Reuel led Hiei, Yukina, Yusuke, Kuwabara and Kurama down into a deep basement of the Stronghold. Like the rest of it, this part was entirely stone. It was cold and dark, despite the line of torches on the walls. They passed many guards along the way, who sent Hiei sympathetic glances, as they could all guess why he was there. The fire demon didn't care though. He and the others simply ignored them, and continued on. Reuel unlocked a heavy door, and they went through. Inside were lines of cells, most of which were filled.
"Most of them are members of the Black Knights." Reuel muttered.
No one said anything in response, and followed Reuel further in. They received dirty looks from most of the prisoners, which also went ignored. Finally Reuel came to a halt in front of one of the cells. Inside, Koray was sleeping as he sat against the wall. He had heavy shackles on his wrists and ankles, and looked to have been beaten. Before anyone could say anything to him, he stirred and opened his eyes, looking at them with a blank expression.
Then he smiled. "Hi, Hiei... Yukina... It's good to see you two."
Yukina said nothing, while Hiei's anger began to rise. He gritted his teeth and clenched his fists. "What the hell's wrong with you... You put on a smile and pretend that everything's alright... It's infuriating!"
Koray's smile faded as he took in Hiei's words.
"Hiei's right..." Yusuke muttered. "Don't you feel any guilt for what you've done?" Koray didn't answer.
"I just don't get it!" Kuwabara exclaimed. "Why'd you do it? She's the ruler here, right? Wasn't it your duty to protect her?" Again, Koray said nothing.
"It's no use..." Reuel said. "We've been trying to get him to talk about it, but nothing's worked. And it's not like we can even torture him..."
"Koray... Father... Please tell me." Yukina pleaded. "Why did you do it?"
Koray looked away as he hesitated. He then turned to them and said, "I want to talk to Hiei... Alone."
"Koray... what are you up to?" Reuel eyed him suspiciously.
"Nothing. I just want to talk to Hiei." Koray sent Reuel a glare. With that, the others conceded and left, leaving Hiei and Koray alone.
"We should just execute him!" Cleitnese exclaimed. "Sooner or later the people of this nation will want to know who our Lady's killer is. If we execute him in public it will satisfy everyone, and we'll have our vengeance!"
"That may be so, but still..." Reuel objected.
"What, do you pity him because he pretended to be your friend? Pathetic. You should never let your personal feelings get in the way of your duty." Cleitnese spat out. "And as for you..." He turned to Hiei. "Surely you can inform us on what his motifs were!"
"As I've already said, he didn't tell me anything worthwhile." Hiei said.
"Stupid brat! I know you're lying! Now tell me the truth!" Cleitnese shouted as he grabbed Hiei, lifting him off the ground.
"Release him, Cleitnese!" Archelaus commanded. "As you said, we should keep our personal feelings to ourselves. Just because you're angry with Koray doesn't mean you can take it out on Hiei."
Reluctantly, Cleitnese obeyed. "What do you propse we do, then?" He asked.
"I don't think we should kill Koray just yet." Archelaus stated calmly. "We need to understand the situation better before we make an irreversible mistake. But he needs to be interrogated more. If he won't even talk to Hiei, then we'll have to think of some forceful way to make him talk."
"What about the Island? Who will rule it in Katana's place?" Hiei asked.
For a moment, the three Generals stood in silence. Then Archelaus spoke up. "I will, since no one else seems interested. Any complaints?"
"Not at all." Reuel said with a grin.
"It appears we have no choice." Cleitnese sighed.
"I can't believe this! We just get back from training, here I was ready for some R'n'R and then Koray gets himself thrown in jail." Yusuke whined as the group of boys walked down an empty path that joined two towns.
"Come on, Hiei! He had to have told you something!" Kuwabara demanded.
"As I said before, what we spoke of is none of your business." Hiei muttered with annoyance.
"I have a hard time believing that he didn't tell you the reason for his actions." Kurama stated. "As well, I don't think he killed Katana simply because he disliked her. There was definitely an ulterior motive. The question is, would that be enough to pardon him, or would it make him out to be more of a villain?"
Hiei didn't say anything.
"Wait, are you saying that Koray might be keeping his mouth shut because his reason for killing her could put him into even more trouble?" Yusuke asked.
"That's right." Kurama replied.
"Well, what kind of reason could it be?" Kuwabara wondered.
"I'm not sure exactly, but I think it may have something to do with the Black Knights." Kurama speculated.
"What? But I thought he wasn't with those guys anymore!" Yusuke exclaimed.
"That's what he says. But of course there's no way for us to know whether that's the whole truth." Kurama said as he turned his eyes to Hiei.
The fire demon sighed. "Fine... I'll tell you."
(Earlier that day)
"Why are you only talking to me?" Hiei asked, with a clearly displeased tone.
Koray sighed. "Because it directly concerns you... And I didn't think you would be content with people knowing the whole truth." Hiei stared at his father curiously. "Do you remember what I told you about the demon Kings, in particular Serafin?" Hiei nodded. "The truth is that they really do exist... I figured you would have already known, but you didn't say anything. Hiei... When Athanasios ripped out your Jagan, you should have died. There was no way for you to get out of that alive. However, it was Serafin who restored you to life."
"Assuming that I believe everything you're telling me... Why would he care about whether or not I live?" Hiei demanded. Thinking back, it seemed as though that voice in this head was always concerned with his well being in one way or another.
"Because I asked him to..." Koray sighed. "The thing is, he can't just save people whenever he wants. A price has to paid. In this case it was one life for another."
