Yu Yu Hakusho Fan Fiction ❯ The Battle Lord Chronicles: Of Truths and Lies ❯ Psychic Troubles ( Chapter 20 )

A/N: First of all, I want to say that I understand that this story is going a little slow right now. Don't worry though! I just need to get through this part before the story really speeds up and the tournament begins! This chapter will basically be a bit more of an explanation chapter, so sorry about that, but I think that you'll like my explanation for telepathy. (grins) So enjoy all! And don't forget to review! Ja ne!

 

Disclaimer: I do not own Yu Yu Hakusho or any related names or items. Kiara is owned by Yusuke'sSister.

 

Claimer: I do own the plot line, the title, the Kuro Tournament, Kristy, Jason, Jessica, Chris, Bashere, Rhurac, and anything else related to them.

 

(1) - I got this whole idea from Naruto (which I don't own) and just twisted it to fit my story.

(2) - For those of you who know Yu-Gi-Oh, think of the millennium eye symbol thingy.

(3) - Incase you don't understand, the whole "going through his mind" process takes only a tenth of a second in the real world.

 

"Talking"

'Thinking'

'Telepathy'

 

Thanks to my beta reader, Kyogue!

 

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Of Truth & Lies

 

Chapter 20

Psychic Troubles

 

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I quietly follow Mr. Rawl down the hall, glancing warily at the shadows. It isn't that I'm afraid of them or anything; it's just that I'm slightly confused. During all of my times being here, I have never seen this hall before in Chris' house. As Mr. Rawl pushed open a door at the end of the hallway, it lets out a loud squeak. I raised an eyebrow as I realized that this was the only door I had seen while walking in this hall. Creepy. Looking back up at Mr. Rawl I follow him inside the room.

 

The moderately sized room was more than room enough for several people to comfortably spar, and the far wall was lined with several different types of weapons. Katana, sai, daggers, long swords, and a couple of staffs were among the ones that I could recognize. However, instead of leading me to the weapons rack, Mr. Rawl walked to the center of the room where a couple of mats were laid out, and nodding towards me he motioned for me to sit down.

 

He waited until I was comfortable to clear his throat, and once he got my attention he nodded. "I've heard from Jason that you are part fire youkai, part psychic youkai, part darkness youkai, and part wolf youkai. This is correct, no?" I nod, telling him that he was right. "Well, I myself am a 100 percent ice youkai. As I am sure you have heard, it is quite rare for a youkai to have more than one blood. But it's also what made your parents so powerful (A/N: In case you don't remember, Kristy's mother was half wind youkai and half psychic and her father was half fire youkai and half darkness youkai). You yourself however, are extremely rare. You're probably the only youkai in several millenniums to have four different types of blood. And that three are elemental and one is animalistic is even more incredible! Elemental and animalistic youkai almost never interbreed. But anyway, back to the point...”

 

"While I am all ice youkai, I have also had a lot of spiritual and psychic training. Since you are a fourth psychic demon, what I'm going to teach will probably be a bit easier for you to learn than it was for me." A large grin covers my face and I open my mouth to speak, but Mr. Rawl raises a hand, telling me to be quiet. "Before we begin however, I want to test how strong your psychic abilities are so far. So tell me, what have you been taught so far?"

 

"Well," I begin, staring off into space as I think. "I can hold telepathic conversations and can read surface thoughts."

 

"The surface thoughts of humans," Mr. Rawl corrects offhandedly as he thinks.

 

"No," I reply, furrowing my brow. "I can read my brother's, Chris', and Jessica's too."

 

Mr. Rawl eyes widened as he stared at me. "What? But what about their mental shields? I'm pretty sure that you haven't been training long enough to break through Chris' shield, and Jason is half psychic youkai and has been training all of his life, so you certainly shouldn't be able to get through his."

 

"Erm, that's were Jason is confused," I reply. Mr. Rawl motioned for me to explain and so I do so. "When I go to enter a youkai's mind I just...do. I meet no resistance and it's as if the shield simply isn't there. Jason hasn't been able to figure out why that is."

 

Mr. Rawl closed his eyes, as if in deep thought. When he opened his eyes, he nodded slightly. "Well then, I want you to try to read my surface thoughts right now. I have been training for all my life--which is a pretty long time mind you--so my mental shields should be a lot more powerful than Jason's, even though I have no psychic blood. Go ahead now."

 

I nod resolutely and concentrate on Mr. Rawl's reiki--or youki rather, as I now know that that is what it is.

 

Entering someone's mind is a very strange feeling; one that I'll probably never get used too. It basically feels like I'm sending a tendril of my mind across the space in-between us and into my "victim's" core. I've practiced this many times, mainly on ningens. However, I don't like to do it very often, as I really don't like to look into people's minds. But don't get me wrong; it's not a moral issue at all. It's just that...well...let's just say that it can be creepy to see what's going through some people's minds. I shiver slightly before pushing that thought away and focusing on Mr. Rawl again.

 

As the "tendril" of my mind reaches Mr. Rawl's core, I gently push it in and frown slightly. From what Jason has told me, a youkai's mental shield acts as a sort of wall around a youkai's core and only a more powerful youkai can break through that wall. However, whenever I enter someone's mind, there is nothing there blocking me. I simply enter.

