Solitaire
Chapter 2: A Koorime's Revenge
by : Arcina
The sound of glass crashing on the floor resounded through the temple, splitting the silence of the hilltop shrine. Yukina stood frozen, staring at the shattered dishes with stricken horror, eyes wide with fear. A strangled gasp escaped her. She could feel something inside of her burning. It started as a tiny spark that glowed purposely at the core of her being, before igniting in an explosion that rent her whole body on fire. The pain came from far away. From another world, another form
'Hiei!'
No! It couldn't be. Not him. Couldn't be true. It wasn't! But yet, in her minds eye, the breaking of the invisible cord that had existed between them since childhood. The same bond that had told her, through all the years of searching, that her brother still lived. The line connecting two parts of one soul to each other. The same link, that now vanished like smoke on a windy day.
This time she screamed. The cry coming from the dark recesses of her soul, a dormant beast awakened by the tearing away of her other half, the other part of her soul. A beast stirred with rage in its eyes and loathing in its heart. The blood that ran in its veins sending two intermingled thoughts to the innocent girl it had once been.
Death.
Revenge.
She would kill the one who had done it, before becoming whole again.
She stood outside the deep awning of foliage. He was in there. Her brother. She could sense him still, even though his soul had long since left his body. She knew, because the absence of his soul matched the emptiness in hers.
She touched the verdure gingerly with one hand. Lush green turning a sparkling white as it turned to ice, making it easy for her to clear a path that lead inside. Frozen plants littered her feet as she walked. Her distress increasing as she drew nearer, her familiarity with the vegetation that formed the small cove, the cause of it. She was in tears even before she saw Hiei's lifeless form lying in a bed of red and white rose petals. White pearls joined them as she knelt by his body. Grief washing over her in waves as she studied him. He looked so peaceful, almost as though he was sleeping. Not a scratch marred his body. She hadn't expected any.
'Oniisan.'
"How was it like, to die in your lovers embrace? To have him deal the blow that killed you?" Her voice sounded harsh as it resounded through the hollow undercroft. Sorrow mingled with bitter rage. He would pay for this. She would forget the friend that he had once been and see him as the monster he truly was.
Soft footsteps sounded behind her.
"I did not expect for you to find him so quickly."
She was up and around in a flash, red eyes glowing with a phantom fury that remarkably mirrored the one so often present in her brother's.
"Why?" One word that carried with it everything that burdened her. Confusion, bitterness, resentment…regret for the friend she had lost.
Kurama chuckled. "Why? Isn't it obvious already? I want Makai for myself, Yukina. And he was standing in my way. Just like Yusuke, and just like you. You do not think I'll run the risk of having you warn Yusuke now, would you?" He queried, one perfectly shaped silver brow raising in question.
Yukina clenched her fist, refusing to answer him.
He shrugged. "I didn't think so."
"I'll kill you!" She hissed.
The look he gave her could have been one of remorse. "You could try."
She stared at him in disbelief. Her eyes glistening with unshed tears. Tears of both anger and pain, emotions that battled to take a secure place in her heart. "He loved you." She whispered softly, at the same time a sword materialized in her hand, the air temperature dropping as it did. A naginata, a woman's long sword, fashioned from the ice crystals in the air surrounding them.
"I loved him. Truly, I did. But times change and hearts change." Kurama shrugged. "He died peacefully at least. In the end, he probably never knew. I cared for him enough to spare him that."
Yukina let out a low agonized cry and for a moment, Kurama saw a perfect, nearly frightening semblance between brother and sister. The attack took him by surprise. Her speed, as well as her skill with the sword shocking him as he felt the blade plunge deep into his shoulder. A lucky miss, the sword would have struck him in the chest if he hadn't moved, but she had Hiei's speed and he'd been unable to move fast enough to avoid the assault entirely.
He cursed as he clutched a hand to the wound, while the other moved to impart an attack. In seconds, razor sharp leaves sliced through the air to pierce Yukina in three different places, the last one a deadly blow that penetrated deep in her chest.
She gasped, then collapsed on the hard ground beneath. "Damn you to the Mekai, Kurama!"
Kurama grimaced as pain shot through his shoulder. "I didn't think you had it in you, Yukina. But I'd probably try to rule the Mekai as well if it still existed."
Yukina murmured something unintelligible, then put a palm flat on the ground, the spot she lay on immediately turning into polished ice. Kurama watched with wide eyes as the frost continued to spread. "You should leave." She told him softly. "I do not want to be buried in the same place as you."
He glanced at her sharply, then understood as the walls turned a solid cascade of ice. He nodded. "Find one another in death, Yukina." He told her in parting, quickly darting out without a backward glance, and turning around just in time to see the opening he'd just passed through disappear in a broad, impassible glacial barrier. He shivered at the biting cold that caressed his skin. He took a couple of steps back, surprise washing over him as the torrid heat of the sun warmed him.
His gaze remained on the now ice-crystal cavern. The freezing temperature distanced ten feet surrounding it. He didn't have to try to know it would be a near impossible task to get through it. His plants under all that frost still lived, the way it was supposed to. Plants grown to live forever, able to withstand the harshest weather, able to recuperate in a matter of seconds. This was what the frost used as its foundation and as long as the plants lived, the bastion would remain erect, a canopy of ice in the middle of the Makai plain lands. This was a thing of legends. And like most legends, the truth of what truly took place never known.
It was just as well.
Somewhere inside of him, he wished them happiness together in the afterlife. They deserved as much.
A light crimson trail marked the otherwise immaculate crystal floor. Starting from where Yukina had once lain and ending where she now lay beside Hiei, her head on her brother's chest, his hand clutched tightly in hers.
"I'm sorry, niisan. I didn't kill him." She whispered softly, her voice haggard as each intake of breath sent a thousand needles through her body. But she was growing numb now, that was good, the pain was lessening. She continued talking.
"You promised you'd never leave me. Remember? Remember you promised me that?" A strangled sob escaped her. "I couldn't make you break that promise. I know how much you wanted to keep it. I can fulfill that promise, for both of us. We'll be together again soon. You'll see."
She tightened her grip on his hand. Her world was dimming.
"We'll be whole again."
© July 1998
- Owari -
Solitaire Chapter 2: A Koorime's Revenge (END)
Copyright © 98July by Arcina
HOT is © 1999 - 2000 by T-chan
All Rights Reserved 1999
Chapter 1