The Spirit World

The world of Yu Yu Hakusho is divided into three worlds.

The Human World, the Spirit World, and the Demon World.

Most spiritually sensitive beings of Yu Yu Hakusho are found in the Human World and live in Japan.

Many inhabitants of the human world spend their whole life unaware that spiritual beings exist or are in charge of their afterlife.

"Buzz."

In an alley of the Human World, a beam of light shone down. The empty alleyway was lit up before a young man can be found kneeling.

Tom held his head as his consciousness crept back in. With a shake of his head, his eyes opened and became serious.

Looking around, he found himself in a secluded alley far different from the void. He smoothed out his short brown hair and tapped the orb. The menu screen came up with several alerts.

[Quest]

[World of Yu Yu Hakusho]

[Mission: Collect the three stolen Artifacts of Darkness.]

Relieved to have a understanding of his mission now, Tom wiped some sweat from his forehead. The sun was high in the sky and the void had lowered his body temperature beforehand. The longer he stood outside, the more his red jacket stuck to him.

Moving to the menu, Tom ignored the still empty [Item] and tapped [Skills] as it had an alert.

[Skills]

[Spirit Blast (!) - Cooldown: One / Mission]

[The user emits a burst of Spirit Energy in a short range. Leaves user weak after use.]

Phew, Tom exhaled. This must be the skill he obtained from the [Beginner's Gift]. So far he cannot judge its worth. He hoped it would be worth the pain at least.

The worrying thing is the cooldown. It might be problematic if the mission is long or if he cannot complete the mission with only one use. For now, [Spirit Blast] will just be his trump card.

All that is left is the message.

[User: Tom Bell]

[A messenger from Spirit World is on the way to meet you. Follow their instructions to complete the mission. Participant is warned that any illegal actions taken will result in negative relations with Spirit World and an increased mission difficulty.]

Does that mean I need to stay or will the messenger come for me wherever I am? Tom wondered.

Walking to the edge of the alley, Tom peeked out at the street. He was covered his eyes against the bright light as he surveyed the surroundings.

On the sidewalk was countless men and women in what appeared to be business attire. Cars of various designs drove by,

Looking at their faces, Tom felt some sense of unfamiliarity. Whatever racial characteristics he had, it seemed to be foreign to this nation.

"Rumble."

With a embarrassed chuckle, Tom held his stomach.

Since he woke up, Tom had nothing to eat. Technically that was fifteen minutes ago, but that was from what he remembered. If he had nothing to eat before waking up in the void then the time would be stretched out.

Looking out enviously at the business men and women, Tom cursed the Void Entity for not giving him any funds for food.

With no other choice, Tom decided to sit by a wall and waited for the Spirit World messenger to arrive. After a short nap, Tom was stirred awake by a strong gust of wind.

Looking up, Tom saw a beautiful girl on a broom descending from the sky.

The girl had long flowing hair the color blue like the sky and wore a light-pink kimono with a white sash on her waist.

Taken by the sight, Tom whistled. Spirit world had some talented people.

The girl hopped off her broom and walked over. With a bow, she introduced herself.

"Hello, Mr. Bell. My name is Charlene. Spirit World would like to enlist your help. If you would, please come with me."

"Lead the way."

"It would be my pleasure."

Charlene led Tom to the broom and hopped on.

Tom gazed at the levitating broom hesitantly but followed Charlene's example. Tom hooks his arms around Charlene's waist, grunting for the duo to ascend.

Charlene giggled before commanding her broom to ascend.

The alleyway began to shrink in their vision. Soon the city started to shrink below their feet as the two made their way into the clouds.

The sun shone intensely. Tom's sweat ran in rivers. Yet, the ascent was not going to be a quick finish.

The sky seemed infinite. Space not even in their sights.

Then, Tom squinted his eyes. The space began to distort as blues were replaced with oranges and yellows.

"Hang on!"

Charlene shouted a warning before Tom heard an audible boom. Tightening his eyes and his hands, Tom felt the wind tearing at his clothes. Then, nothing.

A couple of seconds pass, and Tom's hearing is restored. The wind blows softly. Tom opens his eyes and sees a marvelous scene before him.

What used to be clouds underneath their feet is now yellow dirt for miles around. A rough road can be seen from afar, leading up to a series of mountains up ahead. At the foot of the mountains can be seen a large Japanese style castle.

Tom gaped at the scenery. Not even the void was this mesmerizing. Then again, the void had little to show.

Charlene sped over the ground, making her way to the Japanese castle.

On the road, Tom spotted what seemed like millions of figures milling about. Each one, an assorted color. On closer look, what can be seen as horns were seen on the figures heads.

