Author's Note: Greetings everyone! I guess if you're still reading the story then I haven't bored you too much yet. I want to give everyone a head's up, and let all of you know that these upcoming chapters are going to be fairly long. But normally a long chapter means a lot of plot development. As always, please continue to read and review, because feedback keeps me writing!

Break the bread.
And drink the wine.
Seize the chalice.
Suck the poison vine.
There is frost in every sunbeam.
Water flows from the earth to sky.
Looking down on every rose.
Nothing moves; the wheel of Heaven turns.
As our fingers leave their trace.
We are gods, in a world we dared embraced.
Now we're lost.
You can't disguise the river of no return.
Now it's gone, you realize, the river of no return—
"The River of No Return"—Bruce Dickinson

An End to Bliss

Chapter VII

For breakfast at the Urameshi household Kayko casually asked Chu what he would like to drink.

"Hmm…well, usually I normally have either beer or whiskey in the morning, but I think that some of that brandy that we drank last night sounds pretty good."

Yusuke chuckled.

"What's so funny, kid?"

"You just made me think of my mom. She used to be the same…"

"Which explains part of the reason for why she's no longer here," interjected Kayko.

"…Yeah…that's true."

"Well," Chu said to Kayko, "I don't know if Yusuke ever told you this, but alcoie doesn't affect me in the way it does other people."

"Yeah, I know. Yusuke told me that last night. Plus, I still remember your Dark Tournament match. What I said about Yusuke's mom wasn't meant to be derogatory towards you, Chu."

"Now Love, don't worry about that. What you said didn't bother me at all. But I guess I should ask what 'normal' people drink for breakfast in the morning?"

"Usually milk, water, or juice," replied Kayko.

"Hmm…well, I've drank milk straight from the cow's teet before."

Yusuke laughed, and so did Kosuke, although his laughter came from watching his father laugh, not because he understood Chu's comment.

Kayko laughed as well, but she chided Kosuke as well. "You shouldn't laugh at things like that, baby."

"What?" replied Yusuke. "It's not like you can keep him from hearing things like that forever."

Kayko smiled. "Yeah, I guess that's true." Then she returned her attention to Chu, and asked him with a smirk, "So, should I pour you a glass of milk then?"

"Na, I think I'd kinda like to have one of them juices. They sometimes sell them at the pub, and they've a nice taste to them."

"In any event," responded Yusuke, "we need to hurry and eat breakfast, and then I need to call the restaurant and tell them that I won't be in today. Kuwabara and Kurama'll be here shortly."

"Don't worry about that, Yusuke," responded Kayko. "I'll stop in the restaurant today."

"That's fine, Kayko; but what do you plan on doing with Kosuke?"

"He can stay with my mom for a while."

Yusuke nodded. "All right, that sounds fine, Kayko."

After Kuwabara and Kurama arrived at Yusuke's residence the four of them set out for Demon's Door Cave. And once they reached the entrance to the cave they were happy, because the cave allowed them to escape the frigid air.

Inside the cave, Yusuke's party was guided by Kurama's plants, which had not wilted in the five years since they had been planted, and in a few hours the four of them reached the site where Yusuke had battled Sensui and Kurama had battled Elder Toguro.

The last time that Yusuke, Kuwabara, and Kurama visited this spot was three years ago when they entered the Demon World to seek Hiei's aid in their battle against King Yama. And on that visit three years ago the elder Toguro was still trapped—and screaming—in the arms of Kurama's Sinning Tree. But on this visit Yusuke, Kuwabara, Kurama, and Chu only noticed broken tree branches and a corpse.

"Blimey, that's one big corpse!"

"And it looks a little too big to be the elder Toguro," said Kuwabara.

"That's because it's not," replied Kurama. "Those remains belong to Gourmet. And from the looks of them they look like they've been decomposing for at least a year."

"Wait a minute," responded Chu; "didn't you tell me last night that this Gourmet swallowed Elder Toguro, but that Elder Toguro took control of his body?"

"Pretty much," replied Yusuke.

"So wouldn't that mean that this corpse's just as much Elder Toguro?"

"Yeah…I guess you're right…But wait! The elder Toguro said that even if we pierced his heart or his brain he'd still survive."

"He could've been lying."

"Yeah…I suppose that's true," replied Kuwabara. "But at the same time, I'm almost ninety-nine percent sure that he didn't lie to me during our Dark Tournament match."

"Neither do I," added Kurama, while he observed the corpse. "I believe very strongly that Elder Toguro told Kuwabara the truth during that match. Much like I'm sure that he told me and all of us the truth when we faced him here."

"How do you know for sure?" asked Chu.

"Because when Elder Toguro battled Kuwabara and I, he believed that neither of us could defeat him. And when you believe that your opponent can't defeat you, it doesn't hurt to reveal your weaknesses."

"Blimey, I guess that makes some sense."

"Yeah, it sure does," replied Yusuke.

"Yeah, I agree with that as well," Kuwabara said.

"Plus that's not all," added Kurama.

"What else then?" asked Kuwabara.

"Someone has reattached the skull's crown," Kurama responded, while he kicked the top of the skull away.

The rest of the party gasped.

"If you remember correctly," continued Kurama, "I took off the top of Gourmet's skull with my rose whip and planted the seed for the Sinning Tree before I called out the elder Toguro. And if you look at the top of Gourmet's skull it's been decomposing for five years, which has been how long it was since I battled Elder Toguro."

"But does that necessarily prove that Elder Toguro's still alive?" responded Yusuke.

"Yeah," added Chu. "I know that you guys told me that the elder Toguro couldn't have died even if you pierced his heart or brain, but could he've died from not eating? I don't think you can eat while you're tied up to some tree."

"His adrenalin could've prevented him from eating, since he was so anxious to kill me. But to answer Yusuke's question, no, it doesn't prove that Elder Toguro's still alive; but there's still one more piece to the puzzle."

"And what's that?" replied Yusuke.

"If the elder Toguro was dead then his remains would be among the remains of Gourmet. But as you can see there's only one skull here, not two."

Yusuke and Kuwabara gasped. Kurama was absolutely correct.

"Then how could Elder Toguro actually break your Sinning Tree? Is it possible?"

"…Yes…it is."

"How can one break it?" Kuwabara asked.

"…It can be broken mentally…"

"Bullshit!" declared Yusuke. "There's no way that freak show could've ever broken from that tree! Elder Toguro was absolutely insane! There's no way he could've remained calm enough to break it."

"Agreed…Plus, the fact that Elder Toguro was still having visions about killing me…But there's one other way it can be broken."

"How's that?" asked Chu.

"It can be broken if someone else helps it to be broken."

"What do you mean?" replied Kuwabara.

"I mean that if someone was to correctly remove the attachments it's possible that Elder Toguro could've been freed."

"But even if Elder Toguro was freed he wouldn't have a body, right?" asked Yusuke.

"…I don't know."

"Well that certainly helps," responded Chu.

"I think we're going to need some more help on this."

"And where're we going to get help?" asked Kuwabara.

"We need Hiei."

"Hiei!" exclaimed Yusuke and Kuwabara.

"Hiei?" began Chu. "Damn, that's the little booger that wiped out Zeru with that Dragon of Darkness Flame during the Dark Tournament. That's one tough bastard!"

"Yes, and I think we're going to need his help. I'm going to enter pseudo space and ask for his help."

"I'm coming with you," said Yusuke.

"I'm going with you as well," replied Kuwabara.

"Count me in too mate," added Chu.