I am alive! I have unexpectedly come upon a LOT of free time so I figured I'd make the best of it and get these stories done. Wow. Here's thirteen already. I think I might be bringing the story to an end in the next five chapters maybe. I don't know, maybe I'll think of something else I want to put in here and make it longer. You'll have to wait and see. Now read on!
Chapter 13: Past.
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"Let me go!" Meranii yelled, kicking and hitting Ryuun. Right now he had her over his shoulder and was carrying her toward a room. "Don't you dare put me in there! RYUUN! I swear, if you put me in there you will have to walk around as a female for the rest of you life! Put. Me. Down!" Ryuun walked through a large set of doors, ignoring Meranii's ranting, and threw Meranii down on a couch that was in the room. He ran to the door and closed it quickly behind him. "Let me out of here!" Meranii yelled, slamming her fist on the door, a barrier shimmering in time with her hits. She tried the handle several times, but it wouldn't budge. Upon not getting an answer, Meranii kicked the door one more time and turned around to face the room.
The room was large, with a step down in the center. There were large windows on the side away from the door and on either side were multiple doors. In the step down were a couch, coffee table, and a large entertainment center. There were plants around the room and a bunch of book shelves. Sango and Yukina were standing by the windows, both looking pissed. Kagome was sitting on the couch, Shippo in her lap, looking up at the ceiling in anger, while repeating 'sit' over and over. Keiko was off to the side, punching the wall, while calling it Yusuke. Boton was sitting on the step down while muttering 'how could he do this to me'.
"How could Inuyasha side with them?" Kagome suddenly shouted. "As soon as I get out of here I'm going to sit him so hard he will never see the light of day again!"
"As soon as I get my hands on Yusuke…" Keiko said in a deadly calm voice, smirking evilly when several thoughts came to mind. Boton finally snapped out of her stupor and glared at the wall.
"I think it might just be worth the reprimand to punch that midget upside the head!" Boton shouted, joining in on Kagome's and Keiko's rants. Sango and Yukina were glaring at the wall. Meranii laughed at the image that the girls made, getting their attention.
"How did they manage to get you all?" Meranii asked. Kagome sighed.
"Kurama was trying to convince me that is was for the best to come in here and when I refused Inuyasha grabbed me and bolted for up here." Kagome said. "I didn't even have time to sit his butt before he was gone." She huffed.
"Stupid Yusuke said that he wanted to talk to me in private so we came up here and then he bolted and I wasn't able to go after him." Keiko growled, getting sounds of annoyance at Yusuke from around the room.
"Koenma wasn't going to make me come in here but then he had a talk with Lord Sesshoumaru and the next thing I know I'm being jumped by a bunch of ogres and thrown in here." Boton said annoyed. There were some looks shared around the room. "What?" She snapped.
"Oh nothing." Meranii said. "What about you?" She asked looking to Yukina.
"Kazuma brought me here." She said, looking a tad bit annoyed. "I can't hurt Kazuma so I was basically powerless." She said. Sango made a sound of annoyance.
"Houshi groped me and when I was beating him that idiot pip squeak attacked me from behind. Then next thing I know I'm waking up in here." Sango growled, fire dancing in her eyes. "They are both DEAD!" She snapped.
"What about you, Meranii?" Keiko asked. Her eyes got darker.
"F-ing Ryuun knows that I didn't want to hurt him." Meranii growled. "He just threw me over his shoulder and walked up here." She suddenly got a menacing look on her face. "Oh but you can bet that I have gotten rid of my reluctance to hurt him." She said, laughing evilly. They girls all jumped into a conversation about what they were planning as revenge while Shippo and Kirara sat off to the side and watched.
"Wow, these guys are scary when they are mad." Shippo said, getting a meow of agreement from Kirara.
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On the main floor of the luxurious mansions, one floor below our captive girls, sat the men that were the topic of discussions. A collective shiver ran through the spins of most of them. Yusuke placed his game controller down and looked around the room.
"Anyone else get the feeling that their life is being threatened?" He asked.
"Not me." Kuwabara said, smiling. He had random objects thrown at his head.
-/-
"How long do they expect to keep us in here?" Kagome asked after they had simmered down slightly.
