Chapter 8—Address
Evander: ever since I was a novitiate mage, I knew that cards were my favorite brand of sorcery and magic. Not tarot or fortuneteller cards or runes or potions, but a deck of playing cards. A deck was comprised of all types of cards ranging from spades to diamonds to clubs to hearts, each with its own value and weight according to its suit and face or number value. Each time you shuffled the deck and dealt out a hand, you could really never be sure what cards you were going to get no matter how much you may have concentrated on the swift movements of the dealer.
Over the years I have come to favor the suit of spades above all the others, but each card was a symbol and had its own meaning to me. For example, the ace of spades always reminded me of Damien and how he was the strongest of us all and Archimedes is the queen of diamonds because she is always the one thief who is only going after the jewels no matter how locked up they might be. Willow will always be the five of hearts to me for when Daja brought her back to the flat, stealing a place in my softened heart and gaining a share in my trust always. She was just a wee five yearling of the human descent, although I could feel the demon blood flow in her veins from some distant ancestor of long ago. And there was also the ace of hearts...
She lies on the couch across from the short table looking at the cracking ceiling with a sullied look on her face seemingly due to the conversation she is picking up in her over sensitive ears. She doesn't like the detective's human chatter much it seems, and neither do I come to think about it. My eyes wander to Archimedes and Willow who have begun pull enough blankets out of the closet for an army. Well let's see, we make 4 and there are 4 of the detectives.... I guess that's eight, which is an ample army in my eyes though we are not united under the same crest or banner.
She is so much more different than she was all those years ago. She seems older, which is strange for her usual larger than life attitude. I wonder were her younger self went off to...
Daja doesn't age very fast, about 5 times slower than me and about 10 times slower than humans. I lock onto her energy wavelength and I chuckle softly to myself. She has changed its signature again to ensure covert and stealth cover in the human realm. And her hair, she has dyed it once again... I remember when her tresses were a vivid reddish tangerine tinted by dusty amber gold and with ultramarine or silver foxtails at the tips of each individual clump or strand. Her style of clothing has changed a lot since then as well, from the rich indigos, eloquent amethysts, and striking emeralds she once gaily wore to the dark and depressing sables, ebonies and unusual vermilions she now dons with out notion or care.
"How many cards do you want?"
"Huh?" I blink my eyes and look around me.
"How many cards do you want?" the speaker repeats.
"Oh, I'll take two please." I reply to Yusuke, as he looks at me full of interest.
I pick up my two cards, commanding the presence of spades into my fingers and find that I am rewarded with both a black jack of spades as well as the ace, a most unexpected honor in itself. I reevaluate my five cards and decide that a royal flush of spades for the third time would really irk off the carrot topped idiot Kuwabara so I bet 50 pieces of silver on this hand. I keep a straight poker face as I look into Kurama's green eyes; searching for some hidden sign of his luck or lack they're of...
After a moment of searching, I decide that he has nothing. With a quick glance at the rest of the boys lounging around the low table I find that none of them could ever have been a poker player in their previous life. Or a serious card player for that matter. Neither Yusuke nor Kuwabara can hold a relatively straight face for long or hide the fact that they have a good set of cards in their hands. How I long to have Daja sitting down with us to play.... Now she would at least be some competition, I think and I lay down my cards and say, "I guess I win again."
"Evander, go easy on them," Daja says while I quietly gather in my winnings and put them in a small bag. "You and I both know that they can never beat you. You're a mage whose specialty is slight of hands with cards and they are just humans." Here Daja rolls over onto her side and looks at me with a smirk on her face which just dares me to go on and cheat the detectives out of even more money. I can't believe she is so moody of late; maybe it has something to do with these men she works with. If they have ever hurt her, I'll...
