I'm on the ball this week! Five chapters in just as many days! I'm really happy to be making so much progress on this story. Unfortunately. though, each chapter brings me closer to the end... But all good things have to end eventually.
This is the longest chapter so far. I didn't really intend for it to end up being as long as it is, but there was so much that I wanted to include in this chapter, and I didn't especially want to split it into two chapters. So all I can say is that this chapter is what it is, and I'm happy with it.
As usual, Yu Yu Hakusho rightfully belongs to the wonderful Yoshihiro Togashi, who, sadly, I am not. All I own are the ideas in my head and my OCs.
"She's disappeared?" Kurama repeated the words that had just been spoken to him. The voice of the usually calm redhead had changed just slightly, something that could only really be detected by sensitive ears. The boy sounded almost upset, more-so than he normally would have been, from hearing Madarao's words. The neko nodded a little.
"She was gone when I came back in this afternoon. I thought she might have gone out to wander the grounds or something, so I went looking for her. When I didn't find her, I was hoping that she had come back here," she said to her friend. The two were standing outside of Ashton's room talking. Kilala worriedly twisted the ring she was wearing on her right hand before continuing to speak. "But as you can see… Ashton isn't here at the temple." It was about seven that evening. The best the two could figure, Ashton had been gone for at least nine hours.
"Let's look at this all again." Kurama opened the door to Ashton's room and looked inside. At first glance, everything seemed to be in order, except...
"Ashton was not alone this morning," the redhead noted. He stepped into the room, a small frown gracing his handsome features. "There's a new energy signal here." A slight shimmer on the floor by the window caught his eye. He knelt down for a closer look, and he ran his fingers through the powdery substance on the floor.
"I've dealt with this stuff before," he told himself. He thought back to his life as Youko, when he'd once encountered the sleeping powder that now shone on his fingers. It came from a plant found only in the Demon World, and once it was inhaled, it went to work within a short amount of time, knocking the victim out for hours. Though it did not happen often, the sleeping powder was known to have other effects on the victim.
Hearing Madarao's footsteps behind him, Kurama rose. He showed her the powder on his fingers before he wiped it onto his shirt sleeve.
"I'm afraid that Ashton did not leave here of her own accord."
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The first thing Ashton knew as she came to her senses was that she had a pounding headache. The kitsune lightly massaged her temples as she sat up. She opened her eyes to find that she was in an unfamiliar room. She couldn't remember how she'd come to be there, but she had the nagging feeling in the back of her mind that she didn't belong there.
The oak door was pushed opened, and a woman stepped into the room. She approached the bed that Ashton was in and bowed to her.
"It's wonderful to see that you're awake, princess," she said as she straightened up. She smiled cheerfully. Ashton blinked several times as she studied the woman and looked around the bedroom.
"Princess?" she repeated, her eyes finally resting on the woman again. She nodded twice.
"My name is Kilala, m'lady. I'm one of the servants here at the castle. We were afraid that you wouldn't remember… It seems that your traumatic experience has suppressed your memories." She sighed heavily and turned so that her back was to Ashton; she didn't want the girl to catch the grin that had lit up her face. Kilala walked over to a door on the other side of the room and pulled it open to reveal a large walk-in closet. She selected a dress of blue satin and black heels and then returned to Ashton's side. She gently placed the dress at the foot of the bed and the shoes on the floor.
"Please, m'lady, get changed quickly. Your father wants a word with you." Kilala bowed once more before leaving the room. Ashton ran her fingers over the satin for a moment.
"Something's just not right," she mumbled as she got out of bed. She couldn't place what it was, though, so she pushed the thoughts to the back of her mind. She dressed quickly and ran a brush through her hair, trying her best to untangle the silky silver strands. She finally gave up and left the room, listening to the gentle rustle as the satin rubbed against her legs while she walked. Kilala met her in the hallway, and she wordlessly led Ashton through the maze of corridors. After what seemed like ages, they made their way into the throne room.
"I have brought the princess to you, King Merihk." Bowing once more, Kilala took her leave.
The floor was tiled in marble, and Ashton's heels clicked lightly as she walked farther into the room. Corinthian columns stretched from floor to ceiling on the sides of the room. Crystal chandeliers lit up the room, the prisms casting small rainbows on the ceiling above them. Massive windows curtained in white lined the walls one after the other. A look at the outside world revealed little aside from snow; for as far as the eye could see, there was no vegetation.
