Yu Yu Hakusho Fan Fiction ❯ Wind Knoll's Curse ❯ Chapter 38

For weeks I trained under Touya. Each time seemed more brutal than the last. I would find myself on the cold, hard floor time and time again. His shards would continue to rip through my skin and cause my blood to mar the floor. I didn't want to be special in having no powers…I wanted to be like everyone else in the town…

 

Scarlet fell to the ground once more, trembling as blood emerged from her opened wounds. Coughing harshly, she struggled to get back up to her feet. Her eyes threatened to close from the exhaustion, which overtook her body from the loss of blood and the extensive training she was going through.

 

Touya watched her attempting to get back to her feet only to lie there on her hands and knees. “It's almost been a month and you have yet to get your powers to do anything beyond saving you from suffering from illness.” Seeing Scarlet threaten to smash back down into the ground again, he marched over towards her to grab her up by the collar of her sweater to pin her against the wall. Concentrating on his powers, he created his ice sword to aim it directly at Scarlet's neck. Every time she breathed heavily, her skin would rest upon the sharp tip of the weapon he created, causing her skin to break open and bleed down his blade. “Maybe if I cut your throat you'll find it within yourself to react.”

 

“You wouldn't dare…” Scarlet didn't want to believe any threats the demon made. Her fingers tensed all the same when she saw him look at her with his angry, narrow eyes. It almost made her pause in breathing, as his look frightened her so much.

 

“You don't believe that I would do such a thing, would you?” Taking the sword, he started to slowly drag it across her neck though he didn't push it in far enough to where it could seriously hurt her.

 

Scarlet could feel the skin breaking and the blood draining from her neck, causing her to panic in realizing he might very well kill her. “STOP!” She screamed, bringing up her hands to use some unknown force to push the demon away from her.

 

Whatever the force was, Touya found himself flying backwards against his will, only to catch himself when he dug his feet into the ground beneath him. His eyes wide, he watched as Scarlet brought up an ice barrier momentarily before she fell to her knees to hold onto the neck gash he gave her. Touya had to sadly watch it fade shortly after she knocked him back. “You did it!” He exclaimed, as he stood up. Quickly he grabbed one of the blankets nearby and lowered his ice wall before rushing towards her. “It was brief, but you did do it!” Using the towel, he wrapped it around Scarlet's shaking body before putting pressure on the cut he gave her.

 

“Y-You t-tried to kill me…y-you bastard…!” Scarlet stuttered, as she felt him trying to stop the bleeding.

 

Touya rolled his eyes at her comment, helping his priestess to her feet. “Don't cry,” he remarked sarcastically. “You'll be fine.” Helping her out of the room, he waved down one of his healers he saw walking by. “Take her to get cleaned up. She has a small injury on her neck, so keep pressure on the blanket when you take her.”

 

“Yes, sir,” said the middle aged male, as he guided Scarlet quickly to the infirmary. “Don't worry, miss, you'll be fine. Just continue to breathe normally.”

 

Scarlet did as she was asked before being sat down on the table in the infirmary to have another male healer look her over. He looked to Scarlet to be in his late twenties, early thirties. She was nervous about the man checking her over. “I wouldn't think he'd go that far.”

 

“He was just doing what he had to in order to get your powers out,” said the young man. He went from examining her cut legs to the cut on her neck. “Let me see it.” He watched her hesitate in removing the towel, knowing that the air would sting the wound. “Scarlet, you need to let me see it.” The healer insisted, as he helped her remove the fabric slowly. He couldn't help but hiss at the sight. “Gracious,” he chuckled softly, as he dabbed the clean cloth he had in warm water to be rid of the blood, which was all over her neck. “I didn't expect he'd do it that far across your neck.”

 

“Am I going to be okay?” Scarlet asked nervously, rolling her teeth over her lower lip.

 

“You're fine,” he insisted, continuing to dab her neck carefully. “Lord Touya only cut the first layer of skin to cause it to bleed. He didn't snag anything major when he did this.” Powering up his hands, he used his abilities to soothe the pain in Scarlet's neck. “He's a ninja, and he knows where the major pressure points and vital organs are. My name is Bobby, by the way—Bobby Bower.”

 

Scarlet nodded upon hearing his name. “It is nice to meet you.” She couldn't help but hiss at just breathing. “It hurts to swallow or do anything.”

