want to see the world also?" Clawdea asked White winged inuyasha who smiled as he thought of the countries and towns Lec and Clawdea had talked about: Tokyo, Paris, London.all around the world.
"It would be nice to see more that this island mother. Mind if I join you and Mystic today to train?" White winged inuyasha asked as a female Anakari member appeared in the doorway; Clawdea snapped her head in that direction as the female waited to be admitted.
"Of course you can White winged inuyasha. Excuse me while I take care of this." Clawdea said quickly as she whisks over to the door.
"What is it Lieutenant Skye?" Clawdea asked in a concerned voice. (The Anakari members go by their ranks and last names.)
"Well Leader, it's about Koenma. He feels that someone is out to get his fathers most prized possessions, the bands of Hadrian and necklace of Neashi."
"Ah, I've heard of those legendary items. It's said that whoever wears the bands can penetrate any defense system. If those bands are worn along with the necklace of Neashi, they can switch bodies with their attacker. Those are extremely dangerous and shouldn't be taken lightly. I'll go speak with Koenma immediately. Lieutenant" Clawdea says as Mystic, White winged inuyasha and Lec come up behind her.
"Leader?"
"Can you assemble a group to come with?"
"Of course." Lieutenant Skye bows as she leaves to fulfill her assignment.
"Hey mom, can I join you?" Mystic asks anxiously as Lec puts his right hand on her left shoulder.
"I think you kids should stay here. Your mother and I will deal with this." Lec says as Clawdea nods; Mystic's not pleased with the answer.
"Dad, mom said I could come with on your next trip to Koenma's. She promised."
"Lec I did promise her. Could you and White winged inuyasha stay here? This shouldn't take a long time." Clawdea said telepathically as she looked at Mystic then to Lec and White winged inuyasha.
"Alright. Just be careful." Lec replied telepathically.
"You don't need to worry about me; you should know that by now." Clawdea telepathically said as she motioned to Mystic. "C'mon, let's go Mystic."
"Hey! Why can't I go?" White winged inuyasha complained.
"Sorry White winged inuyasha, next time you can. I promise." Clawdea said as she and Mystic disappear around the corner; Lec puts his hands on White winged inuyasha's shoulders.
"C'mon on you runt, let's battle."
At Koenma's office
"Well tell them to fix that damn problem!" Koenma yells into the phone and he slams it down; there was a buzz from the phone for the intercom.
"Lord Koenma, Clawdea's here about the you-know-whats." The receptionist said over the intercom.
"Great! Great! Send her in!" Koenma says as he pressed down the reply button.
"Um, sir, she's brought her daughter and a group of members from the Anakari clan. Should I send them in also?"
"Of course!" Koenma half shouted into the phone as the doors opened. "Ah, Clawdea. It's good you see you again."
"Same to you, I hope. What's the problem?" Clawdea says as she, Mystic and a group no bigger than a dozen Anakari members entered the room.
"My dad's left me in charge with the bands of Hadrian and necklace of Neashi and I'm afraid that somebody's going to try and steal them." Koenma whines.
"Well, your vaults should have no problem in keeping them safe" Clawdea started to speak, but Koenma interrupted.
"They're destroyed! That's why I've asked for your help! Somebody's tampered with them and my dad's going to kill me!"
"Koenma, you've got to get a hold of yourself." Clawdea said coldly as Koenma stopped banging his desk and looked Clawdea in the her cold dark green eyes.
Chapter 2
"Koenma, you've got to get a hold of yourself." Clawdea said coldly as Koenma stopped banging his desk and looked Clawdea in the her cold dark green eyes.
"Ahem. Right. Sorry. I'd like for you to hold those items at your castle-" Koenma started to say as he sat up straight.
"I knew it! This runt wants me to keep yet another of his little trinkets. Well I'm not going to take these." Clawdea said to herself in disbelief as she put her hands onto Koenma's desk. "Koenma, I'm already holding two others items at the castle. I can't afford to put any more of my members onto watching over these items."
