I would like to thank those who have reviewed and supported this story. It is thanks to you delightful people that help keep fanfictions going. Also for some of you this chapter may seem long in explanations at times but well, it is needed for the rest of the storyline. Thank you for your patience and have a good read.

Life is Not So Simple

The ride to Lian's home seemed to take forever to all the occupants in the van. Tempers were beginning to rise as time passed and they still were on the move with no evidence of stopping anytime soon.

Finally not able to take the silence anymore Yusuke growled "hey you! Driver! If it only took a few minutes for you to get to us at the hospital why the hell is it taking so long for you to get back to where ever she lives?"

Now normally Kurama would have apologized for his fellow detective's rude manner but with all that had happened and how mixed up he was feeling inside he believed a little belligerence was in order. Apparently everyone had the same idea since as he watched them, Kurama saw that not a single person was about to berate Yusuke and they all just stared at Lareth.

Lareth rolled his eyes sighing at such rudeness coming from the people behind him. Leaning over he brushed the silvery bangs out of Lian's face and smiled softly at the dozing young woman. "If you +ahem+ gentlemen have any questions I suggest you wait until we reach the house so that Lian may answer them there."

Yusuke snorted "so she's got all the answers hmm?"

Then with out warning Yusuke shot a hand forward towards Lian. Without even taking his eyes off the road Lareth's hand shot back clasping Yusuke's wrist in a tight grip.

"Don't even think of waking her till we get home. I really don't think you know just how much energy she used trying to do what ever she did back there." Still not releasing Yusuke, though the hotheaded detective was truly trying to break his hold, Lareth looked over at Lian concerned "I just hope milady didn't sacrifice any part of herself…"

Kuwabara blinked "sacrifice herself? But she's right there sleeping."

Releasing Yusuke, sending the detective to flop rather hard back onto the seat, Lareth replied "she may not have completely sacrificed her life for what she did, but if she did not use precautions then she may have lost days, months or even years from her life."

As Kurama's mouth opened Lareth quickly cut him off "I'm sorry young man, but any other explanations will have to wait for milady to awaken."

Glancing at Lian, Kurama might have argued the point if he had not seen how pale she was and the dusky rings under her eyes. Shocked by what seemed to be a sudden change in Lian, Kurama softly said "what happened to her?"

Lareth looked into Kurama's eyes via the rear-view mirror and smiled softly when he saw true concern in the detectives emerald eyes "all I know is that she used a lot of energy today and possibly some of her life force. Until milady awakens and speaks to us I know about as much as you do at this point."

Leaning forward a bit Yusuke asked "Well, if you can't talk about her then what about yourself?"

Lareth's eyes widened a bit as he glanced at Yusuke "why in the world would you want to know about me?"

Yusuke shrugged leaning back in his seat "maybe it's nothing but even though you seem young you talk old."

Lareth paused for a moment before laughing "I talk old?"

Yusuke wave a hand lazily "you know using milady, talking about life forces and all that."

Lareth's eyes narrowed for a bit studying Yusuke for a moment before grinning ruefully "I can't figure out if that attitude of yours is the truth or if it's just a good cover."

Allen and Kurama traded smirks as Yusuke sputtered at the comment.

Giving a crooked smile Kurama said "you know about as much as we do along those lines. He tends to surprise us too at odd moments."

Just as Yusuke was contemplating lunging at Kurama, Lareth said "ah home sweet home."

All four men's jaws dropped as they looked past the towering gates in front of the van to the large house and wide space beyond.

Allen shook his head saying "this isn't Lian's apartment."

Lareth blinked for a moment as if confused by Allen's comment "apartment, apartment…" Suddenly smiling Lareth nodded towards the group in the back even as his eyes scanned the gates that were opening in front of them "ah yes, the apartment that you mentioned is a set up so that the true home remains a safe haven for us all."

Kurama watched as the landscape flickered by and the crunching of gravel met his ears "what could Lian have done to merit the need for a safe haven as you put it?"

Lareth began laughing as he parked the van "ah you just don't see."