"Wait...!" Hiei stuttered, taken aback. "Are you saying that you offered Katana's life to Serafin in exchange for mine?"
Koray nodded.
"I can't believe you did that!" Hiei yelled. "I never asked to be brought back... If this is what had to be done to save me, then I would have been better off dead!"
"But you had a reason to come back, right?" Koray asked. "That's what Serafin told me."
"Excuse me?" Hiei glared, confused.
"Hiei, I know that you sometimes hear his voice in your head. It's the same for me." Koray grinned. "You see, Serafin has a special connection with fire demons. He can enter our minds at any time, whether we know it or not. He and I talk often. And he tells me whenever he manages to make contact with you."
Hiei stared curiously. "So back on the Island of Fire when I lost control of the Dragon of the Darkness Flame..."
"That was his doing." Koray replied.
"I see." Hiei muttered, unsure of how he should respond.
Koray grinned. "Well, in any case, you have the truth now. You can decide for yourself what you want the others to know."
"What about you?" Hiei asked. "Are you just going to rot in prison, or let yourself be executed?"
"Naturally, what the Generals decide to do to me depends on what you tell them." Koray said. Suddenly his grin turned into a dark smirk. "But don't worry. All things will be resolved in due time."
(END)
"Serafin... Who exactly is that?" Kurama asked.
"Apparently he's some legendary God of fire demons who resides in the underworld." Hiei explained. "There's a God of wind demons, earth demons, and water demons as well."
"And you hear this guy in your head? That's slightly disturbing." Yusuke shuttered.
"Shut up." Hiei muttered as he diverted his eyes.
"So what're you gonna do now?" Kuwabara asked. "I mean, I'm sure if you talked things out with the Generals they'd understand-"
"No! You're not telling them anything!" Hiei shouted harshly. Kuwabara cringed and jumped a few steps back at the unexpected outburst. "Look, it has nothing to do with you, got it?"
Although the others had more that they wanted to say, they simply nodded, knowing that Hiei was too stubborn to listen to them anyway.
Suddenly, the group of boys felt the presence of several people approaching them. They made gestures to each other in order to make sure everyone was aware that they were being stalked. After focusing for a moment, they figured out that there were about ten people around them. Finally, three of them stepped into view. They were all wearing identical black robes, and were hooded so the boys couldn't see their faces.
"Who the hell are you?" Yusuke demanded.
"We are messengers from Lord Athanasios." One of them stated. "He wishes to speak with all of you."
"About what?" Kurama asked harshly.
"About joining the Black Knights." The cloaked men answered.
"Is that so? Well, you can tell this Athan-whatever-his-name-is that we refuse!" Kuwabara shouted out.
"Of course, our Lord is barely concerned with what a half-wit like you says. He's more interested in what Hiei has to say." One of the cloaked men explained.
All eyes turned to Hiei, who was staring intensely at the cloaked men with his usual annoyed expression. His mouth then reformed into a smirk. "First, I have a question for you."
"Go on." The cloaked men said.
"How stupid does your leader think I am?" The cloaked men said nothing in response, while Yusuke, Kuwabara and Kurama grinned confidently. "I may not know much about him or what his plans are... But after everything he's done to me, I can honestly say that I have absolutely no interest in working with him. In fact, I'd like nothing more than for him to drop dead right now. So go tell him to screw off."
"Hmph... So that is your answer." The cloaked men stated. "In that case, we have no choice but to take you to Lord Athanasios by force!" Suddenly the three men charged at the boys.
"Heh. I'll go first." Yusuke stated with a demonic smile as he disappeared.
Before the cloaked men had time to think, Yusuke reappeared in front of the center man. He delivered a fistful of aura to his face, sending the man flying. While the other two paused in shock, Kuwabara charged forward and slashed the cloaked figure on the right with his spirit sword, leaving a large gash down his body. At the same time, Hiei appeared next to the man on the left, and sliced him into pieces with movements too fast for the eye to see. Then from the ground emerged a large plant that devoured the corpses of the slaughtered men.
"Hn. Hardly worthy opponents." Hiei smirked.
"Yeah, they barely put up a fight!" Kuwabara boasted.
"Of course not. They were simply messengers." Kurama said.
Suddenly, the boys heard clapping not too far away. They turned to the source of the sound, only to see a small figure with grey hair and glowing crimson eyes approaching them. He bore a confident, sadistic smile on his face. The boys instantly recognized him as Athanasios.
"What a wonderful performance." The small man said as he continued to draw nearer. "I see that the two months you spent training with Koray paid off."
"You..." The boys muttered as they gritted their teeth.
"It's a pity that none of you are interested in joining me. I could have put your talent to good use." Athanasios sighed. "However, it's not as though it will change anything."
"What do you mean by that?" Hiei demanded.
Athanasios smirked widely. "The Island of Wind is going to fall."
"What?" The boys exclaimed in unison.
"That's a load of crap! The Generals aren't gonna sit by and let you do this!" Yusuke shouted.
"The Generals? They're hardly a threat at this point." Athanasios said. "Koray's the only one who knows enough about me to be a threat, but the other three don't trust him. Even if they did, I doubt he would say anything."
"What are you planning to do?" Kurama asked.
However, before Athanasios could answer, the ground started to tremble as the result of a distant explosion. Yusuke, Kuwabara, Kurama and Hiei looked in the direction of the nearest town, only to see smoke and flames.
"Be patient, boys." Athanasios said with a smirk. "The fun is about to begin."
Just a quick note from the author: Yeah, Fanfiction has really pissed me off, with how they eliminated the old paragraph breaks... now i have to put a stupid line there instead... oh, well. I'll have to deal -_-