A/N: Wow...So close to the end...another long chapter and then the epilogue and I can start posting the sequel...Oops. You weren't supposed to know that...(except, if I really didn't want you to know, I wouldn't have typed it, would I? Hmm...) Still, it might be incentive for those of you reading this to continue reading and wait for the sequel, which I will begin posting when I get home from camp next week. For more information, refer to my profile page thing on these dates.
Disclaimer still applies, but I really shouldn't have to tell you this by now. I mean, it should be obvious that this story isn't part of the actual series...
Ah, well. That's just how things are, so you might as well skip the rest of this pointless babble to read. Not that there's anything left to read of this babble...
-Nine weeks after Li-Sanya's arrival in the Tower of Hyra, two weeks until the New Year's, the Day of the Hunt-
(Hiei's POV)
I looked across the plains to the dark area on the ground about six hundred feet in front of me that was the inverted Tower of Hyre. Beyond it was the Silent Forest, its trees swaying in the breeze that swept through the forest without a sound. The others were spread out next to and behind me, sitting or lying on the ground like I was. Yusuke and Kuwabara were amusing themselves by searching through some of the bags that Kurama'd restored to their original size. I ignored them, preferring to examine the ground we had yet to cover to listening to their endless chatter. Over the past few weeks I had perfected the ability to hear only Hakana or Kurama's voice, tuning the two idiots out.
As if my thoughts had summoned them, Hakana and Kurama sat down next to me, also looking out over the plains. I noted out of the corner of my eye that Hakana was visibly trembling as he looked on the place where he had been imprisoned for so long. Kurama didn't look much better, but I knew it was simply because he'd been getting less and less sleep the closer we got to the Tower of Hyre. He tried to be the one everyone could depend on, but I could tell it was starting to wear him thin. His mind was a jumbled mess most of the time, except when he thought of Li.
I surprised myself as I thought about that. When had Li-Sanya become Li to me? I knew Kurama called her that, as did the others, but I had always held her as Li-Sanya in my mind, the queen and demon I knew she was, rather than the person they seemed to know her as. Putting it down from listening in on Kurama's thoughts too much, I turned to look at him.
"So, what do you think?" I asked, already knowing the answer, but feeling a need to fill the silence. Kurama sighed.
"I don't know." He said softly, still gazing at the Tower of Hyre. "Sometimes I want to get there as quick as I can, to help. Then, other times, I don't feel like there's any urgency: that I could take forever to get there and it wouldn't matter in the end." He glanced at me, his green eyes, usually so accepting and understanding, now wearied and desperate, as if he'd aged about a thousand years over the past few weeks. I nodded; I understood how he felt, probably better than he knew. Before I could say anything, though, Hakana piped up in his high, squeaky voice.
"This is bad." He said, his voice kept low and secretive. He wasn't looking at us; his attention was focused on the Tower, or right before it. I looked at the Tower again, this time using my third eye. Along the base of the tower were little ant-like figures of demons, all carrying something or other into the Tower. I could see larger demons standing by with long whips and, as I watched, one of them lashed out and caught a young-looking rabbit demon on the back, causing the unfortunate demon to scream, its voice deadened by the distance. Other than that, I could see nothing wrong with the scene. Frowning, I turned to Hakana, who was now rocking back and forth on the ground where he was sitting.
"What's so bad about it?" I asked, not particularly liking the wood imp at the moment. He kept rocking back and forth, ignoring my query.
"This is bad. This is very, very bad. No use trying to stop it either." I could have just about screamed my frustration, but I clamped down on the impulse tightly, taking a moment to calm down; losing my temper with Hakana invariably lead to him holing up and refusing to speak with anyone and we'd never get anything out of him then.
"What…is…so…bad?" I asked painfully slowly. Hakana barely glanced up at me, his attention riveted on the scene at the base of the Tower.
"The Hunt is starting." He said in reply, though I wasn't entirely sure he'd heard me. "The Hunt is starting. This is bad."
Kurama saw my fraying temper and stepped in to prevent an explosion. If I had been capable of gratitude at that moment, he would have had it all. "I don't understand, Hakana. What's so bad about a hunt?" Hakana looked at him, eyes wide.
