((It's fine. Gave me a chance to get some things done))

Voron arrived at the top of the stairs in all his 6'2" glory. He seemed to be alright, except for a few cuts and a burn along his collarbone, but he ignored all that as he walked straight for the temple.

"Takeshi!" He paused when he saw everyone else. "We need to speak. Privately." He stood in the doorway, trembling just a little.

"Don't worry, they know too," Takeshi said soothingly, standing and walking over to Voron slowly, like approaching a half-mad dog. "Sit. Have some tea."

"But--"

"Sit."

Voron slowly sank to the floor, accepting the cup Takeshi shoved at him. He glared resentfully at the older man but started talking regardless.

"My idiot daughter gave herself up. For me." He growled quietly, actually growled, a hair-raising sound of pure fury. "And she has no idea what they're going to make her do."

"Tell us what they're planning, Voron." Takeshi kept his voice soothing.

"There's an abandoned town along the coast of the main Greek island, where a king and queen lived long ago. The king died, so the queen sealed herself off. She's still there. They're going to make Aleron get the queen's attention so the queen will rip a hole between here and the demon realm."

"I have heard stories of that," Kurama said with a frown. "It makes sense. There's so much energy that gathers there that the barrier between realms is thinner there than anywhere else."

Yue was still worried, but she'd calmed down quite a bit from when the situation had first hit her. Voron on the other hand looked like a wounded animal backed into a corner; she could tell that he was scared and angry and worried from the way his energy rolled off of him. It made the situation that much scarier, to see someone who looked so strong and intimidating at a loss of what to do.... Yue wondered if she'd looked that bad earlier.... It was not a nice thing to see.

"The story of that place is a really old one if I remember it right." She said after a moment, "Isn't the Queen's name Artemesia? I've met some wonderfully insane people, but I remember hearing she was more mad than simply crazy." She spoke as if 'madness' and 'craziness' were two different things; of course, if she was making as little sense as she normally did it meant she was getting back to her old self. She was of course still worried, but Genkai was right- she couldn't lose hope until there really was none left."But how do they plan on getting the queen to break the barrier?" She tilted her head at Voron, "There isn't really anything in it for her since she's already in the human world...." It wasn't exactly a hidden fact that the majority of demons in the demon world sought a way to get to the human one... Though Yue honestly couldn't fathom why- it was such a backwards place, and most demons didn't have the brains or patience to ever understand it at all.

"Who the hell cares?" Yusuke interjected, crossing his arms, "It doesn't change the fact that we still gotta trek halfway around the world, and sitting here talking is wasting time. We know where we need to go, so let's go." The longer they sat around and waited the more time Aleron had to be even more of a dumbass than she already was. They needed to hurry up.

"Adventures first- explanations take such a dreadful amount of time." It sounded silly to Yue when it was said that way, but that was essentially the way Yusuke was thinking. She wanted to rush after her friend too, but at the same time knew that they wouldn't be much help if they didn't understand the situation. "You have to remember though, that no adventure is complete without an understanding of it though.... These questions have to be asked."

Voron shook his head a little. "She's already here, yes, but her power hasn't dimished over the years since she locked herself away. I believe they're going to try to convince her that she can be with her king again if she breaks the barrier between worlds. Which, of course, isn't true, but it serves their purposes."

Takeshi nodded. "You never did tell me why you went to Greece. You were supposed to come straight home." He slanted his gaze at Voron.

Voron was quiet for a moment, scratching his chin. "They're cousins of yours," he muttered. "Said they needed help. And you never mentioned that the rest of your family are nutcases." He got defensive, glaring weakly at Takeshi.

"Shut up." Takeshi's voice left no room for arguement. "Well, if that's who we're dealing with, we need a plan better than go in, blast Aleron out, and leave again. They will not stop just because they lose Aleron. They will need to be stopped. Permanently." He sighed quietly and took a sip of tea. "It would be best if you all stayed here."

"But why?" Kurama frowned. "Having more people would give us the advantage." It was true. Seven of them against the three of the bad guys would give them the tactical advantage. Although if they were cousins of Takeshi's, who knew how powerful they were? Takeshi himself was a force to be reconed with. Three of him would be very bad all around.

"Boy, if you went into that fight, you'd be nothing but cannonfodder," Takeshi said with a bitter snort. "You all will stay here, and Voron and I will go."

Yusuke had gotten better at keeping his temper and being smart and respecting authority.... But there was a point when being a good boy was just too damn hard to keep up with. The reason why the good died young was because they didn't see the point in living if they had to be good.... So the detective decided to give in to his bad side.... And lose his temper like he normally did.

