Disclaimer: (In regards to the entire story) Yu Yu Hakusho belongs to Yoshihiro Togashi, Shonen Jump, FUNimation, etc. However, I do own the idea for this story. Plagiarism will not be tolerated. If you see a story that's clearly taken off from mine, please alert me at once.
I also own the idea for giving the Jagan a voice, in this particular rhythm, style, and attitude. I will not, under any circumstances, allow another author to use the idea without contacting me about it first, and even then, only if they put a disclaimer up for it. Even if it's only 'similar', not 'exactly the same', I still came up with it. As of now, I know of two stories that have used the idea without asking me, both published after "Maniaphobia". If you see any others, please tell me immediately.
Stealing ideas is not okay, even if "other people do it". It's illegal in most countries, and it's against the Terms of Service for this site. By taking ideas from anybody, you are breaking the law, and risking being banned from FFN. I will not tolerate the theft of this Jagan idea in particular, as it's already happened twice.
(More) Opening Notes: Not much to say, as far as I'm concerned. I know that I have many other stories to be working on, but I really don't care. I've let too many muses escape because I was "too busy" with other works, but this time, that won't be the case.
I'm not too sure as to where I'm going to go with this story. All I know is that I'm going to have it be in entirely Hiei's point of view, and I'll try not use any Japanese words in the content itself, save for such things as, "Reikai", "Makai", "Ningenkai", and "Jagan". As those are proper nouns, and there aren't many things that you can substitute for them besides "world", or "Third Eye", respectively.
Maniaphobia
By Lynn S. (Agent Dark Moose)
Part I
"Where does the violet tint end and the orange tint begin? Distinctly we see the difference of the colors, but where exactly does the one first blend while entering into the other? So with sanity and insanity." -- Herman Melville
.-.-.
Screams. Screams of pain. Boy screaming, on the floor. Shirt torn, pants ripped. Dirty, bloody. Eyes wide, eyes fearful. Brown eyes... Brown eyes... More screams.
Knives, long knives. Whipping him. Beating him. Torture, torture. Killing him. Dying, dying boy.
Tears, tears. Lots of tears. Crying, sobbing. Begging, pleading to stop. 'Help me, help me.' Wailing, weeping. 'Help me Hiei, save me.'
Blood. Blood, so much blood. Everywhere is bloody. Rivers, red rivers of his blood...
"Where?"
Not here, there. No humans, only your kind.
"Where in the Makai?"
Yes, yes. Danger place. Not safe. Bad rain, lots of rain. Flooding, too much water. High cliffs, too steep. Danger, danger. Caves, so many caves. Dirty caves. In the caves, boy inside. Icky demons, hurting boy. In big room, back of cave. Bloody, bloody, so much red.
'Save me Hiei, save me...!'
--
His actions gave no insight to his inner turmoil. When he closed off the link with his Jagan and opened his true eyes, the crimson orbs revealed not a single emotion. As he told the two other members of their mismatched group what he had seen, his voice was steady, almost calm, if you will. Even as they entered the world in which their friend was located, he maintained a cold disposition, as if he was unaffected by the entire issue.
Inside, however, Hiei was a panicked wreck. He was sweating, pacing, cursing everything in sight, worrying. He couldn't escape the horrific images that his Third Eye had fed into his mind, the terrifying sight of the detective being tortured relentlessly, his garnet life-force splattering across the floor and walls. His entire body coated in nothing but a sleek scarlet colour...
The fire apparition shook his head, trying to clear it. He wouldn't allow a few gory pictures to get the best of him. After all, he had seen and done much worse things to his enemies during battle...
But this was Yuusuke... A mere human teenager. No matter how many fights he had partaken in, regardless of how many hits he had been dealt, he would never be able to tolerate such immense pain. As the visions had shown him, the half-breed was already sobbing, pleading for his life as the whip lashes rained down upon him...
Hiei's lips pulled back in an inaudible snarl as the threesome continued to traipse through the rough terrain of the Demon World. How dare someone force such an innocent youth into submission like they were...? How dare they break him as if he was nothing but an insignificant slave...?
He was a bit farther ahead of the others, due to the fact that the images formed a sense of urgency within him. However, that didn't help that they were still nearly a day's walk from their destination.
A soft growl escaped theapparition as he stopped running, instead turning around to wait for the rest of the team. It took a few minutes, but the two eventually appeared. He shot them an impatient look, obviously annoyed with their choice of pace.
It was the redhead who spoke first, his jade eyes glancing at Hiei in confusion. "Is there something wrong?"
The demon twitched. The former fox thief was too perceptive for his own good. However, before he could reply, he was cut off.
The other male nodded in agreement to the previous comment, the thick, orange curls atop his head bouncing with the movement. "Yeah, shrimp. We shouldn't be stopping! We need to get to Urameshi!"
