Chapter 13
Koren's body couldn't figure out how to respond to the unbearable changes it was going through. One minute she felt like she was immersed in hell's fire. Then without warning she violently shook with hypothermia. She panted, shivered, sweat, and convulsed. Vinnie was responsible for our heroine's torture as he used his enchanting skills to cast spell after spell. Each ritual was an attempted to counteract Koren's enchantment that kept her wings safe within her. No matter what reaction his incantations wrought he'd moved onto to the next relentlessly. Never in her life had Koren known such pain. This agony she would have never fathomed until now. Yes, her wings were protected well. Unfortunately, that only meant her suffering was prolonged.
Sariel, she silently begged, save me.
With a life spent surrounded by her angels, she hadn't experienced the isolating loneliness she was facing now. In the short time of knowing the spirit detective gang, she never realized how much she could miss someone. To feel desperate for their appearance. Where were they? Anyone. Kuwabara, Jin, Kurama, Yusuke, Sariel, or even T'challa.
Tears began to well up in her eyes. It was expected with the pain her body was enduring. Still, she felt humiliated and broken.
I am a warrior, she thought. It was a half-hearted attempt of courage. In truth, she was terrified. Would her first mission be her last? Golden clouds...did they exist beyond this world?
A sudden tightness in her shoulder blades followed by ripping muscles and a horrifying screech. It was Koren, and as she screamed her wide eyes could only see Severo. She'd never be able to forget how he watched her.
He stayed as she was being ripped apart from Vinnie's spells asking for a chair to be brought in. He set with his leg crossed, one arm laid lazily across his lap, and the other propped up to rest his cheek in its palm. No disturbing sound, no cracking of bone, or torn apart flesh gained a reaction from him. He made no comment. Those cold eyes merely observed, yet it wasn't Vinnie's trial and error he analyzed.
He watched her. If she were a normal human, distress would have caused her to miss it. Angel eyes saw Severo's pupils dilate when she groaned in pain. She felt his eyes swallow in her red cheeks and the sweat that trickled down her neck. His shallow breaths he took when she was forced to arch her back from a violent convulsion were subtle, but she was aware of them. Darkness lived in his blue eyes, and his heart yearned for her pain.
She began to hate herself for being so weak. He was thriving off of her pain, and she felt like she wasn't doing a damn thing to fight back. Ignore the convulsions. Revolt against them. She was a warrior! Stoic in the face of danger. She would not be gazed upon like a slave for entertainment.
Vinnie began another chant, and Koren could feel the magic start to charge. She focused her thoughts tuning into every lesson with Rhiannon she half-listened to, searched herself for strength and perseverance as Artaxes instructed her time after time, and she powered her counterattack with love for herself and for the sake of the angels counting on her using Sariel as her embodiment. Vinnie released his spell, but Koren fought back.
She silently cheered at the small victory of catching Vinnie off guard causing him to stumble, but that was only the beginning. After realizing she was resisting, Vinnie retaliated forcing his spell back on her. Koren would not have it. She was done being made undone. She would not allow them to destroy her soul after tearing apart her body.
One last powerful surge of energy, and she won.
The energy of Vinnie's spell dispersed into the air and left him breathless. She couldn't see his cloaked face but just the sound of him gasping for air was enough. She didn't dare take her eyes off Severo even though she was equally as tired.
I won, she wanted to portray to him, You will not break me. You cannot have me.
He stared back, mesmerized.
"You can go now," he muttered. Vinnie was gone before the sentence was finished.
Severo stood and made his way towards Koren. She watched him carefully then cried in shock as he grabbed a fistful of her hair forcing her to face up toward him.
"What are you doing," she gasped. He lowered his face close to hers. His lips hovered just above her soft, pink ones.
She could feel his body heat and smell smoke on his breath.
She wanted him gone.
She felt herself getting sick.
Her physical strength had been taken from her so what could she do?
I will fight, she thought, I will never stop fighting.
"Just experimenting," Severo whispered. Then in one fluid movement he released her, up righted himself, and was headed toward the exit.
And for a brief moment, Koren could rest.