"For as long as it takes to kill Jigoku; which will take them forever." Meranii said, sitting next to Kagome.
"He's that strong?" Sango asked, sitting on the step down.
"No. They're that weak, and stupid." Meranii growled. "Stupid males."
"Do you mind if I asked you something?" Yukina asked, sitting by Sango.
"Sure." Meranii said tiredly.
"Why is it that you know so much about this Jigoku person?" Yukina asked quietly. The rest of the girl in the room looked at Meranii expectedly. She was looking up at the ceiling, her head lying on the back on the couch. She was quiet for a minute.
"I used to live with him." Meranii said after a long pause.
"But," Keiko started. "you like you despise him. What happened?"
"I found out some things." Meranii said shortly. When no one answered Meranii looked at them to see them looking at her expectantly. "Fine. I'll elaborate. We're gunna have to start from the beginning, so it might take a while." The girls moved around, making themselves comfy.
"It started after the 'incident' that happened to the Phoenix people. After I had taken you three to your human parents, I started walking around, not knowing were else to go…"
-/-Flashback -/-
There was a young Meranii walking through the forest. Her cloths were ripped, her hair was a mess, and there were scratches all over her face, her arms, and her legs. She walked through a group of bushes, rubbing her eyes. Her foot got caught on an uprooted tree and set her falling. She rolled down a steep hill and landed in a heap at the bottom of the hill, surrounded by bushes. Tears started falling from her eyes as she laid there.
"Mommy." Meranii cried. "I need you Mommy." She started sobbing.
"I'm here." A soft voice said. Meranii stopped sobbing and looking up. Kneeling above her was a woman with long silver hair, and bright silver eyes. There were streaks of different colors going through her hair. She was wearing a flowing black kimono that had silver flames around on it. "I'm here honey."
"Mommy?" Meranii asked, looking up. "Mommy!" Meranii jumped up and hugged her mother. "Your ok! I though you were hurt! You told me not to come back, so I didn't know for sure." Meranii started sobbing loudly. Her mother petted her hair, and rocked her.
"Shh. Honey. It's ok. I'm here now." Her mother said. Meranii stopped sobbing and pulled away from her mother.
"I did what you told me." Meranii said. "I put them somewhere safe."
"You did well." Her mother said smiling. "I need you to do something else for me."
"I'll do anything." Meranii said, smiling slightly.
"I need you to come home." Her mother said softly.
"Is it ok?" Meranii asked.
"Yes dear. It is safe." Her mother said. "You must make your way home."
"Can't you just take me home?" Meranii asked. Her mother shook her head.
"I must be going." Her mother said. She held her finger to Meranii's lips when she tried to say something. "I'm sure you can make it. I must leave you now. I will be waiting for you at home. But you must hurry." Her mother started to fade.
"Mommy! Don't leave me! I can't do it alone!" Meranii tried to grab her mother but she had already gone. "Mommy." Meranii whispered. She got up and started running. "I'm coming Mommy!" Meranii said out loud. She ran for a while, not slowing her pace. There was a noise off to the side, causing Meranii to look that way. Before she could look forward, she ran into something hard and fell to the ground.
"Watch where you're going!" Some one snapped. Meranii looked up and her eyes caught sky blue ones. Standing in front of her was a tall man, with brown hair put up in a high pony tail. He had on brown skins and wolfs surrounding him.
"A demon!" Meranii exclaimed in a shushed voice, scurrying away from him. She scrambled to her feet. "I'm sorry." Meranii said, wiping the remaining tears from her eyes. The demon gave her a questioning look.
"What kind of human are you?" He asked, smelling the air. "You smell weird."
"I'm not a human." Meranii said quietly.
"A demon." The demon stated. "That makes more sense. Why are you afraid of your own kind?"
"I'm not a demon." Meranii said quietly. The demon gave her a confused look.
"Half-breed then?" The demon asked. Meranii shook her head. "What are you then? Not human. Not demon. Not half breed. What else is…?" The demon stopped talking and looked at Meranii blankly. "Phoenix?" The demon asked quietly. Meranii's eyes widened at the tone in his voice and she tried to run. The demon appeared in front of her. "I've never seen one up close." The demon said thoughtfully. "I pictured you bigger. Are all of you a bunch of shorties?"