"O.O..Clawdea"
"Koenma, all I can do is have the items stay here while this group watches over them until that vault gets fixed. I cannot keep them here forever. That fault better be fixed in two weeks. After that, I'm pulling them off this watch." Clawdea said as she addressed the group. "You shall watch over the two items. Koenma will fill you in on what they are. Make sure you report any suspicious activity to me."
"Yes, Leader Clawdea." The group said in unison.
"Good day Koenma, sir." Clawdea said coldly as she and Mystic walked out the door.
Back at the castle in the south tower a.k.a. the family room
It was around 10 pm when Clawdea got back as she walked into the family room where Team Explosion and Lec were waiting for her. There was a huge fireplace and 3 couches (one 5-seater, one 3-seater and one 2-seater) close to where an overhead window was showing the ¾ moon; it was lightly cloudy out that night as the moon shown on the long and glossy wooden table, creating an eerie glow on the floor. Mystic and White winged inuyasha were in their bedrooms at the time while Clawdea and the others talked about what had happened in Koenma's office.
"He wanted you to hold another one of his stupid trinkets?" Black winged wolf asked Clawdea flatly from the 5-seater couch he, Ivy, Tomoe and X'on were sitting on that was across from the 2-seater couch Lec and Clawdea were sitting on; Lec was holding onto Clawdea's waist lightly and trying to loosen her up, seeing that she had a very frustrated look on her face.
"Yeah, you know, that seems to be what he always wants is for us to hold his trinkets. I can't have my entire empire looking over these things forever." Clawdea said frustrated as she lunged forward, but shrunk back down as Lec held onto her waist.
"I agree sweetie, but it's nothing to get that upset about. The little runt's always getting himself into some kind of hole that he needs us to get him out of. You've put your foot down very nicely and I bet you Koenma's getting that vault fixed before your deadline." Lec said calmly as Clawdea relaxed a bit.
"He'd better, otherwise I will pull that group out of there and what happens, happens. I will feel no guilt whatsoever if anything bad happens after they're pulled." Clawdea said coldly as the moon was covered by the clouds and the fire flickered eerily.
"Whoa, Clawdea calm down." Ivy said as Black winged wolf put his left arm over her breast; she moved his hand onto her shoulder and cuddled onto him.
"Ya, really. You need to calm down a little." X'on said in a concerned voice as he got up. "I'll go and make some tea for us." He said as he walked out of the room.
"Thanks X'on. I think that's what I'll need." Clawdea said, as she relaxed into Lec's arms.
"So, where's Mystic and White winged inuyasha? I haven't heard a peep from them since you've come back." Tomoe said quietly as the moon reappeared and disappeared in the patchy clouds overhead.
"They're in their bedroom up in the east tower. We're going to start to train bright and early tomorrow morning." Clawdea said as Tomoe got up and added another piece of wood to the fire, then sat back down.
"Ah, how did the match between you and Mystic go, Lec?" Black winged wolf asked excitedly.
"Heh, Mystic lost again. She needs to learn to control her temper. She's gotten it from her mother." Lec smiled slyly as Clawdea lightly jabbed him in the side; everybody lightly laughed as Black winged wolf rubbed Ivy's arm and cuddled her.
"She gets it from you too, hun. I remember you telling White winged inuyasha and Mystic that you got hot headed when Rolan was kidnapping me." Clawdea smirks and jokes as she and Lec jab each other several times. Suddenly Clawdea gets up and jumps into the window; Lec knew why.
"What's wrong?" Ivy asked plainly.
"I smell new blood." Clawdea says after a long pause.
"On this island?" Black winged wolf asked.
"No, on the main island. But it's coming this way. I'd better go and up the security." Clawdea said as she jumped down and started to head towards the door but Lec stopped her and guides her back to the couch.