Lareth got out of the van and as he shut the door the others began filing out of the other side. One by one each of the men stood staring at the sight of the people in front of them.

Opening the passenger side door and taking Lian gently in his arms Lareth turned to the stunned group "this is not a place that was made by us for her, Safe Haven was a place made by Lian for us."

Thus saying that Lareth turned to walk up the stairs making sure not to jostle the exhausted girl in his arms. Realizing that he did not hear many footsteps behind him Lareth turned to see most of the group still stunned behind him. The only one that had shaken off the sight before them and followed had been Allen.

Yusuke watched as Lareth turned to look down at them from the top of the stairs framed, by what he could swear was a pair of centaurs. Still taking it all in he saw Allen turn to look at them with a questioning gaze.

Just as Kuwabara was opening his mouth to say something the female centaur began to speak.

"Lareth, what has become of our lady and who are those men?" Turning to look at the occupants on the stairs she gave a delicate sniff before continuing "the were-cat I can see reason but the humans?"

Yusuke was about to rip into the centaur when a rather faint snort stopped him short.

"So what the hell am I? Chopped liver?"

All eyes turned to the source of the voice as Allen rushed to Lian "you're awake!"

Grinning wanly Lian replied "of course I am you silly furball." Scowling at him Lian continued "you think something like those demons could keep me down for long?"

Then Lian's eyes drifted over to the centaur mare who had spoken moments before "Niala, as you are learning not all humans are bad." Smiling faintly "in fact, despite seeing Allen suddenly change and have the fact that demons do exist shoved down their throats, these gentlemen still stuck around to try and help me."

Niala's eyes narrowed as she gave the group a searching glance before nodding respectfully to Lian "if you say milady." Then she and the other centaur turned and went into the house by the large open double doors. As if that was a signal the other people that had been awaiting the arrival of their lady began filtering back into the house pausing to whisper hello or just to give a reassuring touch to Lian's arm.

Lareth smiled as he looked down at the tug on his pants to see a few of the Haven's children looking up at them with worried eyes. Slowly kneeling he brought Lian into the sight range of the children.

Leaning over Lian hugged them smiling and giving the children murmured words of encouragement before sending them inside.

Lareth stood up and walked the few paces to where Allen stood "if you could take milady to the sitting room I will get refreshments for you all and you can continue the discussions privately."

Nodding Allen reached for Lian then suddenly stared down at her in shock when he realized she felt lighter than she should be.

Feeling Allen's questioning gaze Lian merely smiled and pointing towards the open doors she crowed "all right furball, onward!"

Hearing her voice still vibrant the seriousness that had been over shadowing them all suddenly broke as Allen began laughing before he placed his chin of the top of her head smiling "only you Lian, only you"

"Whaaat?" Lian whined as Allen began walking towards the doors "the atmosphere was getting stuffy and I for one do not like that 'drowning in cotton' feeling."

Grinning Lian peered over Allen's shoulder at the group below them "will you slow pokes get a move on?"

Yusuke walked up the stairs, hunching his shoulders, but as he passed by Kurama the red head noticed that Yusuke was grinning.

Shaking his head Kurama followed after their unspoken leader wondering at everything was happening. Yes they all seemed to be taking it well, but was it because of shock or something else?

Passing through the doors Kurama was broken out of his wondering thoughts as he stepped onto the plush carpeting in the hall. Looking down he saw green carpeting that came eerily close to looking like grass and as his eyes trailed up he noticed that the walls were actually wood. Not a cheap wood paneling either, but actual polished wood. As he stared at the multi colored panels something within him stirred home. Blinking in startlement at the feeling of contentment swirling through him Kurama quickly surveyed the rest of the area. Large windows, some floor to ceiling, were scattered across the walls letting the silver light from the night sky flow through the hall. A burbling sound caught his attention and as Kurama swung his eyes to the right he saw a small rocky outcropping with a waterfall splashing into what looked like a basin built directly into the floor. Kurama would have liked to observe things a bit more but the others had already entered the room ahead of him and he did not want to seem like he was prying.