Most of the gang had fallen asleep except for Yusuke, Kuwabara and Kurama. Tried as they might rest evaded them. Their devotion to a creature they had known for such a short period of time was strange to witness. It was left unspoken as to each one's reasons whether it be obligation, worry, anxiousness, duty, or even love. The angel's threat for a bloody war was very real but could never replace the genuine desire for Koren to be safe and sound.
T'challa stood behind Ryoko as a protective figure. He stood upright with hands balled into fists at his sides. He was a stoic and foreboding marble stature as the light emitting from Ryoko reflected across his hardened abdominal muscles. After the unfortunate capture of Koren, the other worldly soldier would not let his guard down. Koren's trust must of caused her weakness. He would not allow himself or anymore of his brethren fall victim to the same fate.
The room was foggy with tension. The four fighters aura's heightened which only led to setting each one more on edge. A sudden change such as an unexpected entrance of even a well meaning resident of Tourin could release the blood lust that was brewing. Until Ryoko's light burnt out, and her eyes ceased searching. Four pairs of eyes were on the botanical cherub awaiting what she discovered about Koren.
"I'm surprised they managed to take her so far," she muttered as she began to stand.
"Well," Yusuke anxiously pushed, "where is she?"
"The other side of the world," Ryoko answered. The response may have seemed vague, but she wasn't educated on the names of regions let alone countries or cities. Before Yusuke had time to express any annoyance Kurama intercepted.
"Human world or demon world," he asked, his voice rough.
"Human world," she replied. Silence followed the revelation as it complicated matters. Traveling with angels among humans, who the majority weren't aware of the existence of demons that existed alongside them. It also begged the question if this was abduction was caused by human hands. Yes, it was obvious demons physically took Koren, but who was the mastermind? Were they back into Black Black Club territory?
Despite these questions and the rising dread, there was a friend to be saved.
"Well, what are we waiting for," Kuwabara growled clenching a fist. "Let's go get our friend!"
"Aye, I'm ready to get back the lass," Jin's voice suddenly came to life. Apparently, the group of demons weren't as fast asleep as first believed.
"I don't think that'll be wise," Kurama said carefully.
"What," Yusuke began to argue.
"We'll be in human world, Yusuke. A large group would be easy to detect. Not to mention," Kurama paused to look pointedly at Jin's flaming red hair and single horn protruding from his forehead, "it would painfully obvious that there is a demon in our midst."
Jin huffily crossed his arms and looked away. None of them could argue with Kurama's logic. They didn't have much time to save Koren before the angels would break apart the skies to finish the job themselves, so they couldn't afford any set backs.
"Well, what about them," Rinku, who was also now wide awake, said pointing at T'challa and Ryoko," they'd stick out even more than any of us!"
The observation was fair and did indeed raise concern. No doubt T'challa, a loyal warrior to his people, could not be persuaded to stay behind, and Ryoko was essential to pin pointing Koren's location.
"We can stay out of sight," T'challa replied, his expression hard. "Angels have concealed themselves for centuries. A short period of time is nothing to concern ourselves with."
Though the rest of the group could beg to differ it was obvious nothing would change the angel's mind. They would just have to be careful.
"Alright, enough talk," Yusuke concluded mimicking Kuwabara's aggressive stance. "We're running out of time."
"Stand near me," Ryoko spoke this time, "I can transport us close to where Lady Koren is imprisoned."
Yusuke, Kuwabara, and Kurama did as instructed. Ryoko's eyes glowed once more as she stared off into an unknown place then in a blink of an eye they were gone.
Tony and his boys stayed close by since they were still employed by Severo. Money could buy loyalty, after all. Their location of choice was the rooftop of an abandon building next to Severo's hangout. Even though Tony kept the gang together and at bay it was difficult to keep Raymond and Buddy from running off. The two demons craved havoc.
Buddy's prank were actually quite harmless pretending to be part of the historic city's architecture to terrify unsuspecting tourists. Or he'd transport in and out of busy museums or monuments causing a stir.
