Chapter 17

OOPS! I Did It Again

      "Yo, Ebony!"

      "I'm coming!" answered she. Ebony cast one last look on the mirror. She curtly jerked her head from side to side. She looked first at the right, left, then strained to look at the back.

      "Hmmm," she said. "It'll do I suppose. For now, at least." She sighed. She missed having to twist her waist-long hair into a braid. But she does like the way her now short curls swished around her ears. It gave her a liberal, sophisticated feeling.

      "Your majesty," yelled a sarcastic voice again. "We're not exactly going to some beauty pageant. Do you mind?"

      "All right!" Ebony yelled back. She dashed out of the stuffy pavilion. Slipping through the flaps of the giant tent, she was greeted by the impatient scowling face of Yusuke.

      "Well, finally!" he said, his arms failing everywhere in his rage. "What's taken you so long? This maybe the last fight of your life and your worried about the five-inch braid singed off. You're the craziest--"

      "Yo-yo-yo, calm down, Urameshi," answered Ebony. "Don't blow up. 'Sides, I'm the one facing death himself. And you yourself have faced a million other fights before, right? Well, you should be used to it by now."

      "This is different! I am your teacher. If anything happens--"

      "I guess  you know how frustrated Master Genkai becomes of you, eh?" commented Kurama slyly.

      "Ha-ha. Very funny," Yusuke answered dryly. "Well, she's your student, too, and you should be worried."

      "Relax. I'm a good teacher. My students should be better."

      "Grrrr! Let's just get out of here."

      "About time," muttered Hiei, stepping out of the shadows.

      Yes. It was still dark and the stars were peeping through the leaves and boughs of the towering trees. It was still in the wee hours, some three A.M. The siege of Cair Tara will start at dawn. The people were starting to gather the forces and prepare for the attack.

      "Wow! Yusuke," exclaimed Ebony, her eyes widening. "I didn't know you felt responsible about anything at all."

      "Yusuke stopped and turned on her. "You're really enjoying this aren't you? You're doing this to get back on me. You've been behaving well before the desert incident. Fine, hate me for nearly getting you kill but don't blame me for having five inch of your hair getting singed."

      "Yeah, I remember. Shiuchi nearly murdered me, too."

      "Huh?" asked Kurama.

      "For your information, I have a very sensitive allergy on fur. When you accidentally reverted into your kitsune form while I was unconscious, I had a n attack of asthma. And I didn't have my medicine. I ran out. Good thing, you had some of those medicinal herbs on you. But what do you do next? You bring me the flower. But I'm also allergic to pollen. Ho-hum."

      "Sorry," said the accused. "We didn't know. It's hard to comprehend that someone of your might can have allergies and other everyday problems ordinary people meet."

      "How did you know?" said Yusuke. "We never told you."

      "I know."

      "Back to what we're talking about, was I that awful a student that you're taking your revenge now?"

      "According to Miss Aiea," interrupted Kurama. "She's actually behaving well compared to when she's under King Audric."

      "That's true," quipped she. "I mean, my brother once yelled at me."

      "Hn,"  said Hiei rather sarcastically. "That's really something."

       Ebony turned to him. " You don't know my brother, Hiei. All my life, I've only seen him get seriously mad twice. He  is very slow to anger. Being the silent type, he doesn't really crack up much but his humor is really wackier than Adrian's. Unlike you whose always scowling, he's quite generous with his smiles, though."

      "This would probably be one of those rare occasions he'll shout if we don't get there soon," said Yusuke. He started to jog this time. The other's followed.

      Presently, as the main body of the  army became visible, Hiei said, "If you really want to know the truth, you're a worse student, Yusuke."

      "How should you know?" demanded Yusuke. "You never became my teacher."

      "Hn."

      "Never?" repeated Kurama. "Didn't we learn something from each other all these months?"

      Yusuke looked thoughtful. "I suppose so," he said. "What about you, Ebony? Are you learning something from us? Ebony?"

      Ebony wasn't listening. She was again holding her mirror and was scrutinizing her hair.

      Without warning, her hand mirror suddenly broke.

      "Hiei!" Ebony glowered at the other person who was sheathing his sword. "A simple tap in the shoulder would have been enough. You shouldn't have done that. That's dangerous. And that mirror's been in the family for five generations."

