Sacrifices

By Melpomene

Seventeenth Chapter

All For Nothing

"GENERAL YOSHIO," SALUTED a soldier. "Sir, we've pinpointed the location of the avalanche."

"Good," replied Atsumori. "Send some troops to check the whereabouts of the prince."

"Yes, sir."

Atsumori watched as the soldier rushed away to carry out the order. He had set off as soon as he heard the news that Koenma and his sister has gone off to rescue the ferry girl. They probably thought he was Ieyasu when they ran away from him. Now, his job has become even more complicated.

He still couldn't believe it. His own brother was the mastermind of all this. Now he knows that he, too, has been suspected of the crime. Perhaps they still suspect him for he is very sure some amount of information is being withheld from him.

Presently, another soldier approached him, trailed by four other people. One is a youkai, all black in apparel. Even his hair is black, streaked in front with a white star. The longhaired redhead was probably one, too, though his body is human. The dark haired one is probably half-half. The tall carrot-head is a pure Ningen, however.

Kuwabara squirmed uncomfortably as he scanned the Reikai army on one side and the Makai army on the other. One false move and they certainly would be pulverized. He looked at the three other men with him and was pacified. He was with S-class warriors after all. He should not be worried. Then again, having the unpredictable Hiei around isn’t that safe, especially for him.

Yusuke was different. He seemed excited, eager for adventure and some rare happening. It sure felt good coming back to his natural habitat. He sensed his best friends agitation and so nudged him.

"What did I tell you?" he said. "I told you this is no place for a Ningen like you. You should have stayed home."

"What?!" yelled Kuwabara, his natural bravado surfacing. "And get left out of the action? No way! Kazuma Kuwabara is here to save the day."

"Hn." Obviously Hiei. "Somebody shut him up. He's embarrassing us all."

"Sir," said the soldier presently to Atsumori. "Former Reikai Tantei Kurama, Urameshi Yusuke, and Hiei, also the commanding officer of the Makai troops."

Atsumori nodded and bowed in greeting. "Who's the other gentleman?" he queried.

"Doesn't matter," said Hiei. "We want to know the whereabouts of the suspect."

"As of now, we're unsure of their location."

"Their?" repeated Kurama.

"Koenma-sama and my sister attempted to rescue the spirit guide. She had been kidnapped by Ieyasu or whoever took over him for reasons unrevealed. Their specific location cannot be pinpointed as of yet."

"Hiei," said Yusuke. "Would you do the honors?"

The fire youkai's forehead glowed and pulsated as his Jagan searched for the missing people. The others waited hopefully in silence.

"Hn," he grunted in annoyance soon after.

"It appears his powers are incapable of executing this certain job," translated Kurama. "He's being blocked apparently."

"This is bad," said Yusuke grimly. "Koenma wouldn't survive against that powerful enemy. And with two girls, too. We have to find him at once."

"Hey!" exclaimed Kuwabara suddenly, pointing on the horizon. "What's that?"

"Botan?"

"Can't be. It's a brunette."

"Masago?!?" said Atsumori in disbelief.

"Who's Masago?"

"My sister."

"Is she a deity of death?"

"Certainly not."

"What's she doing in an oar?"

"I don't know. It's probably her who's jamming the tracking devices."

By then, Masago has reached the party.

"Oniisan!!!" she said, stumbling off the paddle. "Come quick! Koenma-sama is fighting off Ieyasu on his own and Botan is very sick. We have to help them. Ieyasu is possessed by this Doom person and everything is plain awful!"

"Calm down, sister," said Atsumori. "We'll go immediately just stop jamming the signals."

"That is not I. You did not finish teaching me properly. It must be the effect of their spiritual powers. We have to haste! I do hope none of them is hurt."

The other four, however, just stared at her as if she had just dropped out of the sky. (she did, didn't she? ^,^; )

"Wait," said Yusuke slowly. "Did I hear you clearly?"

"I said, Koenma is trying to fight my brother who is possessed by some evil spirit."

"Koenma as in the toddler with a big hat on a flat head, a foul temper and a pacifier stuck on his mouth?"

"No!" Masago stamped her foot impatiently. "Koenma Daiou, son of Enma Daiou, ruler of all Reikai."

"Oh, that Koenma!"

