Yu Yu Hakusho Fan Fiction ❯ The Iridescent Caress ❯ A Demons Keep ( Chapter 3 )

Chapter 3

A Demons Keep

"Ezekiel! Come here immediately!" Gold green eyes flashed and there was an irritable rustling.

"I am here, my ladyship." Ezekiel moved into the light of the torches that adorned the black marble hall. Head bowed, he shuffled his feet, wondering what the Lady could want.

"Has everything been prepared according to me exact instructions?" The Lady arose from her throne and stood at the top of the steps, looking down at the bat demon below her. 'At least he's loyal, pathetic demon that he is.' she thought.

"Yes, my Lady Syrus. Kasha has been in and out of the castle all morning." He chanced a glimpse at the lady, hoping she was pleased. Lady Syrus was smiling a cold smile, wings wrapped around her like a cocoon. Everything was going so well that she was almost ahead of schedule.

"I am very pleased Ezekiel. Please send Kasha up here in your place. You are dismissed." She sat down again, and Ezekiel moved away into the shadows.

Syrus tapped her long fingernails against the marble of her throne. Around her, shadows created by the flames danced over the black marble. The cold smile remained in place. One of her spies had returned just this morning and had given her excellent news. The Detectives were on there way to see Koenma when he had left them, and were very concerned about finding a copy of the prophecy.

She'd almost laughed at his report. Her most trusted emissary had been sent to Spirit World just to put the information they so desired right in front of their noses. Then she would lead them here. Oh the simplicity of the scheme! Koenma and his lackeys deserved what was coming to them after trying to govern the Makai. They should have learned long ago that demons such as she would never succumb to there rule.

"My Lady. You called for me?" A quite voice came from the darkness, and a girl stepped out of the shadows smoothly. She looked to be about 16, dressed in a scarlet fighting kimono. She had thick black hair that was tied behind her, and intense coffee colored eyes. A tiny black hawk sat on her right shoulder.

"Kasha. Ezekiel tells me you have completed your mission." Syrus rose from her chair again. The girl, Kasha, bowed her head.

"I have. The demons you requested have been recruited, and the halls are prepared for the Detectives arrival." The demoness smiled, and it was just as cold as her mistresses. Turning her head, she spoke to the hawk and it flew on silent wings back into the shadows.

"This is wonderful. Call them in here at once." Syrus sauntered down the gradual steps and stood facing the demoness. Beside the tall female, Syrus's height became apparent. Kasha had to be at least six feet tall, and Syrus was at least two inches taller than the wind demoness. Smile never leaving her face, Kasha turned and gave a piercing whistle. A few moments later, figures materialized from the shadows. A black shadow flitted near the ceiling, and Kasha gave another whistle. The black hawk reappeared on her shoulder.

One by one, female demons lined up side by side before Syrus and Kasha. Each bowed her head, then met gold green eyes with their own. Counting Kasha, four of the strongest female demons in the Makai stood before Syrus.

Kasha looked upon the warriors with pride. To be recruited to this mission, they had needed to defeat her in hand to hand combat. Thing was, Kasha had only been defeated by one person in her history of fighting. That woman stood beside her.

None of the demons who tried Kasha succeeded in defeating her, but Syrus had prepared for such minor inconveniences. If the demon in question stared death in the face and was unafraid, they were given the choice of joining. Sadly, only these three had been unafraid of death. Kasha spat upon the ground in disgust. It proved how weak demons were becoming. In the old days, a demon would have welcomed death from the victor, better to die in battle then be shown mercy. But those she had fought had begged to be spared, and she was more than happy to remove their weak blood from the circle.

"Kasha. Don't be rude. Introduce me to our guests." Syrus looked over the three with pride. Kasha had done her job well.

Kasha started on the right, and stood beside a demon shorter than she by a good two feet. "Arissa is a fire demon, by Mayes, out of Amiga."

The fire demon met Syrus's eyes with her own. Brown red was flecked with black, so as the firelight shifted it seemed as though the flames of Hell danced in her retinas. Strait black hair was tied in a single braid down her back, and her skin was pale. She was dressed in a black and amethyst fighting kimono, and a sword was strapped to her back.

"Your parents were great demons. You mother was one to be admired. I am privileged that you join our cause." Syrus looked upon Arissa, and smiled. The fire demon, surprisingly enough, smiled back.

"This is Shari. By Harin, out of Malisa." Kasha stood beside a demon roughly her height. Fire red hair flowed down her back, framing her emerald eyes and flawless skin. Red ears poked through the hair on her head, and a long red tail plumed behind her. A white fighting kimono finished the apparel.

"Shari. Malisa was a good friend of mine and a wonderful fighter. I can see she passed both her beauty and her wit onto her daughter. You are exactly what we need." Syrus smiled at the kitsune as well.