Looking up from the sofa on which she and Allen were curled up on Lian watched as Kurama entered the room with a slightly wistful look to his eyes. Smiling as the last detective had entered the room Lian spoke "please, make yourselves comfortable. Lareth should be here soon with refreshments."

Yusuke flumped into the chair directly across from Lian, enabling him to watch her as they asked their questions. He knew that right now he should be half out of his mind with everything that has happened with just a few days passing but to his surprise he was relatively calm. For some reason he felt an almost acceptance with all the craziness that was going on. Almost as if these events were nothing new to him.

As the quietest of the group so far, Kuwabara sat in the chair on the left of Yusuke closer to the fireplace. Through out everything Kuwabara had been trying to "feel" around with the slight ability he seemed to have. Nothing here screamed danger… in fact a most welcome feeling seemed to just invade everything here. That feeling was half the reason he was on edge. This was not normal. Demons were not normal, magic was not normal, and homes that gave out an aura were not normal. Closing his eyes for a moment Kuwabara took a deep breath and then suddenly realized normal or not, this situation didn't feel unusual to him. It was like he had been through things like this before and probably would be again.

Kurama settled into the chair on Yusuke's right, closer to the side of the sofa that held Lian and Allen. Watching the two he realized he felt a kind of peace about them. Seeing how Allen held Lian's upper body so that she was reclining on his chest with his chin resting on the top of her head he saw the bond the two shared was not of lovers but as of family. Once this was realized something shifted within him, settling down grudgingly at that realization.

As Yusuke began to open his mouth for the interrogation Lian held up on hand to stall him "a moment please, Lareth needs help."

Lightly waving a hand at the door the people in the room saw the previously closed door slowly open and Lareth walked in with trays of food and drinks in both arms. As Lareth walked into the room Lian once again motioned the door shut.

Feeling the stares of the people in the room Lian shut her eyes murmuring "I figured a small demonstration to help you believe things with your own eyes might ease this a bit."

Feeling a cool hand on her forehead Lian looked up into the concerned blue eyes of Lareth "milady are you sure you wish to do this now? I'm sure the gentlemen can wait a "

Smiling wanly Lian interrupted Lareth "no my friend. If you consider the first day that this all started then it would show that these men have been waiting almost over two weeks to learn what is happening." Shaking her head slowly before looking at the three detectives Lian spoke "they have been patient and so the information will be their reward."

Lareth sighed and looked to the ceiling as if asking for patience "you know we can not argue with you Lady when you make polite sense."

Grinning mischievously Lian quipped "I know and that's why I do it."

Shaking his head and ruffling her hair Lareth just smiled as he left the room shutting the door behind him.

Reaching forward for a cup of tea Lian sipped it then turned her attention to the three in front of her "so what would you like to know first?"

Yusuke was the first to react "who the hell are you?"

Kuwabara scowled at the ebon haired detective as Kurama actually hissed at him.

Lian blinked for a moment before bursting out laughing "oh my +chuckle+ straight to the point aren't you?"

Grinning she replied "I am Lian Leviathan, daughter to Leon and Melisande Leviathan. I was born in Ireland though at the age of three we moved to Japan for another three years. After living in Japan for three years we came to the US and I stayed here while my parents continue to travel.

Closing her eyes as if remembering something painful she continued "six years ago when I turned seventeen I was grateful that they had decided to continue their travels, since that is when all this began.

Opening her eyes with a far away look to them she spoke " I believe that at one point in every person's life they begin to question about why are they here and what is the meaning of being here at all. They usually turn to religion, gods, goddess', beliefs, something that will take charge even if only for a little while and make things seem not so useless or chaotic. I too fell into that searching for something but I was restless and nothing I found seemed quite right. Some rules didn't seem like they made any sense, or there were just things I found morally wrong."

Sighing Lian pushed herself up and turned so that her back was leaning against Allen's shoulder and she was facing the night sky through the large window across the room. For a moment it seemed like she was searching the stars for strength and then found it seconds later.

