Author's Note: I do not own Inuyasha or anything affiliated with it. The rights to it belongs solely to their respective owners.
Notice: Holy snap! Just ten chapters in an this story has already gotten ONE HUNDRED REVIEWS?! HECK YEAH! (FFVII Victory Music plays and confetti fires everywhere) Thank you all so much for your support, and know that I shall never leave this story and always reply to your reviews. Like right now, for example!
Elfen Children: You are very close, maestro.
The Queen of Water: That part will start next chapter, I promise.
Carlisle Fan 22: I did have a nice Christmas, and I hope you did as well.
Mickol93: That has yet to be decided. There's still Utsugi to worry abut, after all.
Greymon Leader batx flashpoint: Well, you'll just have to read to find out.
Wings of Hope: I actually planned on introducing Mei around the same time as Koga (to go with the Birds of Paradise) which will be in a couple chapters.
Guest: I was thinking of giving Yume a music-related ability eventually. Though instead of singing, it would be a flute. (hint hint)
NightmareOnElmStreet: I have heard your words and answered your plea.
PrincessAnime08: Yes, they have indeed.
And Cutepuppy01: yes, I always did find that rather humorous. And you're not wrong; Naraku will never live up on the chance to get rid of his weaknesses.
And now, let the tenth chapter begin!
Ch.10 Illusory Death
When the mist began enveloping everyone and they were ensnared in vines, Inuyasha himself kept running through the "mist". When it finally began to clear he saw not a forest, but a burning village. "What in-?" he muttered, leaping forward and landing in the center of the village. All around him he could hear screams of fear and suffering, and everyone was moving away from him. "Hey!" he called, raising his hand. They just ran further, one of the screaming "Run! It's the one who attacked us! It's Inuyasha!" Inuyasha blinked, stunned. "Where am I?" he said, looking around. Suddenly a glow caught his eye. A glow coming from his hand. Inuyasha held it up and gasped. In his palm was a necklace with a glowing sphere. A sphere that looked very much like… "The Sacred Jewel!" he exclaimed.
"Inuyasha!" he heard a voice call angrily. Inuyasha turned and his chest was immediately hit by an arrow, causing him to skid back across the ground. He grunted in pain and the Jewel fell out of his hand. Inuyasha looked up to see who was shooting him. It was… Kikyo. Her eyes were glaring at him in a mixture of rage, hatred and betrayal. Inuyasha looked around, all of it coming back. This was that day, fifty years ago. The day he attacked the village to get the Sacred Jewel. The day Kikyo killed him. Inuyasha looked back up. "Kikyo, this is all a set-up! Kikyo, wait!" he called. But she didn't listen and instead drew her bow. Inuyasha gritted his teeth. 'Is this a dream? What's going on?'
A short distance away Miroku was walking about, alone. "Inuyasha and the others… where could they have gone?" he thought aloud. As soon as he thought that the wind started picking up violently. Only this wind was coming from downwards. "My Wind Tunnel?" he said, looking at it. The wind picked up further and the prayer beads shattered, the cloth covering the Wind Tunnel moving aside as it roared to life. Miroku eye's widened it panic and he grunted. "It's… pulling me in!" he yelled.
Farther away from that were Shippo and Kirara, the former of whom was riding on top of the latter. "All right, Kirara. There's no one following us. Huh?" Shippo said. As he spoke Kirara's body began fading from sight, until finally it was gone, and Shippo shouted as he fell onto the ground. "Kirara's disappeared! Kagome! Sango! Mom!" he called. Looking ahead he could see our figures disappearing into the mist, walking away. "Hey! Wait up!" Shippo told us, running to catch up. But we faded away, just our clothes left behind. "What? Where did their bodies go?" he asked, picking up Kagome's uniform and my kimono. It was then that panic began creeping in. They couldn't have just left him behind… could they? "No! Mom! Inuyasha! Michiru! Kaname!" he yelled, dashing around frantically.
Sango was running through one of the darker parts of the forest, trying to find us. A bit further ahead there was a trail of blood along the ground, along something else. "Feathers?" she said aloud, confused. Unbeknownst to her, the sky was slowly turning red. Following the trail, she gasped in horror. Inuyasha and Miroku were lying against a pair of trees. However, both of them were staring ahead vacantly, dead and . "No…" she whispered, seeing that they had similar wounds that couldn't have come from a sword. A little ahead were both Michiru and Kaname, stabbed through the hearts, with a dead Kagome lying next to an equally dead Shippo. "Sango…" she heard a voice say. She gasped and spun around, seeing me crawling forward. The back of my kimono was torn open, showing that both of my wings had been torn off. "Yume!" she said, running forward. I tried to crawl closer but lost the strength.
