"How troublesome..." A young, but cold voice echoed. "Spirit World always has been a nuisance."
The boys searched for the source of the voice, as well as the aura, but couldn't find it. Suddenly, a small being materialized in front of them and with him was Yukina. The boys found it hard to tell if he was a man or a child. He was no taller than Hiei, his face was soft like that of a child, but his hair was grey, and his cold eyes glowed red. He wore a simple black cloak that covered most of his body. He released Yukina, who ran over to the boys quickly.
"Who are you?" Yusuke asked the small being.
He let out a cold smile. "My name is Athanasios. I've simply come here to help you boys escape."
"That name seems familiar..." Hiei muttered.
"Ah, yes. You and I have met before. I'm an old acquaintance of your father." Athanasios said with a smirk. "Now how about we get out of here?"
"Hold it!" A new voice called out. Then an attack of wind came at Athanasios, who quickly jumped away. The source of that attack was a tall man with long blond hair, who wore fancy armour. "I won't allow you to take these boys."
"Well, well... If it isn't Archelaus, General of the Island of Wind." Athanasios said with an amused grin on his face. Once again, Hiei found the name, as well as Archelaus' face, familiar.
"You two have no right to be here... This doesn't concern either of you! Now leave!" King Enma shouted at the two intruders. It was clear on his face that he was afraid of something.
"Don't be a fool, King Enma." Athanasios said with a smirk. "You know very well that I've had my eye on Hiei for a while now. I'm not just going to sit back and let you kill him."
"You should also be aware that since Hiei's father is of my own world, not to mention a good friend of mine, that makes it my obligation to keep him safe." Archelaus said as he drew two long swords. "Especially from the likes of you." He glared at Athanasios.
"Jeez, Hiei, when'd you become so popular? You've got three people fighting over your life!" Yusuke said, half-jokingly.
"Shut up..." Hiei muttered. He was busy trying to wrap his head around who these people were, and why the cared so much about whether or not he lived.
Athanasios then flicked his wrist in the direction of Archelaus, causing an attack of black aura to shoot at the General. Archelaus' swords started to glow, and as the attack reached him, he sliced it in half, causing the black aura to dissipate. He then jumped into the air, and swung his swords at Athanasios, releasing a powerful attack of wind. Athanasios disappeared, and then reappeared behind Archelaus mid-air. He gathered his aura into his hand, and thrust it at Archelaus. The General blocked with his swords, and once again, the attack was nullified.
"Those are some impressive swords you have there." Athanasios said with a grin. "When fused with your aura, they not only amplify your power, but negate any other form of magic or aura. That they were able to stop my aura at point-blank range is even more impressive."
"Personally, I've never seen someone who has a black aura." Achelaus said, while eyeing Athanasios. "Would you care to explain how it came to be like that?"
"It's not something you need to know." Athanasios replied.
"Enough of this!" King Enma shouted. "You two had better leave now, or else I will make you regret it!"
"King Enma himself is going to get violent? I certainly look forward to this." Athanasios said with a smirk. Archelaus simply stared.
King Enma stood up, and released a powerful blue aura that filled the entire room. The four boys and Yukina struggled under the pressure, but Koenma stepped up and created a shield around them. Archelaus used his swords as a defence, while Athanasios endured it with little trouble. King Enma focused his aura into his right hand, and flicked his fingers, releasing large blasts of aura which targeted Archelaus and Athanasios. The two were able to dodge at first, but as the attacks grew fiercer, Archelaus has to fend them off with his swords, while Athanasios intercepted them with his own attacks of aura.
As soon as there was an opening, Archelaus sent wind razors flying at King Enma, however the King's aura protected him from the assault. Athanasios then gathered a large amount of black aura into his hand and threw it at King Enma. The King's aura wasn't able to protect him from the attack, and he received a wound to the right shoulder. Archelaus took the opening to fuse his aura with the air around Athanasios, and cause numerous deep cuts all over the small man's body. Irritated, Athanasios threw a small blast of aura in Archelaus' direction. The General didn't have enough time to block, and so the attack hit him head-on, sending him flying.
Archelaus got to his feet as quick as his new injury would allow, only to find that King Enma sent a blast of aura in his direction. Using wind, the General lifted himself into the air, just in time to avoid the assault.
"Woah... All these guys are so powerful..." Kuwabara stated in awe.
"Yes... It will not be easy to find a winner." Kurama said, while closely examining the fighters.
King Enma started to use more powerful attacks, forcing Archelaus to do nothing but dodge, since his wind attacks couldn't reach the King and there was no way for him to get close enough to use his swords. Athanasios, however, took any opportunity to strike the King with his black aura. He gathered an extremely large amount into his hand and shot it at King Enma, who did the same. The two large attacks met, and caused a huge explosion. Archelaus took the opportunity to quickly approach King Enma, stab his sword into the giant man's ankle, and bring it up, causing a huge slash up his leg. The King fell to his knees as blood poured from the wound, making something of a red river.
"DAD!" Koenma called out as Athanasios appeared above the King and prepared to fire a large amount of his black aura. King Enma was in an off-guard position, and wouldn't have time to block.
