The Lost Weren't Found

In the history of the earth, catastrophe's usually started from one particular point. Spirit World. The realm of the spirits had always taken on more than they could handle, and one day, it proved fatal. Enma had been put away to rot for all of eternity. His crime: capturing demons in secret, torturing them, and releasing them into human world to be captured publicly. His goal: to become a god in the eyes of the humans. He never accounted for being caught and imprisoned before his true goal had been met. Unfortunately, as always, Spirit World found out too late. 

The day was as ordinary as the one before it. I remember all too clearly. I had just finished a sparring match with Mukuro when the sky had blackened over. Darkness was all too welcome in the world of demons, but it was too early. The morning had just started, and it wasn't due to become night for another thirty one hours. We both knew something was amiss. I could practically feel the dark demon energy in the air, floating just above my skin. I didn't know where it had come from, but I knew it was the cause of the sudden darkness I found myself in. What was even more bizarre, was the lack of lightning in the sky. It was a first for me. I had never seen the skies of Makai void of lightning. When I turned to Mukuro, I knew she could feel the energy as well. It was as dark as the sky above us. With no words between us, we immediately left and headed for the capital, where we knew Enki would be. An energy in the air this large, this dark, only meant one thing. Someone was attacking us. We were at war. 

The sequences after that were a blur. I was in survival mode, and nothing else mattered. Nothing save the life of my brother. Kurama had come to Makai immediately, sensing something amiss. He ended up being trapped, just as all of us were. The dark energy I had sensed ended up being soul energy. We had found out later that Enma had been storing up the negative soul energy of the demons he had captured and executed. His goal was to wipe the demon world out of existence, making him the ultimate self-proclaimed god. No one had known, and the negative energy had built upon itself in it's storage container. When it had finally burst, it had taken over Spirit World, infecting every soul that resided there. With Spirit World overrun with darkness, a rift in time and space had opened up, destroying Spirit World, and merging into the Makai. That is when the light had left the sky. I never saw another day without darkness in the demon world. It had never turned back to normal. To make matters worse, no one could escape. The merge with Spirit World had severed any portals into the human realm. In a way I was thankful. My sister was in human world, and in human world she would stay safe. Safe from this darkness that threatened my existence every day.

At first it was a war. Demons verses the dark souls that attacked us. But dark souls cannot be killed. Not without soul energy. But demons are selfish creatures who think nothing but survival. The last thing we would do is sacrifice ourselves to save the rest of the race. No, it quickly escalated from war to all out extinction. The intelligent demons quickly dropped out of the ranks and hid. Kurama and I were among them. Survival instincts were strong, and we had no plans of dying. It didn't last though. Years had passed, and the realm of demons could no longer handle the negative energy that was coursing through it. The dark souls had found what was left of my race and rounded us up for a public execution. They were still thriving off of Enma's last wishes. However we were not going down without a fight. We combined our energies and sent a final attack. A massive wave of demon energy at the hordes of dark souls. The conflicting powers broke the ground beneath us. The demon realm could no longer sustain anything within it. Just as it had happened in the Spirit World, a rift of time and space opened up. It was bright. Kurama, myself, and the other demons were all caught up within the rift. I had no sense of who I was or what was going on.

The next thing I remember was waking up in a dark alley. I had no recollection of who I was. I was weak. Nothing made sense. I remember wandering for days, just trying to figure out who I was and what I was doing. I had severe headaches, which I later found out were caused by the Jagan Eye dying inside my head. With it decaying within me, I found that my blood was being poisoned. I had no other choice but to physically remove it myself. I am no brain surgeon, and had no idea what I was doing. All I knew was that my instincts were telling me to remove it. Who was I to argue?

I almost died. I awoke afterwards and found myself in a run down makeshift hospital. I asked around afterwards and found that it was a volunteer hospital for the homeless and orphaned. I was neither, but one of the tenants found me with a severe head wound. They would never know I caused it myself. I suppose looking back I wasn't always as cursed as I claimed to be. Even though I had no knowledge of myself or how to remove a Jagan Eye, I had done so successfully. The jarring to my brain had even awoken my forgotten memories. I had remembered it all. All of it. Down to the last moment as the light from the rift had engulfed me.

I again found out that all demons that were caught in the rift were spared. The conflicting energies had caused the rift to open, thus destroying the demon realm. It was no more. With it, went all demon energy. The demons however were deposited randomly all over the human world. Without demon energy, their demon bodies went into a hibernation state, taking all of their memories with it. I awoke mine when I jarred my Jagan. It had died due to the lack of demon energy in my body. 

A hundred years have passed since then. Demons were well known among humans now. We are no longer considered ghosts that go bump in the night. Instead, we are highly segregated. If anyone had anything resembling the realm of demons, they were treated as such. Humans considered themselves superior. Their spirit energy was not destroyed with the rift, and they are now the more powerful species. They treat demons as animals. Pets. We have no rights. We are not allowed employment. We have to wear tags identifying ourselves. We are persecuted. We are beaten. We are enslaved. We cannot even use the same restroom as the humans.

Through the years I looked for Kurama. I knew he was alive, even if my lack of demon energy had severed our bond. To do so, I needed to have contacts. He surely wouldn't remember everything, so it would be difficult. I slowly found myself freelancing as a mercenary. It was a fifty-fifty chance as to whether I would be turned in alongside my bounty. Sometimes I received my reward, sometimes I was imprisoned alongside my bounty and beaten. I would be released, whereas my bounty would not. Even with all their technological advances, murder was still prohibited. I would be beaten within an inch of my life and then released. Because they couldn't kill. Because my red eyes gave me away. Because I was demon. Because deep down, they knew I was better than them. 

Hiei's eyes snapped open as water began to fill the compartment again. That blasted dream again... His eyes narrowed as the water began to fill past his ears, licking at his cheekbone. He found himself stripped down to his pants in a metal box just inches larger than he was. It had openings for pipes on the sides, which he assumed was where the water was coming from. A shiver went down his spine at the temperature of the water. He wouldn't be surprised if it was streaming straight from the arctic. His breathing increased as the water rose past his eyes. He shut them tight, waiting. Just waiting. He knew the drill. He had been captured by these men before. The compartment would fill, and just as he thought he wouldn't be able to hold his breath any longer, the compartment would drain, leaving him coughing up water and shivering to the brink of death. Without demon energy, he had no way of regulating his own temperature. He usually wore many layers to keep himself warm. His captors knew that. He began coughing heavily as the water drained, trying to take as small of breaths as he could. It was futile, as his lungs craved the oxygen that the water had stolen from them. As his coughs subsided he opened his eyes. They were met with darkness inside his metal box. He had been in here a few days. He knew his body wouldn't be able to take much more. He was too cold. The closer he came to death, the sooner he would be released. He let out a ragged sigh as he felt the water creeping into the compartment again. His eyes narrowed as he spoke. His voice was ragged and hoarse. "You fools will have to do better than this."