Before I put up Chapter Four, let me just get this out in the open: I am so frustrated right now I could strangle someone and not even think twice about it. I've been attempting to find an anime pic of someone who seems to look like Asa, but no dice. Has anyone come up with any anime lookalikes of our OC heroine? If so, PLEASE let me know in a review or something. I am begging you! I sort of thought Tomoyo from CCS but with lighter colored blue eyes, but I'm SO FRAZZLED!! ((starts pulling out hair))
Kurama- ...Um...yeah, please help her...before she goes on a psycho rage thing...those aren't good.
Chapter Four-
After about an hour of Botan's giving them directions as she and Hiei flew above their heads, the three came into a large clearing, and looked around. "Uh, Botan...this can't be it," Yusuke said, "I don't see squat."
"What?! We see the castle, you're standing right in front of it! It's huge, how can you not see it?!"
Again, Yusuke told her, "We do not see anything, Botan. Please tell me what is so hard to understand about that."
"Maybe there's some sort of energy barrier guarding it from being seen. It would explain why Hiei and I see it..."
"Maybe. Get down here."
They looked up to see Botan, Hiei, and the oar circling above, gradually lowering as they did. As soon as Hiei was in jumping distance from the ground, he appeared beside Yusuke, his eyes slightly wide. "Never will I do that again," he said after the other three stared at him for a long moment. Botan landed with an audible 'oof', and pulled her oar up to stand it on the ground so she could lean on it.
"Oh, now I see...well, don't see..." she said, looking at the invisible wall that separated them from the castle. "The barrier must only go so high..."
Kurama felt a shudder run up his spine as he sensed two of the strongest spirit energies he'd felt since Toguro was alive. Two young women stepped out from the 'wall', causing a ripple of color to run through the air, which revealed a background of the castle behind them. The girls looked alike, one wearing green, the other blue.
"Whoa, check out the hotties!" Kuwabara cried immediately. Hiei merely grunted, and tripped the boy as he started running forward toward them, a lecherous look on his face. Kuwabara ate dirt when he landed face- first on the ground, and lifted his head to spit out the foul stuff and glare threateningly at Hiei.
"You are here for Master Sakai's new toy," they said in unison.
Yusuke made a loud sound of the general feeling one gets when they're 'creeped out.' Then he grunted, "Sakai's toy?!"
"Hai, the girl from the human world," the twins continued, still in unison.
"Yes, we're here for Asa," Kurama said, something strange and unfamiliar in his voice. Hiei recognized it almost immediately- anger.
"We are Natsumi and Kasumi Mizuchi," the one wearing blue said. ((A/N: Mizuchi is completely a made-up name derived from the Japanese words for water (mizu) and earth (chikyuu).)) Again in unison, they shifted into a battle stance.
"And we are here to eliminate you," the one in the green finished.
-
Sakai had found that, despite the fact he'd left her nearly dead, he'd craved more of Asa; of her blood, of her soul. He'd tried to avoid it, but after Akira sent out the twins to dispose of the would-be heroes, he found himself sitting in a chair in Asa's dungeon, watching the form underneath Akira's cape as its sides rose and fell rhythmically, waiting for her to awaken so he could draw more blood from her. He'd washed the blood off of his skin from before, but alas, the scent was still there, driving him insane.
Bloodlust is something no demon should have to fight against.
So, when finally, Asa began to struggle to wake up, he grinned maliciously, licking his lips and suppressing a shudder, already able to taste the fresh blood with his anxiety. He knew now what he wanted. He wanted to taste her very essence, her soul. And he would. In due time.
Asa's eyes slowly blinked open against her will. Every inch of her ached, and she was pretty sure she could remember why, if she wanted to. Problem was, she didn't want to remember that horrible creature that brought her to this cold place. When he was in his human form, he was tall and pale, his long black bangs fell into his face on each side, but the rest was pulled back, and his grey eyes were calm. But...he'd changed. Right before her eyes, he'd grown into a beast.