"Yes, so will you-"

"WAIT!"

"WHAT?!" Masago screeched back.

 "Koenma is fighting?" Yusuke asked, punctuating each word with a slight widening of his eyes until they were as huge as saucers.

"Yes!" She threw her hands in the air in exasperation. " Are you deaf? We have to-"

BLAG.

Mass fainting.

KOENMA LANDED ON the snow-covered earth for the umpteenth time. The execution of each of his moves was flawless. But it was not enough, as proven by ground on his face. His mind reeled in confusion, dizzy from the numerous knocks and blows he had received. He stood up groggily, preparing to use the last of his strength for what he knows to be a futile blow.

"Urghhh," he groaned. "I'm really not cut out for this."

"That's for sure," said Doom, laughing hideously. "You belong in your office, stamping away like the lily-livered infant that you are." He knelt before the prostrated prince. He pulled the latter's head up by a sharp jerk of his hand, which held a handful of hair. "But I wouldn't leave you the chance of ever going back to that old wasted life of yours. I'll give you eternal rest!"

Perfect, thought Koenma.

Pure energy exploded from the brunette, incinerating everything on its path.

Doom howled in pain. "Damn you!" he screamed in rage. "You'll pay for this!"

"You should be flattened, I mean, flattered," choked out Koenma. "You're the first being who has ever really fought the great Prince of Reikai."

"Forgive this ungrateful wretch," snarled the other, wiping the trickle of blood marring his view. "I should return the favor."

And he did. He battered the poor Koenma's body, so unaccustomed to this kind of abuse, to pulp mercilessly. When Doom was finally satisfied, he approached the half-dead prince and stopped a few feet away.

"You are foolish," he said. "You know you are powerless against me but you still resist. I would have given you a peaceful end but you just had to play hero. Because of this, you shall suffer."

"Go to hell," Koenma managed to blurt out.

"Hah!" gibed Doom. "I believe you are the one soon to go there."

"I'm not listening to your scoffing, damn you!"

"You really are pathetic," Doom sneered. "You abdicated for that woman and for your half-brother Atsumori. Now you  are fighting to protect your sister and the ferry girl. You try to go easy on me, too, because you're afraid of hurting Ieyasu's body here." He shook his head. "Tsk, tsk. All those sacrifice for nothing."

"It's not for nothing. I'm not the only person on this planet. Others will come and stop you."

"Even so I would have finished my mission before then. I would kill your sister, the  new heir to the throne, and the king. I will take over Reikai and lay waste of it. By then, this body would have been destroyed by my overwhelming powers."

"It won't go that far. I'm sure the Heir of Althea is willing to make a sacrifice for the sake of the three worlds."

"The question is, would you be willing?"

"What?"

"You see, you yourself prevented the Heir of Althea from making the ultimate sacrifice."

Koenma thought hard about this. Whom was he talking about? Suddenly, a realization hit him like a lightning bolt.

"Botan…" he muttered. "She's the Heir." His voice escalated to a shout. "Don't you dare touch her!"

"She's my passport after all. " Doom grinned. "And I will have her."

"Damn you! I'll kill you myself!" Koenma struggled to rise to his feet.

"Sorry but killing is my job. Goodbye."

Koenma shut his eyes as Doom did his finishing move, the grand finale to this demented game of fate. And soon enough, he felt the warm blood splash all over his body. He sensed the fluid of life staining his clothing, soaking through the fabric and into his skin.

Darn, he thought. I fail and then I am killed. Pathetic. Immortality after all means being unsusceptible  to disease and natural death. Murder is a different case. I am really dying. I can't even feel…." He suddenly froze when the realization hit him. "Wait a minute, why is there no pain?

"Aurghhhhhhhhhhhh!!!"

Koenma opened his eyes at the sound of his enemy's scream of agony. He watched in surprise and horror as Doom writhed in pain, clawing the ground like a madman.

Doom's entreaties were soon dwarfed by a scream coming from Koenma himself.

"BOTAN!"

Forgetting about everything else, ignoring the innumerable afflictions he has, Koenma limped to Botan's side as fast as he could manage.

"Damn you, Botan!" he cried. "How stupid can you get?!"

Botan smiled at him faintly. "I forgot to tell you," she said weakly. "I am the Heir of Althea."

