Hi people! I'm way too lazy to respond, so thanks to all who reviewed both chapter eleven and ten. Sorry, but yet another cliff-hanger. Happy New Year! Thank you especially to Crimson314, for wishing me happy B-day. I'm 15!

Disclaimer: I don't own YYH or Greek Mythology, although I'm fairly certain that that's not copyrighted...

The Girl, The God, and The Demons

Chapter Twelve: Shackles, Screams, and Unintentional Suicide (foreboding, isn't it?)

Hiei felt shame flood him, seeming to tighten around his ankles like shackles. His inner guilt was so real; he thought he felt said shackles in reality, restraining his every movement. I'm glad they aren't... The fire demon began to think, and then looked down. "Real?" He yelled, frantic upon seeing the vines that had snaked around his legs, completely covering his boots with his imprisonment.

Artemis laughed as the spiky-haired pyromaniac tugged uselessly at his legs, causing his captors to tighten even farther. He looked to Kurama for assistance, but his best friend wasn't concentrating nearly hard enough to make this happen or, for that matter, reverse it. He was staring pleadingly at Artemis, who was, in turn, looking at Hiei and effortlessly controlling the vines which destroyed his only defense, his primary one currently held in her pale-skinned hand. Hiei tried to brush away his inevitable panic and distracted himself by trying to burn away the vines. However, all he succeeded in burning was his own leg.

"Shit!" He cursed loudly, causing Artemis to smile, amused. She gave him an innocent look which made clear that the vines were her doing

"Oh, poor Hiei! The feisty little fire demon can't even burn some little bitty vines." Her voice then changed to that of someone who deeply enjoyed causing anxiety on another, "You should have listened to the kitsune, shorty. It would have saved you a lot of pain. I wanted to kill the kitsune first, then you. But, I guess sometimes things go out of order..." She shrugged, smiling menacingly, and flicked her free hand delicately; instantaneously, dozens of equally thick vines wrapped themselves around Hiei and pulled him to the ground, hard. The vertically-challenged demon got the wind knocked out of him, but was barely conscious. Barely.

The Goddess made her way over to him gracefully, totally ignoring Kurama's rose whip, with which he was lashing her mercilessly, his concern growing into anger. Artemis, if her face was a proper judge, grew annoyed of his pathetic attempts, although they would have easily sliced the strongest of the S-class demons into spaghetti. The brown haired women grabbed the whip in midair; it went limp and the goddess glared at the green weapon, its razor-sharp thorns not piercing her skin in the slightest.

Hiei watched, eyes wide, as the whip began to glow with blinding crimson energy. Kurama just stared at it with awe, watching intently as the energy flowed like electricity across his thorn-covered whip. In fact, he was caught up in watching and thinking of his oh-so-obvious defeat, he didn't retaliate when the light traveled from the whip onto his body, enveloping him in the crimson energy which radiated divinity. He gasped in a kind of daze and began to fight, but was too late. Artemis, suddenly standing in front of him, pointed a fair finger at him, then used it to make a sort of cutting motion across her neck; she was telling him, in all too clear terms, that he was dead, or at least close to it.

Suddenly, Kurama felt an electric shock course through his captured body, singeing him down to the bone, pouring out his skin and afflicting him inside and out. He felt the pores of his skin break into a sweat from the heat; they worsened the shock because of the moisture. Artemis just laughed.

"You know you deserve this, Kurama. You played with my poor host's heart, and you know it. Did you ever think that she had her own problems? No. You were too busy with your own emotions." Kurama looked down, ashamed. She's... She's right! He thought. He again felt a shock flood his blood, so powerful than he allowed a painful scream to escape his rather whitened lips. Hiei tensed, trying frantically to escape the vines which were wrapped around him tighter than a mummy. His green prison, however, tightened even farther, nearly suffocating its prisoner.

"Hiei... Stay down..." Kurama managed to gasp, seeing his friend struggle for his sake. Artemis laughed her mirthless laugh, so opposite Diana's lighthearted one.

"Yes, Hiei, stay down. That way my vines can kill you faster. You do realize that your own guilt fuels them, don't you? Your own guilt is restricting you from saving your best friend." She stroked her chin in mock thought, adding, "I wonder, what could have happened that was so bad? Could it involve... hormones, perhaps? Maybe your jealousy got the better of you. Maybe it has to do with that cut on your throat!" Artemis was now yelling, her anger clouding her face; Hiei felt his cut sting as the vines, his vines, wrapped around his throat. I... I'm going to die! He thought, guilt now overwhelming him, both in and out of his mind. His thoughts suddenly turned to Diana, her pale, freckled face laughing jovially as Hiei said something sarcastic to Kuwabara. I... never thought that it would be this bad...

He saw, through a narrow gap in the vines that now covered his face, but not his hair, his katana beside Artemis, lying on the bloodied ground surrounding Kurama. He felt the vines tighten farther, paining him now to breathe. I'm sorry! I... I didn't want it to be like this! He thought, unable to speak. Artemis didn't hear him. She was too busy causing Kurama more agony, for Hiei heard another blood-curdling scream of torture. This... Is too much, even for me... As the fire demon finally felt his last mouthful of air desert him, a voice shone through his murky consciousness, like a crimson light in a fog. Artemis seemed to have turned her attention to him again.

"Hiei, know this, you killed yourself. Your own guilt did you in. You have to face consequences, and mine... are severe."

A/N: Climatic, no? The end is drawing near for this story, but the excitement has just begun... Well, no, not really.:readers facefault: ANYway, please review.