:Chapter VIII: Fighting the Pain Inside:

Hiei races toward the temple with me in his arms. The sky starts to darken.

Flashback:

"There'sss no antidote… the only way ssshe can be sssaved isss… if sssomeone could… enter her mind and ssstop her… before ssshe passssesss on to… Oblivion…"

End of Flashback

"There has to be an antidote! She can't die!" Hiei ponders as he shakes his head in disbelief.

As he's running, I start to weakly cough up blood. My chest is in pain… my whole body is in pain. It seems as though I have struggled through a long, hard battle, yet there is a battle I am fighting…

-Note: Kya is still out cold-

MY MIND:

I'm walking through the darkness, yet I don't feel ground of any sort. I see nothing but black. I feel nothing but a cold, numb feeling. As I am walking, I notice a small glimmer of light, the size of a speck of dust. It seems far away. The light then starts to slowly grow. I stop walking in the nothingness and stare as the light continues to grow…

HIEI'S P.O.V.

"Hold on for just a bit longer. We're almost there," Hiei mumbles to Kya's lifeless body.

The forest seems longer than ever before. Hiei pushes himself as he starts to pick up speed. Finally, the temple appears in sight. He stops at the porch where Genki is leaning against one of the pillars, along with Yusuke, Kuwabara, and Kurama sitting, anxiously awaiting Kya's return to the temple. They notice Hiei holding the lifeless Kya in his arms with blood dripping down her mouth. They all gasp at the sight.

"What happened?" Yusuke asks with shock.

"A demon shot a toxic dart into Kya. She needs an antidote," Hiei states as he sets her down on the porch.

Kurama sits down next to her to examine the symptoms.

"I've never seen anything like this! Hiei, do you remember what the dart looked like?" Kurama asks.

Hiei reaches into his tunic and pulls out the dart that was shot into Kya. He tosses it to Kurama. Kurama catches the unusually slender dart with the red and blue feathers.

"I'm still unaware of what was injected into Kya. What could happen to her could be serious! I shall try to conjure up an antidote, but it will take time, which we may, unfortunately, not have enough of," Kurama says with sadness in his voice.

"It sounds like we need a trip to Spirit World," Genki implies.

"But how can we contact someone to open a portal? The one in the city is too far away!" Kuwabara adds.

Yusuke tightly closes his eyes and starts to ponder. His eyes suddenly snap open as he reaches into his pocket and pulls out a compact mirror. Yusuke opens up the mirror.

"Botan… (no answer) Botan… (no answer)… BOTAN!" Yusuke finally shouts.

Botan appears in the mirror and cheerfully replies with a sweat drop, "Sorry, Yusuke. What can I do for you?"

"I need you to send us a portal to Spirit World. It needs to be really close by," Yusuke says. He moves the mirror so that Kya is in Botan's view. Yusuke adds in the background, "It's an emergency."

Botan gasps then replies in a worried tone, "What happened to her?"

"THERE'S NO TIME TO EXPLAIN! JUST OPEN THE DAMN PORTAL!" Yusuke shouts with frustration.

Botan jumps back, at first. She nods then closes her compact mirror.

"Hopefully, it won't take too long for Botan to send a portal," Kuwabara states.

Suddenly, a lime green aura appears in front of Kuwabara. Kuwabara jumps back and falls to the ground. He stares at the portal in shock.

"That was fast!" Kuwabara exclaims as he gets up.

Hiei picks up Kya and walks through the portal. The other three boys follow. Before Genki enters the portal, she looks up at the sky as it continues to darken. Wind starts to build, blowing several strands of her faded pink hair into her amber eyes.

"Hm…" Genki says aloud.

After a while, she enters the portal and joins the others.

IN SPIRIT WORLD:

A lime green aura appears in the hospital wing of the Spirit World palace. Hiei walks through, with Kya in his arms, followed by Yusuke, Kurama, Kuwabara, and Genki.

"Wow, I'm impressed," Yusuke states with sarcasm.

A green ogre with a white lab coat on and a stethoscope around his neck, walks up to Yusuke and starts, "Ah yes, 'The Great Urameshi'. We've heard many great things about y…"

"That's great and all, but unfortunately, we have someone who needs extreme medical attention!" Yusuke says as he stands aside and points to Kya.

"Oh, my!" the ogre says with shock as he examines Kya's body.

Kya starts to cough up blood.

"I've never seen anything like this! We must take her to a hospital bed and I will start work on her, right away!" the ogre says as he walks away and motions for the others to follow him.

The ogre leads Yusuke, Kurama, Hiei, Kuwabara, and Genki into a sterile room with one window, on the left side of the bed. Hiei sets Kya on the bed.

