You should know, I'm not a patient person. And I hate waiting. Right now the previous chapter has no reviews, and I'm not too happy. But I couldn't wait, I really wanted to update this chapter. So here it is, and PLEASE review!
Disclaimer: I don't own YuYu Hakusho.
CHAPTER EIGHT – A GENTLEMAN'S BATTLE
Thanks to Yusuke's strength, the front doors of the Ten's castle burst open with a bang, and they all stepped inside. Catalyn had been expecting the entrance to be pitch black, like all of the stereotypical evil lairs she'd heard stories of from her fellow students at the martial arts school. They always gathered in groups before curfew to tell scary stories of strong martial arts masters going to a demon's lair to rescue his damsel in distress. It was literally the same story every time, so that was almost all she knew of events like those. But to her surprise, the room was the exact opposite of dark and creepy. The entrance was large and magnificent like a ballroom, covered with red carpets with gold lining. Stained glass windows faced them from every wall, draped with ruby red curtains. At least two dozen pure crystal chandeliers hung from gold ropes on the ceiling, illuminating the whole room until it seemed like everything sparkled. And all the way at the other end of the room was the largest staircase she'd ever seen, with intricate designs of flowers and leaves carved into the handles and railings, all made of solid gold.
Everyone was struck dumb by this amazing room. And startlingly, it was Kuwabara who regained the power of speech first and was able to sum up everyone's thoughts: "For a rotten bunch of demons, they sure know how to make their hallway a high-class, welcoming entrance!"
"If they were that great, they'd have a butler or something to welcome us," Yusuke retorted, "but no one's here."
"It's just an entrance," Catalyn said. "They're probably waiting in the higher rooms, like up the stairs."
"Yeah, big bosses tend to hog the high towers," Yusuke agreed.
"Just like Suzaku of the Four Beasts," Kuwabara added grudgingly.
Catalyn knew exactly what they were talking about, because Kurama had already told her about all of the gang's previous adventures. The battle against the Four Beasts was actually the first time both Hiei and Kurama would join forces with the spirit detective and his partner, and it marked the beginning of many adventures for them, such as the Dark Tournament from not too long ago. That sort of tournament really appealed to her. It sounded like the perfect place to hone her skills and prove her strength to the world. Even though the battles were all life-and-death, she secretly longed to fight with her life on the line. The adrenaline rush must feel awesome. She always felt a rush when fighting because she loved it so much. She was sure the Tournament would bring that out in her.
"Catalyn, stop staring already!" Yusuke called at her. She jumped, startled, and saw that they had all started for the stairs already.
"Sorry," she mumbled, and jogged lightly to catch up, using her tail to propel herself forwards. In her head, she thought, so much for that.
As they were approaching the stairs, her ears pricked up to their maximum, and she knew something was wrong. Her ears only pricked up that much when there was grave danger. She looked around, and saw nothing, but then she picked up a subtle creak from above. Looking up, all she saw was one of the gorgeous crystal chandeliers. It gave an almost unnoticeable twitch, and instantly she knew.
"JUMP!" she screamed, and the chandelier crashed down to meet them.
With her tail, she pushed herself as hard as she could towards the stairs. The impact of the chandelier crashing sent her flying, but she landed safely in the middle of the stairs, unscathed, with no broken fragments of crystal nearby. She looked desperately around to see if everyone else was okay.
She couldn't see anything in the dust resulting from the crash but the dozens of crystal fragments sending sparkles everywhere in front of her. Then she noticed that Hiei was standing next to her, having jumped like she had. But where were the others?
When the dust finally cleared, she saw them, on the other side of where the chandelier had crashed, away from the stairs. However, she noted right away that the damage was done. The chandelier was so large that now it blocked the entire first ten or so steps of the stairs. It would be impossible to get through it like that, especially with the shattered edges of crystal lying scattered around it.
"Are you guys okay?" she called.
"We're fine," Kurama answered calmly. "And you two?"
Hiei made a "Hn" sound. "We're fine," she replied after glancing at Hiei.