"I continued searching for the reason for me to live, but I began to realize that I was looking for a reason with other people's rules and not my own. At that point I began to look at all the guidance people were giving objectively and that was when I noticed that all beliefs all guidelines had one thing that made them all the same."

Turning eyes that seemed so old for someone so young to the detectives in front of her Lian said "someone was always in power. No matter what religion, belief, or cult, that has come out of the woodworks you'll notice that they always have some one or multiple people/things with power to rule them all with. That was when I decided I wouldn't believe in a name or even a persona, I would believe in power itself. The reason I was here was because I was created to be here."

Smiling at the detectives Lian shook her head "needless to say there were a few more revelations and such but what all my discoveries gave me was a major headache. If you Know what power is and truly realize what is going on you tend to get the attention of power."

"One night an Avatar came to me and told me I was now one of 'the Enlightened'"

"Wait a minute! Are you saying that you met an angel with a message from god or something?" Yusuke cried in disbelief.

Lian snorted "haven't you been listening? Angels, Gods, Goddess', all of them are actually either fictional, one of 'The Enlightened', or an Avatar. They all used power but does anyone ever really think about where it all comes from! There is something out there that gives those people the ability for 'magic' or 'miracles' and that is what I believe in. I can only call it Power and yet I am still giving it a name…" Shaking her head "let us just say that what I believed in finally took notice of me and had no problems with letting me know it was watching me."

Quietly Kurama began "you said that you were told you were now an 'Enlightened One', what does that mean or entail?"

Lian hugged her shoulders and began to shiver as if cold but they all could see that it was her past memories that was what making her shake. "Being an 'Enlightened One' is not the grand peace that people tend to think of when they hear the word Enlightened. For us all it means is we have the ability to do whatever we want, make others do what we want, we are powerful but we are also cursed in a way.

Grinning wryly at the three before her she continued "you know the saying with great power comes great responsibility?" Lian shrugged her shoulders "it's cliché but true." Lian's brown furrowed "At least for those of us with a conscious."

For once Kuwabara beat everyone to the punch by asking "what do you mean by 'At least for those of us with a conscious'?"

Lian looked at him sadly "it means just as it sounds. Good or bad if you gain the realization of the power enough to be recognized then you are recognized, no questions asked by the Power whether it will be used for good or evil and so on."

All the detectives looked at her with dawning horror as Kurama began to speak what was on their minds "you mean that if some insane dictator became one of these 'Enlightened Ones' then he would have unlimited power?"

Lian looked out the window once more before softly replying "to an extent, yes"

Leaping up and looming towards the two on the couch Yusuke shouted "what do you mean to an extent!"

Lian could feel Allen tensing and feel the growl rumbling in his chest. Placing a hand on his knee in reassurance Allen backed down a bit but not much. Sighing Lian tiredly spoke "Settle yourself detective. I may not have used any of my own life these past few days but that does not mean I am not weary from what has been done."

Yusuke gave the pair in front of him a scorching glare before falling back onto the couch behind him, only to glare at them some more.

Kurama sighed, placing his chin on folded hands before speaking "Lareth mentioned something about you possibly losing time from your life and just now you have mentioned the same." Tilting his head watching Lian's eyes Kurama said "is that what you meant by saying 'to an extent'?"

Lian nodded "no matter how much power we have backing us we are still human. We were not meant to completely have so much siphoned through us and that is what many of the others tend to forget once they receive their abilities."

Grinning impishly Lian said "if the Avatar chosen for you believes that you would be neutral or help people then they will tell you a hint to not burning out, if they believe you would abuse what you have been given they will tell you nothing. If it's the second case then you figure it out on your own or burn out your life."

Giving Lian a look Kuwabara spoke up "there is another saying that might fit, 'absolute power corrupts absolutely', would that fit any of the people that have been given this power?"

Lian opened her mouth to reply when another voice stopped her.

"Very astute for a being brought into this world by the wants of other humans."

Groaning Lian buried her face into Allen's chest mumbling "oh frag it! Please make him go away!"

