A/N: A bit late but it didn't take three months! Some emotions, revelations and setups in this chapter. I hope you all like it!
Aishling was a blur, the city a meaningless smear of shapes and colors and she raced through it. All her life she'd been so fast it felt like she was flying and yet this trip made her feel as though she was trudging through a bog of mud no matter how quickly she attempted to move. She didn't offer her greetings as usual to the people she knew must be watching her careen toward the castle. On her furious, terrified heels rode a storm of gathering black clouds and winds that buckled trees. She felt the air charge around her, the hair on her skin rising to meet the energy.
The grounds were sparsely populated, less staff than usual. Where had the guards been sent?
The halls were too many and too far apart and she suddenly hated the labyrinthine interior of her home. Why were there so many floors, so many wings? Why did they need so much room? What was the point?
The scent of blood, familiar and hot, caused her heels to dig against the stone floor so she could grind to a halt. Her hair, fallen from her braid, flew in front of her face at the suddenness, her momentum ceasing. A cold wind followed her, blowing past her body to fill the hall. Feathers, shimmering and black as an oil slick, scattered across the ground. Droplets of blood that turned into smeared hand prints and splashes against the walls. A segment of brick had been busted in entirely, the bones of the castle showing through the hole, broken.
Her heart cracked in her chest as tears threatened to fill her eyes, her slow feet carrying her toward the still lump of a body on the floor in front of a door. Hayato didn't move, he didn't seem to breathe. One of his wings was twisted at an obscene angle. Blood colored his skin and fell from his ear and mouth, and his many many wounds in steady streams. The only indication he was still alive was that awful flow of sticky crimson. She crouched and hovered her hands over him.
"No. No, no." She whispered, wanting so badly to cradle his face in her hands and kiss his head and pour everything she could into him. Her hands shook as the truth of what needed to happen gripped her. "I love you. I'm so sorry. I love you so much, I'm so sorry."
She pulled back from him feeling a pain in her chest not unlike when her sister had died. It threatened to buckle her, stealing her breathe but she refused to crumble. Instead she rose and stepped over her last friend, and she pushed open the door he had failed to enter. Her mind echoed as she stared inside.
"Darling, you're home early." Hiro turned to her, smiling while his golden eyes glittered. The tang of blood flooded around her, and it drug her attention to his stained hands. It was the first detail she was able to truly understand.
The next was that her son had been torn open, his chest cavity empty, barren of his core. His heart. Blood pooled around his feet, stained his trousers and shirt. There were bruises on his face, as though someone had gripped him.
"What have you done?" She asked him, cruel emptiness flooding through her, robbing her body of meaning. She walked forward toward her son, suspended by his wrists by chains. When had Hiro installed these awful things in his office? Her tears were falling, she felt the chill on her cheeks. Her hand reached up to touch Kin's cheek, finding it colder than her spirit. There was no color there.
His eyes were still open, though barely. His mouth slack. Her fingers skimmed his jawline and found it disconnected.
"What have you done?" She repeated the question desperately, choking on her pain as it gripped her from her heart outward. The stupid thing broke in her chest, shattering. Scrambling she began to try to free her son. Her hands shook as she worked for a way to open the cuffs on his thin wrists.
"If only you'd given me that power willingly." Hiro told her. "Kin was never going to be king and we both knew it. But, at least now you'll always get to remember him as your little boy."
The chains broke under her hands as they clenched closed. She caught the limp, devastated body before it hit the ground and she tucked Kin's head under her chin like she did every time she held him to get him to sleep. Her numbness ached and burned in her limbs, shifting into a sharp sting of power she'd never felt before. She was being shattered from the inside, ripped apart to make room for something larger. Her devastation grew, unable to be contained.
"It's going to be okay." She promised the young boy in her arms, her lips pressing to his frigid forehead as she cradled him. She channeled her energy into him, pushing as much as she could as fast she could to try and knit his wounds closed. "It's going to be okay, baby. I'm going to fix it. I'm going to save you."
Hiro walked over and crouched in front of her. His bloody knuckle touched her cheek and he pulled his hand back with reverie, assessing the tear his captured. For a moment he looked at her with pity and kindness, sighing.
His hand went to touch Kin's black hair and she snarled at him, clutching her son closer as fury bubbled up with her grief. "Don't touch him!"
"It's not like I can hurt him anymore. At least you won't have to suffer long, beloved." He promised with a soft smile. "Less than him, still."