Kurama nodded. "The problem now lies with this chandelier. No doubt the Ten have noticed our presence and tried to stop us from going any further. But I wonder why they wouldn't come down to meet us in battle. Surely they realize that we are not going to back down without a fight. Unless…"
Catalyn knew from the look on his face, and from what she heard next, that Kurama's unvoiced thought was correct. A sweet, syrupy voice that echoed throughout the room, said, "Well, I can't let any of you leave without a ballroom dance, now, can I?"
Everyone looked up. A figured leaped down from one of the crystal chandeliers, straightened out, and so they got their first glimpse of one of the Ten. She was of medium height, and looked mostly human, though her skin had the palest tinge of blue in it. A sheet of wavy royal blue hair fell about her shoulders in an elegant fashion, and she was dressed in a periwinkle blue gown lined with diamonds and sapphires. She wore a tiara decorated with the same gems, as did all the jewellery she wore, which was a lot.
"Hello, hello," she said sweetly. "I hope you find this room as beautiful as I do."
"Who are you?" Yusuke snarled. "And why'd you drop that chandelier on us? That's coward's move!"
The demon didn't look the least bit offended. Her smile grew wider. "I guess that means none of you is up for some ballroom dancing?" she simpered. "Such a shame. Oh, I haven't introduced myself yet, have I?" She curtsied. "I am Nami, the first of the Ten. You spirit detectives are most welcome here."
"Welcome, ha!" said Yusuke. Kuwabara joins in with the trash talking, going on about the stupid chandelier stunt.
Catalyn sighed. This gets us nowhere. She summoned a ball of flame to her fist and wound up to throw it, but Hiei grabbed her wrist. They locked eyes. "What do you think you're doing?" she demanded.
"That isn't wise," he replied coldly. The fire in her eyes flared up. "Go on and show how stupid you are, but don't say I didn't warn you." Catalyn shook him off, and threw the fireball anyways. It stopped as it was soaring over the chandelier, as if it hit an invisible wall, and vanished. "Told you," Hiei muttered. They glared at each other.
Nami laughed. "I see you two have discovered what happened when that chandelier crashed. It wasn't the move of a coward, trust me. I set a trap after the chandelier fell, during all the confusion. These three boys here try to leave the room, but an invisible forcefield stops their path! And you two can't leave without your dear comrades, can you?" All five of them glared at her. But Nami continued, "Not only that, but this ballroom is very special. Only real gentlemen can actually fight in here. Anyone who is not, or who displays violence towards me, will find their strength depleted and will be unable to make their move." She laughed again. "Since none of you appear to be proper gentlemen, I'll be able to attack you all I want, and you'll be destroyed within minutes, while your friends on the other side watch helplessly. Oh, I shall have fun today!"
She stopped laughing abruptly when Kurama took a step forward. "I think I can take you on," he said calmly, his green eyes glistening.
Nami looked at him with mock surprise. "Kurama, wishing to challenge me?" He nodded. Nami gave him a look of disbelief. "Well, since your weapon of choice is a rose, I suppose that passes you off as a gentleman…but no doubt you're not very strong."
"I wouldn't count on that!" Yusuke yelled at her.
Nami winked at him. "I would," she said. "After all, a rose is nothing."
"You'd be surprised at how much a rose can do," Kurama replied smoothly. He still hadn't taken his eyes off of her, not even for a moment. He just looked at her with the same calmness that it was almost frightening.
Nami giggled. "Fine, believe what you want. But before we fight, you must dance with me, like any gentleman would. Only those who dance are gentlemen, and only gentlemen can use their powers here."
Catalyn was about to yell that Kurama would never do such a thing, but he replied, "Fine, I accept." Nami smiled slyly and snapped her fingers. Classical music began to play from somewhere unknown. Catalyn was enraged as Kurama stepped closer, offered her his hand, and the two of them began to dance. Nami was grinning, but Kurama showed no expression. Yusuke and Kuwabara's fists were clenched, and she noticed that hers were, too.
After a few minutes, the dance ended. Nami curtsied and Kurama bowed. She held out her hand to him, and he did what Catalyn had been praying he wouldn't do: kiss it. She felt her cheeks getting hot.
"If I didn't know better, I'd say you were jealous," Hiei said to her. She glared at him, but luckily, she didn't think he could see her blushing, because her mask covered most of her cheeks.
