The mockery of my quarters was not wasted on me. No matter how many times I had found myself trapped among these pilings, I was caught in utter darkness. I had always felt that he kept me hidden in case I found a way to access light or escape. Yet today I had a window. I had a few inklings of outside life shining through the miasma, but he knew I'd be stuck here. He knew I wouldn't leave this time.

I sat in my favorite position against those old, wooden walls. That deep pressure against my chest started again, waiting to crush my lungs from its weight. I wanted to scream, but couldn't find the air. I wanted to run, but my legs stuck firmly to the ground.

I was out of plans and I didn't know what to think or who I could rely on. I knew for sure my reliability was waning.

*You can do this. You can do this, Lin. Just get up and…*

I couldn't finish my thought before the door beside me slid open, revealing Kagura. I had only met her once, when I was struck with amnesia, but the memory that she had stolen Ji from me was all too clear.

"Get out," I found my voice cracked but still forceful enough to evoke some sort of fear in her.

"Why are you so testy, hmm?" She pressed her fan to her lips and smirked. "And to think I was going to give you something."

"How can you work for this monster? Someone that steals something innocent and taints it to the core? That takes a young girl that finally found a home and rips her into pieces again? What more can you take from me?" I tore my eyes from her, not being able to stand my weakness.

I remained slumped against the wall. The panic in my voice was undeniable. I truly had lost all hope. Kiyoshi was dead. I hadn't a clue where Kumiko or Ji was. Acantha had abandoned us or had somehow lead Naraku to us.

And what of Sesshomaru?

I hadn't sensed his presence since my revival. Surely he would be repulsed to see me alive again, knowing that he had seen me torn from this world. I knew him well enough that my significance to him, had I ever had any, would be spent. Worthless now. I was on my own.

I turned back to Kagura who hadn't taken her sights off me. Her eyes held no malice, no ill will. They looked deep within my own, perhaps silently apologizing for all that had happened to me. Perhaps trying to tell me of a predicament she had as well. Or merely coercing me into another trap.

"What else do you want from me?" I whispered to the hushed room.

"We haven't much time," she calmly stated and held out her hand. Though I couldn't reach her outstretched hand from where I sat, her gesture was just as potent as she meant it to be.

"What of Naraku?"

"You angered him, but there is something outside the castle walls. Something that could interfere with his plans, so we have time. Just not much of it."

My mind jolted quickly, jumping to every possible conclusion that could free me. My spin stiffened suddenly as I held my head high, eyes widened, and senses open.

There is was.

Something blanketed by the poison outside. Something scarcely perceptible, but still there. My despair had overpowered my senses, but hope had given me a boost in spirit. He had followed. He knew.

"Sesshomaru."

"Not for very long, Lin. That is why you must follow me. I must show you this now."

I stood up without hesitation. "How am I to meet Sesshomaru if Naraku is out there with him?"

"You're not going to meet up with him. I must take you to the dungeon while Naraku is preoccupied."

That is not what I wanted to hear.

"But he is here! He could save…"

"Naraku will not allow it! I know what you feel. You want to be set free, you want a life with another man but you're desired by someone else. You want everything that is normal to a woman, but that isn't the circumstances, Lin!"

"But…"

"I loathe Naraku with all my being. He knows it and I know it. I will help you because you will either strengthen him or defeat him. Kill him, but today is not the day. Naraku has you and will not lose you. He will not waste too much time with Sesshomaru. So the castle will disappear before Sesshomaru breaks through the barrier."

"Then we must stop Naraku! We must help Sesshomaru break through!"

"Do that and Ji dies. Do that and your mother dies. People can help you only to a point, but you have to take it upon yourself to destroy Naraku. If he is to be defeated, then you must play the game."

"I am not pure enough to defeat him. I can only corrupt things. A priestess, maybe, but why not someone else?"

"Come, your mother finds it necessary to speak with you," Kagura said, completely ignoring my question.

I was correct, right? Why did Kagura have so much faith in my abilities to kill Naraku, rather than Sesshomaru or InuYasha? Hell! Even Kikyo had enough spiritual powers to dispose of him, but Kagura believes in me? Why? And what did my mother have to do with it?

"My mother? But she betrayed me. She offered us up to Naraku! How can you…"

"Don't be quick to judge her. I've spoken with her and she only wishes to help you. She repented to me; plead with me, to take you down there. If only for a moment."

I don't know whether it was the sincerity in Kagura's eyes or the mention of second chances. It had become sort of a necessity these days to know who to trust and who deserved a second chance. Kagura, the slave and the abductor. She had taken Ji, but only because of the power hanging over her. She wasn't complete. I could feel that something was missing from her and it was this something that would not allow her to defy Naraku.

Just as he had Ji. The closest thing to my heart itself.

Whatever my hesitation was, I followed Kagura to the dungeons. Our hurried steps padded madly over the planks, as the familiar door opened and I found myself once again on those steep stairs. Every step I took, I beheld Naraku's collection of devices. Each one as painful as the next, until the latticework cages appeared before us.

Kagura lightly tapped on the wooden bars and gestured me towards the many openings.

My mother was indeed the one inside. Her waved hair lay in heaps across her face and her limbs seemed thinner under the weak candlelight. It was hard to tell from lack of light, but as she made her way over to me, limping, I believe a saw a deep wound across her side. The blood still wet.

I turned to Kagura. "Did you..?" I signaled Acantha's injury.

"No." But Acantha had been the voice that answered. "Kagura stopped me from returning to you, but it was Naraku that made it certain I wouldn't be able to run."

