Yuu Yuu Hakusho Fanfiction BookstoreArmageddon: World's End chapter 6 by Kristin Huntsman Armageddon: Worlds' End part 6 -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- I catch a glimpse of Kurama as he fights. His face is grim as his whip endlessly cuts down enemies around him. He knows what they're trying to do, I think. And he doesn't like it. Urameshi, when I spot him, is having the same thoughts. His knives flash silver beneath the blue energy surrounding them. I conciously don't see the blood on them. Sometimes killing makes me sick. "Shuuichi!!!" Kurama's scream reaches my ears, and I turn in time to see his younger brother run through by a spear aimed at Kurama. As I watch, White power begins to glow around Shuuichi's hand, then explodes outward in a blast that disintegrates the youkai who had attacked him. A sword suddenly headed towards my mid-section distracts me, and I hastily block it. I throw my mind into a link with Kurama's, and hear their conversation clearly, as though I am part of it. "Shuuichi!" I/Kurama yell, catching Shuuichi as he falls. "Why did you come here? You knew what would happen...." "Oniisan..." he whispers weakly, looking up at me/Kurama. "No one has the right to avoid their destiny...." "I'm sorry," we whisper back. "I'm sorry your life had to end like this, Shuuichi... you never even got a chance to live...." "S'okay..." he replies, the light fading from his eyes. "Maybe next time...." My/Kurama's fingers seek out Shuuichi's, and we place our palm to our brother's. "Take it, oniisan," Shuuichi whispers, and the thread of power that burns purely in him uncoils and strikes like lightening, going through our palm into the core of Kurama's being. With that, Shuuichi's eyes empty completely. "Shuuichi..." Kurama whispers, and I sense the raw power welling up in him. I hastily get the hell out of his head. If he loses it, I don't want to be around. I turn back to watch him, and instantly yell, "Urameshi, DOWN!!!" "What?!" Urameshi turns and sees what I do. "Holy shit!" He drops to the ground, flattening himself as close to it as he can. I follow suit. Kurama's eyes glow as viciously as Hiei's ever did, and black fire flares up around him. "ENSATSU...." "KOKURYUHA!!!!" A whirlwind of black energy explodes from him and burns its way through our enemies. He stands strong in the center of it, watching as it kills the youkai... until an arrow whistles through the air. He dropped his kekkai for the attack, so nothing stops it, and it strikes him cleanly in the chest. Kurama gasps and crumples, the black fire dying down. "Kurama!" Yuusuke stumbles to his feet and we both race to Kurama. Kurama braces himself against the ground and yanks the arrow out, suppressing the gasp of pain with gritted teeth. He gently presses a hand to his chest and explores his wound. "Chi...." He looks up at us. "Through the lung," he says. He laughs slightly. "Do you know what blood flooding a lung does?" "Mortal," Urameshi states flatly. "Oh shit..." I murmur. Kurama takes in a shuddering breath and immediately starts a series of violent, racking coughs. When they clear, his lips are flecked with blood. "It's also fairly quick. Yuusuke - I want you to take my powers." "What?!" Urameshi is clearly startled. "_Me_?!" Kurama falls into another series of painful coughs. "Yes," he breathes between them. "You. The power passes between likes. A youkai to a youkai, a human to a human, and a halfling to a halfling." "Hiei to you," Urameshi starts, trying to match Kurama's statements to what he knows to be true. "Shuuichi to you. You to me?!" "You're a halfling too, Yuusuke," Kurama answers. "Somewhere in your bloodline is youkai ancestry." He grasps Urameshi's hand and laces their fingers together, forming a strong grip between them. Colors of energy crackle about his hand: green, black, bright blue, and white. They lace their way down Urameshi's arm and draw up the strong blue glow of his Rei powers. Then, as one, they all rush into Urameshi's body. Urameshi gasps in a dual noise of pain and surprise, his hold on Kurama's hand loosening as he folds in half. Kurama fights off his own pain for a few seconds, then gives in. "Hiei..." he whispers as his eyes close and he crumples to the ground. I stare dumbly for a second, not quite believing that he's dead. I don't have time to acknowledge it, or Shuuichi's death, either, because the youkai who escaped the onslaught of power have surrounded us while we were unaware, and chose now to attack. Kurama is dead, and Urameshi is curled in on himself in pain. Of course they choose now. I hold them off for a few minutes with a heavy kekkai around us. Urameshi moans in pain, his eyes tightly closed. I don't want to touch him - I sense it would be a very bad idea. "Kurama..." he moans. "What the hell did you do to me...?" My eyes flicker from the edge of the sphere to him, then back. I can hold the kekkai for a while yet; I hope he can recover in that time. "What _did_ he do to you?" I ask. "Gave me powers - his, Hiei's, Shuuichi's," Urameshi chokes. "He _knew_ my body couldn't handle them, the bastard...." "I hope you can get control of them soon," I say, looking nervously at the youkai piling against the kekkai. "No way in hell can I take all of them, and you're the one with the raw power, now." "Maybe it'll help if I use it..." he says, struggling to stand. "It hurts... maybe it'll take some of it offa me....AAAHHHH!!!!!!!!!" He falls to his knees again, clutching his right arm as blood traces down and around it. Dark power wraps around him, twisting down his arm and tightening. "Damn... it...!" he says, fighting to stand again. The living power boils around him, then suddenly binds. His right arm holds a black dragon, while his left wrist is braceleted by an exquisite design of green and white. "I am... NOT... gonna... let this... get the best of me!" Energy boils out of him, wild and unrestrained. It thrashes wildly around in the kekkai. I drop to the ground, protecting my head with my hands. The wind roars too loudly for me to hear anything but its scream, and the air boils intolerably. I feel my kekkai strained to its limit, and a voice in my mind is the only thing that I can hear. I let the energy that is the kekkai simmer down, and the energy