Disclaimer: I don't own YuYu Hakusho

Chapter 22

"Almost there!" Kuwabara whispered to the rest of the gang. "She's right through this door!"

Yusuke smiled nervously as Hiei and Kurama remained emotionless. A huge amount of energy was emanating from behind that door, and none of it felt like it was on their side.

"Hey, Hiei," Yusuke said, "can you tap into Minna's head? Is she still alive?"

"I don't need to read her mind to know if she's alive, idiot," Hiei spat. "I can feel her."

Yusuke stared at him. "Huh? But none of that energy in there feels like it's hers! Her energy always felt happy and stuff…."

"Hiei is right, Yusuke," Kurama said gravely. "Minna is most definitely in there. She's changed though. She is no longer carefree. She knows that the legend is serious now and that it's about to become true. Either that, or they are making her face something that she really does not like."

"That's messed up," Kuwabara said, turning back to the door.

"That's life," Hiei said shortly. Kuwabara stared at him as he stood and walked up to the door.

"Hiei! Shouldn't we wait or something!" Yusuke nearly yelled.

"Yeah, Hiei! I mean, shouldn't we be sure that it's time for us to go in?" Kuwabara chimed in.

"Are you willing to risk the world because you're unsure of your timing?" Hiei asked. Kuwabara and Yusuke glared daggers at him. Hiei smirked. "That's what I thought."

.:With Minna:.

"Sara, are you sure that's her?" Cruelty asked, glaring at the white haired girl leaning against the wall.

"She doesn't look anything like the old woman said it would. In fact, the old woman said that the abomination was a male. How do you explain this?" he asked, turning to the green haired demon.

She scoffed. "Your old woman was lying, then. The legend speaks of this girl. Geez, you really are gullible. The legend specifically said that the abomination would be a girl, Cruelty."

Cruelty slammed Sara against the wall and choked her. "Never call me gullible, peasant," he spat. Sara tried to pry his fingers away from her neck but that only resulted in his grip tightening.

"Cruelty!" an old woman dressed in all white yelled. "If you kill her, we won't be able to kill the abomination, you idiot."

Cruelty glared at the old woman. She was a part of the light, his natural enemy. He dropped Sara to the ground and faced the old woman. "Don't tell me what to do, Kairi. I don't want to kill more people than I have to tonight."

Kairi laughed. "You think that you can take me on, you little underling? Ha! If this is the best that Marauder could send, your people are lessening by the minute."

Cruelty nearly leapt at Kairi. He stopped, however, when a voice spoke to them.

"Are you all arguing about who's going to kill me?" Minna asked, staring at them with blank eyes.

"How dare you speak to your superiors as if you're equal!" Cruelty yelled, scratching Minna across the face. Minna let the blood drop down her cheek as she stared up at him.

"Is that the best you can do?" Minna asked, smirking as she licked a bit of blood off her lips. She stood and faced the man. He glared at her.

"You want to see my best, abomination? THEN YOU CAN HAVE—" Cruelty began.

"HEY THERE!" Sara yelled, stopping them from going into battle. "No fighting yet, okay! I have something that will persuade her to do whatever you want."

Minna stared at her. "You wouldn't dare…."

Sara smirked. "You think that after all that pain you caused me that I would just let you go with them? Oh no, little Minna. You'll feel my pain. You'll feel it so deeply that it'll course through your veins like blood until the day you die."

Minna glared at her, emotion finally flickering in her cold eyes.

Sara laughed and whistled. The door opened and a large demon came in carrying a very beat up Icama. Minna's eyes widened as she watched her friend come closer, bruises and cuts forming themselves before her eyes.

Icama looked up and smiled at Minna before cringing in pain.

"Let her go," Minna said. "She has nothing to do with this."

Sara laughed. "Wrong, little Minna." Sara pulled a dagger from her belt as she walked over to Icama's side. She slipped it onto Icama's neck and stared at Minna.

"Here's the deal Minna," Sara said. "You go with the nice people over there, do what they want you to, and little Icama here gets to go free. You don't do that, and Icama's blood is on your hands. Got it?"

"Minna, don't worry about me!" Icama shouted. "Get out of here! They'll kill you, Minna!"

Minna stared at her friend, looking over the wounds that had been inflicted on her. She smiled humorlessly.

"You asked me one thing that I couldn't do, Icama," Minna said. "And that one thing…is to let you get hurt."

A sudden energy burst from Minna and everything had vanished from sight.

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Rea: yeah…I'm weird…

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