The Sea Prince
Chapter 11

-huff puff, huff puff- Man I'm tired. sorry it took so long, the editing took longer then I thought it would --U. So once again I had to make u guys wait, sorry about that but at least u liked the bonus chapter ;. Unfortunately no one has voted on the second question on my profile for a while but hey, I'll survive TT-TT. Anyway, here is the... possibly long awaited plot chapter which everyone has been waiting for. I'm sorry if Kurama appears ooc near the end.

So yay, lets get started ne? Please review at the end.

Hiei clenched his fists as he reread the clue again. 'Same… language yet different literature...?' "WHAT THE HELL! THERE'S ONLY ONE OTHER LANGUAGE THAT DOES THE SAME THING AND THIS NINGEN LANGUAGE ISN'T IT!" Hiei suddenly yelled and he slammed his fists on his desk. He had been going over the clue for 2 days now, and he still couldn't understand any of it. The other clue Kurama had left was just as difficult.

'We look human, yet we never drown, we look demon yet can not breathe. No one believes in us!'

"Now giving me a whole new form of literature to figure out, it's like looking at a different language… I'm tempted to kill him. Next time I'm informing him to be less vague." Hiei stated, then he sighed in annoyance. From a species which know one cares to acknowledge to a new form of literature.Swell!

"Yo, what happened this time Hiei? Is deciding taxes for the kingdom more difficult then you anticipated?" A snide female voice asked from his door. Hiei just glared at the intruder but Mukuro only smiled and walked in; picking up a piece of paper on her way in. "I could help you if you wished Hiei. After all you are my heir, it's only natural that you ask for assistance when necessary." Mukuro read over the paper before placing it back on his desk.

"Hn, I don't need your help. I'm doing fine on my own," Hieisaid as he hid the notes in his desk. He had not told anyone about Kurama since no one had believed him the first time. If they didn't believe him once then they wouldn't believe him again; even though he did have written proof.

Mukuro saw him hide something from her but she decided not to pry, 'I'll do that later' she reasoned with a smirk. "Well, okay then; But try not to give Koenma a heart attack again by sending him 600 things that need both your signature and his." She said before walking away.

"I won't…" Hiei said and smirked as she closed the door. "It'll be 700 this time!" He said evilly. After that he looked at the clues again and he sighed. If he wanted to figure the clues out he would need to do research on it. 'Then I shall find out what you are Kurama…' Hiei vowed silently before looking over the taxes again. '… This job sucks!'

Kurama laughed as Youko dragged him away from the castle. He he had been wearing a shirt recently because the wounds that the sea queen inflicted were still healing and bandaged up, and Kurama always hid his injuries from her.

"Hurry up Shu-chan; I have something to give you today." Youko said impatiently. "Well actually it's from the carp and me, but he's not here right now… stupid fish," Youko growled in annoyance. He and Kuwabara had worked hard to move the gift to Kurama's hideout, and now he wasn't even showing up for Shuichi's surprise.

"Sorry about that, it must be something about me…" Kurama said quietly, but Youko's large fuzzy ears heard him and he stopped and turned to the redhead.

"What was that Shu? Explain, now!" Youko ordered. Kurama grimaced under Youko's powerful stare so he got to the point.

"Kuwabara-kun was telling me that he wanted to show me something too when my father's messenger, Yuta-san the seahorse, said that Kuwabara had to see Yomi-sama at once. I tried to ask him what he wanted but he said he wasn't aloud to tell me. So I took into account that Kuwabara is my best friend, and knows a lot about me; and since he doesn't want me to know about the topic, it was most likely about me. Does that make sense?" Kurama asked and Youko nodded.

"I understand; basically by not telling you who he was talking about, it means he was talking about you. Or else there would be no reason not to tell, right?"

"Exactly," Kurama said smiling. "However, I'm kind of worried about Kuwabara-kun, he has a bad habit of getting nervous and blurting stuff out when he's under pressure." Youko smiled and put an arm around the redhead's shoulder.

"Relax Shu-chan; I'm sure he won't do anything too stupid." Youko coaxed and Kurama smiled before his eyebrows met in confusion.

"What do you mean by 'too stupid'?"

"He's Kazuma Kuwabara; he's bound to do something stupid that he shouldn't have!" Kurama laughed at that and playfully hit Youko and they both laughed. "Well enough about fools, time for a surprise!" Youko said and he tugged Kurama's arm hard and started to drag him again.