"You're obviously still tense about the runt. Relax. You can turn the security up after you have some tea." Lec says with a little bit of force and immediately grabs her lightly around the waist to buckle her down again. (")
"Speaking of which here he comes." Tomoe points out as she and everyone else looks towards X'on as he brings in a tray with 6 slim steaming wooden cylindrical cups and passes them out to everyone. (They all held the cups the same way Clawdea had in Lec's First Love Chapter 4.)
When everybody finished, Clawdea and Lec said good night as they went to go and beef up the security around the castle and island.
Early next morning in the Training room
Mystic (wearing something very similar to Karasu, but the flaps were purple) and White winged inuyasha (wearing something like Kurama had worn when he had faced Karasu, but his colors were black under, navy over.) had gotten up before Clawdea and Lec to sharpen their weapons; White winged inuyasha finished up his last throwing knives and stuffed them along with kun-chucks (that when pulled apart revealed a very long chain whip) into a brown over-the-shoulder bag and they left the training room. When they got halfway outside the gate, Lec snapped upright in the bed; Clawdea soon after him. They jump out of bed, already dressed, grabbing their katanas and sprinting down to halls to the gate where Mystic and White winged inuyasha were starting to battle each other. Relieved they take a minute to catch their breath then join Mystic and White winged inuyasha who had stopped fighting when they noticed their parents.
"Why.didn't you guys come and wake us up?" Lec asked them as Mystic and White winged inuyasha looked at each other then at their parents.
"We wanted to get an early start" White winged inuyasha started
"by sharpening our weapons and skills by testing out each other." Mystic continued.
"We didn't mean for you guys to get worried."
"and besides, who would pose as a threat to us when we're separated from the main island?" Mystic finished as Clawdea gave her a dirty look.
"You do have a point Mystic." Lec pointed out; Clawdea just wanted to get on with the training now that they were all ready.
Deep into the woods
Clawdea made Mystic and White winged inuyasha practice how many times they could dodge swiping tree branches while trying to catch up to Lec; there was one catch: Mystic and White winged inuyasha's were linked together by their hands, locked by cuffs that could only be opened when they caught Lec.
"C'mon Mystic. Work with your brother. You'll never catch Lec if you keep trying to go another way." Clawdea hollers at Mystic as she gets smacked several times by tree branches.
"Dah.ou..geh!" Mystic spits out leaves from her mouth. "Get with it White winged inuyasha!"
"Why do I have to follow you? Dad's in my direction!" White winged inuyasha complains as he jerks Mystic, making her hit a tree face first.
"White winged inuyasha!"
"Whaaat?" he mocked Mystic.
"That's it!" Mystic slams White winged inuyasha against the nearest tree and starts to fight White winged inuyasha.
"Lec stop running. They're fighting again." Clawdea said telepathically in a monotone as Lec popped up next to her on the branches across from Mystic and White winged inuyasha; Lec heavily sighed and rubbed his head.
"-can you two get through one exercise without fighting?" he asked plainly as they stopped fighting, gripping each other on the upper arms as they looked at Lec.
"This is the tenth time we've had to stop. Mystic," Lec focused on her. "how do you plan to get better if you're always questioning and arguing your brothers decision? Once and awhile you should try someone else's idea or decision, okay?"
"Da-de-"Mystic couldn't find the words to express her deep feelings so she just nodded silently and let go of White winged inuyasha; he soon followed.
"I'm hungry." White winged inuyasha lightly complained to Clawdea; she agreed with White winged inuyasha's little complaint.
"Alright I think it's time for something to eat. We've been at this for nearly 4 hours. C'mon. We can still catch some breakfast."
"Thank you..can you unlock us now?" Mystic asks her parents as they head towards the gate.
"Not until you get that course finished all the way through...without fighting one another." Clawdea says somewhat coldly.
"Grrrr...please, c'mon White winged inuyasha." Mystic groans as they both hopped down in unison and headed inside the gate.
