Ok, this is a total revision of a story that I had previously started. Its going to start out in the past and then go to the present. Hopefully, that will prevent any confusion.
Disclaimer: All publicly recognizable characters, settings, etc. are the property of their respective owners. The original characters and plot are the property of the author. The author is in no way associated with the owners, creators, or producers of any media franchise. No copyright infringement is intended.
Sengoku-jidai - Warring States Era
Early Fall - The leaves are beginning to turn their brilliant shades of yellow, red and orange. The sky is blue and a breeze is gently flowing through the trees. None of this reflects the way a group of comrades are feeling about how their destiny will come about. Today is the day of the final battle against Naraku.
The group who had traveled together for 3 years in search of the shards of the Shikon-No-Tama slowly awoke to a day that promised to be one of the last bright and beautiful days, that sometimes made it hard to believe that fall was fast approaching. As the birds sang and the wind fluttered the leaves on the trees, the members of the Inu-tachi could only think of the upcoming battle with Naraku.
Kikyo had been brutally attacked by Naraku and before she died she informed them that Naraku would attack soon, since he had all but one shard of the jewel. Inuyasha had mourned her death for over a month now, but with her gone Kagome regained the lost part of her soul and with it a new level of power awakened that with training would surpass Midoriko herself. Along with her soul, the shard that Kohaku had, left his body and returned to Kagome's, imbedding itself in her heart. This made Naraku all the more determined to destroy those which could prevent him from reeking havoc and destruction on the world.
Sesshoumaru and his little group, along with Kouga had been traveling with the tachi for several months now in anticipation of the attack. Within the last week the group had been close to Kaede's village and decided to stop for a few days. While Kagome went home to get some final necessities, the others also took the time to rest and gather provisions needed for the battle. It was decided that it would be best if Shippou, Rin and Ah-Un stayed at the village to prevent them from being used if Naraku was able to get a hold of them. They decided the dragon would stay with them so if the village was attacked they could quickly escape.
As the sun rose over the horizon they noticed a figure approaching the village. They had assumed it would be Kagome since this person was coming from the direction of the well, but at first glance it appeared to be a female warrior. Kagome had an outfit similar to Sango's made with stronger armor, and where Sango's was black and pink, Kagome's was tan and green. Kagome's hair was twisted up in a tight bun with metal rods placed in it. These were also capable of becoming weapons if needed. Sango had taught Kagome some alternative fighting skills and she had learned how to use a katana from Inuyasha and Sesshoumaru. As she approached they noticed her quiver and bow were strapped over her right shoulder and the sword, Doragon Sakeme, she had commissioned by Totosai hung from the left side of her hip. Everyone present was slightly shocked at her appearance and even more so by the determination in her eyes. Bright sapphire pools reflected the victory they knew would have to be for everyone to have the future they knew they deserved. To say the others were speechless was an understatement. Even the ice prince himself had a momentary slip in his perfect mask.
Just as they started back to the village they heard a lot of yelling and several people running toward them and the village from the fields. They heard shots of "Run, youkai!" and suddenly everyone noticed the evil aura which could only be Naraku emanating from around a mile away. They raced back to the village to grab the few things and were off to face their destiny.
Sesshoumaru lead, with Kouga and Inuyasha with Kagome on his back slightly behind, while Sango and Miroku on Kirara were in the rear. They raced between the fields and Inuyasha's forest toward the evil aura and as they topped the final hill, Naraku's humanoid form came into view. As the noon day sun shone brightly overhead the group stood shocked and horrified at the sight before them. At the bottom of the hill stood an almost identical likeness of each of them staring menacingly back, with the additions of a Kikyo, Kohaku, Shippou and Rin twin.
Over the years Naraku had managed to obtain blood from each of the companions and used them to recreate himself in these replicas. With the males they each had a shoulder length hair cut and the girls had a very short bob. All were dressed in clothes of a deep blood red color under their armor. The girls blushed heavily at the halter top and short skirt of their counterpart.
The imitation Sesshoumaru was the one to speak first, and amazingly in a tone similar to the originals. "Now that I have your undivided attention, let me introduce you to your counterparts that will replace you in this world once they have successfully killed you. I am Hiromasa (Sesshoumaru), this is Morio (Inuyasha), Hiromi (Kagome), Akako (Kikyo), Kane (Shippou), Chihiro (Rin), Chitose (Sango), Daichi (Miroku), and Itsuo (Kohaku)."
Each moved into battle stance to begin the final encounter with their nemesis. Things paired off as such: Sesshoumaru against Hiromasa and Chihiro, Inuyasha against Morio and Akako, Kagome against Hiromi and Kane, Sango against Chitose and Itsuo, and Miroku against Daichi and the Saimyosho. Kouga and Kirara didn't have a golem to fight but there were plenty for them to help with.
A silence washed over the valley, and for a moment it seemed like time was waiting for something to happen before it started again. Suddenly the 'children' and Akako attacked. Each were equipped with weapons that helped to maximize their ability to strike, along with their enhanced abilities from being part demon. At first everyone took a defensive stance as they were still having trouble differentiating these imposters from their loved ones. After a few minutes of seeing their capable fighting ability the others realized that these copies really were dangerous and had to be destroyed.
