Quite sorry this took so long. All summer I began working for living and working on an original fiction. I finally decided to return and continue on with what began so long ago. A finish is in the horizon, and I only hope you enjoy the next step.

Lucias

Chapter VII: Questioning

It felt like a blinding wind passed by her as she rode upon the black-clad man. The light of the day began to fade as black clouds emerged and engulfed the very sky she tried to keep watch over. As their speed continued at the steady fast pace she tried to fathom a question to him.

She screamed over the passing wind to him, "Where are we going?"

There was no response from the dark fellow that carried her. This was beginning to annoy something within her, to not be listened to. Her nerves were shot as everyone around her kept acknowledging her as a person named Saya, apparently her dead son was that charming young man with the markings and red hair at the palace, and the man that had Kurama now was her grandfather. It made absolutely no sense to her how this all pieced together, and all she wanted were these pieces to come together for her. Vaguely these people felt familiar, especially the one before her who carried her away from danger.

Finally she felt his speed slow as the entire surrounding environment consisted of the stench of death and decay of rotting bones. Saki felt the man toss her gently to the ground, and found her rear now in tingly pain as she fell straight upon it.

"Hey! Do you have any gentlemen manners?" she retorted to his hostility.

No answer came from the red-eyed demon. Not only did he not have manners, he had been as cold as ice within those eyes. She only felt a cold stare from him before his sight returned to that of which was behind her. Saki followed his train of sight to find what seemed to be a building made of a giant beetle or something. Lighting and thunder crashed all around in the distance as no sunlight could be seen in all four directions.

"Why are we here?" she whimpered.

Finally that voice she faintly noticed before she now heard fully and alone, "To protect you from Shishio."

Slowly she rose to face him as she quickly cleaned her rear of any dirt that was apparent. Through the course of events it seemed this man named Hiei was doing as he was asked from Kurama. It seemed they were friends and were associated with each other, but that red-haired young man in the palace spoke of Hiei too. Was it possible that Hiei was working for them, and wanted to only fool Kurama?

"Do you work for them, the ones that took away Kurama?" she curiously asked.

From the shock that only ran across his face for a split second, it seemed Saki had offended him greatly.

He replied coldly with a bitter taste, "Do not ever intertwine me with those low lives. I have no such association with such pointless beings."

Saki crossed her arms as she exasperated a breath of irritation. Her patience was wearing thin with the half pint demon. It was like she was dealing with some young boy who was fighting hard to be an adult, but appearances as they say can be deceiving.

"Well, I want to go back and save Kurama. We can't leave him in their clutches," she demanded.

The Hiei fellow never responded, as he only began walking towards the huge bug palace. It seemed like he wanted nothing to do with the person that saved her life from the gutter streets of Tokyo.

Quickly she followed and continued spouting, "Isn't he your friend? Why not go after him and save him? We can't just leave him with them. I know you've got power, or are you just a coward?"

She thought maybe, with a smirk danced across her inner self's face; she could convince him to go back by hurting his pride. He seemed like one of those crafty types that would jump to do something if their pride was on the line.

Once again she gained no response as they came up to the main entrance of the disfigured building. In her mind she was entirely disgusted with the place, but she never said anything out loud as she struggled to convince the demon to go back.

Hiei continued to ignore the ridiculous reasoning behind Saki's persistence to go back to the palace. For one thing in his condition he would be no match against both Kurowa and Shishio. He needed to find Yusuke, but with the Human realm pretty much closed off to any as a last will of power from Koenma; Hiei was pretty much on his own. Of course his other reason was to keep Saki safe. Both of those demons had intentions of awakening Saya's soul most likely to draw her to their side.

Closely she followed behind like some inept child as he led her to the main audience chamber of Mukuro's palace. Most of Mukuro's territory had been taken over from he could already hear on the whispered breaths of her warriors as they had passed in the halls. The aura and emotion he could feel as he walked into the chamber from her was that of loss and defeat.

Once Saki and he were within Mukuro's presence he stopped Saki from coming any closer as he continued to approach the half machine and half organic being.

"Hiei, why have you brought her? You know the consequences of her presence as I do. This will only bring Shishio's forces down upon us twice fold if not more. So, why have you allowed your own emotions from a year ago influence you in this decision? Do not tell me otherwise, because I feel your inner self."

The fire apparition never replied and kept his silence as he shot a quick glance back to the human Saki. From her shameful expression she could hear all that Mukuro had to say to him, and like a typical human she was already blaming herself for the problems.

"She needs to leave Hiei. Not only for the danger will she surely bring here within the next day, but the simple fact that she is human. My minions will see her as prize for their moral of keeping up a fight, and I'd rather not see blood spilt within my own palace over such a pathetic thing. Already her soul and being has taken grasp of my best warrior, the one I sought as being on the same level of manner with myself."

This alone grasped Hiei's thoughts to comment, "Do not let jealousy stand in the way of your own judgment Mukuro. I protect her under the reasoning that without me she could end up in the enemy's hands and open up doorways to more pathways of destruction."

With his final word he turned and made a mental note to himself and to her that he would leave tomorrow morning with the human. They would place no more of burden upon her men and herself if she truly felt that to be of merit.

As he took hold of Saki's arm by force he left the audience chamber, taking her to his room. With the day she has had her human frail body would need some time of recovery.

Mukuro sighed after they left and only said a few words to her alone out loud, "My jealousy is only born from the ignorance you execute with your love and devotion to the soul within that human."

They both stood silently within his barren room. There only lied a bed with a blank and a pillow Hiei never used for he used his window or the tree outside it for a place to hibernate. He found the idea of a bed pointless, but tonight it would most likely be used for her since her human body was use to one for sleeping.