"Not just a hunt, the Hunt!" He squeaked, pointed ears standing straight out from his head. "The Hunt is where the Dark Lord takes his Hunters into the forest and hunts the Stag, with all of the demons he invited watching. They also bring their Hunters and whoever catches the Stag gets one thing from the Dark Lord. No matter what it is, the Dark Lord must give it. Hakana has not seen the Hunt before, but others tell him that the Dark Lord has won for the past five thousand years straight." Hakana finished talking and looked back to the Tower, still muttering under his breath about it being bad. I looked at Kurama over the top of Hakana's head. Instead of talking out loud, I opted for the other choice open to me.
Kurama, can I talk to you for a moment? Privately? The fox demon looked up at me, surprised, but nodded. We stood up and left Hakana to stand under a small stand of trees nearby, out of easy hearing distance of the humans and Hakana. After checking for any eavesdroppers, I turned to look at Kurama's confused expression.
"What did you want to talk to me about?" He asked. I took a deep breath, hoping he wouldn't flip out on me.
"When Hakana said that the winner of the Hunt could request of the Dark Lord any one thing and be given it, no matter what it was, didn't that send off a little warning bell in your head?" I asked, hoping he had noticed what I had and that I wouldn't have to spell it out for him. My hopes went out the window as he shook his head, still confused. I sighed, rubbing my temples.
"Okay. Look at it this way. Chikara sees Li-Sanya as his possession, right?" He nodded, still not seeing where I was going with this. "So the other demons probably would see her the same way, right?" This time the nod was a bit slower, as if he was starting to understand what I was getting at and not wanting it to be true. I had to agree with him on that. "So if they can ask for one thing-" Emphasis on 'thing'. "-Then they could conceivably ask for Li-Sanya, presuming that they know that she's even there, though I wouldn't put it past the scum bag to show her off like a trophy." Kurama had stopped listening. He put his hand out to steady himself against a tree as what I was saying sunk in. I felt his mind switch from despair to outrage and I closed my mind to the torrent of anger sure to follow. Sure enough, he turned on the tree and broke it in half easily, the branches cracking against the ground. Three more followed it in the same manner before he went up against one that didn't want to break just yet. He strained against it for a moment, his anger level rising fast. I knew the tree didn't stand a chance. Nodding sagely as it creaked and snapped, I watched as it toppled over to join its neighbors. That was the last of the trees, so he turned back to me, most of his anger spent, but still needing something to take the rest out on.
"Hiei…" His voice was hoarse, as if he'd been shouting too much and too loud. "Hiei, we need to get to the tower as quickly as we can. Ask Hakana if he knows any back routes we can take; I don't want to risk asking him right now. As soon as we get there, I'm finding Li and then I'm going to kill that filthy scum." I just nodded and turned away, keeping my eye on him; I had seen him in this sort of state only once before, but that had been once too many. I didn't put much faith in Chikara's defenses if Kurama found him now.
Several repeated questions and answers later, I knew as much as Hakana did about getting into and out of the Tower without being seen. I went back to join the boys, perfectly willing and able to singe their sorry behinds if they lagged after I told them what we were going to be doing. Standing over them, I waited the second it took for them to realize I was there. As they scrambled to their feet, I quickly gave them a run down of what had happened and what we were going to do. They took all of about three seconds to grasp the general idea and then they were all for going that very second. I actually had to grab their shirts and hold them back to prevent them from running off to the Tower on their own.
After tying them up to a couple of trees to keep them in one place and out of the way, I quickly shrank the bags they'd been looking through and put them back into the carrying bags. Tossing them down next to the humans, I untied them, giving them instructions that basically included stay out of the way, carry the bags and don't do anything idiotic, though I doubted that they'd be able to do all three at the same time. Only when I was sure that they'd follow my every order without question did I turn to get Kurama, only to find Youko in his place. He shrugged at my surprised expression.
"I thought this way I could possibly blend in with the 'honored guests.'" He said by way of explanation. I just raised my eyebrows, not so sure about it. Then again, he did have a way of making what he wanted come to life…I shrugged and went on to get Hakana.
