Chapter Seven: ...Two Simple Words; Why Me?...
Shattering booms reverberated in the darkened room, bouncing off the stone walls and metal ceiling. Dust fell from the hole above, dancing through the century old air, moving through the room where no one have seen for years untold. But now the ancient slumber is broken, awakened in a very rude fashion.
Her lungs squeezed desperately for air, the impact of the fall paralyzing her body. Her leg stung badly, most likely cut by the jagged metal shards and serrated rocks that fell with them. Coughing out the heavy shower of dust, Roviel rolled painfully from her back to her side, before pushing herself into a sitting position. A hurried check showed that she didn't suffer many major injuries. Her right forearm was badly skinned, and as Roviel presumed, a long gash bleeds freely down her right thigh. Muffling a cough against her arm, Roviel peered around her, hoping to see where the two youngsters are and how they faired.
There was light, feeble redness pouring down from the hole above her. A glance upwards showed just how lucky she was. It was a long way down, the two meter wide hole now no bigger than an extremely large plate. Seeping into the gap, the crimson hue bathed the disaster scene with shadowy willingness.
To her right, something moved amongst the rubble, the dark bulk pushing out from the ground. Amber orbs stared at the shape, who was it? That answer was soon answered as a string of loud cursing clawed through the air. She grinned at this, no matter in what situation, that boy never change. The orange haired head lifted, eyes searching around the room before finally latching onto Roviel.
"Roviel! It's you! Are you alright? Where are we?"
Strange, considering for once she didn't hate his voice.
"Yes, it's me. I'm fine, if you meant if I'm alive or not. Where are we? I'm taking a very educated guess that this is the chamber where the Key is kept in."
She scrutinized the dust covered boy, one tawny eye inspecting him from head to feet. Strange, how come he's not hurt at all? She glared him now, curiosity lingering in her unwavering gaze.
"Just how did you escape this disaster without even a scratch?"
Kuwabara grinned happily. Apparently the boy had a fine store of surprises up his sleeve.
"Well, you see. When we were falling I made my Spirit Sword grow longer, and it stopped me falling. It worked, until something hard hit my head and broke my concentration. I fell then, but it was like so close to the ground so there wasn't any damage."
He definitely seemed proud, the sentences coming out in a rush. His face was positively red by the time the boy finished his speech, ending it with a deep intake of breath. Her one-sided grin widened. Humans... Speaking of humans. Roviel pushed herself up, wincing slightly as she favored her undamaged leg. Hobbling over to Kuwabara, Roviel continued to scan the bedraggled area. Where is the kitsune? He couldn't have died so easily; even Kuwabara survived. An eye twitched. She better not have to go all the way back to Reikai dragging the dead body of the red-head...
"Looking for someone?"
The soft voice came from their right, and Kuwabara scrambled over too the dark corner.
"Kurama, where are you? I can't see very well."
A sound of life drifted from behind a large boulder, one that leaned against the stone wall in a very dangerous matter. Limping over to the rock, Roviel took one side while Kuwabara took the other. Taking a firm hold on the rock, she glared over at the orange-haired boy.
"You better not mess it up, boy. If that happens, then the fox is going to be squashed into a very small lump."
"Um... What do we do now? I mean, Kurama is hurt badly, and you don't look like if you can move very fast. Even if I find the Key, I won't know what to do with it..."
Crystal blue flashed in the dim light, the elegant curves of the blade flowing through the brown linen like a knife cutting through soft snow. Her trench coat, or what remained of it, laid on the ground in neat strips. The cutting down, a soft forest mist rose before leaving a golden necklace in its wake. Taking one ribbon, Roviel turned her attention to her injury. Why didn't they think of packing some bandages before they left was beyond her. Tying the last knot, she leaned back against the rough wall, eyes closing in weariness. Although she hates to admit it, Kuwabara did have a point. The boy would most likely lose the Key, even if he does find it. She could walk, and most likely run, but the wound was an annoying distraction. As for the fox...
Turning her head, one hooded eye looked over to the sitting Kurama. Out of all of them, he took the most damage. The splinter of metal that had pierced his stomach was out now, but that only worsened the damage. At least before it was pulled out the piece stopped any major blood flows...
"There is no need for either of you to be worried over me."
One hand clamped tight to his side, Kurama slowly stood up, and gave a shaky smile to his group.
"See? It is nothing, really. I think Kuwabara tied the bandages tight enough to stop my breathing, let alone any blood loss."
The fawn coated eye closed, a long sigh blew into the space. Sound of shuffling could be heard, followed by some scuffled kicks into the dirt. Stamping her booted feet, Roviel stretched.