      "Hn," said Hiei indifferently. "You look at the mirror too much."

      "Never mind." With a flex of her hand, the broken pieces of glass levitated into the air and began to piece together. Then, the mirror, which became whole again, began to float towards her. But it never reached her.

      "Hey!" she exclaimed when Yusuke took the mirror. "Give it back!"

      "Look," said Yusuke. "If you win against Azrael, you get it back. Fair enough?"

      "Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah."

      "Is that what we learned from us, staring at the mirror?"

      "No. It's just that I've been wearing my hair like that since birth. It's kinda hard to get used to."

      "Isn't two months enough?" said Hiei.

      "Well, four months haven't been enough for you to get used to sleeping alone and you've only been sleeping with her for three years while I--"

      "W-w-watch your mouth you-you--" Hiei sputtered in rage. He was practically on top of Ebony and the two began to face off.

       "Enough," commanded Kurama. "Now, Ebony, take my word for it. Short hair would do nicely for you. Your face is oval see and your quite thin. Your long hair only accentuates your thinness."

      "Oh great," said Ebony. "Now, I'm taking beauty tips from a guy."

      "If it's about hair, listen to Kurama," said Yusuke, grinning.

      "Speaking of hair, I don't get it."

      "What?"

      "Your hair remains slick for a long time, right? Then after sometime of hard fighting, your hair falls down but it isn't messy or anything."

      "Uh-huh."

      "While these guys hair don't even get out of shape," she mentioned to Kurama and Hiei. "I mean, Shuichi's doesn't even change its form. And my brother. You haven't seen him fight, have you? Well, not a single crease in his clothes is disfigured, not a single strand of his hair out of place. It's unbelievable!"

      "Uh," said Kurama. "What part don't you understand?"

      "How come my hair stands wildly on its end every time. What do shampoo do you use? Do you use gel, mouse or spray net? I can't use those stuff. I'm allergic."

      "Oh, bother," muttered Yusuke. Shaking his head, he caught up with Hiei.

      "Hey!" he said suspiciously. "Aren't you a bit uneasy? I mean, your family's life may depend on that skinny pip-squeak and she's obsessed with her hair."

      Hiei sighed resignedly. "I don't exactly have any other choice," he said.

      "Oh," said Ebony. "We're here."

      She turned to the nearby people. "Capitan Love," she called, determining his status by his uniform and name by his nameplate. "Have you seen my brother?"

      The soldier approached her and bowed to her respectfully. "Pray, which one, your Highness? Their Majesties are both available at your disposal."

      "The king, soldier. I need to speak with his Highness."

      "His highness is overlooking the troops, my lady. If your majesty pleases, I shall escort you and your honorable companions to the king."

      "By all means."

      The gang were brought to Audric who has just finished speaking with the generals in one of the tents. Having seen their approach, the later people bowed then withdrew to provide them with privacy. The king having sighted of them as well, greeted them gravely.

      "Well, sister, I see you have been the cause of your punctuality again," he said.

      Ebony grimaced. "How did you know? And you don't have to be so ironic."

      "I don't blame you." He turned to the others. " Welcome.  I can't think how you three gentlemen can bear her while I myself can't abide her at times. Forgive me for not saying 'good morning'. I'm afraid that what I might say is a falsehood."

      Yusuke grinned," Mighty fine day for an ending."

      "Yeah," said Kurama. "But whose?"

      "His," said Ebony. "So many lives have been spent for this war." She turned on his brother earnestly. "Don't spare me, Audie. Tell me the truth. How many casualties do we have as of now?"

      "Twenty-five million, including civilians."

      "That's nearly half the fatalities in the Second World War."

      "Yes and that's just for Lethe. Makai figures are not yet available. And to think the war has just been going on for a mere four months."

      "At that rate, we'll have 400% more death than in the 2nd world war," muttered Ebony. "What of Ningenkai and Makai? How do they fair?"

      Audric shook his head. "Not good. Azrael managed to conquer the Lethian bordered part of Makai. The Makai warriors won't be able to march to our front. Even so, they're too hard pressed in defending the rest of their territory. I'm afraid we can't expect much help from them."