"Tomorrow we leave," he commented quickly as he turned and pointed to the bed.

Saki placed her hands on her hips as she responded, "What great manners and gratitude you offer with the bed for sleeping. Now why do we have to leave tomorrow? Are we going after Kurama?"

"Forget any ideas of going after Kurama. If he is to find freedom, he will do so on his own for now. He is more resourceful then you think. Now lie down and regain your strength."

With her temper flaring she threw herself into a sitting position upon the bed and crossed her arms. Her very aura was burning with a desire and anger, and Hiei's jagan eye could feel every ounce of it. Saya was burning through her human restrictions, and she was responding most unkindly to his behavior.

"I hate you," Saki lightly made note of to him.

Hearing those words sent a chill and a pain to his heart, something he never quite felt before. It was like Saya was saying it in total agreement with her body at that very moment. Having to feel her within was only eating him away now and he needed to leave the human alone. It would be the only way to keep Saya from awakening with a need to tear his heart out in frustration.

With her words and demeanor he went for the window ready to leap to the nearest tree.

Kurama slowly awoke to the sound of his wrists in metal shackles ring together as they held him to a most elegant bed. His grogginess slowly faded as he came around to a scene of pure imagination.

A room of the utmost exquisite wealth to adorn its walls and furnishings, with ancient carvings and paintings of Makai laced across the walls. The bed itself was the highest quality that would befit only those of highest orders of royalty. It was beyond Kurama how once could muster such luxury and notation in such a short time. This Shishio lord had power that must have extended across many for many years now.

Finally Kurama took the time to look up to find his body clothed in the softest silk and linen. He was dressed to please who ever owned this room, and to be another prize among the many already in the room.

The powerful yet soft footsteps of a lone figure sounded in the hallway outside the room as they grew louder with each stride. Finally the doors to the room fluttered open at the very wind Shishio created with his passing movement as he now stood before the room in nothing but simple attire of a royal leader.

"Ah, they did well to clean up my precious prize. I am pleased with your lack of resistance when with them, but I do request you do not hold such behavior with me. I would adore witnessing the resistance of the fox spirit within. I am sure he will react the same way his fellow canine brother, the wolf, did, resisting to bitter end with the last drop of blood."

The demon conqueror entered the room like a feather in his narcissist nature as the door shut behind him with a sound of a lock closing. A knot was caught in Kurama's throat as he could not muster any response to the power Shishio exuded through his walk alone. It was like his demon nature wanted him to keep quiet to quench its curiosity to better understand his enemy through the means of torture.

"A restless soul is calling out I hear," Shishio commented upon him as he walked to the side of the luxurious bed.

"Nothing more then imagination. No such interest can be felt through my senses. The knowledge to know my enemy is far more important to me," Kurama attempted to retort in similar confidence.

"You fail to impress me kitsune spirit through the means of your lies."

The demon lord sat upon the bed elegantly along side Kurama, who continued to show no resistance to the chains that bound him.

"Through these painful means my dearest Kurama you will become my slave and serve the greater good of the Demon realm by bringing me Hiei and Saki," Shishio began as his delicate hand slid along Kurama frontal upon the silk shirt.

A chill ran up his spine as he felt every little touch the demon gave him as he asked, "Why do you want them so badly?"

A smirk formed across the elder demon's face as he responded, "To finalize the right of power to their child. I only need you fire companion's power to awaken Saya and the rest shall fall into place. With their deaths a new age of tyranny shall be born for all realms and no one this time shall stand in my way."

In a fleeting moment Kurama's attire upon his chest was shredded in open so that any before him could bear witness to his soft young barren human chest. Delicately Shishio ran his slender fingers across his chest, feeling the tender flesh.

"Such beauty can be found in the tender flesh of a mortal. The frailty and short life span is so exquisite. Don't you think Kurama?"

The demon lord removed his hand for but only a moment as he moved his fingers to his lips. Slowly he allowed Kurama witness as he so seductively doused his fingers with his saliva. It only puzzled what the demon had in mind next, but it surely was not leading to good things. From his demon knowledge, Shishio was a demon who could use his saliva to control others, but how he did Kurama did not know.

Slowly the narcissist demon made contact with Kurama's pale white skin with his saliva doused fingers. The brisk coldness and dampness of his fingers dancing across Kurama's chest sent chills down the human's entire body. The chills quickly ended when the piercing pain of Shishio's claws taking grasp of the tender flesh and muscle. Blood spilt quickly, trickling down Kurama's chest as a loud cry came from his tender lips. The pain only intensified as the elder demon wreaked his pleasurable habits upon the human form of Kurama.

In the distance of the dreary lands, the screams of a young man could be heard; a crying plea of help and desire.

"Wait, don't go Hiei," her voice reached out as her hand had grabbed his arm in the window.

A quiet expression reached her as he peered back to her and her grasp.

"Woman, release me if you know what is good for you," he commanded with a cold vice grip.

Saya only shook her head in disagreement as she only pulled him back towards her. It was as if they both wanted to discover the mystery behind the very reasoning of her stopping him.

"You can't just leave me alone Hiei. No matter how close you maybe, they can still peer within and take grasp of whom or what I am. Please, don't leave me in their clutches again," her vacant cry pleaded.

Hiei eyed her silently as he reluctantly rejoined her within the abandoned room. No desire, no need to want her over came him this time. An aura around them protected them from the powers of those against them as he faced her coldly.

"I only question Hiei. Tell me this truth. This truth of a woman that I am supposedly is to be. You know the truth, and I want you to tell me now."

To Continue…