"My my, what a team we make. A disaster bringing idiot, a half dead fox and a disabled sarcastic bitch that can't defend for her life."
Kuwabara stared at her in dismay while Kurama bit down hard to stop laughing. She smirked.
"What are you two waiting for then, a sign for some god? Move already, I'm bored."
It's strange. The whole place was underground with no visible source of light. And yet she could easily see the backside of Kuwabara running before her. So where did the light come from? Eerie, the blue light that glowed from the stones themselves. How do they do that? Doesn't seem to have any sort of ki in the walls... Realizing just what she's doing, Roviel rolled her eyes in despair. Was she actually some kind of reasonable answer to her question? Gods, what is her brain coming to? This is Makai, for god's sake...
They've been walking for some time, down this hall and that corridor. Some lead to dust covered libraries, other opened up racks of rusting weapons. She was becoming worried. How long have they been down here, searching for the right room? If what Koenma said was right, then that means every second they waste looking for the right path is one second closer to a confrontation with groups of crazed youkais. Kuwabara had tried time after time to sense some hint of ki energy that might help them. But it was all in vain. Kurama was breathing hard, an unhealthy pale look making his long red tresses and emerald eyes stand out more. Kuwabara, being his stupid human self, was barging into one room then another, not only wasting time but also energy. Halting suddenly, her left hand came up onto the wall, supporting Roviel's panting form. Damn leg, must have hit an artery.
...The wall was nice, cool and smooth, a silky touch against her fingertips... Wait! The tawny eyes snapped up at the wall, where her hand rested. Rubbing furiously at the area, Roviel stared the metallic plating that had previously been covered in dust. One eye twitched.
"A map! Of all the things! A map!"
Following the path that was marked out on the bronze map that could be found be at every corner, the trio moved ever closer to their mission item. Having found the existence of the maps, everyone suddenly found some last reserve of energy. Now only two turns to go before they reach their destination. Listening to Kuwabara's outraged shouts, Kurama chuckled.
"It does seem amusing, does it not? I suppose that is what happens when one becomes too knowledgeable; one tends to overlook the simplest things."
"Um, you guys. Isense Youki."
Her head whipped around, golden orbs burning into the boy.
"Is it of the Key?"
Kuwabara gave a nervous laugh.
"Eh, no... There's more than one..."
"Are you able to sense how many there are?"
She glared at the fox. How he managed to keep his voice steady at a time like this was beyond her...
"I'm not sure how many there are, but there's one thing I know. They are coming here, fast."
Sighing, Roviel looked down the corridor. Only one more to go... The eyes narrowed. Hell if she's going to be beaten by a pack of cult-crazed youkais...
"Move, idiots! Or are you two going to be some welcoming party for whoever is coming?"
"This...is...too...easy..."
Charging into yet another pack of idiot youkais who had some death wishes, Kuwabara slashed away at the snarling faces. The boy definitely had endurance, that much she'll give him. Even after what they've been through today, Kuwabara was still able to beat the pack of youkais who were also rushing to the pedestal at the end of the room. Glaive in hand, Roviel gave a fanged grin to the orange haired boy as her weapon worked its deadly beauty.
"Too easy? So why do I see you panting?"
"I'm...not...tired... Too...much...excitement...fighting..."
The last opponent fell, sliced by a Rose Whip. Clutching at his side, Kurama smiled in relief.
"This was the last of them, I think. Is the Key at the top of the pedestal?"
Kuwabara, being the tallest, dragged his form over to the tall white marble stand. Standing on tip toes, he peered over the edge. Limping over to the dais, Roviel leaned against the wall in weariness. Well, it turned out better than she expected. The kitsune, who was walking over to them, was not dead. No other catastrophes suddenly jumped out from the air. The youkais got what they deserved and they found the bloody Key. Reaching over, Kuwabara retrieved something from top of the stand. Between his fingers, covered with dust, dirt and gods know what else, was a small, plain, simple key. Her eye twitched. They came all the way for this? It was small, no longer than her thumb. Made from what appeared to be plain gold, it was nothing more than a round, toothless rod attached to a square handle. It reminded her of the first keys ever made, those huge heavy things. Except this one was smaller, much smaller... Grinning madly at their successful mission, Kuwabara began to walk out off the room, cleaning the artifact of any grim.
"Hey, it wasn't that hard at all! We got the Key right here, and I got to kill lots of youkais."
One corner of her lips curved. Look at how quickly the boy forgot the calamities they just went through. Humans...
