Yu Yu Hakusho Fan Fiction / Fan Fiction ❯ In Omnia Paratus ❯ PICKLES AN' EGGS! ( Chapter 12 )

AN: Okay, so I meant to have this chapter done by the time I got home, and to have it up yesterday, but alas…I picked up The Da Vinci Code. So, needless to say, I got a little behind. But that doesn't matter, because I got it done today and it's up now, so…enjoy!

 

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Somehow, during the next hours, the large group split off at random into several smaller parties. The idea seemed to be that they could all think individually and then gather to form a plan…though no one actually said that. Kurama and Hiei went to the porch again. Buffy, Tara, Willow, Xander, Anya and Giles moved into the kitchen and lugged a few books with them. Angel and Cordelia stayed in the living room, but relocated to the corner farthest from Dean and talked in whispers. It had been done quickly, efficiently, and silently.

 

Dean had been acutely aware of every movement of every person, but he had shoved the thoughts of this aside, and turned his mind instead to how he was going to help his brother.

 

XXX

 

“This…bites,” Hiei said unhappily, tracing random patterns into the wood of the porch swing.

 

Kurama didn't bother questioning his choice of words—his love was weird, and that was all there was to it. He just slipped an arm around Hiei, and stayed quiet.

 

In truth, he wasn't all that surprised at Hiei's unhappiness over this, or by the fact that the little fire demon allowed the feeling to show. He may have put up a hard exterior, but right now it was different. Right now it was just the two of them, and Hiei freely displayed his emotions under those conditions—most of the time, anyway.

 

“I like him, too,” Hiei continued. “He was nice to me. To us. And about us. And even if Dean does have a stupid name and will never trust us…he never said anything really bad, either. They don't deserve this.”

 

Kurama's arm tightened as he reflected on how much Hiei had changed since his involvement with the Reikai Tentei and Kurama himself. Just a few years ago, the spitfire half-breed wouldn't have given a damn about anyone else's problems unless they related to him directly or there was something to be gained.

 

And now here he was, looking just downright depressed over Sam Winchester's present…situation.

 

The powers of love and friendship really can be astounding…

 

“What are we going to do, fox?”

 

Kurama sighed, and put his other arm around Hiei, turning the half-hug into a full one. “I don't know, love. But we have to think of something.”

 

Hiei smirked, and a bit of his old Hiei-ness showed through again—the good part of the old Hiei. “So get brainstorming. You are the brains here, aren't you?”

 

XXX

 

Giles closed his book, took off his glasses, and pinched the bridge of his nose with a weary sigh. I'm getting too old for this, he thought regretfully, fighting the urge to get up and look in on the lithe group in the living room—again.

 

Instead, he got up and started a new pot. It's astonishing how quickly we go through coffee here, he thought idly.

 

As he filled the pot with water, he looked around at the crowd that had decided to join him in the kitchen. Remarkably, they were all still awake, though most of them looked rather droopy of eye.

 

Maybe it was the late hour, or the sleep deprivation, or just a need for caffeine, but Giles suddenly felt quite proud of his “team.” Being barely in their twenties, they got on his nerves quite often, of course, but that didn't really seem to matter much right now, when they were all working so hard on virtually no sleep. It showed that even if they complained relentlessly, they'd never actually desert the cause. They were good people, one and all.

 

Good Heavens, I'm getting sappy in my old age. I should do something about that.

 

XXX

 

“I just feel so bad for him,” Cordelia said quietly, glancing over at Dean, who was sitting cross-legged in the biggest armchair in the room, staring sightlessly at Sam, who was in turn staring sightlessly at the ceiling. Dean didn't seem to be thinking at all, much less coming up brilliant way to get them all out of this, but Cordelia felt no urge to try and get his attention. All she felt was a deep, sad sympathy.

 

“I know,” Angel replied, and Cordelia had to think for a moment to figure out what he was agreeing with. “And Sam, too. If he's aware of what's going on, and he's trapped inside…it's gonna be as bad for him as it will be for us, maybe worse.” Seeing the expression on Cordelia's face, he smiled a little. “Don't worry, we'll think of something.”

