Yu Yu Hakusho Fan Fiction ❯ Grief ❯ Father... ( Chapter 14 )

Fourteen

Father…

 

 

 

The sun began to anchor down in the western sky, signaling the beginning of afternoon, five days after the battle in the courtyard.

 

It was time.

 

Sho stood in the courtyard of the temple, gazing up at the sky as she waited for Ijin to appear. Her eyes were closed and her body rigid as she communicated with her half-souls.

 

Hiei sat on the roof above her while Yusuke peeked out from behind a doorway a little ways away, still too shamed from that night to approach the demoness. Kurama and Jin stood together in a different room, grimly preparing the Wind Master for the impending fight. The Shinobi pulled his criss-crossing straps of shirt over his shoulders, looking out forlornly towards Sho.

 

Kurama placed an assuring hand on the redhead's shoulder.

 

“Let me go first. I have something I would like to say to her before you leave…”

 

Jin nodded solemnly, watching as the fox left the room and walked over to the demoness—still lost in conversation with her inner souls. Kurama gently grabbed her arm, shaking her slightly in an attempt to shake her from her reverie. Sho groggily opened her eyes and looked over at him curiously.

 

“Youko?” she murmured, and then brightened. “It's good to see you doing well.”

 

“Thank you,” he replied, smiling. But then the smile vanished and his hold on her arm tightened as he took on the appearance of grim solemnity. “Sho…you have to promise me something.”

 

Worried by his attitude, Sho quickly responded, “What is it?”

 

“Promise me…you will let go of your past.”

 

The words hit Sho like a stunning blow, knocking her speechless. Kurama continued:

 

“Promise me that, no matter what, you will be happy. I have every confidence in you that you will survive…” Kurama's voice began to soften, his hair flickering between its silvery sheen and a deep crimson. So too did he begin to shrink—his four and a half inches above Sho lowering, inch by inch. “…But I know the scars that line your heart. I know that you are in pain…but you must…” He was Shuichi again, in every aspect except his eyes, which remained a vibrant gold.

 

“…You must move on.”

 

The piercing, somber orbs darkened into a cool emerald: Kurama was human once more. Sho—now eye-level with him—tried to keep her gaze and self steady, but it was a hard fought battle. Her knees quivered, threatening to collapse; her eyes swelled, threatening to empty the tears building behind them. In an instant, every painful memory she had streaked through her mind, giving her half-souls a swift glimmer of the past hidden behind Sho's wall. But through it all, Sho managed to suppress the helplessness overwhelming her, and managed a weak smile to the fox-gone-human.

 

“My Lady Sho, daughter of his esteemed majesty, Kojiatsu…the appointed time has arrived. Are you prepared?”

 

The sudden, elegant voice took everyone by surprise. Every head turned in unison towards the center of the courtyard where a demon stood dressed in fine, crimson silks. His demonic heritage was subtle, much like Hiei, but it could be seen in the markings that covered the left side of his face and the slight curve of his ears.

 

“Who are you?” Sho demanded, confused.

 

The demon smiled and bowed before her.

 

“Ah, please excuse my rudeness… I am Tyran, advisor to Lord Kojiatsu. I have come to transport you to his keep in Demon World.”

 

“Where is Ijin?”

 

“Ijin…? Ah, of course. I'm sure you were expecting him…how silly of me to forget! Ijin has, ah…well, you will see him once we get to our destination, if that is your wish.” Tyran grinned, showing a hint of fangs.

 

Sho hesitated, trying to detect any hint of treachery in the demon's actions. Upon finding none, she relaxed slightly and began to approach him. Jin jogged after her, blue eyes boring into the advisor's skull.

 

“Hmm? Who is this?” Tyran asked, raising an eyebrow in regard to the Wind Master.

 

“Does it really matter?” Sho growled. “He comes with or I don't go. Do you have a problem with that?”

 

Tyran frowned at Jin for another moment before completely ignoring him and turning his attention back to Sho with a smile and a bow.

 

“Of course…whatever it is you wish, My Lady. This way, please.”

