I do not own anything other than my OC.


Unless specified, the POV will be third person omniscient.

"Japanese Speech"

'thoughts'

"English speech"

—∞—|—∞— Scene and/or time transition

—∞— shift between areas of action or POV within the same scene/location

{Stage directions/ setting}

[[Telepathic communication]]


Previously:

"Who in the world could…" Miroku wondered.

"Well, that's…" The elder said a little hesitantly, not sure they would believe him. "They say it's the work of a woman and a baby."

"!" Inuyasha, Sango, and Kagome said, gasping in realization.

'A baby, he says… that one…!?' Kagome thought, alarmed. A bead of nervous sweat rolled down the side of her face as an image of Naraku's creepy white infant, who had tried to take control of her heart before, appeared in her mind.

"And that woman would be Kagura, huh?" Inuyasha said, thinking along the same lines as Kagome.

Sounds like they might have finally managed to find a new lead on Naraku, after all…


{That night, at a certain temple…}

SCCHHHH…

The tree leaves shivered, rustling as an ominous wind swept through the darkened temple.

"Honored priest… in time, will this place be attacked as well?" a young man, one of the esteemed priest's acolytes, asked warily as a chill traveled up his spine. He and another fellow acolyte were supposed to be watching while the priest prayed this evening, should he have need of any assistance, in light of the recent attacks on other temples.

"Not 'in time'…" The elder priest said calmly, pausing in his prayers to address the young follower's concerns. "Already… I can feel evil energy closing in, above this temple."

"Eh!" The two acolytes exclaimed in alarm, breaking out into a nervous sweat, as they glanced up nervously at the ceiling, trying to sense the danger for themselves.

"You should hide." The priest advised them, but it was too late. The evil was already upon them.

"Hmm… it seems you can do a bit more than those we've met before you." It mused, sending a wave of kamaitachi into the temple.

SLASH!

"U… Uwah!" The two boys yelled, frozen in fear, as the priest ran in front of them, whipping out his prayer beads.

SHNKT!

"So, you've come… youkai!" He shouted, pulling the beads tautly in front of him, raising a protective barrier to block the deadly attack.

CRRRASH!

"How impertinent, putting up a barrier just like that." Kagura remarked as she stepped into view, holding Naraku's white infant in one arm and her fan in the other. She slid her fan open a little wider. It seemed this priest had some skill.

"Hmph… So, you youkai are the woman and baby I've been hearing about…" The priest said, keeping his guard up as he gauged his opponents. It was obvious Kagura was a force to be reckoned with, but that baby… 'This infant… compared to the woman… he is actually many times worse!' He realized, tensing, as a bead of sweat rolled down the side of his face. This was bad…

"Heh-heh-heh… Maybe this old monk will know something about the borderline between this world and the next…" The white infant said deviously, snickering. He seemed to be a lot better than the others they had already tried.

"!" The old priest gasped in surprise and alarm. What were they—!?

"I… It spoke…!!" The acolytes shouted with disbelief, also alarmed.

Monk… Will you be able to handle the next one?" Kagura asked, smirking ever so slightly, as she raised her fan to attack again. "Ryuuja no Mai!" She shouted, sending several swirling blades of wind crashing towards them.

KSHNKT! KSHNKT!

"Ugh!" The old priest grunted, gritting his teeth, as he strained to repel her attack with another barrier. He was getting too old for this crap!

—SNAP—!

The priest's eyes widened with a sick realization as he felt the tension in his string of prayer beads suddenly break, and he watched as the dark-red beads began to scatter as they flew up into the air. The old man cried out in pain and shock as the deadly wind vortexes pierced his body, mortally wounding him. His body hit the ground with a sickening thud. Though everything appeared to be happening in slow motion to the doomed priest, in reality Kagura's deadly attack had only taken seconds. The two acolytes were stunned.

'O… Our priest…!' They thought, too shocked to move.

"Uhn…" The priest groaned weakly as Kagura took a step forward, approaching him with the terrible infant in her arms. He was fading fast, barely able to move, but he managed lift his hand to his chest, sliding it into his kimono. The white infant smirked. It was useless.

"I'm going to take a peek into your soul…" He told the half-dead priest as Kagura laid him on top of the helpless old man's chest.

SH…

"!" The creepy infant gasped, frowning, as he realized too late that the old priest wasn't as helpless as he had seemed.

SHHRRRED!

"Wha…!" Kagura shouted in surprise, taken aback when a bright ray of holy energy suddenly shot out of the dying priest's chest, slicing the infant cleanly in half. "…" Kagura said as she watched both halves of its corpse fall lifelessly onto the floor, stunned. Did… that really just happen…?

"I… did… it…!" The old priest wheezed triumphantly, finally allowing his grip to loosen on the vajra he had kept hidden in his kimono, as he breathed his last.

'Ho… Honored priest!' The two acolytes cried in their minds, trembling in fear, as they mourned the death of their honored master and teacher. Fortunately for them, Kagura had more important things to worry about than how to off two scrawny fools that had allowed themselves to be paralyzed with fear.