 

Cordelia sighed. “Yeah. I just wish I could have met him before…this.”

 

Something in her voice reminded Angel that Sam was the only living person known to the two of them who had the same ability as Cordelia. He realized right then that though Cordelia had seemed perfectly calm all day, it had actually probably been the exact opposite. And now the chance to meet someone like herself had been cruelly snatched away—

 

No. Stop it. It's not over. We can still save the day, like we always do.

 

The only problem was, “saving the day” had been getting just a little harder lately.

 

XXX

 

The Spirit World

 

Prince Koenma of the Reikai was frazzled.

 

Actually, frazzled was much to mild a term. So were “annoyed,” “unhappy,” and “at the end of the proverbial rope.”

 

“OGRE!” he shouted, in the squeakish voice that went with the toddler body he stayed in when there was no need to make an impression. He slammed open the door to his office and skidded in at almost a full run—even in times of crisis, the heir to the rule of the Spirit Realms rarely ran.

 

“Yes, Koenma, sir?” the tough, intimidating—but actually quite pathetic, if you asked Koenma—blue ogre, George, inquired in his deep voice from a far corner. “Is something the matter, sir?”

 

“`Is something the matter, sir?'” Koenma mocked, striding to his desk in a way that would have been a lot more impressive if he had been taller than three feet. “Is something the matter? Oh, no, just the whole dam world's falling apart! And of course it's me who has to deal with it…stupid useless staff…”

 

Koenma continued muttering as he pawed through his desk, now ignoring the ogre he had screeched so alarmingly at moments ago. Finally, he pulled a small object out of one of the drawers and left the room again, this time through a set of doors behind and to the right of his desk.

 

Curious now, George followed Koenma into the hall that led to the Record Rooms. Koenma apparently didn't have any objection, because he didn't say anything about it.

 

George had expected them to go through at least a few rooms and labyrinthine corridors before reaching their destination, but in fact they reached the room fairly quickly.

 

It was a room like any other at the palace—off-white tile, immaculate floors and cold white walls, altogether uninviting to newcomers. File cabinets stretched from floor to about halfway to the ceiling against every wall, each bearing a different year. The cabinet directly to the left of the door through which the two came was marked 2000, and the cabinets circled the room—leaving a space for another door on the far side—ending in the year 2500 on the right. At the moment, most of these cabinets were empty, of course.

 

Koenma went to the 2006 files, and looked impatiently at George, who quickly went over, took the key Koenma was holding, opened the top drawer—January—and took out all the files. Koenma say down on the floor and began flipping, whole George looked on silently.

 

About ten minutes later, Koenma stood again, teetering under the weight of all the files, and George took them, put them away, and went to the February files, and once again Koenma sat down to look them over.

 

It continued this way through March, April, and the present month. Neither Koenma or the ogre said a word until the May file was safely locked away. Then Koenma turned and looked up at the ogre, craning his neck.

 

“George,” he said seriously, and George felt a jolt of alarm—Koenma never used his real name. “We could be in serious trouble.”

 

XXX

 

Tokyo

 

“What is the matter with you, Kuwabara?” Yusuke Urameshi asked irritably as his best friend jumped up yet again and crossed the living room to the window. “You've been up since three this morning! Can't you just sit down and watch TV? Or sleep?”

 

Kuwabara sighed and leaned his head against the cool glass windowpane, trying to calm his nausea. He had been feeling this way since late last night, and he couldn't understand why. He hadn't slept a wink, and now he couldn't sit down, though he should have been exhausted.

 

“Something's wrong, Urameshi,” Kuwabara murmured, not really sure where the words came from.

 

“What?” Yusuke asked, joining Kuwabara at the window. Instead of looking out, though, he turned Kuwabara around and looked at him carefully. “What's up?”

 

Kuwabara pulled back and leaned against the wall. “I dunno. I just have a bad feeling. We need to call Kurama.”

 

XXX

 

The Spirit World

 

Koenma was back at his desk, filling out reports, when Yusuke came stomping in, followed by Kuwabara. Koenma jumped in surprise—he had not been warned about their arrival.

