"Talking"
"Thinking"
-Telepathisis-
Flashback
-x-x-x-x-
Chapter Twenty-Two
After the Battle
"How…?"
Kurai sighed. "Not sure how I survived. Technically I've died more times than I care to mention." Her eyes strayed off into the distance. "Wouldn't be surprised if this was some kind of curse." A bitter smile curled her lips. "After all, I am related to the bitch that caused all this."
"Your surname is Misaki. She's just…Misaki."
A muscle in her cheek twitched. "The bitch was…is…my aunt."
"Well, shit." I mumbled.
-x-x-x-x-
"Have I mentioned that I hate the sun?" Artemis mumbles at the breakfast table.
Kurama awards her the tiniest of smiles. "No, but I can't blame you."
"How are you, anyway?" She questions as she ducks to avoid a ray of sunlight.
"Fine." He replies. "Why do you ask?"
That earns him a sour look. "You were sick, for one. For another? Kimi was worried."
"I was worried about…?" Kimi queries as she is followed in by Botan and Sora.
"Kurama."
"Somewhat. Being a demon in a human's body is not an enviable position." The ice demoness comments offhandedly; the fox demon gives her a sharp look but decides that bickering over breakfast is not what he wants to do today.
"Are you all heading back today?" Botan questions.
"Yep." The sleepy Yusuke mumbles as he enters; Kuwabara tails him, nodding; Hiei appears on the window sill not long afterwards.
"Onward?" Artemis inquires after breakfast.
"Guess so." Sora murmurs as they follow the others towards a portal.
-x-x-x-x-
"Why is it so quiet?" Yusuke questions as they walk up the steps towards the dojo.
"No birds…nothing…" Kuwabara adds softly.
"Let's get moving." Kurama states and all race to the dojo as quickly and quietly as possible.
Yusuke freezes at the sight of the front door; it is mangled beyond recognition.
"Dust." Artemis announces as she nudges a pile of it with her shoe.
"So what?" Kuwabara snaps.
The girl calmly pulls a flask of water from her bag; she opens it a pours a drop on the pile. Her hand wraps around a forming neck and slams it into the ground. Within a matter of moments, a fully reformed vampire is hissing at them.
"You have five seconds to tell me what happened here or you disintegrate. Again." Artemis snaps.
"We came to get that Hunter bitch…" He hisses. "But you ran, so we went for easier meat."
"Lie again and I'll feed you your heart." Hiei snarls; everyone takes a step back as his aura flares sharply.
"You killed the other half of our colony." The vampire grinds out. "Your stupid bitches—"
Artemis jumps back as he bursts into flame. "Some warning would be nice next time."
Hiei shoots her a murderous look but she shrugs it off before heading inside. Kimi follows and barely dodges the thing that launches itself at her neck.
"Blood…you hassss it…" Whispers a malevolent voice.
"Shit." Kimi groans as she continues to dodge.
"Kimi!"
"Alright!" She yells back, dodges one last time and shoves the thing out a window.
0x0x0x0
All see Yukina—eyes black-red, face contorted into a snarl, fangs bared—before sunlight hits her. When it does, she turns to dust, which Artemis promptly encases in a bottle.
Hiei pins Kimi to the wall, sword drawing blood from her neck.
"Hiei, stop!" Artemis hurries in, followed by the others. "Yukina's not dead!"
"She's a dimilamia." The bluette rasps. "The restorative works differently for them."
"She's fine, Hiei." The silver eyed girl soothes. "We can't have her rampaging and attacking us because she needs blood. We'll get some for her and then turn her back."
Purple eyes meet murderous red calmly. "She'd die for real if she drank from me…it was a lucky chance that Artemis didn't."
The sword bites deeper into her neck, but then it and its wielder are gone.
"You okay?" Artemis asks as the others ignore them in favor of searching for Genkai, Touya, Jin, Ze or the intruders.
The demoness rises, ignoring the blood trickling from the shallow cut. "Let's just finish this."
Silver eyes gleam malevolently. "Yes. Let's."
0x0x0x0
"Is it even worth going into the tunnels?" Kuwabara questions dully.
"Nah, no one's…" Yusuke trails off when he sees a splash of blood decorating the entrance. He hurries over and throws it open. A bruised, shaken and bloody wind master crawls out.
"Close it." He rasps.
"Close the…?"
"Touya..."
"Shouldn't we—"
"Close it!" Jin snaps.