Her foot caught a piece of filth and as suddenly as her voice had come forth, she collapsed along the bars. That's when I saw her arms weren't working correctly. They were twisted and torn. The bones poked and stretched across her skin, still attached, but the pain on her face told me that he had done more damage than the outside showed. She momentarily leaned against the bars, but slide down to the ground. Her wounds just wouldn't allow her to stand anymore.

"What has he done to you?" I growled as I kneeled down to her level. I didn't hold back my tears. Not since Naraku had appeared could I hide my feelings for my loved ones. "Tell me!"

"Lin, there isn't much time."

"Not that tripe! Tell me what he did to you!"

"Kagura has told me everything. About Ji, about Naraku, even Sesshomaru. I have to tell you something…"

"Mother, you don't have to explain. He tricked you just as he tricked me. You don't have to apologize."

She smiled and let her own tears fall.

"No. Not that…" she paused to cough; a red stew covered her mouth, slick and dripping. "When I left you to the humans, I was protecting you from my life. From those that wanted to hurt you, from those that would treat you unkindly for what you were. And also, I was saving you from our world. You were meant for better."

"I forgave you, mother. Believe me…"

"I do. I didn't believe it before. Probably because I felt the guilt, but you are not me. You are…"

"Half Siren?" I asked sarcastically.

"Lin. You are Lin. Never Ligeia and that is why you will triumph."

"Over Naraku?"

"You have to destroy him. He mustn't get the corrupted jewel as I've come to understand your position in his plan. Don't allow it." Her eyes bore into mine with such fervor that I was frightened by the fire beneath them. She knew.

"He has my child, mother. He will inevitably win."

"Only you can defeat him. He will fall to you if you stay strong."

"But, like I said to Kagura, I'm not pure. I corrupt things. I haven't the light to kill him, to purify him."

"Naraku uses the siren in you and this makes sense. Sirens are wicked but humans can be good. Like you. Naraku has placed too much importance on your shoulders, therefore, you will be able to control him with your humanity."

*Sirens could be good too* I thought while looking to my mother.

"How can my human side overpower the siren?"

"It had for many years. Love produces love. The years among the humans had purified you and overpowered your opposing blood. That is how the other sirens never found you. Naraku merely released the siren in you the last time…well, as Kagura says, you were together. Hate produces hate, you see. He plans to raise that blood to full control with this union. Don't let him."

"But if he has my child?"

"Do what you must do to protect Ji, but never allow him to control you with your own weakness. He'll be able to get away with more damage, but don't let it hurt you to where you can never repair. Never allow him access to your heart."

"My heart?" It was a wonderful notion, but hadn't he already taken a hold of it. "Between Ji, Kiyoshi, Adder, and my mother, you still don't believe he hasn't wounded my heart? Look around you, he has trumped me. I haven't anything left."

Her head shot up from the floor and her gaze pierced through the blackness. "Never say that again! Lin, don't you see that is exactly what he wants. Despair."

"What?"

"As long as you are able to hold on to something, love anything, he will not be able to control you entirely. There will always be a bit of Midoriko's light in the Jewel if you are still able to believe in good."

"But how do you know?"

"Just because Naraku has slipped my attention, does not mean I don't know the origin of the Jewel. I am a siren, Lin. We are gluttonous creatures that wish for power and possessions. Of course we know the Jewel, but you cannot allow the siren nature to overpower you like it had just now."

"I've never been able to purify the Jewel before, even when surrounded by loved ones. How do you expect me to neglect half myself to defeat him? How?"

There was an unnatural silence from the cage as she rested her head against the opposite wall. The fire died from within her eyes as she stared back. I could see her pain, but nothing could prepare me for what her response was.

"Get rid of that half," she mumbled.

"What?!" I yelped, but she was unresponsive. She was lost to me. Her eyes rolled back in her head and she fell to the floor in an unconscious heap. I didn't waste a single moment before I was attached to the bars, trying in vain to pry them open. "Acantha! Wake up!"

I leapt off and searched desperately for any sign of Kagura, but she was nowhere to be found. Instead, a large hand reached out from the dark and wrung my neck, cutting off the air. It took a while to see what was before me but my eyes adjusted just in time to see the blazing eyes of Him.

"Na..ra.." I choked out, but couldn't speak. I was losing it quick, but he wouldn't let up until I began to desperately slap his wrists. The flow of air managed to enter once he let go, but now I was left alone with the devil. Acantha was gone for now and Kagura had fled (probably aware that Naraku was returning). But what could I do.

"What are you doing down here?" he hissed, holding back his hand that was still itching to wring my neck. "Tell me what she told you! Explain to me why you were out about the castle when I explicitly," he paused to slap me brutally across the cheek, "told you to remain in your room to think about your situation!"

"I…" but he made another swipe across my face.

"You foolish girl! Do you realize the consequences? Do you realize all that is at stake? Tell me what that…" he pointed at the unconscious Acantha, "…told you!"

"She told me she was sorry!" I yelled. I was frightened. I didn't know what was going to happen now that I was caught. The murderous look in his eye told me that Ji life was slipping through my grasp. I had to act.

"Sorry? That piece of shit asked you to forgive her, did she? And what did you say?"

How could I calm him? Then it hit me.

"I lied."

"About?"

"I told her I forgave her, but I don't. How could I? She kidnapped Ji. She left me for dead in an unfamiliar human village. She never cared about me. Of course, she did give me one good piece of advice."

Perhaps this would work.

"And what would that be, my dear?" The 'r' rolled deep within his throat as his eyes attempted to see through me.

"She envied your strength and intelligence. Though she wanted me to forgive her, she also thought that you wouldn't be a bad husband after all."

"Hmm?"

"I…I agree."

"To what, may I ask?"

"I will be your wife."