"I'm only eight." Meranii snapped. The demon nodded. "I have to get home, please let me go." Meranii tried to walk away again, but he got in her way again.
"Where are your parents?" The demons asked, searching the area quickly, slight fear in his eyes. Meranii's face got sad.
"My daddy's dead and my mommy is hurt." Meranii said. "I have to get home." The demon stared at her.
"I can take you." The demon said. He squatted down and motioned for her to get on. Meranii didn't move. "Come on kid. I ain't gunna hurt you. That would be cowardly." Meranii climbed on to his back slowly. She squeaked in surprise when he stood up quickly. "Where to kid?" Meranii pointed in a direction. The demon took off in that direction.
"Why are you helping me?" Meranii asked softly into his ear. "Mommy said demons don't like us."
"I'm not like most demons, kid." The demon said. "The names Kouga, of the wolf-demon tribes."
"I'm Meranii, heir to the throne." Meranii said. Kouga stopped suddenly.
"Heir?" Kouga asked.
"That's what everyone calls me." Meranii said, smiling slightly. "I don't know what it means though."
"Wow." Kouga said, running again. "You should keep that to yourself for now kid." Kouga said. "There's a bunch of people that would take advantage of that. Why are you out here by yourself anyway?" Kouga asked. Something wet hit his shoulder. He turned to see Meranii crying.
"It was my sister's and my birthday celebration. They were turning one, I turned eight. There was a big party and me and my best friend snuck out of the party to go see my sisters. They were too young to be at the party long. While we were playing with them, some people started screaming." Meranii hiccupped. "My friend and I grabbed my sisters and hid in the closet. Then my mommy ran in the room. I asked her what was wrong and she said that my friend and I had to take my sisters and run. She gave me three letters and three necklaces. She told me I had to find a safe place for each of them to hid, then find a place for me and my friend. I didn't want to, but she made me and told us to go through the secret passage in the fireplace. Before I left I heard the door to the room open and a man yelling. My mommy told him to burn in h-e-l-l," Kouga smiled at her cuteness. "but then I heard mommy scream. I ran and hid my sisters, but I couldn't find my friend. I was looking for him when I fell. My mommy came to me and said I had to come home, so I was, and then I met you." Meranii smiled at Kouga.
"Why do you think your dad is dead?" Kouga asked. Meranii was silent. Kouga turned to see her with her face hidden.
"When we were running, I stopped and looked through a hole in the passage. I saw my daddy fighting a man, the other man had his back to me, so I couldn't see his face. My daddy ran at the man, but he made daddy drop his sword, and then stabbed him with his own. He let daddy's head rest on his shoulder, and daddy saw me. He whispered for me to run, so I did. Before I left I saw him fall." Meranii was sobbing slightly. Kouga was silent for a second.
"Are we almost there?" Kouga asked. Meranii looked up and around.
"Stop!" Meranii shouted suddenly. Kouga stopped so suddenly the he almost fell over. Meranii wiggled down from his back and ran through some trees.
"Hey!" Kouga yelled, following her. "I thought we discussed the whole alone thing." He stopped talking and looked around. They were in a clearing with a small pond, with a waterfall flowing into it. The pond was a deep red color. Like blood. Meranii was kneeling next to a body. It was of an old woman with short curly silver hair. She had white wings on her back; they were stained red with blood.
"Nanny." Meranii said slowly. Kouga walked up. Meranii looked up at him. "She was my nanny." Kouga nodded and made her stand up.
"It's not good for a child to look at something like this." Kouga tried to make her leave, but she went over to the body and tried to pick it up. "What are you doing!" Kouga asked surprised.
"She has to be inside the kingdom, or her soul won't rest in peace." Meranii said, tear flowing heavily down her face. "I have to get her into the kingdom." Meranii tried to drag her toward the pond. "I have to." Kouga walked up and picked up the body.
"Lead the way." He said. Meranii smiled at him and walked toward the pond. She held her hand over the pond and a rock path rose up from the pond, leading to the waterfall. She walked on it, Kouga behind her. When she got to the waterfall, she placed her hand in it and a doorway opened up. Meranii walked in, Kouga behind. They walked through a short tunnel and came out into an area with a city in it. What was left a city anyway. Meranii's eyes widened as she looked around.