"You're as bad as the old hag!" Yusuke exclaimed, glaring at Tekeshi, "Look, I don't care how powerful an old coot like yourself is, it's still three guys just as strong as you just waiting to kick your ass! Hell, they're probably stronger if they're not as ancient as you! And quite frankly they already kicked his ass once-" He jabbed a finger at Voron, "-And none of us came here just to sit around and stay home!"

Yue simply stared at Yue; her face looked a bit scared.... But she wasn't necessarily scared over his outburst so much as how Takeshi would probably react to it.... in her short experiences with him when she visited Genkai's place, he was very intimidating and wise.... Even more so than the old woman herself was.... And she already didn't accept any arguments or disobedience, never mind him.
"He only wants to help!" She finally said, looking at the old man; her eyes were more or less begging him not to eradicate Yusuke from existence for his insolence.

Voron looked at Yusuke. "You know there's a very real possibility of death. And you won't get anything out of this. No benefits, probably not even a thank you from my smart-ass daughter." His eyes narrowed as he stared Yusuke down.

Takeshi thought briefly about incinerating Yusuke, but dismissed the thought. He would learn with time. Besides, if he was right, Yusuke had a lot of time on his hands now. So he merely shook his head as he sipped at his tea.

If he knew which three cousins they were talking about, he'd feel better. His race was a little odd; not only did they get more powerful with time, they almost never had a peaking and leveling out point. As long as they kept striving for it, they could continue to get more powerful indefinitely. Probably why most of them had been locked away. They had too much power, too much impact on the world. He, at least, had learned to curb that.

Kurama was silent as he watched the exchange. Hiei probably wouldn't go, not unless he was dragged or very bored. Kuwabara would go if Yusuke was going, and there was no way he was going to stay behind while they all risked their lives. And Yue... Yue would go, undoubtedly. If they were going where he thought they were going, she would probably be more comfortable than any of them.

All the pockets of natural energy in Greece lent themselves to being used by people who could take energy from their surroundings and use it. Meaning Yue would have a distinct advantage there.

Yusuke didn't flinch under Voron's harsh gaze. If he had logic, he probably would have backed down, but the detective had thrown logic out the window with his outburst, and now he had to finish what he'd started. "I've already been dead once!" He retorted, "And yeah sure, it hurts like a bitch at first, but once you're floatin' outside your body it ain't so bad-" He didn't mention how much it had hurt seeing everyone grieving for him for the sake of arguing- it wouldn't exactly have validated his point. "Besides, that smart ass daughter of yours got me in her debt and held it over my head for weeks! It's high time I repay the favor!"

Yue breathed a sigh of relief when Takeshi didn't tear Yusuke apart, it was a wonderful blessing that the old man could keep his temper better than the detective; though she could tell from his eyes that he had considered it... If only for a moment.
"I will be accompanying you too." She said after a moment, twiddling her thumbs nervously, but not intending to back down. "I owe Aleron a lot, and although I am not much of a fighter.... My abilities over energy will prove useful to you." She looked at Takeshi apologetically but said nothing; she respected him a lot and felt bad going against him like this, but she also felt very strongly about it.

"I'm going too!" Kuwabara said. "There's no way I'm letting Urameshi get all the glory for this one!" He puffed out his chest.

Voron sighed. "I suppose you are all going to demand to do. Ah, the rashness of youth." He stood. "Very well then. If you wish to go, I will not waste my time stopping you. But I will not protect you either." He slashed at the air in front of him, and a portal ripped open, the edges swirling a little. It showed the coast of the island, a little ways away from where they were keeping Aleron.

"Try not to get killed. I'd hate to have to make reparations to your families." Voron stepped through first, Takeshi close on his heels. The portal stayed open, still swirling gently around the edges.

Kurama stood, waiting for Yusuke and Kuwabara to charge through like he knew they would. Then he offered Yue his hand with a little smile. The fox in him wanted to know exactly why he was risking his own neck for a scrawny little human girl, and he ignored the fox. They wouldn't have been able to succeed without her a few weeks ago, so he was returning the favor. Besides, Yusuke would probably bug him to the ends of the worlds if he didn't go to help. Yusuke could be like that sometimes.

"Shall we?" His smile was faintly amused, but he was serious. He knew what awaited them, and he knew it wouldn't be easy.

Voron stopped for a moment when he saw them. The three half-demons had gathered in a circle around Aleron, who sat on the ground with her eyes closed, clearly concentrating. A ring of strange-colored metal sat around her neck; an enhancer, if he recalled correctly. It amplified the powers of the one wearing it, but it drained them as well. Well that was just peachy.

He didn't charge right in though. He hung back, trying to think of a good plan.

