Yu Yu Hakusho Fan Fiction ❯ Demon Dancers and PuppetMasters ❯ Chapter Fourteen ( Chapter 14 )

[ Y - Young Adult: Not suitable for readers under 16 ]

-Demon Dancers and PuppetMasters- by Nemesis Q. Ravens

Chapter Fourteen

The Uremeshi team, along with Yukina, Botan, and Keiko, all sat in the ruler of the Spirit World’s office. Koenma waited patiently for all seven to get comfortable before he began speaking.

“To begin, I am to thank you for killing Damien Kyrios on behalf of hundreds of families. After his death it was learned that he was the head of a secret organization that killed thousands.

“Each of you will receive a sum of money as a reward from a large group of people; demons and humans alike that wished for Kyrios’ death.”

Yukina leaned forward and began to protest. “But Koenma we didn’t do anything. It--”

Koenma cut her off.

“But you did. And that’s that. No arguments.” He paused and rested his toddler hands on a set of keys sitting on his desk. Koenma opened his mouth to speak, stopped, then frowned and dropped his head. His voice was somber when he finally looked back at the others. “Come with me. All of you. I want to show you something.”

The seven exchanged confused expressions as the short child ruler jumped down from his chair. He made his way to the towering doors of his office in quick strides. Pausing in the doorway, Koenma looked back at the people still sitting and waved his hand in an impatient gesture to follow.

Yusuke shrugged his shoulders and followed the toddler. The others, following his example, made their way down the hallway to catch up with Koenma. The short, sturdy legs of the Spirit World ruler eventually stopped in front of a large, black, metal door with red letters on it that read “Kyrios.”

Glancing back at the group behind him, Koenma stepped aside and gestured that they open the door and go inside.

The seven slowly walked into the room after Kurama had turned the knob and pushed open the door. Inside were filing cabinets. They looked around and saw that the room was full of filing cabinets. They lined the walls and filled up the center of the room in six neat rows. On a large table nearby was an enormous pile of folders. To the right, among the numerous filing cabinets was another door. On that door, red letters spelled “Photos.”

Turning around a few times, Kuwabara frowned, horribly confused and asked, “What did you want us to see? There ain’t nothing but filing cabinets in here.”

Koenma walked forward to stand in front of the Spirit Detectives and three girls. His expression was still somber as he nodded once.

“That’s exactly right, Kuwabara.” The moron’s face broke out into a grin at the praise. “But,” Koenma continued. “What I wanted you to see was the sheer amount of these filing cabinets.”

“Just what exactly is this room?” asked Yusuke.

“This room, these filing cabinets, those folders,” Koenma pointed to each. “Contain the papers about the victims slain by Kyrios and any directly under him. Each folder holds the information of how, why, when, where, and who were killed. And if possible, we have the information on their life prior to their death.

“Many of these people have had family that came to us with questions. These papers answer those questions. Some victims didn’t even have anyone come ask about them. In a way, these papers are the only things that keep their memory alive; otherwise they’d be forgotten.”

As the group looked about themselves, Botan moved toward the table to the left. Curious to its contents, she opened one of the single manila folders and looked over the papers inside. Glancing at the information, Botan’s eyes began to well with tears. She lifted a hand to her mouth to try and stifle the sharp gasp that cut through the curious silence of the other occupants of the room.

The others turned to Botan to see what was wrong. Koenma however, looked on knowingly.

In a soft voice he said, “I see you found the latest casualty; Janie.”

Everyone crowded around Botan and the folder in her hands. They all gazed down at a picture of a smiling Janie holding the hand of a child. What the child looked like was unknown because the child had been cut out of the photo. The tears that had welled in Botan’s eyes now slid down her cheeks unnoticed. The two other girls also had tears gathering in their eyes.

Hiei tore his gaze from Janie’s happy face to fix Koenma with a morbidly curious stare. Finally his soft voice broke the stillness of the room. “Why did you want us to see this room and the cabinets? It’s obviously not to show us the extent of Kyrios’ terror.”

“So all of you could realize the magnitude of appreciation that you’ll receive for ridding both worlds of Damien Kyrios and his lackeys.” After pausing briefly, he continued. “If you will return to my office, there are a few more things that I wish to speak with you all about.”

With that, the whole group of people left the room and walked back to their previous location. Once they were settled in Koenma’s office again, the toddler folded his hands in front of him on his desk.

“Now that you’ve seen the Kyrios room, I’m going to ask that you complete it by putting together a folder for the last entry.”

