"Hiei, I have great need of someone like you. But so long as the Jagan eye is screwing up your body, you're useless to me. Thus, I've decided to do you a favour and remove it." Athanasios explained.

"What...?" Hiei stared with wide eyes. As far as he knew, removing the Jagan would kill him. No one could survive something like that. He wondered if this was what that voice was talking about.

"You can't do that! You'll kill him!" Kurama exclaimed.

"Besides that, Hiei would never help you in any way!" Yusuke shouted.

"Yeah, you're just wasting your time!" Kuwabara agreed.

"Just be good little boys, and step aside." Athanasios said as his black aura latched onto the necks of the three boys and pulled them out of range from Hiei. "As for you..." He said to Yukina, "Don't make me have to treat you in the same manner." He then proceeded to swat Yukina away. She landed a few feet away, and put a hand to her wounded cheek as she sat up.

Hiei backed himself up against the wall, as he searched the room for some kind of exit to escape from. He found nothing; the room was completely empty. He felt Athanasios' black aura slither around his arms and legs, then tighten, so as to prevent him from struggling. Even though he knew it was useless, Hiei tried to force himself free. But it was no use; he was trapped there. Athanasios walked up to him and removed the white bandana that covered his Jagan eye. Hiei was now breathing heavily, and he started to tremble as Athanasios' left hand gripped Hiei's chin to prevent any movement from his head. Athanasios then held out his right hand, as the fingernails on his first three fingers grew up to two or three inches longer. Hiei was now trembling uncontrollably, as Athanasios's hand moved in to his forehead. In a quick, precise movement, the claws penetrated his forehead, around his Jagan.

Despite the grip on his chin, a loud cry escaped Hiei's mouth as the unbearable pain began to consume him. He could feel his own warm blood flowing down his face, but even more than that he could feel every slight movement of the claws that were now stabbed into his forehead. He knew that even the slightest mistake in removing them could mean his death. But Hiei wasn't concerned about that now. He just wanted the pain to stop. Even if it meant his death, anything would be better than what he was experiencing in that moment. He then felt the claws tighten around the Jagan eye, and then they pulled it out. The scream that erupted from Hiei's mouth sounded like it would wake the dead. Athanasios released Hiei, who fell to the floor, paralyzed from the pain, and dying from the extreme loss of blood, if nothing else.

Yukina, being the only one who could move freely, got up and began to approach her brother. However, Hiei suddenly sat up, and started screaming as his body radiated with a powerful, fiery aura that sent Yukina flying back. It began to tear apart anything that was within a few feet of Hiei. Athanasios released Yusuke, Kurama and Kuwabara, then stepped back as the range of Hiei's aura began to spread wider.

"Dammit! What's going on?!" Yusuke demanded, as he and the others backed away as well.

"With the Jagan gone, Hiei's power is now completely unstable. He can no longer control it, and it doesn't help that he's overcome with pain and most likely dying from the experience of having the Jagan removed." Kurama explained.

"There's gotta be something we can do!" Kuwabara shouted, as Hiei's aura continued to increase in power and range, and completely destroyed the walls of the room they were in. The three boys and Yukina backed up into a small hallway in order to avoid getting hurt.

"We can't do anything... If we try to get close, that aura will tear apart our bodies." Kurama told them.

Kurama and the others then heard footsteps from behind, and turned around to see who was coming. Down the hall, they saw Archelaus running towards them with Koray, though none of them could remember who Koray was.

"You again?!" The boys exclaimed at Archelaus.

"What the hell's going on here?" Achelaus demanded.

"That bastard Athanasios pulled out Hiei's Jagan, and then he started giving off this aura!" Yusuke explained.

"Hiei...." Koray muttered as he started to run over to his son. Archelaus cried out for him to stop, but Koray didn't listen. As he approached Hiei, the aura inflicted cuts all over his body that got deeper as he got closer to his son, but Koray didn't even feel the pain of those wounds. He embraced Hiei tightly, which caused him to scream out in pain, and the aura he was emitting got stronger, and inflicted even more damage upon Koray. "Hiei! You've got to stop this!" Koray called out. "Listen to me... Everything will be alright! Just stop this, and we'll get you out of here! Please, listen to me!" Although Koray called with all his might, Hiei didn't respond in the slightest. Koray then closed his eyes, and started to focus on releasing his own aura.

"What the hell's he doing?! By releasing his aura too, it'll only make things worse!" Kuwabara shouted as they were all forced to leap away from the explosion of energy caused by Koray's aura mixed with Hiei's.