Yusuke hurriedly does; he and Kuwabara then help Jin back to the main room.
0x0x0x0
"Yukina's with Kimi and Artemis, Touya's in the tunnels, Jin's there, and Genkai's in her room, drinking tea. Hiei is…somewhere." Kurama murmurs.
"Where did the fuckers go?" Yusuke snarls as he sloppily assists Kurama with Jin's bandages.
"Can't sense 'em." Kuwabara murmurs.
"The vampires?"
"No, Kimi and Artemis."
"That would be because neither of us have much aura left." Artemis supplies helpfully as she assists Kimi with the unconscious Touya.
Yusuke glares. "He's the one—"
"He was under their control." Kimi states as she steals the remaining bandages and begins to treat his injuries. "Some of them have the ability to use people as puppets."
"Why bother?" Kuwabara asks. "They're faster than most people."
"They're sadistic and like easy prey. Would you be able to fight back if it was Yukina coming after you with a butcher's knife?" Her gaze turns to Yusuke and Kurama. "How about Keiko or your mom?"
"Point taken." Kurama murmurs as a gloomy silence descends. "Have you seen Hiei?"
"Yeah, he's getting an unholy amount of joy burning the vampires out of existence." Artemis mumbles.
"Where—"
"In the cave system beneath the dojo." Kimi smirks. "I'm kinda hoping they try to put out the fire by jumping in the hot springs."
An extremely loud bang echoes in the disturbed silence.
"Asshat." Artemis grumbles; Kimi grins but says nothing as she finishes patching Touya up.
"What the…" Yusuke looks down.
"Certain minerals down there don't like water and if you've been crawling 'round the tunnels, you've got 'em on you." Purple eyes contain more than a hint of a smirk. "Just your basic chemistry."
"Remind me to keep you away from pure calcium." The other girl mutters as she assists with the clean up.
"What about Yukina?" Kuwabara questions.
"I need to get some blood before I think about reviving her." Artemis sighs. "I'll be the first one she goes after and it's no use calming her bloody frenzy only to trigger mine."
"True." Kimi acknowledges. "Want some of mine?"
"You guys do know how weird this is, right?" Yusuke interrupts.
Artemis rolls her eyes as both girls ignore his comment. "I can't drink too much of your blood or…"
"Oh. Right." Kimi sighs. "Any ideas?"
Kurama frowns. "Where's Sora?"
0x0x0x0
A roughed up Sora pants to regain his breath as he surveys his captive; the cat demon Ze is tied up with his kusari-gama in a way that permits no careless movements on his part. The red eyes that meet his are hollow, but hold a sick triumph.
"This should teach your kind not to mess with ours."
The double voice—Ze's plus whoever's controlling him—is chilling. Sora ignores it and begins to drag his captive back to the main room. Said captive seems not to care.
0x0x0x0
"Him too?" Yusuke asks, voice acerbic.
"Greetings, freak."
"From where we stand, you're the freak." Sora snaps back, tightening the chain.
"Shut up, weakling. The only reason you captured my puppet is because I let you."
Hiei, smelling strongly of charred flesh, reappears and has to be restrained.
"Ah, the forbidden one. You like what we've done with your sister?"
The jagan begins to glow; moments later Ze sags; Hiei growls as his jagan stops glowing.
"Do I wanna know…?" Yusuke asks.
"Broke its mind." Hiei states before fixing his glower on Artemis and Kimi.
"If you quit glaring, we'll explain about how there's a chance to Turn Yukina back." Artemis mumbles; that only increases the intensity of the glare. "Look, there's a Rite I can perform. It might Turn her back, but it can only be done once…and it has to be done with the blood of someone with at least half of the same genetics as her."
Hiei fills up the offered vial without prompting. Artemis nods her thanks, then disappears into the tunnels as the others begin to fix the barrier or clean up the mess.
Kuwabara stays with the three; partially to keep an eye on them, partially because he knows that he will not be able to focus on any task until he knows for sure if Yukina is okay.
0x0x0x0
"Seriously. What the fuck?" Yusuke mutters as he nurses a beer.
"They watched. They waited. They struck when we were most vulnerable. Not much more to it." Kimi supplies from her spot on the floor. A drained and pale Sora sits next to her, though his eyes are on the cards she is trying to impale the ceiling with.