 

“You'll be alright,” Bobby insisted, as he continued to ease her aches in her body. When he exerted what power he could into her injuries, he helped Scarlet to her feet. “My powers should ease you for awhile, but the pain will come back. I suggested that you take medicine to try and keep it away.” Here, he grabbed a bottle of medicine to hand over to Scarlet. “I'll tell the Ice Lord to let you rest for now. I am sure he'll understand.” Bobby began writing something on his clipboard before adding something else. “I'll send Priestess Jessica to your room to heal up the injuries on your legs and back from where the ice shards got you.”

 

Scarlet just whispered her thanks before dragging herself back to her room with the blanket around her tightly. On her way towards her room, she stopped when she thought she heard the wind whispering her name. Thinking she heard it a second time, Scarlet looked up and down the halls to see nobody in particular calling to her. Confused as to where it was coming from, she headed up a flight of stairs to try and locate the source, as it seemed to get louder and louder the closer she got to one bedroom that was covered in locks.

 

The sight of the locks made Scarlet numb inside. A part of her wanted to turn away and head back to her bedroom but the voice continued to beckon her. Swallowing hard, she placed her hand on the door covered in chains. “I cannot get in,” she whispered against the entryway, as there were many locks she would have to find a key for. Upon her saying that, Scarlet could hear them suddenly release and fall to the floor. Nervously, Scarlet pushed open the door to make her way inside.

 

Entering the room, she found that it wasn't as evil as she felt it would be. There was a calming wind, which came over her in the dark room. When the door shut behind her quietly, Scarlet was a little startled, but was instantly calmed when the candles began to light one by one to illuminate the room better. She found it to look just like any other room in the temple, but there was a unique candleholder in the center of the room. It was made of finely polished glass or ice and looked like an explosion of water causing many areas for candles to rest upon the dispersed waves, which seemed to rise upwards. Each candle was lit, giving off a gentle glow.

 

“What is this room?” She asked herself quietly, as she knew whoever was living there, dead or alive, was being quite welcoming. Looking at the shelves, she found them void of anything in particular, as well as the desk and drawers. However, another candle suddenly lit at the nightstand near the bed to show that there was one picture there within its frame. Scarlet gazed at it from a distance and her heart nearly dropped as she recognized the people in the picture from a distance. She hurried over towards the lone picture to pick it up quickly in her shaking hands. “M-Mom…!”

 

The woman in the picture was of her mother, Cynthia Baker with her birth father Tray James and her as a baby in her mother's arms. Scarlet continued to hold the picture in her hands, unable to believe that she was in her mother's old bedroom. Suddenly she could feel someone touching her shoulders. Widening her eyes, she looked slightly over to her right to see that her mother's ghostly form was embracing her from behind.

 

“My sweet daughter,” Cynthia whispered between them, as she held Scarlet close. “I've missed you so much.”

 

Scarlet spun around to see her mother there in the dim lightly of the candles. She looked the same from what she could remember from pictures she had in her house and the photo album. “Mom, it is actually you!” Scarlet reached out to try and embrace her mother only to find her arms went right through the misty figure of her mom. “M-Mamma…?” She felt her heart breaking at not being able to hold her at the very least.

 

“I am sorry, Scarlet,” Cynthia sighed sorrowfully as well, placing her hand upon her daughter's shoulder. “I cannot touch you unless you are asleep. That's just the way the spirit and physical worlds work.”

 

Resting on the bed, which had been empty for years, Scarlet put the picture back down where she found it. “You never came to see me when dad was abusing me for years after you were gone…why did you leave me like this?” She could feel tears streaming down her cheeks, unable to believe her mother was showing to her now.

 

“I couldn't stand to see you hurt yourself so much,” Cynthia answered honestly, folding her hands in front of the white dress she was wearing. “It is never within any mothers' desires to see their own children slowly fall. I am sorry, Scarlet.” She looked away from her child, a bit ashamed to look at her. “While I missed you dearly, I couldn't handle the thought of you possibly joining me.”

 

Biting her lower lip, Scarlet let out a brief, heartbreaking sob. “I do miss you, mom.”

 

“I miss you too, and I love you.” Cynthia could tell that it was becoming more and more difficult for her to stay in the form she was within. “I have to go back to Makai. You are free to come here anytime you need to, Scarlet.” Leaning in close to her daughter, she placed a kiss on Scarlet's cheek before fading back into the darkness.

 

Scarlet bit her lower lip before embracing herself tightly when her body trembled in sadness. Hearing the door open, she looked over to find the ice master there. “Hi, Touya,” she said trying to straighten herself up and not look so depressed over what she had just witnessed. “I am sorry; I didn't mean to come in here.”

