Cursed
Chap. 4
Every time that it seemed they'd almost reached Yumiko, she'd leap over a few trees, and so, would always be a few feet ahead of them. Finally, Yumiko stopped in a forest clearing, and gestured for them to stop.
"We've lost them." She said, without waiting for any questions.
"That was fun!" Goku panted. Yumiko sat down on a log, and stared up at Sanzo.
"Well? Don't you want to ask me some questions?"
"…Yes….first of all, who is Morticus?" Sanzo asked. Yumiko smiled, and closed her eyes.
"Yes, I thought that would be what you would ask about first." Yumiko opened her eyes, and took out a small gem on a string out from underneath her shirt.
It was blood red, and shaped like a real heart, not the ones that you would think about normally.
"This is the Bloodstone Heart."
"That's not we asked about, Yumiko." Gojyo shot back.
"Thousands of years ago, a sorcerer half-breed by the name of-"
"Let me guess…Morticus, right?" Goku asked. Yumiko smiled.
"Yes, Morticus. Morticus had become fed up with being foreseen as a luckless child, and mistreated. He didn't like how his kind was treated. So, the young man created a stone that would turn anyone into a half-breed, and disguised as a jewelry peddler, he'd hand out the stones for free." Yumiko frowned. "But the people grew angry at Morticus. They marched up to his atlier," she paused, seeing Goku's confused face. "a sorcerer's house, and they killed Morticus. The people made sure to cremate his body, and separate his ashes from his spell book, and his spell book separate from his heart." Yumiko held up the Bloodstone Heart. "They were afraid that he might come back to life, so they took out the heart, and laid it aside, but it possessed great magic, and the heart crystallized. Their fear heightened, and they hid the heart away, where no one would find it. But…it was found, by a boy of fourteen, no less, and a half-breed at that."
"Yahiko!" Goku gasped. Yumiko nodded.
"The Bloodstone Heart is Morticus's crystallized heart. Because it is…activated, he may contact us at any time he wishes." She held up the jewel. Goku gently took the jewel and stared at it.
"This is a dead guy's heart?"
"Indeed."
"Ew! I held a dead guy's heart!" Goku tossed it in the air. Yumiko caught it. She looked at the boy with reproach.
"Look, monkey, if Morticus is ever to be revived, then this stone must remain undamaged!"
"It's…beating." Indeed, the Bloodstone Heart had started beating; Goku scooted back as the stone lifted up into the air, glowing.
"Morticus is paying us a little visit!" Yumiko grinned.
And in a flash of red light, the shimmering image of a man stood there.
"Hello, Sanzo ikkou. I am Morticus."