Kurama is seated near them, though he is in a chair and has one of Kimi's books in hand. Hiei is on the window sill, hand on his katana; his knuckles are white and his eyes two crimson spots of fury. Kuwabara is on the chair by Yusuke, staring blankly at the beer he was supplied by his friend.
Genkai, who has been cleared as not Turned, chose to remain in her room. She has the feeling that the group needs time to process what went on and her being there will neither help nor harm that process, so she opted to let them do so without her.
Hiei turns his murderous gaze to Kimi. "What's taking so long?"
She sighs quietly. "The Rite is…well, dangerous. Were it not for the fact that I know it'd've been useless, I would've asked Artemis to get someone else to do it."
"Why someone else?" Kurama questions, abandoning the book.
"The Rite, if it's the one I'm thinking of, is harder for a dimilamia than a 'pire or a regular Hunter." Kimi leans back, using Sora's chest as a pillow. He absently plays with a lock of her hair, twisting and untwisting it around his finger.
Silence reigns again as the fact that their home base was attacked and breached once again rears its ugly head. Kurama absently runs a hand through his hair, hoping his temperature spiking is a product of his imagination and not his cold rearing its head again. Hiei seethes quietly, the hand that grips his katana now shaking as well as white knuckled. Kuwabara's blank gaze drifts from the opened but untouched beer to the door Artemis disappeared through. Yusuke downs the rest of his beer and wipes his mouth off with the back of his hand as he frowns at the empty bottle. Sora spaces out, focusing on the ceiling until it slides out of focus; his hand absently begins to stroke Kimi's hair. A silent sigh escapes her; she relaxes slightly but gives him a Look. His eyes a tinge bluer, he scoffs slightly before resuming his staring contest with the ceiling.
Kimi glances at the two lying on blankets in the corner; neither Touya nor Jin have reawakened since their injuries had been dealt with. She can't blame them, as being mind-controlled or running from someone who's mind-controlled tends to be mentally and physically draining. That said, she doesn't have enough aura to examine them; she can only hope they're alright for the time being.
She snaps upright when the slowly building current of magic abruptly vanishes; apprehensive, she stares at the door that leads to the tunnels. Sora rises as well, with a questioning expression; the others are now staring at her as well.
"I can sense magic better than I can auras." She murmurs.
"Hi—" Botan begins after flying in on her oar, but stops, as almost everyone now has their weapons out or is in a defensive stance. "…what happened?"
"You don't wanna know." Kimi supplies as she sheathes her sai, rises and heads for the door. She opens it to reveal Artemis, unconscious, supported by a visibly worried Yukina. A wave of relief swaps the room; Sora helps Kimi and Yukina place Artemis over by Jin and Touya.
"Kat said something had happened…but she seemed more, uh…"
Kimi sighs. "Worried about dealing with Emma? Can't blame her. She's terrifying if you fuck with her family, never mind that Ze's the one who fucked up in this case."
"Do I…?"
Sora yawns. "Later."
"Please." Kurama adds distractedly as he rubs his temple.
Botan winces. "Kurama, you really should be resting." She turns to Kimi. "R-"
Said demoness is out cold next to Artemis, as are Sora and Yukina.
"I've got first watch." Yusuke states. "Everyone else can sleep."
Kurama nods reluctantly before leaning back into the couch; Kuwabara, with a last reassuring glance at Yukina, takes a spot on the floor. Botan heads to the kitchen and brings tea for Yusuke and herself. The two sip it as quietly as possible, although both doubt anything short of a disaster would wake them. When Botan glances at the window sill, she finds that Hiei is gone.
0x0x0x0
"Ivfe orem imuntes." Kimi mumbles, covering her eyes. (Five more minutes.)
"Isre nda hisne, Kit." (Rise and shine, Kit.)
Kimi jolts awake and almost crashes into Kurama.
"Sorry." Sora says. "I didn't think…"
She nods tightly before heading to the kitchen to make some food. Anything to get her mind off of what she had almost thought was going on.
Kurama trails her, taking a seat at the table when it becomes clear she won't welcome help. He glances back at the room; aside from Sora, everyone else is asleep.
"…you okay?" He asks after he notices that her hands are shaking.
"Fine." The word is forced out, but doesn't waver. He lets it alone and watches her cook; as time passes, her tense stance loosens; the shaking wanes, then stops.
"Does it have anything to do with my missing memories?"
A tight nod.
A moment passes.
"It's...a bit of a story." She murmurs. "Long story short, Sora woke me up pretty much the same way I'd been woken up back when I lived in the FDK."