Willow bursts out into a shout from the other room as a sound that very much resembles shattering glass sounds through out the flat. I jump up and start to follow Daja to the bedroom. Upon entering the bedroom, I see Willow. She looks stunned and her face and upper body is covered in thick deep jade colored blood, the only trait of demon heritage she visibly shows. I look at the window and the glass seems to have been shattered by someone or something. This wasn't a new occurrence but neither was it an often occurrence seeing that we live over a bar. Daja sets Willow onto the bed ripping the sheets and blankets off the cot till only the cot itself was present.
Daja quickly sizes up the wounds and realizes that her weak healing powers are not going to help this time.
"SYLPH!" She yells loudly. After looking at Willow one more time, she adds, "FOX!"
Now I turn around and back off, letting the two figures of Archimedes and Kurama enter the room. They look surprised at the carnage of Willow's body. I look on helplessly as Daja silently begins to pick out shards of glass from Willow's arms and chest, making more of the dark green liquid flow out of the deep wounds.
"Hold on...." Daja whispers as Willows eyes slide closed leaving a very eerie blank expression on willows usually meaningful face. "Sylph...Fox.... You have to save her..." Daja says coming desperately close to a whimper and still dutifully picking pieces of glass out of Willow.
Now I watch at the door with Yusuke, Kuwabara, and a suddenly now socially inclined Hiei. Archimedes gently pulls Daja away from Willow whispering lovingly, "There now, you'll see. Your orphan will not perish under my watch. Plus I feel Willow already beginning to heal her injured body. She is giving into the demon instincts now that she is so close to death, letting the shards of glass work their way out of her flesh and the already empty wounds are closing." I instinctively walk over to Daja and put my arms around her. She pulls out of my grasp and looks at Willow with a look of deep concern on her now regretful face.
"Come on, Saiai no hito. Let the two healers do their work." I reply grabbing her shoulder once again and pulling her back through the three men clustered at the door to the poker table in the middle of the common area. "Besides, Willow isn't going anywhere for awhile. Daja I just noticed, your covered in blood. Would you like to change? I believe that we still have some of your old clothing and it looks not like you have grown taller, wider, or," before I can help myself I smirk and continue, "bustier." Daja glares at me and then softens returning to an unthinkably placid demeanor saying, "Sure. I feel like a wardrobe change anyway. Where do you keep my old stuffs?"
I chuckle as I point to a small trunk under a window to the left of us, across the room from the door to willows makeshift hospital room. I watch as she sighs and says, "damn. I knew I should have kept those keys. Great now I gotta pick the lock, Evander. And In front of an audience of spirit police and outta practice. I might as well just go jump in a river and drown. Geeze...." She mutters some more questionable language under her breath as she expertly picks the lock and dives into the contents searching for some lost item from her past careful not to let the lid close on the trunk again. After a moment she stands up with bolts of fabric over her arms ranging in colors from deep reds to light greens. Looking at these clothes she says comically, "I was quite the vain little peacock back then, wasn't I?" smiling she holds out two sets of clothes and says, "Evander, pick one."
I saunter over to my sister figure and pick up both items and look them over carefully, fingering the cloth as I try to decide which would look better with her current hair and eye colors. I glance over her shoulder and see a piece of shimmery blue cloth peeking out of the chest. Gently shoving Daja to the side I pick the clothing up and examine it. This was the senshi outfit I had given her on her last makeshift birthday. She never has told me her real birth date, but I am okay with that because if she wants to tell me she will. I quickly sort through the rest of the clothing in the trunk and decide on the whitish silver bell sleeved chemise, the deep blue-ish purple pants, and a pair of purple and black boot like shoes seeing as Daja just about died when I pulled out the blue and white ones.
"Oh... I remember when you gave me that. It was so long ago, perhaps even longer than Yusuke and Kuwabara are old. I'll wear it to please you. This was the outfit I used whenever I went by Frostflame as an alias..." Daja smiles weakly and looks up expecting to see somewhere else instead of the flat and the three sets of staring eyes from the detectives. She looks out the window and whispers, "I wish I was still stuck in my immature youth. Children don't have to deal with things that transform youths into adults."