Twenty minutes later, we were sneaking through the trees that grew right up to the Tower's base. As we crept through the intermittent shadow and sun, I couldn't help but feel uneasy. The forest was too quiet, the trees too evenly spaced, their branches too perfect, for it to have been natural. As I glanced around, I could see where it got its name. The Silent Forest. Nowhere around me did I see any sign of life, other than the noiseless trees I made a mental note to ask either Kurama or Li how it had come about, providing we got out of this alive.
Just then, Hakana stopped and I almost stepped on him. The wood imp was in his element, literally. His brown skin and hair, as well as his green and brown clothing let him blend in to the point of near invisibility. There had been times where the only way I had known where he was had been because I could sense his mind and spiritual energy. Now, he turned and signaled for us to be quiet and waved us forward slowly. Cautiously, we crept forward and I was again made very much aware of Youko's stark contrast to the dark trees and the area under them. Hakana pointed to the line of bushes about five yards away.
"The tunnel entrance is over there." He said in a low squeak. I could just make out the slight unnatural line near the ground in the shape of a circle. Keeping my eyes on it, I nodded.
"I see it." I replied in a low voice. "Now, you'll get in and find your cousin, Ito, right?" The wood imp nodded, his dark eyes troubled slightly.
"Yes, Hakana will find Ito. You go and find the place the Lady is staying. Watch out for the Hunters!" He warned. I nodded again; he had told us what the Hunters were and we were all anxious to avoid them. Behind me, Youko growled deep in his throat.
"Okay. Enough already! Let's just get in!" He said impatiently. I glanced back at him, slightly annoyed, but understanding why. Taking a second to listen and cast my mind around for the energy of anything around us, I gave the signal and we all darted forward to dive under the bushes. I had managed to land almost directly on the hidden entrance, so I quickly pulled the hatch cover up, wincing slightly as the grass on top ripped with an unnatural sounding noise in the deathly silence. Pulling it closed after the others had gone in, I conjured a small flame, lighting the darkness. Youko was staring at it, so I raised an eyebrow.
"What?" I asked quietly, but still hearing echoes. He pointed to the flame I held above my open hand.
"The prophecy. 'Darkness will light the path, Fire will show the way.'" He whispered. I stared at the flame as well, slightly awed that it had actually come true. Then I shook my head to dispel any thoughts other than those needed for this mission. I beckoned to the others, starting forward into the pitch black with my small flame.
-Same day, a few hours later-
(Li-Sanya's POV)
I looked myself over in the mirror that Chikara had had put in my room for the occasion again. The dark green dress whispered as the silk folds followed my movements. My silver hair, tail, ears and eyes complemented it nicely (I had changed the color to prevent Chikara from noticing that I had all of my power). The bodice was a bit low, but at least it wasn't the first dress he'd presented. I tugged slightly at the wide sleeves that came down to about midway down my forearm. Satisfied with the way it looked; I turned to the vanity, picking up the malachite pendant that matched the dress perfectly. There was also a pair of teardrop malachite earrings that, when I put them in, winked gently in the soft, artificial light. Ready, I slipped on a pair of silver slippers and went to the door, knocking three times. The cougar demon stationed outside opened the door almost immediately and, bowing, offered me his arm. I accepted and he guided me up the winding hall to the reception room where Chikara would be meeting his guests. Outside the large oak double doors, the cougar demon let me go and opened the door, bowing me in.
The room inside, large enough to fit two of the boys' mansion inside, was decorated lavishly with bright cushions, tapestries, banners, streamers and, of course, the guests' elaborate outfits. Mine was simple in style, but as I walked down the carpet leading to the high seat where Chikara was already seated, I heard the jealous hisses from many of the female guests and the appreciative whistles from the male. Approaching the seat where Chikara held court, I stopped and swept into a low bow.
"My Lord." I murmured, my eyes cast down, hating him, the Tower, the demons around me and hating myself for having to do this. The cat demon looked up, slightly surprised, but then a large smile crossed his face and he cut off the conversation he'd had to stand up and come down the steps to me. I heard everyone else's conversations die as they saw the sudden movement of their host. He stopped a foot or two in front of me, still smiling, but the look I saw in his eyes made my blood run cold.
