Yu Yu Hakusho Fan Fiction ❯ The Game of Five ❯ Rescue ( Chapter 4 )

The next night, Bekka was leaning on a lamp post down the street from the spot that had been marked. She saw the boys walking toward her. Kurama saw her first and pointed her out to the other two. As they approached, she called out, "You guys ready?"

"How could we be?" Yusuke snapped at her.

She narrowed her eyes at him and looked ready to snap at him when Kurama asked, "Are you ready?"

She glared at Yusuke a second longer before sighing. "As ready as I can be. Botan found some information on witch's mirrors, but not anything we didn't already know." She pulled several folded pieces of paper from her pockets and began sorting through them. "We went through my book and pulled out a few spells that might help." She began handing out a piece of paper to each of them. "These are protective spells. They should be able to deflect some of the mirror's reflection. Keep them in your pockets."

"So Botan spent the day with you?" Yusuke asked, looking suspiciously at the piece of paper she handed him.

"Yeah. She found how to spell the papers. I've never done that before. She spent some time in some kind of archive, she told me, but apparently my book has more on elemental magic than she could find there. She did bring me a couple of other spells that she thought I'd be able to use." She fanned the remaining papers and shoved them back in her pocket. She stood staring at the ground, looking vaguely ill at ease.

"Hey," Kuwabara spoke up, "don't get down on us now." He gave her a friendly cuff on the shoulder, "We ain't lost yet…and didn't you say summpin' about dumb spires speaking?"

"Dum spiro, spero…while I breathe, I hope," Kurama corrected.

"Yeah, that. You said we gotta hope for the best and all that. How can you be hopin' for the best while lookin' like a whipped pup?"

Bekka looked up at him, surprised, and smiled brightly at all three. She bounced off the pole to give Kuwabara a quick hug, causing him to blush. "Thank you." She backed up and looked at her watch. "Well," she sighed, "it's time. Let's go find a lion."

When they reached the designated location, they all saw a gate in front of a large area of blackness. Above the gate read, "Abandon hope, all ye who enter here."

"Thinks he's funny," Bekka muttered. She squared her shoulders and forced a smile, "Well, die all, die merrily," and stepped toward the gate.

Yusuke grabbed her arm, "How's that hopeful?"

Bekka turned toward him and grinned morbidly, "Because I'm hoping to die happily and that won't be happening in there. And I don't think you'll be terribly merry in there either."

Yusuke gave her an odd look and shrugged as he let her go. "Okay, fine, let's go."

The four stepped over the threshold together and were plunged into utter darkness. There was the sound of rummaging and a sharp rattle when a match glowed in the darkness. Bekka used it to light a candle.

"You always carry candles?" Yusuke asked snidely.

"I always carry lots of stuff. Never know when you'll need something." Bekka returned evenly, knowing this would irritate him.

Yusuke began to stammer out a reply when Kurama cut him off, "Will you two quit it. You can fight it out later." He turned on Bekka, "Quit baiting him."

She gave him a smile that turned sharp when she turned toward Yusuke. "He's right. We will settle this later. Now we need to get along and find your friend." She turned her attention to what could be seen with the candle light. The light didn't extend very far. There seemed to be a path leading straight ahead of them. She could not see enough to tell if they were in a building or not. "Well, looks like we go that way," she pointed along the path.

"Can you sense Hiei?" Kurama asked.

She closed her eyes and he could see her aura flicker and spread out from her. They stood quietly until she gasped and held her free hand to her forehead. Opening her eyes, she muttered "Feedback. I guess he did get a witch's mirror." Focusing on her companions, "I didn't feel him, so I'm guessing he's behind the mirror. The mirror is straight ahead of us."

"Do you have any ideas for dealing with the mirror?"

"Not yet," she admitted and started walking along the path.

How long they walked, none of them could have answered, only that suddenly there was a great deal of light and they were in a chamber after a time. As their vision cleared from the overload, they all saw the witch's mirror hanging in the center of the room, seemingly from thin air. It was indeed a mirror, with a broken pentacle on the face of it, encircled by what appeared to be iron. On the other side of the mirror, also in midair, was a very irritated looking short black-haired demon. Below him, stood Loki, looking like a characterization of the western devil, with a tail and horns. "It's about time you got here, Absinthe."

