Part 18
"I was hiding within Tyler this whole time. I am Prince Muteki of the Ancient Wolf Demons that ruled North Makai. We symbolize the Earth we live on," Muteki told us.
"I resided within Tiffany. I am Princess Semai Wan of the Ancient Cat Demons that ruled West Makai. My clan symbolizes the Water we drink."
"And, Rinku, as you know, Stephanie is no longer Stephanie. Standing before you is Princess Izanami of the Ancient Elemental Demons which ruled East Makai. Her tribe symbolizes the Air we breathe," Kurama cut in.
"Yes, I am her. And, finally, there is the descending prince from a clan of Ancient Fire Demons which ruled South Makai. The very clan that symbolizes the element of Fire that we use to burn and destroy..." I trailed off, "The prince that is also part Ice Apparition..."
"Who is it?" Botan asked me.
I looked up and straight into Yukina's eyes, for she knew who I was talking about. Rui had told her about Hiei's destiny when she went to find out about her brother; but, Rui did not tell Hiei, himself, because of what the knowledge might do to him. Yukina smiled brightly and nodded, "Izanami, I think it's time that he knows who he really is."
I removed my eyes from Yukina and rested them upon Hiei, "The prince is Hiei."
"What!" everyone exclaimed. Hiei's expression didn't change at all, his plain grimace remained like it always did. Everyone kept their eyes on the Fire Demon, who didn't meet any of ours. Yukina walked over to him to say something to him but he just disappeared without a word.
"Hiei just needs time to think things over; I mean, findin' out he's a prince must of been a blow to him," Jin stated quickly, as usual.
"Yeah..." I trailed off as the sun began to set over the plains of Makai. Everyone's attention was turned to the light from the sun as two shadows appeared. When they reached us we were all surprised to be face to face with Tyler and Tiffany's souls.
"Tiffany..." Rinku whispered.
"Hello," Tiffany said.
"Tyler!" Hinageshi beamed.
Tyler waived slightly, "Hey."
Suddenly, from behind them appeared another; Stephanie, "What's up?"
"Stephanie..." Hiei said from a place nearby, where he had gone to so he could be alone, but still see everyone and what was going on.
Muteki walked over to Tyler as Semai Wan walked over to Tiffany and I to Stephanie. "Thank you, for everything," Stephanie said to me.
"No, thank you, for allowing me the privilege of ridding the worlds of that scum."
Stephanie laughed, "No problem."
"Thanks for allowing us to help out Izanami, you guys," Semai Wan said to Tiffany and Tyler.
"Yeah," they replied instantly.
"So, what happens now?" Jin asked the six of us.
"When they evoked the three of us there was a chance that we would gain full control over their bodies for eternity," I told him, "And I'm afraid, that's true. What you see before you now is all that remains of them, and as the sun sets, so do they with it."
"NO!" Rinku yelled running over to Tiffany, "You can't leave!"
"Rinku, I'm sorry, I have to go," she sorrowed, "I knew the risks when I called Semai Wan forth and gave her my body."
"B-but..."
"There's no use whining about it," Tyler said to him, "What's done is done, there is nothing we can do."
There was a bright flash of light from the sun set as a huge shadow flew towards us. When it arrived at our group, whatever it was landed. It's demonic and angelic wings veiled it from our sight until it stood up straight, and when it did, everyone's eyes grew wide. It was a large creature that reminded me almost of a bear, that is, until it removed the bear head from its own. When it did that, there stood before us a young demon creature, probably a valkyrie by her looks.
"Who are you?" Muteki asked her.
"I am the Heart of Spirit, and the one who has come to lead the souls to rest."
"That's our job!" Hinageshi and Botan yelled, in an aggravated, yet funny manner.
"Where these souls are going, not even you can venture, for they are to become part of a higher society of ancients. Only one such as I can lead them there, for my soul duty is the taking of them to that plane," she whispered, but we all could hear her words.
"Wait, I've heard of you, you're Vuxarukirii!" Yukina gasped.