All of the buildings, once standing, were crumbled to the ground, fire on most of them. Kouga placed the nanny down by another body. Everywhere they looked, there were bodies. Men, women, and even children lay motionless all over the ground. Some had their wings out, some didn't. Meranii looked around, her eyes wide, and tears flowing from them.
"Mommy." Meranii said, looking around. "Mommy! Where are you? I'm here Mommy."
"Quiet." Kouga said. "What if the things that did this are still here?"
"Mommy said it was safe." Meranii was, rushing through the massacre. "Mommy!"
"Mmm." Someone moaned in pain. Meranii rushed that way and found a lady trying to sit up. She had long black hair and black, silver speckled, eyes.
"Maiya!" Meranii exclaimed, running to her side. "Your ok."
"Meranii?" The woman looked up and Meranii, tears came to her eyes. "Your ok." She started coughing badly. "Have you seen my son? Is my boy ok?" Meranii paused.
"Yes." Meranii said, smiling through tears. "He helped me hide my sisters and is hiding with them now." Maiya relaxed and laid on the ground, closing her eyes.
"Thank the gods." Maiya said, going into a coughing fit again. "Your both ok."
"Don't move." Meranii said. "I'll go get help."
"It's too late dear." Meiya opened her eyes, and they landed on Kouga. "A demon! Run Meranii. I'll hold him off!"
"No." Meranii said, trying to calm Maiya. "He brought me here. He's my friend. He's good." Maiya didn't look convinced, but a coughing fit disrupted her. "I'll go get help."
"It's too late for me dear." She coughed some more. "Just go help the others."
"But," Meranii started.
"Just go dear, and tell my son I love him, with all my heart." Maiya's body went slack.
"Maiya? Wake up!" Meranii tried to shake her. "You have to wake up. You can't sleep now. Please." Meranii started sobbing. She stopped shaking Maiya when a white light flew up from her body and zoomed toward the castle. Meranii moved away from Maiya and stared walking toward the castle. They walked into the castle, through the halls, up a flight of stairs and into a room. In the room were three cribs and a heaped figure against the floor. "Mommy!" Meranii exclaimed, running to the figures side.
"Meranii." The woman said happily, though labored. "You made it. That's good."
"I'm here Mommy." Meranii looked down to see a large bleeding hole in her mothers' stomach. "You're hurt!" Her mother nodded.
"You must listen, I don't have much time." Her mother said.
"I'll help you Mommy. Just tell me what to do." Meranii said. Her mother held a finger to her lips.
"When I die," Her mother said.
"But you won't." Meranii said forcefully. "Kouga can help you. Right Kouga?" Kouga stepped forward.
"If I can." Kouga said.
"See, you'll be ok." Meranii said hysterically. "You will."
"Meranii, please." Her mother said. "You must listen, what you need to know has yet to be taught to you in your studies. You must know." Meranii nodded and didn't say anything else. "When one of our kind is born, they are born with a gift. For each Phoenix the gift is different. When a Phoenix dies, their gift is transferred to the to-be-born child of a pregnant Phoenix woman. If there are no pregnant women, then the gift gets passed to the closet living relative or friend if the person has no relatives. In a time like this, when such a large number are killed, their gifts go to the closet, purest, living Phoenix. That is me, for the moment."
"Can't you heal yourself then?" Meranii asked hopefully. Her mother shook her head.
"The one that did this, made it so I couldn't heal." Her mother said, breathing heavily. "I don't have much time left. When I pass on, all of the gifts that are residing in me now, will be passed on to you. You are still so small, still unable to use your own gifts, so it is going to be a large stress on your body. You have to find someone to teach you how to use your gifts correctly."
"You'll be ok Mommy." Meranii said stubbornly. "Kouga will help you."
"Kouga?" Her mother asked, looking behind her daughter at Kouga. "Of the wolf-demon tribe." Her mother stated. Kouga nodded. "Will you watch over my little girl? Can you keep her safe?" Her mother asked. Kouga was silent for a second.
"Yes I will." Kouga said, nodding his head.
"Thank you." Her mother said, closing her eyes. "Thank you."
