Chapter 12: Sentakushi for Phire

'You see, Phire,' Makaze told her, 'you always seem to be a step ahead of me, but I am way ahead of you.' Just then, a rose almost hit Phire right in the back of the neck, but she dodged it and gasped.

'You did not,' she growled, glaring at Makaze. He chuckled.

'Hey, at least he's not dead,' Makaze told her. 'He's only being controlled.' Phire knew that already, but she couldn't fight Kurama, especially if Yoko came out during the middle of the fight.

'Also,' Makaze added in. She glared pure death and torture at the same time. 'As I was saying, I am much ahead of you, because'- just then, a katana was thrown at Phire, but she didn't have to dodge it, only because it wasn't thrown far enough to hit her; it landed 20 feet away from her, though.

'You really want me to join, don't you?' Phire turned to him, and sighed. He smirked.

'I've already got your friends, now what will you choose?' Makaze asked, laughing in evil. Hinote came out all of a sudden.

'Makaze-sama, the others are dead,' Hinote reported. Phire just blinked, but didn't react; she knew what Hinote meant when he said "the others". She looked and sighed at Makaze.

'You really and desperately want me join, eh?' she asked, looking at him with thinking eyes. He shrugged.

'Precisely,' he muttered. She shook her head.

'Well give me my friends back, first of all,' Phire told him, 'if you don't want to go back to the underworld beneath hell again.' Makaze laughed.

'I know you are strong, Phire, but you aren't that strong!' he laughed really hard. She turned to Hiei, who was in-between controlled and not controlled.

'Ph-Phire,' he panted, holding his heart. Phire widened her eyes a little; no wonder it was so hard to break free from control!

'Hiei, kill her,' he chuckled, snapping. His eyes turned fiery red, and he ran to his katana and fought with Phire. She sighed.

'This is definitely not my day,' she thought as she head locked Hiei. He couldn't escape, and was choking. It was actually difficult to see her friends in pain, but she didn't show it one bit. Just then, Kurama struck Phire right in the back with his poisonous rose whip, and she forcefully loosened her grip on Hiei just a little bit. He got out and tackled her viciously to the ground, but then a few teardrops fell next to Phire. She saw them, and then looked at Hiei.

'Ph-Phire, h-help,' Hiei gritted his teeth and held his heart. Just then, he rolled over next to her and gasped for air; he felt like suffocating. Phire panted, and sat up, stroking Hiei's face.

'Hai, of course I have to help you,' she said. She took her sword out, and then stabbed Hiei right at the heart, but it didn't go through; the barrier that controlled Hiei was less, and Phire finally broke it. Hiei fainted, tired from fighting the control. Phire cursed under her breath, as she knew that Hiei needed to rest. Just then, though, she felt a hand on her shoulder, and she widened her eyes.

'D-don't,' she muttered, the poison affecting her much more rapidly than before. She gritted her teeth, and then she grabbed Hiei and teleported into the dungeon, the only place she could hide.

'She's much harder to convince; I thought that she wouldn't be able to attack her friends, but she did,' Makaze thought to himself, thinking of another evil scheme to get Phire under his control.

'H-Hi-Hiei,' Phire tried to wake him up, stroking his face. He merely breathed, and was very tired. She sighed, and then the poison spread quicker than before. She fell down next to Hiei and growled, grabbing onto Hiei's arm, her grip tightening. Yoko found her, though, and his whip choked her, causing more poison to go into her throat. She gasped for more air, but he turned her around and closed in on her.

'Too bad you have no choice right now,' Yoko told her. She cursed within her head, but then her x-factor came out x-factor: something that someone does during something that no one expects, and she punched Yoko right in the face, and got out of the rose whip by burning it with the fires that even Makaze couldn't summon from the underworld that was beneath hell.

'I'm sorry, Yoko, but I had to,' she told him telepathically as she turned to Hiei, and noticed that he was still out cold. She touched his face, and drops of blood fell on his face. Phire closed her eyes, and then turned to Yoko with bloody red eyes. Yoko still didn't gain control.

'Phire,' he said, controlled, 'who do you want out of my control, your friend or your lover?' Hiei had gotten up, controlled fully again, and head locked Phire with his katana, choking her.