Someone moved and it caught her attention just enough to make out a head full of tangled blonde curls and frightened eyes. A woman she didn't know. One who smelled of her son's blood and her husband's touch. Seething, she trembled with her arms tightening around her little boy. Her son. Her brother. Her last vestige of hope and family and all the redemption she had left in the world. This woman had been here, had watched. Had helped. Had bedded her deceitful husband.
"It'll be over soon." Hiro promised again. "Give me the body and die quietly, Amon-Shinpi. You'll see him soon."
"It won't." She told him, her bones moving in her skin as her grief twisted them. Her teeth bared and her gaze centered only on Hiro. "My suffering will be eternal, but yours? Yours will end far too quickly for justice. I will have to settle for revenge."
He laughed, standing up and the smell of ozone filled the room as bright light flashed around his body and arms.
"You're in no position to fight me."
"I don't want to fight. I want to kill you." She bent forward as it all hit her. The pain. The anguish. The fury. Her scream got swallowed by the sound of shattering glass as the windows blew in on them. The wall was pried loose brick by brick as the wind clawed it's way in to the room. Kin's weight fell away as her arms lost meaning. One last time she threw her head back and screamed, her body exploding in searing agony, the cry morphing into a bitter howl that shook the clouds, destroyed her mind.
Shinpi shot up to sitting, her scream shattering through the comfortable silence of the snowy night. She sobbed into the sound, eyes pinched closed as she threw her energy out around her, determined to keep herself and her son safe. Clutching him to her chest. She wouldn't let him go. Not again. Never again.
"Hichi!"
"Don't touch us!" She didn't care about placing the voice shouting her name. "Don't touch us!"
Her grip on Kin grew tighter, her chest heaving with grief as she screamed again, full of rage and pain. Another burst of energy flew out of her, less of a will than an instinctual reaction to keep the predators at bay. Arms wrapped around her from the behind as hands took hold of her face. She thrashed, snarling, trying her best to free herself.
"You're awake. You're awake." Hiei held her face firmly, forcing her to look at him. There were cuts on his cheeks, his crimson eyes wide and searching as they bore into hers. "I've got you. We've got you. Breathe."
"Hiei?" She trembled in his hold and only then attempted to turn her head to see Kurama behind her, his arms tight around hers to pin them down. She recognized the feel of his hands on her skin, long fingers digging into her muscles. Hayato's large hand rested on her shoulder, his wings spread out to surround the three of them. "Kurama. I'm awake."
She looked down at the body in her arms and discovered it was nothing more than a pillow that she gripped desperately. Trembling, a different type of grief struck her, bringing tears to her eyes. She shrugged out of Kurama's hold to brush her hands over the pillow where a face would've been. She brought it closer and sobbed against it.
"Kin." She breathed the name, pouring her love and pain into the syllable. "My sweet boy. I'm so sorry. I'm so sorry."
Hiei sighed and looked at Kurama, begging for help without saying a word. He didn't know what to do.
Hayato pulled her small frame against his chest, pressing his cheek to her head and he had tears spilling too. "He's not here."
"I miss him." She cried.
"I do too." He told her sadly.
"I love him so much." Another sob wracked through her. "I miss him, Hai. My bones are full of cold grief. I hate it so much. I can't feel anything else."
Kurama looked to Hiei with alarm and anguish at the palpable pain in the room. Slowly, the redhead moved and put a hand on the raven's arm and pressed his head against the back of Shinpi's neck, extending his other hand to Hiei to draw him. He had to look over when his offer went unanswered.
Hiei remained in place, stricken. His mouth open, his breathing shallow. All three of the men bore cuts, victims of Shinpi's outburst as her sharp winds had tore through the room. Hayato had still been low to the ground, escaping the cold wrath of a mother's pain. Hiei's were the worst, having thrown himself over Kurama at the first sense of Shinpi's energy spiking. It was an instinct he couldn't name. Now he watched as she shook and cried and mourned. This wasn't something he knew how to fix. Slowly, he moved toward them and gently put a hand on the side of her neck. He didn't know how to express the raw emotion he was feeling, but he knew it poured from this tattered woman. An empty coldness that twisted and made him feel ill. It wasn't his grief, and it wasn't all of hers either, but the taste of it was enough to wish he could block it from both of them forever.
"I remembered." She breathed unsteadily, trying to cling to all three of them at once for some proof that she was alive and real and not in hell. "I remembered."
"I wish you hadn't." Hiei muttered.
"Me too." She admitted, torn. "But I got to hold him again. I forgot how big he'd actually grown."
