This chapter was Beta read by Akasoeki

Chapter Twelve: Kurenai's Tragic End

My sister was bound to him, to a cold hearted monster. He was made of treacherous ice, as deadly as the winter's unforgiving wrath. Humans were nothing more than pests to him, an infestation that he would exterminate to make the land more comfortable for his own kind.

The Beast Seiryu followed his master without question, but he seemed to hold no loyalty for his other companions. No compassion, no mercy, and even less regard for Yuki. He knew what she was, what had happened when he'd come charging into our village and she'd seen him for the first time as the four of them slaughtered us for sport. It had only been by the Phoenix aspect Suzaku's orders that he didn't cut her down where she stood.

"We can use this one," he said, "Why turn down a trinket when fate offers it?"

Yuki was young, too young. She'd only just entered womanhood and begun wearing the sacred wrappings. Her sigil hadn't even molded to her spirit yet, still so freshly made. She was barely able to enter fugue without guidance. She never stood a chance at defending herself from the powerful dragon and didn't yet know what to do to shut the binding spell down. I fought so hard to keep them from taking her.

The stone golem was powerful, but stupid, and easily bypassed on the icy terrain with Ryuji and I working together. He made a mockery of his aspect's reputation for wisdom and intelligence.

We were unable to overcome Byakko. I'd cast a barrier around him, intending to trap him as well while my husband and I attacked Seiryu from both sides. If only I could touch her, I could teleport the three of us to safety.

But just as we'd rounded the barrier, it failed and Byakko attacked Ryuji from behind with renewed strength. I can't say how that happened or why, because I'd darted forward to take on the dragon that dared to put his hand on Yuki's trembling body. I had to retreat though, his deadly frost rang through my senses before it could coalesce and attack me.

I felt Ryuji being flung straight through a building by Byakko and the link spell took over before I could stagger to a safer area. I had to save Yuki, but I could not let Ryuji die in the process. Byakko back handed me into the stone wall.

Suzaku's words still haunt me. "I will not let them kill you," his eyes were amused as he looked over my bleeding form, "no, you will live and suffer with the knowledge that this child is ours now, to do as we please with. You weren't strong enough to save her. And she will suffer."

And I can remember her screaming my name as the blue dragon threw her carelessly over his shoulder and carried her away, "Kurenai!"

For years the Beasts terrorized both Human World and Spirit World, but I never saw or heard of Yuki's fate again. I dedicated my life to tracking them down and facing off with them whenever I could. Genbu was always the easiest to contain. A strong barrier encasing him and cutting him off from the stone around him meant he couldn't attack. I avoided Byakko, his power was unfathomable and he had gained quite a reputation for slaughtering all those who specialized in energy based attacks. (Not that he didn't mercilessly kill everyone else as well, but word gets around when whole teams of heroes are cut down in a single battle.)

Finally, Spirit world and its apathetic rulers decided to do something about the Beasts. A special team was created with the sole task of hunting the demons down and taking them out. I refused to take no for an answer and forced my way along. In the end, I was accepted because there was no one alive who had faced the creatures and lived more than I had. The infuriating Beasts would amuse themselves, letting me expend every ounce of strength I had and then pulling away before dealing a final blow. Their master's words echoed in my memory. I was to live with my failure.

Each member of the team was several times more powerful than Ryuji. I knew this mission would last until the Beasts were dead. It was dangerous and we'd be traveling between worlds in our chase. I could sense that I would not be returning. I knew it deep in my soul, but I had to go. I would die in the process, but if I could save Yuki from her torment then it would all be worth it. I couldn't risk Ryuji for her, though, and so I did one of the cruelest things I ever had to do. I waited until he was deep asleep and left. I abandoned half of my soul to wake up alone, to know what I had done, and to wonder every day for the rest of his life what had happened to me. I've never gotten over being unable to save Yuki, but I will never forgive myself for what I had to do to keep Ryuji safe either. I was already with the team in Spirit World when I felt his hurt and betrayal snap through my senses like a scream of suffering.