Everyone looked at Yukina and back to the demon, wondering if she was right or not. The demon sighed, "I have been called that by some, yes."
"She appeared in Reikai almost six years ago. No one has ever actually gotten a good look at her before, though, only glimpses of her whisking by them and disappearing into the horizon," Yukina told us.
"Enough talk, I have to take them across before the sun fully sets over Makai, or their souls will be lost forever," Vuxarukirii said to everyone.
"Fine, then let's go," Tiffany said to her. She nodded and they all turned and began to walk towards the setting sun. Stephanie stopped and turned to look at a nearby tree. I followed her sight and I knew who she was looking at. Hiei was up there, but nobody except the two of us noticed. I sighed, knowing what she was giving up. Stephanie sighed as well and continued forward. As they all got further away, the haze from the sun blurred their silhouettes. Finally, they disappeared with a big explosion of light as the sun set.
Rinku fell to the ground, tears welling up in his eyes. For being how young he was, he sure had a lot of feelings, especially for Tiffany. From behind me I heard Raselli sniff, and I figured she was also crying. I finally looked around at everyone and they all at least had a sad look on their faces. I wasn't surprised to see Touya and Kurama with no tears; what surprised me was Jin did. "I guess everyone's been through a lot with Stephanie, Tyler, and Tiffany. Jin was killed by her, and she gave everything to resurrect him. That's probably why he has tears..."
Yukina was crying her famous tear gems, which we would have to take and put in a safe place, away from greedy humans and demons alike. I couldn't help but smile, and yet feel bad, when I saw Kamikaze and Goukaryuu holding one another, balling their eyes out. "...then again, maybe that's why Jin has tears. I wonder if Hiei is crying? It Gouka is, then he probably is too..." In the tree where he stood, silent tears fell down the fire demons cheeks; something that hadn't happened since he was very young.
Later on, when everyone had regained their composure, we decided to remain in Makai for the night and continue back to Ningenkai in the morning. Goukaryuu and Kamikaze created a fire while Muteki and Rinku gathered firewood. Kurama, Semai Wan, and I erected a spirit barrier all around where we would remain so that we would not get attacked during the night. After we had all gathered back around the fire I noticed that Hiei was no where to be seen.
Jin noticed as well, "Hiei is one to keep to himself. He doesn't like to be with people when he can help it...anti-social bastard."
"Jin!" Lastina scolded him.
"Hiei lost more than just a team mate today, Wind Master," Kurama said in his low, unemotional tone, "He lost someone special to him, someone who he gave everything to help and protect." Everyone's eyes dropped to the ground, knowing he was right.
"I'd prefer it if you didn't talk about me behind my back, Kurama... My affairs are not the concern of any of you," Hiei's voice rang in our heads. We all knew he was using the Jagan to speak to us. After that last statement, our whole group went to sleep, with nothing but the morning to look forward too.
Early that morning, before the sun had begun to rise from the horizon, I awoke to an aching pain radiating through my entire body. I sat up and looked over at Muteki who was grimacing, so I knew he could feel it too. When Semai Wan looked up at me, her face was streaked with fresh tears, I figured caused from the pain. I stood up and held my chest, not knowing what was going on. I limped towards the eastern horizon, of which the sun would be rising from soon. I was drawn to it, and I before I knew it I had exited the spirit barrier we'd created. Bad mistake. I was swarmed instantly by flying youkai. I tried to fight them off, but I was in so much agony I could barely throw a punch, let alone defend myself. I fell to the ground and they moved away, all landing on the ground as another demon appeared and walked to my side.
"My, my, Princess, looks like you've gotten yourself into yet another predicament...but this time you won't get away!"
"Tiote!" I growled in disgust.
Tiote kicked me in my side, "Shut your mouth, worthless youkai! Your father banished me because of your disappearance! If you would have followed the laws placed down by the ancestors and married me, you wouldn't be suffering now!" Tiote, then, kicked me in my side again.
My eyes grew wide, "W-what are you talking about, Tiote!"
