Author's note - special thanks to Graphospam, Miki, and WorldsAngel for reviewing and thank you to Fairy5706green and Silver Spirit Fox for story alerting! Updates will be random-ish until i finish Kori no Akuma - which is going alot slower than i anticipated due to the two research papers my professors have recently dumped on me XP. I may not update this story for two weeks so please enjoy and hang tight! I assure this will be a fun ride for all of us :D
Chapter 1: the Pilot
Fifteen years later…
A group of demon bandits sat about their camp fire chuckling at the day's event. They'd pillage a nearby town and had heaped in a huge load of gold and food. The leader, a large demon about seven feet tall with three horns and a massive club on his shoulder, sat on the biggest log, munching on a giant leg of meat.
"Bwahahaha! It's good to be king," he said with his mouth full. "Hey, someone bring me something to drink. This meat is too dry."
An aquatic demon slave girl rushed forward and handed him a jug of sake. Her small, curvy frame was trembling the whole time. She was wearing nothing but rags and her aquamarine hair was matted with dirt. Her fin-like ears twitched nervously and her blue tail was tucked timidly between her legs as she stood at the large demon's side. When she tried to move away from him, the demon grabbed her chains, and yanked her back to him.
"Hey, where do you think you're going, slave?"
The girl whimpered in fright as the leader pulled her closer to him until she was splayed across his large stomach. She flinched and tried to move away when he reached out to pet her, which angered the large demon.
"You insolent bitch!" He slapped her so hard she flew five feet across the ground and landed in a heap next to the fire. Her lips and nose was bleeding as the girl laid huddled in the dirt in a fetal position. "I'll show you some respect! You're mine now so you do exactly as I say. If I want to touch you, you let me, you hear?"
The girl cried out as he yanked her chains, forcefully dragging her through the dirt and back to his side. She struggled in resistance, but all she ended up doing was choke herself with the chain that was wrapped around her throat. She shouted for someone to help, but the other demons just watch with amusement at the girl's futile struggles.
"No one's going to save you now, bitch. So why don't you just resign yourself to your fate. You're my whore now," sneered the big demon.
The rest of the demons laughed as the girl burst into tears.
Suddenly, a figure literally dropped out of the sky and landed lightly in the center of camp. It was a woman with dark, red-tinted hair so long that even when braided back and draped around her shoulders like a loose scarf, it still hung down the front of her white kimono and down to her waist. The kimono had a giant, red chrysanthemum flower on the front with its petals scattered across the entire kimono and a thick red obi around her waist. The contrast of the red petals on the white background of the kimono created a gruesome illusion of splattered blood. This ominous woman also had a snow-white feather pinned on the left side of her head, and the feather seemed to be emitting its own light, glowing softly in the darkness.
The woman surveyed the camp without fear and sighed. She then reached into her kimono and casually pulled out a small, black notebook.
"Okay, I'll be taking roll, so if I call your name please say, 'here'," she said in a slightly bored tone.
The demons all stared at this bizarre woman as she began reading off a list of names. None of the demons said a word when she called their name, but she somehow knew they were there. She put a checkmark next to each name using the stem of the feather from her hair, which had turned into a quill.
"And, last but not least, Butaka – I take it that's you, big guy?" She pointed at the leader with her quill and, not waiting for an answer, put a check next to his name.
She then shut the book andtucked it back into her kimono, and clapped three times. "Okay people, in a few minutes I want you all to get into a single file line behind Butaka. I've got a lot of things to do today, and I don't have time for you guys to dawdle around."
"Hey, you have a lot of guts to just come into my camp and order me around, you little bitch," snarled Butaka, standing up and towering over her. "Who the hell are you?"
"Tsch. I'll tell you that in just a few minutes so why don't you just park your ass back down on that pathetic throne of yours and shut up."
"What?" The demon snarled. "You have a smart mouth, bitch. I'll teach you some manners. Get her, boys!"
The woman rolled her stormy-grey eyes and casually pulled out her golden pocket watch as the demons around her leaped to their feet, grabbing their swords.
She flipped opened the watch, checking the time, and muttered, "Three… Two… One…"
Just before the nearest demon could sink his sword into her neck, a barrage of arrows shot out of the forest, killing the demon and ten others instantly.
The woman vanished as another wave of arrows descended onto the camp and chaos broke out. Butaka could only gape as his band of demons fell one by one. He never saw the sword that took his head from behind as a demon mercenary cleaved it from his shoulder. Apparently, the mercenary had been hired by one of the villages Butaka's group of bandits had pillaged in the past.