End of Chapter 2
Chapter 3
In one of the small little towers (a.k.a. the kitchen) by the south tower
Lec, Mystic, White winged inuyasha and Team Explosion were all sitting at the long, glossy table except for Clawdea who was standing next to Lec's chair drinking her orange juice while everybody else had their o.j., bacon and toast with raspberry jam. Across from Lec, Ivy and Tomoe watched with a weird, shocked look as they watched Mystic and White winged inuyasha struggle to eat.
"O.O Um...Clawdea. Don't-you think that you should unlink them?" Tomoe finally spoke after snapping out of her gaze.
"Not until they can do one exercise with out fighting." Clawdea says flatly as she sips her orange juice again.
"C'mon mom! This is ridiculous!" Mystic shouts angrily at Clawdea as she ignores Mystic and everybody starts to argue.
Suddenly Lieutenant Skye appears in the doorway again and everybody grows silent as they look towards the door.
"What is it Lieutenant?" Clawdea asked calmly as she made her way to the door, no longer holding her orange juice.
"Leader, the group you set to guard the items is online right now, waiting to talk to you." Skye said as everybody followed her into another close tower (a.k.a. the technology tower) as Clawdea pressed a green button; Koenma's office flashed upon the screen, along with the Anakari group Clawdea had left to guard the bands of Hadrian and necklace of Neashi.
"Yes, what's the news General Mist?" Clawdea asked the female general of the group (she had short, somewhat flat crimson hair and sharp marigold eyes.)
"Well Leader, somebody tried to steal the items." General Mist said somewhat worried.
"Are they damaged in anyway?"
"Not a scratch, Leader Clawdea."
"Good. Good. Have you caught the person?"
"No, Leader, we're still looking. We do, however, have a sample of blood from the person." General Mist said as she showed a patch of blood on the dull carpet of Koenma's office.
"Good. I'll be over there to check it out soon."
General Mist bowed her head and the screen went black; Clawdea turned around to see the eager faces of Mystic and White winged inuyasha wanting to come with her, Lec and Tomoe (she had asked them to come with telepathically.)
"No." she said plainly "you can't come." as she walked out the door with Lec and Tomoe.
In Koenma's office
"Huh...I can't recognize the smell Clawdea. " Tomoe says as she gets up from the ground. "That blood is of somebody I've never seen or battled with."
"I wouldn't think so." Clawdea said as she bent down, rubbed a drop onto her index finger and looked at it. "This seems too familiar to somebody I once knew-" Clawdea said to herself but got cut off as Tomoe tapped her on her shoulder and pointed towards the door; Lec was panting heavily and had a very wide expression on his face.
"THEY'RE GONE!"
Clawdea couldn't believe what Lec had just said. "What! How? How could they-" Clawdea said, somewhat gritted through her teeth as Koenma went out the door.
"They can't be! No! My daddy's going to kill me!" Koenma whines.
"That is not good..." Clawdea said in a very low voice as she looked towards the ground; pictures of the castle in flames burst threw her mind as she was taken aghast, snapping herself back into reality. She looked at Lec palely. "I've got a bad feeling Lec. We'd better get back."
Lec and Tomoe both nod and quickly gathered up the group and the sample of blood and whisk out of Koenma's office.
Back at the castle
Mystic was moving atop the tree branches, worried at what she might find up ahead. She gets to an small circular opening to find her deepest horror revealed to her, lying in a twisted puddle of blood; Lec and White winged inuyasha were lying on top of each other with a glazed look in their eyes, struck to the heart...by a sword gash. Mystic jumps down and inspects the mutilated bodies of her dad and brother; she lays her dad next to White winged inuyasha and rips apart his bloody shirt to find the fatal wound worst than she thought. It was almost the same with her brother, but less serious. She falls back onto her heels and puts her head down between her knees, breathing heavily as the tears seemed to pour out of her eyes, swirling in the blood on the ground. Mystic looks up to find her mother, stricken with horror as she made her way to the bodies; Clawdea literally collapsed as she knelt besides Lec. She could barely speak a word, but her facial expressions spoke louder than words could. It was full of agony and sorrow, stunned and tortured as she looked at her grieving daughter. She, too, couldn't utter a sound, but she managed to mouth "It wasn't me." They look around them to find a scarce amount of people surrounding them, including Kurama, the ghosts of Yusuke, Kuwabara and Kayko...but most importantly...Master Genkai's. She looked at Clawdea, then at Lec's body and lightly shook her head.