Sango stopped to kneel next to me, dropping her Hiraikotsu. "Yume, what happened?" she asked. I slowly looked up, the light in my eyes fading. "Sango… run. It's…" I said, before my eyes closed and I fell forward, the blood loss killing me. Sango's form was visibly trembling. Who was it? Who had killed all of her friends? Just then her instincts screamed at her, and she quickly grabbed her Hiraikotsu. Spinning back around, she blocked what looked like a sickle. But no… it was a kusarigama. Sango gasped again, looking towards the person holding the other end. The one who had killed all of her friends. "Kohaku!" she called.
Michiru and Kaname weren't too far away, perfectly fine. Although there wasn't anyone around them. It was just the two of them. "Where do you think the others got to?" Kaname asked, and Michiru shrugged. "Hard to tell. But if we find at least one of the others, we have a better of finding out," Michiru said. His sister nodded and they both kept going, but then suddenly the area around the turned darker. Instantly the two of them were on guard. That was when a massive ogre-like demon crashed through the trees with a roar, eyes glowing red with bloodlust. Instantly both twins clasped their hands together, Shikigami stars spinning to life beneath their feet. Before they could utter a single phrase though, the light from the demon's eyes flashed, and the light from the Shikigami suddenly faded.
Michiru along with Kaname gasped the feeling of the forces of nature vanishing from their senses. "W-What?" Kaname said. Now adorned with a smirk, the ogre roared before charging, talons extended. They were forced to separate, Michiru rolling to the left while Kaname jumped to the right. Kaname tried to clasp her hands together and use her Shikigami again, but then nothing happened. Michiru did the same, with similar results. Their eyes were wide with fear now. They were separated from the others, their power were locked away, and now they had a massive demon attacking. Their hearts began pounding in fear.
Near the rear of the forest, I opened my eyes to the smell of burning wood. Looking around, I saw that I was in the center of a burning village. I blinked. Wait, wasn't I in the forest? Before I could ponder it I heard a set of screams, and turned to see a group of villager staring at me in fear. "There she is! There's the demon that attacked us!" one of the men yelled. My eyes widened, but behind me I heard a very familiar voice chuckle. Tenbatsu emerged from the fire and smoke, grinning. "So she is. And now, she'll be your death. Yume, kill them, along with this village," he ordered. I opened my mouth, planning to tell him to go bite his own ass. But instead, what came out was "Yes, Master Tenbatsu." Without even me giving it a command, my right arm rose and a fireball appeared in my palm. I tried to stop, but my body wasn't listening to my commands.
I couldn't even tell them to run, even though the villagers were doing it already. My arms moved back before throwing the fireball forward, and I watched in horror as my own attack exploded against their backs, setting them on fire. Tenbatsu grinned. "Excellent. My control over you truly is complete. And since the Ascendance Ritual transformed you into a full-blooded demon, your Phoenix Demon powers are even greater than I anticipated," he declared. At that my blood turned cold. Tenbatsu... had done it? He had really gotten me to go through with the Ascendance Ritual? "Yume, stop!" I heard a voice called, and I looked to see Inuyasha, Michiru and Kaname. I tried to tell them to run, but my mouth wouldn't move. Tenbatsu frowned. "Ugh... Nuisances. Yume, finish this," he commanded.
My head nodded and my arms raised above my head, another fireball form. This one was black and red though, and the size of an entire house. Inuyasha and the others stopped at that. "Yume, don't do it!" Michiru called. 'Run!' I tried to tell them, but to no avail. Behind me I could hear Sango and the rest pf them shouting, and I moved my left arm to the side, conjuring another massive fireball, almost unfeeling the drain. Tenbatsu laughed, waving his hand. I flung my hands forward and behind me, and the fireballs flew at them.