"Ow! Yomi-san is right, about something…" Kurama muttered. 'You are too old to act like this.'

"I heard that…" Youko growled and he stopped so he could punch Kurama on the head.

"OW!"

"You can't deal with pain at all can you?" Youko smirked while he continued to drag the red head.

"Shut up; you punch hard." Kurama yelled as he rubbed his head with his other hand. Youko just smirked and just kept dragging the prince. 'Where are you fool? You're missing your 1 chance to see Shuichi's reaction when he sees the gift. I swear I'm going to swat your fin later on for missing this… but on the other hand-' Youko glanced back at Kurama for a moment. 'I get to be alone with Shuichi while he's happy. Okay, Kuwabara I will forgive you!'Youko laughed quietly to himself, enjoying his moment alone with the red head.

Kuwabara gulped nervously as Yuta knocked on the door to Yomi's office.

"Enter," he heard Yomi command and Yuta pushed open the door… or at least tried to. He was such a tiny sea horse that he could push with all his fins strength, and only crack open the door a little.

"…Um, do you need any help?" Kuwabara asked and the sea horse stopped pushing and slouched over so he could catch his breath.

"I'm not as young as I use to be…" Yuta gasped and looked moved to the side. Kuwabara understood and pushed open the door with his head and entered, Yuta followed soon after.

Yomi was sitting behind his desk with his eyes closed; though it was obvious to anyone that he was amused with the little seahorse. "Having door troubles again Yuta? Should I make it lighter for you? After all you come in and out the most; I could even make you a smaller door embedded in my own for you if you wished." Yomi said while smiling. Yuta merely looked away.

"My lord, I do not need any such thing… though I do enjoy that mini door plan." Mr. Yuta said and both he and Yomi smiled. "Ahem, Kuwabara-san is now here, as requested by you, Yomi-sama." Mr. Yuta said, getting professional.

"Thank you Yuta-san, you may take your leave now." Yomi said kindly and the door opened so Mr. Yuta could get out. Mr. Yuta smiled as he calmly swam out the door, while Kuwabara gaped at the amazing control of water power Yomi had. He didn't even need to try, let alone use his hands, and the control was amazing.

"Well Kuwabara-san, I believe this is the first time we havetalked alone." Yomi calmly stated and Kuwabara tensed. Stiffly, Kuwabara turned to the Sea king, who was looking at him with amusement in his now opened eyes.

"U-u-u-u-u-um, my lord… what is it that you need from me?" Kuwabara asked nervously, he had never talked to such a high status person before. Yomi just smiled and flexed his wrist and 2 fingers in a 'come closer' motion; slowly, Kuwabara complied.

"I've been hearing some interesting things about my youngest son lately, things that make him sound… peculiar. Have you noticed anything different?" Yomi started off, smirking. Kuwabara paled slightly 'Does he know? NO, I must stay calm, for Kurama's sake!"

"Peculiar? I haven't noticed anything different." Kuwabara answered as calmly as he could, which was pretty calm for once.

"Is that so?" Yomi had another smirk on as he closed his eyes and Kuwabara's fin started shaking. 'This is the reason I called him rather then Youko. It's going to be so much easier to get information out of him, rather then that cursed crab… also I hate that crab!' Yomi thought angrily, however he stayed calm for Kuwabara's sake. "Are you sure Kuwabara-san? You haven't noticed anything; the singing, his vanity improvement, the cheerfulness… him showing up on time?"

Kuwabara gulped, scared now. "Well I"-

"Kuwabara-san," Yomi said cheerfully interrupting him. Kuwabara could only grimace. "I know that you're trying to hide something quite important." Kuwabara trembled slightly. "Some thing about my son… in love? I heard it from Risho during one of our discussions on running the ocean. So who is the lucky merman? Or is it a mermaid…could it be-"

"HE DOESN'T KNOW ANY BETTER!! HE'S STILL YOUNG!" Kuwabara hollered; he didn't want Kurama to get into trouble. "I KNOW I SHOULD HAVE STOPPED HIM BUT I COULDN'T! HE'S TOO FAST AND HIEI"-

"Who's Hiei!" It wasn't asked like a question like the rest, this was an order. And Kuwabara froze when he realized his mistake.