"Your own blood is rejecting you! Your own existence is destroying your soul! Look over there, they are suffering just as you are because they gave up their bloodlines as well... You are all pathetic!"
"Leave her alone!" Muteki exclaimed as he ran at Tiote with his twin spirit blade in hand. As soon as he exited the spirit shield, Tiote put his hand up towards Muteki. Muteki stopped in mid-step and rose off the ground, unable to move. Tiote tossed his arm backwards and Muteki flew behind him.
When Tiote looked back down at me he only had enough time to realize what was happening when my fist connected with his chin. He flew backwards and landed easily on his feet. I fell to one knee, having put a lot of my energy in standing up and throwing that punch. Right then I could hear Semai Wan's footsteps as she ran towards Tiote.
"Semai Wan, stop! Stay in the barrier, it's the only place you'll be safe from him!"
"But Izanami!" she protested.
I interrupted any further protesting instantly, "Don't! I'm not going to let another person get hurt helping me! This is my battle, I will fight it myself! ...save your strength, young one. You need all the strength you can muster in order to stay alive. If what Tiote says is true, then the three of us are in serious danger. If our own blood is rejecting our presence then we will surely die."
Muteki sat up and snarled angrily, "Shut up, Izanami! I'm not going to die like some flea-bitten mongrel! I may have given up my bloodline back in the past, but it was because I knew I would be needed in this time. I saw what would happen to you and I knew I had to be there to help!"
At that moment the sun began to peak over the horizon and our bodies became enveloped in its light. The three of us rose up off the ground, not knowing what was going on. None of us had any idea as to what was going on. Almost instantly, Semai Wan was drawn out of the spirit barrier. Within seconds, rays of sunlight began to shoot towards our bodies and enter us; and trust me, it was painful, very painful. None of us could scream because the pain over took all of our body. No more than a minute later did three ropes of sunlight enter our bodies and take anchor inside us.
By this time, everyone had woken up from our screams, but were too shocked to move. Then from the sun shot a dark shadow, which, when it got closer, appeared to be Vuxarukirii. Right after she came into our sights, multicolored beams came flying out of the sun. They began twirling around the ropes of sunlight, using them as guides. When the multicolored beams got to us the colors began entering us, and even through the pain I knew it was the elements. Finally, three extremely bright lights appeared from a bright flash that occurred. They cut the anchored sunlight ropes and the ropes shot inside of us. The lights rushed towards us and stopped before us. As the light began to fade away we began to make out the forms of spirits, very familiar spirits. No one recognized who they were until the light had completely faded. There before us all stood Tyler, Tiffany, and Stephanie; all three of them radiating with massive spirit energy.
The three of them looked at us and then at Vuxarukirii. She nodded as she raised her hands towards the sky. "Time to party!" she yelled, and as she did, her voice changed into that of a boy. She clapped her hands together and beams symbolizing the elements surrounded her. They swirled around and began to disappear from the feet. As the beams disappeared one by one, we noticed Vuxarukirii was no longer a valkyrie. Then, as the last beams vanished, her, or should I say his, spirit power exploded out and Stephanie's glow of spirit energy grew brighter.
"Kihakuno-shinzou..."
Stephanie's spirit beast, the Heart of Spirit, had finally been revealed to everyone, including herself. He raced towards the six of us and flew between us. As he passed through Muteki and Tyler, they became one again, as did Semai Wan and Tiffany. When he got to me and Stephanie he stopped between us and grinned. Stephanie went through him and entered me. When Stephanie, Tyler, and Tiffany had rejoined with their bodies, their spirit energy began to radiate from them. It was then that all the pain we had experienced that morning subsided, and we were ready to fight.
I smiled evilly, for this was the last time I was going to stand seeing the people I cared for get hurt, "Tyler, Tiffany, let's finish this once and for all!"
"Yeah!" Tyler replied as he created two very powerful twin spirit blades.
"Stephanie, leave the flying demons to us!" Tiffany grinned as a spirit bow and an arrow appeared in her hands.
