Oasis
Chapter Four: Aruai's Secret
"Yusuke! Stop pushing so hard; damn it!"
"Well sorry you can't take it you damn dog!"
"What did you call me?"
I dropped the snake demon Aruai and sprang into the air with all the lithe a cat possessed, which was a surprising feat for a wolf demon. The half demon realized his mistake before I landed on top of him with a murderous gaze. He fell to the floor while smacking his head against it and I pinned his hands down with one of my own while securely keeping his legs from even trying to kick me off.
The glare on my face as my fangs poked out from behind my lips threatened the boy even further because I could rip out his throat if I chose to. I gave a guttural snarl as my tail began to bristle.
I wanted an answer from Yusuke, and I was determined to get it.
"Faye, would you please kill Yusuke later? We must give Koenma the snake demon." Kurama's voice told me in a sigh.
My ears gave a little twitch and my head turned to stare at the other two demons. The menacing red glow in my eyes subsided to its ruby color as I blinked several times. It dawned on me what I was doing and I gave a cry before jumping off of Yusuke. I turned towards him and out stretched my hand with a funny smirk.
"So sorry! I don't know what came over me-!"
"You tried to kill me! That's what came over you!"
"I have no idea what you are talking about." I said with an overly innocent tone in my voice.
Yusuke was about to give me a nasty reply when I heard someone screaming down the hall towards us. I turned my head just as a pink robed, blue haired grim reaper swam into my view. She obscured my entire vision as she frowned down at me with a look that said she wasn't happy.
"H-Hello Botan…"
"Oh don't you 'hello Botan' me, Faye! You and the others ran off before I could tell you what it was that Koenma forgot to mention." She scolded.
My ears pinned themselves down against my head in a manner that showed I was sorry and knew that I was beginning to be punished. Of course, the grim reaper didn't seem to notice because she continued talking to me in a loud voice.
"Koenma was supposed to tell you that Aruai could kill you if you touch the water or anything else that he created on his own. But you left before I could warn you!" She yelled.
I rubbed the back of my head and tried to act nonchalant, but that wouldn't work for me. At least for the time being.
"Well…I guess we're okay since he didn't harm any of us!" I said with a smile.
"He killed your eyes and nose with the water, idiot." Yusuke muttered.
I turned around to bark at him but was silenced by the yelling that came from what sounded like Koenma's office. My ears twitched a little because it sounded like Koenma was in great distress. Though I doubted that it was a really big deal. I glanced at the team standing before me and a smirk filled my lips.
"Shall we go and see what the great toddler is screaming about now?" I asked them.
Before any of them could even spare me a nod, I ran through the hallway. Yusuke screamed at me to get my ass back here and I only laughed at him and burst passed the doors to Koenma's office. I saw thousands upon thousands of stacks of papers all over and there was one hand sticking out from a pile that came to my waist.
"Prince Koenma, would you like to have me save you again?" I asked him.
There was a scream from the inside of the pile that I could only assume was yes. I smirked and jumped into the pile using my black wolf form. I mainly dug my snout through the piles of papers until I brushed against Koenma's sleeve. I bit into the fabric before finally pulling him out of the rubble. That was when Yusuke and the others finally appeared.
Everyone looked at me with questioning eyes but I didn't give them the answers that they were obviously wondering. I released Koenma unceremoniously on the marble floor and he glared up at me for doing so. I merely licked my lips and pretended not to notice as I turned towards the rest of my group.
"How many times has this been that Faye has had to save your ass, toddler?" Yusuke asked with a smirk.
The apparent toddler glared at the words that his detective used and then he looked at me with a frown. I swiped my tail back and forth lazily before taking on my demon form once again.
"So what were you looking for that caused you to be buried under all of this…stuff?" I questioned.
"I was looking for the file that contained everything that we know of from Aruai!" Koenma exclaimed.
My ears twitched as I turned my head behind to see if the snake demon was here yet. The obvious was that he wasn't, and neither was Kuwabara. I could only assume that meant the big dummy was pulling him around, trying to catch up to the rest of us.
"And by chance, what did you find?" Kurama's voice broke through my thoughts, causing me to snap back to attention.
"Well…I've found that he has been lurking in the deeper regions of the Demon World, along with someone by the name of Kroiu. Both are about as old as you, Faye," I scrunched my eyebrows together then in confusion but said nothing. "I have yet to figure out why the snake demon came here to fight with you, though."
