This chapter was Beta read by akasoeki.
Chapter Ten: The Gate of Betrayal
To say I was invigorated felt like an understatement. It felt like I stuck a fork in a light socket while licking a battery and taking a bath with an electric eel. It had been so overloading that I thought my mind would sunder from the trauma. Instead, once I could think beyond "mass energy" and "pain" I shoved the blinding light back down into my core where it belonged. It bucked and fought wildly, seeking freedom, but I would not let it ride me like some kind of animal. It was then I remembered that I'd been in the middle of calling up energy for a spell and that after my curse had awoken, the equation was left unbalanced. Now I needed to get rid of that energy in order to find balance.
I couldn't sense anything this deeply in fugue. Takara had warned me on several occasions that even when I got strong enough to survive travel deeper into fugue, it was possible to get lost there, forever trapped in my own mind. I was now truly a Scarred One since the curse activated and with that came a boost in power. It must have been what kept me from just burning alive immediately. Unfortunately, I still couldn't tell where I should dump the excess energy.
With no other alternatives I lifted my left arm out to the side and tried to push the energy out. It was slow, stubborn and willful, but eventually, it snapped out of me like a shot, and with it, I felt things grow less volatile and begin to stabilize naturally.
Even when the rest of my energy was contained, it seemed like forever before my senses really returned. Touch came first, the heat of my body felt unfamiliar, thought not uncomfortable, to me. It was like there were rivers of flames coursing through my veins. It contrasted with the icy feeling that chilled my skin with the slight breeze that seemed to have been whirling around me before going back to a more natural current.
After that came smell. Grave dirt, demon flesh, filthy polluted air that was somehow different from the city I remembered. I could smell dirt and rocks and dust, along with ash and that stinging scent that smelled of strong magic.
Then my "sense" and vision returned, pulling me almost fully into the world again. I could feel Yusuke and Kuwabara standing nearest along with two strong, unfamiliar, demonic aura's standing behind them. My eyes were blurry at first, I could only see blobs of color that blurred into indistinguishable masses. I realized then my wraps were missing. Secondary was the knowledge that I no longer needed them.
About the same time my vision cleared, my hearing came back to me. Kuwabara was standing very closely, "Sarai, can you hear me? Are you okay? What's with your eyes, they didn't look like that before."
"How long was I...out?" My brain felt empty. It was hard to pull thoughts together.
"A minute or two..." Yusuke called over. It had felt much longer than that, but I was already familiar with the way time distorted in one's mind.
I sensed Byakko sitting on the ground ahead of me and leaned over to pick him up before walking with Kuwabara to stand by the others. It was odd to see everything with my eyes and "see" it in a different way at the same time with my "sense." I wondered if Kuwabara felt the same way.
I couldn't ponder on it though. There were two new demons standing in front of a tree near Yusuke. One was tall, good looking with sparkling green eyes and a polite, if curious smile. His red hair was long and tied back in an almost effeminate style that reminded me of hair metal and visual kei. His energy was a strange mixture, as if he was of both human and demonic heritage, but without focusing at a rude level I couldn't tell what exactly it meant.
I barely registered him though, as my eyes were pulled to the shorter figure. He wore black robes, his shirt and headband were a clean white. His large, expressive eyes radiated a mixture of boredom and annoyance. They were wine red, but in my mind they gleamed and flickered like red hot coals. He stood about a foot shorter than me. This one. This one was the one.
I didn't know what I felt at the moment. I was waiting for some Fairy Tale revelation to smack me in the brain, but I didn't feel any different. Sure, he was attractive, if a bit on the shrimpy side, and sure, he had cool hair and neat eyes...but I wasn't...in love with him. I didn't feel the need to do anything for him or defend his honor or any of that other crazy shit. I definitely didn't feel the need to jump his bones or have his babies.
I didn't have time to analyze it further. When I stopped walking, Yusuke spoke up and pulled me from my thoughts. "Well, uh, like I was saying. This is Sarai, and Sarai, that's Hiei and Kurama..."
"Pleased to meet you." Kurama's polite voice offered.
My eyes flickered to Yusuke as he spoke. He stared into my eyes as if entranced for a moment before looking away. After that I met Kurama's gaze and nodded, "The pleasure is mine," I returned.
