The sun was already setting and the greenhouse was anything but inviting. The abundant vegetation created layers upon layers of shadows and the birds made weird noises and calls - it was plain creepy. She tried to remember which way led to Ranna's quarters when a hand caught her from behind a tree trunk covered in moss, orchids, and a gigantic variegated Monstera Deliciosa. A second hand slammed itself over her mouth, muffling a sharp scream. She aimed her needles at her attacker's throat before she recognized the voice.

"Shh! It's me, don't worry. I will explain, but I need you to stay quiet."

Worry turned into anger as Amara spun on her heels to face Yomi. She barely reached above his elbow, but that didn't stop her from whisper-yelling at him.

"What the hell! I'm going to kill you if you don't take your hands off me right now! Where is Kurama? What time is it? What on earth is this place?!"

Yomi smirked. "Youko always had a thing for edgier women," the demon caught Amara's wrist as she was about to slap him, "But I didn't expect it from a human."

Amara twisted her arm to distract him and slapped him with her other hand hard enough for it to echo through the greenhouse and turn his head to the side. Yomi felt his face burning.

"Answer my fucking questions or get out of my way!"

"What if I told you we are on the same side?"

"I'd say you're full of it!"

Yomi gestured for her to go ahead and tried to place his hand on her shoulder to lead the way. "I'll take you to his room - I suppose that's what you want."

"Touch me again, I'll break your arm."

"Unlikely," Yomi chuckled. "There is something Kurama wanted to discuss with you as well. I told him I would go looking for you, as he was a little busy." The demon waited to hear any sign of jealousy from Amara. He heard her heart skipping a beat, but that wasn't enough to confirm his assumption.

"Right... How did you convince Kurama to trust you, traitor?"

"You've got a very sharp tongue for my taste."

"You've got a very big ego for a king who kneels like a servant."

That's when one of the glass doors opened and Kurama appeared in his human form. He seemed a little disappointed in their interaction, but there was clearly something else consuming him. Amara didn't need more than a glance to understand something serious had happened.

"Please, come inside."

As the two entered, he used vegetation to cover the door and make it impossible to reach. Large, fibrous leaves were covering the walls and the ceiling, while a few bioluminescent flowers lit up the room. On the bed laid what looked like the mere outline of a demon with choppy dark hair and sickly pale skin, broken wings and limbs, and bandages covered in foul-smelling blood. Yomi heard her heartbeat going up rapidly. She was shaking, drawn like a magnet by curiosity while at the same time, repulsed by her natural instincts.

"...I-is he...?"

"Alive, somehow," Kurama sighed. He sat in an armchair, staring blankly ahead, towards the bed. "I've done everything I knew. Now, it's... out of my hands."

Amara turned towards Yomi. "You can start explaining any second now."

"First of all, let me say that I never knew she had captured Kuronue. I've been down in the dungeons many times, but the structure is enormous and even I have limited access, just like everyone else."

"That's very convenient for you," Amara accused him.

"Allow him to speak, Amara... I may need to hear this again."

The girl crossed her arms over her chest. She gestured for Yomi to go on.

"You see, I do want my kingdom back, but this time, I want it to be mine alone. I have a son now and I would like him to learn from my youthful mistakes so he could become greater than I ever will. However, as much as I despise admitting this, I am not capable of defeating Ranna on my own. Then, there are the Shadows, under the command of Shin, who is a formidable opponent even on his own. With how much power Ranna has been able to gather, I don't see how else she could fall, unless..." Yomi shrugged and tilted his head towards Kurama.

"He wants me to formulate a strategy that would bring her down, one way or another," Kurama clarified. "It's much more complicated than that, though. We also need the cure for the disease she had released into the Demon and Spirit world. Yomi doesn't know if this cure even exists. He doesn't know about the disease or any useful details which might help us corner her. There are approximately 30 000 Shadows, out of which Yomi estimates 5 000 to 10 000 fighters."

Amara nodded and sat on the bench at the foot of the bed. "How strong is the majority of them?"

"The Shadows fight in teams. The leader is usually an upper A or S class by Koenma's standards. There are three or five of the leader's disciples on each team, who have completed their training and are usually upper B class or higher. The rest are Shadows in training, middle B class or higher, who will sacrifice themselves to protect the others and are generally the front-line of attack. If the tactic of the leader involves a distraction, it's them who will perform the riskiest maneuvers. One team consists of ten to fifty fighters, including the leader."

"...Splendid," Amara concluded. "That means we must avoid confrontations at all costs. Is there any way that some of the Shadows might turn against her?"

"Probably if they were alone, but they are never alone. The Shadows always go in groups, and are usually paired so they have different backgrounds, motivations, and personalities."

