They Made Me Do It!

By: Raven

Chapter Nine: Shadow Lesson

Ok, Kiana, is, SERIOUSLY creeping me out. First of all, I thought she was my friend. But then, THEN, when we get out, she grabs my neck, and right now, she's throttling me! "Gerroff me!" I used my fingers to pry her own off. Her nails were long, and it hurt—a lot. Seriously. She pressed harder, and I felt this sharp, stinging pain. Something warm ran down my neck.

Blood.

Finally, with my eyes screwed shut, I felt the pressure easing slightly. My face was blue, I guessed. I certainly FELT blue. But anyway, someone had pried off Kiana's hands. When I peeked out from my eyes, I saw this red head. He (she?) had long hair, and bright green eyes. Immediately, I thought, 'OMG! HE'S CUTE!' I goggled at the person for a while longer until he asked me, "Are you ok?"

I shook my head, and then said, "Yeah. Man, this shit is bananas..." He looked confused. I shook my head, smiled, and said, "Never mind, you wouldn't get it."

He shrugged, then turned and called, "Yusuke! Hiei! Keiko! The girl's over here." Keiko? Hey! Keiko was here! Great! That meant...that meant...what did it mean? I stared blankly at him for a bit, then a brunette grabbed me in a hug, and said, "Sam! Oh my god! I thought you were dead! I thought you were raped! I thought...I thought...I don't know what I thought! But I'm glad you're alive!" Keiko grabbed me in another hug, and said, "I almost dared to call your mom and tell her you were missing! Don't you ever scare me like that again!" She scolded me like that one time I cam home late from being side-tracked by a lizard. The other girls I met while I was being stuck in a cave stood off to the side, looking slightly awkward.

I cleared my throat, and said, "Um, guys? Hey, hey! Over here! Right, guys, what about them?" I motioned over to the rest of the girls. "Their names are Evershim, Questaxx, Viana, Flaina, Yiiana, Itrici, Einthos, Lorilath, and Zirontha. They need a place to stay." I shrugged, and Yusuke and the red-head exchanged uneasy glances.

"Um...Sam," Yusuke started, "We need a talk." I nodded, and followed him. He led me to a glade. A small body shaped scarred patch lay in the glade, and to the east, a large lump rose from the earth. (A/N: This is the same glade used in 'Walking a Thousand Miles' where Raven's sister, Apolla, is murdered. And the lump is Apolla's grave.) Yusuke sat on the lump, sighed, and said, "You're not human, Sam. Sensui probably already told you that. What you don't know, is that, if he manages to use you, you'll kill every single one of us. Kurama, come on, we can trust her." The red-head came out. Ah, so his name's Kurama. I stared at him, and said, "Hey...you look familiar. I think...I think I saw you before. At Yusuke's school! That's it! I saw you two talking to each other." I saw back, and nodded. Kurama smiled slightly, and Yusuke looked slightly disconcerted.

Kurama sat on the ground. "Sam," Yusuke started, "I think...that it's time for you to see what you really are. Kurama will help you with that. I already know. Koenma told me about you. Oh, you'll meet Koenma later."

He left. "H-hey! Get back here!" I stuttered. He didn't pay attention to me, and left the glade, gently brushing aside some twigs and leaves from the lump. Light, gold and silver crystal shone through. I stared in wonder, but the wind brushed the leaves back into place.

I turned to Kurama. "Well...?" He smiled faintly, and motioned me closer. I didn't, so he came to me. I was still careful of him. After the doppelgangers ordeal, I didn't want to go through the same thing.

"Now, Sam, you are aware of your powers because Sensui told you. It is a form of magick that comes to some, but not to others. I am one of those, typically known as a demon. You, are one of the few have that power, but are not a demon. Now, to control this magick, you need to know what it is. To see what it is, think, and see in your mind that it is forming in your hand. It should have a tingly, prickling feeling in your hand. Since your power is shadow, you can naturally conjure shadow creatures. This is known as conjurations. But there are many, many forms of magick, known as schools. There is Destruction, Conjuration, Illusion, and Abilitical. Destruction is where you can use your normal attacks to hurt, stun, or in some cases kill. You can use your natural element, in your case, Shadow." My eyes were closed; I see things in my mind easiest that way. "Sam, you may open your eyes." I opened them. "Look at your hands." I did, and gasped. A small ball of something liquid-solid was gathered in my hands. It was black, with shifting bands of fire-red. "That is your magick. I want you to use a Destruction spell. Here's the easiest one I know." Kurama pulled out something. It was a small rubber ball. "Concentrate, and see the magick in your hands flying to the ball, and destroying it." I did so. Beads of sweat ran down my nose. My hands shook, and some of the magick ran down and dissipated in to the air. It was sucked back into my, I assumed. My hands suddenly lost their prickly feelings. I heard a gasp, and it was me. "Good job Sam.

"We'll move on to Conjuration. Since you are the Shadow User, you can conjure shadow imps, shadow ogres, shadow demons, shadow dragons, and shadow warriors. You can pretty much summon anything 'Shadow' if you have the proper skills." Kurama smiled. "We'll continue our lesson tomorrow with Shadow Conjuration." Kurama made to leave.

I got up, brushed leaves and stuff off me, and yelled, "Hey, Kurama? What's your element?"

"Plants..."

He left.

(End)

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