There was an awkward silence before Kuwabara finally spoke, "Well, I don't know what's going on, but it sure is nice to have a helping hand..."
"Helping is not the right word," As Hiei spoke for the first time, my eyes flickered over to him once more, he was glaring at the boys, "Koenma may regard us as equals, but I do not. Once we're in the castle," and this he addressed to me as well, "I suggest you let us do the work. As far as I'm concerned, we're babysitting."
Well, nothing like a cocky, smug, asshole to brighten my day, but that wasn't really all that weird for me. Genkai and Yusuke were like my two favorite people and they weren't exactly all puppies and sunshine. Still, what a jerk-face.
Kuwabara was not one who liked to be underestimated. He leaned forward and started ranting, "Hey jerk-face, I'm gonna have to beat you up if you keep talking down to us that way."
"Lets try to avoid fighting," He gave Kuwabara a rather dead stare, "You're not worth it."
That was exactly the wrong thing to say if the demon had intended to defuse the situation. Kuwabara's hands fisted in front of him in anger, "Oh that's it!" He cocked back his right hand and let it fly.
Hiei stepped forward in less than the blink of an eye, getting in Yusuke's face and staring up at him as Kuwabara overextended and hit the ground hard. "But you, Detective, are a different story. I plan to take my revenge on you so consider this a warning."
Kuwabara jumped back up behind the short demon, "Oh, you wanna ignore me huh?!" He cocked back for another right straight punch and as he leaned forward, Hiei stepped back into his original spot. Kuwabara hit the ground again. The situation brought a smirk to my face. I didn't want Kuwabara to get hurt or anything, but he was letting his temper control his actions and picking a fight.
Kurama looked over at his companion, "You must finish your current business before you start your own."
"Don't worry, Three-Eyes," Yusuke mysteriously assured him, "If we survive this I'll be glad to take you on." He looked around at all of us, "Now is this the perfect team or what?" Hiei scoffed in derision, Kuwabara wasn't quite restraining an aggravated growl. Yusuke had a gleam in his eyes, the same one before a good fight came up. Kurama was just standing there, assessing first Kuwabara and then me.
I couldn't stop myself from shaking my head and chuckling softly. At the very least, I'd be entertained. Finally, the five of us started walking towards the castle walls. Byakko was riding on my shoulder. As we walked, I piled all my hair on top of my head and restrained it there with a band. I was still feeling unnaturally hot, but the iciness of my skin was thawing. It felt nicer to have the breeze hit my neck and ears, even if my throat did feel strangely vulnerable and exposed without a curtain of hair to cover it.
Eventually we made it to the wall, where a tunnel led into some deep darkness, "Now this feels homey," Yusuke snarked. It was shaped like a skull with the open mouth as the tunnel entrance. There were jagged fangs at the top, meant to make it forbidding, I'm sure.
"Meh, they're trying too hard." My tone came out a little more bored than I'd been expecting, but it was true. The Dark Forest had been more overtly menacing than this place and there hadn't been a single skull involved.
"So I guess we're just going to walk right in?" Kuwabara's voice echoed and distorted as it traveled down the stone hallway.
"Any prize that's worth having usually requires a risk," it was Kurama's soft voice that drew my gaze. With my sense I felt Hiei's attention flicker to the red headed demon as well.
"I say we make them come out here and fight us up front like they're not a bunch of sissies..." Kuwabara decided.
"Your sense of strategy is amazing," Hiei deadpanned.
"Are you talking to me runt boy?!" Kuwabara demanded.
I could feel Yusuke's mounting agitation and started walking forward into the darkness a second before he said, "Lets go!" The others followed behind.
The tunnel itself wasn't all that impressive. It was made out of the same stone blocks as the rest of the castle and there was very little color variation in the rock that made it up. Except for the varying colors of dirt, dust and the occasional flash at the bottom of my vision from my own clothes, it was like I was once again colorblind, bound in strips of silk cloth.
My natural spirit awareness passively covered a larger area than it had before my curse awakened. I couldn't quite tell what I was sensing beyond the walls, but I found myself looking up, down, and to both sides as I tried to puzzle it out. Whatever it was, it was metallic in nature, intricate, and massive.