 

“How did you…?”

 

Yusuke cut him off by slamming his hands down on the desk and scattering papers everywhere. This was one of his favorite methods of getting Koenma's attention. “We walked past your `security,' that's how. Why won't you see us? Or even talk to us?”

 

“I…I don't know what you…”

 

“Oh, save it. I've been trying to contact you for weeks, and not one of these guys would put me through. Why?”

 

Koenma sighed and put down his stamp and ink pad, then straightened the papers left on his desk, before turning his attention to Yusuke and Kuwabara. “Yusuke, hard as it may be to believe, I was not ignoring you. I never even told them not to put you through. I've actually been intending to call you.”

 

Yusuke seemed to deflate them, and he finally stepped back from the desk. “Oh. Seriously?”

 

“Yes, seriously. Kuwabara, sit down before you fall down,” Koenma said, looking over at the other man, who was still standing by the door. “Now what's this all about, you two?”

 

“Why don't you tell us why you've been incommunicado for so long?” Yusuke said firmly.

 

Koenma sighed. “Yusuke, there's no conspiracy here. I've just been over-the-top, run-off-my-feet, actually working, busy.”

 

“So nothing's wrong?” Yusuke asked uncertainly.

 

Koenma diverted his gaze a little. “Um…no, nothing.”

 

“Yeah, well, we talked to Kurama before we came here, and he's saying something a little different.”

 

Koenma started guiltily. “You…you did?” Yusuke nodded. “Damn. I was hoping you would talk to me first.”

 

“Have you been listening?” Yusuke asked loudly. “We've been trying to talk to you. You…”

 

“Okay, I'm sorry, you're right. So…what did Kurama tell you?”

 

“That something is wrong and to talk to you before calling him back.”

 

“That's it?” Koenma asked. Yusuke nodded again. “All right. Well, I didn't think it was that big a deal before, which is why I didn't bring you into the equation sooner, but…I guess it's time we talked.”

 

XXX

 

Sunnydale

 

Some time after midnight, Dean, Angel, Cordelia, Giles, Buffy, Willow, Tara, Xander, Anya, Kurama and Hiei converged in the living room again. Dean was the only one who didn't move, and everyone gathered around his chair. He probably wouldn't have noticed if Angel's body hadn't blocked his view of Sam. As it was, this was what happened, and Dean snapped to, though he didn't seem too alarmed at not being able to see Sam. He just glanced up and said, “We need to try and keep him from leaving.”

 

Cordelia, for one, was rather surprised. Dean had apparently been thinking—a lot—when he had seemed completely casual. But Dean was still talking, so she dismissed the thought.

 

“If we can get the demon out of him before tomorrow—er, tonight—maybe we can prevent this whole thing.”

 

“But don't exorcisms…uh…hurt?” Buffy asked. In response to all the raised brows, she said, “What? I know things.”

 

“Yeah, it could hurt him…but this thing—whatever it is—will do a lot worse,” Dean said. “Giles, do you have any exorcisms? Wait, what am I saying, of course you do…”

 

Giles looked slightly uncomfortably. “Actually, I don't.”

 

“You don't what? Have an exorcism book? Seriously?”

 

Giles looked a little ashamed. “I never thought anything like this would happen…”

 

“So what do we do now?” Anya asked.

 

As if on cue, Dean got up and left the room, without a word. He came back in less than a minute with his duffel bag slung over his shoulder. Without a word he opened the bag and started digging around until he pulled out a small, leather-bound, well-work book, and also a bottle of holy water.

 

“Knew I brought it with me. Here, Giles, you use that…”

 

Giles looked in confusion at the bottle in his hand. “But what are we…?”

 

“Exorcism, weren't you listening?”

 

Buffy bristled. “Hey, don't talk to him like that—”

 

“It's quite all right, Buffy. Yes, I heard you before, but…well, never mind. Let's get on with it. I confess that I've never partaken in an exorcism before. What do we do?”