that strains against it tears through. As the energy moves free, I hear Urameshi's scream of pain. He can't control it. Damn it, no! Why do I have to lose him, too?! Why?! "KU-WA-BA-RA!!!" he screams, to my mind and my ears. "Urameshi..." I whisper back in thoughts, his and mine. "I can't... hold it... the power's too much...." I barely hear him, over the wind and the screams of the youkai, but I stumble to my feet and trip over to him, where he's crumpled to the ground. He glows with pulsing energy, and it hurts to touch him. He looks up at me, and his eyes are filled with tears. "It hurts...." I reach out with my mind and touch his, offering wordless comfort. Energy crackles and burns me as I lay a hand on his shoulder. He closes his eyes, and a sphere of peace and silence surrounds us. "Urameshi?" I wonder aloud. I hear inwardly. In the stillness, an immense power touches me, given to me by the hands of my friends. Through Yuusuke, Kurama. Through Kurama, Hiei and Shuuichi. A sacred trust, and holding the power, I accept it. And with the acceptance, it descends upon me, and I fall into eternal darkness. I know that this is the final sleep, and that I will never wake. A warmth unlike any other settles over me... and I am at peace. Finally, peace again. "Kuwabara." "Kuwabara-kun." "Kazuma-san." "Kuwabara-san." The soft voices wake me from the darkness, and I slowly open my eyes, wondering where I am. I sit up and look around, trying to see their origins, but find myself in a field away from Genkai's temple. Voices shouldn't come from an empty field, should they? But the field isn't empty. Spheres of glowing light, the size of my fist, dance around me. Are they the ones calling me? "Kuwabara-kun, you're awake." A sphere of green energy addresses me in Kurama's soft voice, a note of laughter and relief making its way to my ears. "Kurama?" I ask dumbly, watching the spheres as they move a little way back from me and settle into position. Then they grow brighter, and I have to shade my eyes from the light. When it fades again, I look up, and see my dead friends looking at me. And more.... "Kaachan? Touchan?" I ask in a whisper. My mother laughs, the silvery laugh I remember from my youth. "Kazu-chan," she says, her voice full of pride, "you've done well today. I'm proud of you." "What--?" I ask, turning to Koenma. "The Reikai may have been destroyed, but that in no way impedes the movement of souls," he replies. "There haven't been many children being born in the Ningenkai in the past two years, though, so we and a lot of other souls are waiting in limbo for our chance." "Time to rebuild, Kuwabara," Yuusuke instructs. "That's why it was important that you survive the battle; you have all the rest of our powers, so you can protect a colony of humans from anyone who tries to destroy it. You're the one who carries the responsibility of making sure the human race thrives once more." "But..." I protest dumbly. The light surrounding my friends and family grows bright and brighter, until have to shade my eyes. "Wait!" I yell, sensing that they're leaving me. "WAIT!!!" I open my eyes again, and find myself staring up into the blue sky. I sit up, unsure if I was dreaming or not, and find myself surrounded by a field of corpses. I guess I was dreaming... but where my friends are concerned... who can tell? I know what I have to do. Only three bodies on this field really matter, and I have to find them. Urameshi's body lays near me, and I cradle him to my chest as I set off in search of Kurama and Shuuichi. After nearly twenty minutes of walking, I find them. I set Urameshi's body down, and try to figure out what to do. I need to bury them. I won't just leave them in the sun to rot. But how? And where? Then the black dragon on my right arm catches my eye, and I feel like smacking myself upside the head. I have their powers now; Kurama's plants will help me dig. I spot a location a few hundred yards away, underneath a cherry tree. One by one, I carry their bodies to the tree. I kneel as shovel-like plants dig a pit in the earth, and arrange their bodies how I would like them to sleep in their eternal rest. A throny rose stem allows me to arrange their hair, and their arms cross on their chests. I brush away the dirt on them, and wait until the plants are done, and then have them lay my friends in the ground. Shuuichi lays next to Kurama, and Kurama lays next to Urameshi. I tearlessly throw the first handful of earth across all three of their bodies, and walk away. While the shovel-plants bury my friends, I scavenge supplies and a backpack from the dead youkai. By the time I gather what I will need to get where I'm going, the grave is finished, and I walk over to it. "See ya around, guys," I say. Small wildflowers cover the grave, and I blink. _I_ didn't do that! Then I smile. "I guess you'll see me, too, huh? Well, take care." The flowers seem to smile and nod behind me as I turn and walk off. Behind me, I let Hiei's black fire roar over the bodies of the dead youkai, consuming them back into elemental dust. As soon as its task is done, it dies away like it never was. Ahead of me lies the future, and I know where I go. First, the concentration camp where Botan is held, and from there to the others, gathering humans until we have enough to form a colony. The youkai will be offered a choice of joining us or leaving our world for good. I hope one of them will agree to guide me to the Makai City, so that Yomi won't have a chance to hurt Kurama and Shuuichi's parents. I know what the future must be, for the human race to survive, and how I have to make it. I know what I have to do. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Author's Message: Well, it's still far later into the night than my mother is comfortable with me staying up, and Shin is getting caught in a whirlpool. Not much has changed since the end of the last part. If anyone has serious objections to Kuwa-chan being the hero of this story, well, he deserves his moment in the spotlight. Thank you for reading this far into the story. Only the conclusion to go, and that's short. Please send comments to 71411.1046@compuserve.com. << chapter 5 epilogue >> back to Conflicts >> undefined undefined More... undefined [Close] undefined [Close] undefined