I threw a bunch of energy through my body and down into my arms. I felt as it trailed down into my hands and, before everyone's eyes, two ultimate elemental spirit swords began to form. I put all the elemental energy that had entered my body just minutes earlier into the swords. I turned to Tiote when they were finally completely formed, "Alright! Now let's go!"
Tiote's flying demons all took off and began to dive-bomb the three of us. Tiffany held her bow upwards and placed an elemental arrow into it. When she released the arrow it split into many, taking out a good number of the demons. To everyone's surprise, though, two demons replaced each one demon she had destroyed. Tyler then ran at them and sliced through a decent amount of them, and they just came back two for one as well. I ran at Tiote, realizing the only way to stop the flying demons was to stop him. I lashed out at him and met him swords to swords.
"Rose Whip!" Kurama yelled as he ran out of the barrier to help Tyler and Tiffany.
"Serpent Yo-Yo Attack!" Rinku exclaimed as he followed Kurama.
Lastina and Valarie ran out of the barrier behind Rinku. "Monsoon of Water!" Valarie screamed.
"Storm of Lightning!" Lastina followed, taking out a bunch of demons that were soaked with water from Valarie's monsoon.
Saikio walked out of the barrier and instantly called her attack, "Shield of Metal!" A huge see-through metal dome surrounded me and Tiote, so as the flying demons couldn't interfere with our battle.
"Comet of Earth!" Raselli attacked, causing a huge comet to destroy some of the demons.
"Shards of Winter!" Touya yelled, destroying the falling comet before it hit the ground and caused damage.
"And I'm the clean-up committee! Tornado Fist!" Jin replied as he released his tornadoes, which, in turn, gathered up all the sharp pieces of comet and disbursed them to the far reaches of Makai.
I grinned as I dropped one of my swords behind my back and created a Yousotantou, an elemental short sword. When Tiote tried to come up and stab me with his own sword I moved slightly and barely missed the blade. When he was in close range, I thrust the elemental short sword right into Tiote's stomach. Tiote stumbled backwards with one of his hands on the hilt of the short sword, and his other still holding his own sword.
"H-how dare you!" Tiote hissed as blood started to trickle from the wound, "Y-you stabbed me! Me, your fiancé!"
Everyone, including the flying demons stopped in their tracks and stared at me and Tiote through the shield. I growled, "I am NOT, nor have I EVER been your fiancé!"
Tiote ripped my short sword from his gut and it dropped to the ground. My eyes grew wide as he began to glow with energy, lots of energy. He began to laugh as he started to walk towards me. Tiote's hand wrapped around my throat as he picked me up off the ground. As his grip tightened I lost my ability to breathe, and I felt my body beginning to go numb. I began to have white flashes as his grip continued to tighten. All of a sudden, his grip loosened. I opened my eyes and saw a katana through his chest, only inches from me. It was pulled out of him from the back, and I dropped to the ground.
I watched as Tiote slowly fell to his knees and then collapsed in front of me. When I looked up to see who had stabbed him, I saw none other than him. "H-Hiei?" I whispered, my throat still hurting from Tiote's grasp.
Hiei's eyes went from his bloody sword to me sitting on the ground. "Stephanie... A-are you alright?" I nodded as he walked over and knelt in front of me. "Let me see your neck." I raised my head and he examined it. "Your throat has been crushed pretty badly; you're still having trouble breathing, right?"
"Yeah," I rasped.
"Don't talk, you'll do even more damage to your throat," Hiei said as Yukina appeared and knelt down beside me. She instantly put her hands on my neck and began to heal it. I sat there as I felt my throat beginning to burn as it healed. Soon enough, Yukina removed her hands from my throat.
"Can you breathe okay, now?" she asked me.
I grinned, "Yeah!"
Yukina smiled brightly, "I'm so glad!"
I stood up with Hiei's help and dusted myself off. I looked at Hiei's bloody sword and touched it. Within seconds all the blood disappeared, as if it was never there. Then, Kihakuno-shinzou flew over to us, followed by the others.