"Um… just a normal merman…" Kuwabara suddenly felt his head go numb and he closed his eyes. 'My head feels weird…kind of like when Youko…probes… my'- Kuwabaraopened his eyes in shock then tried to fight the numb feeling. For that only happened when someone was going through your thoughts, and right now, Yomi was doing that to him!

"…DEMONS! WHAT ABOUT THIS DEMON!!" Yomi suddenly hollered and Kuwabara felt defeated. 'I'm to late… please forgive me Kurama. I didn't mean to…'

"Tell me every thing, now!" Yomi ordered and his eyes were glowing purple in anger.

"Youko are we there yet?" Kurama asked. For 5 minutes Youko had been leading him somewhere with his eyes covered, and at random times he would even spin him around before leading him on again, just so he had no idea where he was.

"Just about…" Youko said and he smiled when he saw the rock which blocked Shuichi's favorite hiding place. "Close your eyes for a moment!" Kurama sighed but did as he was told and Youko quickly moved the boulder out of the way before heading back and pushing Kurama into the cave. He closed the door behind them. "Okay Shu-chan, open up!" He said happily.

Kurama opened his eyes but it was dark. Confused; He made some light out of the water and gasped when the whole room lit up. He was in his hide out with all his human stuff, and right below his fishing net in the middle of the room, was the statue of Hiei he had seen on the ship.

"Surprise!" Youko whispered in his ear and Kurama smiled and turned around and wrapped his arms around his neck in a back breaking hug. "Ack"-

"YOU ARE THE BEST!! I love it, how you get it? THIS IT THE BEST GIFT EVER!" Kurama laughed and Youko started to turn blue from the lack of oxygen. After yelling out praises to Youko for a while, and hugging him even harder Youko finally grabbed Kurama's arms and pulled them off his neck. "Ah! Sorry Youko!" Kurama yelled as Youko leaned against the wall, one arm was supporting him as he gasped for breath.

"Just… Glad you liked it!" Youko said after taking one last long breath and turning back to the young prince. "Though next time we get so close, I expect a kiss." Youko said and winked at the redhead who blushed slightly.

"Um…" Kurama really had no idea how to respond to that.

"I'm just messing with you." Youko said noticing how flustered Kurama had become. The Prince relaxed and sighed, turning back to the statue.

"Do you think I should return it to Hiei?" Kurama asked and Youko fell over at that comment.

"WHAT!! DO YOU KNOW HOW HARD THAT CARP AND I WORKED TO GET IT IN HERE!!" Youko yelled and Shuichi hid behind the statue of Hiei.

"I'm sorry! It has nothing to do with that though! I love it, and love how you and Kuwabara-kun would do this for me… it's just that, in a way; this feels like stealing, and almost stalking. I also don't know if he wants it back…" Kurama explained to Youko.

Youko thought back to when Hiei saw the statue. "Shuichi, trust me on this one; he really doesn't want it back!" Youko stated, thinking back on the disgusted look Hiei had sent the stoned being.

"But"-

"Let's make a deal Shu-chan! You can write your sexy, young, prince a letter and tell him that you have his birthday gift from that… Yusuke person unless I'm mistaken, then ask him if he wants it back. Here's where we make a bet; If he accepts the gift back, then I'll return let's say… a third of my treasure to the ocean. However if I win and he says no, then you must show yourself to him."

Kurama shook his head. "No way! Hiei and I made a deal that he could have 3 guesses before I showed myself to him again, especially since he didn't see my fin." Kurama said and waved his fin in front of Youko, making the fuzzy eared merman smile.

'So cute...' "Okay then, how about a kiss?" Youko said with a smirk and Kurama blushed deep red.

"Wha-what?" He asked and hid behind he stone Hiei some more.

"You heard me. The first kiss of a prince is what I want, and the rest have had their lips stolen by a suitor or some crazed stalker... except for Jin who beat up anyone who tried. However, the fact is, I want your first kiss." Youko smirked as Kurama hid so well behind the stone that he couldn't even see him anymore.

'Well… a kiss is more then fair I guess… If I win I could regain a large part of the kingdoms wealth back. Still…' He blushed at the thought of being kissed by Youko. 'I guess I'll have to, the positive results surpass the negative.' "Alright Youko, I accept your challenge. But…what exactly do you have in mind?" Kurama asked. Youko's eyes suddenly had a spark in them.