      "And of Ningenkai?"

      "So far, it's holding up. No reports of successful invasion yet."

      "Reikai doesn't have any problems."

      "On the contrary, they're in charge of Ningenkai. That's mainly the cause of their successful defense. Ningen forces have joined Reikai's"

      Ebony chuckled dryly. "They can't help us either, I suppose."

      "Yes. We have to work alone. And it's best if we start now."

      "Shouldn't we wait till the others are here?"

      "The others have already received their orders. It's time you get yours as well."

      Ebony looked embarrassed. "OK."

      Audric led the way to a well-drawn map, spread out and hanging. Ebony thought it looked familiar to the one hanging on the castle but this was rather cruder and with bits and pieces missing.

      Audric cleared his throat as if reading her mind. "Umm," he started self-consciously. "We didn't have any map about us. We had to make do with one made from my memory."

      "That's OK. I didn't know you can even draw at all!"

      "Actually, Adrian did."

      "Yeah," said a voice, Adrian's. "And don't you say anything about it because you're no better than me."

      "At least, I know how to draw the insignia of the Boreal provinces."

      "It's nice seeing you, too, Ebony."

      "Are you ready to listen?" asked Audric.

      "We are," said Yusuke. "She isn't."

      Ebony ignored him. "Well?" she asked.

      "For one who is being threatened of being sniffed out of existence, you are one plucky girl, sister. Never mind. Listen, to make things easier we will refer to the areas by their direction.

      "There will be four main attack formations, from each of the four winds. However, there will be four other stealth groups. My group will come from the northeast. Adrian's will attack from southwest. Aiea's from the southeast and yours from the northeast. "The forces of Azrael will be too busy protecting themselves from the main body of our army. Some parts of the castle will be neglected or will lose considerable protection. And there, each of the stealth groups should proceed in sacking the place. We will meet minimum resistance.

      "The nature of the formations are also due to the fact that there are four possible places where Azrael and his prey may hide. The first, Kamara Sapienta. I will go there. Iantha's gang will search Kamara Mystikus. Ebony, you go to Kamara Natalus and Adrian to Kamara Labores. All will maintain contact with one another. The first to find the dark angel must communicate it to the others. Everyone must immediately bring their aid. No one should face him alone. You hear?"

      "Yeah, yeah, sure," said Adrian. "Let's kick some butt!"

      "I'm with you on that, pal!" said Yusuke, giving him a high five.

      "I don't think you understand," Kurama said, pulling Yusuke's sleeve before the latter could take off. "If any of us gets our guard down, Azrael may have a chance in taking over ourselves."

      "Yes," said Audric. "That's why it's important not to go alone. Strength comes with number."

      "Hn," said Hiei. "I can take him alone."

      "That's what Ixion thought," said Ebony contemptuously. "Fool that he is! He can't even match me, or Aiea for that matter, and he dared face the angel of death who killed my parents and some ancestors. Serves him right. Airy pompous simpleton."

      "Remember, Ebony," Audie said softly. "He did it to protect Iantha."

      Ebony shrugged. "Let's go." Silently, she said to herself, I still hate him for stealing away my Aiea.

      "Wait," said Hiei.

      "Hieeiii!" whined Ebony. "I thought you're dying to recapture your wife from the icky hands of that arrogant Azrael. What's the problem now?"

      "There maybe flaws on the plan. You yourself said that Azrael is shrewd. What if he rally his ranks around ours that we'd be trapped between two circles of warriors?"

      Audric nodded. "Yes, that's true. And that's the reason why the siege will be held today. I mentioned the other worlds have their arms full right now. 45% of the enemies are in Makai. 20% are left here. The rest are running loose in Stonehenge. This may actually be the best chance we've got."

      Hiei was unconvinced. "It may be a trap. Why would he send his forces away, leaving his stronghold vulnerable for attacks?"

      "The soldiers weren't sent simultaneously. The army rampaging in Makai has been there for a long time. They didn't expect to be kept off the land for so long. They still invaded Ningenkai with that much force since they didn't think the humans would be able to resist at all."

      "Still, wouldn't he have henchmen powerful enough to disrupt our plans?"