"My name is Bekka, Loki. What's the game?"

"Foolish girl, you cannot change your name. How many times have I told you that?" He chuckled, a sound that sent chills down every spine in the room. "This part of the game is simple enough, Absinthe. Just rescue Hiei from behind the mirror."

She looked suspiciously at the mirror and Loki, "What's so special about the mirror?"

He chuckled again, "Why, I thought you knew that, Absinthe. You're not doing as well as I'd thought you would with your studying, are you. Such a shame, really, girl." He shimmered and his appearance changed to that of a professor wearing academic robes. "The witch's mirror is spelled to reflect any spell used against the owner back to the spell caster three fold. It uses the soul of the maker to do this reflection. This one is specially made to reflect every thing back to you, my dear Absinthe, instead of your friends. Any attack they use against me will rebound onto you three times as strongly." He shimmered and resumed the devil costume.

Bekka paled and swallowed. "Is that all?" she managed around the lump of fear in her chest.

"For now," Loki conceded.

She continued frowning at him and the mirror, turning over what he'd said in her mind, trying to find the clue that would help her. Yusuke, becoming irritated with the delay, stepped forward, "I don't believe you, Loki. There's no way some stupid mirror hanging from the ceiling can do anything to us." He ran up and landed a punch in Loki's chest. From behind him, he heard a scream and someone falling down.

Bekka was laid out on the floor, her hand pressed to her chest and her face contorted in agony. She struggled to get up to a sitting position and Kuwabara and Kurama both went over to help her. "Holy crap," Yusuke muttered

Loki chuckled, "It does work, Yusuke, as you can see." He looked past Yusuke to Bekka, "Do you like my little toy, Absinthe?"

She was almost to her feet and just glared at him. "Yusuke, you are so getting hurt when this is over, you idiot!" Lowering her voice, she turned to Kurama, "Did you catch the hint Loki gave?" He frowned at her, unsure what she meant. "He said the mirror is spelled to protect him. Maybe we can attack the mirror itself?"

"You think it might work?" he replied, seeing her use magic just to stand up.

She shrugged painfully, "Worth a try, isn't it?"

"Are you sure you can withstand an attack, though?"

"I'll remember to shield. I wasn't prepared for Yusuke to attack."

"Don't you have a shield charm?"

"No, they work off of aura. Botan made them, not me." She shrugged away from him and Kuwabara. She noted in part of her brain that they were almost arranged at the corners of the room, which would make it easier to tap into their energy. She began to concentrate, drawing in the energy of the elements. Kurama could see her aura flare brightly and then concentrate between her hands, which were in front of her as if she were holding a ball.

"Going to blast me with an energy ball. You are stupid, Absinthe. You know it will only rebound on you."

She ignored him, turning instead to Yusuke, barely able to articulate or focus on anything other than the energy ball she was gathering in her hands. "Get ready," she croaked out at him. Putting as much as she could into the energy ball, she shoved it away from her chest and toward the mirror. Relieved of the concentration, she shouted, "Shoot the damn mirror, now!" She flung up a shield of energy as her energy ball reached the mirror. Yusuke aimed his rei shotgun at the mirror and fired. The mirror absorbed the energy ball and were about to return it when the shotgun blast hit it and caused it to shatter. Bekka fell to her knees, almost completely drained, relieved. As the mirror shattered, Hiei fell from his holding cell.

Loki roared in anger, "How dare you break my mirror, you stupid child! You will never leave this place!" With an explosion that threw the five against the nearest wall, he left the room.

A/N Told you Hiei would be in this chapter….*evil grins all around* One more chapter. This thing is really just writing itself. I spent more time on a shorter term project (it's hiding at http://members.cox.net/hcolleen/patho.html if you care [It's for a radiographic pathology course]). I'm thinking the way this is going, I'll be finished tonight, tomorrow latest :D How's that?