Hiei snapped his fangs in agitation; he didn't need to be told twice, especially if the human idiot was the one reminding him. "I know that, you fool. But if we continue at your rate, there won't be anyone for us to save!"
The scarlet-haired adolescent interrupted the two before a fight could start. "He does have a valid point, Kuwabara. From what Hiei saw, I can only assume that Yuusuke's captors will continue to torture him until he dies, and that won't be much longer..."
The youth named Kuwabara gaped at his companions. "B-But... U-Urameshi's stronger than that...! He won't die!"
Hiei's crimson orbs narrowed dangerously, the visions once again seeping into his mind with a renewed vigor. "Once again, you're wrong. As we speak, Yuusuke's lying on the cave floor, surrounded by his own blood. They're whipping him, stabbing him, breaking every single bone in his body. He's crying in pain, you idiot, begging for his life! Do you honestly think that he'll be able to survive demonic torture!"
The apparition paused, blinking back at his teammates as they stared at him in astonishment, thoroughly disturbed by his rather... descriptive outburst. He bared his fangs at them, simultaneously shuddering as he tried to will the images away again.
The fox was the first to speak, raising a hand to rest comfortingly on Hiei's shoulder as he did so. "Listen... I know that it must be a heavy burden to have to witness these things through your Jagan, but-."
Hiei wrenched himself free, growling dangerously. "Just shut the hell up, Kurama. You don't know what you're talking about."
Biting his lip, the thief took a step back, which gave Hiei the opportunity to turn away from them. "I'm going on ahead. You're both holding me back, and waiting up for you would only put Yuusuke's life into further jeopardy."
Kuwabara opened his mouth to object, but it was too late; Hiei had vanished less than a second before, the streak of black fading into the dark foliage around them.
---
Just as the Jagan had showed him, the region where Yuusuke was being held was incredibly... wet. The rain thundered down from the clouds swirling in the sky, covering every visible surface. The air around him was hard to breathe and very thick with humidity, almost as if it was trying to suffocate him. It was as if the area was caught in a perpetual storm, a never-ending hurricane.
Hiei let out a snarl of rage as he slipped from the rock he had landed on, only to fall into a deep pool of water far below. He surfaced, spluttering madly as he tried to move his drenched bangs out of his eyes, while attempting to warm himself up at the same time.
It turned out that the rain was even colder once it soaked into one's clothes. Hiei shivered involuntarily, once more concentrating on his energy. Yet it proved to be futile; apparently, the large amount of water was draining him completely.
The apparition turned his gaze back to the towering cliff above him, which he had previously been trying to scale. Growling, he scrambled over the sleek granite he was on, mentally cursing himself for being a fire demon and cursing his luck for being sent to a domain of the water element.
He reached the top of the sheer cliff after another hour or so, having only fallen once more. Hiei clambered over the edge, thankful to be back on level ground. He chose to remain sitting for a few moments, trying in vain to regain a bit of warmth; his shivering had now become violent, making it appear as if he were in some sort of seizure.
Hiei blinked away the water from his eyes, only to sneeze right after. He bared his fangs slightly. He'd have to get to Yuusuke soon; he wouldn't be able to last much longer in this frigid rain. As it was, he might've already caught hypothermia.
The demon forced himself to his feet, starting across the wide ledge he was on. Yet another cliff of the mountain loomed above him, and Hiei had to fight down the torrent of complaints that threatened to be heard. However, as he reluctantly began the ascent, something to the right of the granite wall caught his eye.
What seemed to be only a dark indent in the rock revealed itself to be a tunnel. Hiei dropped down to it, finding it to be a passage into some sort of cave within the mountain. Upon even further inspection, his nose caught the heavy scent of blood wafting up through the opening.
A frown etched its way on to the apparition's visage. It wasn't the entrance that the Jagan had shown him, but he knew that blood-scent was Yuusuke's. Perhaps he had stumbled upon a 'shortcut', or something that would lead him to the detective one way or another.
Hiei bit his lip. Tentatively, he removed the ward covering the Eye, allowing it to open with a bright indigo hue. He quickly began to communicate with it, his true crimson orbs shutting simultaneously.
-
"Will this take me to Yuusuke?"
...Stench. Half-breed blood stench. Boy is half-breed?
"Yes."
Boy down there. Dying boy, down the tunnel. Secret, secret way to cave. Find boy, save boy! Crying, always crying. 'Help, Hiei... Please...!'
You find boy, take boy away from bad place?
"...Yes."
Good. Good, you help boy.
"Can you sense the demon holding him captive?"
Yes, yes. Icky demon, bad. Head bad, not right.
"How strong is he?"
Can't tell. Mind bad, very bad. No mind, lost his mind.