      "Perhaps," said Kurama. "But not so much possibility. For his army to able attempt conquering the capital of Makai, it needs the best leaders. Besides, Azrael is confident he'll be able to block off any attack.'

      "He may also think that we won't attack this early since we still have two months," added Yusuke. "He may expect us to use our time to train more."

      "It may also be dangerous if we delay. Have not you noticed their number increases as they moved from one battlefield to another? The fallen and the captive have become one of the damned themselves. We may not get an opportunity any other time."

      "Hn," said Hiei. "You win."

      Amidst the clashing of the weapons, explosions of spiritual energy, the moaning of the afflicted and the roaring of the victorious; the low-flying birds of prey swooping here and there can be heard squawking in their anticipation. They will not be disappointed. The siege had taken longer than expected but the warriors are slowly being infiltrated into the sturdy walls of Cair Tara.

      The sun is already hovering in the horizons, and if one is in a strategic position in the mountains and hills nestling the city-state Kentrona, one would have an impressive view of the fighting. Still, even in the thick mass of noble soldiers and imprisoned slaves of Azrael, some people proved more noticeable than others.

      One of them, a fairly tall, black haired fellow of intense brown eyes, can be noted for his vigorous, energetic fighting. It seems as if the battle was all a game for him and the wide grin that is spread on his face indicated he was having much fun. And yet he managed to take out all his enemies without killing or seriously injuring them. He was unarmed at that, relying on his powerful fists to do the job.

Another one of the eye-catchers was also unarmed. However, the interesting thing about the other is the lack of spirit in fighting. One can clearly see how hesitant his moves are. Then again he wasn't a he but a she. You wouldn't notice it at first since her movements are quite brusque and unladylike. But the slim lithe black-garbed creature was quite impressive nonetheless. Is it because she's so handsome or so beautiful?

      She stands still, looking innocently helpless, as a group of burly men close in on her. Nevertheless, one can feel her cool confidence as she ready herself to attack. Then suddenly, blows from her fist and feet rained down hard. In one blink of an eye, all of her assailants were flung off to space.

      Careful, reminded herself. Strike to disarm not to hurt. The enchanted may be as innocent as a child born yesterday.

      Kurama waved to her. Finally, they've found an opening. She leapt off to her companions. She hoisted herself up on one of the buttresses supporting the huge outer walls of the palace then jumped the rest of the way over the battlement. She landed quite unhurt on the grassy courtyard. Good thing, too, for one would not have much time to recover. The gang busied themselves in fighting off the soldiers that rushed at them.

      "Let's go." yelled Ebony to the others. "Hurry up! In case you wanna know, we're the last ones to enter. Aiea's group came some three minutes ago."

      She led them through various stairways and passages. Once in a while, they were challenged by some guards but the group easily passed. They were delayed once though when Ebony blew after realizing it was her clothes and jewels that the enemy was wearing. She nearly fainted as well when she accidentally discovered that the person was actually a man.

      Ebony was communicating with the other groups through a communication compact smaller than a closed fist. Apparently, the others have been experiencing more opposition than them. Even Aiea's gang have not yet reached their goal. By know, however, Ebony and the others have almost reached Kamara Natalus.

      "We're nearly there," she said. "Ready?"

      "Wait," said Yusuke. "What's the place for?"

      "This is usually where members of the royal household give birth or prepare for it. You can say midwives make their office here."

      "But," said Hiei. "She still on her 26th week of gestation. She's not due yet."

      "You're right. My brother's head works wonders. I don't know."

      "Ah," said Kurama. "Maybe they utilized some sort of machine to speed up the gestation period."

      "Are there machines like that?" asked Yusuke.

      "Let me see," said Ebony thoughtfully. "Ah, yes, Yomi.  Do you know him? Anyway, he has a child, Shura. He doesn't have a mother that gave birth to him. Do you understand? We think he maybe a clone of Yomi himself or else some test tube baby from a specimen ovum. Even so, when the child was 'born' he was already at that stage of physical development. You should know, Kurama, you stayed with him. You know that the child just appeared seemingly out of thin air."

      "Hey!" yelled Yusuke suspiciously. "How did you know?"

      Ebony pulled up from her run so abruptly that the others came crashing against her. She turned around. Her expression became filled with mystery, her eyes shifting into the head-boring unreadable eyes she had when Azrael first appeared in Genkai's home.