"Ah, Li-Sanya, how nice of you to join us." He said, his low voice silky smooth as he took my arm and guided me up the steps he'd just come down. "Please, sit down so I can introduce you to the rest of my guests." He said, putting pressure on my arm until I sat down in the seat next to his, a slightly smaller, high-backed chair upholstered in a dark material that felt almost like velvet as I ran my fingers along it. Turning, Chikara addressed the room, his voice amplified with his power.
"Friends and peers, all. I would like to present to you a very special demoness." I felt my face start to heat up as everyone switched their attention from Chikara to me. He continued. "Here before you is none other than the former Makai queen, Li-Sanya." There was polite applause. Chikara turned to me, a slight smile on his face.
"Show them what you can do." He said quietly, not amplifying his voice this time. I smiled slightly and stood, holding my hands up. Everyone looked back to me, but this time I wasn't paying attention to them; all of my attention was caught up in working a piece that was sure to leave even the most unshakable demon in awe. My smile broadened and I looked down at my audience. For a moment, nothing happened and they started to whisper. My smile only grew.
All of a sudden, one of the demons in the back, a buxom dragon demoness, shrieked and stumbled forward into the demons in front of her. They turned to look at her and in doing so saw what had made her yell. As they comprehended what they were seeing, even more demons began to shriek and yell. I just stood there, smiling, as chaos ensued. Next to me, Chikara was just about out of his mind trying to see what was happening, as were the demons closer to the front. He turned to me, a confused look on his face.
"Li-Sanya, what's going on? I can't see!" I waved his protests down with one hand, still watching the activity below me.
"Just watch and wait." I told him, watching a section of the wall intently. "Just watch and wait."
Just then, one of the other cat demonesses in front squealed and all but jumped into her male companion's arms. Others began to cry out and I glanced down from the wall momentarily. Along the ground large human rats, each about two feet long, were crawling around, sniffing and looking around with their beady red eyes. They weren't real, just illusory images, but they acted real, making the demons around them that had never seen a rat before scream. Then I looked back up to the wall in time to see the next stage. I barely registered the dying down of screams as the rats disappeared in small groups.
The wall, covered in tapestries depicting past Hunts, previous Lords and Ladies and scenes from daily life of people who had been in their prime about fourteen thousand years, suddenly seemed to silently crumble apart. This was also illusion, but that didn't stop the demons from racing to get out of the way of blocks of stone as wide as they were tall and twice as long that came tumbling down. Through the seemingly now exposed space came something not even the most imaginative demon there could have foreseen.
With its long, tapered nose, intelligent eyes, curving horns, long, razor claws, scaly, armored hide, brightly colored feathers and jewel colored throat, the chimera was something out of a nightmare. It was a cross between what the humans called a velociraptor, a bird from the Makai that was well known for its insatiable appetite, and another human animal called the rhinoceros. I knew that most of the demons here didn't know what the two were, though they would recognize the distinctive colorings of the Makai bird, so the sight of it would be even more horrifying to them.
Just as it brought its head down to snap up a cowering dog demon, I waved, causing it to dissipate into a thin blue smoke. The rest of the illusion also rapidly disappeared, leaving the wall completely intact and as it had been before. I sat down again, satisfied with the result of my show. Chikara was the first to recover and he turned to me as the guests started to recover as well. His face was alight with excitement and awe and his voice reflected it.
"Li-Sanya, that was…that was superbly executed! Simply grandiose!" I winced internally, but kept a gracious and slightly smug smile on my face. I had forgotten about his rather extreme obsession with descriptive words that led him to use some of the oddest words to describe things. He turned back to his guests, most of who had recovered to the point that where if you didn't know what to look for, it would appear as if they hadn't just been cowering from an illusion. "Ladies and gentlemen, Her Highness, Li-Sanya!" This time, the applause was much more appreciative and enthusiastic. I smiled even more as I scanned their still frightened faces.