-
A growl escaped the apparition, his fiery gaze focused on the unseen enemy somewhere below him. Without hesitation he leapt down the tunnel, not bothering to reseal his Third Eye. He didn't know what it would be like down in the cave, and it was highly probable that he'd need it to navigate.
The rapid descent ended much sooner than he expected, causing him to land awkwardly on his ankle. He hissed sharply, gripping the appendage as it began to throb excruciatingly. It could only be a sprain, but he might've torn the ligaments as well...
"Damn it all..." Hiei muttered, pushing himself up. He stumbled dangerously, and would've fallen over if he hadn't grabbed the wall beside him. Wasting no more time, he headed out of the small 'room' he was in, choosing the left passageway after consulting his Jagan.
He walked through the darkness of the cave for what seemed a never-ending amount of time, clipping his fangs when he put too much pressure on his injured ankle. The bright glow from his Eye illuminated the path before him, the light reflecting into his gaze as it hit the water that was dripping down the walls.
The thick blanket of silence surrounding him was suddenly penetrated by a piercing scream, which echoed through the many caverns of the mountain. Hiei froze, looking around wildly. He immediately knew that scream to be Yuusuke's, feeling a large amount of panic well up inside of him when he realized that the torture had commenced once more.
Trying to retain some semblance of being calm, the apparition forced himself into a dash, nearly crying out as a jolt of agony made its way up his left leg. Yet, he kept on running, listening to the directions his Jagan gave without a second thought.
Before he knew it, he had arrived in a large, cavernous room, the ceiling above him appearing endless. Hiei drew the blade at his side, having sensed two other presences close by, seeming to be at the other end of the chamber. One of the auras was flickering, close to being extinguished. Grimly, he realized that it was the detective's.
However, the other energy print was... odd. It seemed to be fluctuating; one minute it was strong and burning brightly, but the next it was relative to that of a dying person. It jumped repeatedly, never staying in one range for more than five seconds, at the most.
Hiei flinched as another of the half-breed's shrieks echoed throughout the room. It was soon followed by the sound of a whip sailing through the air, only to connect with flesh moments after. Yuusuke's cries filled his senses, the scent of blood steadily growing thicker. Hiei found himself becoming nauseated, and the complaints from his Eye regarding the stench weren't helping his forming migraine.
A sudden cackle resonated throughout the chamber, and Hiei's grip tightened on the sword without his consent. He was shaking with rage, infuriated with the fact that the torturer was taking immense pleasure in hearing the screams and seeing the tears of one so innocent.
But he couldn't just rush in, blinded by rage. That would be foolish, and would only further endanger both of their lives'...
Yet, as soon as he had crept close enough to hear the words escaping past the detective's lips, all thoughts of stealth vanished, as if an instantaneous gust of wind and swept them away.
"He'll come, I know it!"
"Hiei won't leave me!"
"He's coming... He's coming..."
"He... He'll be here... He..."
"...Oh, God... No, not more knives...!"
"Don't... Don't! Please, y-you can't..."
"No, no... G-Get it away from me...!"
"No...!"
"...No..."
"...HIEI!"
The fire apparition felt himself shaking horrendously, though it wasn't just from the water affecting him. His crimson eyes were focused on the equally-red liquid pouring from Yuusuke as the blade was gouged into his abdomen, watching as it spilled in rivers of scarlet over his skin and onto the stone floor below him. The half-breed writhed in pain, burning tears cascading down his cheeks.
More knives followed the first, plunging themselves into the detective's body mercilessly, driving into the very core of his being, trying to drain every last drop of blood from his beaten body. His screams reached a higher pitch, the terrible sound flowing through Hiei's unseen form, mingling with his senses in a cruel, never-ending waltz.
The laughter returned, fighting to be heard over Yuusuke. The two voices danced within the fire demon's head, mocking him, laughing at his helplessness in the situation. He wasn't aware that he himself was begging for it all to stop, though it was unheard through the rest of the chaotic noise.
The Jagan sent wave after wave of energy into him, trying to bring him out of the overwhelmed state. However, the more he tried to listen to the Third Eye, the harder it became to concentrate on anything else other than Yuusuke's screams. They echoed through his mind, taunting him, showing that one of the few people who cared for him was dying...
'Dying...'
'Dying boy...'
And so it was, Hiei remained frozen in the shadows, unable to do more than watch with shocked crimson eyes as Yuusuke was murdered before him.
Ending Notes
The ending seemed somewhat rushed, though I dragged it on as long as possible... Hm. Oh well.
And, yes. Yuusuke died, if, for some reason, you can't tell.
Reviews are very much appreciated, as long as they're more than "updtesoonplzkthnxby." Honestly. I've worked hard on this,so could you people please try to spend a minute or so on the review? Tell me what you liked, what you didn't like! If there were any spelling/grammatical errors, tell me!
---
-Lynn