Kurama sighed quietly. "She's thought of everything..." But there had to be something, everyone has flaws. There has to be a weakness in this entire structure.

"Yes, that's why I've had difficulties trying to break out from under her influence." Yomi occupied the other armchair. "I trust someone with your experience and wit will be able to spot something I haven't."

"Yomi," Kurama asked in a cold tone, "What are the chances for Ranna to hold others from my band hostage at this time?"

"I don't know-!"

"Estimate," Kurama interrupted Yomi before he could excuse himself.

"...I suppose it could be possible," the demon mumbled.

"I despite vague information. Let me make this clear for you, Yomi. The fate of three worlds depends on you telling the truth. I have decided to trust you one more time despite your history of going behind my back, only following the speech you've given me earlier about how much you've changed and how responsible you feel for bringing up your son the way you wish your father would have done. If you will keep information from me now, or if you will try to turn on me again, there will be no world left for your son. Given his age and your protective nature, I wouldn't count on his immune system to keep him alive for long after the epidemic reaches your oasis. Ranna doesn't seem very willing to keep you around anymore, so I doubt she would give your son the cure if he were to fall ill."

After a long moment of silence, Yomi let out a small growl and turned his head to the side. "Akito, Koji, and Saburo are Generals, they lead the larger operations and answer to Shin directly. They had also completed Shin's training. Goro, Ichiro, Kohaku, Naoki, Ryunosuke, and Taroku are Commanders, they train other Shadows and lead their teams. Ryunosuke is currently training under Shin - he has been for six years. Yasu is one of the accountants, I'm not sure what role he has there. That's all I know."

"That's a lot of people," Amara pointed out. "Perhaps we could-!"

"Little girl, I appreciate your foolish enthusiasm, and trust me, I know how you feel, but they had switched sides. There's no coming back from the initiation process, their spirit is broken. They have no name, they have no feelings, no loyalty to anyone other than Ranna!"

Kurama kept his glacial calm. "Broken or not, they may be our only chance. How good is your hearing, Yomi? Can you detect the finer twitches and spasms of one's body, those involuntary reactions?"

"Along with their organs and their breathing, yes," the demon answered.

"Make sure that they know about my presence. I want every single one of them to know that Youko is here and that we will be enjoying one last raid together - one to gain freedom. I want you to listen for a reaction and relate it to me precisely. Also, I want to speak with Saburo alone and in person."

Yomi shook his head. "That's impossible!"

"Tell Saburo my request and forget about it. He should be able to do the rest easily." Kurama stood up and paced around the room, approaching his partner. Kuronue had remained loyal through two centuries of constant torture. That was something Youko wouldn't have wished to his worst enemy. "Tell me, Yomi, is there anyone else in the dungeons?"

"I don't know who is in the dungeons! Bodies are being incinerated every day and some are being used to feed carnivorous plants. Even if there was someone still alive in there, which I doubt, they could be completely erased from this world without leaving a trace in less than a minute."

Amara shivered. "Oh, God..."

The red-haired looked at his friend in hopes of finding even the faintest hint of recovery. He saw none. "I normally wouldn't take such risks, but in this situation, if we fail, there won't be a second chance. Failure without trial is guaranteed, yet if we try and fail, we will at least find comfort in that, I suppose, for as long as we will still exist."

Amara stood up and went by his side. She found her place in his arms and tried to offer him some kind of support. Looking at Kuronue was difficult for her, even if she didn't know the man personally. She couldn't imagine what it might have felt like for Kurama - from what he said about Kuronue before, they had been really close. Ranna's speech only confirmed her suspicion. Amara used to fight with a partner as well. She was certain she would have turned the world upside-down if her former partner had ended up in a state even remotely similar to Kuronue's.

Bitter, but grateful to have someone next to him, Kurama held her and rested his head on top of hers.

"Should I go?" Yomi spoke after a few moments of silence.

The leaves blocking the door parted enough for him to leave and the demon took the chance given to make his way into his own room. If Shin were to discover their little plot, he was certain that Ranna will hurt his child in order to punish him. It was her style to kill those closest to her victim in gruesome ways. That was also part of the initiation, which he had been avoiding for centuries.

Left alone, Amara tried to lead Kurama away from the side of the bed. Looking at Kuronue in that state didn't help any of them, especially Kurama. He didn't budge.

"Please, let's sit down. Standing by his bed won't help him."

Kurama shook his head. "You can go if you want. I'm staying."

She sighed and held him closer. "What is your plan, Kurama?"