"Fire Demon Kingdom? But that's…" Kurama pauses. "I'd say what we saw proved that it's not a myth."
A bitter grin twists her mouth. "Never was. It's just been gone for so long that most would rather refer to it as a myth than attempt to figure out what caused the closest thing to a utopia to come crashing down…in flames, ironically enough."
Kurama considers her. "…does that have anything to do with my memories?"
"The Fire Demon Kingdom was destroyed. It was your home, same as mine. After it was destroyed something in you…it broke." She pauses again, staring at her cup of tea, but not seeing it. "It's probably not a good idea to tell you much more 'til…later."
"Later?"
"…your memories were removed, as you probably gathered. Problem is…I was supposed to keep hold of them."
His neutral gaze sharpens. "Let me guess. You—"
"No!" Over bright purple eyes meet his before looking away. "No. I…didn't take them with me. I gave them to you."
"What do you…"
Fury coils in his stomach, tensing as it prepares to strike. How dare these brats seek 'shelter' with him and his people? They are weak, pathetic things…things that he will take enjoyment in slaughtering.
"Youko."
His plans for dismembering them are paused as he turns to face his second in command. "What, Kuro?"
"Let them go."
"Why?" He hisses.
"Do it. As a favor to me."
He stares at Kuronue in shock; the emotions in his friend's blue eyes are too complicated for him to even begin to decipher.
"Fine. Wake them up and get them out." With that, he turns to awaken the rest of his band; he thought that would be the end of it.
The brats go to leave, but the one with blue hair stops and actually comes towards him. He glances behind him; the others have gone ahead. He glares, about to tell her precisely what he will do to her if she doesn't make use of the time Kuronue bought her, when she offers him a jewel.
It's varying shades of purple and blue; lightly frosted, which proves it to be the tear of an ice demon. Not worth as much as that of a Koorime, but still worth…something. After placing it around his neck, he stares at it and almost drops it when the image of a young demoness appears. It is clearly the one who gave him the jewel, but he, too, is younger…and allowing her to cry on him. Cry. On him. Shock immobilizes him for a moment.
His gaze snaps from it to her, but she is gone.
"…that was…you?"
Kimi nods. "I…gave it to you. That jewel. It had your memories in it."
"I don't know what happened to it." He admits after a few moments of awkward silence.
"I figured." She replies. "This is going to be a mess." The girl mumbles as she takes a seat.
"What is?"
"We need to find it and give you back your memories. But…as a…precaution…and to throw off the ones that destroyed the FDK…I kinda…made a bunch of duplicates."
He stares. "A bunch?"
"…at least a hundred."
He is floored. "That means…"
"It could take forever. Provided they haven't already awoken and found it." She mumbles before drinking some of her tea.
"They being…?"
Kimi bites her lip and hesitates. "It's…a bit of a story. One you probably won't believe unless you have access to your memories…or Sora to all of his. He's got a fair few back, mind you, but…not enough."
"So what are we supposed to do in the mean time…wait? That group of undead was difficult for us to handle. All of the towns near the border will crumble. Mukuro, Yomi and Raizen might be able to handle or hold them off…but if…"
"If?" Kimi prods, expression bland.
"If the King was as powerful as you say…"
"I could be mistaken. I was just a child." She murmurs.
Kurama's eyes narrow as he considers her; something about her manner is vaguely off.
"Oh?"
"I was only twenty when I found my way there." She supplies before disappearing into her cup of tea.
0x0x0x0
"So…if you're related to her, it's safe to infer that you…were…lived in…the Fire Demon Kingdom?"
Kurai favored me with a flat look before she rose and began to walk away. "You know what they say about 'assume'."
"Kurai."
She paused. "Maybe I was, maybe I wasn't. Not like it matters now."
I stared at her retreating form. It might not, in the grand scheme of things…but it would make me feel better to know there are other FDK relics around besides Kat and my brother.
-x-x-x-x-
I hate this chapter. I hate it with the passion that I hate clichés. Which is why I am not going to use any to describe said hatred. That said, I am still going to continue this story. Even though I want to print this chapter out, rip it up, light it on fire and then launch the ashes into outer space.
Special thanks to jazzmonkey, who is the reason I even updated this godforsaken thing.
Now to figure out where I had been going with this. And hope people are still reading this thing. And start next chapter so I can hopefully have it up sometime in the next millennia XP
See ya then.
Emma