A huge, black-furred thing that resembled a panther, a really, really big one, but still a panther. And it wasn't very pleasant for her, after that. She winced as she tried to turn over to observe her surroundings, and found she was covered by a thin cape. What the...? Whatever. She threw the cape away with one swift movement of her good arm---the right one seemed to be broken, and just simply lifting it sent an explosion of pain through it. Sitting up, she tried to shake her head clear, but a clawed hand touched her cheek, and she recoiled, looking up to see that he was there, and had already begun the same transformation that took him over before.
"I see you are awake, my dear. That is good, that is good..."
"D-don't call me 'dear'," she stammered, eyes ferocious with hatred as she backed away from him. He threw back his head and laughed, his face changing its shape as well.
When he looked at her again, as she made her way into the corner, his eyes were a strange, glowing green. They didn't remind of her of Shuuichi's, though...because these were sinister. They were evil.
"Fine, child, I will not call you dear...but you have something that I find rather intriguing...and I want it."
"Nani?" she asked confusedly, brow furrowing. "What could I possibly have that you would want? I'm just a kid!" Her face was paling more than it already had, imagining what 'it' could be.
"Your soul...it calls out to me..." he hissed, grabbing her by the back of the neck roughly, his human form quickly fading. His claws dug into the skin at the nape of her neck, and she winced. "You see, I am a Shadow Master...and I feed upon human souls." His voice, too, was becoming more beastlike, more wild. It made her shudder involuntarily. Her soul? He wanted her soul? What the hell kind of crap did this man do for a hobby, watch Night of the Living Dead like it was real or something?! Then again, he had changed into a monster; a feat, which she'd been sure since she was little, was practically impossible.
"And when I want a soul," he continued, rousing her from her reverie, "I'll have it, no matter what." He laid his now pawlike hand over her face, claws running through her hair, and she squirmed, trying to get away, but couldn't move. She felt the energy draining from her body, a wave of pain went over her that was unlike any she'd ever felt. She knew then, what death felt like. The pain was overbearing, like a thousand swords striking her at once. And though there was a furry paw in her way, she opened her mouth.
And screamed like she had never screamed before.
-
"Urameshi, I told you, I can't hit a girl!" Kuwabara watched as Yusuke cursed him, fending off Kasumi's attacks as she pushed forward with her staff.
"There would be no need for you to hit a girl---you'd be dead before you raised your fist." The quiet voice behind him, he realized, was Natsumi's- but she was fighting Kurama to his right...how was she...holy crap, she was also fighting Hiei to his left!
He turned sharply, getting hit by Natsumi, who was also behind him. What in the hell?! "I have the power to manipulate...I can make copies of myself," she explained as he hit the ground, then stepped on his chest, driving the butt of a fan from her belt into his long. He gasped in pain, summoning his Spirit Sword to throw her away from him, and watched her vanish as she hit a tree. Okay, not so bad. Copies can be killed easily.
He turned onto his side, propping himself up on his elbow, and held his free arm to his chest, feeling an indent where she'd jammed the end of her fan. "That...was...painful..." he gasped. His eyes widened, "Crap, I hit a girl!"
"Hn, baka, get yourself up off the ground," Hiei grunted as he leapt backwards past Kuwabara. "She was only the copy of a female; not the actual demon herself." The orange-haired boy scowled at the demon as he jumped away from the Other Natsumi---he wasn't sure if she was a copy or not.
Yusuke dodged another blow from Kasumi's staff, and finally, announced, "Okay, now I'm pissed." He leapt back, landing on his feet and raising his pointer finger in his Spirit Gun stance. The wave of energy shot through Kasumi's staff, and hit her shoulder. She cried out as she landed just outside the invisible wall.