'This… is really bad, isn't it?' Kagura thought, sweat-dropping, as she glanced back at the infant's split corpse. Naraku was gonna be so pissed…!

—∞—|—∞—

{Meanwhile, back in Tír na nÓg…}

[[Now, the first thing I need to teach you, before you can leave this room, is how to control your own thoughts and make proper use of telepathy.]] Gean stated once Katsumi had calmed down enough to listen to him after their little emotional episode. [[Right now Úna and I can hear virtually every thought that passes through your mind without even trying to… to be honest, you're such a fast thinker, it's giving me a bit a bit of a headache…]] He added, smiling wryly as he sweat-dropped. He was glad to see his granddaughter's pretty little head wasn't just for show, but when someone like her, who had such a terrifyingly complex, fast, and not to mention random thought process, was in 'full broadcast' mode, just trying to keep up with her was giving the two older faeries whiplash…! In addition, if she left the room in this condition, it would be virtually impossible for her to be able to keep a secret or have any sort of privacy from the other faeries.

"Oh, sorry…" Katsumi apologized a bit sheepishly, blushing as she rubbed the back of her neck and laughed a little nervously. She hoped they didn't catch a glimpse of anything too embarrassing…

[[It's all right. For the time being, we just ask that you be patient and remain in this room until we can give you permission to do otherwise. You see, this private healing room was especially designed to block the thoughts of its inhabitants from being heard by those on the outside, and vice-versa, in order to create a more relaxing healing environment since keeping your guard up while trying to recuperate from severe wounds can be tiresome.]] He explained patiently, smiling a little wryly in amusement at how pink his granddaughter's face had become, despite having done her best trying to suppress her flustered blushing. He knew she was curious about how they could make a room capable of being a telepathic 'cone of silence', but he didn't really feel like wasting time on a detailed explanation of that, so… [[But enough of that. Listen carefully, Katsumi, for what I am about to teach you is an ancient technique that has been passed down amongst our people for generations. This knowledge is sacred to us, and, therefore, must never be revealed to outsiders who may seek to abuse and misuse it. Sharing the secret wisdom of our ancestors with those who are not of faerie blood is considered taboo. You must take the knowledge I am about to impart unto you to your grave… Do you understand, Katsumi…?]] Gean said gravely, wearing the most solemn expression, as he fixed his young granddaughter with heavy, piercing glare. He needed her to understand just how severe this matter was to him and the others.

As direct descendants of one of the very first primordial beings to emerge from the cosmic energies that formed this universe and the many worlds planes existing within and around it, faeries had the unique distinction of being, at once, both the most powerful and the most fragile of all the races who walked the face of the earth. Because of their close link to the natural world and all of the pure, cosmic energy that flowed through it, they all had (on some level) the unique ability to manipulate the very fabric of space and time, which enabled powerful faeries, like Gean Cánach, to open and close a few wormholes here and there in order to travel between different dimensions and various planes of existence. However, to balance out these almost god-like powers, their physical forms actually have a rather incredible Achilles' heel. For faeries, everything within their bodies was connected. Their lives and spirits, along with all of their powers, were linked to one crucial lynchpin… If the wrong sort of person were to learn the secret behind how to control a faerie's lynchpin, then…

The entire race of Faerie could become endangered.

Katsumi furrowed her brow and frowned slightly while she concentrated on carefully considering what her grandfather had just told her. She didn't need to be a telepathic genius to understand the gravity of the situation. It was obvious how important this was to him, and this was not a decision that should be made lightly. For a brief moment, it occurred to her that maybe it would be better if she didn't learn whatever this secret was and just quickly returned back to Japan. She knew Rin, at least, must be worried about her if her wounds had been that serious… But then it passed.

She couldn't go back, not yet. Katsumi didn't want to return home empty-handed after suffering such a humiliating defeat at the hands of that bastard, Naraku, of all people…! Now that she was here, with a group of real faeries, she finally had a chance to learn more about this part of her and to, hopefully, get stronger as well. As much as she hated to admit it, her recent crushing defeat had just proved how weak she really was—It was so frustrating!

'I… want to win!!' Katsumi thought, clenching her fists so tightly that her knuckles turned white and her claws began to pierce the flesh of her palms, drawing blood. She had never been so afraid or humiliated in all her life before, and this mortified Katsumi. She couldn't just 'forgive and forget' the whole thing ever happened, not this time—This time, Katsumi wasn't going to be satisfied until she smacked that smug smirk off of that sick bastard's face!! Katsumi took a deep breath and slowly exhaled to calm herself before turning to face her grandfather again. She needed to stay focus on what she could do now, not sulk over spilled milk. "I understand." Katsumi finally replied solemnly, staring back at Gean Cánach, straight in the eye. A slight smirk tugged at the corner of his lips. Her gorgeous hazel eyes were smoldering fiercely with resolve and determination.

[[Excellent. That's an excellent look you have in your eyes, Katsumi. You'll be needing that sort of determination before we're through! After all, it's no simple feat… learning your True Name…]]