Chapter eight

Reincarnations

"If they're already gone, then I don't see how coming here will help us. Why can't Koenma track them down another way? This is pointless!" Yusuke grumbled as they walked through the forest.

They had already gone to the village they had been in, and had discovered nothing about the missing ningens. The only thing that happened was that Hiei accidentally let his hand slip, with his katana in it, and sliced Shizuma into thirteen pieces. After the 'accident', all the guards ran from their posts and either attacked the gang, or fled. Most of them were smart enough to flee while they had the chance. Unfortunately for them though, that left them with a small army of slaves that had no owner, and no guards to keep them in line.

Let's just say, Koenma was not a happy camper.

A few hours later, and they were on their way to the neighboring village. However, they stopped halfway when they smelled smoke behind them. Hiei turned around first to see a large chain of black smoke rising in the air. It was coming from what they thought was another village a bit East of where they had just been.

Hiei had already turned back around to continue walking in the direction they were going in, when Yusuke and Kuwabara suddenly screamed.

"Holy shit! Look at that!"

"They might need our help." Kuwabara suggested.

Hiei just glared at them.

Before Kurama could say anything, the pair of them had run off towards the fire. Kurama and Hiei just stood there and stared at each other for a few minutes before the redhead shrugged and followed.

Hiei made an annoyed sound in the back of his throat as he followed him.

XXXXX

Fire started to rise simultaneously on the cottages and stores of the village, as Nadia kept her gaze on the ground. Her hand was raised, a small black flame curling around her hand and onto her wrist. It seemed to sear into her skin and leave behind a black mark. But if you looked closer, you would be able to see the black lines curving and trailing off in a long arc that twisted around her wrist from the top of her hand to the middle of her forearm.

Screams were coming from all around her, but she couldn't hear them. Akashi was yelling at her to stop, but he couldn't get close to her with everyone running around them. A man ran into Nadia, almost knocking her down. Seconds on impact, his body went up in flames, incinerating completely before crumbling to the ground. She didn't even look at him.

Akashi stood there, dumbfounded. What was he going to do?

XXXXX

Before Hiei entered the village, he could sense it. That dark presence, the one that he had felt in Nadia the last time he saw her. Was she there? Did she cause this?

If so, then Hiei wanted to see first hand what she was really capable of.

He dropped out of one of the trees he had been jumping in, and landed down a few feet away from a sobbing girl. She was maybe a few years older than Yusuke. Hiei barely glanced at her, but he saw that she was curled up near a small cottage that was about to collapse.

Foolish girl, he thought. Although he didn't make any move to save her. Instead, just as the wall was about to fall on her, Kurama appeared and grabbed her. He gave Hiei a 'look' as he put her down out of the way. She hadn't stopped crying.

"Aren't you helpful."

"Hn." He was too busy looking around for the cause of the fire to give him a sarcastic answer. In a matter of seconds, he found the lone still figure in the middle of the village. Dressed in a burnt white gown, hair hanging in a wild manor down her back was Nadia, her face completely hidden by her hair.

"I don't recall seeing that seal on her before." Kurama muttered almost to himself.

Hiei then noticed the black design running around her wrist and the back of her hand. He had never seen anything like it before, but knew she didn't have them when he first met her.

What could it be?

Once the seal on her arm was completely drawn, it pulsed, sending a shockwave through the village. Everyone was blown off his or her feet. Hiei and Kurama were the first ones to regain their balance. But after the shockwave left, all the flames engulfing the town turned black. The few demons that had tried to put the flames out with water gave up as the flames roared even higher than before. Water wouldn't be able to put them out now.

Yusuke placed himself in front of Nadia, his finger pointing at her as he drew energy into his spirit gun. Kuwabara was trying to get the villagers out of their burning homes, Akashi helping him. Kurama ran to help a fallen old man, while Hiei remained where he was, intent on watching Nadia.

A blue ray of energy shot straight at Nadia. It disintegrated right in front of her bowed head. She slowly raised her head, her eyes staring straight at Yusuke. The detective took a step back at the look in her eyes. They were colder than Hiei's.

Yusuke was thrown back by an invisible force into the forest surrounding the village. He didn't move.

An uneasy feeling settled in Hiei's stomach as he saw her eyes. He had never felt like this before. He had never felt fear. But this wasn't fear. This… this was something else. And what in the hell had she done to the detective?

Something was about to happen, but he couldn't even break into her thoughts to see what was going on with her.

The marking on her arm started to pulse again, but instead of sending a shockwave, it swirled around her arm, making it a black blur before it unwound from her arm. It dropped to the ground and began to move in all directions, as if it were a flame being attacked by air on all sides.

Nadia's wings unfurled from her back and flapped a few times before the dark mark flared up in one direction and darted into the air. It was going north. She rose up into the air and followed after it.

The black fires started to die down before completely disappearing into nothingness.

XXXXX

Miles away, in a clearing full of mutilated bodies, a fair haired demon stood with his back straight and his blue eyes watching the curved black mark on the ground thrash about. It went straight before it jumped up into the sky, followed by the demon that had sprout his white wings.

XXXXX

On Earth, a tall girl of nineteen rose into the air with a pair of black bat wings. Her pure white eyes followed a dark mark that was heading towards a portal that opened up moments earlier. She trailed after the mark that disappeared into the portal. It closed right after her.

XXXXX

On the other side of Makai, an undersized boy with light brown hair and glowing green eyes shot up into the air with his black tipped white wings. The black mark that had just left his body shot into the direction opposite he had been going in. But that didn't matter. His purpose in Makai, after all these years, was about to be fulfilled. He just had to meet with the other Original Element reincarnations.

XXXXX

A loud beeping brought the attention of the Kuwabara, who ran towards Yusuke. He dug into the boy's pocket for his communicator. When he opened it, he was greeted with a very pale and sick image of Koenma.

"Come back immediately. All of you." He said in a quaky voice.

"Why? What's going on-" Koenma cut him off.

"Just get here as fast as you can. I'll explain when you arrive." With that said, he ended the transmission.

Kuwabara closed the communicator and looked over at Kurama, who had followed the orange haired ningens. The fox started to make a portal.

"I wonder what that was all about." He mused out loud.

Kurama and Hiei shared a look.

"I think it has to do with what just happened now." Kurama said slowly, as if he was thinking to himself.

"What? Why?" Kuwabara asked.

"I don't know exactly." The redhead said as he stepped through the portal, the rest of the gang following after him, Yusuke thrown over Kuwabara's shoulder.

XXXXX

Okay, I honestly had NO idea how I was going to continue this story. Then, I picked up a book on alchemy and I got the perfect idea. You guys might not like it, but I'd have to say that this is the first story that I actually know how I want to finish. Somewhat. I don't know what chapter it will be on when it ends, but it won't be much longer. I hope you guys like it. It's an idea I've certainly never seen.

Robin