"Oh, just a little thing the human's call a French kiss, don't worry about it." Youko said and Shuichi nodded and sighed in relief.

'It's so cute that's he's blissfully oblivious.'

Kurama relaxed against the statue, completely happy since he met Hiei and talked to him on the beach. 'Things are finally looking up for me, thank goodness…' Kurama thought and smiled at the statue and turned to face it looking into its eyes. 'And it's all thanks to you, thank you Hiei.'

Youko relaxed and leaned against the wall. 'Victory for me-' Just then, he felt a searing pain in his chest that made him fall forward onto the ground.

"Youko what's wrong?" Kurama yelled as he swam up to him. He tried holding him up, but Youko pushed him away as he turned into a crab. "Youko!?" Kurama yelled and picked Youko up. 'Wait, Youko can only be forced into this form when Yomi is near.' Gasping he whipped around to the entrance to come face to face with the Sea king. "Yomi…"

"Kurama, I have set rules for you, and have always been against the land walkers beyond anything else." Yomi stated angrily getting strait to the point.

"Yes but"-

"Kurama, is it true that you saved a human from drowning?"

"No it isn't Yomi."

"DON'T LIE TO ME KURAMA!" Yomi yelled and Kurama put his arms in front of him to block a current that exploded off Yomi.

"I'm not lying to you Yomi-sama! I have never come in any contact with humans, yet I have with a demon!" Kurama explained, hoping Yomi would calm down. Unfortunately he didn't.

"That doesn't matter, that barbarian is disgusting and horrible! How many times do I have to tell you these things? Creatures like him are spoiled and rotten, which have no understanding for the balances of this world-"

"Yomi that's not true! Demons are fully aware of the balances in life, humans needed them to guide them so-"

"Enough! I'm not going to stand for those types of things anymore! I have heard enough of you're stupid and unrealistic views of life! So I'll set you strait right now: Humans are trash on the world, and anything that works with them is trash as well-"

"THAT'S NOT TRUE!"

"DO NOT INTERRUPT ME CHILD!" A wave exploded from him that threw Kurama back into a wall, causing some of the cuts under his shirt to reopen. "These things over consume and destroy constantly, HOW CAN YOU BE INTERESTED IN THEM? THEY'RE WORSE THEN DEMONS!"

Kurama grunted a little as he got up. Placing Youko on one of his shelves, Kurama straightened up. "To be honest I'm not quite sure why I'm interested with humans. As you said; they can't really understand the basics of nature on their own, however," Kurama looked right into Yomi's closed eyes. "I love demons! They are violent, cruel and powerful; true. But they also are sophisticated and have strong emotions that they often can't show. That's why humans need them to guide them, as long as demons are the most powerful species on land, humans are not in control. That's what I love about them; they're like sharks in a way. They keep everything under control, especially the humans." Youko looked up in shock at Kurama.

'Shuichi, so that's why… You are the first person who ever under stood the power struggle between those 2, and similarities between the 3 worlds. Shuichi, why is it that you are the only smart person under the sea?' Youko thought sadly as he looked up.

"It doesn't matter, you are forbidden from returning to the surface, or to contact the thing up there and if you do, I will personally make sure that the creature-"

"Hiei."

"What?" Yomi asked his son who was glaring at his father (which he still hasn't called dad).

"I will not stand for you to call him anything other then his name; it's Hiei, future lord of Alaric."

"WHO CARES?" Yomi yelled

"I CARE!" Kurama yelled back just as angrily, there were waves coming off him as well and Youko quickly hid behind something. In his present form, he would quickly be killed by the 2 mermen.

"And why, may I ask, would you care for such a pathetic creature? He is just another one of your test subjects after all."

"YOU'RE WRONG; my relationship with Hiei is completely different!"

"WHAT DO YOU MEAN?"

"HE'S MY FRIEND, I LOVE HIM!"

Youko gasped in shock and Yomi's eyes opened in surprise, for a moment he was lost for words, and then Kurama gasped in shock, understanding his mistake.

'Oh god, what have I done? Is this even how I feel?' Kurama thought. Glancing back at the statue, realization hit him 'I do...'

"Have you lost all pride as a merman, AS A SEA PRINCE? YOU ARE A MERMAN; HE'S A LAND WALKER- THE 2 WORLDS THAT ARE NEVER MEANT TO COEXIST WITH EACH OTHER!"