"I just hate it when you insist on stating the obvious!" Koenma exploded, panic rising inside him beyond emergency level as he saw the snow around them turn red. "Shut up and I might be able to stop the bleeding." He began fumbling around. "Where is that Fuumakan when I need it?!?"

Botan took his hands on hers and clasped them tightly. "Listen, Koenma."

Koenma stopped fidgeting for a moment.

"This is my destiny."

"Idiot! You're suppose to administer the sacrifice not kill yourself!" Koenma forced his body to relinquish the last of its strength, just managing to give it to her.

"Koenma-sama. This is the ultimate sacrifice."

"What!?" He leaned on his arm, utterly drained but still undefeated.

"Koenma-sama. Calm down, please. Remember, I told you to take things a little lightly so that you won't get to stressed?"

"That's a stupid request, Botan! Do you actually expect me to be happy about losing you? No, no, no, no! Not you…" Tears flowed liberally from his eyes as he finally gave up from stopping them. "You are my world."

"We must let it be, Koenma-sama. I mean, this was what I was born for."

"Let it be? My father let it be. My mother let it be. Catalina and Kumagai let it be. Did anything happen? No! Nothing good came of it. I shall not make the same mistake they did. To hell with fate!"

"Koenma-sama…"

"Stop calling me that! What did I tell you about the sama? My name is Bran."

"Bran. I have something to tell you."

"Shut up and recover!" His eyes widened as he saw her color deteriorate at an alarming rate.

"No good." She shook her head. "No good…"

He braced himself forcing more of his power out of him. Nothing. "Dammit!"

Then suddenly, Koenma remembered what Kuwabara did to Yusuke when they fought Suzaku of the Shiseijuu. Insect-like creatures controlled by a whistle or a flute possessed a huge portion of the populace. Yusuke drained his spiritual energy for a final attack to stop the warrior, who controlled lightning, from killing off Keiko and Botan. However, Kuwabara gave his dying rival strength, risking his own life. If a human can do it, he, Koenma, should be able to as well. Yes, he thought. I might manage to pull it off. I don't care even if I-"

Apparently, Botan thought of that as well. "Useless. I've been marked for the dead. I should know. Stop it."

"I said to hell with fate!"

"The destruction of Doom is brought about by my death. It's impossible that I survive now that he is annihilated."

"Stop saying that!" He collapsed at her side, no longer able to sit straight.

"I'm sorry," she whispered on his ear. "But will you promise me you'll always be brave and strong like today?"

"Are you kidding?" Koenma's voice cracked. "I was pathetic. A liar is always prodigal with oaths, Pierre Cornielle."

"And another thing." Botan gazed at him, as if wishing to preserve the memory of his face on her mind, heart and soul forever, her hand touching his face tenderly. "Ai-"

"Don't say it!" protested Koenma hoarsely. "Masago said it's improper for a woman to say it."

Botan was already gasping for air like a fish out of the water. "There's no more time. Ai-"

The rest was muffled by Koenma's mouth now pressed against hers. Slowly he pulled away a million micro seconds later.

"Ai shiteru, Botan."

"Ai shiteru," she mouthed, her voice once the merry twinkling of crystal bells now a ghost of a whisper.

"Please don't go." He pleaded for the last time, the animal like sound his suppressed sobbing created swallowed by the howling of the wind.

"Sayonara…"

"No," he protested weakly. "Ja… just ja."

"Ja…ne…"

MASAGO WAS FURIOUS when she found the bivouac she made for Botan deserted. Blood pounding on her ears unbearably audible, she ran to where the others have gone. She was sure the ferry girl went to her master.

"Botan-no-baka!" she muttered worriedly. "I knew, I shouldn't have trusted you. If anything happens to you, I'd never forgive myself."

When Masago finally reached the scene, the paramedics had already taken Ieyasu away. She searched for Koenma and Botan, her heart galloping rather erratically, as if something was amiss. She almost burst with relief when she finally found them.

"Koenma-" she started breathlessly.

Masago stopped when she saw him doing mouth-to-mouth resuscitation on her friend. She counted the seconds, waiting for him to pull away. One…two…three…four…

You're doing it wrong, Koenma, she thought crossly. Only two breaths and five- She gasped. Oh, no…

And that was when she knew.

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