Just before the ogre runs out of the room, he suggests, "You all may go into the waiting room, if you'd like."

"We'll be fine," Genki replies.

The ogre nods and rushes out of the room. Hiei looks at Kya, tightly closes his eyes and teleports.

"What got into him?" Kuwabara asks.

"Who knows, just let him be," Yusuke suggests.

Kurama ponders, "It seems Hiei has developed feelings for Kya. She too, must have feelings for him. That must be the reason why Kya acted so insecure after she kissed me."

HIEI'S P.O.V.:

I stop in a tree in front of the window of the room that contains her. I stare as I see many doctors and nurses encircling her, attaching her to tubes and trying different ways to help her. I then notice someone entering the room…

THE REST OF THE YU YU GANG'S P.O.V.:

Yusuke, Kurama, and Kuwabara dodge scurrying nurses left and right. Yusuke looks at the door and notices the teen Koenma watching from the doorway. Yusuke pushes his way through the ogres dressed up as doctors and nurses, until he reaches Koenma.

"So, the dart that hit Kya was filled with an unknown toxin?" Koenma asks with a serious look on his face as he never takes his eyes off of Kya.

"Yeah," Yusuke confirms as he also looks towards Kya.

Genki casually walks towards Yusuke and Koenma and interrupts their conversation.

"So, in the past you've mentioned how Kya has some significance. Well, do you have anymore information on her? Her significance must have something to do with the spy," Genki suggests.

"All I could find out is that something about her is related to the Human World. I'm still researching on other details," Koenma mentions.

"Hm… I think I'd better head back to the Human World…" Genki states as she walks out the door.

"… Ok?" Yusuke says sarcastically before stressing another topic with Koenma. "With all of the time that you had, all you could figure out was that her powers have something to do with the Human World?"

"I've never had to research anything so complex, Yusuke! I'd like to see you try to research on Kya's significance, trying to use every little detail as a reference… but, then again it's not like you'd be able to even read one paragraph of a book anyways!" Koenma responds.

"Grrr, you'd better watch yourself!" Yusuke threats as he makes a fist and raises it in the air, ready to punch Koenma.

GENKI'S P.O.V.:

In the waiting room, I come across Botan.

"Botan, I need you to reopen that portal that you sent us in. I need to get back to the temple," I state.

Botan points toward a green aura in the left corner of the room and replies, "It's still open."

"Thank you," I say as I walk towards the portal.

Just as I'm walking through the portal, Botan asks, "Genki, why are you returning to the temple?"

Before I can respond, I completely enter the portal. I land in front of the wooden stairs of my temple. I look towards the sky and notice how it is completely black. The wind has become more violent. Hard rain starts to pour. I hurry up the stairs, into my temple and watch the changing atmosphere from inside.

"I can see the relationship," I mumble to myself.

Suddenly, the ground starts to quake. I slightly fall back from the unexpected quake. Once I steady myself, I sit down, continue to gaze outside and I start to ponder about everything, putting-two-and–two-together.

AT THE HOSPITAL ROOM, IN SPIRIT WORLD:

Suddenly, Kurama grabs Yusuke's arm and asks, "Don't you think we have more important matters to attend to, other than revenge for a smart comment?"

"I guess you're right," Yusuke replies with a sigh as he lowers his fist. "Is there anyway you can do research on the symptoms, to find out what it is?"

Koenma looks at Yusuke and replies, "I've already tried. I've found nothing. All we can do is sit and hope for the best…"

With that comment said a large burst of black energy fills the room. Doctors and nurses are sent flying backwards. Yusuke, Kurama, Koenma, and Kuwabara each put an arm in front of their faces, blocking the violent gust from the burst.

IN MY MIND:

The golden light continues to grow, until I am completely surrounded by the light. With a sudden flash, I'm in a dark, misty forest, with a long line of black, dead, jagged trees. In front of me, I see a long, gray path. In the dark sky, I see something like a movie, of my parents holding me as a baby. They're telling me that… that they love me. Then, it fast-forwards to when I was one year old and I was taking my first step. I watch as my parents are celebrating and saying how proud of me they were. Even though I don't feel it, a tear starts to slide down my cheek. As I'm staring into the sky, the image starts to fade, until the sky becomes dark once more. Without a thought, I start to walk down the path. After a while, another image appears in the sky. This time, it shows my parents, drunk because of depression. They start yelling at me, calling me worthless… calling me a curse… a menace… a demon. Then, they start beating me. I shake my head as I start to run down the path. As I'm running, the words of my parents continue to repeat:

Worthless…

Curse…

Menace…

Demon…

The words continue to repeat. I cover my ears, trying to block the words that I tried to forget. Even with my hands over my ears, the words echo, growing louder each time. I start bawling. As I'm bawling, I feel no tears streaming down my cheeks. It's as though I have become so numb that I can't feel anything as gentle as a tear. I try to concentrate on the path, as I run, but the visions… the cursed memories that I've tried to hide keep playing in the sky, showing every detail…

IN THE HOSPITAL ROOM:

"WHAT THE HELL!" Yusuke shouts as the gust dies.

