A/N: Okay. I just looked at the last chapter and realized that the site didn't allow for the symbols I used to indicate mindspeech (that conversation between Hiei and Li) so I'll make a point of finding something new to use for the next time. Sorry about that to all of you who got confused at that point. I hoped you followed it, but if you didn't, let me know and I'll fix it, if I don't do that anyway.
Disclaimer still stands. If you don't remember what it said, refer back to either chapter two or three; I forgot which one I put it in...
Ah, what the heck. Just read, 'kay?
The next morning, when I woke, I was surprised to see that it was still dark out. Sitting up, I glanced at the clock. 4:27. I groaned and flopped back down onto the pillows, hoping to be able to get some more sleep.
Half an hour later, I finally admitted defeat and got up to go into the closet and then into the bathroom. I emerged at 5:23 wearing jeans and a black shirt that had the words 'Just because you don't know me doesn't mean I'm nice' written across it. As I pinned my hair up into a slightly messy bun, I examined myself in the mirror, making sure I could conceal my emotions even from Hiei. Finally satisfied, I turned away and grabbed the bags I'd packed the night before. A quick spell I'd learned a long time ago made the heavy luggage almost as light as air.
Going downstairs, I dropped my bags by the front door and went on into the kitchen, where I found several bulging packs. Opening one, I found it full to the brim with non-perishable foods. I smiled; the girls had done a good job. Walking over to the fridge, I opened it and scanned its contents for something for breakfast. I finally located half a carton of eggs, some orange juice, and a package of bacon. Pulling them and some pans out, I set to work making breakfast.
Twenty minutes later, I turned from the stove to smile at the still sleepy faces of Yusuke, Kuwabara, Hiei and Kurama, who had been woken by the smell of cooking bacon. "Here, eat up." I said, placing a plate of eggs and bacon in front of them. They didn't bother even thanking me, just grabbed a fork and knife and set to it. I smiled again and continued making breakfast. Hakana poked his head out of a cupboard as I opened it to find bread for toast.
"Breakfast time?" he asked hopefully, sniffing the air. I smiled and nodded, reaching up to put him down on the table.
"Yup. Eat up, now; we've got a long journey ahead of us."
Soon, the girls joined us and I finally sat down as well to eat. Kurama and Hiei had disappeared up to their rooms, supposedly to get their baggage. Yusuke and Kuwabara, after eating for a further ten minutes, did the same, leaving the girls, Hakana and I alone.
I sighed as I leaned back in my chair. "We'll leave as soon as the boys bring their stuff down." I said to no one in particular. The girls all turned to look at me.
"Yeah…" Keiko said, trying to hide her worry for all of us. I smiled at her reassuringly.
"Don't worry." I told her for what felt like the twentieth time. "We'll all come back." She sighed.
"I know, but I can't help but worry." She said, Botan and Yukina nodding their agreement. I couldn't think of anything else to say, but thankfully, I was saved from having to say something by a loud series of thumps coming from the direction of the stairs. Surprised, I got up and quickly walked out to the landing--
--And promptly burst out laughing. Behind me, the girls had followed and they also started to giggle. Buried under several gigantic bags was a rather ticked Yusuke. As he struggled to push his luggage off of himself, Kurama and Hiei came down the stairs, both carrying a respectable number of bags and having no trouble at all with them. When they saw Yusuke, Hiei smirked and Kurama looked worried for a moment before smiling. They carefully stepped around the unfortunate human to stand next to us. Kurama glanced at me.
"Should we help him?" He asked, raising an eyebrow. I couldn't answer for a moment because I was laughing too hard. Finally, wiping tears away as my laughter died, I nodded.
"Yeah, we probably should." I said, walking over to stand over the pile of bags. Muttering a quick spell under my breath, I touched each bag. As I touched them, they started to float up into the air. By the time they were all floating at about head level, everyone was staring at me. I raised an eyebrow.
"What?" I asked, fully aware of why they were staring and enjoying it immensely. "It's just a simple flotation spell." Yusuke was actually gaping up at me from his position on the floor.
"Howdahe'didyadodattodem?" He said in one long word, as if he hadn't heard me just say it. I smiled at him and tapped the side of my nose in a secretive manner.