In the forest's dead center, Naraku laughed as he stood atop a tree in the middle of a clearing. At his feet lie Kikyo, currently unconscious. A Soul Collector tried reaching her, but was repelled by a pink barrier. Naraku smirked. "The evil spell of Illusory Death. The human heart is such a fragile thing. Sadness... Confusion... Fear... If the negative emotions are touched by the vines of this forest, their souls will be consumed by the dark," he said. Then Naraku frowned, sensing that one of us had not been captured by the spell. It was Kagome. "Is it because of the Sacred Jewel Shards? The girl alone is immune to my spell," he said to himself. Then he looked down at Kikyo. "That girl alone will be the only one to reach here. The stage has been set," he told her. Kikyo's eye snapped open. "How cunning..." she said, before suddenly swinging her arm and decapitating him.
'Naraku' turned into a pile of mud with a bisected puppet in the enter, while another puppet was also cut in two at Naraku's castle. The real Naraku growled. "Insolent woman. How dare she defy me?" he said. Leaning against the wall next to him, Tenbatsu shrugged. "All that really matters is that she does as we command. That, or Xiram dies," he said, gesturing to Xiram's still-bound body. Back inside the forest, Kagome emerged from the treeline, gasping in surprise and happiness. "Kikyo! Kikyo, you're alright!" she said, running forward. Kikyo's eyes narrowed and she reached for her bow. Kagome didn't notice though, and kept running. "Everyone was so worried about you-" she began, but then Kikyo fired an arrow and let it graze her cheek. Kagome froze in her tracks, holding a hand up to the cut. "Kikyo..." she said, her happiness replaced with shock.
The arrow hit the ground behind her and released a circle of light, which spread across the ground. The light reached the ground beneath Kagome's feet, and once it did it faded to reveal a massive hole in the ground. Kagome shouted and fell straight down. She tried to grab onto something, anything, and succeeded in gasping a set of ivy on the side of the hole, dangling there. Kikyo slowly walked to the edge of the hole, looking down. "Naraku fears you for some reason. So he tried to control me with a Sacred Jewel shard and force me to fight you, with Xiram as their hostage," she said. With a flick of her wrist the Soul Collectors flew down and wrapped tightly around Kagome,both restricting her movement and lifting her into the air. Kagome blinked in confusion. 'Is Kikyo saving me?' she asked.
The Collectors raised Kagome to where she was still hovering over the hole, but now was eye-level with Kikyo. And now that she was, Kagome gasped. "There's a Sacred Jewel Shard in your chest!" she exclaimed. Kikyo grimaced. "I was the priestess who guarded the Jewel in its entirety. I have not fallen so low as to be controlled by a mere fragment," she declared, holding a hand to her chest. The red glow coming from the corrupted soul and Shard Naraku placed within her vanished, replaced with a pure pink light. With that down she looked ahead. "I will not kill you. As I said, Naraku fears you. However, Xiram is his hostage, so I cannot just walk away..." she said, reaching forward. She grasped the necklace holding Kagome's part of the Jewel and yanked, breaking the necklace and taking the Jewel.
Kagome was so stunned she couldn't even gasp, and once Kikyo moved back the vines from below reached up and wrapped themselves around Kagome's ankles, while the Soul Collectors released her. Kagome gasped one more time as the vines began pulling her downwards, and Kikyo watched intently.
Inuyasha was still in the burning version of Kaede's Village, Kikyo standing across from him with an arrow. Suddenly though, she cried out in pain and dropped to one knee, holding her bleeding shoulder. Inuyasha rushed towards her. "That injury! Kikyo suffered from it... all alone," he said, dropping down and wrapping his arms around her. "Kikyo, I vow to never leave you again! I'll always protect you!" he promised. Kikyo hugged him back in response. For a while there was nothing around them except the sounds of flames, even the villagers having gone strangely silent. But then their surrounding darkened, and the two of them were left within a conical haft of light. That was when another light shaft appeared a short distance away. Inuyasha's eyes opened, and grew wide at the sight.
"What? There's... someone else? Another person I have to protect? But who?" he said aloud. That was when a young woman with her back turned appeared within the light. Slowly she turned around, revealing herself to be the smiling face of Kagome. "Kagome?" Inuyasha asked, before gasping and holding Kikyo at arm's length. "That's right! What happened to Kagome and the others? Where are they?" he asked. Kikyo frowned angrily and shoved Inuyasha away. As she did her body turned to wood, with vines for arms. "Inuyasha, does that girl mean more to you than I?" 'Kikyo' asked. Then her body turned into flames, which rushed at Inuyasha. "This is all dream!" he said, grasping Tetsuaiga and pulling it out, swinging at the same time. The flames dissipated when he struck them, leaving him standing in the middle of the dark forest.