 

Kurama watched as the pair followed Sorud a few steps towards the exit of the temple and then disappeared in a blur of purple light. He winced and grabbed at his abdomen suddenly as it needled with pain. Lowering his head, he sunk down against the wall, the same three words ringing through his mind like an echoing taunt:

 

She hadn't promised…

 

>>>>>

 

The strange haze that one is assaulted with when teleporting glimmered around and through Sho and Jin for what seemed only an instant before it faded away and revealed the real world once more. For a moment, the two had no idea where they were. Barren wasteland stretched out in every direction—dotted here and there by small hills of red-colored rocks. Sho was about to ask Tyran, when Jin's hand closed about her arm—his palm sweaty and cold.

 

“Jin, what—“

 

“This…this is Eastern Demon World,” he murmured, eyes wide with horror and hatred. “This…is th' Shinobi land…”

 

Sho felt the breath catch in her throat as she looked around with a sudden feeling of recognition. Death had closed its bony hand around the land: what had once been wide, rolling plains dotted with trees was now nothing more than a rusty smudge on the earth. She could smell it now, the thick scent of blood emanating from the defiled ground; she could hear it now, the last cries of those who had fallen in protection of their beautiful land; she could see it now, Kojiatsu's haunting crimson gaze watching it all in crazed amusement. Sho grabbed Tyran's arm with a vice-like grip, staring him down with her boiling blood-red eyes so full of hate.

 

“Take us to him…take us to my father…”

 

The advisor seemed to lose his casual, elegant demeanor, fear slipping through his mask. But he quickly covered it, and smiled.

 

“Of course! That is my duty, after all. This way, come, come!” The demon began to lead them into the rust-colored desert towards a dark and towering building in the distance.

 

After near to half an hour of walking, Sho snarled in impatience and grabbed Tyran's collar, lifting the demon to her face aggressively so that their noses were practically mashed together.

 

“Stop wasting my time, imbecile… Either take me to him now or I will kill you and find my own way!” She shoved him away roughly, cold eyes watching his every movement.

 

Tyran scowled at her, dusting off his shirt.

 

“Such impudence! Fine…we'll do things your way!” Tyran clapped his hands together, and the three were before the dark tower they had spotted. “That better?” the advisor sneered. Sho just glared at him once before shoving past and heading into the tower—Jin following close behind.

 

“So much like your father…” he muttered, allowing himself a mirthful chuckle due to the irony of the statement.

 

>>>>>

 

The inside of the tower was almost pitch black, save for the few torches lining the walls at 20-foot intervals. The pair found a staircase and started to ascend it. Silence filled—consumed—everything. The only sound to be heard was the light tapping of Sho and Jin's feet on the stone floor and the whooshing murmur of their breaths.

 

The staircase ended, branching off into an insanely large room. There were no other staircases—were no other levels to the building! This was it. The ceiling of the enormous room stretched on for miles overhead, most of it lost in darkness. All the walls were bare, except for the one farthest from the pair that supported a tall, obsidian throne lined with skeletons.

 

Sho's eyes followed the seemingly endless steps to the throne's base where her eyes widened and her blood froze. Blood covered the steps, dried and fresh. But it pooled the most at the feet of the being occupying the macabre throne. A monotonous drip of the thick red substance fell from the claws of this man—this creature; this tyrant.

 

“Welcome, my child,” Kojiatsu's voice echoed mockingly through the vast chamber.

 

Sho raised her eyes to his face, and couldn't control the feeling of horror and disgust that welled up within her. She could hear Jin beside her, retching onto the floor. Behind the proclaimed demon “Lord” hung a horrid tapestry made up of the bloody, dismembered body parts of Ijin. Blood covered the walls and still dripped from what must have been a fresh corpse. The tentacled demon's head was raised the highest, half of his face melted off by Kojiatsu's poison.

 

“Hello…father,” Sho responded quietly.

 

His blood-covered lips curled into a sick smile and then opened to let out the hideous, half-crazed laughter hiding beyond. His voice echoed…and echoed…