All the men in the room looked up confused at the silver haired fellow who was grinning down at them all from his seat on the ceiling. You could tell when they all realized the person on the ceiling was defying gravity by the widening of their eyes and Yusuke's shout of "what the hell?"

Swooping down from the ceiling to hover behind Lian the silver haired fellow smirked as he pinched Lian's cheek that wasn't hidden "Ah what fools these mortals be! You tell them so much and they still don't get that you are one of the good guys."

Waving a finger and tsking at the detectives the strange man said "I'll have to say it's not very nice of you to insult one of the most powerful yet nicest of the 'Enlightened Ones'. It's not very often you get such a combination of both in a human, in fact I believe the last one that came close to our little dragon here was a fellow by the name of Merlin."

Kuwabara opened his mouth but was interrupted by a growl from Lian "Puck, you die."

That said Lian launched herself over the couch to tackle the man now known as Puck, but apparently her exhaustion was catching up with her once again, as she was only able to tumble over the back of the couch into Puck's arms.

Blinking tiredly up at Puck's concerned face Lian said "I must've fallen asleep, you're not laughing or making a joke about my human clumsiness so this has got to be a dream."

Puck chuckled at his charge's attempt at humor "no little dragon, you are not asleep but you soon will be."

As Lian was about to protest Puck covered her eyes with one hand saying "sleep." When he removed his hand everyone saw that Lian was now fast asleep. Holding Lian, Puck lightly leaped onto the couch then settled down putting Lian in his lap while looking at the people that were in the room.

Yusuke glared saying "I suppose we're going to have to wait until tomorrow to find out more now.

Puck blinked before saying "why would you wait til the morrow for thy curiosity when the Avatar Puck sits before you?"

For once in the span of time that passed Allen spoke "you mean you're Lian's Avatar? One of the fey is an Avatar for basically the power of the universe to a young human girl?"

Puck gave Allen a toothy grin "and what of it kitty cat?"

Allen sputtered at the "kitty cat" comment before trying to reach out to strangle the fey. Abruptly Allen flumped onto the couch as Puck disappeared and re-appeared floating above them scowling a bit with Lian still in his arms.

"Foolish one, would you wake her when she needs to rest? Ask me what you will quickly so that I might send you home and leave the little dragon to sleep."

Growling as he sat up Allen glared at Puck "why do you keep calling her 'little dragon'?"

Puck laughed "is that not what she is? So fierce and loyal, protecting those that are her treasures and woe betide those that try to harm them for she would bring the wrath of the universe upon the miscreant."

Yusuke snorted "you sound like you're quoting some type of poetry or something instead of an explanation."

Allen gave a side glare to the grinning fey replying "get used to it Yusuke, unless they want to be serious, and from what I have heard, Puck rarely is, they tend to speak in that manner."

Kurama quietly interjected something that made Puck stop grinning "what did you mean when earlier you said 'astute for a being brought into this world by the wants of other humans'."

Puck fidgeted once before sighing "I had hoped you would have forgotten that sly slip of the tongue."

Leaning back into his seat Kurama calmly watched Puck saying "obviously we have not."

Huffing Puck looked like a spoiled child before replying "fine, fine, I can see you aren't going to let this go. Remember when Lian said that humans weren't meant to Completely handle Power?"

Waiting until he saw all the men give a nod Puck continued "humans do have some slight ability, or else you would not have your psychics, fortune tellers, wiccans, empaths, or any other human that has a bit of something that makes them special. Now a single human may not have much power, but a human with something to believe in raises what power they do have by a bit, add a dash of selfish desire and surprise, surprise the power level goes up a bit more. Humans ability to feel so strongly is a part of why they have anything at all. Now take that human with a belief and place him or her among many others with that same belief or desire and you will find that they can actually affect the world itself."

Looking at the three across from him Puck gave a sympathetic smile "and that is where you all come in. I'm sure you have a boss named Koenma, and know a few others named Hiei, Botan, Genkai, and others I could name."

