Armageddon: World's End
chapter 5
by Kristin Huntsman
Armageddon: Worlds' End part 5
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The day dawns brightly, and I look down from a precipice to the wooded valleys below. The world looks so peaceful from here, like nothing ever went wrong with it.
"Incredible sight, isn't it?" Kurama murmurs from next to me.
I silently nod. "Yeah," I agree.
"I've always wondered what a last sunrise would look like," he says, gazing at the pink and gold heavens. I glance at him, and see a look of utter peace on his face. He's ready to die, I sense. I wonder how many years of life it takes to achieve that amount of acceptance about your own death.
"Today?" I ask him.
"Tonight," he replies. "Though the battle will carry on through tomorrow morning."
I sigh, and let the branch I've been holding snap back into place. He takes one last look at the fading sunrise, and follows me back to our camp.
After a breakfast made of supplies taken from the defeated regiment and wild fruits and vegetables that I suspect are native to the Makai, as Kurama created them, and _I_ certainly don't recognize them, we make a plan of war.
"So we fight at Genkai-baasan's temple again?" I ask.
Kurama nods. "We lost there once, but it's a place of psychological strength for us. Besides, it's better than fighting here. More room, less trees to kill."
"And places to hide, for a sneak attack?" Shuuichi asks, his mind no doubt already coming up with strategies for the battle.
Kurama glances at him. "You're not coming with us."
"WHAT?!?!" Shuuichi demands. "You said I could fight with you, remember?"
"Fight, yes. Die, no," Kurama replies. "If you fight in this battle, I can guarantee you, with one hundred percent surety, that you will DIE. This is no joke, and not a laughing matter. Death is PERMANENT, Shuuichi. Dead men can't fight again. You are not going to fight in this battle." Shuuichi looks rebellious. Kurama sighs, and explains, "I have Hiei's sight now, and I've seen it. If you fight, you will die. You will not be able to continue fighting the Makai. That's why you have to survive. One of our family has to keep up the fight."
Shuuichi's eyes widen. "You mean--" he whispers.
Kurama nods. "I'm going to die in this fight. I don't want you to, too."
"WHAT?!" Urameshi demands. Kurama turns to look at him.
"It's all right, Yuusuke," he says softly. "I'm ready to die for the sake of winning this battle. Because if we DO win it, it'll be the last one."
"So you can die for a good cause, but I can't?" Shuuichi demands. Urameshi is still slightly in shock over Kurama's relevation.
"Exactly," Kurama agrees. "Our parents will need someone to protect them. I've done the best I can, keeping them and you safe with Yomi, but after this battle, things will drastically change for either the better or the worse. It depends on which way it goes. If we win, they'll be forced to come to the human world, because the Makai will seal itself off so that it can heal. If we lose, then I don't trust Yomi to keep a promise to a corpse. Taking care of them is the job of the surviving son, and you know it."
Shuuichi hesitates. He was raised in a conservative, traditional family, and ties like that still bind him. Kurama is a sneaky bastard, I think, to use his brother's background against him like that.
"... All right," Shuuichi says quietly. "I'll go. Is there anything you want me to say to them?"
Kurama hesitates for an instant, then.... "Tell Kaasan thank you for my humanity," he asks, "and that she was the best mother anyone could ever have had. Tell Tousan I was proud to know him, and to be his stepson."
Shuuichi nods, and stands, shrugging on his pack. "I'll tell them," he says to Kurama as Kurama stands. They study each other for a second, knowing that this is the last time they'll meet in this lifetime.
"Journey safely," Kurama murmurs, pulling Shuuichi into a hug. "May your destiny be long and happy."
"Take care, Oniisan," Shuuichi whispers, tears wetting his black eyes. "I'll try not to let you down." They pull apart, and Shuuichi looks around at us all once more before turning his back to us and resolutely walking away.
Kurama watches after him until his brother is lost in the trees. Then he turns back to us and sits down.
"Genkai's temple is less than a mile from here," he says. "We have all day to prepare. They'll initiate the attack after the sun has set, but before the moon rises."
Genkai's temple looks absolutely the same as it did the last time I saw it: totally thrashed. I wince, sure Baasan would never forgive us for doing this to her home, no matter what the reason.
Kurama has shifted to fox spirit shape, and stands looking at the ruins. I look around, and catch sight of Urameshi pulling slabs of stone away from the collapsed structure that was once the main house of the temple. I watch for a few seconds, until he pauses, wiping his forehead on his sleeve, then walk over and help him. We pull together at a chunk that is larger than the two of us combined can move. Green plants eel up to help us, and easily lift the rock up, setting it down several yards away.