"I DON'T CARE ABOUT THAT! I've had it with those meaningless suitors you have sent for, and so are the rest of my brothers. I want to actually feel this way for someone, NO MATTER WHICH SPECIES!"

"Is that so? Kurama; I was hoping that it wasn't going to come to this, but you have left me no other choice! I will get through to you, no matter what." With that said, the trident started to give out dark energy and Kurama's eyes opened in shock and he quickly got into a defense position while shaping the water into his favorite weapon; The Shard Whip (god help us I'm bad at names TT-TT why is it no one has given me suggestions?).

Yomi sent a beam of energy at some of Kurama's shelves, Kurama thought ahead and brought the whip down on the lord's hands, forcing the king to let go in pain. The blast stopped just centimeters from the shelves; for the trident and its power were only affective when someone was physically holding it.

Yomi glared at Kurama, who got the glowing whip ready, and thorn like shards started to appear on it.

"How dare you go against your father's wishes? YOU UNGRATEFUL CHILD," Yomi then just lifted his hand and a fierce tide suddenly went at Kurama. Gasping, the redhead tried to counter with his own tide but it wasn't nearly strong enough and Kurama was throne back into the wall again, making a large crater. Kurama coughed up blood as many of his possessions fell around him.

Yomi wasn't done, using quick hands; he formed ice around Kurama's hands, neck, and most of his fin, leaving only his gills untouched. Kurama tried to counter but it was far to fast, and before he could do anything, h was chained to the wall by ice. Kurama tried to struggle, but he couldn't even move; because he was still so young he could not use his water power unless he could most his at least 1 part of his body. Defeated Kurama could only hang on the wall, while pain vibrated through his entire body.

"You know you're nothing compared to me, yet you still tried to resist using such a basic technique. Fool, I admit that was an original weapon made by you, and I am impressed with the Shard Whip, but using it against me was pathetic. It's time you learn your place child."

"Please…don't…" was all Kurama could manage but he felt the ice around his neck push his chin up, forcing him to watch Yomi and the destruction of his home. Yomi then picked up his trident, which started giving off a dark light again.

The color of the trident changed from a black purple to a golden color in a moment and with the lovely color, a power of destruction was released around the room. Kurama watched as blasts of energy destroyed one object after another, as shelves broke and slammed into others, as object he studied over for years exploded in front of his very eyes, and books he spent so much time learning about were blasted into pieces. He even saw a book of sign language be shredded into pieces; it took him so many years to understand and learn about that.

As he watched more and more his cries of protest got louder and louder, he even struggled against his bind more as he attempted to escape. Neither he nor Yomi noticed the cracks in the ice as he begged Yomi to stop.

Finally Yomi turned to the statue of Hiei and aimed his trident. Kurama's eyes opened wider then they ever had and with one last protest broke threw the ice that bound him to the wall. "STOP!" He yelled with all his might, but it was too late, by the time he escaped, Yomi had sent one last beam of light from the trident with only the thought of destroying on his mind. He never heard a word of his son's final protest as he sent the power of the trident into the statue, causing it to explode right in front of the sea prince's eyes.

Kurama couldn't stand it and sadly sunk to the ground with his tail bent under him, his out stretched hands, were now trembling as he stayed there on the ground, and slumped into a sitting position. The destroyed ruins that were so important to him now surround his hurting form. He was so destroyed from the emotional and physical damage, that he couldn't even lift his head. His arms were the only thing which stopped his shaking form from collapsing to the ground.

Yomi turned and saw his son out of his binds and he gasped. It was almost impossible for merchildren so young to use any kind of water power when they couldn't move; it was a flaw in water power. Clearing his throat Yomi decided to speak. "Now that you understand, you should realize that the land walkers are just a bunch of scrum right?"

"Shut up…" Kurama whispered quietly, but Yomi just continued.

"As you saw, there was no point in trying to preserve such useless stuff; it all was wasted; just like the humans.

"Leave me alone…" Kurama whispered sadly. He couldn't even correct the king even more.

"Hmph, Kurama, if you can't realize that the demon you loved is worthless then what can I do about you? Why do you refuse to understand-" But Yomi found himself unable to him criticize anymore. For there was one thing that Kurama never did, one thing that he never showed, which broke Yomi's heart right there; Kurama had never cried.