{Sorry again.... Just assume when I take forever and a day to post that my internet's being annoying. >_<}

Yusuke went through the portal rather quickly after Takeshi. The main reason, as everyone already knew, was because he was worried about Aleron, but there was also the concept of the old man closing the portal before he could get through.... Which after his outburst earlier he wouldn't have put it past Voron or Takeshi as an act of revenge.... Or teach him a lesson.... Which he never really took well.

Yue smiled and accepted Kurama's hand, it felt good to genuinely smile again; she was still worried out of her wits, but now that she was doing something productive about it, she felt a lot better. "Well... We shall certainly do something." She said in reply as they walked through the portal, "I simply hope it works..."

The moment they were through the portal she let her wings and tail appear again, stretching to get comfortable; there was no one but them and the bad guys around and she didn't like going in human form for longer than she had to. Plus being in such an old place made her feel really good, and she didn't want to have to hold herself back.

They all held back- some with more difficulty than others- when they saw their foes; they needed to come up with a plan of attack if they wanted to win, but patience wasn't exactly a virtue either. "If someone doesn't come up with some ingenious idea soon, I'm just gonna march out there!" Yusuke grumbled. He hated waiting, especially when the situation was dire.

((Yeah, I guessed. I got dinner so s'all good ^^))

Voron's eyes widened when he saw Aleron glance over at them, her eyes blank. She definitely wasn't planning on surviving this. Screw plans, he needed to get in there before she could do something stupid.

Blood dripped steadily from her palm, and Aleron drew a symbol with the blood. Before the three half-demons could do anything, she got up and dug her nail further into her hand, blood dripping from her palm. She ran in a tight circle around the three, leaving a circle in her blood, before she said something. A circle went up around them, made entirely of her energy, and Voron swore.

"Idiot!" he yelled. Plan be damned, she was going to get herself killed. "Get out! Now!"

The three exchanged looks before they started trying to get out. Takeshi took his opportunity, slipping around the side behind them, just waiting for her to lower her barrier so he'd be able to get to them.

One of them turned on Aleron with an ugly snarl, and he threw her back into her own barrier. She hit with a dull thud and smirked before she put her hand around his. He yelled as her blood touched him, starting to burn through his skin. A second one threw a blast of energy at her, and she hit the barrier again with a thud.

"Aleron! Down! Now!" Voron yelled, and Aleron hit the ground. She smudged her blood and the barrier broke. Voron tackled the first demon who had attacked her, while Takeshi took the second. The third, however, slipped past them and grabed Aleron, hauling her to her feet with an arm around her neck, using her as a shield.

Kurama hesitated, not willing to risk hurting Aleron while she was in the grasp of the demon. He formed his rose whip before he lunged at one of the other two, helping to distract him.

"Now that's more like it!" Yusuke exclaimed when he saw the others dashing into the fray; it was about time someone took a leaf out of his book with the whole 'kick ass now, talk about what we've learned later' policy- it really did work so much faster. He too ran forward, ready to join in the fight, but for once there wasn't an evil smirk on his face as he did so; instead there was a harsh glare aimed at the demon who had Aleron in his grasp. "I don't care how much of an asshole she is-" He picked up speed, "Keep your grimy hands to yourself! Using is full weight along with much more energy than he should have safely put inside one blow, Yusuke punched the demon as hard as he could. It didn't exactly look like it hurt the guy much.... Which wasn't a good sign all in all.... But it shoved him enough that he let Aleron go.

Yue moved into the fray with a lot more confidence than she had in the previous battle. The entire place was just filled to the brim with energy- every rock, every tree- it all had more natural energy than anywhere else she'd ever seen; she felt like she was in complete control. All it took was a simple touch and the earth bent to her will, pushing her foes back and threatening to crush them, likewise a flap of her wings in the air practically created a storm of wind. If she had not been so concentrated on the fight at hand, she'd have thoroughly enjoyed experimenting and seeing exactly what she could do.
The more they fought though, the more she realized that their foes weren't demons as they expected.... Then it clicked. "They're just like those people from that other dimension!" But.... Not quite.... Their energy wasn't exactly as pure as the other ones.... more like it was diluted.... They must have only been part of that other race and part human. Suddenly a lot of the strange things she'd wondered about Takeshi made more sense.

Aleron fell to the ground again with a weak cough. She cupped her hand to hold some of her blood before flinging it at the halfling. He growled at her, his eyes glowing, and a quick kick sent her flying back into Yusuke.

"Ow," she whimpered, staying still for a moment. Then she rolled off the detective, being careful not to bleed on him. "Now I'm really pissed." She got up and started pulling in energy. For a moment she nearly fainted; the collar around her neck gathered more energy in one blast than she knew she had. She toned it down some before she flung the energy ball at the halfling. He grunted as it hit him, flinging him back, where he lay on the ground for a few moments before he pushed himself up again, slowly. "Shit."