Nami faced Kurama, still grinning. "Now we fight, Kurama dear, but be a gentleman the whole way through!" she sang.
Kurama reached into his hair and pulled out his signature rose, which elongated into his thorned whip. Nami took off her tiara and it glowed, turning into a sort of sparkling frisbee, looking like it was made purely of ice. "As you can see, ice is my element," Nami announced. "But I have another, which you will discover soon enough!" She hurled the tiara at Kurama, who quickly sidestepped it and slashed with his rose whip, shattering the tiara. The broken pieces fell to the ground and melted instantly.
Yusuke and Kuwabara cheer, but Catalyn knew that there was really no reason to, for Nami was still smiling. And then she laughed. "Kurama dear, I told you that you would soon discover my other element! Look! It is water!"
They all looked down at the puddle that was created from the melted tiara. The water swirled together, froze again, and zoomed into Nami's hand, exactly like it had been before.
"My weapon is unbreakable," Nami said coolly, licking her ice weapon gently. "It is connected to me, you see. Only if it breaks for good shall I, and only if I am destroyed shall it. But you can't attack me directly, being a gentleman and all, and if you did, you would lose your powers." She giggled.
Yusuke and Kuwabara glared at her. "Is it true?" Catalyn asked them. "Can you not use your powers?"
"It's like we get sucked dry every time we think about it," Kuwabara grumbled. "But can't Kurama just break that stupid tiara? I mean, it's bound to crack sometime."
Catalyn shook her head. "Not when Nami can summon it back together again at will. This room was constructed in a way that everything is to her advantage. Only a gentleman can fight, but he can't attack her directly. We need Kurama to attack her indirectly, but there's not really any way he can, right now." She looked at Kurama. He was staring intently at something, thinking hard. She followed his gaze, and her eyes widened in surprise. Of course! That'll do it! She and Kurama locked eyes, and he nodded, then turned back to face Nami, ready.
Nami smirked. "You think you've found a strategy? We'll see about that!" She tossed her tiara with such incredible speed that Kurama had no time to fully react. As he was trying to bring up his rose whip, the tiara grazed his left shoulder, spurting blood. The tiara zoomed back into Nami's hand.
"Kurama!" Yusuke and Kuwabara yelled.
Kurama locked eyes with Catalyn again, and she couldn't help her negative thoughts. Nami's too fast for him. He won't be able to do it. But Kurama still managed to give her a reassuring smile. "I'll be ready this time," he assured her, and something in his tone made her believe him.
Nami giggled again. "Poor Kurama," she simpered. "And all because you're too much of a gentleman…such a shame you have to be the first to die." She brought her arm back to prepare for another throw. "This strike will be the last!"
She tossed her tiara with even greater speed. Catalyn flinched upon seeing that, but Kurama had already started. The rose whip lashed out blindly, and just in time. He let out a cry of pain. The whip had cleanly split the tiara in two. One half flipped upwards, hit a chandelier cord with a thud, and bounced into Nami's hand again. The other half had deflected deep into his right arm. He dropped his rose whip and fell to his knees, clutching his wound.
Yusuke rushed over, with Kuwabara at his heels. Catalyn called his name, and was about to leap over the crashed chandelier when Hiei grabbed her arm again, saying, "We can't, remember?" She glared at him and shook him off once more.
Nami laughed. "Such a futile effort," she said. "But I told you that you could never win."
"Guess…again," Kurama said, wincing in pain.
Nami's eyes showed a flicker of surprise, but then she was grinning again. "Oh, really? Care to explain?"
Catalyn prayed that Kurama's plan was working as she spoke. "He has half of your tiara," she said. "It's broken."
"I can summon that half out of Kurama's arm, whether or not he resists," Nami declared.
Catalyn heard the satisfying creak, and smirked. "Look out below," she said.
With that, the chandelier right above Nami hurtled towards her. She shrieked, but the shriek was lost in the shattering of crystals. Catalyn saw her limp hand stick out from under the wreckage. The tiara half slipped out, and splintered into a hundred tiny fragments. The other half, deep in Kurama's wound, melted into water and dripped to the ground, mixing in with Kurama's blood.