The Beasts were arrogant and prideful. It had always been the four of them and nothing had come close to overcoming them. They knew we were coming for them and they met us openly, amused and delighted for some entertainment.

Suzaku's eyes lit on me with a look of utter satisfaction. "Ah, Kurenai. I'm so glad you came. I watch your progress from time to time, but it's so gratifying to see that look in your eyes in person. I wonder how they would shatter if you could see Yuki now." The damn demon bird he keeps as a pet giggled so happily. She was alive!

Despite the ice that shot through me at his words, I stayed calm and stuck to our plan. My role in this battle was to keep the team alive, to enhance their strength to greater heights, and with their much larger innate power, it would be an unexpected influx of energy. The team had never worked with one of the Scarred before, they had no idea of the strength I could offer them, but they would learn soon enough and respect what I was capable of.

The Beasts were completely unprepared for our attack when it came. Their generals fell in the first wave and with the incredible amount of killing intent directed at them, Suzaku called for a retreat so that they could regroup and out maneuver us. We kept on their heels though, peppering them with attacks and not allowing them time to plan. Unlike them, the people I tended did not need to rest. I had enough mana stones to keep my team at full power for months if I needed.

It took weeks of chasing before they reached a forgotten place in the depths of Spirit World. It was called Maze Castle and had been abandoned in the dusky wastelands that surrounded it after some long ago demon had unsuccessfully tried to take over that level of Spirit World. The Beasts retreated into it's depths and we were ordered to pull back until we knew what to expect from the castle. We lost our scouts within minutes of them entering the tunnel.

The next time, I linked myself to one of the scouts. They refused to let me go in because, if I died we lost our edge against the Beasts. Instead, I tagged along on Tanaka's consciousness. The place was filled with traps. One of Tanaka's scout team was able to faze them all through the stone ceiling, but they became lost in the maze and several fell to other traps. Tanaka was the only one to make it back and it was only because linked as I was I could heal him at will.

We had them trapped in the castle, but we were unable to breach it's defenses. Even when reinforcements came, we lost more men than the ground we gained. Eventually the call was made that no further access to the castle would be granted and there was a discussion about what we could do.

I felt cold as I listened. The most popular option was to have a permanent guard stationed here, but I knew that was foolish. The only reason we'd been able to send them running is because I had funneled magic into gems and artifacts for decades with the sole intention of bringing these creatures to their ruin. I would not be around forever to create what they needed and there was a finite supply of what I could leave behind. Even if we found another Scarred willing to help, it was unlikely that they would be willing to stay in this position, forever watching over the castle and keeping the Beasts imprisoned. No...I had to find a way to do it myself.

And that's when it hit me. A barrier spell unlike any other, meant to entrap them here. It would have to be truly massive, with enough room to encircle the castle from all directions, a sphere of energy. It would have to be powerful enough to withstand their attacks and keep them from passing, which meant a wide net. It would have to last for centuries or be configured in such a way as to allow the rulers from Spirit World to keep it running. I went deep into fugue, deeper than I'd ever gone before.

The equation, at it's core, was simple, just as a barrier spell was meant to be. To compensate for their awesome power, though, I had to rethink the design. Containing Genbu for a short time in my usual spell was not a problem, but it would not work to capture them all, especially not with with the habit the Tiger Beast had of demolishing them. I needed something meant to hold beings far more powerful, so I designed a net that would ignore less powerful demons, focusing all it's purpose on keeping these stronger creatures contained.

Next I had to solve the problem of powering it. I could create an artifact with the sole purpose of pumping energy into the already created spell. I was sure that it would be given to King Enma to regulate until they could find a way to kill the Beasts. I could use a linking spell so this could be taken care of from any distance. Blood Rubies set in strategic places around the castle and linked together would be enough to actually create the giant barrier, but finding a way to start it, to light the fuse, that was a problem. No matter how many times I ran calculations, I couldn't find a way to amass the sheer amount of energy I would need at the start of the spell.

That's when Takara grudgingly informed me of the only way this would work. I would have to pull up the spell equation into a solid form and give myself over to fugue, powering it with the resulting explosion of prismatic energy.