"Kasu-chan!" Both Natsumi's cried out, the one Hiei was fighting vanishing and the one in front of Kurama turning to back flip until she reached her sister's side. She kneeled down, putting a hand on her sister's shoulder, and her eyes flashed in anger as they landed on Yusuke. "Detective, you should be wary of which enemies you hit with that attack. You may have defeated Toguro with it, but I doubt you'll be able to scratch Lord Sakai."
"I thought you were here to make sure that I didn't get near his Lord and Master?" Yusuke sneered.
"We were ordered by Lord Sakai to eliminate you, yes...but Lady Akira wishes to save the girl," Natsumi admitted.
"What?!" Kuwabara, Botan, and Yusuke demanded in unison.
Kasumi slowly rose to her knees, gritting her teeth to grunt in pain, "The Lady Akira...she's almost like our mother...and we would do anything she asked. She has a plan...but it requires us defeating you."
"Here comes that 'why should we trust you' line, you know..." Kuwabara said suspiciously.
"If you do not believe us, he will kill her," Natsumi stated, standing and helping her sister.
"That's not fair," Botan exclaimed, "How do we know that he won't even if we do believe you?!"
"You don't. But without us, you don't have much of a chance to get to her in time, do you?" Kasumi asked knowingly, holding her shoulder. They didn't answer, not a one of them. ((Did you notice that that's like, the ONLY time you can use 'a' instead of 'an' before a vowel? Weird...)) They knew that she was right.
"What is it that you had in mind?" Kurama asked, furrowing his brow.
"You are Youko Kurama, are you not?" Kasumi asked him. "Lord Sakai thinks that the girl belongs to you."
"Wh-wh-what?!" Kurama sputtered. He didn't have time to come up with a more intelligent answer. A bloodcurdling, soul-piercing scream resounded from the depths of the castle, causing all those outside to turn to it with wide eyes, even Hiei.
"That can't have been..." Yusuke's voice trailed off; he was afraid to finish his sentence.
"It was," Kurama said, voice thick with emotion though his face was calm, "That was Asa...she's in trouble."
"Then it has begun," Natsumi said, exchanging a long glance with Kasumi, "The master will devour a small part of her soul..."
"Nani?!" Yusuke demanded, eyes widened.
"Our lord is a Shadow Master...you know what they do already," Kasumi explained, looking at Hiei and Kurama, "He will not obtain her entire soul, he likes to take a little bit at a time...she is in no immediate danger yet...but..." Her voice trailed off, and Kuwabara could stand it no more.
Turning to the twins, he asked, "What do you want us to do? What will save her?"
No one protested, as the twins glanced at one another, and Natsumi explained, "You must pretend to be defeated by us, so that we might get you into the castle. From there, you will be questioned by Lady Akira...and she will give you further directions to get to the child."
"Right then," Hiei said, surprising the others with his nod of consent, "Better make it believable, you two---I'm not to be beaten as easily as you would think..." Kurama cold only offer the fire demon an awestruck, grateful smile. Hiei grunted in reply with a half-hearted, "Hn." No one would have thought that he would allow himself to get beaten in order to save anyone...except maybe Yukina or Botan.
Botan looked around, wondering aloud, "What about me?"
"You were not expected," Kasumi stated with a nod of her head. "The master does not know you are here. You should wait outside, so you are not discovered, in case you are needed."
"That's actually a good idea, Botan...if you need us, you can contact us through the communicator," Yusuke said. Botan nodded in agreement, and Yusuke nodded her toward the woods, "You'd better get going."
"All right..." She turned to go, and faced Hiei, who was standing behind her. He gave her a small smirk of reassurance, and she grinned back at him, her anxiety ebbing. Then she took off to hide in the forest, leaving Hiei to ignore the strange look Kuwabara threw his way.
"Well, let's get this over with..." Yusuke said, cracking his knuckles and narrowing his eyes as he turned to the twins. "I swear, if you two are lying to us...and if any harm comes to Asa, I'll have both your heads."
