Running Up That Hill
By: The Hatter Theory
Chapter 11: The Atom Will Implode
Disclaimer: I don't own the rights to Inu Yasha, which is for the best, because that series would have been so much more awkward if I'd had anything to do with it. Also, I don't own the rights to anything by Placebo or Kate Bush.
Happy Birthday to me, Imma be turning 23 (at midnight). Review if you want to make a birthday girl happy.
"What is it?" Sango asked as they all stared at the hovering, hulking mass that had come into sights long before. From afar, it had seemed like a floating ship of some sort. Now Sesshoumaru curled his lip in distaste as he realized what Naraku had done.
"It is his body. He has used it to create a shell around himself."
"That whole thing is him?" Kouga shouted, his head jrking wildly as he looked from Sesshoumaru to the floating monstrosity.
"Hnn. We must find a way in."
"You want to go in?" Kouga demanded, staring at the daiyoukai as if he'd lost his mind.
"Magatsuhi awaits within. And so does Naraku. We will kill neither if we stay out here," Sesshoumaru answered as he sailed forward. He noticed the spike of fear in the miko's scent and looked down as they led the group forward.
"You are afraid." It was a statement, not a question.
"I haven't seen Naraku since he- I don't have any powers. I'm useless in there," Kagome whispered.
"You thought you were useless against Byakuya, yet you were not. And I will break the seal soon. Magatsuhi will fall to Tenseiga."
Startled, Kagome finally offered a small smile, wondering why he was going out of his way to be nice, and to encourage her.
'Maybe he's just a good leader. He knows about boosting morale,' She admitted. But she also knew he would never offer false praise, and the thought warmed her, just a little, in the face of the oncoming battle.
He unsheathed Bakusaiga as they approached, and with a deft swing, energy crashed into the side of the mass of writhing flesh and began to disappear, creating an opening for them to enter.
"Remember, we're facing the real Naraku now. He likes tricking people. Don't believe your eyes," Miroku warned. Kagome looked over to him, and tried to ignore the worry gnawing at her gut. He didn't look well enough to battle. In fact, he looked like he was ready to fall over.
"Let's try to stay together," Kagome called out as they flew through the darkness. "He'll try to divide and conquer. We can't let him."
"Keep your eyes sharp for the boy," Kouga added. Sango seemed startled by the command, but kept her eyes peeled just the same, although the darkness, while not absolute, was such that they were only able to see a few feet ahead of themselves.
Sesshoumaru led them through twists and turns, and Kagome wanted to believe she was in a maze of caverns, but the oppressive heat and humidity, as well as the strange, fleshy, wet noises made it impossible to forget they were inside Naraku.
"You don't think he'll try to absorb us, do you?" She whispered, the fear building and leaving her almost mute, the words coming out strangled through her constricted throat.
"No. If he does, Bakusaiga will finish him before he can finish."
She didn't want to think about the possibility that if they were being absorbed, Bakusaiga might kill them all as well.
"I smell him," Sesshoumaru stated several minutes later. If not for the narrowing of his eyes and the sudden eager smirk that tilted a corner of his lips, Kagome wouldn't have thought he cared at all. But she knew that this was going beyond simple battle for the daiyoukai. Magatsuhi was prey that had escaped, and Sesshoumaru wanted to finish his kill.
As they were speeding up, determined to meet their foe head on and running so to speak, a roar filled the dark silence and the air began to vibrate. Naraku's body was shaking and trembling, as if caught in an earthquake. The wet fleshy sounds increased and changed to slithering, and Kagome turned, only to see a wall growing together.
"Guys, come on, get through before it-" And she was cut off by the wall slamming closed, the frightened, panicked looks of her friends sealed away on the other side.
"It is starting. Come, we must finish this," Sesshoumaru commanded calmly. Kagome nodded, gaze still on the wall. She remembered the wall coming up at the shiro, what had happened after. Saying nothing, they moved on, Sesshoumaru growing tense and then moving them to a ledge.
"I smell him, but the smell is everywhere, soaking the air," He muttered, eyes darting around him.
Lighting seemed to strike her once more. Kagome let out a strangled gasp as her muscles tensed, feeling as if they were going to tear. Then she was pushed back mentally, as if someone had bullied their way into her brain and demanded to have the wheel.
And with dawning horror, she realized they had.