Kihakuno-shinzou floated in front of me for a few seconds. "Stephanie, you're my human, aren't you?" he finally asked.
"Wha...?" I trailed off as my expression changed to one of confusion, "Errr... I am not your human! You're MY spirit beast, Kihakuno-shinzou!"
"Feh, calm down before you give yourself a hernia..." he snorted, "I was just joking. Oh, and just call me Kinoshi."
"Kinoshi, it's good to meet you," everyone replied, everyone except Hiei, that is.
"So, you're also Vuxarukirii, aren't you?" Hinageshi asked him.
"Yes, I portrayed as a valkyrie to protect myself and Stephanie from demons who would be able to track her using my spirit energy waves. When I am with Stephanie her spirit energy peaks to its maximum."
"I knew that Koenma had snuck a spirit egg into our deal somewhere..."
Kinoshi nodded, "I was born the day you returned to your body."
Botan brooded quietly and finally spoke, "Vuxaru...er, Kinoshi, where did you take Stephanie, Tyler, and Tiffany?"
"He took us to the realm of Ancients, just like he said he was," Tyler told her.
"What happened there?" Kurama asked.
Tiffany stepped up, "We met Hiei, Izanami, Muteki, and Semai Wan's ancestors."
"That's not all that happened there, though," Kinoshi replied.
"Kinoshi's right. While only one night has passed here in Makai, in the realm of Ancients a year has passed," I explained to everyone, "The three of us went and mastered the techniques and fighting styles of each and every ancestor, including Hiei's. We were worked until we actually collapsed to the ground... The one that got me was Izanami's father. He's tough, real tough."
"You're telling me..."
"Izanami! When did you leave my body!"
"When you were talking about your trip to see our ancestors," Semai Wan smiled.
Muteki crossed his arms and turned towards the sun, "It's time for us to leave."
"What are you talking about?" Tyler asked him.
"We are not supposed to even be alive," Izanami replied quietly, "Now that you are in your bodies again, there is no longer a use for us in this world."
"Sorry, everyone, we have to go," Semai Wan said, "Kinoshi, lead on."
Kinoshi nodded and turned towards me, "Stephanie, I will return once I have taken these three to the realm of Ancients."
I smiled and nodded as they headed up towards the sun to meet it at high noon. Once they were out of our sights I turned to everyone, "Well, I guess we should head home; after all, Aisoku is no longer alive, so we have nothing to worry about for now."
"A long relaxin' vacation sounds good to me!" Jin laughed.
"For once I think I agree with him..." Lastina replied.
Everyone looked at one another and everything we had been through in the last year went through our heads. We didn't know what to say to one another. All the feelings we'd experienced, all the thoughts that had screamed through our minds, and all the things we had done side by side were over. It was time for us to say goodbye, but no one wanted to.
Finally, the faintest whisper came from Touya, "Thank you, Stephanie, for everything. I'll never forget what you've done for me. Also, thank you, everyone, for fighting beside me. If you ever need me again, just send a gust of wind my way."
"That's surprisin', Touya actually thankin' someone!" Jin grinned, "But, I have to agree with him. If you ever need me, or Kamikaze, just give me a gust!"
"Or you can just get ahold of me," Lastina smiled, "I'll be staying with Jin...to keep him out of trouble. If you need us, just give us a shout!"
Saikio sighed, "Yeah. Also, I'd like to thank all of you for allowing us the chance to retain our true memories, and not the ones Marianu gave us. If it wasn't for you, the four of us would be wandering spirits without a purpose."
"I think Saikio and I will be staying together in Makai, so if you need us just get ahold of Botan. She'll be able to find us no problem," Raselli smiled brightly.
"I'm going wherever Tyler's going," Valarie said as she grabbed onto his arm.
"I'm going with Tiffany..."
"Wha?" Tiffany said looking at Rinku.
"That is, if you'll let me."
"Of course! I'd go crazy without someone interesting to talk to!" she grinned.
"Well, I know I will be going back to work for Koenma with Botan, Kurama, and Hinageshi," Yukina told us.