“Who is it?” asked Yukina. “You don’t mean Janie, do you?”

“No.” He shook his head. “That’s been already done. I would like you to make one for Damien Kyrios himself.”

“Gladly,” ground out Yusuke. The others nodded in consensus. They all agreed that Damien’s death was long awaited.

Koenma nodded understandingly. He could empathize with the Spirit Detectives’ dislike of Kyrios. “In that case, you’re dismissed. You’ll find any and all information that you need in the Kyrios room. The file formatting is simple; you shouldn’t have any problems with that.”

All of the Uremeshi group nodded and got up to leave; all except Uremeshi himself. He continued to sit before Koenma. Keiko paused at the door when she saw that he wasn’t with her and looked back to find his still form.

“Yusuke?” she called.

The others looked back also. At his desk, Koenma looked up from the mountains of paperwork.

“Is there something else?” Koenma asked and refolded his hands before him, bestowing Uremeshi with his complete and undivided attention.

Yusuke’s frown deepened. Clenching his right hand into a fist, he gnashed out, “I didn’t fulfill my promise to Janie.”

“Promise?” repeated Koenma with a puzzled expression. The girls looked confused too. All four of the boys however, saw within their minds Janie’s emerald eyes. Her vengeful, pleading eyes.

“ ‘Promise me that you’ll kill Nemesis’…” quoted Yusuke. “Janie made me swear to kill Nemesis.

“But Nemesis turned out to be Marissa,” Botan pointed out.

“I know! But…but…” Yusuke couldn’t think of what to say.

Koenma cleared his throat, effectively catching Uremeshi’s attention. “I believe that I can help you with that one.”

“You can?” asked Yusuke unbelievingly.

“Yes. You killed Damien, correct?”

“Yeah.” Uremeshi nodded and continued to listen intently.

“Well you must remember that Marissa, Janie’s daughter, had been transformed into Nemesis through Damien’s influence.”

“Yeah. …So what?”

“It should be obvious, don’t you think?” Koenma said.

Yusuke frowned. He evidently didn’t think so. Uremeshi however, was not the only one who appeared confused. Koenma sighed and sat back.

“Nemesis came into being through Damien. She was born and cared for by both Kyrios and PuppetMaster. By the time Janie first met Nemesis, the woman who was Marissa had, in a sense, died. The Demon Dancer did not lie when she told Janie that she’d killed Marissa.” He paused. “Do you understand now?”

“I understand what you’ve said, but still don’t get how I kept my promise. Nemesis isn’t dead. She’s just locked up right now.”

Botan spoke up. “If I may, Koenma, sir,” she said. He nodded and she turned to Yusuke and the others. “What he’s trying to say is that Nemesis’ very existence relied on Damien Kyrios. Now that Yusuke has killed him, Nemesis will die also, if she hasn’t already.” Botan turned her attention on Yusuke. “Now do you see? You’ve fulfilled your promise. And I know Janie would prefer it this way.”

Uremeshi nodded thoughtfully and stood. The others followed his lead and exited Koenma’s office after him. All left except Kurama.

Koenma didn’t look up from the paperwork he had just started to work on again when Kurama stepped up next to his desk.

“Yes? Was there somewhere else, Kurama?” he asked, still focusing on the papers.

“Do you think it would acceptable if I visited Nemesis down in her cell?”

Koenma paused and looked up, a speculating gleam in his eyes. “And why, may I ask, do you wish to do that?”

Kurama smiled briefly. “Don’t worry yourself. I’m not going to go and set her free. I merely want to ask her a few questions.”

“Such as?” he asked with a raised eyebrow.

“I am curious about the history behind Damien and Nemesis. Why she killed Janie, how she met Kyrios, for what reasons she went with him; you know, things like that.”

Koenma looked thoughtful. “That’s actually a good idea. There are a few things about Damien we don’t know. Maybe she can clear those up for us.” He nodded. “Yes. It’s a very good idea.” The toddler returned his gaze to Kurama who stood patiently before him. “You will go down to her right now. I’ll have Ogre take you down there and he’ll let you into the cell block. Here’s the folder on everything we don’t know. See if you can get the answers to those questions and if she’s cooperative enough, try and get the whole story.”

The red-head accepted the folder being handed to him. “And do you wish me to write everything down in here?” he asked.

Frowning, Koenma replied, “No. That will take to long.” He paused and looked around. “What we need is something that will record the conversation…”

“A tape recorder?” offered Kurama.

“Yes! A tape recorder. That’s perfect. A little mundane, but it will work just fine. Now all I got to do is get that lazy oaf of an assistant in here… Ogre!”