No one knew what to say so no one spoke. She shuddered a breath, then another. Slowly her tears subsided and steadiness barely returned. It was enough to allow her to truly look at them all. Gently, she traced the wound on Hiei's cheek. Without a word she cupped his face and allowed her warm, green energy to flow out into him until the cuts closed. There was no reason to look to know she had injured the others as well, so she healed them just as silently. Only after that did she glance around the room and note the gashes in the walls from her unconscious outburst.
"I'm sorry." She told them all, shaken from so many things. As she opened her mouth to offer another apology a starburst of pain struck her in the skull, forcing her to close her eyes and hold her head, whimpering.
"Shinpi?" Hiei stared at her, beginning to move his hands so he could again take hold of her face. "What's wrong?"
Her only answer was another strangled sound of pain.
"What's wrong? Where are you hurt?" Kurama followed Hiei's lead in fretting, moving from behind her to begin trying to examine her limbs. "Did you hurt yourself?"
"My head." She groaned as another sear of pain rocked through her. "My head feels like someone is ripping it open. I can't see, it hurts."
"No." Hiei's hot word fell as he grabbed her away from the other two and jerked her to his chest, energy pulsing out around him in a crackling wave as he threw a barrier up around just the two of them. Hair on end, Jagan as wide as it would go, he held onto the woman in his arms to avoid accepting his sudden fury. The moment his energy barrier rose Shinpi gasped out as though she hadn't been able to breathe. She went to move and he held her still. "Not yet."
"Hiei?" Kurama held a hand to the barrier with alarm. "What are you doing?"
"She was right." Hiei swallowed, his tone harsh and labored. "She was right. Someone is out there."
Hayato was on his feet immediately rushing toward the doors. The sound of them slamming closed behind him echoed in the otherwise quiet temple. Shinpi sat up slowly, studying Hiei's face. Searching him for answers he didn't have.
"How do you know?" Her voice was so quiet as she trembled in his arms.
"I know a psionic attack when it happens." He informed her roughly.
"A psychic?" Kurama frowned, sitting cross legged on the other side of the Hiei's wall of energy. "You said there was no one out there. Hayato agreed. Even Shinpi didn't find anyone."
"I know." Hiei ground out.
Kurama's mouth softened in understanding before pressing into a harsh line. He glanced over Shinpi's fraught form, wishing he could push her mussed hair away from her sweating temples. She looked awfully pale. He wanted to soothe her but he was at a loss for what he could possibly do. She turned to look at him, met his eyes and he exhaled steadily. Then he moved his attention to irises of scalding crimson. Hayato's scurrying toward the door would be meaningless. He wouldn't find anything. That's what made Hiei so angry. This was a long distance attack. And for a psychic to accomplish such a feat they needed to be remarkably strong and focused. They'd also need to be able to pinpoint their victim with incredible accuracy. Hiei's subtle nod allowed Kurama to reach his conclusion.
This was the work of another Jagan user.
"What do we do?" Kurama asked, focused solely on Hiei because if he looked into Shinpi's scared blue eyes he'd lose himself to rage and he knew it. Even now it threatened to overtake him.
Of all the god awful ways to attack her. Of all the cruel, sadistic feats. To dig through her memories and bring them to surface, drowning her in grief once again, it was heinous.
With anger and conviction, Hiei seethed his answer. "I don't know."
Hayato returned and his stone faced expression made Shinpi sit up further, her brows pulled together. He frowned, wings folding against his skin as they watched.
"It stopped snowing. The storm has cleared completely." He announced to the room. "There's not a cloud in the sky."
"I hope you know you're fixing this." Genkai deadpanned to Shinpi, dull expression pointed as she kept her hands clasped behind her back. "Honestly girl, you're a mess."
"Of course. I'm sorry." Shinpi nodded, nose wrinkled as she once again drug her attention over the deep tears in the walls. Cold seeped through, saturating the room. "I already started but I ran out of supplies. I'll need to pick up more from town."
It had been three days since the storm had stopped. The news had called it a strange miracle. Cleaning up the aftermath had taken time but the power was back up and the city had come to life once again. That's how Yukina, Kuwabara and Genkai found themselves in the temple's living room with the others. Yukina's hand covered her mouth as she studied the gashes in the walls. Kuwabara frowned in concern too.
"What happened?" He asked her.
"I had a bad dream. A nightmare." She sighed, shaking her head. "My reaction was wild, I was asleep."
Kuwabara's eyebrow raised and then he rolled his eyes and turned to Hiei after the shorter man scoffed. "What really happened?"