He heard a shout of terror and turned to his right, running after it. He came upon Miroku who was just standing there, staring down at his hand. It was wrapped in vines and slowly tightening, his screams rising as it did. More vines burst from the ground and rushed at him, including the ones wrapped around Miroku's hand. Once that was taken care of he grabbed the monk and shook him. "Miroku! Snap out of it!" he said. The monk blinked twice before looking down at his hand. "My arm... My Wind Tunnel..." he said, literally shaking. "He's seriously scared,' Inuyasha thought, before shaking his head and slapping Miroku in the face. "Wake up!" he shouted. That snapped Miroku out of it, and he looked at the half-demon. "Inuyasha... The Wind Tunnel was sucking up my body," he stated.
Inuyasha nodded. "There must be some sort of spell in this forest. It probably got the others as well. You look for them and wake them up. I'll go after Kagome." Without even waiting for a reply he turned and ran, trying to find Kagome's scent. "Kagome! Where are you?" he called. I was still in the illusion of Tenbatsu controlling me, and I watched in horror as the two fireballs flew at my friends in slow-motion. I gritted my teeth and tried to move, but my body wouldn't obey. Despite that I tried, and my arms moved sluggishly. I grunted. "I am not... going to let... my friends die!" I managed to yell, and spun around, while also canceling the fireballs just before they hit. Tenbatsu eye's widened, but before he could do anything I drew my swords and unleashed twins waves of flame. They both hit the elder Phoenix Demon and he screamed in pain, burning to ash.
To my surprise, when it Tenbatsu died the surrounding village faded away, showing that I was not in a village, but a forest. "Huh?" I said, before the memories came back. Chasing after the Soul Collectors, finding out they were really Saimyosho, and being trapped. I kept a grip on my sword and flapped my wings, jumping into the air and flying above the trees. I could see a clearing just ahead and flew after it. I arrived in seconds, seeing a large pit in the ground in front of a tree. I landed near the edge of it and looked down. Lying at the bottoms, almost completely wrapped in vines was... "Kagome!" I said, dropping down into the pit. I saw that Inuyasha was also down there, already pulling the plants off of her. "Kagome! Wake up!" he shouted, Slowly her eyes fluttered open. "Inu... yasha?" she asked groggily.
I sighed in relief. "Thank goodness you're alive. These vines put you in an illusion. It looks like they just knocked you unconscious," I said. Kagome nodded shakily. "Uh-huh..." was all she said. I grabbed her and kicked off, flying out of the pit. Inuyasha leaped into the air alongside me, and we landed on the ground above. Once there Kagome gasped, and we looked to see Kikyo standing there, holding the Sacred Jewel. "Kikyo?" Inuyasha asked, before noticing the Jewel. He looked back. "Kagome?" he said. But she was still panting from the spell, and his eyes narrowed. Looking again at the dead priestess, he said "What do you do to Kagome?!" Kikyo raised an eyebrow, her lips set in a half-smirk. "What's wrong, Inuyasha? Are you not glad to see that I am well?" she asked. Inuyasha growled. "Answer the question!" he yelled.
Her smirk faded. "If I told you that I tried to kill her, what would you do then? Would you kill me? Tell me, exactly what did you dream of while you were ensnared by the illusory death?" she questioned. Inuyasha stopped and that looked, looking away. I looked at him. "Inuyasha...?" I asked. Kikyo's smirk returned, and she actually laughed. "Do you see my point now? Even if I did such a thing, I doubt you could bring yourself to kill me," she said. I glared at her. "Maybe, but I could!" I said, moving into a fighting stance. "Yume, stop!" Inuyasha yelled. I stared in surprise. Why was he telling me to stop? As it was, the Soul Collectors hovering above flew down and wrapped around Kikyo, raising her into the air. "Embracing death together... That is the day I wait for," she stated, and flew away.