Yet right now unable to stand it any more, Kurama slowly lifted his head, showing his defeated eyes with tears falling from them. The tears of the merpeople were much different from those on land. When the merpeople cried, it was the color of pearls, and they never touched the ground. They just floated around, like bubbles. Unlike actual bubbles though, they never floated to the surface of the water, they just bobbed up and down at the same height until they popped and disintegrated back into a special dust. No one really knew how it worked, because no one thought it was too important, they were just tears after all.

Yomi watched as the pearls floated around Kurama until Kurama lowered his head again and started to actually cry hard. Youko watched in pain from behind a broken vase. He clenched his claws together and glared at Yomi, sending him a message. 'I warned you Yomi, when I am free of this curse; I'm going to kill you for hurting Shuichi so much. Mark my words Yomi, your end will be by me!'Youko growled in Yomi's head. Yomi didn't have the heart to respond and he slowly swam out of the cave, cursing himself for what he had done.

Youko tried to swim towards Kurama. "Shuichi…" He said trying to get the prince's attention. But the prince only stiffened, then continued to cry. "Shuichi… please speak to me." Yomi said softly, and he slowly landed on the ground and walked towards him.

"Just go away." Shuichi said while looking away. Youko tried to say something again but Kurama just whipped his head at him and yelled, "GET AWAY FROM ME YOU STUPID CRAB! I DON'T EVER WANT TO SEE YOU!" A small tide pulsed of Kurama and Youko flew backwards and landed on the dirt not to far away. Youko looked up sadly at the prince who gasped and looked away as more tears fell.

"We'll… talk later…" Youko said quietly and he left the cave through the same exit as Yomi, while looking back. Kurama had fallen to the ground and had curled up like a dog would; only he was sobbing. Youko's felt worse as he watched the sad sight and he swam away again. 'This was supposed to be a happy day for him, not the worse day of his life.'

Youko swam out of the cave and saw that the rock had been moved out of the way for him already. On his way out he saw Kuwabara, who looked like he had been crying as well. Of course there was no tear since he was a fish, but by his facial expression, you could tell he was crying. Youko glared and swam up to him, and grabbed both of his fins. "HOW COULD YOU HAVE TOLD HIM KUWABARA? THIS WAS SUPPOSE TO BE SHUICHI'S FINEST HOUR, NOT WORSE. WHY WOULD YOU DO THIS?" He yelled and Kuwabara glared and yelled back.

"I DIDN'T MEAN TO! I WOULD NEVER HURT KURAMA IN ANY WAY. I just… I-I flubbed up okay? I told Yomi Kurama saw a guy called Hiei, but I never said he was a demon. Yomi read my mind before I could make up an excuse on time. Then he told me to tell him the whole story or else…" Kuwabara told him. Youko sighed and looked away.

"So you told him, did you?"

"No, I said I was a man…well, male carp, and that I would keep my friend's secret until I died. But that just made him angry and he read my mind through force; no matter what I tried, I couldn't stop him and he learned everything anyway…" Kuwabara said sadly and Youko let go of his fins and landed on the rocks.

"I'm sorry for accusing you Kuwabara-san; I know you would never try to hurt Shuichi." He said and sadly looked up with a forced smile, and Kuwabara just laid down on the cold ocean floor. "I'm so sorry, I never mean for that to happen it's all-"

"Not your fault." Youko said and he glared up at the carp. "It's partly mine for not saving Shuichi in time, it's Yomi's fault for not listening, and some fault is on your blabbing… but, I'd say it's everyone's fault for not stepping up to get them to talk and understand each other sooner. It's everyone's fault, even the victim has some blame on him sometimes, but not this time."

Kuwabara nodded, "yeah, and we're gonna do everything we can to help Kurama through this right?"

"Right!" Youko said and they shook fins/claws on it.

"The time to act is now, so remember; lure him into this, as if he had a choice. We have to make this look as if this is for the boy's own benefit. So don't rush and screw it up." The Toguro brothers nodded in union, they had a plan to capture the young prince, and were not going to ruin it. After all, if they screw it up Karasu will either kill them, or sadistically torture them. Either way it would be bad.

Slowly, the 2 swam down from the ceiling, descending like snakes in the water. Kurama noticed the change in light and he wiped away his tears in his eyes and slowly looked up.