Ahead of us, I could see the end of the tunnel, leading into an empty space. I felt a new demonic aura and stopped walking suddenly, holding my hand up as my head tilted and I tried to get a read on it.
"What's up Sarai-san?" Kuwabara whispered.
"Do you hear that...?" I sounded like the chittering of a wet, squeaky bug.
"Wings beating..." Kurama mused. And he was right.
When the new demon swooped down, I heard the others gasp. It was a flying eyeball, with bat wings and little tentacles hanging from its bottom. It's skin was stretched over the eye and wings like a lid. His eye color was a startling mixture of yellow and amber. "Welcome to Maze Castle."
Its voice was high pitched and muffled, not to mention confusing since it had no mouth. Maybe its located in the middle of the tentacles like a squid?
"Whoa, it talked!" Kuwabara exclaimed.
"Those who enter Maze Castle must be tried by the Gate of Betrayal," it continued.
"What do you mean tried?" Yusuke was almost standing in a fighting stance.
I got a bad feeling when the creature flew back out of the tunnel and towards the wall. Instinctively, I had a barrier spell on the edge of corporeality just waiting to jump into life.
The creature activated a hidden panel somehow. It slid down to reveal a lever. It then used a tentacle to it push down. The tunnel started rumbling and I widened my stance slightly to compensate. As the tunnel thundered, my senses went haywire and I gasped as everything beyond the walls seemed to start spinning and grating together. It was then that I recognized the gears for what they were and that we were in a clever machine of sorts.
Kurama noticed the ceiling at that same time I did. A second later, the stone started smashing down towards us like something out of an Indiana Jones movie. Everyone yelled. I purposefully tipped backward, letting myself fall, and flung the barrier spell upwards. The bubble of blue energy swirled around me, when the ceiling slammed into it there was a crackling noise and a shock wave rippled through my mind, leaving intense pressure in its wake. The thing was fucking heavy!
"Quite a clever device. A series of intricate gears adapts the ceiling's weight to precisely the strength of its victims," the Eyeball paused and his gaze seemed to narrow. "Of course there is a catch. Just enough leeway remains for one person to escape leaving your friends to be crushed by the weight." Yusuke cursed at the Demon's news. "The decision must be made quickly, not even the five of you combined can hold the ceiling for long. Insist on teamwork and everyone will be crushed." The creature sounded pleased when he continued, "Only by turning on your friends will one of you be able to escape. Only the traitor among you deserves to enter Maze Castle. That's why its called the Gate of Betrayal, you see." Then he giggled and flew around excitedly.
"Grrr, I'd like to get my hands on that thing!" Kuwabara rasped. Then he went to step forward after it and the ceiling shuddered down a bit more.
I felt Hiei's irritation with the boy snap across my senses like a whip when he looked over, "Stay focused on the weight or you'll kill us all," he growled.
"What do you mean?! I bet I'm holding up a lot more weight than you!" the tall youth snapped back.
"Shut it Kuwabara!" Yusuke yelled.
"I'm not about to die for the sake of you worthless humans..." It was a threat and a warning that lined Hiei's voice.
"Don't you dare even consider it Hiei," Kurama commanded.
"Can you all shut up!" I exploded, and with my anger the barrier flared brighter, growing stronger and stabilizing. I stretched my arms out, spreading my senses beyond the walls, examining the truly impressive gear set up that powered this thing. "I have two plans, but I don't know which one is the better option."
"Enlighten us, oh Sparkly One," Yusuke sassed.
Alright smart ass, My thought flew out like a whip and I let it touch his weak senses telepathically, I can try to blow the counter weight on this thing, down side being that if I'm wrong we're all instantly crushed. Or the fastest runner can take a crack at it...Even as I relayed that, I stretched my awareness out looking for a better option.
"This is always my favorite part," the eyeball giggled, "watching the way you squirm as your muscles begin to pop and tear...careful girl, your brain might explode...hehehe!" Then it's voice turned dark and silky, though still oddly high pitched, "But the best is your eyes. Seeing the gears start to turn, the desperation. Thinking. Questioning yourself. How long can I hold this? Will I die this way? Will one friend betray us..." he was cut off as I snapped again, only this time in a much more silent and deadly way.