"No. I believe they're half-breeds." Kurama frowned as he stood next to Yue, looking at one of the halflings. "Half human and half demon from the plane we were in before." He flicked his whip. "I can't understand why they're doing this, though."

The halfling in front of them laughed. "Why not?" he asked, his voice a clear challenge. "We may as well, since we are all slotted to die." He slashed at them, an energy blade extending from his straight fingers.

"What do you mean?" Kurama landed out of the way, making sure Yue was okay as well. The halfling wasn't making any sense.

The halfling just snarled at him. "Brother! Get the girl! Her blood is what we need!"

The halfling in front of Aleron and Yusuke grinned. "Hear that? We don't really need you. Just your blood." He laughed as he started to advance on them, and Aleron took a half-step back while cursing herself.

Yusuke toppled over when Aleron was flung into him, and she got up so quickly and ran back in the fray that he didn't get a chance to call her an idiot before she powered up another energy wave and fired. He wasn't sure what the hell that collar of hers was, but he didn't like it- it'd kill her if she wasn't careful.... And if she was anything at all like him- and she most certainly was- Aleron wasn't careful.
"Quit being a dumbass and let me handle this!" Yusuke exclaimed, stepping in front of her as the demon approached and powering up a spirit gun, "I did not travel half way around the world just to have you die!" He fired at full blast, not caring how much energy he wasted at this point and giving it his all. The sheer power of the blast uprooted a lot of trees and dented a lot of the already beat up buildings around them; the creature was flung harshly into one of said buildings, and his body steamed from the heat generated as he fell to the ground. The detective then stumbled a bit, finding it suddenly a bit hard to stand, but at least he'd gotten the guy away from Aleron.... If only for a little while.
"Ouuuch..." The halfling moaned after a couple of moments, "Since when did humans.... hit so hard?" He forced himself to his feet with what looked like some difficulty, but he didn't look nearly beat up or bruised enough considering the attack had taken nearly all the detective's strength.
"Get back down dammit!" Yusuke demanded, glaring at him, "I hit you way to hard for you to be standing!"

Yue had extended her own claws as well, but considering the foe she and Kurama were up against had a much fancier set of his own, she decided not to go head on in a battle of strength. Instead she kicked a boulder up in the air and sent it in the creature's direction, forcing him to step back to dodge; she loved being able to do so much so easily, it made things much easier for her than last time.
"Their energy is a bit more diluted than the other ones were." she finally said slowly when Kurama pointed out they were half breeds, "But don't humans normally drink milk to make themselves stronger? I don't see how they're going to die because of being half blooded...." It was hard to believe, but these creatures were even more confusing than humans.

Aleron shook her head at Yusuke. "It won't work," she said, frowning. "We need a different strategy..." She absently favored her left leg, trying to think quickly. She could see Takeshi and Voron taking on one of the demons, taking turns swiping at him and wearing him down. She didn't have any of her normal weapons, though, and Yusuke didn't seem like the type to do that kind of back-and-forth.

"Go help Kurama and Yue," she ordered, looking at her extra-sharp thumb nail. "He wants my blood? Fine. He'll get it." She pressed her nail into her wrist, just enough to nick the vein there.

The demon smirked and stepped towards her, watching her. Aleron flung more of her blood at the demon, temporarily blinding him, before she literally threw herself on him. The demon toppled over, and Aleron smirked as her blood started to burn him, making him yell and try to shove her off. One of his blows hit her stomach, making her wince and yelp as she was flung to the side.

Kurama shrugged. "I don't know why they think that," he said quietly. "But I have no pity for them." He attacked the halfling again, trying to distract him from Yue. Yue was doing just fine on her own, but he knew he was the stronger fighter.

His head whipped around at Aleron's yelp of pain, and he quickly recovered, attacking the halfling again as the halfling laughed.

"Time to collect some blood," he said. He vanished, reappearing near Aleron with a large cup. "You made a mistake, blood witch," he said. "You and your father both." The third halfling was trying to get some Voron's blood as well, but Takeshi was doing a good job distracting him. Aleron yelped as he put his foot on her stomach and yanked her injured wrist up, squeezing to get her blood.

"Wait! No, dammit!" Yusuke heaved an exasperated sigh when Aleron ran off on her own again- the entire point of him being there was for him to help her and she was being pushy as hell! He supposed that if she were to actually be cooperative it'd be unlike her though.... But the situation was fast getting out of control- the detective decided to do something risky himself even though he'd already wasted a lot of energy- and he posed himself carefully, willing energy to ooze out of his entire body as he prepared for the spirit wave technique Genkai had taught him.
Meanwhile Aleron's assault against the demon seemed to be working, but she was quickly overpowered and flung away. "Dang it!" He needed just a little bit more time to powerup; he stayed where he was, glaring at the demon with a lot of hatred. He'd hit that thing with his life energy if he had to- and then some.