"Such a poor thing, isn't he little brother? Tortured by his own father, betrayed by his own friends; don't you feel pity?" The older one started.

"Yes Aniki, it is horrible."

"Don't you wish as well that we could do something?"

"No, I think we should do something; something that will help the young thing. After all, I'm tired at looking at the pathetic state."

"Who are you 2?" Kurama suddenly asked and put his arms up in a defensive position.

"We are the Toguro brothers, from the electric eel clans. We often search for people who are hurting, and depressed. When we saw you, we noticed right away how much you were bleeding from the inside, and we wanted to see what people thought about you. After talking around, he heard many sad and terrible tales. Like how you wee forcibly taken from your mother-"

"Or how you're always looked down on-" The younger eel interrupted.

"And many other stories that made our hearts break. We were just coming down to try and offer you assistance, when we saw Yomi destroying your sacred space." Kurama looked down again and closed his eyes before glaring up at them

"I'm sorry, but even though you came all this way to help me; there is nothing you can do. I'm sorry for being harsh, but no matter what you would do to cheer me up it wouldn't work, I don't think there is anything that can. Again I am sorry, but when word gets out, I will be the most hated person in the ocean." Kurama stated.

"Oh my but what would you do, if we told you we knew someone who could stop the pain. And make sure that you and your true love together forever." Kurama looked at the oldest eel confused before the younger one clarified.

"We wish to make sure you and prince Hiei get together, forever!" Kurama gasped and looked confused.

"Our master has all sorts of powers; I know he would be willing to help such a fine beauty like you." The older one insisted.

"But how…and who is this 'master' that you speak so highly of?" Kurama said suspiciously. He was not sure why, but he had a sense that these 2 should not be trusted. He also thought it was strange that they would go so far for him. He could swear they sounded as if they stalked him.

"Our master is a wise yet powerful person who had been banished long ago. His name though is Karasu, yet he has a title that gives everything the wrong idea about him. He is called the sea demon." 'Ya right, that is the right title for the jerk!' The older thought annoyed. For he and his younger brother had made a deal with the demon long ago. They had gotten what they wished, but the exchange annoyed the 2.

"The Sea Demon!" Kurama said shocked. He had heard many terrible rumors about that thing, yet no one had told him about Karasu's vow long ago. "I CAN'T, LEAVE ME ALONE" Kurama hollered as he backed away from the eels.

Elder Toguro got annoyed and was just about to say something when younger Toguro intervened. "We understand; we just wanted to help after all…" He said and he hit a flat stone at Kurama. It landed just in front of him and the prince gasped, it was a piece of the statue, to be specific: Hiei's eyes. "I just hope the land walker who was so precious to you can deal with the emotional blow when he realizes that you'll never talk to him again. But I suppose a prince's reputation is more important then his love for another, and their possible return." Those words stabbed Kurama like a knife.

While staring into the eyes, he remembered the slight hurt in Hiei's eyes when he thought that for a brief moment, that Kurama didn't exist. He had told Hiei that he wished to be his friend, so why would he abandon him now?

"Wait!" Kurama called out to the retreating eels. They turned to see the Prince; arm outstretched as if reaching out to them for help. The fish had taken the bait.

"I'm still angry though!" Youko said annoyed and he crossed his claws and turned his back on Kuwabara.

"I SAID I WAS SORRY! I DIDN'T MEAN TO TELL!" Kuwabara yelled a bit scared and angry and the same time.

"True, but because of you I was forced back into this, and it takes a while to turn back you know." Youko said coldly while referring to his crab form.

"Well sorry for damaging your stupid pride."

"You're not forgiven!"

"I WAS BEING SARCAS-huh?" Kuwabara stopped yelling as a shadow just swam by and covered them. Youko looked up in confusion and his eyes widened in shock as he saw Kurama following 2 electric eels just above them.

"KURAMA-"

"SHUICHI," Both Youko and Kuwabara yelled at once and Youko grabbed Kuwabara's fin as the carp took off (He's not very fast in that form as you might have guessed). Kuwabara caught up to him and tried talking to the young prince, "Kurama who are these 2 eels? Where are you going?" Kurama didn't even look at him when he replied.

"These are the Toguro brothers, and I'm headed toward Karasu's home!" Youko gasped and grabbed Kurama's fin.