Breaking into the applause, though, came a shrill siren and everyone looked up expectantly, all of their thoughts about their recent terror wiped away as if they'd never been. A large set of doors on the opposite side of the hall from where I had entered opened and the crowd surged forward, filling the space and spilling out in a living tide. I stood and Chikara took my arm, guiding me off the dais and down towards the door with the other demons. Briefly, I wondered what was so special about the next room, but I didn't get much of a chance to dwell on it, because just then, we came through the doors and I saw why.
The whole chamber was decorated in shades of blacks, purples, greens and whites, creating a rather mysterious atmosphere. Laid out on the floor were many long tables, already set and decorated with candles made of small will-o'-the-wisps trapped in clear crystal globes, making the shadows thrown against the wall dance as the light shifted. Already, demons were finding spots around the tables, but one area, towards the front, was being left clear, the demons going by not even looking at it, as if it didn't exist. Chikara guided me towards this area and I suddenly realized why it was being reserved; we were the ones who were going to sit there. As I passed by the tables to my spot, I glanced around the room surreptitiously, looking at all the demons Chikara had invited. My gaze fell on a group of tittering female vulpine demons and I frowned slightly. Turning my head a bit more, I tried to see what they were giggling about. When I saw why they were so excited, I just about tripped over my own feet.
Youko was standing by a chair, his hands resting on the back lightly, as he waited with the others for Chikara and I to sit down first. He had worn a mask and his clothes were finer than any I had seen on him before, but I knew it was him. Just then, Chikara and I arrived at our seats and I had to take my attention from the fox demon to glance at the cat demon by my side, seeing as I had no idea as to what I was supposed to do. Thankfully, he didn't address me, but said a rather long and boring speech about how glad he was to have them all here and how he hoped that this Hunt would go well. While he talked, I let my gaze wander again, looking for Youko, but also looking at the other guests, trying to decide which, if any, would participate this year.
Finding Youko again, I watched him, hoping for him to look at me, but he kept his gaze on Chikara. Finally, I was tired of waiting for him, so I took the initiative. Gently easing a tendril of my thoughts into his, I spoke quietly, so as not to scare him enough that he gave himself away.
Youko, what the heck are you doing here? I asked quietly, but intently. I watched as his eyes widened slightly, but thankfully, Chikara had just made a rather outrageous claim, so it didn't look out of place.
Li? His mental voice sounded tentative.
Well, I'm sure as heck not Chikara or Hiei. I answered dryly. Of course it's me, you dolt. Now answer the question. Why are you here, of all places? This time, his voice sounded just a little smug.
Oh, trying to help you get to the amulet. He answered breezily, his facial expression never changing. We figured that if there was a significant distraction, you could get to the amulet and destroy it before the scumbag beside you knows. I smiled slightly at his tone as he mentioned Chikara. Then I had to cut the connection because the 'scumbag', to use Youko's words, had finally stopped speaking and was now saying one last bit.
"And so I hope that we will all have a fun and exciting evening. To your health, friends." He raised his glass, a goblet made of opaque green crystal and the others all raised theirs.
"And to yours, friend." They replied in unison, giving the traditional response and drinking deeply from the goblets. Then we sat and the food came out, floating on trays buoyed by servants waiting just outside the doors. The dishes levitated onto the tables and we started to eat, enjoying it immensely.
A/N: Yup. A cliffhanger dealy. 'Cause I love you guys so much that I want to torment you until the next chapter is updated. Really. I'm being serious here.
Not! I was kidding, but I am going to leave it there until the next chapter, 'cause I want the last actual chapter to be a monster, which it will be. Something like 16 pages on Word, size 16 font, Times New Roman style...yeah. I had a bit too much time on my hands when I was writing this...and what's really sad is that the sequel is already at 103 pages (five less than Roses for a Queen) and not even close to being finished. That one is going to be a true monstrosity to break up into chapters...
In the meantime, though, I still have to finish updating this one, so check back tomorrow for the last chapter and the epilogue, which will be posted as a separate chapter even though it barely comes up to a full page of writing. Hoo boy. This is going to be fun...
Haliaetus