"Are you feeling better, my dear?" The deep voice startled Ashton, and she whirled around so that she was facing the thrones on the platform in the back of the room. Chuckling, the man who'd been watching Ashton stood and stepped down onto the tile. As he walked closer to her, Ashton was able to get a better look at him. He was a kitsune just like she was. He was much taller than she was, even with her heels on. His hair cascaded down his back like a silver waterfall, stopping at his lower back. Eyes of liquid gold held Ashton's gaze, and though they were friendly at the moment, she couldn't help but feel like they hadn't always been that way. He seemed to be many years older than she was, but there was not a wrinkle to mar his sharp, clean-shaven features.
"I'm feeling fine now, sir," Ashton replied, gazing up at the man Kilala had identified as her father. He nodded and walked over to one of the windows. For several long minutes, he said nothing as he looked out at the snow covered land.
"The group that kept you from us for so long," he finally said, "will pay dearly for what they did. I do not doubt that they will attempt to take you again, my dear Ashton, but we shall let them try all they want to. We will be better prepared to protect you this time." The throne room fell silent, and it stayed that way until Merihk finally dismissed Ashton with a slight wave of his hand. After she'd gone, Kilala come into the room.
"This is working in our favor almost too well," the neko commented. She laughed. "I never would have thought that sleeping powder would also make her forget everything about who she really is." Merihk, at the moment, did not share Kilala's joy.
"It's far too early to be rejoicing," he told her. "Getting her here was not the hard part of this plan. Getting past those pesky detectives that she calls her friends will be the real challenge. When it comes to protecting the ones close to them, I've seen up close that none of them play around. We'll definitely have our hands full in the near future."
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Two days had passed since Ashton had disappeared. Kurama and Madarao had seen little sleep, having stayed awake as much as possible to try to track down any leads as to where their friend could have been taken. So far, they hadn't had very much luck. The group was currently sitting in Koenma's office waiting for the prince to make an entrance; the child sized ruler had called them in that day to discuss Ashton's disappearance.
"This toddler is wasting our time!" Yusuke exclaimed, frustrated. His words earned him a dirty look from Botan. The reaper opened her mouth as if to berate him, but she closed it again when the office door opened.
"You would do well to remember that I am far older than my dashing good looks suggest," Koenma said as he walked in. Instead of appearing as a toddler, he was in his teenaged form. In his arms were a manila file and a thick book, both of which he dropped onto his desk before sitting down.
"We have managed to pinpoint Ashton's location," the demi-god informed them. On the monitor behind him, a pair of pictures appeared. The one on the left was of a snow-covered town. In the background of it was a castle, of which the second picture was.
"Based on what you were able to tell us of the girl that recently showed up at Genkai's, Kurama, we were able to track her, and thus find Ashton and the man who we think is behind all of this, Merihk." He turned slightly in his chair so that he could see the pictures. He pointed to the first one. "This is the northernmost town of Winterhaven, located deep within the Silverloch Mountains. The castle that you see is Snowcrystal Castle." Koenma cleared his throat as the pictures were replaced by a third, one of a kitsune family of four, one male and three females.
"For centuries, Winterhaven was ruled by the Kumari family. Shown in the picture are King Adrian, Queen Takei, and the princesses, Delacora and Ismene," he explained. Pausing, he looked at his audience, a slight smile on his lips. "I believe you know Ismene better as Ashton Kumari."
"The hell?" Madarao exclaimed, eyes wide as saucers. "You're telling us that Ashton is some kind of princess?"
"Precisely," Koenma replied, "which is why we were not able to locate any records of her here. When she ran away from Winterhaven decades ago, everyone assumed that she was dead, when in fact, she'd only changed her first name. Anyway, King Adrian and Queen Takei married Princess Delacora off to the prince of another country years ago. Ismene, being their firstborn, was to be the ruler of Winterhaven in the event of their deaths.
"But when the two were murdered years ago, there was no sign of the princess, so the dynasty died with the king and queen. No one stepped forward to claim rule of the lands. The people grew used to living on their own and having control of their own lives." Koenma paused to take a breath, and Botan took the opportunity to ask a question.
"If the lands and people have gone for so long with no ruler, why would Merihk choose to kidnap Ashton? Even if she is Princess Ismene, it's unlikely that the people will allow themselves to be ruled again." Koenma laughed sadly.
"He doesn't look at it in the same way that you do, I'm afraid," he replied. "Winterhaven was known for having the largest, strongest army of the three worlds. If Merihk is able to put power into his hands through Ashton, there's no telling what destruction he'll be able to cause in her name. He could even potentially start a war between the three worlds if he so desired."
And that's that! Thank you for reading, and please make sure to review! Reading reviews makes me feel very, very loved, and they motivate me to continue on.
I'm not sure if I'll have a chapter up tomorrow or not, because I have to go out of town tomorrow, and I'm not sure how late I'll be getting back home. If I don't upload tomorrow, I promise to have a chapter for you guys Friday!
Much love,
Pandah