Nemesis sat on the bare cot in the corner of the dingy prison cell. Her shoulders were hunched forward as if they were supporting a great weight. The long midnight black hair was matted with grime and knots. The cloak was gone, as was the revealing outfit she had worn the night Damien died. Now she was left in a large, burlap bag-looking shirt that reached down to mid-calf. A crude belt was loosely cinched around her waist and the collar had been laced closed.

Kurama paused a step or two away from the bars of the cell as he had been warned to do just in case she would attack. He gazed through the bars at Nemesis’ forlorn figure, the hardened look slowly fading as pity rose within him. She looked so small and so very sad it was hard to remember that she was a killer.

And why shouldn‘t she be sad? he thought suddenly. She’s just lost someone she appeared to have loved very much. Not to mention the guilt of murder must weigh heavily on her mind; even if it was Nemesis.

The Spirit Detective shifted the folder in his left hand to his right as he cleared his throat softly. He did not want to startle her. It would go smoother for both of them if she were not frightened or angry. The answers would come easier.

At the sound of Kurama clearing his throat to catch her attention, Nemesis turned her head away from staring at the stone wall in front of her. The sapphire eyes seemed dull and haunted as they met Kurama’s emerald green eyes.

Recognition flashed through her facial features and she looked slightly taken aback. Kurama hoped that she would not mistake him for Janie since both he and she had shared the same startling emerald green shade in their eyes. He prayed that she would not react adversely to his presence if she mistook him. But his fears were for naught as she only stared.

The recognition remained and Nemesis didn’t seem to suffer from reality detachment. In fact, she looked him up and down and finally nodded her head in greeting.

A relieved smile broke through Kurama’s emotionless mask that he had erected for the interview. Nemesis did not return it though. She just raised an eyebrow in question.

“For what do I owe this unexpected visit?” she asked and stood. Nemesis slowly made her way to lean against the bars as Kurama told her.

“I’m here to ask you some questions.”

“Oh?” Her interest was roused. “About what?”

“The other Spirit Detectives and myself are putting together a folder for Damien Kyrios and I had a few questions about your relationship with him.”

“Just my relationship with him?”

Kurama shook his head. This woman was clearly no fool and the recent loss had done nothing to dull her sharp wit. “No. There are also a few blanks here and there about Damien’s doings and I’d appreciate it if you could fill them in.”

“I see.” She smiled and tilted her head to the side. “There’s a number of those blanks, aren’t there? I can bet that you and your friends don’t know much about Kyrios, if anything.”

Kurama nodded. “Yes. Yes, there are a lot of gaps, but that’s where you’ll hopefully come in.”

“What’s in it for me?” she questioned, looking him dead in the eye.

“What do you want?”

Nemesis’ blushed lightly. She hadn’t expected the red-head to respond like that. “Nothing, I suppose. I do not require anything, I do not desire anything, so what could I possibly want?”

“A small luxury perhaps,” he suggested. “A bath? A book? Some good food maybe?”

Nemesis turned back to look at him. The startled expression was abruptly replaced by a smile. She chuckled and shook her head.

“No. That’s quite alright.” She paused and quickly analyzed Kurama again. “You really want those answers, don’t you?”

“I am very curious to know what you’ll say. It must be the fox demon in me.”

Her eyes were soft. “Yes, I suppose it is.” She turned away and sat down on the edge of the cot. Looking back at Kurama, she smiled and continued. “No worries, boy. You will get your answers and you won’t have to bribe for them.”

Kurama unconsciously took a step closer as he asked, “May I inquire as to why you’ll tell me without gaining something for yourself in return?”

“Yes you may.” Nemesis sighed softly and said, “You could say that I wish the truth of Damien Kyrios be recorded. It will be my way of making up for all my sins, my way to pay everyone back. Or maybe I just want to see that his name and memory live on beyond me.”

“You really loved him, didn’t you?”

Nemesis’ eyes lowered and her shoulders hunched forward again. Then, just as swiftly, she straightened and looked at Kurama. Her long lashes were moist and a sad smile tugged at her lips.

“Yes I did. My only regret was never telling him that.”

Kurama nodded. He could identify with her. The Spirit Detective knew only to well that love is capable of doing many thing to a person; be it for better or worse.

“Well, we had best get started. Please take a seat. There’s a chair behind you,” Nemesis said pointing.

Kurama turned and saw it. He pulled it near the bars and sat. Then he opened the folder and the interview began.