Yu Yu Hakusho Fan Fiction ❯ Angel of Death ❯ High King ( Chapter 14 )

Disclaimer: Yu Yu Hakusho is, will never be, never was mine

The Angel of Death

Chapter 14

High King

Ebony looked up. The principal members of the court of Lethe bowed to her in respect. Then, they stood aside to make way for somebody else. A tall striking man and an unbelievably beautiful lady stepped forward.

"Audie?" said Ebony, a little surprised.

"Ebony!" cried out the shinning goddess. She darted forward, still in those graceful liquid movements. "It's--it's…"

Ebony stood up but she did not receive the outstretched arms of her sister. "I know," she said. "Grandpa."

"Azrael killed him!" cried Iantha. "Right before our very eyes! And Ixion... why, he did nothing! We did nothing. We were totally helpless! We were all locked in combat while Azrael swatted out our men like flies. But Ixion, even worse than the fact that he was the one who destroyed our defenses, he just stood there while Gramps' mangled body was trampled upon by those brutes. I--"

"It was bound to happen," Ebony answered quietly.

"What are you talking about?" asked Aiea shakily. "Gramps remained there in his throne. And Azrael just entered the throne room the moment he broke down the palace doors like an arrow. It was horrid, just horrid. His monstrous undead just came and…and…"

"I know, I know," said Ebony gently. "He stood there, head unbowed, sword in hand, unflinching, straight and tall. He didn't run. He endured to the bitter end. He fell nobly with his kingdom, with that ancient majestic pride of his."

"Oh Ebony," wailed Aiea. "You put it so--so-- I don't know. As if you were there yourself. You're making me feel guilty. We ran. We, who had the power to--"

"You did not run," said Ebony firmly. "You retreated with dignity. Moreover, it was necessary to act with prudence. What will happen to the rest of Lethe if you didn't leave? You'd die. And for what?"

"If it comes to that, why did he have to die?" demanded Aiea. She looked up to Ebony, her tearstained face reflecting the sad yet beautiful farewell of the sun as it disappeared in the horizon. "I mean, he didn't even attempt to escape. Answer me!"

"He did not die in vain," said a deep determined voice. Audric stood before his sisters, blotting out the sinking globe. "He died so that we may live. So that we may do something to end Azrael's reign of terror. He isn't really gone, either. He lives in us, in the hearts of his people. And he shall remain there."

"Aye," said one of the courtiers. "Lethe had lost a fine leader indeed. However, we shall not always mourn. There's always a flicker of hope. Small, true, but significant nonetheless. A candle in a dark will brighten miles around it. As for a new king, we have one here." He bowed respectfully to Audric.

The others followed suit. Ebony curtsied to her brother. Then, she stood before him, head bowed. "I'm sorry. I failed."

Audric shook his head. "We failed. Together," he said. "But as Pertrocules has put it, tomorrow never dies. Keep faith, sister." He saw her shaking in her strain to still the berserk emotions inside her. "Why don't you cry? It'll do you good and I promise not to tell Adrian or Sean."

At this, Ebony nearly burst out laughing. "I shed no tears," she said, as indignantly as she could. "I despise blubbing."

"Nay," said he. "The tears cleanses ones soul."

Ebony's eyes widened as her dream suddenly became vividly pictured in her mind. "What did you say?" she asked him, her voice trembling.

Audric said nothing but winked at her the way he usually does, which nobody sees except her. She was surprised but she said nothing. She remembered her responsibility, what she had to do. She suddenly became silent except for her vague mumbling that nobody dared to ask about.

"What about my Muk--I mean my wife?" Hiei said.

Everybody turned to him as if he just appeared out of nowhere. Audric bowed to him in a sad apologetic manner. "We're sorry we failed to protect the mother. We will take full responsibility. We'll lay siege to Kentrona as soon as possible."

"Now?"

"As soon as we have a concrete plan and we have gathered enough forces to assure our victory."

"When is that?"

Audric shook his head. "We can't act rashly. We have to cooperate with Enki and Koenma."

"How much time do we have?"

"When's she due?"

"That's just the problem," put in Yusuke crushingly. "He doesn't even know his wife's expectant."

"Don't you start with that again, Urameshi!" Hiei snapped.

"Enough," ordered Audric. "We have to know. You see, Azrael have to posses the infant before it is born. Actually, according to files, he'd have to do it on the eight month of gestation on a full moon midnight. Therefore, he'd have a week. Otherwise, it would be too late. "

Ebony looked up at this. "They say I was born right after Azrael was repelled for the 1st time. You mean he was already too late then?"

"No, he did it on the right night, all right. Father's and grandfather's talismans prevented it somehow. His attempt caused you to be born premature. That's how it is. The moment he possesses the body, the child is immediately expelled from the mother but even if he doesn't succeed, the fact that he tried will trigger this event."

"I say, isn't that dangerous?" remarked Keiko.

"Yes. That's why we cannot take the risk and wait until that later. We may prevent the dark angel from possessing the child but it may kill the other one."

"The other one?" Hiei repeated, perking up in perplexity.

"I am sorry to spoil the surprise," Audric smiled sadly. "You're having twins."

"Boy or girl?"

"Both. Azrael will probably go for the male child so chances are the female one will get killed."

"And the mother?"

Audric shook his head. "I don't know."

"Mother died," said Iantha dourly.

"She did not die because of the birthing," said Audric. "Azrael killed both she and father."

"Even if she isn't killed, she'll end up dead anyhow," muttered Hiei grimly.

Yukina suddenly lifted her downcast eyes. They were wider and shocked as they focused themselves on her brother. His head was hung so he didn't quite meet her gaze. Nevertheless, she knew they were thinking of the same thing: their own mother.