"Her nightmare was the memory of finding her son murdered." Hiei answered with arms crossed. "She's underplaying it."
"Hiei." Kurama warned quietly, teacup held in his hand as he sat on the couch. "She asked you to let her handle this."
"And I agreed to let her tell the truth, not some half-assed version of it." Hiei reminded him with a glance. "You'd prefer she lie?"
"I don't want to worry everyone." Shinpi explained carefully. "There's no need to stress everyone out, Hiei."
Kurama sipped his tea. "Those words scream of a woman who is not willing to ask for help."
"Ha." Hiei smirked, victorious.
"What do they mean, Hichi?" Yukina pried gently. "Why would we be worried? What is it that you need our help with?"
Crimson eyes met crimson eyes and Hiei nodded his thanks to his sister for her delicate demand for information. If anyone could force Shinpi to talk then it was definitely Yukina. Shinpi seemed to realize this too because her shoulders sagged in defeat.
"We believe that I'm being watched by another Jagan user who may or may not be working with someone who might want me dead. There's no definites yet though." Shinpi exhaled heavily.
"Oh no, she was definitely attacked by a powerful psychic and I am definitely sure it was another Jagan user." Hiei amended for her firmly. "The other details are a theory at this point."
"Holy shit." Kuwabara balked. "Seriously? Why? Who?"
"Answers I do not have." Shinpi explained.
"These sudden raging winter storms might be connected." Hayato declared from his post in front of the fire. "There could be an elemental involved who is being used to separate Hichi from the rest of you. Another theory with no substantial proof but I'm willing to believe it. It's best to err on the side of caution in these matters."
"I feel as though I've had another leash wrapped around my throat and it is being held tightly by the men I trust most." Shinpi frowned at them all.
"If that's what it takes to keep you safe then I'm sure you'll get used to the sensation." Kurama responded lightly. "We promise not to tug too hard."
Her lips pursed before Yukina lightly touched her arm.
"They're right to worry, Hichi. If these theories are true then you could be in real danger. As someone who has been kidnapped and tortured, I would greatly prefer it not happen to you." Yukina's eyes water. "Please, listen to them. You've already been through so much pain. None of us could bear to see you go through more if simple precautions could prevent it. Please don't let your stubbornness bring you to harm."
"And if these theories are wrong then all of you will have expended considerable, unnecessary amounts of energy worrying over nothing." Shinpi pointed out.
"Stop arguing." Genkai snapped at her. "They're all right and you know it. Now, I know you have a plan for this eventuality. You always do. Tell them what it is so everyone can move on with their lives."
"She needs to be watched more." Hiei demanded. "She spends too much time alone."
"Impossible, I told you. Everyone has stuff to do darling. Kazuma has his school work and internship. Kurama, Keiko and Yusuke all have jobs and family to attend to. Hayato is needed out there gathering more information, which now may be more critical than ever. He's my best chance for learning the source of this intrigue. You are needed in Alaric. Genkai runs the temple. There's little anyone can do other than check in from time to time. Which I will do as well. I can call every night if that's best. I can make weekly appointments with Koenma to check in."
"I will do it." Yukina nodded to the room, standing tall.
"Sorry?" Shinpi stared at her. "Do what?"
"I'll watch over you. I have little to do here other than chores. I can move in with you until this mess is handled. It would mean someone would be with you most of the time and if you were to go missing I would be able to report it quickly. Plus, I am not as defenseless as you all believe. I can at least keep you safe a short while if necessary."
"She is strong." Kuwabara beamed. "I mean, even Touya has learned a thing or two from her."
"I did not survive so long in Tarukane's keep by sheer luck. There is a reason they had to bring in those awful Toguro brothers in an attempt to break me." She continued. "I can do this. It will put everyone at ease and if it turns out to be nothing then we're none the worse off. I'll pack immediately and we'll go back together."
"I didn't agree." Shinpi blinked.
"I do not need your permission to protect you, neither do I require your compliance. A key would be nice but I will give you time to make one." Yukina stared back, chin raised and stance firm, arms crossed over her chest.
Shinpi glanced from the ice maiden to Hiei, and sighed. Siblings. They were both posed the same way with the same stubborn energy roiling off them. Hiei caught her brief gaze, flicked his own to Yukina, then seemed to immediately spiral inwardly as though he were calculating difficult math mentally. That earned a smile from the wolf demoness. Did Hiei not know that she knew?
Did he think her a fool?
She smiled and turned to the woman standing before her. "As you'd have it, Yukina. You know I can barely deny you when you're in far less of a self-assured mood."