      "I know a lot of things Yusuke Urameshi," she said darkly. "I know things you've never even dreamed off. Things that can make you unable to go asleep. <BACKSTREET BOYS ROCK ESPECIALLY B-ROK!!! THEY'RE THE GREATEST BOYBAND ON EARTH.THE HELL WITH 'N SYNC!!!--- Denise Raye > " Then suddenly she grinned in a very silly manner. "But right now, we have other things to worry about."

      "Why did we stop?" demanded Hiei.

      Her smile faded. "We're here. Be on you guard."

      The place didn't appear in the least alarming. It didn't quite look like a nursery either. It appeared to be, well, like the rest of the rooms and doorways they had passed by throughout the palace. Or so it appeared. That's why the change of scenery was so shocking for them that they thought they were transported through a portal when they cautiously entered the chamber.

      Alright, so it looked like a nursery, clinic and a playroom all in one. They were cribs and stuff on the left side of the room. Somewhere in the middle were children's playthings. Then in the extreme right were beds and what appeared to be medical apparatuses.

      They didn't feel anybody's presence but they searched the whole place. There didn't seem to be any place one can be concealed. The whole room was comfortable, welcoming, friendly and safe as if one is in one's mother's bosom.

      Finally, they gave up and relaxed. Ebony sat on the carpeted floors and contacted the others. Soon, the LCD screen on her communication compact divided into three, each bearing the hologram of her siblings. They, too, had found nothing, it seems.

      "Did you find anything?" asked Audric.

      "No," replied Ebony.

      "Same here," said Adrian.

      "I found nothing also," said Iantha.

      "I thought so," said Audric. "Neither did I."

      "Now what do we do?"

      Audric appeared to be thinking. "What if they decided to escape?"

      Ebony gasped. "The portals!"

      "Quick!" said Adrian. "Everyone, go to Kamara Viarun."

      "Right!" the others seconded.

      They switched off the devices. However, barely were they able to breath again when suddenly, they came under attack.

      "Eeeeeeekkkk!" Ebony let out a high pitched scream more of disgust than of fear or pain. "What are these?"

      Indeed, what are they? All of them had no time to wonder for they were all busy tearing the little imps from them. They were in the sizes of infants and toddlers but have the savageness and fierceness of rouge tigers. To make matters worse, they were numerous. And I mean a LOT. They could have been lemmings for they stretched all through out the room wreaking havoc.

      "We're under attack!" yelled Ebony her compact. "I can't believe Azrael got the trolls on his side."

"Well, said Audric. He's got the werewolves, too."

      "I don't exactly know what these creatures are," piped in Aiea. "But they sure weren't here a while ago. They appear to be specters and ghouls. These guys eat flesh, right?"

      "Wow, these guys in the lab look a lot like Frankenstein monsters," said Adrian. "And there sure are a lot of them."

      "You can say that again!" agreed Ebony.

      "They seem to be increasing by the minute, too," said Iantha.

      "Which means they may already be at the portals," said Audric. "Quick everyone, proceed to Kamara Viarun ASAP!"

      "That's not gonna be easy to do," said Adrian. "We should alert the---"

      Adrian suddenly got cut off.

      "Hey!" Ebony's hand began to bleed. One of the creatures nearly bit her hand off but managed to gobble up the compact she clutched and only scratched her skin.

      Meanwhile, the others had been fighting hard. "Ebony," said Yusuke. "These guys are too many. Would you mind if we ruin this place a bit?"

"The heck?" she said. "The whole place is devastated already. Listen, all of you go to Kamara Viarun. Azrael maybe there."

      "Where's that."

      Ebony sighed between punches. "I guess we have to finish this first."

      While the monarchs and their followers busy themselves, one had finally been able to escape from Azrael's forces. Iantha managed to make sure nobody was clutching at her and had teleported herself from Kamara Mystikus to Viarun.

      The moment she appeared on her destination, she immediately sensed the strong energy that signified the usage of the portals. She landed in the middle of the room, thus seeing each of the four portals. She caught sight of people lumped around the eastern one so she ran to that direction. Even so she knew. She saw clearly he who was operating the portal.

      Ixion himself!

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