"It's hard to pity someone who smells so much like blood." Yue agreed with Kurama's statement. Shewas grateful for his constant backup; she was doing much better this time around than she had the last time because of the nearly endless energy at her disposal, but in terms of physical strength she wasn't much to speak of. If the demon had managed to land a blow on her it would have been a bad situation indeed- so the fox's constant distractions keeping him from doing so was a relief.
Then their foe suddenly shifted his attention towards Aleron, and Yue's attention shifted with him; she didn't want her friend to get hurt, but there wasn't any safe method of long range attack that didn't put her in danger.

Luckily, she didn't have to consider what to do for long, because Yusuke went barreling into the demon and let off his spirit wave- causing even more devastation that his initial spirit gun had. For all his talk of Aleron being the idiot who was going to blow up Greece, he was wreaking much more havoc than her.

Aleron yelped as she was flung away yet again, and this time she landed right on Kurama. "Can't they think of something else than throwing me around?" she asked with a groan. Then she rolled over, off Kurama, and got up again.

"Are you alright?" Kurama asked, looking at the two of them as he got back on his feet. His eyes narrowed as he noticed one of the half-demons getting up again. The third tried to get up and fell back to the ground.

"I'm fine. Dammit, that idiot," she growled. She stumbled a little, and Kurama grabbed her to keep her up. Her wrist was still bleeding, and she angled her arm away from her friends. "Why do I feel like I have something attached to my wrist?"

"Because you do," Kurama said, looking down at her arm. A little creature had attached itself to the wound in her wrist, sucking up all her blood eagerly. A few moments later Aleron swayed, nearly falling over, and the creature dropped off her wrist and scampered away, over to one of the two half-demons still standing.

The halfling picked it up, smirking. "Like that? We made them for your kind, blood witch," he called. "Your blood cannot burn them. We can harvest your blood without fear."

"Dammit!" Yusuke stayed where he landed on his back after the spirit wave technique he'd launched took it's toll on his body; he struggled to stay conscious. The detective had been out of energy after he'd shot the spirit gun, never mind the added spirit wave.... How the heck were these guys still around? He'd never actually failed before.... He swore to god that if Aleron still got kidnapped after all that he'd kill her.... As soon as he had the energy to- because right now, he couldn't move at all.

Yue looked at Aleron and back at the demon; she didn't understand why it was that Aleron's blood was so special. "What do they mean when they keep calling you blood witch?" She finally asked, watching as the demons took the blood they'd gotten from the slug and poured it into the large cup from earlier, "I have never seen you use blood magic before now...." Which was a good thing for Yue considering her vampirific heritage.

{Gah... Internettttt.....}

"Our energy is contained in our blood," Aleron said, her eyes on the blood they gathered from her, another of the the things falling off her father. But he was in much better shape than she was.

The remaining two demons started working on drawing something with the blood from father and daughter. Energy crackled around them, angry and loud, and then a hole opened in the air. A woman emerged, gorgeous gold and silver hair flowing behind her in a wind that hadn't been there before. She looked around with brilliant, icy eyes.

"Who dares disturb me?" she asked, power crackling from her fingers.

The two demons stepped forward. "We have heard of you, Queen," the first one said, bowing his head. "We have heard of your plight. We know a way for you to be with your dear King again. All you have to do is tear a hole between this world and the demon realm. And then you will be reunited with your King."

Kurama's eyes widened and he caught Aleron as she nearly fell over. That had seemed... far too easy for the bad guys. He glanced over to find Yusuke lying on the ground. "Watch her," he said quietly, resting Aleron on the ground next to Yue and running over to go check on Yusuke.

{My last post... Then I really gotta get to bed.... I should already be in bed... But I've been procrastinating ^^;}

"Oh look." Yusuke grumbled when he saw Kurama headed his way, "Someone finally finds the time to check up on the incapacitated detective... And it only took, what? Five minutes?" He didn't exactly sound very impressed with that fact or the situation overall. "Well Kurama... I probably overdid it a bit... I can't move... At all.... So uh.... Keep me posted and don't let anything fall on me, got it?" He was really struggling to stay awake at this point, only doing so out of adrenaline and stubbornness to know what was going on.

Yue made sure that Aleron stayed where she was; worried about her friend as she was, she wasn't happy with her- and she didn't intend to let her get away iwth running into danger again. Still, when the queen was summoned, she couldn't help but stare in awe. It was amazing how much power simply radiated off of her, and how much pain.... Seeing her just made Yue feel.... Sad.