Kuwabara's eyes focused on Puck "and how would you know this? Is all of this, some strange sick joke?"

"No joke dear boy, just the workings of the world and the power of human desire. You all came into being through normal human births but are not normal yourselves." Peering at the three Puck corrected himself "well at the moment you seem normal enough, but that can change very quickly. You see you are all modeled after the show of YuYu Hakusho."

Leaping up Yusuke pointed an accusing finger at the floating fey "just wait a damn minute! Are you saying our lives are nothing but some sitcom show?"

Puck grinned and would have clapped his hands if he had not been holding Lian at the time "a sitcom? No my dear boy yours is an action anime and may I remind you that as of this moment the only thing you have in common with that show is your names and your visages. Your lives as they have happened so far do not coincide with that of the show from whence your namesakes have come from." Tilting his head and looking at them Puck continued "in fact I'm beginning to wonder why you were chosen to help."

Looking up at the floating fey Allen asked "what do you mean chosen to help?"

Puck gave a loud sigh "it seems there is a powerful Rogue out there and that is probably who sent those demons earlier." Scowling a bit at Lian "stubborn little dragon. If she wasn't so determined to cling to her human morals she wouldn't be in this state."

Kuwabara snorted "did you ever think that it's because of those human morals that she is still a good person?"

Puck just snorted in return "I doubt there is much that would make her stray to becoming a Rogue."

Kurama looked at the fey searchingly "that is the second time you've mentioned someone going Rouge. What exactly do you mean by that?"

Puck shrugged "you'll need to know this to make your decision anyway. A Rogue is an Enlightened that has gone, mmm how do you humans put it? Ah yes! A Rogue is someone who has gone over to the dark side. Now the problem with a true Rogue is they either have learned how to focus their power and is still sane or in the worst circumstance they have learned to focus their powers and is no longer sane."

Yusuke then spoke "what about the ones that don't know how to focus their power sane or not?"

Puck grinned cheerfully at Yusuke "oh them? They're dead. Burned up from the inside out due to their frail mortal bodies not being able to take the strain. You see Rogues really were good Enlightened once but as your orange haired friend over there stated earlier, absolute power can corrupt absolutely and in a Rogue's case that saying is almost like a mantra to them."

Everyone blinked as Puck slowly floated upside-down, never dropping Lian, as he continued his explanation "you see Power is power, it has a slight sentience but when you encompass an entire universe it's a little bit of a problem to focus all that attention onto one human that happens to get the idea about your existence. That's where we Avatars come into play. We live on this planet too so we have an interest in keeping it in one whole, relatively peaceful, piece.

Puck then cuddled Lian like a teddy bear causing both Allen and Kurama to growl at him "I was lucky enough to get this little dragon as my charge."

A quiet snort from the direction of the doorway caused everyone to turn and see Lareth enter. "Lucky my arse Puck. Everyone in Avalon knows you threatened anyone who even looked like they were going to try and be her Avatar."

Glancing at the other four Lareth said "do not let the Fool confuse you. A mighty trickster is he and a master at misdirection. For once, the Puck was serious and willing to fight with his bag of tricks to be the Avatar of our little dragon."

Raising an eyebrow Kurama asked "and you would now these details how?"

Giving a smirk Lareth swept his hair behind his ears showing their pointed tips while saying "why because I was there of course."

Yusuke stood up glaring at the occupants of the room "enough with the 'Lord of the Rings' cast coming out of the woodworks, just tell us what the hell is going on and what we have to do with it."

Puck gave a disdainful sniff "humans, always thinking they're so important. Know this mortal you are just a convenient bonus as of this moment." Turning glowing sapphire eyes on Yusuke, Puck hissed "in fact maybe we should just wipe you of your memories of this whole thing and just leave you with the feeling of how you might have been able to do something as you watch the horror that may or may not appear because you were too busy being a hot headed idiot to help!"

Growling Yusuke went face to face with Puck "and just what the hell is "this?" all you have told us is there are people out there with a ton of power, not a lot of rules binding them, and how some of them have flipped to the dark side!"