I look at Kurama. He returns the gaze impassively for a few seconds, then turns away and begins to explore more of the area. His plants continue to help us.
Finally Urameshi seems satisfied that we've done enough. "Where is it?" he mutters, banging on the cleared floor. THUMP! THUMP! Echo. He grins, and pulls up a trapdoor. I glance inside. It's all dark. "C'mon," he says, lighting up with his Rei power. "C'mon, Kurama!" he calls. "There's stuff in here you might be interested in!"
Kurama turns from his solitary investigation of the blooms of a white rose bush, and silently follows us.
"Holy shit," I mutter as I see what's below the main house. "When did she put this in?" A huge vault, filled with scrolls and spells and weapons and supplies and everything else I can think of, greets my eyes.
Kurama looks uneasy.
"Neat, huh?" Urameshi asks, looking around and grinning like a maniac. "Anything you need, you can find in here."
I look at a pile of papers next to me, and pick one up. A demon-ward. But I don't know what it's for. "Hey, Kurama, what's this do?" I ask, turning to him. He steps closer, looking like he's in pain just from the proximity to it. His fingers flow over its surface, never touching it, but hovering above its surface. When he pulls them away, they have slight burns on their tips.
"Death," he replies. "Death during battle. Fairly quick, and extremely painful." I nod, excited that I've found a good weapon, and he steps back to the center of the room, glancing around at all the tools for killing his own kind. "The legend," he murmurs. "The legend of the Peacemakers...." I wonder what he means, but he doesn't elaborate, and I don't ask.
The three of us eventually make our way back up above the ground. Kurama nestles himself in the fork of a tree, and watches the world for several hours, as if trying to memorize everything. As if saying goodbye.
"Are you scared to die?" I ask, knowing that now will be my last time to ask.
"Without the Reikai to guide the path of souls?" he asks, shaking his head softly. Silver hair swirls about his shoulders with the movement. "No. Death is merely a movement from one body to another, even for youkai. Our souls are no different than yours, merely our bodies. Those who were enemies in one lifetime can forget, and become allies in another."
"And those who were friends?" Urameshi asks.
Kurama hesitates for a moment, then answers, "Those who were friends remain friends for always." A lie of convenience, I know, but one Urameshi and I, with our uncertain futures, need. Yet Kurama's voice holds a ring of quiet truth....
"You know how you're going to die," I state.
"Yes." He doesn't even bother trying to deny it. Before I can ask him the method, the woods ring with a metallic shriek. The moon is low, and the light dim, but I can sense thousands of youkai just beyond the treelines, watching us. "It's been great knowing you," Kurama says quietly, dropping from the tree to land on silent feet. "May your destinies be peaceful."
With a deafening cry, the youkai descend upon us.
We are faced with a hundred each, easily. Worst odds for a fight that I've ever been in. However, these are hired soldiers. They have no fire in them, no true purpose to fight.
Even so, they can kick our asses and eat us alive if we give them the slightest chance. Three kekkai of incredible power form about our skins, keeping them whole by keeping enemy weapons out. The weapons in our hands blaze with energy, and we fight for our lives.
Slash after slash, enchanted weapons cut down opponents who seem to have been selected for their utter dumbness, and nothing else. If a weapon is coming your way, you move out of its path, stupid! I think they're just so numbed from the idea of anyone fighting them for the Ningenkai that attacks just don't register. The Makai has gotten complacent, I think with a grin. Time to kick a little youkai ass!
Within an hour, I know that I've underestimated our opponents. They may not be strong, but there are more of them than I thought. Many more. They lurk just out of our sight, in the thickness of the trees that blazing reiki and youki doesn't light. And for every opponent that falls at our feet, another springs up. They're going to wear us down, the bastards. They're going to kill us all slowly.
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Author's Message: Hmm... 1:30am, watching episodes of Yoroiden Samurai Troopers with BFs (BoyFriend and Best Friends.) I'm running out of comments for these end notes!!! If anyone who is reading this wants to talk to me on-line and discuss this or any other stories, send me a message telling me so. Or, alternatively, I get on IRC occasionally through a friend's Berkeley account. My nickname there is usually Peridot. If not, I'm Peri (or some other variation of Peridot) or Keichan. Anyhow, please send responses to my account,
71411.1046@compuserve.com.