"We understand..." All four of them stood still as Natsumi vanished from sight, and within the blink of an eye, had fallen to the ground, large bumps appearing on each of their heads. Natsumi appeared again beside her injured sister, and turned to the invisible wall, whispering to Kasumi, "I hope this works..."
"As do I, sister. As do I."
((The lack of actual action writing is not my fault. I SUCK at action writing...((sniffle sniff))...if it weren't for my dear friend Rose, and my new friend Kei, I would not have the strength to do this...at all...))
-
"Akira, they are in the dungeons," Natsumi reported to Akira in her room some time later. Kasumi was absent; she was getting her shoulder taken care of in Sakai's special medical room. Akira looked up from the book she'd been nervously writing in, her aquamarine eyes flickering with relief.
"Thank you, Natsumi-chan...go now, attend to your sister," Akira ordered with an affirmative nod of her head. Natsumi bowed politely, and exited the room, and Akira stood, dusting herself off. She knew what Sakai had done. She knew he'd started feeding upon the child's soul. She knew he had been forced to retire to his room, something about the girl had made him ill. And she knew why. Asa was innocent, far too innocent for Sakai's wretched being to understand. Her purity made his evil soul retch. And he was physically ailed because of it.
Akira moved easily through the castle, hoping that Sakai's illness would keep him from straying from his room. She already had Yuki and Kiera, two of the castle guards, keeping an eye on his room, and they were to report directly to her should he leave. That should be enough; she prayed it was. Sighing, with her hands folded in front of her, she turned into a different hallway that led to the room where the detectives were being held and attended to. They were on the other side of the castle, she noticed, because Sakai didn't want them anywhere near Asa...he was wise, but unfortunately for him, not wise enough.
She pulled a ringlet of keys out of the folds of her cloak, and chose the right one as she reached the metal door that encased the four detectives within the solid room in front of her. Normally, she knew, the Jiganshi would have already broken out of his holding cell, but he would bide his time if he knew it would help them save the girl. She unlocked the door, and opened it, shutting it securely behind her, then turning to the boys, who, though slightly dazed, seemed all right.
Hiei was leaning against the wall, and the only evidence of his being knocked out with a good bonk on the skull was the knot on his temple, that was bruised and bloodied slightly. His eyes were closed, his head inclined forward. Kurama sat in a chair to her right, arms folded over his chest, eyes also closed, the fingers on his right hand strumming along his other arm as he waited somewhat impatiently for the plan to be set into action. There was a good rivulet of blood running down the back of his neck where Natsumi had hit him. Yusuke was sitting on the edge of one of the four beds, holding his head in his hands to nurse his headache away. His almost inaudible grumbles slowly grew to growls as he was obviously failing in assuaging the dull pounding in his skull. Kuwabara was laying on his bed with his arms folded behind his head, staring at the ceiling, sprawled out oddly.
"Are you prepared?" Akira asked gently. They all looked at her pointedly, as if to say, "Duh." She smiled, and pulled from her robes a rolled-up map, two keys, and a small, marble-sized black orb. These she deposited on the bed nearest her. "I have not seen her since this morning. I do not know her condition now, but it wasn't good then. The sphere will get you out undetected, if she is difficult to move. The map will lead you to her...the keys will take you from this room, and into hers. You will leave tonight, while the master rests."
"What makes you think he won't kill her before then?" Hiei asked annoyedly.
"He will not; I can assure you of this. She has already proven far more than capable of making him ill with her virtue...he cannot handle devouring such a pure soul, and it's causing him pain. He will be wary of her for some time. I doubt he'll try anything else until tomorrow, which is why you are leaving tonight."
"And after we get her out? What's to say he won't come after her again?" Kurama asked, concern in his eyes.
"Nothing is to say," she answered truthfully. "But if he is led to believe that her disappearance is due to her death..."
"You're going to fake her death?" Yusuke demanded, "How in the hell do you plan to do that?"