"So, you like to kill youkais? Is that right, human?"
Kuwabara gave a loud yelp of surprise, one that quickly ended as a blast of ki slammed into him. Slamming into the ground, Kuwabara stayed down, the Key still in his fist. Five figures appeared in the doorway, three female and two male. Apparently they were hiding outside of the door all this time. A chest deep growl rose from Roviel's throat. How come she can't feel their ki? Beside her, Kurama shifted in his stance. So the kitsune also noticed the strange lack of energy. As if reading their minds, one female pulled a tiny bottle of some sort.
"So, we surprised you? Didn't feel our energy, right?"
The female snapped the lid off the bottle, and their Youki blasted into Roviel's senses. So, the bottle contained their Youki, allowing the five to hide undetected. The female, who seemed to be the leader, began to stroll over to Kuwabara's unconscious body.
"I have to thank your human friend here. Perhaps you didn't know, but the Key could only be removed from its resting place by someone who had Reiki, not Youki. Finding out this little problem, we send an anonymous letter to that stupid ruler of Reikai, warning him about the Key and how a group of youkais were planning to take it..."
The growling turned into a snarl of pure fury, and the female stopped short. Looking over at Roviel, she sneered in distain.
"Why I even bother with trash like you I'll never know. Anyhow, I knew that Koenma was bound to send at least two of his precious detectives over to investigate. And one of them would definitely be either that toushin with the Reiki, or the stupid human that uses a sword. So all we had to do was wait until you removed the Key for us."
Kicking away a dead body of the youkai that was here before, the female laughed.
"How perfect it was, that this pack of low-leveled pests decided to show when they did. And to think that they were going to use on that leader of theirs. Such a waste... What are you smiling at?"
Roviel was grinning her feline grin, the ivory canines catching the dim blue light of the room.
"You think you are so smart, hiding your Youki and making us do all the work."
Her right hand lifted; the tips of her thumb, forefinger and middle pinched together as if holding something. Slowly the three digits pulled apart, now each tipped with a green globe of Youki. Suddenly the globes separated, turning into six spheres, then twelve, then twenty four.
"Well guess what? There are two people I hate most in the world. The first is a liar..."
Then the mass of Youki globes disappeared, blinked out and taking their presence with them.
"...And the second are people who pretend to be smart, who think that they know everything that's going to happen. Now let me tell you something, bitch."
Her right rose again, the palm facing upwards at the ceiling.
"You take one more step, any of you, and I'll make sure that you die a horrid death."
One of the males laughed.
"Please! Who do you think you are playing with? You don't have enough Youki to even light a match. Didn't you think I'd notice how your attack just died out just then? Ha!"
As if to prove his point, the male swaggered towards her. Roviel's grin widened.
"Wrong again. Quicksilver!"
The fingers of her right hand curved back to the palm, making a "come" gesture. Suddenly the male youkai stopped in his tracks, screaming as miniature bombs seem to explode from inside him. Bones shattered, tendons snapped. It only lasted seconds, but that was enough to see the youkai's form collapse, dead.
"See? What did I tell you? That"s one of my new attacks I learned to use with this Youki business. The green glows that disappeared earlier? They didn"t die out, but turned invisible and undetectable. I threw them into the air, and if someone gets close enough to touch one of those things, it burrows into the person, while attracting the other orbs to that same person. At my command, they return to me, not caring what gets in their way."
"Ah, interesting. But sadly, I see it takes up a large amount of your Youki. And I don't think you have any more energy to try that attack again."
"Want to bet on that?"
Three whole seconds passed, three whole seconds of deadly ceasefire. Then everything just went beserk. The three remaining youkais charged towards them, while the female sprinted towards Kuwabara's body. Calling up whatever was left of her Youki, Roviel yelled at Kurama.
"Idiot fox! What are you standing there for? Get the Key!"
The rest was hazy. Roviel remembered her shimmering rage finally boiling over, snarling at the three enemies as her glaive danced. She remembered mentally yelling in happiness as Kurama managed to snatch the Key away, the distraction costing her dearly as someone attacked her from behind. She remembered Kurama falling to his knees, the Key in his hand, the hand that's covered withfreshblood from his wound. And then a golden glow enveloped the room, a soft warm light that reminded her of her own bed, back at home. When the light died back down, Roviel, Kurama, and even the enemies stared at. For standing before Kurama, as solid and real as the blood thirsty look in his golden eyes, a tall fox with silver white hair glared at the female youkai. The last thing Roviel remembered before blanking out was just how could Youko Kurama, the Legendary Thief of Makai, could have escaped from his bond.