 

Dean shrugged. “It's easy enough in theory. You've used holy water before, I'm sure, doing what you do and all. Just toss some on him and…and um…ignore it if it burns him…” The elder Winchester looked pained, but he went on. “And the rest of you just get as far back as you can, `cause there's a good chance he'll start thrashing around and he could do some serious damage. Come to think of it, we should probably move all the furniture and put him on the floor so he has plenty of room…”

 

In a few minutes, the room was rearranged to Dean's satisfaction, and Kurama and Hiei had moved Sam carefully to the floor. Dean had tried to ignore the way Sam's head lolled lifelessly to the side, and how he didn't react at all as they lifted him.

 

Once everything was right, Dean made sure Sam had plenty of room to move, and that it was unlikely he would hurt himself, then nodded at Giles, who uncapped the holy water. Then he opened the book—it went immediately to the right page, having been marked long ago—and began the spell.

 

XXX

 

Someone was shaking him.

 

“Dean?”

 

He mumbled something incoherent and turned his head to the side.

 

“Dean, are you all right?”

 

Shake. Mumble. Shake.

 

“Dean.”

 

Another shake, and Dean finally opened his eyes.

 

The first thing he noticed was that he was on the floor, with a crowd of people leaning over him. The next thing he noticed was that he was the only one on the floor—Sam had been moved back to the couch. The room had been put back in order as well. Dean sat up, slowly, gently shrugging off Kurama's attempt to help. “What happened?”

 

“We don't know,” Willow said. “You just sort of…flew. And hit the wall. We have no idea how it happened.”

 

Dean looked over at his brother, who was still unchanged, and slumped. “It didn't work.”

 

Anya shook her head. “He jerked. Once. He jerked once. And for a second he almost seemed to have an expression, but…then he went back to being freaky.”

 

“Which means we need a new plan,” Xander said.

 

Dean sighed, and climbed to his feet. He still had no idea what had happened to him, but he felt fine. “Okay. This is okay. This is fine. I can work with this. Plan B, plan B…hey, who's playing My Heart Will Go On?”

 

Kurama immediately flushed deeply. “Um…um, that's me.”

 

Dean quirked an eyebrow, then stood up, taking out his cell phone. “Here. It plays Highway to Hell. Download it. Embrace the testosterone, not the estrogen.”

 

“What's this…music? What does it mean, Kurama?” Hiei asked curiously.

 

Dean rolled his eyes. “It's a song from the chick-flickiest movie ever made. Now all we need is a giant ship and Leonardo DiCaprio in the corner to bring back the worst three hours of my childhood.”

 

“Who's…”

 

“Never mind.”

 

Meanwhile, Kurama's phone was on the sixth or seventh ring, and he finally picked it up and flipped it open.

 

“No, what does it mean, really? Who is this DiCaprio person? And a giant ship?” Hiei was saying, when Kurama suddenly said, “Oh, hello, Yusuke.”

 

Dean quite forgot about their for-once-civilized conversation. “Japan?” he mouthed, and Kurama nodded.

 

“Hold on a second, Yusuke,” Kurama said, and then spoke to Dean. “He called me an hour or two ago. Kuwabara thought something was wrong here.”

 

“Yeah, well, he was right,” Dean said bitterly.

 

“Who are these people?” Buffy broke in.

 

“Friends of Hiei and I. We work together.”

 

“And how did this Kawa…Kawu…”

 

“Kuwabara is psychic. He has a sort of…connection…with certain people. Me, Hiei, Yusuke, his sister Shizuru, and a couple others. He must be able to work over longer distances now…”

 

“KURAMA, PAY ATTENTION!”

 

Kurama jumped a foot as a high-pitched voice emitted from the phone, loud enough for the whole room to hear. He recovered quickly and held the phone to his ear again. “Hello, Koenma. Nice to talk to you, too.”

 

“DON'T BE CUTE, DO NOT BE CUTE! THIS IS SERIOUS!” the voice screeched.

 

“Okay, I'm sorry. Listen, I'm going to put you on speaker, so you can talk to all of us.” Before the guy on the other end could protest, Kurama hit a button and put the phone on the table in the middle of the room. “You're all on speaker.”

 

“So you finally figured out your phone, Kurama?” a different voice from the squeaky one asked teasingly.