"NO SHUICHI! Don't go to that mad man, what ever he promised is not worth it"-

"Then you 2 might as well tell my father, huh Kuwabara? You always were good at blurting out my secrets. And Youko, you might as well stalk me as usual, because the hot headed lord will be angry if you don't, and anyway, he just wants to protect me right?" Kurama said angrily. Youko let go, and Kuwabara stopped and Kurama swam faster ahead.

"Come on, we have to save him." Kuwabara said and he went under Youko who was still recovering from the blow.

"…Right," was all the ex-thief could say, as he was carried away.

Kurama swallowed loudly when he saw Karasu's lair. There was a skeleton of a giant squid at the entrance, which seemed to lead into caves that led deep underground. Just looking at it, gave him a bad feeling. 'Maybe this isn't such a good idea…' He thought shivering a little.

"Come this way, young Sea Prince?" The older one said and they went through one of the tentacles of the dead squid. Kurama stalled for a moment, before taking in a deep breath, and forcing himself to fallow the eels. It only got scarier as he entered the cave. It was very dark, but there was just enough light so he could see everything around him. When he got to a certain point, he gasped when he saw mermaids and mermen alike, all carved in stone, with the most terrified and horrible expressions carved into their faces. 'It feels like I'm going to meet Medusa…' Kurama thought as he swam through the caves.

When they were almost there, he gasped when he saw brown creatures all around him. The eels just swam by as if nothing was there, but Kurama could only float where he was for a second, as the seaweed like creatures talked. He saw their terrified eyes, and all the heads facing him. He couldn't make out what they said, but he knew that they were trying to warn him of something, telling him to save himself. He yelled out in shock when 1 shot out and wrapped around his arm, while trying to pull him back. Before more could jump out and do the same; Kurama swam forward as fast as he could, shocking the poor creature and forcing it to let go. Kurama did not stop swimming until he couldn't hear the poor creatures anymore.

When Kurama finally slowed down, he looked back and sighed in relief when he couldn't see the brown seaweed like creatures anymore. Looking forward Kurama slowly began to swim again. The Toguro brothers were no longer in sight but he didn't see any other tunnel, so he suspected that they could not be too far ahead.

Seeing some light at the end of the tunnel, Kurama knew that Karasu could not be far ahead. So he calmly swam forward, thinking that the surprises were finally finished. Unfortunately there was one left…

Kurama almost yelled when his arms were suddenly grasped from behind. Kurama was forcibly turned around and he almost screamed in fear. The thing that grabbed him had part of his head split open with some brain leaking out. It was covered in algae and shells both oyster and clams. What could be seen of his skin was covered in large cuts and scars, all of which seemed to be infected. However, he also had long black hair and giant pointy ears.

"Do not fall for it. Run away, before he gets you. Whatever your problems are, they won't be fixed! RUN- RUN AWAY! GET OUT OF HERE! DON'T FALL FOR IT!" Kurama tried to get out of the monster's grip but found the thing to strong. He continued to struggle as the thing tried to get him away. The creature itself was attached to the wall, by something black coming out of his back. Kurama didn't know what that was, but he was in such a panicked state that he hardly noticed.

A bomb suddenly exploded on the thing's body, causing it to let go of the prince, it screamed in pain as 2 long grey arms went around the prince and pulled him backwards. Kurama was held against someone's strong, yet lean chest as he was dragged backwards and into a different room entirely.

A shell suddenly went up from underground and blocked out the monster from sight. Kurama could only shake while the arms steadied him and held him close in a comforting hug.

"Are you alright, little prince?" Kurama stiffened at the voice. It was deep, and highly hypnotizing. Slowly Kurama turned his head until he was looking right into Karasu's violet, dark eyes. "Forgive my rudeness, but we have not been properly introduced. My name is Karasu, the sea demon. I called you here, so I could help you, my sweet little Prince."

End Chapter

Yaaaay, that took forever to write. I'm sorry about Karasu's lair, but I wanted to make it extra creepy, and if anyone is wondering how Kurama knows about Medusa, it's because he read about her in a ningen book.

So, please review and reply, and I'll warn u now that that creepy guy at the end is not an OC! Anyone wanna guess who -? well please enjoy and review. Sorry again if Kurama seemed a bit ooc at the end. -bows-