However, Archelaus lifted himself up to Athanasios with his wind, and destroyed the attack with his swords before Athanasios could strike. Then, before his opponent had time to retaliate, Archelaus sent him flying using a huge gust of wind.
Although it was difficult, Athanasios managed to land on his feet, and stared at Archelaus with an amused expression. "What... suddenly you feel like standing up for your opponent?"
"I came here to protect Hiei, not kill the ruler of Spirit World." Archelaus explained.
"Too bad you're going to fail." Athanasios smirked as he disappeared and reappeared in front of Koenma's barrier. Using a small amount of black aura, he destroyed the barrier sending the young ruler and his companions flying back a few feet. The boys scrambled to get back on their feet, and just as they did black aura began to surround them. They caught a glimpse of Archelaus rushing over to them, and then everything went completely black.
**********
"KNOCKED OUT AGAIN? WHAT A WEAK THING YOU ARE." Hiei heard a familiar voice say.
"Who are you? Do I know you?" Hiei demanded.
"THERE WILL BE TIME FOR SUCH THINGS LATER. FOR NOW, YOU MIGHT WANT TO WAKE UP. AFTER ALL, YOU AND YOUR FRIENDS ARE IN DANGER."
Hiei became puzzled. "In danger from what?"
"FROM ATHANASIOS. HE HAS A GOAL THAT HE IS DESPERATE TO ACCOMPLISH AT ALL COSTS, AND HE WILL TRY TO USE YOU TO GET WHAT HE WANTS."
"What is he trying to accomplish? Why does he need me?" Hiei asked.
"I CANNOT REVEAL THAT. BUT I WILL WARN YOU; BE READY FOR DEATH. ATHANASIOS SHOWS NO MERCY TO ANYONE, AND WILL ALMOST DEFINATELY KILL YOU."
"Wait... You said he wanted to use me. How does that work if I'm dead?" Hiei demanded.
"Hiei!" A female voice called out. Hiei slowly opened his eyes to see Yukina kneeling beside him with a worried look on her face.
"Yukina..." Hiei said as he sat up. Yusuke, Kuwabara and Kurama were all awake as well and looking at him curiously. "Where are we?" He asked, as he looked around. They were in a large, empty room with black walls that had one small light in the center of the ceiling.
"Beats me." Yusuke replied. "We all woke up here."
"Yeah, 'cept for you." Kuwabara said loudly. "What took ya so long to wake up?"
"Were you having another strange dream?" Kurama asked.
Hiei hesitated, but then answered: "It wasn't really a dream... More like a voice in my head. He said we're all in danger and that..." Hiei stopped himself, realizing what he was about to say.
"And what?" The others demanded.
"Nothing... It wasn't important." Hiei replied. The others stared at him, knowing that he was lying for his own convenience, but they also knew that there was no way he'd tell them what was on his mind.
Suddenly, a black cloud-like substance appeared. It thickened, and transformed into the small being who called himself Athanasios. "Welcome to my home gentlemen... Young lady." He said, nodding towards Yukina, who didn't respond.
"You've got some explaining to do pal!" Yusuke exclaimed, as he stood up. "Where the hell are we, and why did you bring us here?! And while you're at it, why don't you tell us who you are!"
"Such impatience..." Athanasios said as he shook his head. "In any case, like I said before; my name is Athanasios. Although this may hold no meaning for you at the moment, I am the leader of the Black Knights. And as to where you are, you are in another world."
"Another world?" Yusuke and Kuwabara muttered in unison.
"Let's not get off topic. The most important thing is what he plans to do next." Kurama said as he gave Athanasios a cold glare.
"To tell you the truth, I just brought you all here to confirm something that I realized the last time Hiei used the Dragon of the Darkness Flame."
Hiei twitched. "And what was that?"
"When the Jagan eye was implanted, your power was reduced to that of a weakling. However, by some stroke of miracle you managed to surpass the limitations that the Jagan set on all others who had acquired it in the past, and used it to your advantage. Namely in the summoning of the Dragon of the Darkness Flame."
"What is your point?" Kurama demanded.
"The point is that I had assumed the Jagan was no longer affecting his power. But the truth is that he still hasn't reached his full potential, and the cause of that is the Jagan eye."
"I don't understand... I thought Hiei's power has increased above what he had before the Jagan was implanted." Yusuke questioned.
"Think of it this way: Hiei was an A-class demon, but then he acquired the Jagan and was reduced to D-class. However, with the implant still there, he was able to push himself up to a stronger level of A-class. Now... considering he made that much improvement with a Jagan implant, imagine the increase in power he could have had without the implant..." Athanasios explained.
"But that's..." The others muttered, realizing what he was saying. If Hiei had never received the Jagan implant, he would have the opportunity to gain power equal, or greater to that of the Demon Kings.
"Whether or not what you say is true, it's too late now." Hiei stated, though he looked a little shaken up. "I have the Jagan eye, and I've never regretted making that decision."
"That's not what this is about, Hiei." Athanasios said with a grin. "You see I have great need of someone like you... However, so long as that implant is screwing up your body, you're useless to me. Thus I've decided to do you a favour, and remove it."
"What...?" Hiei muttered, with wide eyes.