"Quite a bit of anger at that taijiya, Naraku too. Humans make it so easy," A completely foreign voice said using her mouth. "You know, every miko has a choice. Naohi, or Magatsuhi. It is not hard to turn a human heart to hate," He laughed, the sound so loud and mirthless it was almost a bark. "I think I'll break that seal now. Let's see if we can't use all of that impressive training the mutt gave you against him."
Despite being a prisoner in her own body, she was still in it, and the feeling of her powers swelled within her, a familiar warmth she hadn't been aware was missing. But she was allowed no time to feel relief when, with dawning horror, she realized that Magatsuhi was gathering energy, manipulating it more easily than she ever could, his intent clear within her mind.
'No! No, you won't do that to him!' She screamed mentally, trying to figure out how to escape her prison. That evil cackle filled her mind, taunting her and demanding she watch as she obliterated her ally.
"She cares for you, quite a bit daiyoukai. Oh, not in some silly infatuated way, which is surprising. No, she actually sees you as alpha. Surprising, for a human wench," He snapped, getting ready to throw the energy gathered in her hands. "She really trusts that you'll protect her. Does it hurt to see that you've failed?"
'No!" She screamed, the piercing wail tearing through the walls surrounding her and boxing her in. They shattered, and though Magatsuhi was still in control and let the energy go, it veered off course. Kagome didn't know if it was his distraction or her will that forced it, but focused instead on taking control of her body.
"You won't harm him!" She snarled in a stunning imitation of Sesshoumaru, coming so close to the surface in her rage that her own voice broke through to her lips, ringing through the darkness. She felt the spirit trying to gather more of her energy, searched for him in her head, felt him everywhere around her. How to force out someone that was everywhere when she felt so small within herself?
The power swelled.
"No!" She commanded, willing her hands to face the floor as it exploded out. The flesh beneath her feet gave way and she felt herself falling into the darkness. An arm caught her, wrapping around her waist and tossing her back up onto solid ground.
"Weak little bitch, give up!" She heard ringing in her head so loudly she wasn't sure if the words had left her mouth. Feeling like a bizarre mental patient, she dove in, summoning her power, forcing it to her will instead of the spirit's, and with every ounce of her willpower, pushed.
"Get out, you don't belong in me!" She shrieked, rage suffusing her words. She drew from their strength.
"I do, I've seen that twisted, desolate place you call your soul! I belong there as much as you!" He crowed triumphantly.
"Doesn't matter," She grunted as she struggled to exorcise him from her body. "I have a son and a pack, and I won't let you touch them!" She finished in a scream, thinking of Shippou and the orphans, of Rin and Sesshoumaru and even Tenka and Jaken. When the last tendrils of his essence broke free, it felt like something shattered in her, and her power exploded outward, pushing the alien presence from her.
Sesshoumaru sailed over her crumpling form and she watched as the Tenseiga cut through the face once, twice, and the third time the spirit seemed to dissipate, it's howl of rage echoing through the pseudo caverns.
"Thank you," She whispered.
"You fought him on your own. There is nothing this Sesshoumaru could have done," he intoned. She nodded, swallowing, trying to force the bile down her throat. Instead of succeeding she stumbled away from him and braced herself against a slimy, pulsing wall, and disgust only adding to her nausea, gave up and vomited.
"Do you think they're okay?" Miroku asked as they flew through the dim gloom. Minutes earlier a wave of power had swept through, leaving them shaken.
"Sesshoumaru's one of the strongest I've ever seen," Kouga answered, eyes still staring forward, carefully scanning the dark. "And with those swords of his, well, even the jewel would have a hard time dealing with him. And that power, that was Kagome's, I'd know it anywhere," He finished, thinking on the blow he had received weeks ago. He wouldn't forget that feeling as long as he lived.
"So Magatsuhi's been taken care of. Now we just need to find Naraku," Sango ground out, determinedly searching, straining her eyes against the obscure murkiness below them, for any sign of movement.
It felt like hours passed before the strange rumbling began again. Expecting another wall, Kouga urged Ah Un over to Kirara and watched for the mass of flesh to begin forming any sort of barrier. Instead, they were surprised by tentacles shooting out, aiming to strike them.
"Stay astride," Kouga shouted, reveling in the feel of the goraishi's sudden weight. It was a comfortable solid feel, and he brought his feet up to the saddle beneath him and bent his legs, readying to jump. The tentacles themselves seemed more focused, more intent on attacking the taijiya and slayer, and he lunged forward, adrenaline pumping his blood more quickly through his body.