Lareth's quiet voice cut through the hostility between the two "and that is exactly what is happening. From what we can tell a Rogue has appeared and is targeting Enlightened that may be able to stop him. It took him a while to find Lian I guess because she keeps such a low profile for an Enlightened."

Kuwabara spoke up "so if she's had a low profile how'd he find her."

Lareth shrugged "we're not really sure. We think it might be because he has his demon minions searching for power pulses. If Lian used her power in the past few months while there was a demon within range they would be able to tell if it was just brief power from a human or an Enlightened."

Turning to Allen, Lareth asked "has she done anything unusual? I know she can be cautious but when people are in trouble she tends to slip a bit."

Allen blinks then got a concentrated look on his face "no, there's nothing that I can… wait, can she heal?"

Puck snorted "Hello! Infinite cosmic power, itty bitty human girl, of course she can heal!"

"About a month ago when we were coming back from dinner some punks tried to mug us and take off with Lian. Of course I fought back but without shifting forms they got a few good blows in. I was bleeding pretty badly but we managed to get the rest of the way to my place before I collapsed. I was fading in and out but I remember waking up an hour or so later to see Lian beside me. She smiled and told me it wasn't time to wake, next thing I know it's the next morning and all I have to show for it is a bloody torn up shirt and some soreness. I know Were's can heal quickly but at that time even I thought it was a little odd."

Looking over at Lian he softly said "she did heal me didn't she?"

Lareth sighed "yes she did and I bet that put a nice little beacon up saying where she was. It might have been brief but if they were nearby it would have been enough."

Kurama looked thoughtful "so what you are saying is that a Rogue has found her and is trying to eliminate her?"

Puck looked at Kurama grinning "you got it Sherlock. Get it, Sherlock? Detective?" Seeing the deadpan looks he was getting Puck sniffed "no sense of humor you people. Anyway delightful as it is to hold our little dragon I'm going to go put her to bed. Be right back."

Before anyone could protest Puck simply popped out of the room, literally. Within a few moments the fey was back and hovering over their heads once more.

Looking at the two fey Yusuke scowled "So now you guys have figured out that there is a Rogue after her and this guy has a lot of powers not to mention demons as his lackeys, what could we possibly do to help you? We're just human."

A couple of boxes appeared in Puck's hands "well for starters you all can start watching these." As he tossed the boxes at the detectives they saw they were actually dvd cases.

Looking at the cover Yusuke shouted "what the hell?"

Lareth looked at the disbelieving men in front of him "for once I agree with Puck. Take those home and watch them, learn who you might be and what you can do if you choose. If you can not get time off to watch them then let us know and we will work around that."

Yusuke spluttered "and what are we supposed to tell the chief? Hey boss we have to take time off to watch a cartoon show that supposedly has us starring in it and oh yeah not to complicate things but it looks like were going to be stuck in a power battle between the light and dark side!"

Kuwabara's voice cut through the air "or we could just tell him we have a lead and we need time off to investigate it."

Yusuke's mouth dropped open for a moment before grinding out "che, sure why don't we go with that."

Lareth bowed "if you gentlemen would follow me."

The three exchanged a glance before following the blonde fey out the door. Yusuke almost went right, thinking that Lareth was showing them the door when to his surprise Lareth actually went left farther down the hallway.

Opening another door Lareth motioned them all to enter. Walking in jaws dropped at the sight before them while Yusuke and Kuwabara let out an appreciative whistle.

Kuwabara grinned "Now that is what I call an entertainment center!"

Puck chuckled "our little dragon makes sure we are all comfortable with all the trimmings."

Yusuke gave the small theater like room a good look and noticed something peculiar about the seats that were placed all around.

Pointing to a strange looking couch type chair he snorted "what the heck is that supposed to be, some type of modern art furniture?"

Glancing over to where Yusuke had indicated Lareth grinned "no, those are actually the seats for the centaurs." Lareth gave a small laugh "if you have not figured it out yet we have quite a few special individuals here and our lady makes sure that all types can enjoy what we have here."