"No... This might be the solution..." Archelaus muttered.

"What do you mean?" Kurama inquired.

"By synchronizing his aura with Hiei's, Koray may be able to take control of Hiei's aura, and stop it. But considering how powerful it is... Koray may not have enough strength to heal himself when this is over..."

Koray focused intensely on stopping Hiei's rampaging energy. It was so out of control that it was taking everything he had to seize control of it. Koray knew that his body was getting mauled badly, and he wouldn't be able to continue much longer, but he refused to give up. Just as he could feel his consciousness slipping away, his aura finally entered into synch with Hiei's and he was able to completely stop it.

For a moment the two demons made no movement or sound at all. Koray looked at his arms, which he almost didn't recognize from all the deep cuts and severe burns, and realized the rest of him must be just as bad, if not worse. Hiei just sat there, wrapped up in Koray's arms, and tried to piece together what had just happened. He still felt overwhelming pain throughout his body, and found he could hardly focus on anything beyond that. Just before the two of them blacked out, Hiei was able to utter one word:

"Father...."

**********

He felt nothing. The pain was gone. But why? Was he dead?

Hiei thought this to himself as he seemed to float in nothingness. He tried to open his eyes, but all he could see was darkness. He tried to hear something, but there was no sound. He tried to reach out and feel, but there was nothing there. He was cold, and the darkness around him seemed to bring him into a trance. He felt like he could just stay there, consumed by nothingness.

Suddenly, in front of him a figure appeared in the distance. As it drew closer to him, Hiei realized that it was himself.

"That's me..." He muttered as he stared into his own eyes. He never realized before how much could be seen through them. They were cold and full of hate. But those were just hiding the loneliness he had always felt inside, and the subtle desire for friends and a loving family. Desires that he felt had never been fully fulfilled. "I deserve this fate... After all, who would miss me? I'm just a monster who's unworthy of anyone's love. I've done nothing but kill, and commit pointless evils."

The figure in front of him faded away as Hiei say flashes of his past fly by. He was abandoned by the Ice Maidens. He was killing demons as a toddler. He was stealing treasures. He was fighting strong opponents. He was abandoned by the group of bandits.

"Why... Why did I bother living? What was my purpose?" Hiei saw himself receiving the Jagan implant. "What did I accomplish in my life?" He saw himself getting defeated by Yusuke. "Who would mourn my death?" He saw himself alongside Yusuke, Kuwabara and Kurama as they fought the Saint Beasts... Won the Dark Tournament... Defeated Sensui...

And then he saw Yukina. And her words echoed out: "I'm glad that you were the one who turned out to be my brother... I always knew I could trust you."

Then he remembered. It was all for her, wasn't it? The reason he acquired the Jagan, and went to the human world, and teamed up with the Spirit Detective... Everything was for her sake. She was the reason he lived... And yet, he died without telling her how he felt. He never told her that he loved her...

"SO YOU'VE FINALLY FOUND YOUR RESOLVE."

"You again..." Hiei muttered.

"YES. I'VE COME TO HELP YOU."

"Who the hell are you? A God of death?"

"NOT NECESSARILY... BUT I OWE YOUR FATHER A FAVOR, AND SINCE IT DOESN'T DO ME ANY HARM, I'M GOING TO RESTORE YOU TO LIFE."

"Answer me! Who are you?!" Hiei shouted.

"VERY WELL, I SUPPOSE I SHOULD TELL YOU MY NAME AT LEAST; IT IS SERAFIN. IF YOU WANT TO KNOW MORE, JUST ASK YOUR FATHER, OR ONE OF THOSE GENERALS."

"Serafin..." Hiei repeated to himself. Suddenly, everything became completely black once again. Hiei felt like he was being spun around, and feeling started to return to him. His entire body was filled with pain, and his chest was so heavy he could barely breathe.

"Hiei!" He heard a voice call out. He opened his eyes to see who it was, and saw Yukina standing above him. "Hiei, you're alive..." She said as she smiled widely, and started to cry.

"Yukina..." Hiei muttered. "Is this a dream?"

"No, it's real... You're alive!" She exclaimed as she embraced him tightly. At first Hiei was taken aback, but then he embraced her back.

"Yukina... I just... wanted to tell you something..." Hiei started. Yukina looked at him curiously. "I know I haven't been the best brother to you... And I know now that I shouldn't have lied to you... But through all that I still... I've always loved you."

In that moment, a single tear fell from Hiei's eye, and as it left Hiei's cheek it turned into a gem and rolled onto the floor.