 

Kurama smiled. “I did. I had some help, though,” he added, sitting down on the floor as everyone else did the same. “So how are you guys? We haven't talked in a couple of weeks.”

 

“Oh, we're all pretty good. Pretty much the same as always. Or we were, until those two Winchester guys showed up and things got weird. Hey, are they around?”

 

“Yes, they are,” Dean said a little awkwardly. He had no idea what he was supposed to say now.

 

“Oh, hi, Dean,” Yusuke said, sounding perfectly at ease. “How are you? You sound tired. Come to think of it, so do you, Kurama.” A pause, and then Yusuke said, “Something's wrong, isn't it? Really wrong.”

 

“HEY, AREN'T YOU ALL FORGETTING ABOUT ME? YOUR BOSS?”

 

“Koenma, you don't need to shout anymore…”

 

“I AM THE SON OF THE RULER OF THE ENTIRE SPIRIT WORLD! I WILL SHOUT IF I WANT TO SHOUT!”

 

“Hey, why does he sound like a baby?” Dean asked.

 

“Oh, he's in a toddler's body,” Kurama explained.

 

Dean surprised himself with a snort of laughter. “Excuse me? You take orders from a toddler?”

 

“HEY! DON'T SAY IT LIKE THAT! I'LL HAVE YOU KNOW I CAN BE QUITE HANDSOME! AND I HAPPEN TO BE AN ADORABLE TODDLER!”

 

“Stop shouting before I go there and kill you,” Hiei growled, and surprisingly, Koenma gave a squeak and fell silent. “Now we have a serious problem. So shut up and listen to us.”

 

XXX

 

The tale—begun with Sam's visions and ended with Koenma's call—was shared among Kurama and Dean, with a few interjections from Hiei. The others, unsure of who they were talking to, stayed nervously silent, the questions plain on their faces.

 

Once the story was complete, Koenma was silent for a while. Then he said thoughtfully, “That may explain it…”

 

“Explain? Explain what?” Kurama asked, leaning forward where he sat on the floor.

 

Koenma barely seemed to hear him. “I went into the Records Department earlier today, and I found out that the body count is significantly high this year. Higher than it's been in nearly a thousand years. Maybe this is why…when did you say this happened last?”

 

“12th century,” Kurama answered instantly.

 

“12th century…12th century…could you hold on?”

 

“If I said no would you care?”

 

“No.”

 

“I can hold on,” Kurama said with a chuckle, but it didn't matter because some kind of weird elevator music was sounding over the phone.”

 

“Okay, so…who're we talking to?” Tara asked, looking relieved to finally have a chance to ask.

 

“Koenma, our…” Hiei started to say something else, but the words seemed to get stuck in his throat. He choked, and trailed off.

 

“Our boss. Hiei hates saying that word,” Kurama said. “He rules what you would call the Spirit World. He also keeps an eye on the humans, and on the demon world of Makai. He gives us our orders, we follow them…”

 

“And the world rotates backwards on its axis.” Yusuke's voice rang out again, and they all jumped, except for Sam, obviously. “God, that hold music is annoying. You guys still there?”

 

“Yes.”

 

“Hey, just out of curiosity, and for the sake of killing time…how many people am I talking to here?”

 

Kurama did a quick head count, slowed only by a quick debate with himself over whether or not to include Sam, and then he reported, “Eleven, not counting me.”

 

“Oh. Well…um…hi. I'm…erm…Yusuke Urameshi…and I feel really stupid right now. Kuwabara, speak, please. Kuwabara? Oh. He's asleep. Of course he's asleep. I have to make conversation with twelve people, so of course he's asleep…”

 

“You can stop beating around the bush,” Dean said calmly. “I'm all right.”

 

“Oh…uh…well…that's good,” Yusuke said, sounding flustered.

 

“Yeah. We'll figure out how to save him. I'm pretty used to getting him out of scrapes anyway. This is a bit more than a scrape, but…it's all the same, really.”

 

“I guess. I've never had to take care of anyone before, so I wouldn't know. You guys have a plan yet?”

 

“We already tried…something,” Kurama replied. “It didn't work. We were about to start brainstorming again when you called.”