Inuyasha looked on with clenched fists, while I glared at him for letting her get away. Once she was gone he turned around, looking at Kagome. "Kagome... What happened between you and Kikyo?" he asked. Kagome shook her head. "She took my part of the Sacred Jewel... I'm sorry," she said. Inuyasha grunted. "That's not what I meant! Did Kikyo really-?!" he yelled. "Then don't ask me!" Kagome shouted back. Inuyasha blinked in surprise and moved back. "Kagome..." he said, more gently. She merely shook her head again, and I sighed. Behind us we heard someone say "Umm... Are you finished?" We turned to see Miroku standing there, Sango slung over his back with her Hiraikotsu. Shippo was hanging from the Hiraikotsu, and Michiru and Kaname were next to him. They were both holding each other up, with Kaname holding Kirara to her chest with her other arm.
I nodded and put my sword away, while Inuyasha helped Kagome up. As we left Kagome looked down at the ground. 'The spell of Illusory Death... It put us all to the test against the pain and fear of our hearts. I got a glimpse into my heart as well,' she thought, thinking back. She hadn't been just unconscious. While under the spell, she had seen a vision of Inuyasha and Kikyo kissing each other, filled with bliss. 'Inside my heart, I saw a place where Inuyasha and Kikyo were... in love," she thought.
Far away, at Naraku's castle, said spider demon was still sitting down, looking very much pissed off with Tenbatsu standing next to him. That was, until they heard the sound of footsteps, and Kikyo walked into the room. "You were careless, Naraku," she said. "Kikyo," he said. The woman smiled at him condescendingly. "Remember that you petty spell will not work on me. And the barrier around this castle, the one preventing Inuyasha and the others from approaching, is very easy to break," she said pointed out. Naraku merely glared at her, while Tenbatsu kept a stoic expression Inside though, he was laughing. He despised this needed alliance with Naraku, and seeing him insulted by nothing more than a dead person was highly amusing. Kikyo hold up both Kagome part of of the Jewel and the shard that had been implanted in her, staring at them for a moment.
Then, after a second, she threw them both at the two demons, Naraku catching them easily. "You wanted it, didn't you. I leave it for you to guard. After all, no one needs the power of the Jewel more than you, demon Naraku," she said, before smiling. "Or rather... half-demon Naraku," she added. Naraku's eyes widened, and a trace of his demonic aura began to emit from his body. "A half-demon? I, Naraku?" he demanded calmly. Kikyo nodded. "You disguise yourself very well. But the blood of that thief Onigumo cannot be so easily erased. You desire the Jewel so that you can become a full demon, do you not?" she replied. Tenbatsu's lips twitched, only centuries of practice at controlling his emotions keeping him still. 'Hahahaha! Are you serious?! I'm stuck working with this fool to get my hands on Yume's power, and he's only half a demon?! This is a riot!' he thought.
Naraku glared at Kikyo in increased fury. "Then why give the shards to me? Don't you seek vengeance for your death fifty years ago?" he asked. Kikyo chuckled. "Only my physical self died that day. I feel much more comfortable in this body. I would not expect you to understand," she stated, before turning to Tenbatsu. "Now, release Xiram, as we agreed," she said. Tenbatsu nodded and snapped his fingers, the bladed chain surrounding Xiram's body dissolving into gray smoke. Without it he fell forward, but Kikyo caught him and slung an arm over her shoulder. Tenbatsu also pulled out the gem holding Xiram's power and placed it on the ground, crushing it beneath his feet. A cloud of black mist came from the remains and flew at Xiram, entering through his eyes, nose, mouth and ears. "He'll reawaken in a few hours. Leave us by then," he said.
Kikyo nodded and turned, taking Xiram with her as she left. Her last words were "I shall neither run nor hide. If you have need of me, send a messenger." Naraku stared at the spot where she had been, his gaze hot enough to burn through stone. He stood and took off his kimono, looking at his back. The burn scar shaped like a spider was still there, an ever-present reminder of his connection to Onigumo. Taking a sword he handed it to Tenbatsu, who proceeded to carve the skin off of Naraku's back. As soon as he did though, the skin grew right back, along with the scar. Naraku grimaced while Tenbatsu smirked. 'That Kikyo woman is much more free now. Free to hate... Free to love... And I have a feeling that she will make things much more amusing for me. Stay alive, Kikyo,' he thought silently.
And that's a wrap on this chapter. Hope you all enjoyed it, and next chapter we have the appearance of everyone favorite demonic lord! Stay tuned!
Please review! If you flame me Liam Neeson will look fr you, he will find you, and he will kill you. (I'm just kidding... or am I?)