The Dream: Chapter 18

Walking through the quiet temple, Lilly hadn't realized how long she was in the woods. It was currently around 3AM and most of the humans and demons alike were asleep or at least staying quiet. Her clothes where no longer wet as she had played with the wind to dry them, but her feet were now cold as she walked along the cool wooden floor. After passing many doors she finally found herself standing in front of the door she was looking for, like the night before there was a glow of light shinning from underneath. She took a deep breath and raised her fist to knock, but paused just shy of making contact. What if he does not want to see me? He didn't come to dinner and that's probably because I was there. This was stupid, just go to bed and figure it out in the morning. She turned to head back down the darkened hall, but was stopped by a voice. "Not going to go in?"

"Who's there?" She slowly saw an outline of a tall figure step closer to the dim light coming in from a small window a few feet behind her. "You do not recognize me? After all this time I would have thought simply my voice would give me away." "No. Now who are you?" Lilly couldn't hide her fear from herself, but she wasn't going to show it to a strange figure in the dark. After all last time she found herself alone in the dark with some unknown creature, it attacked her; but this time she was ready. "Kurama sent me here to talk to you… rather I forced him to." "What did you do to Kurama? Where is he?" She could see the figure move his head from side to side, "He's around." Her anger once again was getting the best of her, despite her fear, "I said, who are you?"

There was a small chuckle from the figure and Lilly knew it wasn't a real laugh, but instead an amused snicker at her. None the less the figure leaned off the wall and started to slowly step further into the light. He wore white robes and was much taller than he appeared before, his skin was pale and his finger nails were long; as her eyes traveled up his body she took in as many details as she could incase this man did attack her. His hair was long and flowing, even though there was no wind, but what surprised her the most was the color of his eyes – silver like his long hair and a small smile upon the gentle features of his face.

"Who are you?" "A friend I suppose. Maybe not to you, but that we shall see about." She narrowed her eyes and took a small step back, ready to fight if she had too. He stood before her, standing tall with his arms crossed over his body, seemingly unaware that she was in an attack stance. "Tell me… flower, why did you come to see Kurama?" The way he called her 'flower' sat uncomfortably on her nerves. "Why should I tell you?" "That is why I am here. To figure out what is running through that mind of yours." His eyes finally connected with hers and a shiver ran up her spine.

"Are you sure you want me to do this? You should just ask the little girl yourself." "No. You will get more answers than I ever could." "Yes, but you might not like how I have to get them." "Do what you must. I will not stop you."

"Tell me flower, do you harbor feelings for young Kurama?" She did not answer. "What about the fire demon, Hiei?" Still she said nothing, only studied him; his energy, the way he held himself, the way he talked. Is he trying to play a game? Then it clicked in her head, he was; he was trying to squeeze information out of her. She stood up straight and calmed her own energy to the point it would seem human and stared up at the taller man with a look of innocence in her eyes.

Ah she is ready to play, good.

"Why should I tell you about my feelings? I do not even know you." "Wrong again flower, you know me more than you think." "How." "Shall we play a game?" "Aren't we already playing one?" "I suppose we are, but how about a different game." "What game?" "You show me your powers and I will show you mine." His eyes narrowed even further and darkened in a disturbing way, but Lilly refused to let her fear be shown. "I have no powers." He clicked his tongue at her as he closed his eyes, "That is not what I heard. You left right after dinner and disappeared deep into the woods; far enough no one would come looking for you. And from the looks of you, you just got back. So what were you doing all that time? I don't assume star gazing for hours is something a girl like you would do." "A girl like me? What the hell does that mean?" His eyes snapped back open, "A powerful girl like you can't help but push her own limits. Am I wrong?"

She eyes finally fell to the ground. Damn how does he know all this stuff? And what did he mean Kurama is around? I can't sense his energy anywhere. Still looking at the ground she answered him, "You are not wrong. I like to push my limits, but I assure you I have no power." He hummed at her, he knew she was lying to him as he took a few more steps closer, "Don't lie to me little flower, you are not playing fair." "Am I? I have shown no powers this far, except Kurama's crazy hypotheses about me being able to connect with plants."

"She is lying, but will not talk this way. Change tactics."

"Oh fine then, if you want to talk about Kurama again we can." She remained quiet. "You see I have known him for a long time, almost long enough you could say I can read his mind. And it has come to my attention that he has feelings for you." "What the… don't tell her that." "Quiet little one." "So here I am, trying to figure out if you are worthy of him. After all he is a very special person and only a certain kind of person could understand him. Are you that type?" He waited; he knew she would reply no matter how long she tried to keep her calm.

"Probably not." Her voice was low, almost tearful yet she did not show the tears. "Sneaky little flower isn't she? She knows we are playing and is able to hide."

"Why do you say that? Do you not feel for him? Or is it that you feel for someone else?" "I'm not sure." "Of what flower?" "Stop calling me that!" For the first time she was letting her anger be seen by this strange man. "Flower?" "Yes that is not my name and you sound like Hiei when you say it. But at least he has my respect enough to call me that." "So Hiei can call you something as delicate as flower, but me someone you know more than the fire demon can't?" "I do not know you." Taking another long step towards her, he was merely inches from her and bent at the waist so his face was slightly higher than hers, "Yes you do. You just have to think." She eyes snapped up to meet his silver ones and she froze.

She saw no threat behind them, just question after question he wanted to ask. They looked so familiar, he felt so familiar but Lilly couldn't put her finger on it. They stayed this way until he tilted his head to the side, almost as if he was listening in on her thoughts. "What kind of demon are you?" He stood back up and looked down at her, her eyes had returned to this innocent state and he knew it was an act. Raising one hand to his chest, "Me?" "Yes! You." "How do you know I am a demon?" "Your energy is screaming it and how happy you are to be out." "Ohh you can read energy." "Yes." "Then you figured it out."

He took a step back so she could properly see him again. "No tell me. You wanted to play a game, so let's play. You want to know if I have feelings for Kurama? Yes I do. Now I want to know what kind of demon you are." He hummed again, "Let's start on a different point." She nodded her head, knowing she would have to play this right. He wants to know more than he is putting on and if I play this like he is winning he will be more likely to tell me what I want to know. Game on!

So what are Youko and Kurama up too? Why is Kurama hiding from Lilly, that's not like him? And what kind of games will Youko play now that he is out and in control?