Turning my focus inward momentarily I grabbed a single target lightning spell and shot it right at the creature, missing as it frantically dodged, but sending it skittering further away to a safer area. I didn't want him sowing those seeds in their minds. We needed focus.
It was apparently just what Yusuke needed to make a decision, "Hiei!" he shouted, "You're a lot faster than any of us. We'll hold the ceiling up while you go and flip the switch."
"Are you crazy? We can't trust that guy!" Kuwabara yelled. "Just look, he doesn't care at all about us."
I could feel Hiei's smirk behind me. I was on my knees in front of him and Yusuke, who was a bit closer. "Your ugly friend has a good point, Detective."
"Who's ugly, you mouse!?"
The dark haired demon continued, "Are you sure you want to trust me? I've already vowed my revenge on you. Maybe I can handle that now."
"Yeah," Yusuke smirked, "But I don't think quick deaths are your style." Hiei actually took pause at that. I felt Yusuke start gathering his spirit energy. "Run quick to the switch, but don't trip. I trust you." He grunted, "I'll use my energy to hold the ceiling while you go." I could feel Hiei's hesitance over Yusuke's faith in him.
"Don't bother," I said to Yusuke, "Save your energy for punching people. Or did you forget you're standing next to a battery?"
"Oh yeah..." Yusuke assented. He knew I didn't have the sort of offensive power he packed, but I did regain my energy at a far quicker pace.
"Hiei," I paused for just a moment when the short demon's attention flared in my senses like a lash of heat, "my barrier is already attuned to your energy," I hadn't realized it until the words were out of my mouth, but they were in fact true, "you'll be able to run right through no problem." He grunted in acknowledgment. "And be careful, I have a bad feeling..."
With that done, I focused on my barrier and bit down hard on the inside of my lip, using blood as the perfect component to maximize the spell's power and strength. The blue energy flared prismatic and actually lifted the ceiling two inches higher so that the boys were able to stand just a bit straighter as they desperately strained against the stones above us.
"Go!" It was Yusuke who yelled at just the right moment, probably knowing I'd be too focused on regulating the flood of power.
I felt Hiei leave with a snap, faster than the human eye could follow. He had passed my barrier walls and jumped right over me before shooting off down the tunnel at a speed I'd have to admire later. With Hiei no longer holding up his portion, my barrier shuddered under the incredible weight of the ceiling. I growled and worried my lip with my teeth, letting more blood spill in order to compensate. Byakko was sitting between my legs, tense and almost waiting for something.
I could feel Hiei on the edges of my senses. He made it all the way to the wall, right in the middle of the secondary bad feeling I sensed. (The primary one being the fuck ton of stones trying to squash me.) He froze, with his fingers paused scant inches from the lever. Then he turned back to look at us.
"What's the deal?" Kuwabara yelled. "Flip the stupid switch already!"
"There's no need to make snap judgments, my friend." The demonic Eye was back, spreading his poison. "What have they ever done for you? Leave them and then you can come with me into the castle." He was hovering right over Hiei's shoulder as the dark haired demon gazed back at us. "With the successful invasion of Earth, the four Saint Beasts will control the future. Join us," it encouraged, "Perhaps you can be the general of our demon army."
"Don't you dare, you creep!" Kuwabara called. "If it hadn't been for our help, you'd still be screaming with the rest of us..."
And then Hiei pulled his hand away from the lever and I couldn't help myself, my senses focused on him in a way I knew would be apparent to him as I tried to analyze the situation further.
"What are you doing?" Kuwabara growled.
Hiei chuckled, "Take a guess you fool." I sensed his eyes flicker to me for just a moment before he smirked slightly at all of us.
"Yes, you find amusement in their pain," the floating eye giggled.
The ceiling groaned and strained against my barrier, which started cracking the stone ground at my feet as it was pushed downwards. I growled, furious at those stupid Saint Beasts and whoever the hell thought this damn thing up. I was going to dismantle this piece of shit as soon as we were freed.