"Mommy! Please don't die!" Meranii said, giving her mother a hug. "Please! I don't want to be alone again." Her mother patted her head. Meranii grabbed her hand and gave it a squeeze. Her mother squeezed it back.
"You will never be alone, as long as you have your sisters, and your friends." Her mother smiled, glancing at Kouga. "Watch over your sisters for me. Make sure they stay safe." Her mothers grip on her hand went slack. "Grow up good, Meranii. Never forget, you are the princess of the Phoenix people. I love you and your sisters, and I'll never stop." Her mothers' voice faded and her hand fell from Meranii's.
"Mommy?" Meranii asked. "No, Mommy. I still need you! Mommy!" Meranii screamed, hugging her mother tightly. A bright light grew around her mother, causing Meranii to sit up. The light went from her mother and hit Meranii in the chest, knocking her backward. She rolled to her side and rolled into the fetal position. Kouga ran up to her.
"What's wrong?" He asked hurriedly.
"It hurts." Meranii said, clutching her ribs. Kouga tried to roll her over, but she wouldn't move. He had to jump back when a set of black wings sprung out of Meranii's back, causing her to cry out in pain.
Kouga tried to rush back to Meranii, only to be deflected by a barrier.
"Crap." Kouga cursed as he tried to get into the barrier again, unsuccessfully. He looked through the barrier and saw Meranii starting to float off the ground, still in the fetal position. Kouga had to duck as Meranii suddenly zoomed out of the room. "Damn." Kouga said as he ran after her.
When she finally stopped, she was floating about fifty feet above the ground, curled up in a ball. Kouga's eyes grew wide as saucers when he saw that the fires around the city started putting themselves out, and the crumbled building started putting themselves back together. Kouga jumped from side to side as debris flew in all directions past him. Once all the buildings had rebuilt them selves, Kouga watched as the bodies all started floating gently over and placing themselves in the hundreds of graves that had been dug. He watched as they were placed in the ground and buried.
Kouga, not being able to look at all the bodies, looked around at the city and his eyes shifted up to Meranii, who was still floating in the air above the city. He started when he felt the ground shake under his feet. He looked around, but was unable to figure out what was going on. And just as suddenly as it had started, it stopped. Kouga looked back up at Meranii in time to catch her falling form. He pressed his ear against her chest, relieved to hear a heartbeat.
Kouga gentle placed her on the ground and checked her over for injuries. Not finding any, he sat back to think.
"Kouga." Came Meranii's soft voice, knocking Kouga out of his thoughts.
"Heya kid." Kouga said. "How you doing?"
"I'm fine." Meranii said, sitting up and looking around. "I think we should leave."
"Yea." Kouga agreed, completely freaked out about what he just saw. He got up and, after helping her up, started heading toward the way they came in.
"Not that way." Meranii said, tugging Kouga toward the castle.
"But that's the way we came in." Kouga stated.
"I know, but it doesn't work anymore." Meranii said, leading Kouga into the castle and into the room were she had said goodbye to her mother. Not looking at were her mothers' body once was, Meranii led Kouga toward the fireplace. She pushed on one of the bricks and the fireplace moved to the side. Meranii went inside and led Kouga down a long, dark, tunnel that didn't seem to end. The only reason Kouga could see was because of his demon vision. After a while of walking, Meranii came to a solid stone wall.
"Are you lost?' Kouga asked, already trying to sniff a way out. As an answer, she placed her hand on the stone wall. Kouga was about to head back when they wall suddenly started to shift and open up. He was shocked to see it lead to the same waterfall and pond that they had entered from. Meranii lead the way across the bridge and when they were both across she turned back around and held her hand above the bridge. It sunk back into the water and the waterfall corrected itself, hiding the stonewall behind it once again. Meranii turned away and before she could walk very far she stumbled, saved from hitting the ground by Kouga. He picked her up and found that she was out cold again. He shook his head and took off running toward his home.
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There you all go. I apologize once again for the EXTREMELY late update. I know I left you hanging at the worst possibly time. Though some of you are probably bored to hell and back, but hey, it's my story so you all can just bugger off. Just kidding. Don't bugger off. Ok, you can if you want to, but at least review first. Pretty please with sugar and lolly pops and skittles and m&m's and hot fudge and marshmallows and bunches of other of yummy goodness on top!