I told the others of my plan and had already begun the process of making the blood rubies. The team is donating theirs to the cause to hurry the process because I will need many to encircle the area around the castle. I'm creating this last entry before Tanaka takes my things. He has promised to make sure Ryuji gets Takara and the other artifacts I've collected so that my daughter can inherit them when she comes of age.

Let my last words be remembered, sisters. Fate is truly unkind. My body will die from the overload, my spirit may even be sundered in the process so that I am unable to meet my family in death, but a part of me will live on in this barrier forever, watching over the Beasts and entrapping Yuki with them. I will imprison them as I imprison myself, an everlasting memory of the failure I couldn't overcome and the sister I could not save.

I was trembling when I came back to my senses. Remnants of Kurenai's emotions, of her sadness and self hatred and hopelessness, had bled out of the journal entry and into my senses through my link with Takara. My cheeks felt cold and wet, only after wiping them on my sleeve did I realize I must have been crying, but I could not separate my own sorrow from Kurenai's and so I didn't know if they were my tears or hers.

Byakko mewled at me and nuzzled his head over my cheeks, trying to push away the forlorn cloud that seemed to hang around me after reliving my ancestor's memories. It took a few seconds to compose myself before I realized the boys were taking a bit of a break and we'd stopped walking. They were hanging out by a large, open stone window.

Kuwabara was leaning on the ledge and holding up his sword of focused energy. Yusuke and Hiei were both looking at Kurama. Even though I'd healed his wounds and restored his energy he was supposed to be taking it easy for a bit to let the spell stick fully. I had advised he not participate in the next battle. The boys, minus Kurama, were bickering and the redheaded human was showing off his fancy, new and improved spirit sword.

"...and I bet it can kick the crap out of your spirit gun, Urameshi," Kuwabara challenged Yusuke.

The boy answered while flipping his friend off, "That depends on what finger I use."

"Well, as it turns out he's only partially worthless..." Hiei smirked.

"Okay, wanna die!?" Kuwabara yelled and waved his sword about.

The short demon's smile was as beautiful as it was terrifying, "I dare you..."

I was still wiping the tears from my face when I laughed, but my heart wasn't fully in it. I'd attracted their attention, though. "You can save your play time for later, I'm finished now..."

"Oh, hey are you okay?" Kuwabara still had his sword powered up, but he paused his rant when he saw me dabbing away the wetness around my eyes.

"Yeah, I'm fine, it's just...intense, reliving other people's memories," I couldn't stop the shiver that rolled through my body and went on quickly so that I didn't get stuck remembering how tragic Kurenai's tale had been to watch. I started wrapping up Takara as I spoke, "I have mixed news, I'm afraid."

I felt Kurama's attention settle on me now that we were getting down to business. Hiei's as well, which radiated heat from his direction. "There was quite detailed information on how to overcome Genbu, but I won't go over that since Kurama took care of that freak. Unfortunately I didn't get a lot of information about Byakko. I do know that he can overcome my defensive barrier, which is why my ancestors were unable to contend with him. I don't know how he does this, as only Kurenai managed to face him and live and only because his master wanted to make her suffer..." I paused, forcing a facade of strength over my face in order to stuff away the lingering emotional effects of reading the diary. "I can still help by buffing you, but we will not have a safe place to retreat and regroup if the need arises."

I leaned back against the wall and closed my eyes, throwing willpower into keeping my voice from catching, "Seiryu might be a problem..." I paused trying to bring forth the correct words to concisely sum up the problem. "He is an ice dragon, but that's not really what concerns me..."

"Get to the point, woman..." Hiei's voice was his usual mixture of bored and impatient.

I felt a weird tug in the moment. Something I hadn't felt before. It was like a feather light impulse tugging in my chest to do as he asked. I still had control of myself and I sensed I could ignore this impulse, but the impulse itself shocked me and my hand flew up to my chest as I looked down, startled.

Yusuke tensed, "You getting a bad feeling?"