The 'children' were the weakest of the fighters and taking them down was emotionally hard on everyone, but done easily enough. It was decided to take them out with holy powers so there would be no remains to look at. Sango and Miroku dispatched their copies with the help of Kouga and Kirara, although they all sustained injuries and were unable to continue fighting. Unfortunately with each imitation that was killed miasma would begin to leak from their remains and fill the air with its putrid stench that stung their eyes and made it more difficult to breath.
Finally after several hours of fighting their were only 4 of the horrible replicas left. Unfortunately they were the strongest of the group, Hiromasa, Morio, Akako, and Hiromi. Suddenly they stopped fighting and retreated into a small group. The tachi took this time to regroup and try to make a quick plan of how to destroy these few that were left.
As they waited to see what the others were going to do, Kagome gasped and pointed to her golem. "The rest of the Shikon is in place of her heart, I don't know why I couldn't sense it until now." "Yes my dear Kagome, your replacement has the Shikon inside her just as I have Naraku's heart inside me." stated Hiromasa. They watched as Hiromi walked over to Hiromasa and they shared a long passionate kiss, to which their counterparts slightly cringed at the idea.
As their kiss deepened, a dark purple light surrounded them and they suddenly reappeared as one. Its hair was the white/silver of Sesshoumaru, pulled up in a pony tail that was ebony at the end. It had sapphire eyes with gold flecks in them. The skin was a creamy ivory with ebony stripes that shown stark on its face. In all aspects of this creature, it became difficult to tell if it was male or female, it was even sized between Kagome and Sesshoumaru.
As they stared at this new enemy, they began to wonder exactly how they were going to defeat a creature that contain the powers of their strongest warriors. Before they had much time to think Akako began attacking Inuyasha and Morio started towards Kagome. Suddenly, the otherworldly creature began to speak, "We know you can't kill the one you love, so defend yourself till you die." Knowing this was true slightly worried the two for a moment while they decided their next action. Kagome reached into her quiver for another arrow and realized that Shippou had stuck a couple of his toys into it earlier. It just happened to be two illusion tops. If they used them right, they could trick the other two into taking each other out. She tossed one to Inuyasha and after a moment of confusion he realized what she was thinking.
They stood their ground from Akako and Morio. Then they let the tops loose and they immediately got bigger and spun a tornado like funnel around the four. After the dust settled it hadn't looked like much had changed. In actuality, Akako looked like Kagome to Morio and he looked like Inuyasha to her. Inuyasha and Kagome, knowing who they were started to spar and make it look like they were really fighting each other. Soon though, Morio and Akako were so engrossed with fighting each other that they didn't notice Kagome and Inuyasha sneak away to aid Sesshoumaru. As they finally managed to mortally wound each other the illusion began to slip away and they realized they had just killed each other. As the final essence of life seeped from their bodies, miasma began to pour out of them. The sky began to get dark and the air was stiff and heavy.
With only the otherworldly creature who now referred to itself as Hiromisa left to fight the three needed a plan of action to destroy this creature and Naraku once and for all. As Hiromisa stood looking as much like a Kami as they figured they would ever see, they knew they had to destroy him or forfeit their own lives. They prepared a final attack and began to infuse their power into their swords. Sesshoumaru performed his Dragon Strike, Inuyasha his Kaze-no-Kizu, and Kagome her Holy Blessed Tears. Hiromisa disintegrated as the blast struck him. Unfortunately, the backlash of the attack was enough to take down the entire tachi too.
The Kami decided as a reward for their selflessness and heroism, that they would give them all a second chance to be reborn in the future. To live out their lives without the duty of saving the world. During the discussion, Mikaboshi decided that Naraku's essence should be reborn into a new being. He was the best creation that Mikaboshi had at that point and was still dealing with the repercussions of unleashing his beloved pet upon the world.
A few years before the rebirth of Kagome, the Kami discovered Mikaboshi's plan. Unfortunately, the evil essence had already been attached to a small boy and it destined him to be the next great evil. They decided to place the dormant Shikon No Tama in Kagome so that when the time came that Mikaboshi's creation struck, the jewel would become active and return everyone's memories and abilities of the past to them.
Original/Counterpart- Meaning
Sesshoumaru/Hiromasa - Wise and straightforward
Inuyasha/Morio- Protector
Miroku/Daichi- Great Wisdom
Sango/Chitose- Ascend with the strength of a thousand
Kikyo/Akako- Red child
Kagome/Hiromi- Broadminded beauty
Kohaku/Itsuo- Fifth male
Shippou/Kane- A spear
Rin/Chihiro- A thousand questions
Doragon Sakeme- Dragon Tear
I tried to find names that reflected the original characters. I know Akako and Daichi are close to names of the actual characters Akago and Hachi. I hope I didn't confuse everyone with the duplicate characters. The last part about the jewel and their reincarnation is something I partly borrowed from Sailor Moon so I will add that its not my original idea.
This chapter isn't terribly long and it took me a while to decide if I wanted to get specific with the actual fighting or just summarize it. I went with summarizing it simply because this is just backline for the rest of the story. Please let me know what you think of this chapter. Do I need to tweak it or is it good? Review, review, review!