"Yup, right on schedule," said the woman, closing her pocket watch with a sharp snap. She was sitting side-saddled twenty feet in the air on a wooden oar while she watched the scene play out below.
In less than five minutes, Butaka and his group of bandits were all dead. The only one left alive was the female demon slave girl who'd hidden inside one of the hollow logs surrounding the camp.
"Hmm… did I miss one?" She checked her black notebook again and flipped through the list of names. "Nope. Juri – born on an apple farm and destined to referee the Dark Tournament; not fated to die for another century and a half."
After the demon mercenary left with Butaka's head in hand, the woman descended to the forest floor. She was greeted by the ghosts of every demon from Butaka's camp, including the big man himself.
"All right people. Like I said before, form a single file line behind Butaka, and I want you to grabbed onto the shoulders of the demon in front of you. Butaka, I want you to hold onto my oar. In case some of you are dumber than you look, I'm going to say this very slowly for you: You. Are. Dead. Got it?"
The ghosts all blinked at her in confusion, but she took it as a yes and continued with her usual instructions, "I'm Kikume, Chief Pilot of the River Acheron. I'll be your guide today on your journey to Spirit World. Make sure you have a good grip on the demon in front of you because if you fall into the Acheron River, I'm not going to stop and pull your sorry ass out. You will be swallowed by the river and your soul will be tortured with unimaginable pain for the rest of eternity so I suggest you hold on really tight. It's okay if you grab the neck of the demon in front of you. You won't chock him to death because, well, he's already dead. Okay, everybody ready? If not, too bad."
Kikume rose into the red sky of Demon World, dragging thirty demon souls behind her like she was the kite and they were her tail. She flew them into the portal that led to Spirit World. Bright white light enveloped them as they left behind the hellish world and entered a heavenly new one.
Kikume steered her oar through the pale peach sky, following the River Acheron as it made its way towards the heart of Spirit World. Yellow cliffs and white clouds zoomed past them as they sped above the silver grey water. The river's currents were relatively calm today, which was a shame because Kikume really wanted to give these dumb demons one hell of a bumpy ride. It was so much more fun when the demons screamed in the back as she surfed the wild waves on her oar.
"Looks like you guys lucked out," she muttered as they finally neared the Gates of Judgment. She tapped her earpiece, turning on her microphone. "Special delivery, Koenma! Butaka and gang all present and accounted for!"
"Well done, Kikume. Bring them in."
"You got it!" She aimed her oar down and zoomed in at breakneck speed. Butaka and the other demons screamed in terror as she neared the giant, double doors. It looked like they were going to run head first into the red building, but at the last second the double doors cracked opened just enough for her to slip them through.
The demons were flung to the stone floor as Kikume braked hard in midair before she collided with one of the many red pillars in the great entrance hall. Blue and green ogres scrambled out of the way as the demons landed sprawled all over the floor in a daze. They all looked deathly pale and Kikume didn't think it was because they had recently died.
"Tsch. Wimps."
Kikume hovered in the air as one of the blue ogres escorted Butaka to Koenma's office. Just before the doors closed behind them, she could hear Butaka complaining loudly of his rough treatment – ranting on about how a guide was supposed to make the journey a smooth, safe one and not try killing the spirit all over again.
Kikume rolled her eyes. "Stupid cry-baby," she muttered and flew off in the direction of the Ferry Lounge.
oo00oo000oo00oo
Hikari and Ayame greeted Kikume as she took her usual seat at the corner of the little brown table located in the middle of their lounge.
"Would you like some tea, Kikume-chan?" asked Ayame.
"Sure. Do we have anymore Chrysanthemum tea?" asked Kikume as she placed her elbow on the table and leaned her head on her hand lazily.
"Of course. I already made some just for you. It's your favorite after all." Ayame smiled as she poured her a cup full.
"Thanks," Kikume muttered as she took the cup and sipped the hot tea.
"So how was today? Not too busy I hope?" asked Hikari cheerfully.
Kikume rolled her eyes. "I just hauled in thirty demons and I already brought back twenty more this morning."
"Oh, dear." Hikari and Ayame exchanged worried looks.
"Um, well maybe it's just one of those heavier months. It'll die down," said Hikari.