Kuwabara looked at Lareth "you keep calling Lian our lady, why is that? Is she some type of royalty?"

"It is a sign of respect for one who would think of us and give us a home."

The group turned to see Niala standing in the doorway watching them as she spoke "our lady created this home for those who no longer have a place with humanity or lands of their own."

Nodding towards Lareth she continued "the children of Avalon have the Underhill and Avalon itself to call home but for the rest of us who do not have a 'place' the world outside can be a deadly thing. As always humans fear what they do not understand and destroy what they fear."

Walking into the room Niala slowly circled the group of detectives studying them. Once she was back to her starting point the female centaur looked over a Lareth "are they going to help her?"

Lareth smiled "we were just getting to that point in a way."

Niala snorted in distain as she pawed the floor with her hoof "how hard of a decision is it? Help save the world or not, that's all there is to it."

Lareth winced "Niala…"

Tossing her head she cut him off "forget it." Niala gave the detectives one final glance before stalking out of the room.

Lareth sighed "please forgive her. Niala has had a tough life before our lady found her."

Seeing Yusuke about to say something probably rudely Kurama asked "why were you showing us this area?"

Lareth cleared his throat "I figured if you gentlemen would prefer to stay here for a few days and used these facilities to watch the dvds. It might be a bit more comfortable and save you time if you stay with us."

Yusuke snorted "and without even talking to Lian you're sure she's ok with us staying here?"

The Elven vassal looked at Yusuke with amusement "you will learn that she is 'ok' with quite a few things. If you would like I could show you the rooms you would be staying in and then leave you to make the decision amongst yourselves."

The three detectives followed Lareth up a winding staircase to a second floor with a long hallway filled with doors along each side. As they passed by the doors they noticed that some doors were painted with different colors and a name plate while others were just plain white with nothing on them.

Noticing the other men's scrutiny Lareth spoke up "the plain white doors signify that the rooms are empty and awaiting someone. The rooms with the colors and plates are occupied and colored to the occupant's tastes."

Stopping at an unusual white double door Lareth opened the doors wide and motioned the detectives through.

Kurama's eyes widened a bit, startled when the doors slowly began to change color as Yusuke and Kuwabara walked through. Slowly, as if being filled from the top, a dark blue began flowing towards the bottom of the door while a burning red began creeping up from the bottom, only to meet the blue in the middle where the two colors became a sort of hazy purple. Carefully watching the doors as he crossed the threshold Kurama blinked as ivy vines crept around the edges of the door and finally stopped when they were worked into what looked like a framing lattice work on the edges of the door.

Looking back behind him Kurama met Lareth's amused gaze and wondered how many times the man had seen people stop to watch the doors with amazement as they changed for each person.

Bowing Lareth said "and now gentlemen I leave you to your discussions. As you can see this is the main sitting room and each of the doors around the room leads to a bedroom with bathroom. Once you have decided whether you are staying or not please use the call rope here to notify me."

As he was shutting the double doors Lareth looked over his shoulder "oh and detectives? Please do not wander without me as a guide." Eyes glittering with something other worldly Lareth smirked "you aren't quite one of us yet and I'm sure Lian would be upset if her guests were … disturbed."

With that said Lareth shut the doors with a final click while the three men stared at the doors with slight shock in their eyes.

Finally breaking the silence Yusuke murmured "I don't know about you guys but I'd say if he didn't want us to be disturbed then he's doing a pretty damn bad job of that…"

And that ladies and gentle men is a 16 page chapter. +sighs+ I'm sorry for not updating for so long and I will give no excuses except real life has intruded, computer crashes and lost files. But beyond that I hope to start updating regularly. +bows+ Thank you for reading and please leave a review with Constructive criticism. Thank you and until next time live well.

Next time on "Reality as we know it": Yusuke, Kuwabara, and Kurama make their decision on whether they will continue their lives in ignorance or step up to fight with Lian. How will their choice affect their lives and those that surround them? With demons closing in things begin to heat up. See you next time!