"I want you to work closely with Saburo. He is a Mazuko, and one of the first men Kuronue and I recruited for our band. He has been with us for centuries and if I am correct, he has been training the hardest while in this environment. I knew Ranna would go after my men and when Yomi mentioned Saburo was a General, I could see possibly the only weakness in her structure. I want you to awaken him to his true self, make him remember who he used to be before this initiation process, which I suspect to be constant psychological torture."

"I would do anything for you, but how am I supposed to do this?"

Kurama sighed. "I'm afraid I don't have all the answers..."

"Then tell me about him, tell me something that would matter to him..."

"I expect him to be changed... He was the most ruthless of us, a perfect assassin, efficient and silent. He used to be very direct, and I expect him to care even less for useless details now than he did back then. Remember when I told you about Inuki?"

The memory sent a cold chill down her spine. Amara remembered it clearly - they were on his balcony, drinking wine, and she was smoking. It was night time with clear skies... He told her about Inuki, who left his band willingly to train and become a Shadow, having been promised a brilliant military career, riches, and stability. He had been later returned to the group more dead than alive, with gruesome injuries, parasites, plants, and other organisms feeding off of him, delusional, and suffering from a number of diseases. Some of Youko's men suffered the side effects of brief direct contact with Inuki's dying corpse, which maintained a faint heartbeat despite it all, only explained by adrenaline or other substances with a similar effect having been administrated to him.

"Yes... What about him?"

After a long moment of watching Kuronue, Kurama continued. "Saburo was his in-law. His sister was Inuki's wife. I would allow him to leave on a regular basis from our camp for several days at a time to visit her and the baby while we thought Inuki was training and chasing his dream career."

She looked up at him. His eyes had a hint of gold in them. Amara could see him transported into another space and time, deep within his memories... She also saw pain and regret.

"What happened to the two after...?"

"I believe they were killed. Saburo wanted to ambush Ranna, but I refused. We were barely a handful of demons and although we were A-class, most of Ranna's Shadows were at a similar level of energy and skill. I wanted to wait, gather more men, train them, come up with a plan, possibly gain some leaked information. Saburo offered to infiltrate the Shadows for us. Kuronue and a few others disagreed, but I allowed him. We lost all contact soon after that. He was close to reaching the S-class when this happened, so I expect him to be much more powerful now. He's always been the most disciplined of us all... training endlessly, asking for time off to master different techniques from different masters all across Demon world... He would much rather put his body and soul through hell than to party with some women at a bar and get drunk. He is the polar opposite of everything Yomi had ever been - if anyone might have remained sane after Ranna's initiation, it's him."

Blinking, Amara realized there was a tear spilling from the corner of her eye, running fast past her nose and following the curve of her cheek. Kurama noticed it too and wiped it away gently.

"Saburo won't care for your emotions, but I doubt he will hurt you."

Amara nodded. "How are you doing, Kurama...? With everything that's going on..."

"This isn't the time to worry about me. I will keep Ranna distracted as long as possible, and I trust you to carry out the plan for us."

"One mention, though," she said as she stepped back from his arms. "I don't trust Yomi."

A small, bitter smirk tugged at the red-haired's lips. "Neither do I. In fact, I suspect that he plans to use us in order to betray Ranna, then turn against me once more. He's never been a true leader, he has no idea how to govern a kingdom, and his experience had been limited by following Ranna's orders. Naturally, he will want us to keep doing the thinking for him."

"You mean he'll want you," Amara smiled. "You're brilliant."

"So are you. It's one of the first things I have noticed about you, and one of the reasons I am asking you to carry out the plan. I know you're more than capable of this."

Amara gave him a reassuring smile. "I'll do my best... Although, I might accidentally predict Yomi's broken arms if he keeps trying to touch me."

"I'm sure he would take your punishment over mine any day," Kurama said with a hint of darkness. He held Amara's hands and eventually sat on the bench at the foot of the bed, pulling the girl into his arms. "I have some rather creative ideas..."

The girl wrapped her arms around his neck and shoulders. "Why don't you tell me the rest of the plan?"

"I believe you've figured out what I want to do with Saburo's help. It's your idea from earlier."

"I'm flattered - the Great Strategist considered my idea!" she chuckled.

Kurama laid his forehead on her chest, listening to her heart beating. "You'll be going into the Human world with Saburo - I'll make sure you two go alone, or with another one of my former men. I want you to contact a few people for me and have them carry out the rest of my instructions. We'll need to be perfectly synchronized in order for this to work. Also, please warn everyone to act as if the plague had already infected everyone around them. I know it sounds drastic, but we all need to be extremely careful. If Ranna has found some of my notes, which I suspect she had, with or without Yomi's help, then this disease will be beyond what any doctor from any of the Three Worlds is capable of imagining."

"What are you going to be doing?"

"I'll plant a few seeds..."