"That… is for me to know, and you to never find out." I said teasingly, turning back to the kitchen. "You can place your luggage by the front door where mine is." I called over my shoulder. "And could someone please go see if Kuwabara is having trouble? We need to leave as soon as possible." In the kitchen, I quickly worked a different spell to reduce the size of the food packs as Hakana, who hadn't gone out to see what had happened, watched. I stopped when they were small enough to fit in the palm of my hand. Grabbing an empty bag, I put the miniature bags inside and went back out into the hall, carrying Hakana on my shoulder.
I wasn't quite sure how all of the bags the boys and I had packed ever fit into the hall, but they did, making a gigantic pile of different colored bags. Starting at the end closest to me, I began the shrinking spell again, putting the bags into the same bag as the food as I did. Half an hour later, I was finished and had only two full bags instead of about fifty. Going into the living room, I looked around at the others, who were sitting around in different areas, not doing much of anything.
"Okay, you guys." I said, my voice sounding unnaturally loud in the near silence. They looked up at me. "It's time to leave." The boys nodded and started to get up and go out. The girls followed to say their good-byes. As soon as they were out, I went over to the bookcase to find a certain book. Jesa's Guide to the Makai and the Artifacts and Persons Found Therein was right were I had put it, two days ago, its red leather cover looking as innocuous as ever. I pulled it out and looked at it for a moment. Then Hiei spoke from behind me, making me jump.
"Looking for a particular book?" He asked, looking up at me with a knowing look on his face, as if he was daring me to deny that I was looking for the book I now had behind my back. I stared at him for a moment as I tried to find my voice.
"Yeah." I said, as casually as possible. "It's the book I was reading a couple of days ago. It was pretty good and I didn't get a chance to finish it." Hiei gave me a doubtful glance, but apparently decided to go along with my explanation. Silently, I shrank the book and tucked it into my back pocket. The fire demon in front of me looked past me to the bookcase.
"I think you put it over there." He said, pointing to the shelf next to me. I turned to look; he was right, the book I had read after he had stopped me from reading the Guide was sitting there. I pulled it off and turned back around.
"Thanks." I said. He nodded and we went back out to join the others in the hall. Kurama, Botan and Yusuke turned to look at us as we came out of the living room. "Ready, you guys?" I said, not sure what the looks the three were giving me meant, but not sure I liked what it was. They nodded and I gave Yusuke and Kuwabara the packs to carry, telling them that if they wanted to come along, they'd do what I told them to or they'd get left behind; it got Yusuke's mind off of whatever it had been about, anyway.
Keiko opened the door and held it as we trooped out. Before I could follow the boys, though, Botan pulled me back, her expression probably the most serious one I had ever seen on her face.
"Li…" She started, giving me the same look she'd given me before. I frowned slightly, wanting to know what she wanted.
"What is it, Botan?" I asked a bit impatiently, wanting to be on my way. "Can you make it quick? I need to go."
She gave an exasperated sigh. "Li, must you keep making Kurama feel as if he really isn't anyone special to you?" she asked. I frowned even more.
"What do you mean?"
"Look." She said quickly. "Kurama's more or less in love with you, right?" She didn't wait for my nod before continuing. "So if he sees you spending time in a room alone with another boy, he's obviously going to get jealous, right?" This time she waited for my hesitant nod. "So try not to spend much time alone with the other boys on the trip, okay? I don't want to have to explain to Koenma why one of our spirit detectives is depressed." I understood now what the expression she and Kurama had had on when I came out of the living room with Hiei. She had been worried about Kurama and slightly disappointed in me and he had been a bit jealous. Yusuke had probably been his usual self, always trying to dig into everyone else's business.
I sighed. "I'll try." I promised, turning to go. This time, she let me. I waved at them as they closed the door and turned to face the boys. I gave them an excited smile, completely opposite of how I was feeling about meeting with Chikara again. "Alright, then. Let's go!" A moment of concentration resulted in a swirling portal in front of us. Several moments later, the hilltop was deserted.
-One week later-
Yusuke grumbled as he trudged up the hill behind us, Kuwabara panting behind him. Kurama, Hiei, Hakana and I were already at the peak, looking down over the valley on the other side. The usually energetic human collapsed with a groan next to us. I gave him a pitying glance before looking back to the view spread out before me. He moaned as he slowly sat up.
"Why couldn't you just make a portal straight there?" He whined for the millionth time. Hiei answered without looking at him.