 

“And you told Koenma everything you know?”

 

“Yes.”

 

“And exactly what was it that you tried earlier?”

 

Kurama seemed a little uncomfortable. “Well…it was an exorcism.”

 

“Run that by me again?”

 

“An exorcism. You know, to expel spirits and demons.”

 

“Like in the movies? Kurama, have you lost your mind?”

 

“It wasn't my idea!” Kurama protested. “You know that the Winchesters work differently than we do. They hunt different things. And in different ways. It was Dean's idea.”

 

“And you really don't want to continue questioning my methods right now,” Dean warned, though his voice was still completely calm.

 

“Oh. Okay. Well. Um…is there any other way to get this…thing…out of your brother?” Yusuke asked.

 

“Besides an exorcism? No. I think that's the only thing to reverse a possession. And just knocking him out is completely pointless. What I can't figure out is why the demon waits. I mean, why is it just leaving him like…like this?”

 

Giles answered, glad to have something to put in. “Well, a full possession may take some time. I mean, making him like this must have taken quite an effort. My guess is that the thing took some of Sam's physical abilities—speaking, hearing, thinking, etc.—and kept the things it could use, such as motor skills and, of course, his power.”

 

“Wait. Power? What power? You mean his visions?”

 

Giles didn't answer immediately, though. He began to pace instead, with a look, not of confusion, but of dawning comprehension. “No…not just visions…it can't be just that, because he's not the only person who has them. There must be something special about your brother for him to be chosen…”

 

“Special like `don't eat the paste' special? Or special like special special?”

 

“That's got to be the most times the word special has been used in a ten-second period,” Yusuke said.

 

Giles appeared to be hearing none of this, though. “Dean, before the visions started…or even afterward…did your brother ever show any other signs of…special abilities?”

 

Dean shrugged. “I have no idea. He was at college at the time, remember?”

 

“Yes. Well, either way…your brother must have enormous power locked away inside him, to have attracted this demon. It may never have manifested itself, but only because he doesn't know how to consciously tap into it.”

 

“What are you talking about, Jeeves?”

 

“Don't you see? The speed, the last vision your brother had that sent you to Japan…what if they were the symptoms, and not the core of the matter? What if they were just random bursts of his power? And if he can't actually use it…the demon can. That must be what it wants…Sam's power. That is what will help it to destroy.”

 

“Destroy…what, exactly?” Dean asked.

 

“Whatever it can. It will quite literally use all of Sam's power, in one go, and that, combined with its own, not negligible, black magic…could destroy not only Sunnydale, not only California, but the whole of the continent, maybe.”

 

“Including my brother.”

 

Giles sighed and fixed Dean with a pitying gaze. “I'm afraid I'm going to have to be straight with you. Sam will be the first to go. His power will be utterly expended within minutes, and then the demon will begin to draw on his very life. And then…your brother will die.”

 

“No, he won't,” Dean said, his voice low and dangerous.

 

They all looked at him, and his eyes sparked dangerously. Suddenly, he didn't look quite sane, or all that safe to have around.

 

“He isn't going to die. I've taken care of that kid since he was six months old, and I've never let anything…permanent…happen to him. Sam is gonna be fine, and that thing that's messing with my brother…with my family…it's gonna pay. If I have to march into Hell itself…so help me, someone's gonna pay.”

 

- - - - - - - - - -

 

AN: Finally, we are nearing the climax of the story! I estimate two or three more chapters before this is over. Maybe an epilogue, I'm not sure. Either way, it's almost done. Just so you all know. Please, please review!!!

 

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“Wisdom is not summoned, only discovered.” -Master Belesharon, To Light a Candle

 

“Love is the most powerful emotion that I have encountered. It can move mountains, and it can destroy kingdoms. Who is to judge what we do in the name of something so extraordinary?” -Ridley C. James

 

“Passion. It lies in all of us, sleeping, waiting, and though unwanted, unbidden, it will stir, open its jaws, and howl. It speaks to us, guides us. Passion rules us all, and we obey. What other choice do we have?” -Angel, Buffy the Vampire Slayer