"I have my ways," Akira snapped uncharacteristically. "You needn't worry about anything but getting her out of here...but I need to ask a favor."
"Should have known---there's always a catch," Kuwabara grumbled.
Akira glared at him, but spoke as if ignoring him, "I need to ask that you take the twins with you. They do not belong here." Surprised, all four of them looked up at her, but she returned their gazes evenly. "They are good young demonesses, I believe that they could make a difference elsewhere...but not as murderers."
"Um, fine...we can agree to that. We'll take them with us from Makai, but what about you?" Yusuke asked.
"I'll be fine remaining here. Someone has to explain all of this..." Akira said.
"He'll kill you if he finds out," Hiei said simply.
"That is why he must not," Akira said, smiling as if amused. Her smile turned rueful, however, as she turned away. "Remember these words: the midnight moon will lead the way home."
With that said, she left the room, making sure to lock the door behind her. Kuwabara looked around, wondering if he was the only one confused, then finally voiced his question, "Did anyone get what she just said?"
"Baka," Hiei muttered under his breath.
"She meant that we leave at midnight, get Asa, and follow the path that the moon lights so we can get back to the portal," Kurama explained. A silence fell over them as Kuwabara nodded slowly, his mouth shaping a small 'o' of understanding.
"Well, we'd better get some rest then," Yusuke said, falling back on his bed and staring at the ceiling. He knew as well as the rest of them did that sleep would not come easily. They were all too worried about Asa. But Kurama eased back in his chair, Kuwabara rested his eyes, and Hiei sat on the window sill, all thinking...then, after many moments, all drifting...
- - - - -
Oh, yay. Another chapter. Um...since I'm so hopelessly frazzled about the picture thing ((PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE SOMEONE HELP ME!!)) I've recruited Kurama, Yusuke, Hiei, and yes...even Kuwabara ((ducks and hides from Kuwabara haters)) to respond to reviews, which I am most grateful for. But right now, I must write this new chapter that is a few chapters ahead of Asa's 'rescue'...crap, that was a spoiler. Oh, well. Want a sneak-peak of the chap I'm working on? Okay, here it is---
- - - Sneak Peak - - -
CRACK.
Kurama's eyes were wide, as he stepped backward and lifted a hand to the spot on his cheek where Asa's palm had connected.
- - - End Sneak Peak - - -
Oi, you're all gonna kill me, ne? Yikes. Okay, off now. I'll remedy it, I swear! (bows and runs for her life)
Kurama- (eyeing smoke left from Meka's departure curiously) Oooookay, first off, to our new buddy, Melanie-chan...(ahem) thank you for thinking Youko is hot... (blushes) and uh...yeah. You're cool, too. Miss Meka is very obliged that you keep reviewing, and hopes you will continue to do so despite the fact that I'm gonna have a sore cheek in an upcoming chapter...
Hiei- Hn. My turn, ne?
Yusuke- Yup, that'd be your cue.
Hiei- Hn...AzureDragoness, your name is cool. And Meka thanks you for reviewing. Much obliged. Okay, baka, you're up.
Kuwabara- But there's nothing left to say!
Yusuke- Yeah there is, moron! You've got to continue the disclaimer, and beg other poor pathetic people who are bored enough to read Meka's story to review!
Kurama- Now that wasn't very nice, Yusuke...
Meka- (returns with a large bat she borrowed from Botan) No...No, it wasn't. (eyes flame)
Yusuke- ...(whimper) Help.
Meka- (chasing Yusuke around with aforesaid bat while getting looked at quizzically by the other three) DIE, YOU STUPID ALREADY DEAD ONCE BAKA MORON! SUFFER MY WRATH AND PERISH WITH YOUR BOUNTIFUL USAGES OF HAIR GEL!
Kuwabara- ...(sweat drop) Right. Um. No one owns nothin', and please continue to review. Bye.