I didn't doubt Hiei's intentions. Kuwabara was too focused on straining his entire body to keep it from being crushed to focus on his spirit awareness. When mine had brushed over Hiei's I knew he had either taken my warning seriously or had sensed it himself, which meant there was likely a trap ahead and it was up to us to last until he could ferret it out.
"A wise choice," the Eye began, "the boulder would have crushed you anyways. His voice had been soft and I'd only understood it because I didn't need to stand by something to know what the hell was going on.
A spark of understanding passed through Hiei's aura a scant second before he leaped into the air and sliced through the demonic Eye in a move only my senses could follow, "Thanks for the clue!" he yelled.
Then he pulled the lever and the ceiling stopping pushing down on us almost immediately. Yusuke had a relieved smile, "Hiei! He came through!"
I felt a giant boulder dropping through the air towards Hiei. It landed with a giant crack and a thunderous rumble as dirt, debris and shrapnel made of sharp rock went flying everywhere. The boys all scrambled out of the tunnel to check on him. I could already "see" Hiei standing safely at the top of the rock and so picked my way out more carefully.
"Tell your master this is their chance to beg for mercy," Hiei spoke to the demonic Eye, which was flapping around like crazy, a nasty looking slash mark right down the middle. He flew off into the distance.
Yusuke flashed the short demon a thumbs up, "I knew you'd save us, you punk."
"Me too," I murmured thoughtlessly as I scanned the gears behind the wall.
"But you did have me worried," Yusuke continued, "Hell of an actor." he had his arm around Hiei's shoulder as he patted him. "You know, not everyone can pretend to laugh at their dying friends."
"Heh, friends are just a crutch for the weak," he smirked as he turned his back on the younger boy, "I wasn't acting."
"Say what?!" Kuwabara gasped.
"Don't confuse it. The only reason I saved you is because I might need your help." Hiei deadpanned.
Who cares, I thought. You still saved the day, right? I couldn't help it, I burst into laughter, pressing my hot forehead against the cold stone wall.
Kurama's tone was pretty light as well, "Its his way of saying, 'You're welcome.' You'll learn."
"Right." Yusuke drew the word out.
"He still ticks me off!" Kuwabara fumed.
On that note I grabbed Takara from my bag. "I need the equation for Alchemical Fire..." She opened to the correct page and I scanned the diagram.
"What are you doing, woman?" Hiei's boredom flitted across both of my primary senses.
"You got to send your message," I began drawing the correct symbols on the wall with more blood from my lip, connecting the spell with the metal gears behind it, rather than the stone in front of me. It was easy because I could see them with my mind. "Now I get to send mine." Finished I stepped back and looked at it, making sure the equation was correct, balanced, and ready to go. With that, I snapped my fingers, activating the spell. My blood on the wall glowed hot green, searing into the stone.
"What-" Yusuke started, but he was cut off by the sound of groaning metal and snapping stone.
Suddenly there was a loud boom that resonated from the other side of the wall as the mechanism that held the tunnel ceiling up cracked and gave way. The wrenching noise of metal giving away, along with the gears clanging to the floor, which continued to rain down and probably would for some time as the delicate machine unraveled and fell to pieces. I'd linked the alchemist's fire, which was technically created to smelt metals for transmutation, to a handful of weak spots in the design. Having lost too many key supports, it collapsed under its own weight.
I smirked, satisfied and turned back to the group as I stowed Takara away. I was picking up Byakko when Yusuke spoke, "Not to rain on your parade, but how are we gonna get out now?"
I looked at him like he was a moron, "Brat please, you know I can teleport..."
A/N: Hey, just wanted to let everyone know the large gap in updates is related to my PTSD. I'm in the middle of a relapse right now so things are a little unstable for me at the moment. I still have seven chapters edited and ready to go and I'll continue to upload them once a week. Hopefully I'll be feeling better before the buffer runs out and I'll be able to finish Chapter 18. I'd like to write more now, but while I'm like this it's hard to find the right voice. Everything will be okay, things will settle down, and I will go back to doing what I always do; trying to craft one hell of a story. :3
TL;DR: I'll upload Chapter Eleven tomorrow and Chapter Twelve next weekend. Hope you're enjoying the story!
Don't forget to review!