"What are those?" he asked.

"Ogres."

"Ogres?"

"Don't worry, Mr. Bell. Ogres are peaceful folk. While it is true that their ancestors were a bloodthirsty bunch, they have become domesticated and are now the main workforce of Spirit World."

Now, Tom realized what the distortion in space symbolized. Spirit World was not a group but an actual world and society!

"Spirit World," Tom mumbled.

The duo made their descent near the castle before jumping off their transport.

Tap. Tap. The two landed on their feet and walked it off. The broom swooshed into Charlene's sleeve with an effortless flourish.

The ogres spared the two no glances as they milled about into the gigantic doors.

As the two entered, Tom gazed around the giant blue hall. The hall was divided into several hallways, over each hung a special insignia.

Charlene beckoned Tom over to the hall with "Jr." hung over it. This was also the hall with the most ogres passed through. Many of them hurrying.

"What's the hurry about?"

"There was a break-in last night. Some dangerous items were stolen. Currently, all of Spirit World is working hard to find the criminals responsible."

"Hmm."

Could it be those three stolen Artifacts of Darkness? Tom pondered. He hurried his steps, hoping to get down to business even a little bit faster. Charlene hurried along as well so as to keep pace with him.

After some walking, the duo entered a large circular room with desks scattered. On each desk was a large pile of papers that an ogre or two was working hard on. A few others could be seen running from corner to corner with their own stacks of paper.

Charlene watched it all with a sad smile.

"Follow me."

She led Tom over to a pair of large doors on the other side of the room from where they entered.

In front of the large doors was a blue ogre screaming commands.

"Not there! Gorio is the one in charge of surveillance in Tokyo!"

"Ah! Not the Akihabara numbers! That's going to set us back!"

"Wait a minute! The Kyoto papers still need Koenma's signature!"

Charlene motioned for Tom to wait. She walked over to the blue ogre and cleared her throat.

"Ahem."

"I'm telling you, time is of the essence! If you have time, go help Gorio with Tokyo!"

"Ahem!"

"What?"

The blue ogre turned to Charlene in exasperation. When he saw her cold smile though, he froze. A shaky smile rose to his face and he started trembling.

"Charlene, you're back?"

"Why, hello George. Mr. Bell is here to see Lord Koenma. Please let us in."

George hurriedly nodded while rubbing his hands.

"With pleasure."

Moving over to the large double doors, George knocked three times. After a couple of seconds, he stuck his head through the doors.

"Koenma Sir! Charlene is here with Mr. Tom Bell to see you now."

"Let them through."

A high-pitched voice rang out of the crack in the doors. George nodded and stepped aside. Charlene led the way through while giving George a simple nod of appreciation. Tom did the same as he felt sorry for the ogre.

Not long after the two entered the other room, George can be heard screaming commands once more.

Charlene walked up to a large desk in the center of the blue room. Sitting upon a large chair at the desk was a little toddler in a pink-trimmed blue robe and a giant hat. Adorning his forehead was the initials "Jr." The exact markings at the entrance of this area.

Here sat Lord Koenma of Spirit World.

"Nice to meet you, Tom."

"Same here, Sir."

While Tom did not know Koenma, basic form of etiquette is to greet others with respect.

"No need for that," Koenma chuckled. "Just Koenma is fine. It's nice to meet respectable young men like yourself. Unlike a certain trouble-making rascal!"

Charlene stifled a chuckle and Tom had a blank look.

Tom felt like Koenma was talking about someone but as he didn't know said individual it was no skin off his bones.

"No matter. I have a job proposition for you. Recently, Spirit World has reinstated the position of Spirit Detective. While the job has already been taken, we still need an assistant."

"Oh?"

Koenma nods.

"So how about it, Tom? Spirit World is in need of hands and you can learn a lot about Spirit World and Spirit Energy as well."

"Spirit Energy..." Tom muttered.

This should be the source of his [Spirit Blast] skill, Tom mused. Could it have been related to this world's Spirit Energy? If so, was there a possibility for some other skill to manifest? His particular background has too many questions to simply solve in one setting. It's doubtful if he should even address them in front of Koenma either, so best choice of action must be to let time solve it for him!

Koenma watched Tom muse carefully. He was going to try and sweeten the deal when Tom grunted in assent.

"I accept your proposal!"

"Great! Charlene will tell you the specifics. Charlene!"

"Yes!"

Charlene grabbed Tom's arm and led him back out the doors.

Koenma watched with a pondering expression.

"Tom didn't even ask what Spirit Energy is. I'd say it needs an investigation if we weren't so short-handed."