 

Touya smiled briefly as he entered the room, closing the door behind him quietly. “The only reason this room was chained was so nobody would feel compelled to come here. Your mother still uses it as her own, even in the afterlife. I just didn't have it in me to move her elsewhere.” He walked over towards Scarlet to join her on the bed. Touya could tell that she was upset over the meeting with her mom. Gazing about the dimly lit room, he noticed the candleholder in the center of the room with a brief chuckle at it. “I actually made that for your mother when she was growing up.”

 

“Really?” Scarlet asked in a shaky tone with a few sniffles to try and clear her sinuses.

 

“When she was little, she used to watch me in my garden all the time, as I made things with my ice,” Touya explained. “I'll never forget how her face would light up at watching me every winter. So, on her sixteenth birthday, I gave her this room, and I let her watch me make that candleholder. She was so excited and so happy.” Pushing himself up from beside Scarlet, he made it over to the sculpted candleholder to touch it. “She was a great woman…”

 

Scarlet noticed that his voice trailed off when he said that. Her mouth slightly open in a soft gasp, she noticed what he was hinting unwillingly. “You loved my mom…”

 

“I didn't say I did,” Touya defended quickly, glad that his blush was hidden in the darkness.

 

“You didn't have to say it!” Scarlet insisted from where she was sitting. “Your tone implied it.”

 

Sighing heavily, Touya knew he wouldn't be able to convince her otherwise even if it was true. “Yes, when you raise a child that is not yours, you tend to fall in love with them. Your mother was special to me, and I reminded her of that day in and day out.” He tapped his fingers upon the gift he gave Cynthia beside him, finding difficulty in forming the next few words he wanted to. “When she turned eighteen, she met your first father, Tray James. She met him on the year I was supposed to be the one to perform the Light Enveloping Darkness rite on her. When she met Tray, she wanted him to be the man to keep her safe from Virgin Hunters, so I allowed it. It was difficult for me to accept, but I permitted her to do as she pleased.” He paused, looking at Scarlet through the candlelight. “It was what any father would have done to the child they loved—even if that `father' loved their daughter more than they should have.” Sighing heavily, he made his way back over towards the young woman to join her upon the bed once more. “After the two wed, Cynthia…could no longer see me. And in a matter of a few short years, believed that I was just some God like everyone else.”

 

“You told me before that she never knew,” Scarlet recalled. “You told me that she never knew who you were and who raised her.”

 

“I didn't want you to know what I thought about your mother,” Touya said plainly, as he gazed off at nothing in particular in the room. “I thought you might be defensive over the thought that I could possibly ever be your father should things have gone differently.” He was hesitant to continue speaking, but he did so regardless. “And that I thought…Tray didn't deserve your mother.”

 

Scarlet wasn't sure what to say about that comment, as she didn't get the chance to spend as much time as she wanted with her birth father. “Did…did my mother ever know how you felt about her?”

 

“I told her when I got her spirit to my temple safely,” Touya explained, eyeing Scarlet once more. “I told her how much I loved her, but she merely acknowledged my feelings. She expressed that, sadly, she still loved Tray, and that wasn't going to change.”

 

Not sure what to say, Scarlet rested her forehead against the ice master's nearest shoulder. She was tired from her emotional outburst over seeing Cynthia in her misty form. “I am so exhausted,” she whispered.

 

Touya picked up Scarlet within his arms to help her out of the room, so he could relock the door with a simple wave of his hand. “I'll take you to your bedroom. I'd allow you with your mother, but I think she likes to be alone for the time being. I'll talk to her about it later,” he whispered to her, as he headed down the stairs.

 

 

 

 

Scarlet lied on her back, finding herself unable to stop thinking about Touya's confessions dealing with his feelings involving her mother. She had napped off her exhaustion earlier, but it was short lived. Sighing, she banged her hands upon the mattress below her. “Dammit, go to sleep, Scarlet,” she mumbled to herself. No matter how much she tried to, Scarlet just couldn't close her eyes and sleep. The words Touya spared her just kept replaying in her head. Bringing her hand, which had the wind design upon it, up to her face, Scarlet couldn't help but think about Jin again. She ran her fingers over the design with a soft sigh. “Jin, I really hope you won't be too late to tell me how you feel…” Closing her eyes finally, Scarlet managed to drift off to sleep when fatigue overcame her soon enough.

 

She didn't notice someone was in her bedroom at that moment. In the dim lighting of the room, Jin was watching Scarlet from just behind the pillar in the center of her room. Sighing heavily, he made his way over towards her to kneel beside the bed. He put his hand into Scarlet's while resting his chin and other arm upon the empty space not too far from where her face was resting. “I am so sorry, Scarlet,” he whispered softly, so as not to wake her right away. “I am so, so sorry…”

 

“You really shouldn't come here every time she cries for you,” Touya expressed from the door. He was leaning against the closed door with his arms crossed, appearing unimpressed by Jin's display of emotions.