"She's explained it about a billion times, baka; any big use of her power would immediately announce our presence and location to the demons in the Tower." He said tonelessly, obviously wanting to just tear Yusuke's throat out and end the torture for us all. Then he frowned slightly. "Though, this doesn't look like the Tower of Hyre to me." Hakana piped up before I could answer.
"That is because it isn't, Master Hiei." The wood imp squeaked. Hiei glared at him.
"Then what is it, pipsqueak?" I smiled slightly to myself; Hiei had been rather withdrawn for the past week, so it was a relief to hear him speak in anger.
"Those…" Hakana said slowly, ignoring Hiei's angry tone. "Those …are the Singing Stones."
Below us, on the valley floor, was a circle of tall stone monoliths, looking as if the wind had one day decided to just pick up some stones, then drop them at random angles into the ground. I knew better, though. The Singing Stones were one of only a few remaining artifacts from a group of demons that had existed about two million years ago. No one knew the purpose of the Singing Stones, but they had been named such because when the wind blew from a certain direction and at a certain speed, the whole valley came alive with a haunting sound that seemed to reverberate from a person's very bones. Hiei didn't seem to appreciate their unique beauty, though. He frowned at them.
"If this isn't the Tower of Hyre, then why are we here?" He asked of no one and everyone. I answered, not looking at him.
"We are here because there is something I have to do here before we go on to the Tower of Hyre." I glanced at him and pointed out across the valley and beyond. In the far distance, so far that it was only a small smudge against the darkening sky, was a tall pillar of stone. "See that pillar?" He nodded, still frowning. "That's the half-way mark to the edge of the territory that surrounds the Tower, at a radius of four hundred miles."
I ignored Yusuke's groan and started down the hillside into the valley. Keeping my eyes on my feet and where I was putting them, I called back over my shoulder. "We'll camp tonight at that copse over there." I pointed to a small stand of trees that had a brook flowing through it and was about a hundred yards away from the Stones; I would need the boys as far away as possible if I was to keep my promise to Chikara. As I thought about the demon, I felt a chill go up my spine and my attention lapsed, causing me to slip on a loose spot of shale. Someone caught me before I had gone even two feet and I looked up into Kurama's face, the closest it had been throughout the whole trip so far.
"You okay?" He asked as he helped me back up. I nodded, looking down the steep grade I had almost gone straight down to hide my sudden blush.
"Yeah, I'm fine. Just a little shaken up, that's all." I said, starting my descent again and not looking him in the eye. The climb down seemed to last forever, but we were all finally at the bottom. Apart from that one incident, I hadn't slipped again, but the others had each had their troubles. Everyone except for Hakana, that is; he had been on my shoulder the whole time.
As the sun went down, the wind picked up and a little test told me that we would be in for a pleasant surprise, considering that Yusuke and Kuwabara, nor Hiei and Kurama had ever been to the Singing Stones before. We had unpacked some of the food and Kurama was cooking it over a low fire. The rest of us busied ourselves with putting up makeshift tents and laying out pallets to sleep on. As we sat down to eat Kurama's cooking, which was delicious as ever, the wind changed direction and I held up a hand to stop the others as they ate and talked.
"Shh." I said quietly, listening to the night sounds. I smiled at their confused faces. "If you listen, you'll hear why those stones are called the Singing Stones." Just as I finished speaking, the first note echoed across the valley, followed quickly by several more. Within five minutes, the Stones were in full swing and the boys were captivated by the tuneless melody they were hearing. I smiled sadly as I watched their expressions change from confusion to awe. Edging backwards, I melted into the shadows, the black clothes I was wearing helping me to blend in with the darkness. Now was the best time to sneak away. The boys weren't paying attention, so they couldn't stop me. I knew they'd be fine; they had Hakana with them and the wood imp knew his way from here and I had taught both Hiei and Kurama how to use the shrinking and flotation spells, so they could get into the bags. Even so, as I snuck away from the small fire, I couldn't help but worry for them.
A/N: How fun! Personally, I wouldn't mind getting transported into my own story if it meant I could get to see and hear the Singing Stones. Still, Chikara's waiting for Li there, so it might not be a good idea to go at that particular time...
Anyway, thanks a bunch to all of you who are reading this! It's nice to know that there are some people who actually care! Until next time!
Haliaetus