"I thank you, Lady Syrus. I hope I will make you proud." The kitsune spoke smoothly, her words flowing like silk. Her smile revealed two pointed canine teeth.

"And Rima, by Shon out of Calasa." The final demoness looked at Syrus. Sapphire eyes glowed under her long white hair. A cobalt blue kimono hugged her form.

"An Ice demon. You are a true rarity. I am please someone of your foreign kind has stepped forward." Syrus smiled at her as well.

"Tell me, what is it that we are going to be doing for you?" Rima's voice was as cold as winter wind, and lulling as snow to a dieing traveler.

"You will be assisting me in removing the fools that follow Koenma. They must learn that the Makai cannot be governed. We will show them by eradicating them at the roots!" Syrus grinned evily and let out a soft laugh. "And we will start by destroying Yusuke Urameshi and his team of idiots!"

The demonesses' laughter echoed in the black hallway.

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"So we want to find out all we can about this Prophecy." Yusuke finished speaking to Koenma and gestured to Kurama.

"I wrote down every bit of the words I could remember to aid you in your search." Kurama handed the Spirit World leader a sheet of paper. After looking over it, he handed it to George.

"Take this with you. Botan, I'd like you to help him as well. Cross reference everything." Koenma looked hard at the two.

"Yes sir Koenma. We'll get right on that." Botan and the ogre vanished.

"Ok, now that we have that taken care of, I need to talk to you, Kurama." Koenma sat forwarding his chair. Kurama sat before him, flanked by everyone else.

"When did you start having these dreams?" Koenma spoke calmly.

"About two months ago. However, its only been bits and pieces, mostly connotations of blood and pain." Kurama answered truthfully.

"So nothing this specific until now?"

"Yes."

"And you're sure it concerns all who are gathered here?" Koenma waved to Yusuke, Kuwabara, Hiei and Genkai.

"Yes."

"Ok, we'll have t-" Koenma was cut off by the door slamming open.

"Sir! We have a slight emergency!" Botan rushed into the room, closely followed by George, who was carrying something.

"What? You can't have found the prophecy already?" Koenma stood up and looked at the two. So did everyone else.

"No sir, but this was found outside." George stepped forward and placed a green brown heap on the desk.

"What is this, some kind of jo-" Yusuke stopped speaking when the heap unfolded itself to reveal a dragon the size of a Labrador Retriever. It stood calmly, and looked at everyone gathered around it with unfathomable black eyes.

"I have a message for the Rekai Tantai." It said calmly. Its voice was clear and deep, like a river. "Look in the Nice and Accurate Prophecies of Penelopic Sethable for what you seek." The dragon then lay down and closed its eyes.

Complete silence followed the message. Then Botan, followed by everyone else started sprinting for the archives.

"I've seen that book!" Botan yelled behind her.

"So have I!" George was right behind the blue haired reaper.

"Why is it called Nice and Accurate?" Kuwabara belted.

"Nice used to mean precise, or exact." Kurama ran in just as much of a flurry as everyone else.

Back in the abandoned office, the dragon, whose name was Anthemia, opened one eye. A toothy grin spread across her face. Her mistress was so smart. Everything was going according to plan, unfolding just as she said it would. The dragon thought back to the night she'd been given her assignment.

.

.

"My dear dragon, I have a job for you." Syrus sat in her black hall, stroking Anthemia as one would a cat.

"What do you require of me mistress?" The dragon was more than happy to be sent off to assist in her plan. So far, everyone else had gotten something to do, and she was feeling left out.

"The most important job. Kasha will be retuning soon with the demonesses, and we need our final guests soon as well. But how will they find there way without a guide?" Syrus scratched the dragon's head, and a low rumble came from the beast. "I want you to lead them hear, my darling Anthemia. I want you to bring them to their doom."

"I shall mistress." The dragon arched her head in pleasure. A very important job indeed. And one of the most fun.

"I want you to fly to Koenma's palace, and wait outside. Someone will bring you within. Tell them, for all our targets will be there, were the prophecy the Kitsune dreamed of is. Wait for them to return, and lead them here. Guide them through the halls until none are left standing."

Anthemia growled happily. What fun! She was going to get to lead her mistresses' most hated rivals to their death. She stood and shook. "I will make you proud mistress."

"I'm confident you will." Syrus watched the dragon fly into the shadows of the upper hall and vanish.

Outside, Anthemia flew under the light of a full moon. 'I will make her proud.' She thought. Fueled by her determination, she evaporated into the night.

.

.

"Here it is!" Botan stood and proudly waved a book above her head. Immediately, everyone gathered around, eager to see the prediction.

"Now wait. I'm just as excited as the rest of you, but we need to return to my office before we go spouting about something this big." Koenma pushed his way between legs to the front of the group.

"Of course sir! I'll just hold on to this..." Botan tucked the book into her sleeve and followed Koenma back toward the office. Everyone else shuffled after.