Of course, when the queen spoke, it was not sadness that sounded in her words, but emotionless- like someone hopelessly defeated by the world. "I see... So there is indeed a barrier blocking the two worlds... How unusual. It was not there before I left...." She lifted a hand, prepared to do as the inferior beings asked and destroy it; in her madness she didn't seem to consider the possibility that she was being lied to. Her love was her entire world, in her mind there was no one who would lie about the world. "I will... See him again." She truly believed it, and so when another voice chimed in otherwise she was not happy to hear it.

"Queen Artemesia!" Yue called, staying where she was next to Aleron but keeping her sights focused on the queen, "They are lying to you.... Your love died awhile ago- you remember!" Her voice was filled with a sincere sort of sadness and pity, but she only continued when she saw the queen hesitate at her words and a look of confusion briefly pass over her face. "He is not in demon world- and breaking that barrier won't help bring him back-"

"Shut up." The queen hit the demon with a well aimed burst of energy; it looked like it took no effort on her end, for all she did was flick her wrist, but Yue was thrown like a ragdoll into a building, which proceeded to crumble as she went barreling through it. "I do not want to hear such things."

((Yeah, I hear you there... Procrastinating is just too much fun ^^))

"You do not wish to hear the truth, Queen?" Takeshi spoke up, moving a little closer. "Even when you were growing up, you had stories of what happened to the dead."

The queen turned her glare on Takeshi. "And who are you to know?" she asked.

"I was around," Takeshi said with a careless shrug. "The spirits of the dead rise after death, and only sorrow keeps them bound here." He lifted his head, staring straight at the queen. "So tell me, queen. Do you want to see your husband again?"

"Of course I do," the queen said, intense longing in her voice. "You will not get in the way of our reunion." She raised her hand, as if to fling Takeshi away, but he spoke quickly before she could.

"I would not dream to stand in your way, Queen," he said. "But I am rather fond of this world as it is. Believe me, Queen. I have been to the realm on the other side of the barrier. You will not find your husband there. You will find nothing there that you know."

The queen's eyes narrowed and she looked at the two half-demons in front of her. "Why did you disturb me?" she asked again.

"We wish only to reunite you," the first one said, though he looked nervous now. He'd forgotten how moving a speaker Takeshi could be when he wished to be.

"Well, we haven't been destroyed yet and there's no rip to demon world yet," Kurama said, watching everything. He managed to half pick up the detective, moving him over next to Aleron and depositing him there. It was easier to keep track of everyone when they were in the same place. He ran over to check on Yue after she got thrown back, kneeling next to her.

"Yue?" he asked quietly, checking her over. She was still alive, at least.

{I never realized how hard it is to look at a computer screen with contacts in! But here is a morning post that will hopefully not be full of typos!

And yes, I procrastinate a looooot when I probably shouldn't... It's a terrible habit of mine.}

Yusuke raised an eyebrow as Kurama explained the situation, he essentially said that all hell hadn't broken loose yet, but his tone of voice didn't exactly make it sound like they were doing good either. "Soooo." He finally said, stumbling a lot as Kurama helped him move towards Aleron- which was more or less carrying him since his legs didn't want to work properly, "We're doing about as good as we normally do eh? Well that was juuuust great. They were all gonna die for sure. Ah well, at least for him it wasn't anything new.

"I think..." Yue finally mumbled after a moment when Kurama came over, "That the queen has quite a temper." She knew she probably should have been more careful, but she hadn't imagined the queen could hit so hard so easily; if Artemesia had put any effort into her attack Yue knew she'd have been dead before she even hit the ground. She struggled into a sitting position with a surprising amount of difficulty; a lot of bones must have been broken because it hurt quite a bit when she moved, mostly ribs if she had to guess though, her arms and legs seemed alright. Then she quite suddenly coughed up some blood, and after staring at it in confusion for a moment she added, "Even taking my vampirific heritage into consideration, that does not seem healthy." Her wing was completely shattered too essentially, and it was the same one Genkai had already bandaged up once- why was it that that one got all the hits?
"I'm alright." She said after another moment, looking up at him and forcing a smile even though it really did hurt; she didn't like making people worry, and for some reason making him worry bothered her all that much more. "But I don't think I'll be doing any more fighting, unless it's the wordy kind- I'd still be quite good at that."