Raymond was more susceptible to his demonic nature. He'd flit through busy traffic making sure to lock his black eyes with a driver's creating confusion and panic resulting in multiple car wrecks. More upsetting would be all the times he kidnapped small children depositing them in less desirable parts of town far from their parents. His favorite past time was catching someone alone at night, dragging them into an abandoned alley, scratching them up as he did the angel, and being sure to use his demon form to contribute to a life time of nightmares.
Tony didn't keep a tight leash on his boys unless they were on a job. For the sake of Philadelphia, this particular job needed to last at least for a few more days.
"Hey, boss, I been meaning to ask ya," Raymond suddenly spoke turning his hungry eyes from the city streets.
"Yeah? What is it?"
"Why hasn't that damned Spirit Detective been around to try and disrupt Severo's operations?"
This was an interesting question. Tony's gang had had more than one run in with Koenma's pawn. Some pretty close calls, he hated to admit. In his defense, Koenma picked a good one. A real good one. This was her territory as much as Tony's or Severo's, so why she hadn't circled in for the kill was quite the curiosity. Or a simple explanation.
"Mr. D'Ambrosi hasn't made himself big enough for one. Or maybe 00-spirit bitch doesn't know exactly how big his gang gets. One mistake could lead into a chain reactions of events that could end up in a shit storm for Koenma," he said the Prince of Spirit World's name with disgust, spitting on the ground like he was trying to rid himself of the taste of it.
"You think the angel will bring her around," Raymond inquired. He seemed hopeful like he wanted the Spirit Detective to come bursting in. She would put up a fight, and the demonic bat was eager for some bloodshed.
"If she does, you'll share her right," Buddy asked around his monstrous tongue.
"First come, first serve," Raymond sneered sinister-like and displayed a hand full of claws.
"Settle down, boys. Settle down."
If Spirit Detective Bitch did show her face, every demon in the area would want a piece.
One moment they were standing in one of the numerous rooms in Tourin, the next they were standing in a dark alleyway. The sky was darkening indicating night was coming. But that didn't seem right...Wasn't it almost morning just a moment ago? Nonetheless, night didn't seem like it would provide them with cover. The nearby open street was filled with life- voices, honking cars, footsteps from huge crowds of people, along with music from clubs and bars. The buildings were old aside from newer business towers they could see off in the distance.
When saving Yukina, Hiei's sister, fromTarukane, a prominent member of the Black Black Club, she was kept in a huge mansion off in the middle of mountains where civilization was nowhere to be seen. Kurama's caution of leaving Jin behind made all the more sense now. What a kind of person- human or demon- would bring an angel here?
"Uh, guys," Kuwabara began nervous and confused, "where are we?"
Kurama watched the darkening evening sky as he replied, "Not in Japan. That much is certain. I'm guessing the states.
"You mean, the United States, right," Yusuke asked dumbly. He never did pay much attention in school...
"Does it matter," T'challa growled.
"Hey, listen bird-boy," Yusuke retaliated, "I'm getting sick and tired of your attitude. If you got something to say, then say it!"
"I hate to say it, but I agree with Urameshi," Kuwabara joined. "We all want to save Koren. As far as I'm concerned, we're a team now."
The three in argument locked one another in a death glare match. T'challa felt no obligation to respond to these humans. Yusuke and Kuwabara were done taking shit and ready for a fight.
"Instead of fighting each other," Kurama cooly interjected, "perhaps we can spend this time developing a plan. I would like to point out that our opponents are probably settling for the night and less likely to be on guard. We should make a move soon to catch them unawares."
"T'challa," this was Ryoko, "we should make conflict with enemies, not allies."
Surprisingly for them, this was all it took for T'challa to calm down. You and I know, dear reader, have undying respect for one another. And even though Koren lashed out at T'challa without having a chance to apologize, his loyalty to her was just as fervent. We also know that Kurama, Kuwabara, and especially Yusuke could not deny their sense of duty towards Koren.
With that understanding, they banded together to form a plan to save their precious angel.
Overdue update. Thank you for being patient with me. Also a big thanks to all who have recently favorited/followed this story.
The boys are a step closer to saving Koren, and *gasp* there's another spirit detective (cliche' I know).
I'll try real hard to make the next update soon! Once again, I so appreciate all of you guys. Until next time!