Miroku's Hand of Fate Pt.7

Miroku opened his eyes and grabbed his staff. He hadn't been asleep for more than five minutes before he awoke. But he wasn't the same person when he went to sleep. Now Naraku controlled him!

Inuyasha had dozed off believing Miroku wasn't a threat and was snoring in his usual fashion.

Miroku stood on his feet and looked at the others who were sleeping soundly without a care in the world as it appeared. His eyes glowed red and his mind raced with the urge to murder, or rather he was commanded to think that. Miroku didn't want to kill his friends, but he wasn't strong enough to resist Naraku's will over him at the moment.

His spirit was weakened by a battle he had with Naraku in his mind and it was all he could do to grip his staff and not move it. Because if he moved, he'd do something horrible. "I don't want to kill my friends," Miroku said, his voice a mere whisper and not audible to the sleepers.

However someone did hear him and Inuyasha's ear twitched and he opened one eye. Then he saw what he had suspected from the beginning. Miroku was standing over Kagome and had his staff in his hand poised to strike her. Or at least that's what it looked like to him. The truth of the matter was, Miroku was fighting Naraku's control and he just happened to be standing over Kagome as he was doing so.

"Kagome!" Inuyasha screamed out.

Kagome awoke suddenly to the sight of Miroku standing over her. She gasped in her belief that Inuyasha had been correct about Miroku. Miroku raised the staff above his head and brought it down towards her.

Kagome quickly rolled out of the way as Miroku's staff slammed into the ground where she was a moment ago.

The bang awoke everyone.

Inuyasha unsheathed his sword. "I knew it!" He went to attack Miroku.

"Inuyasha. . .SIT!" Kagome said.

Inuyasha slammed into the ground face first.

He looked up at her and sneered, "Kagome! Why the hell did you do that?"

"I don't want you to hurt Miroku," she said.

"But he tried to hurt you?"

Miroku swung his staff at the others as Inuyasha and Kagome engaged in quarrel chit-chat, but his movements seemed exceptionally slow compared to what they were used to in his fighting skill. Normally Miroku had a more fluent, quick thrust to his attacks. These attacks appeared like he was holding back. Sango noticed this and told the others.

He went after Sango, but she was able to avoid his attacks with ease. But she did have to pull out her Katana in defense of them. "Miroku, what's wrong?" she said. But he didn't say anything at first. He swung his staff at her a couple of times before saying, in a struggling tone of voice, "Help me, Sango. Naraku is controlling me."

"Inuyasha, come help me," Sango said.

"Aint gotta ask me twice," he said.

He ran at Miroku with the Tetsusaiga in hand and was ready to strike the monk down, but then Sango said, "Inuyasha, don't hurt him. He's being controlled by Naraku. He can't control his actions."

Inuyasha halted in his tracks and stopped his sword several inches from Miroku's head. If he had continued with his attack he would have sliced Miroku in half. "Naraku!" he said.

"That snake in the grass. I knew I smelled him. Where is he?"

"He's controlling me by the curse he placed on my hand," Miroku said, struggling against his actions. "I don't want to hurt anyone. Stop me, Inuyasha. Do what you must to stop me."

"There's only one way," Inuyasha said. "Cut off your hand."

"Nooo," Miroku said. "There has to be another way?"

"What are you complainin' about? You'll finally be free of Naraku's curse? That's what you want, dontcha?

"I don't want to be free of it that way." His voice sounded a little stronger. "I won't let Naraku cause me to lose my hand, but I also don't want to hurt you guys." He continued to attack Sango.

"The lesser of two evils," Kagome muttered.

All of a sudden, feeling Naraku's influence once again overwhelming him, he said to Inuyasha, "Do it, Inuyasha. I would rather lose my hand than be a messenger boy for Naraku and commit hateful crimes in his name."

"Aint gotta tell me twice," Inuyasha said, and he rose the crimson blade of the Tetsusaiga, and brought it down onto Miroku's right arm, slicing it off just below the elbow.

Miroku immediately stopped his attack and screamed out in horrible and agonizing pain, grabbing his arm. Blood did not pour from the wound because the Tetsusaiga had cauterized the skin with heat as it sliced off his arm. But nevertheless, the cure seemed worse than the disease, and tears fell down Miroku's face from the sight of his lost arm.

A familiar laugh echoed the dark landscape and Naraku appeared within view of the group wearing his traditional baboon disguise. While the others took care of Miroku, Inuyasha raised his sword in anticipation of battling it out with Naraku. But Naraku didn't attack.

"It seems Miroku got his wish after all," he said. "He's finally free of the curse I placed upon his family, but it came at a high cost."

"Why!" Is all Inuyasha said.

"Revenge," Naraku simply said. "His family has served my purpose well, but now it is time to cut the cord. He may enjoy the rest of his life in peace--tell him that Inuyasha--what time he has left, that is. I knew it would come to this, so I set the whole thing up for your benefit. I knew you would have to cut off his hand, but believe me--it's not over. Not for him. Once Miroku dies, his soul will become forever mine, feeding my essence for all of eternity, it will be an unending existence of pain." He chuckled sinisterly, and then vanished like a phantom in the night.

Inuyasha eyed the area for Naraku, but could not see him, and he could no longer smell his scent, which told him he was truly gone.

"This is not what I envisioned my death to be like," Miroku said, his face showing the pain he was feeling. Sango had wrapped him in a blanket, but it didn't seem to be helping. He felt very cold and weak, and even his greatest pleasure, the touch of Sango's firm rear was the furthest from his active mind. He knew he was going to die.

Inuyasha went over to the group who had surrounded Miroku. "Is there anything we can do?" he asked.

"Yes, there is," a voice came from the darkness. And to everyone's surprise, Sesshomaru walked into the dim glow of the Tetsusaiga's crimson blade. Behind him were Rin and Jaken, riding a two-headed horse.

--to be continued…