"What about you, Hiei? What are you going to do now that the fighting is over?" Kurama asked him.
"My fighting is never over," Hiei said turning to leave, "But I will say thank you everyone, for helping me protect Stephanie." With that said he took off.
I thrust a bunch of spirit energy into my legs and took off after him. When I saw him again I slowed down. "Wait, Hiei!" I blurted out, "Where are you going to go? You still have to keep your promise! You still have to tell me about your true past!"
Hiei stopped, but didn't turn to look at me, "I did make that promise, didn't I? Stephanie, I was born in the Floating Kingdom of the Koorime, which is high above Makai. The Koorime were a race of ice youkai, Yukina's one of them. Tradition had held that mothers of Koorime gave birth to female twins, both of whom would be ice youkai."
"But your father is a fire demon."
"Correct. My mother, Hina, fell in love with my father and when she gave birth, she had me and Yukina. Since I was born as a fire demon, I was condemned by the Koorime elders as a sign of misfortune and a serious threat to their kingdom. They commanded Ruri, a friend of my mother's, to cast me over the edge of their land to die here in Makai. My mother begged to be allowed to go with me, but the elders refused. Right before Ruri dropped me over the edge she tucked away my tear gem that my mother had cried when me and Yukina were born."
I wrapped my hand around the tear gem that Hiei had given me long ago, "Go on."
"So, bandaged up, I was tossed to die in Makai, but I survived the fall. I was taken in by a band of thieves and once I got older I left them to wander Makai on my own. Soon after I had left, I got into a fight with a youkai and lost my tear gem. When I lost it, I went to a demon named Shigure, who gave me the Jagan eye. With this eye I planned to regain my tear gem, learn about my past, and find my sister; but Shigure thwarted those plans when he told me that he'd kill me if I ever revealed myself to Yukina as her brother."
"Why?"
"I don't know, and I can't find out; I killed him during a fight. Anyway, after many years, I returned to the Floating Land, only to find it deserted. I found Ruri and she recognized me as the 'Forbidden Child.' She told me that Yukina had left for Ningenkai to seek me out. She then fell to her knees, scared for her life. I left her and went to find Yukina. On my search I met Kurama and fought him, losing by accident. I awoke and my wounds were tended to. To repay Kurama I helped him kill a demon and we realized we fought well together and formed a partnership. It wasn't long after before we stole three sacred items from Yama's castle. After that, I met Yusuke and was defeated by him."
"You were shunned away from your home and forced to raise yourself...no wonder you don't like to be around anyone. You're constantly being hurt. Hiei, please don't go off by yourself again. You can come and live with me and the others!" I told him.
"I have Goukaryuu, so I'm not going to be alone. Besides, even though Koenma waived all charges against me after the Dark Tournament with Urameshi's Team, I'm still on the run from the Underground Makai Authorities. I don't want to get you invol--"
"Don't give me your excuses! You've already told me that! I don't care who or what you're running from, I just want to be with you..." I trailed off as tears began to fall down my cheeks, "Hiei, please...please, don't leave me."
Hiei turned around and stared into my tear-filled eyes, "Stephanie..."
Goukaryuu looked back and forth between Hiei and I before flying over to me and wiping a tear from my cheek. I smiled slightly at him and took him into my arms, "Oh, Goukaryuu. I'll be fine, I promise..."
Hiei turned back around and took off into the depths of Makai without saying another word. I let Goukaryuu go to catch up with him. I released my wings and headed back to our friends. I flew by Jin's group and minutes later I saw Kurama's group, all getting ready to head back to Reikai. I felt sorry for them thinking of the huge reports they had to file, especially Kurama. Next, I flew over Raselli and Saikio pondering what to do. I waived, but didn't stop to talk. Finally, I came upon Tyler, Valarie, Tiffany, and Rinku, waiting for me by the barrier to Ningenkai. I smiled slightly as my wings disappeared.
"Hey, Stephanie!" Tiffany beamed.
"Hey, guys, let's go home."
"Yeah!" they all agreed.