 

Jin frowned at his friend's words to him. “You would do the same thing, boyo. I don't want to hear it from you now,” he growled in his Irish accent. When he looked back at Scarlet, he noticed the bandages on her neck. “What did you do to her?” He demanded to know, as he pulled his hand from Scarlet's.

 

“I threatened her if she didn't unleash her powers,” Touya answered with a shrug of his shoulders like it was nothing. “I cannot say it wasn't productive.”

 

Furious with his friend, he removed himself from Scarlet's bedside to charge at the ice demon and pin him against the wall. “I don't care what she says or what you think! I want her to stop with the training! I want the training to stop now!” He demanded angrily through his teeth.

 

Touya sighed irritably at Jin's attitude. Since he wanted to be put back down on his feet, he reached his hand up to focus his ice powers against the demon's flesh to cause the redhead to back away from him upon the freezer burn really getting to him. “That is not for you to decide,” the ice demon insisted, as he pocketed his hands. “If she wants her powers to come out, then I will help her!”

 

“You can't keep doing this to her!” Jin insisted, baring his teeth angrily. “She doesn't have it within her to reach the potential you want her to reach!”

 

“You think so?” Touya looked over at Scarlet in the blue candlelight. He seemed to be concocting something within his mind, as he looked over the young woman. “How about you come with me to train her then? Tomorrow I will be training her more, and you can come and watch over it all. How does that sound?” Before Jin could answer, Touya raised his finger to the redhead. “However, you cannot say anything about how I train her, okay?”

 

“Fine,” Jin grumbled, nodding in agreement to the ice master. “I will watch, but if one thing goes wrong, I swear I won't hesitate to do something about it.”

 

“Whatever you say,” Touya said with a roll of his shoulders. “I'll be training her at seven in the morning.” With that said, he turned away from Jin and headed out of the room to leave the two alone.

 

Jin shook his head angrily before making it back over to Scarlet's bedside. Kneeling back beside it, he rested his forehead against the young woman's while holding her hand once more. “I won't let him continue to do this. I don't care what it takes.”

 

 

----------------------------

 

 

Needless to say, when Scarlet was getting ready to take on Touya's training the next day, she found herself a bit shocked to walk into the room to find both Jin and Touya there. “What…what is going on here?” Scarlet asked, as she looked between the two. “Jin, what are you doing here?”

 

“Seeing as Jin doesn't like the way he finds you in pain almost every night after I train you, I allowed him here to watch,” explained Touya, as he walked away from Scarlet, so he could put some distance between them. “But don't get too excited, because he won't be here to rescue you from anything I throw at you.”

 

“Jin, why are you here!” Scarlet demanded to know between them. She had to admit that with the redhead there to witness her training, it made her a bit nervous.

 

“I am here to watch and tell you how crazy you are!” Jin answered, pointing to himself before crossing his arms over his chest.

 

“You two can squabble all you like, but regardless of when you do so—,” Touya began to power up his ice barrier to envelop the room about him, making Scarlet tremble from the freezing air. “—I am going to get the lesson started, as I don't have time to do this all day.” Powering up his favorite attack in the palm of his hands, he concentrated on making the ground beneath Scarlet come alive and freeze her legs in place up to her knees. “Seeing as I cannot have you jumping around to avoid my attack, I will keep you in place.”

 

Scarlet felt her heart race, as she tried to escape from where she was frozen only to find it would be painful just to try and do so. “You cannot keep me in one place! That isn't fair!”

 

“Nothing in life is fair, dear child,” Touya chuckled dryly, as he blew her his own kiss of death upon her.

 

Jin watched horrifically as the ice shards sliced through Scarlet's body again to tear apart her clothing and skin to spry blood almost everywhere on the ground. His eyes wide, he growled at the ice demon who was attacking his only servant. “Stop this, Touya!” The wind master demanded with his hands turned into fists.

 

“Not until I see what I want,” Touya said, showing no emotion by everything that was happening. After firing at her a bit more, he found Scarlet just standing there and taking the hits. “Defend back!” He yelled finally. “Or do I have to threaten to cut your head off?” Taking in a deep breath, the ice master knew what he had to do at that moment. Lowering his hands, he pulled a throwing star from his pocket; Touya tossed the weapon directly at Scarlet's chest.

 

Scarlet's eyes widened when she saw the weapon heading towards her. Her breath hitched when she felt it embed within her chest where her heart was located. Not able to find words, she opened her mouth to speak only to find blood trickling from the corner of her mouth.

