Hello again, everyone! I'm sorry for the long wait on this chapter. Like I said, I was out of town last weekend (we had an AMAZING time at Kami-Con!) and then I just got lazy. But I'm out of school this upcoming week, so I'll definitely do my best to update as often as I can!
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.
Days turned to weeks, and weeks to months, but now sign of Kyril or Cloacina had been seen. In the aftermath of Cloacina's appearance at the school, Koenma had been forced to wipe the minds of everyone who'd seen or heard about the goddess. The task had been painstakingly slow.
As soon as he'd heard that Kyril and Cloacina had disappeared, Koenma had set about trying to locate the fallen goddess. He'd done everything he could think of to find them; he had not been successful in even the slightest way. It was as if the two had never existed, and Koenma finally resigned to treat the case as such. It was easier for him to erase the two from the records and minds of the Human World than it would have been to face the scorn of those who knew he, Prince of Spirit World, had failed. In his mind, though it was a dirty thing to do, it was the best and easiest path to take.
On one day. The Human World knew of Kyril Yukimura, the girl who had once been kidnapped by demons to be sold as a slave. On the next day, her memory was no more.
| |¯`·.¸_¸.+´¯`¤.¸¸.·´¯`×
"We shall soon strike," quietly purred the goddess Cloacina. Tucked away in a secluded portion of her forest, she meditated as she had been doping for several days. She found that the activity calmed her, making her ready for what she knew was soon to come.
"Are you sure we can pull this off?" asked Touya. Cloacina opened her eyes to see the ice master standing nearby. She narrowed her eyes, having not heard him approach.
"Of course I'm sure," she replied, rising to her feet. The goddess could not help by grin. "Nothing can go wrong. Spirit World shall soon fall."
| |¯`·.¸_¸.+´¯`¤.¸¸.·´¯`×
If Touya had been asked why he'd chosen to side with the corrupt fallen goddess, he would not have given a straight answer. Chances are good that he wouldn't have answered at all.
Truth be told, Touya wasn't sure why he'd chosen to support the goddess and join her cause. Part of him wanted to convince his whole self that he'd done it for personal gain. He knew that wasn't the truth, though.
Hidden away in the farthest recesses of his mind was a part of Touya that screamed what it was sure to be the truth. The ice master had joined Cloacina to make sure that Kyril was kept safe.
| |¯`·.¸_¸.+´¯`¤.¸¸.·´¯`×
The tinkling 'clink' of glass hitting glass quietly filled the air.
"Tomorrow," Cloacina whispered, gazing deeply into the three crystal balls she was shifting around in her right hand, "we will make our first move, Touya. We will start out simply with but one goal in mind: to retrieve the most important artifact from Spirit World's vault, the L'Amulette Noire. After we possess it, then phase two of our plan will begin. It's only a matter of time until everything is ours."
"That sounds… lovely," Touya replied in monotone. He wasn't paying much attention. He was focused on the crystal balls in Cloacina's hand. Reflected in one was Kyril. The human girl's eyes were closed, and she was not moving. The only sign that she was still alive was the gentle fall and rise of her chest as she breathed.
"What will happen to her?" the ice master asked. Giving a soft 'Hm?' Cloacina looked into the crystal ball. The other two disappeared.
"I haven't decided yet," the goddess admitted. "Who knows? We'll just have to wait and see if she proves to have another use." The muscles in his jaw tense, Touya took his leave for the time being. Cloacina's answer had not pleased him at all. He was well gone when her laughter filled the air.
"His care for that stupid human is so cute," she whispered, still gazing at the girl in the ball. "Too bad it won't do him any good."
| |¯`·.¸_¸.+´¯`¤.¸¸.·´¯`×
Darkness had long fallen when Touya and Cloacina departed from the forest. Traveling under the cover of the night, the two made their way to the planned departure site.
The moon had just reached its high point in the sky when they arrived. To the untrained eye, the valley they were in was empty. To those who knew what to look for, though, it could be easily told that the valley was home to a portal. It was no normal portal, however. Cloacina had formed it in the days immediately after her plan's birth nearly three months before. It was made of an ancient magic that was extinct to the rest of the world. She was the only one still walking the lands that could wield the power.
"My portal is so beautiful," laughed the woman. Floating about two feet above the ground was a ring of grey-green energy several feet in diameter. Shown in the ring's center was the other side of the gateway.
Cloacina admired the energy structure for some time. When she finally was finished, she and Touya stepped through.
| |¯`·.¸_¸.+´¯`¤.¸¸.·´¯`×
The air was fresh and clean when Touya and Cloacina reappeared. The sound of rushing water reached their ears.
"The River Styx," Touya murmured. He couldn't recall ever seeing it in person before, but he felt sure that the river was the source of the sound. Cloacina said nothing in response. She was staring at something ahead of them. The ice master followed her gaze to see Spirit World's castle looming before them. He could hear Cloacina's grin in her voice when she spoke.
"This is it, Touya. All will soon be ours."
| |¯`·.¸_¸.+´¯`¤.¸¸.·´¯`×
"Oh, this is not good!" Prince Koenma exclaimed. He slammed his fist down onto his desk in frustration. A stack of papers he'd had piled up in one corner wobbled for a moment before falling to the floor. For several seconds, nothing could be seen in the room except the papers. Koenma hit his desk again.
"What's the matter, Prince Koenma?" asked George as he entered the room. He looked around to see all of the paperwork littering the floor. Koenma executed a ninety-degree turn in his chair to look at his assistant.
"I'm having a bad day! Now clean up this mess, Ogre!" Out of fear of further angering the demi-god, George set about picking up the papers as quickly as he could manage. A quick mumble under his breath earned him a dark look from Koenma.
Nothing had been going the ruler's way that day. He'd sent the Reikai Tantei on an urgent reconnaissance mission that morning. Another mission of even greater importance had just been brought to his attention.
As if to make matters worse, a siren went off just moments after the prince had managed to calm himself down. The door to Koenma's office was thrown open. It slammed against the wall, adding more noise to the mix.
"Prince Koenma!" the frantic voice belonged to none other than his blue-haired grim reaper, Botan. "The vault's just been broken into!"
Thank you for reading, and please make sure to review! I love to hear what you guys think, and your opinions are very important to me!
Much love,
Pandah