"So what do you think this prophecy is going to say?" Kuwabara walked beside Yusuke. "Kurama's the only one who's heard the whole thing. I'm a bit worried about what is in story for us."

"Yeah, I am to. Seam's like everything I've ever done for Spirit World I've always had to rush into head on. Never really knowing what to expect. Its starting to get on my nerves." Yusuke clenched his fist momentarily.

"Well dimwit, you haven't gotten yourself killed yet so I'd say you're in pretty good shape to take this on." Genkai sauntered by the two and caught up with Botan.

"Was that…a fairly direct compliment?" Yusuke looked after Genkai in slight shock. Behind them, Kurama chuckled quietly.

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"Alright. Botan, the book please." Koenma settled into his chair, and held out his hand for the book. Botan placed it in his hand, careful not to disturb the, apparently sill sleeping, dragon on the desk. As she pulled her hand back, a small jet of flame shot out of the dragon's nose.

Botan jumped back, clutching her almost burnt hand. Yusuke chuckled. "I guess that's the equivalent of a dragon snore, eh Botan?" Said girl glared.

"That's not funny Yusuke."

"Can we please focus?" Koenma glared at Yusuke.

"Yes. I fear you don't have much time." Anthemia uncurled from her place on the desk and stretched. 'I can't believe I missed that woman. So close, yet so far away.' She inwardly sighed and settled her wings to her sides. After looking at everyone in turn, then made her way to the book that lay on the table.

"Hold on. Would you mind telling us who you are and why you're helping us?" Koenma placed a hand on the book, holding it closed.

"My apologies. I am called Anthemia and my mistress sent me to help you. A very powerful force is growing in the bowels of the Makai, and it is intertwined with the prophecy in that book. If you would be so kind as to let me show it to you…" Anthemia looked at Koenma pointedly.

"Oh, of course…" He pushed the book toward the dragon, who placed it in front of her. As everyone watched, the dragon used her two front claws to open the book and turn the pages, delicately as a human could.

After a few moments with only the swish of page turning as a break in the silence, Anthemia paused, then turned the book around. "Here it is."

Everyone gathered forward to read the book, pushing and jostling. "Hold on! I'll read it, then everyone will hear it!" Koenma stood on his desk and grabbed the book from the desk. Holding it up, he waited for all to be settled, and then read calmly.

The Dark Tournaments begun,

The players compete

A strong team is born

Different then ever been seen.

Two humans, a kitsune, a demon of fire

An aging psychic all will conspire.

And take this ancient custom by force,

Though the battles are grave, sprinkled with remorse.

And when done is done,

The team on the top,

Its this new one,

You see, there stronger than though.

But a new battle will face them,

For death dodges there steps.

When the eye of the moon,

Is round as the sun.

A friend will be lost,

Consumed by the hate,

And Four will continue,

Never sedate.

And the elements will seduce,

When they come to the gate,

One may be lost,

In this pivotal state.

What they seek is a mystery

No one has read,

The prizes are rich,

If they don't wind up dead.

And only a force,

With both bravery and strife,

May find what they seek

On silver bladed knife.

But the evil they face, my prevail nonetheless,

If they fail in there loft quest.

And the black cloud will spread, its power complete,

If the dragon collects the jem to her keep.

Koenma set the book on the desk, and took a deep breath. He wasn't the only one in the room who was ashen faced.

"A friend will be lost, consumed by the hate." Yusuke whispered.

"The elements seduce? How can elements seduce?" Kurama pondered aloud.

"On silver bladed knife." Hiei said quietly. "What we seek is on a sword."

"Ok everybody." Koenma had regained some of his composure. "We can all agree that the prophecy is directly related to you five."

"Well thank you captain obvious." Yusuke said sarcastically.

"Yusuke! How can you joke at a time like this?" Botan chastened. Then everyone in the room erupted. Everyone had an option, and everyone expressed it.

"I think it would be best to copy the prophecy down and start on this quest." Anthemia's voice cut effortlessly over everyone else. Gradually silence was ordained.

"The dragon is right. Botan, we need a copy ASAP." Koenma took charge.

"I'm on it." Botan gathered the book, marked the page, and vacated the room.

"You said you're called Anthemia, yes?" Koenma turned to the dragon, whom nodded. "And you can lead them to were ever they need to go to combat this evil?" Another nod. Koenma turned to the four boys and Genkai. "I am putting my trust in this creature. She will lead you to wherever you must go as soon as Botan returned with a copy of the prophecy. I wish you luck. All of you." Koenma turned and walked away.

"Looks like were on our own again." Yusuke stated.

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There we have another chapter. I can't wait till you guys get to find out why Syrus recruited more demons. This is such a fun story to write! I've got most of the plot down, and I think you'll like it. Thanks so much to everyone who reviewed. I really appreciate it. Till next time!

Dragon Warrioress