I bit the inside of my lip while thinking about the last name Koenma had said. Kroiu sounded so familiar to me. I couldn't understand why at all. I don't remember ever hearing it, that was for sure. Then again, I have forgotten things about the other worlds that my garden hasn't been around. For all I know, I may have met someone by that strange name.
"I can answer that, if you'll let me."
I blinked and saw that Aruai was standing before me with his pitch black and deep gold eyes staring with a mischievous smile. I growled while jumping away from him, causing my back to run into Kurama's chest. I barely noticed as the snake demon deepened his grin.
"Kroiu would have come himself, but I advised him against it. Our sweet little Neviz got him to stay, since she doesn't remember. Oh, I guess I should mention Neviz is standing before us, getting ready to fall to the floor in pain." Aruai said while looking at me with a dangerous glint in his eyes.
My tail stopped is tireless movements at that female name. I had heard it from somewhere else. I couldn't remember where and just when I realized what the demon had said on that last part, a sharp pain bit into my head. My feet collapsed underneath myself and I went crashing towards the floor. Something made my head bounce once, twice, before it rested. I felt my entire body being rained on by spam after spasm as my eyes squeezed themselves shut.
Yusuke questioned what was wrong with me but when I opened my mouth to answer, a wolfish whine escaped me. Someone reached out to touch my shoulder as another stepped in front of me. I heard the screech of a sword being drawn and I realized that it was Hiei. I didn't doubt that he was putting that katana of his to Aruai's throat. I knew the fire demon would kill the snake if the latter tried anything else.
"What the hell did you do to Faye, you punk?" Kuwabara screamed.
I heard a deep chuckle as I writhed and gasped for air through the tightening pain on my head.
"Long before your Faye-" Aruai spat my name so coldly I would have shuddered from it. "-Ever became a wolf demon, she went by the name of Neviz. If any of you were smart and understood the language of the fairies, that would mean something very terrible. She may have told you that she had become a demon because she was captured, but it was actually for reasons deeper known to me and the other twelve Ambient."
I felt the pain in my head lessen when he said that strange name again, but I doubted that it was going to last a long time. For all I knew, the snake could say it just to see me writhe once more.
"…George, go get several of the guards and take Aruai to a holding cell. Make sure he can't escapes." Koenma said after what sounded like some mental deliberation.
A huge weight stomped passed me as someone with gentle hands brought me back into a sitting position. I managed to open my red eyes and see Kurama's green ones staring back at me.
"Ah, now that won't be necessary, Prince Koenma. Our sweet little fairy over there will make sure I won't get free. Isn't that right?" The snake demon asked me with a chuckle in his voice.
I turned my eyes towards the snake demon and let out a snarl I knew was more feral than the ones I've ever made before.
"You'll wish you were put in hell, snake. I will make sure of that." I barked at him.
This only caused the demon to laugh as guards came and shackled every flexible limb on his body. I was glad to see him being hauled off. Before Aruai left, though, he turned towards me one more time and the tip of his lip twitched upwards. My tail bristled at the sight. I didn't like it at all.
"For your sake, you'll wish I had burned out your eyes permanently when I had the chance. Because with the luck of your friends, none of you will be able to hide from Kroiu long." He said.
And with that, he was gone.
I let out a hollow growl before getting to my feet with Kurama's help. I turned towards Koenma with my teeth clenched tightly together, though it may have been hard to tell at the moment.
"Koenma, who is Kroiu?" I asked him.
"Well…All I know for sure is that he is someone you don't want to mess with. Many of my Spirit Detectives have hunted him over the years and they've all been killed. None have come back alive." He informed me.
I growled once again but took a deep breath to calm my nerves, which I hoped worked.
"I'm going to bed to relax. Can you please tell me when and if you find anything else about Kroiu?"
"Would you like me to look for Ne- I mean, your other name?"
"May as well. I've got no memory of ever being called that though, so I doubt you'll find anything."
I walked out without another word and the other detectives hustled after me. I heard Kurama walk towards me and he remained in step as I went to my room.
"Do you think Aruai was lying when he said those things?" Kurama asked.
"Hmph, I doubt it." Hiei murmured.
"Yeah, that snake doesn't seem to lie when he's around me. I can only guess what goes through his head when I threatened him." I said.
We continued on in silence and each went to their rooms for the night. I was glad for it when I was left alone. I enjoyed going to bed with no loud noises or intrusions in my room. It gave me time to think about the important things of the day.
Like what the hell I was going to do about Aruai's words. Or to figure out who Kroiu and Neviz were.