She turns around and says, "If you all excuse me, this old woman is going to go change in the bathroom. Exit stage left." She smiles and heads off to the bathroom.
The detective sort of look confused as she closes the door and begins to change.
"Don't sweat it detectives, she just is being a sour cat. I guess she is just stressed out." I say this with the best intentions of making the situation better, but I suppose they don't really understand Daja like I do.
"Well, maybe we should just get her back to the Spirit World as soon as possible. Perhaps it's the daunting task ahead of her that is making stressed. I mean, she is not as strong as us, so how could she possibly keep up with us in a fight."
I grin at Kuwabara and imagine what it will be like to fight someone like him. I'll get my chance soon enough.
Kurama nods in agreement and says, "I think we should finished with this assignment as soon as possible because my mother will begin to worry if I don't show up at home when I said I would."
"I agree but for a much different reason." Hiei adds looking impatient with the whole conversation.
Kurama: I have a bad feeling about this night, but I have no reason to feel this way except for intuition.
"Well, we know enough about this Sensou person to understand that it will not take all of us to defeat him. If we can ever find him, that is... You know, how come Koenma never gives us any direction to bad guy hideouts and really helpful information like that?" Yusuke asks sarcastically but really meaning it.
"Sensou?" Evander's eyes get really big and he snaps out of it quickly and looks interested in this person.
"Do you know this evil genius or something?" Kuwabara says trying to grasp that weird look Evander just had on his face.
"As a matter of fact, I do. Not personally, but I know of him. What exactly did he do...exactly? I mean, what kind of punishment would he receive if you caught him?" Evander looks like he might know where this guy makes his station.
"I don't know exactly," I reply. "But do you know where he lives."
"Yeah."
"Well?" Yusuke says in reply for this quick answer.
"If I tell you, you can't say that I told you... his gang would hunt me down and I don't want to danger the girls with my loose lips." Evander looks.... scared.
"Vander," Daja says coming out of the bathroom, "how much territory has Sensou gained in my absence, not all of my turf I hope."
Evander grins but replies, "Your name still holds some sway over people in the 8th sector, but.... Sensou has taken over sectors seven, nine, and eleven. He has promised to protect them from the terrible demon woman who terrorized them for years. I think he meant you. But, I live in the 7th sector and you still are important here, and I trust in you."
"Evander, you are telling me the truth right?" Daja says menacingly.
Evander backs up and nods. "I take you want to get this guy don't you. If you ask it of me I will tell you where he resides." Evander smiles and Daja grins, exposing... fangs?
"Tell us, I want to get my stupid mission over with. I want to get my sentence over with." Daja says.
"Well, that means you wont be staying the night I take it."
"Nope, we wont be. When we are done, we are to report to Koenma with the Amulet of Tamashii. I think this will be the last time we are together."
Evander nods frowns. He sets a hand on Daja's shoulder and she looks into his eyes. "I'll miss you, you know... Come back and visit every few decades, ok?'
"As if anything could stop me." Daja says.
"I hate to break up this sappy feeling fest, but I have a world to save from an evil mean guy."
"KUWABARA NO BAKA!!!" Daja says while slapping his face.
"I guess that means your not coming back for awhile. Do you want to say good bye to Willow and 'Medes?" Evander says looking at Kuwabara who lies mangled on the floor.
"No, the fewer goodbyes the better."
"I understand."
I watch as a tender look crosses Evander's face. Daja frowns and turns to face us.
"Time to leave detectives, got your junk?"
We all nod in agreement that now is the time to leave. We look at Evander and we each silently thank him for his hospitality,
"He lives out in the cliffs to the west of the city." Evander says and Daja starts going down the stairs with us following her.
"Thank you Vander!!!" She yells for the last time in awhile. We all sojourn out to the cliffs where our opponent undoubtedly resides...
Satorisama-ive been on an updating spree, and ive got another chapter or two i think that need to still be posted. keep reveiwing. oh i Luv reviews!!!