Listening to Takeshi's argument, Yusuke dearly wished that Kurama had actually faced him in a direction where he could see what's going on; he had no idea if they were getting through to the psychotic demon queen at all, but he decided to give his two cents anyways. "Hey, I've been dead before." He said as loudly as he could- it was hard to shout and stay awake at the same time, but the detective was normally loud and obnoxious, so even his soft voice was fairly audible. "And seriously, you just pop out of your body like candy and head off to spirit world to live out the afterlife-" Normally he'd have made some comment about how much it sucked to receive judgmental from a toddler, but even he realized that probably wasn't the best idea. - Demons do too- seriously, I'm half mazaki after all, and trust me- those guys aren't exactly an afterlife worthy bunch." He neglected to mention why it was that he was back to life if he'd died and gone to spirit world- it wasn't exactly something that would help his argument.

{I think I finally got rid of all my typos XD And it only took a little bit of editing... Contacts are terrible with computers- I'll stick with glasses. o-o}

((lol! I'm so used to contacts by now that I don't even notice. For me glasses are weird now. No periferal vision O.o ))

Takeshi almost shot the boy himself when he spoke up, but the queen actually paused, considering all this. One of the halflings decided she needed more convincing.

"They are humans; they know nothing of these matters," he said dismissively.

"You forget, Torone," Takeshi said very quietly, "I am older than you, and I am most certainly not human." He turned to the queen and held out his hand to her. "Queen Artemesia, if you will allow me to, I will share my experience with you."

"How?" The queen stared at him distrustfully, unsure who to believe.

"I will show you some of my memories. It is a form of telepathic communication, completely harmless, I assure you. If you feel any pain from it, you may strike me where I stand. But please, allow me to show you." Takeshi remained where he was, looking at the queen fearlessly. She hesitated, thinking hard for a few moments, before taking his hand.

"It's alright, you don't need to," Kurama said quietly, helping her sit up and looking her over. "We will need to bandage you up as quickly as possible." He glanced around, but of course there were no bandages on the battlefield. Lovely. He pulled a seed out of his hair after a moment, resting it in his palm and feeding it his energy. The plant grew slowly, wrapping around his arm with a single, pure white blossom in the middle. Kurama carefully plucked off a leaf and crushed it before offering it to Yue. "Eat that and rest here. Don't try to move."

As soon as he was sure Yue was doing as he'd told her, he made her lay back down again before he moved over to Yusuke and Aleron. Aleron seemed alright, still breathing normally, just unconscious. He broke off another leaf and held it out to Yusuke. "Eat this. It'll help." He gave Yusuke a stern look that said he was not joking.

If it had just been him and Yusuke, he could have made a tactical retreat, if he had to. But with Yue and Aleron as well... There was no way he'd be able to take all three of them anywhere if he had to make a quick getaway. His eyes narrowed as he looked over at the queen and Takeshi. If Takeshi didn't pull this off, they were well and truly screwed.

The queen slowly lifted her head, and there were tears in her eyes. Without a word she turned on the two half-demons, unleasing her energy on them. Before they could even scream, they were dead.

{Wow... Now that I'm not half asleep while typing my last post has a lot of mistakes still XD. Whoops.

Well, I wear both contacts and glasses- switch between the two when it's convenient. Oftentimes in winter I wear glasses more often because the cold air dries out my eyes like crazy, but in warmer seasons I stick with contacts because glasses just suck in summer. Period.

But I always wear contacts to work no matter what because the coffee and cream and lord knows what else splatters everywhere constantly, so if i were dumb enough to wear glasses it'd be a mess.... So it was the first time I've ever really worn contacts looking a computer screen, and man, were my eyes not cooperating because of it! XD}

Yue watched as Kurama made the plant grow with awe; she couldn't have done the same without a lot of practice, but he was able to work his energy with the plant's as if it were natural... And of course it was, but Yue still found it very intriguing nonetheless.
It didn't taste very good of course, but that seemed to be something that happened with medicine- the more yucky it tasted the better it was.... Which was another reason why she disliked human doctors so much.... She had to reluctantly admit to herself though that she did feel a bit better, if only a little... But she was still pretty beat up too, and she knew it because the smell of all the blood around the battlefield was really getting to her. There was a lot of it considering all the blood magic and harvesting that was going on earlier, and although her people didn't drink blood, it was still a natural instinct to react to it- especially when weakened. So, although Kurama had warned her not to move Yue still found herself covering her nose regardless- she hated the concept of blood at all, much less needing it to survive.

Yusuke hated it when Kurama tried feeding him those dang plants; sure they helped, but you'd think with all his crazy animal demon abilities he'd be able to make it taste better. It tasted like he was eating grass where a dog had just.... He coughed and sat up, shaking his head of such thoughts. He was still pretty exhausted and certainly didn't have the energy to fight, but he had the strength to move now at least- which helped him immensely in grasping the situation around him.
Aleron was knocked out, but she was alright- she'd better have been anyways, or there'd be hell to pay.
Yue didn't look like she was doing well either- in fact, she looked she'd been chewed up and spit back out by something big and mean.... but she was putting on a bold face, and she wasn't dead anyways.
Takeshi and the queen meanwhile were holding hands. Great. The world's about to be destroyed and the old coot hits on a demon. Always the best thing to do in these situations.