The others look at Kya. An orb full of black energy slowly starts to come out of Kya's chest. As it's doing so, Kya's pulse increases to an abnormally fast rate.

"SHE'S DYING!" The doctors shout in unison as they scramble back up to their feet and hurry toward Kya's bed side.

Koenma, Yusuke, Kurama, and Kuwabara stare in horror. Their eyes are full of fear, of what is happening to their friend…

GENKI'S P.O.V.:

Genki looks up at the sky as she notices something else is starting to fall. As it gets closer, she notices that it's hail, the size and weight of bowling balls.

CRASH!

Genki's eyes widen as she hurries through her temple. She stops when she reaches Kya's room. A huge piece of hail has demolished half of the room. Knowing what more damage the hail could cause, Genki puts her arms in front of her, puts her hands together, and starts to concentrate her energy into the palms of her hands. Energy starts to emit from her hands, separating them, as it grows. It continues to grow, until the energy completely surrounds the temple, creating a barrier.

"I have to hold this up for as long as I can. I just hope Kya can somehow, make it," Genki says aloud, to herself…

HIEI'S P.O.V.:

The words, "SHE'S DYING!" echoes through my mind as I stare at her with horror-filled eyes.

"It can't be possible… no! She can't die!" I ponder.

"DAMN!" I shout as I turn and punch the tree.

The tree shakes from the force of the punch. From the part where I punched, to the top of the tree, it cracks and falls over. It hangs on by a piece of bark.

I sit down on the branch I was standing on as I ponder, "There's nothing I can do..."

I reflect on what Maiku had said before he died:

"There'sss no antidote… the only way ssshe can be sssaved isss… if sssomeone could… enter her mind and ssstop her… before ssshe passssesss on to… Oblivion…"

"… if sssomeone could… enter her mind…"

"… enter her mind…"

My eyes suddenly snap open as I exclaim, "That's it!"

I then close my eyes and enter the state of telepathy. I send my energy wave into the hospital room. I concentrate, until I finally reach Kya's mind…

IN MY MIND:

I continue to run, until… the chanting words cease. I look up at the sky to see what is happening.

Then, I see Hiei shouting: "Ningen, you know nothing of a bad past!"

I see the image of me, absent mindedly kissing Kurama, then snapping back to reality, backing away saying, "I'm sorry, but it's not right. Please don't get mad at me!" and running away.

The memory fast-forwards to where I meet up with Hiei:

"I'm sorry! … I'm sorry! … I'm sorry! ..."

"Sorry about what?"

Hiei appears in front of me.

"Don't cry ningen. It's weak," Hiei says as he stares at me expressionlessly.

"I'm sorry Hiei," I repeat as I look down.

"For what?" Hiei asks.

"Everything!" I reply as another tear slides down my cheek.

Hiei continues to stare at me.

"If you're done moping, I'll take you back to the temple," Hiei states.

"Please don't take me to the temple," I mumble.

"Why not?" Hiei asks.

I quickly stand up, with more tears swelling in my eyes, as I make eye contact with him, and reply, "Cause, I don't want to feel alone!"

I then see myself running towards Hiei.

His eyes widen with shock and horror, but then he wraps his arms around me, tilts my chin upward and says, "But you aren't alone."

Suddenly, I see us kissing. This memory continues to replay in the sky. I feel more relaxed as I watch it. I then look towards the path. My eyes notice a large, white door with golden trim. I walk towards the door to examine it. I notice an inscription on the gold trim saying:

Only those who have seen the light may open the door

For those who live in shadows, their nightmares will soar

But do not delay

For there's a price you will pay

"Those who have seen the light?" I repeat with confusion.

I start to contemplate if the light that brought me here was the light which the inscription was referring to. Out of curiosity, I touch the door knob.

Just as I'm about to open the door, a familiar voice commands, "Don't open that door."

I am taken aback by the deep voice, for I know who it is. I turn around and see Hiei standing at a fair distance, with his arms crossed and his regular, emotionless stare fixed on me.

"Hiei," I say with relief.

"Hn," he replies with a slight smirk.