"Are you sure you didn't notice anything?" Kuwabara asked.

"No," answered Hiei rather irritably.

"No morning sicknesses or mood swings?" added Audric

"None that I know of."

"Um. I guess we can deduce that she was no more than two months pregnant, which means we have more or less 24 weeks."

"We don't have to wait that long," said Ebony. "I'll go now."

"And what if I forbid it?"

"You wouldn't."

"Wouldn't I?"

"I wouldn't care anyhow."

Audric didn't say anything.

"Princess," said a wizened old man. "I believe what your brother meant to say is that that isn't an option."

"You can say that again!" declared Aiea stubbornly.

"Audric," said Ebony. "I don't need your leave."

"Not another step, Ebony. That's an order," said the king.

"Who are you to order me around?" Ebony can't think of anything else to say.

"I am the King of Lethe."

"There won't be any Lethe if people responsible don't do anything."

"Who ever said we won't? And if we are to do something we have to do it right."

"Do you always have to be a know-all?" Ebony knew she was going too far but she had to make him see the light. "Don't you care about anything at all?"

"Yes, I do. I am concerned about what might happen to the rest of the universe if my hard-headed sister loses her patience."

"Audric, you never fail to make me feel like a nitwit!" exploded Ebony. "I can handle it, OK? I mean, Azrael wouldn't want me if I'm not strong enough to cream him."

"My, my. Not only is her head hard, it's pretty big, too. Is it my imagination, or are the winds really picking up their velocity?"

"Why don't you just say right on that I'm arrogant? Always playing with words," she muttered. Then, unwittingly shooting her arms forward in her annoyance, she said in a louder voice, "You're the braggart!"

"I see you have broken the spell," said Audric sweetly.

Ebony's arm was glowing eerily. The spider-shaped symbol on her arm was once again visible. "See what I mean? Maybe you can now let me go."

"No. Ebony, if you don't care to listen to me as your over lord, then at least listen to me as your brother."

"Please, I have to do this."

Audric rubbed his eyes tiredly. "You know, you always tend to be too overbearing."

"This time, I didn't claim responsibility. Azrael pushed it to me."

"Oh, OK. Give me a reason why I should let you go. If you convince me, then I'll allow you."

"No, Audric!" screamed Iantha. "Don't let her go off killing herself. I won't be able to take it. First, Ixion, then grandpa and now Ebony? No! I--"

"Silence." Audric held his hand up. "Well?"

"OK," started Ebony. "When Azrael failed to take possession of me, he tried to kill me. Why would he do that?"

Audric shrugged. "He knew how much of a pest you'll be?"

Ebony stamped her foot angrily. "Stop acting stupid, Audie. I know you know what I'm driving at."

"All right. But Pa said the seal is active again."

"That'll be easy," Ebony grabbed for Audric's broad sword. He made no move to stop her. She already held it in position, ready to strike her already bare arm.

"What are you planning to do?" he asked. "If you just scrape the skin off, it would probably heal back again like what happened with Ygg. Enchantments are not skin deep. You know that."

"But--"

"Maybe you should slice the whole darned thing off," he said sarcastically. "But what if you decide you want your arm back? With Ningen technological advancement, you can have it back by surgery. Meanwhile, you can have it preserved by cryogenics. I suppose you'd want it back by about fifty years or so. By then robotics would be advance enough to operate on you more efficiently than a person can. The only problem is how to make the blood flow into your vessels again. Ah, leeches! They'd let the little blood suckers mix into your blood some anticoagulant. It took four days for a finger. I wonder how long it will take for a hand. Do you know?"

"That's disgusting!" The sword stopped in mid-slash.

"Unless of course they finally extracted the hirubim from Hirudo medicinalis and made laboratory drug imitations. Well, have you made up your mind?"

"I wouldn't need a hand anyhow," she said bleakly but the blade still lingered undecidedly.

"Ah, you would pull Azrael with you to your doom," Audric said happily. "And probably the whole of Lethe plus the rest of the worlds. Nice plan."

Ebony opened her mouth to say something then stopped. Her hands dropped to her sides. Apparently, she hadn't seen it in this light before.

"What are you planning to do now?" asked Audric. "Are you going to Kentrona and explode yourself like a bomb? Fine. Just be sure you take Azrael with you."

"I don't know," she said. This time, her head flopped down on her chest.

Audric took her hand and pried off the hilt of the sword. He met no resistance. He easily obtained it and his blade went home.

"See how much of a nincompoop you are? I wasn't bragging. I was telling the truth," he said. Then, he dropped his bantering tone. "It's not yet time, little sister. You may wait."

Ebony raised her head. She found herself face to face with her brother and she looked directly into his gray eyes. She saw one of them wink very discreetly. Her forehead wrinkled as if in distress. Then, she whispered, "How did you know that? Did you dream as well?"

He nodded. "They spoke to me earlier than they did to you in a dream but I forgot about it when I awoke. I had the hunch I had to speak to you so I entered your mind telepathically. You were asleep and I saw your dream. That's when I remembered mine."

"What did they tell you?"

He shook his head. "That's not important right now."

"That's not fair you got to see my dream. And you shouldn't be going around reading people's mind. Your mentor warned you about that."

"Sorry."

"Well, what do we do now?"

"We prepare. You train."

"Under you?"

"No way. You never listen to me."

"Who then?"

"Yusuke Urameshi."

"WHAAAT!!! What makes you think I'll listen to him?"

Note: Well, people? Should I put up the next chapters? I don't think anybody's interested at all and I'm kinda busy right now school work and entrance exams. Ho-hum……..

4th ed. 111301