"Uh..." I willed my facade to return and decided this would need to be analyzed later when I wasn't trapped in a city of vicious demons and cruel beasts, "Not quite. Curse thing, don't worry about it," I could feel a wave of mild suspicion from Kurama when I changed the subject too fast. "Anyways, Kurenai's involvement stems from her little sister, uh, becoming...enslaved by him. If she shows up to help him then we could have a serious problem on our hands..." I went on to give them them an overview of Kurenai's last two entries, leaving out the technical details, but painting the picture of lives they'd ruined and the information Kurenai had gathered.

"How can that even be possible," Kurama mused, "It's been thousands of years...Could Yuki really still be alive?"

I sighed, "The Scarred", I paused again, at a loss for words, "...there is a bit of spirit exchange as two fates are tied together. When bound to demons, from what I've been able to gather, we generally live longer, depending on the demon's strength. Still, its not long enough to account for the amount of time that has passed and Seiryu's assumed power level." I put Takara back into my bag. "There's only been one documented case of lesser immortality among the Scarred. If those circumstances were met...well...Yes, it is." I trailed off and shrugged, not really sure what else to say.

"Lesser immortality?" Kurama held his chin in his hands.

"According to Takara, true immortality is rare, reserved for beings like King Enma and other Gods so difficult to kill that it's impossible to imagine. Lesser immortality is difficult to attain, but is most often achieved through evil means. Human's can corrupt themselves into various types of demons who won't wither from age or disease, but that can be killed like you or I in combat." I tucked a lock of hair behind my ear and took comfort from Byakko's calming rumble, "If she is around, she will be less human and more...something else."

"So if your great great granny is walking around somewhere helping the bad guys, what exactly does that mean?" Yusuke crossed his arms.

I met his eyes, "Think about it, Yusuke, it means they could very possibly have an evil demonic witch on their side, who's had enough time to learn or create whatever type of power she can fathom. It means the Dragon has an extra lifeline and a way of regenerating his spent energy." I closed my eyes and took a deep breath, "Give me a thousand years and I could reshape the world into something better, more beautiful. Twist me into a dark creature, kill my hope, take away my humanity and I could reshape the world into a terrible nightmare, filled with visions of death, disease, and suffering."

"Jeez, Sarai, its really creepy when you go all dark side..." Yusuke groused.

My answering smirk was not meant to sooth him. "All creatures with free will are capable of great good or terrible evil," it was one of the first of a long list of life lessons I'd learned and that had been repeated by Takara. "Anyways," I broke the thoughtful silence, "its possible that Yuki is long dead, but I needed to bring up that possibility so we would not be caught unaware and to warn that if she does show up, you four should let me take the lead." I frowned and rubbed Byakko's ears in thought, "At higher levels there are instant death spells and, not to be rude, but I doubt any of you know how to unravel a spell equation. For now, though, we should move on and see what they throw at us next..."

"It doesn't matter, I'm totally taking the next fight!" Kuwabara exclaimed holding his energy sword up high. "I was totally about to show the shrimp what else my super awesome sword can do!"

"Can't you have your measuring contest later?" I groaned, rubbing my temples.

"Wait, how did you know?!" Kuwabara looked at me dumbfounded.

I actually swayed in shock and fell back against the wall, "Wait, you weren't really-"

"SWORD, GET LONGER!" He yelled and his coalesced spirit energy expanded and stabbed through the ceiling, sending a few little pebbles and some dirt falling through the air. "I can make it any size I want."

I facepalmed. That kid about gave me a heart attack. I could feel a soft, appreciative smile curl the edges of my lips despite myself. He'd effectively banished the lingering sorrow of Kurenai's end.

A/N: I was so excited after I wrote this chapter and I've been looking forward to uploading it and seeing what everyone thinks. I thought this would be an interesting way of intersecting the Scarred with history in the show. Originally when Takara mentioned Kurenai, I just threw in a name drop figuring I could loop it back somehow like this. I had no idea that it was going to turn out this way until I sat down to write. :) I'd really like to hear everyone's thoughts on this chapter (and the rest of the story if you wanna share.) I'll be responding to everyone's reviews Tuesday the 21st.

Hope to see your review.