Mystic bolts upright, gasping for air as she looks around at her dark bedroom. She grips her head, scared at the intense dream she had; light tears fell down her face as something stirred near the left side of her. Panic stricken, she grabs a dagger from under her pillow and grabs for the fabric of a shirt: Lec's shirt.
"Bad dream, Mystic?" Lec lightly whispered as Mystic withdrew the dagger and let go of her dad. He sat down on her bed as she wiped the tears from her eyes.
"Yes...about you, White winged inuyasha, mom and those people from the Dark Tournament." Mystic took a moment to collect her thoughts, and then summed up for Lec what had happened in her dream. "You and White winged inuyasha were dead."
"I see. From what I can tell by your expression, you care about us more than what you express normally."
Mystic lightly gasped as she noticed Lec had gripped her hands.
"Mystic, it's alright. It was just a dream."
"no, no. It felt like I was seeing something that's going to happen in the future..."
"Hmm...you're starting to sound more like your mother. She says that she saw the castle up in flames in a little blackout from reality earlier today at Koenma's." Lec paused for a few moments. "But apparently it was only a little paranoia."
Those words seem to comfort Mystic as she lightly smiled and Lec let go of her hands and stood up.
"See you in the morning Mystic." Lec whispered as he lightly kissed her forehead and disappeared.
Morning in the Kitchen
Almost everybody was at the table eating what they had yesterday, except for Ivy. She wasn't at the table, nor had anybody heard a peep from her from last night. Black winged wolf was a bit worried since she normally came with him to the breakfast table; Tomoe nudges him from the left.
"Don't worry about it Black winged wolf." Tomoe said as she took a swig form her orange juice. "She's probably taking one more lap around the castle just for the hell of it. You know how much she wants to keep in shape." She whispered into his ears.
"Really, Black winged wolf. You've been tense lately. I hope its not about-" Clawdea was referring to the death of their child; it was exactly two centuries ago to the date that Ivy tried to give birth to their unborn baby. She cut herself off as she saw how Black winged wolf stabbed his knife into the raspberry jam. He was spreading it onto the bread when Ivy made her way to Black winged wolf and covered his eyes..he set down the knife and smiled.
"Hey." Was all it took for Ivy to sit down in the chair to the right of him.
Something was different about Ivy, she was smiling more than usual which aroused Clawdea and Lec's suspicions; Clawdea set down her bitten toast and looked at Ivy with an unsure look etched in her tired face.
"Is...everything alright Ivy?" Clawdea asked after Ivy took a strip of bacon and ate it.
"Perfectly fine Clawdea." Ivy answered in a creepy peppy voice.
"Something isn't right with Ivy, Lec." Clawdea said telepathically, keeping her eyes on Ivy as she ate her toast.
"Gee, you noticed?" Lec said telepathically sarcastically looking at Ivy also. "I'll talk to her after breakfast since I don't want to arouse suspicion."
"You're kidding right? Her attitude right now is suspicious enough! I've got another bad feeling. It must've happened last night because I see some markings on her neck. Black winged wolf wouldn't do something like that to her." Clawdea's right eye twitched as she spoke telepathically.
"I know." Lec sighed as he gave into his own self, begging to ask Ivy what was really wrong. "Ivy."
"Yes?" she creepily replied in the same tone making Lec lightly shudder.
"Are you absolutely sure nothing's wrong?"
"Yes."
"Then what are those markings on your throat?" Lec asked Ivy telepathically as she looked at him with a nasty look on her face; she gets up and walks out the door, not even bothering to say a word.
End of Chapter 3
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