Then quite suddenly the queen turned around and killed with a simple burst of energy the enemies they had worked so hard to defeat.... Wait what? Why the hell had she done that?! Maybe she was as much of a nutjob as Yue had mentioned she was.
Yusuke looked back at Takeshi, who looked as if this sort of thing was daily routine- perfectly composed. Which made even less sense all things considered. "What the hell happened!" He finally demanded after a moment.

((Ah, yeah. I know the feeling XD

And don't worry about the typos. I hardly pay attention to them, as long as they're not super noticeable and huge grammar issues. So we're good ^^))

Kurama kept track of both of his new patients very carefully. The plant worked pretty quickly, numbing them a little and helping to heal them. Hopefully they would listen to him and try not to move too much. They might forget some of their injuries.

"I'll explain it later," he said quietly to Yusuke. "Try not to attract attention to yourself." Shaking his head, he checked Aleron over, making sure she'd stopped bleeding before he turned his gaze to the others.

The queen looked at Takeshi. "You are certain of this?" she asked, her voice just a little uncertain.

"Quite," Takeshi said gently. "You will see him again, Queen Artemesia. Are you certain you wish to go through with this?"

The queen raised her head, her eyes flashing. "Do it."

Takeshi sighed; he hadn't had to do a mercy killing in a while. If she didn't block, he could make one quick blow and it would be over for her. He motioned for Voron to stay back while he stepped forward. "Go in peace, then," he said quietly. "Safe journey, Queen Artemesia."

The queen inclined her head, and Takeshi made a lightning-fast move. The queen stood for a moment, swayed, and fell. A bit of blood escaped the side of her mouth, and Takeshi bowed his head.

"Aleron?" Voron turned, looking for his daughter, and sprinted over, sliding to a stop next to her. He bent over her, checking her quickly, before he scooped her up carefully. Without a word, he ripped open another portal and, still cradling Aleron, stepped through.

Takeshi walked over to them after a few moments. "Alright, kid," he said, carefully hauling Yusuke up. "I won't carry you out of here, sorry. No princess treatment for you." Carrying Yusuke over his back, he started for the portal. "Will you be fine with the Vati?"

"I'm fine. Go ahead." Kurama turned and went back to get Yue, picking her up very carefully. "How are you feeling? Any better?" He looked down at her worriedly.

{Okay... The PM send so this post should too.... Dang internet makes me wanna shoot something!}

"Hey!" Yusuke shouted when Takeshi essentially flung him over his back, "How is it over?! What the hell happened?!" Apparently he wasn't patient enough to wait for Kurama to explain later, but at the very least if he had enough energy to shout and complain so much again he'd certainly be fine. And as usual, no one paid his complaints any heed.

Yue made a face; it wasn't exactly a hidden fact that she didn't like taking medicine... or receiving medical attention at all for that matter. Which was really a bad conversation considering how fragile she was, but she preferred to remain in denial about that fact.
"I do feel better. She grudgingly admitted after a moment; she was more numb now and the pain wasn't a constant throbbing like it was before, and she wasn't nearly as tired either. "But I'd like to get out of here soon-" Her tail twitched irritatedly, because she didn't like to admit the reason why as "-There is a lot of blood around here..."

{I'm sorry it's not longer... I had a longer one but lost it >_<}

((it's okay. I forgive you. Your internet, on the other hand, is not forgiven XD))

Voron stepped through into their house. "Takeshi, there's a guest room down the hall. There's bandages and a bathroom, and whatever else you'll need. Fetch me if you need anything." With that he took the stairs two at a time, taking Aleron with him.

Takeshi nodded and went back into the aforementioned room with Yusuke. He set Yusuke on the bed, starting to look around for things.

"What happened, kid," he said as he looked around, "is that I made a telepathic link with the queen. I showed her our intentions, and I showed her that they were lying. She was... mad, to say the least. She'd been mourning her husband for centuries. So I gave her relief. They will undoubtedly be reunited. Now shut up and hold still."

He went over and started treating Yusuke's wounds, focused on his work.

"Certainly." Kurama walked through the portal with her, and it closed after him. He saw Takeshi go down the hall, and decided to follow him. He set Yue down carefully, eyeing her critically.

"Alright. If you prefer, I can give you a quick shot so you'll be unconscious while I treat you. Otherwise I doubt you will like me very much." She had numerous wounds that he had to take care of, including setting bones and binding her wing again. She was not going to be pleased, of that he was sure. But he could help her recovery along; he had a few plants for just such occasions.