 

“SCARLET!” Jin yelled, as the ice wall came down to allow the young woman to fall to the ground. The wind demon hurried over towards the blooded body of his servant. “Scarlet…! Scarlet!” He continued to call, shaking her body in hopes of her moving. Angry and with tears in his eyes, he turned to his friend. “Touya, what have you done!”

 

Touya looked paler than usual, as he saw Scarlet lying in Jin's arms. When the wind master was about to reach for the throwing star, he grabbed onto the demon's wrist. “Don't! If it pierced her heart, you'll kill her instantly!” Running to the door, he opened it to call for anybody that was nearby before kneeling beside the two. “She's going to be okay. I promise.”

 

“If she's not going to make it, I will kill you myself, Touya!” Jin threatened through his tears.

 

 

 

 

Scarlet was sent to intensive care within the temple. Jin waited nervously outside of the room with his head in his hands. When he heard the door open, he looked up eagerly to see Touya coming out of the room. He shot to his feet eagerly. “How is she? Is she okay?” Jin asked, making it over towards Touya.

 

“Well, she survived the surgery,” Touya explained calmly. “The throwing star was removed from her chest, and her vitals are stable. All we can do is wait it out for awhile.”

 

“I want to see her,” Jin insisted right away.

 

“Jin, I don't know if that's a good—.”

 

“I want to see her!” Roared the wind demon angrily, not wanting to take `no' for an answer.

 

Touya sighed, shaking his head as he gazed up at the redhead. “Fine. Come with me.” He motioned Jin to follow him back into the room. Inside, Scarlet was out cold on a hospital bed while the machines made sure she was okay. “Just don't stay long. She needs to rest.”

 

“I won't,” he said before making it further into the room to see Scarlet in an intense situation. Jin took the seat next to the hospital bed, reaching for the young woman's hand to hold it within his own. “Scarlet, I am sorry. I am so sorry,” he whispered, bringing her hand up to his mouth to kiss it tenderly. “If I knew Touya was going to do that, I would have stepped in. I shouldn't have agreed to just stand there and watch. I didn't know he'd do this.” Seeing her unresponsive, he reached over to stroke her on the head lovingly. “I am also sorry I have been so hardheaded lately. Everyone tells me that I have my moments.” He chuckled lightly at the comment before frowning sorrowfully again. Leaning in to kiss her on the lips, he closed his eyes while resting his forehead against hers. “I love you, Scarlet. Please come back to me,” Jin whispered between them, finding it within himself to bring down his borders.

 

Scarlet's fingers twitched slightly before she managed to open her eyes. Seeing the wind master leaning over her, she smiled up at him. “What…what did you say…Jin…?” She asked wearily.

 

Jin moved in to kiss Scarlet lovingly once more. “I said I love you, Scarlet. I don't think I could handle the thought of losing you and not being able to tell you.”

 

Touya listened to the two from the opposite side of the door, which he had slightly cracked. Realizing that what he had set out to do was accomplished, he smiled sincerely at the scene within the darkness shrouding him in the hallway. Opening the door, he introduced himself with a clearing of his throat. “Jin, you need to let her rest.”

 

Jin nodded at Touya's suggestion before turning back to Scarlet. “Just sleep,” he whispered, stroking her head. “I will see you later, lassie.” Removing himself from the seat he was upon, he moved back outside into the hallway with a relieved sigh.

 

“Well,” Touya began, “it took drastic measures, but it is about time you spoke up and said something to her.”

 

Hearing his friend say such a thing, Jin's eyes widened. He paused in his steps and turned around to look over at Touya. “What…what are you talking about? You planned this?”

 

“You insult me, Jin,” Touya chuckled, thumbing over his shoulder at the hospital room. “Do you seriously think I'd throw that item at her with the intent to kill her? I threw the star with enough precision to avoid injuring her heart, though it sank far enough in to give you the kick in the head you needed to say the three words you've neglected to say for many years now. I knew if I didn't do something drastic, you'd continue to pussyfoot around your feelings for her.”

 

“You did this just so I could say `I love you'?” Jin asked a bit confused by what the ice demon felt he needed to do. “Why-why in the world would you do that!”

 

Touya looked back at the door Scarlet was behind before eyeing Jin with a heavy sigh through his nostrils. “Because…a father will do whatever it takes to make sure their children are happy. I also want to make sure you don't make the same mistake I did years ago in telling the one you love that you love them after it is too late.” He patted Jin on the back. “She'll be fine. I made sure of that when I was in there. Just take care of her.” With that said, the ice master headed back about his temple.