 

As I penetrate Mr. Rawl's mind, I feel the familiar feeling of being sucked in that comes when entering anyone's mind. It's almost like getting to close to a whirlpool; while it's certainly possible to get out, its almost safer and easier to just go along for the ride. And so I simply submit myself to the feeling and quickly find my subconscious within Mr. Rawl's own.

 

(1)Through time and training, I've learnt that each person's mind is alike yet different. All people--and demons--have their minds organized by halls. Depending on the age and experience a person has, the longer the halls are, but the halls are always filled with doors. These doors hold the different memories of the person, usually in order from when they were born, up until where they are now in life. Farther down the halls of their mind is their subconscious, which is usually where their thoughts are.

 

What makes each person's mind different from the next is how the halls of their mind looks. This usually reflects what a person is really like deep down in their souls. As I glance around Mr. Rawl's mind, I can see that this is definitely true. Mr. Rawl's mind almost seems like an ice cavern, with thousands of icicles hanging down. But really, what else should I have expected from an ice youkai?

 

With a slight sigh at the freezing temperature of the halls around me, I quickly begin to travel forward though the halls, knowing from experience that if I keep moving forward I'll reach Mr. Rawl's subconscious no matter what.

 

After a little bit of walking, I finally reach a large door at the end of the hallway and eye it warily; it seems to be made completely of ice. Grumbling slightly under my breath, I remember exactly what this is. You see, all youkai have a room just before their subconscious. This room usually shows the youkai's powers. For example, if the demon is elemental, there will be something reflecting the element that the youkai controls. If the youkai is an animal type, then there will be something representing that animal. Usually, there are also other objects in the room--which I have come to call the Youkai Room--that show other skills of the youkai.

 

Knowing that I have to continue forward to get to Mr. Rawl's subconscious, I slowly reach out and grab the ice handle on the door, shiver at its coldness, and yank the door open. The door slides open easily and I quickly enter, hearing the door slam shut behind me.

 

As with everywhere else in Rawl's mind, the room is lit with a dim glow, though there is nothing to produce the light. This seems to be true in the minds of all ningen and youkai as well. This Youkai Room corresponds with the rest of Mr. Rawl's mind in the fact that it is also freezing cold and has frozen icicles hanging from the ceiling as well as some coming up from the frozen floor.

 

In the center of the room are several floating objects. The first of these is a frozen...ice cube? I can't help but sweatdrop; that certainly is...original... The next object is a purple eye(2) that I've come to recognize as the symbol for psychics. I guess that that represents Mr. Rawl's training with telepathy. The third and final object is a shied made from solid ice. This represents that Mr. Rawl specializes in defense. Hmm, I hadn't known that...but then again, I only just did find out that Mr. Rawl was a demon.

 

Realizing that I was just standing there staring, I quickly begin to make my way past the floating objects and toward the large ice door, identical to the one I had just come out of, that was on the other side of the room. Yanking it open, I enter Mr. Rawl's subconscious.

 

And what does his subconscious look like? A large stone room that could easily fit my entire school inside its walls. Offhandedly, I marvel at the fact that, unlike the rest of Mr. Rawl's mind, this room has not a spec of ice in it. Never once does the fact that the entire room is empty cross my mind. All of the subconscious's I've come across are like this. I just have to complete one more step to fully access Mr. Rawl's subconscious.

 

Without even really thinking about what I'm doing, as I've done this countless times before, I detach a piece of my subconscious and leave it in Mr. Rawl's, before pulling the rest of me out and back into my own mind. Now that the link has been established, I send a "pulse" through the link to Mr. Rawl, and begin to speak to him mentally.

 

'Hello?' I say tentatively.

 

Mr. Rawl blinks, surprised. 'You're already in? I only told you to start less than a second ago(3)!'

 

I grin and sheepishly rub the back of my head. 'Eh, yeah,' I reply. 'It never really seems to take much time. I guess it is kind of surprising.'

 

'Surprising? This is incredible! I only asked you to read my surface thoughts--which you shouldn't have even had the ability to by the way--and yet you were able to go straight past that and form a mental connection! My mental shields are strong enough to keep out even some of the most powerful youkai, but I didn't even feel you brush against mine!'

 

'Er, yeah...' I cough lightly, slightly embarrassed.

 

Suddenly, the look on Mr. Rawl's face changes from that of shock and slight awe, to complete seriousness with a bit of curiosity. 'I need you to describe to me exactly what you did so that we can figure this out.'

 

I nod in understanding before going in detail about what I did, from the "tendril" of my mind to the halls of Mr. Rawls mind. As I finish up, Mr. Rawl stares at the floor in contemplation, his face completely unreadable.

 

"Interesting," he mutters, speaking out loud for the first time since he told me to start. "I've never heard of anything like this; especially suck a visual aspect of the mind. Then again, it could be a byproduct of being of so many different breeds of youkai."

 

I shrug lightly, having no idea myself, before suddenly grinning, allowing my elongated canines to poke over my bottom lip. "So, what training are we going to be doing?"