Kikume snorted with doubt and continued to sip her tea. "The only thing that ever happens in Demon World is demons dying. And since I'm the only one that ferries their stupid souls here, I'm on duty twenty-four seven."
"Now, now, Kikume-chan. You know it's a very important job ferrying souls to Spirit World," said Hikari. "You're the only one that can do it for Demon World. You should be proud of yourself."
"Yes, it's a very big responsibility," said Ayame in her usual, gentle voice. "Koenma-sama only trusts you to navigate the Acheron and bring the demons' souls here safely."
"Yeah, yeah, whatever. You guys keep telling me that but you know I don't believe any of that bullshit. Demons deserve to rot in hell and drown in the Acheron."
"Kikume-chan!" exclaimed Hikari. "You shouldn't say that! You can't judge the entire demon race based off of one demon's actions –"
"Well, considering I'm the only one here that has to deal with them every day and I'm the only one that ferries their stinking souls here, I think I have the right to say what I want about them," snapped Kikume irritably, but then she instantly felt guilty for yelling at Hikari. Kikume knew she were saying it only because she cared about her. Hell, Hikari and Ayame were practically Kikume's older sisters the way they always looked out for her.
Feeling ashamed, Kikume decided to change the subject. "So where's Botan? Has she come back yet?"
"No, Botan hasn't returned to Spirit World for some time now. I think she's busy assisting the Spirit Detective with his newest case," said Hikari.
Kikume sighed. "Figures…" She pushed herself up and headed for the door. "If you guys see her, let her know I'm looking for her. She owes me a copy of this week's episode of Stay By Me."
"Where are you going, Kikume-chan?" asked Ayame. "You haven't finished your tea."
Kikume shrugged. "To the archives."
"Not again?! You might as well live in there, considering how much time you spend digging through those old, dusty scrolls," said Hikari. "Don't tell me you're still looking for a way to get your body back."
"Of course I am!" snapped Kikume. "You can't honestly think I want to spend the rest of eternity as the Pilot of the River Acheron, do you, Hikari? That body was supposed to be mine! It should have been me who was reborn, not that stupid Fox Demon. I'd kill the damn bastard if it would give me back my body, but as Koenma had told me since day one, if I kill the bastard I kill any chance I have of regaining my body. But I know there's another way, I can feel it. I just have to keep looking... I won't give up."
Ayame and Hikari sighed and shook their head. They had heard this speech many times over the last fifteen years and not once had the girl ever wavered in her determination to reclaim her body and her life. So, after many failed attempts to get the girl to give up on her past, they'd finally decided on a new course of action.
"All right, how about we lend you a hand, Kikume-chan," said Hikari. "Ayame and I are done for the day so we'd be happy to help."
Ayame nodded.
Kikume blinked in surprise but then smiled. "Thanks, I'd really appreciate that."
Together, the three reapers made their way to the ancient archives where scrolls upon scrolls were stacked high to the ceiling. The room was thick with dust, making them sneeze every few paces. Their footsteps on the cold marble floor echoed throughout the room, giving the room an eerie feel. Hikari and Ayame seemed really nervous but Kikume merely shrugged off the weird sensation. She'd been her so often that she'd grown accustomed to the dark, dingy room.
Kikume quickly explained to the two reapers that she had already searched through a fourth of the shelves in the room and was currently on the 567th row.
Ayame and Hikari gaped at the amount of scrolls that made up the first 566 rows. It was mind-boggling!
"You went through all of those?" asked Hikari in amazement.
"Tsch. Yeah, and it took me fifteen years to do it too," said Kikume with her hands on her waist. "At this rate I'll never finish in time. I bet my body will be a pile of bones by the time I find the answer."
"Well, I'm sure that if Hikari and I lent you a hand it'll make things go much faster. And maybe you will find your answer without needing to go all the way to the last row," said Ayame optimistically.
"That's what I'm hoping. I keep my fingers crossed, wishing every day that today was the day I find my answer," said Kikume with longing in her heart. She had to believe the answer was here… somewhere. She wasn't going to resign herself to being a reaper for the rest of Time. The Spirit Fox had stolen her chance at living a full, human life and she wasn't going to give up without a fight.
Hikari patted Kikume on the shoulder sympathetically. "Don't worry, Kikume-chan. I'm sure you'll find the answer some day."
Kikume sighed and cracked her knuckles as she turned to survey the current shelf. "All right, let's get digging!" she exclaimed and grabbed the nearest scroll, pulling it open to read.