A smile forms on my face once I hear the usual "Hiei response". I start to run towards Hiei. After two steps, I can't move. Hiei looks towards my feet and his eyes widen. I also look down. I gasp when I see a large shadow, twice my size, underneath me, pulling me under. I look back up toward Hiei with fear in my eyes. I quickly glance behind me and I notice that the door is no longer there. I look back towards Hiei as he reaches for me, trying to avoid the shadows. I reach for his hand as I continue to sink into the shadows. I'm about to grab his hand when I suddenly fall backwards, into the shadows.

"KYA!" Hiei shouts as he's reaching toward me, in the shadows.

I hear him, but faintly as I'm rapidly falling head first, into the dark abyss. My eyes are closed and my body feels relaxed, for some reason. Suddenly, I feel something wrap around both of my arms and around my collar bone. I open my eyes and see three souls with bodies of skeletons grabbing onto me. I look up into the empty eyes of the one pulling me by my collar bone area.

HIEI'S P.O.V.:

Hiei falls to his knees.

"Kya… I can't lose you!" Hiei says as he tightly closes his eyes, makes a fist and punches the ground.

A stray tear slides down my cheek. Once it leaves the warmth of my face, it turns into a black tear gem, and falls into the shadowy abyss. There's something strange about this tear gem, though. There is a small glimmer of light in the heart of the gem.

MY P.O.V.:

As I'm falling, I notice a red glare surrounding me. It seems to be coming from something underneath me. I slightly tilt my head to the side and I notice flames flying towards me. I try to break free of the grip of the possessed souls, but I am unsuccessful. All they do is let out a long, loud, high-pitched moan. As I'm getting closer, I notice something small fall into my hand. I examine the object. I notice that it is a tear gem, something that Yukina has told me about in the past. It is something only those with the blood of an ice maiden can produce with their tears. This tear gem is different than the one Yukina told me about. This one is black, but in the center is a glimmer of light… similar to that of a star.

"Hiei..." I mumble.

I then snap back to reality. I can't let my life end here… not like this.

Suddenly, I close my eyes as things seem to stop. I clench my fists tightly (not tight enough to break the tear gem) as I scream, "STOP!"

IN THE HOSPITAL ROOM:

Suddenly, doctors are once again, sent flying backwards. The Botan and the four boys close their eyes and block their faces as there is another burst of energy. Once they all open their eyes, they notice that the room is now purple.

"NOW WHAT!" Yusuke shouts sarcastically as he sees that the purple aura is emitting from Kya's body.

Everyone looks at Kya.

Suddenly, Kya's body starts to levitate (in a laying-down position). All of the tubes disconnect from her body as she's levitating. The orb fills with her purple aura and starts to reenter her body…

GENKI'S P.O.V:

My energy is quickly draining. The barrier is starting to shrink. I close my eyes as I wait for the worst. Once I feel that my energy is almost completely gone, and the barrier has disappeared, I feel nothing touch my skin. I open my eyes and notice that the rain and hail has stopped…

IN MY MIND:

I open my eyes and notice that I have stopped falling and my purple aura is surrounding me. I close my eyes again, as I start to concentrate on my spirit rising. I open my eyes when I realize that I am rising very slowly, almost to the point where I feel as though I'm not moving at all. I notice that the possessed souls are still holding onto me, except they are now holding onto my legs. I try to fight them off, but I am unsuccessful. I try to slap one of them off, with my right hand. I then remember about the gem as I see it fall from my hand. It falls in front of the possessed soul's eyes and levitates. (-Note: it's the soul that I attempted to slap off-) The soul shrieks in terror as the light blinds it. It releases me from its grasp. I reach for the gem. I hold it up and focus my energy into it. The light grows and blinds the two remaining souls. They too release me from their grasp. I close my hand with the gem inside as I focus on my spirit rising. I start to rapidly fly towards the surface. As I'm flying, I notice that the shadows are growing and the surface is slowly starting to disappear. I see Hiei kneeling, with his eyes closed, next to the abyss.

"HIEI!" I shout with fear and relief.

Hiei's eyes snap open and he looks down, into the shadows. I reach toward him with my left hand as he reaches for me. As I get closer, the surface continues to shrink. Just before the surface completely shrinks, I push myself like never before, as I reach, one last time, for Hiei…

IN THE HOSPTIAL ROOM:

Once the orb is inside of Kya's body, her body starts to lower into the hospital bed. Yusuke, Kurama, Kuwabara, Botan, Koenma, and the doctors and nurses crowd the right side of her bed as they stare at her still body.

"Is she dead?" Kuwabara asks.

Suddenly, Kya's eyes start to slowly flutter open, revealing her icy blue eyes and a slight smile forming on her face.