For a moment he felt as if he were moving at a speed he had been capable of when he had the jewel shards in his legs. The clawed gauntlet on his hand tore through the tentacles, and he reveled in the feel of the weapon rending flesh.
Sango's boomerang flew, slicing through several tentacles as it made it's way back to her hand.
"Move back, I'll take care of this," Miroku called.
"No, houshi-sama! You know what will happen if you use it," Sango cried out as she threw the boomerang again. Kouga wanted to roll his eyes at the battle theatrics. The time for talk was over.
"Haul ass!" He shouted. Ignoring their protests, Kirara and Ah Un shot forward, and he summoned his energy for the instinctive attack his ancestors had allowed him. He almost felt silly, slashing down at the air, but the whirlwinds of energy, like twisters, cut through the tentacles trying to strike at them. The tentacles ripped and tore beneath the onslaught, and no more were forthcoming.
Ah Un caught him neatly as he fell, and took him to the others. He was almost to them when the energy came back, reflected and doubled in it's intensity. Pain lanced through him and he was barely aware of Sango and Miroku screaming one another's names as the power crashed and bellowed around them, tearing at their bodies mercilessly. Kirara let out an indignant shriek of pain and even Ah Un lowed angrily, shaking both heads.
"You guys got any tricks?" He asked, clinging to the saddle horn. When the heads didn't stop shaking, he noticed that the dragons seemed more intent on getting their bridle sets off. Reaching forward, ignoring the pain in his left side as it began to seize up, he found found one catch and watched the bridle fall away, and reached for the other. After almost falling off as his side suddenly began burning like it was on fire, he managed to unhook the twin's bridle.
Blue lighting erupted from the right head of the beast, And Kouga watched the darkness seemed to melt away, the light was so brilliant.
"Sango, Miroku?" He called. When neither answered, he began trying to find their scents.
"Damn," He muttered, realizing that somehow they had been separated, and Kirara was with Sango. Leaving the monk alone.
"Think you can find that pervert?" He rasped, hand going to his side and pressing against the wound oozing blood. The lightning stopped and he felt himself get pulled into a dive. Clinging to the saddlehorn weakly, he prayed the monk was still alive and that the taijiya didn't do anything to get herself killed.
Sango sat astride Kirara, trying to gain her bearings. The fire cat would breath her fire into the air every few minutes, lighting their way in brief flashes that cast flickering, menacing shadows along the surfaces of the gently pulsing walls.
"Do you think your can find houshi-sama?" Sango asked quietly. The fire cat let out a plaintive noise and Sango slumped. "What about Kohaku?" She tried. Once more that plaintive noise sent her spirits plummeting. Tears started burning her eyes and she sniffled defiantly, trying to push them back. Against her wishes, they began falling, coursing down her cheeks.
"We'll find them," She insisted angrily, dashing the tears away.
"Sango?" A voice called. Starting violently, she looked around herself anxiously. Just as she was beginning to think she was losing her mind, she heard the voice calling her name again. Miroku's voice.
"Houshi-sama!" She called back, directing Kirara in the direction the call had come from. The firecat shot forward, and Sango saw a light growing ahead, could see the outline of a sort of cave mouth. They dove into it, and she stopped the firecat short when the scene registered, shock and horror and joy mingling together all at once.
"Let them go!" She shrieked at Naraku. He was smirking, a head and torso suspended by flesh, flesh that also held Miroku and Kohaku close to him.
"Hello Sango," He greeted, smirking down at her. "I've been waiting for you."
"Let them go!" She snarled.
"Oh, I'll let one go, in just a moment. Tell me Sango, how badly do you want the monk's freedom?"
"I'd give anything," She snapped, flying closer and bringing hiraikotsu to hand, getting ready to swing it.
"What about your little brother's life? Would that be worth it? Or would you rather I let the boy go?"
The ramifications of his words crashed down on her, and the bone weapon slipped from numbed fingers carelessly.
"What?" She whispered, staring in horror at the hanyou holding onto the two most important people in her life.
"You know Sango. Choose," He demanded, the delight in his quiet command unmistakable.
"I can't, you can't think," She stuttered, still staring at the two limp forms in the hanyou's grasp.
"What will it be, the love of your short, pathetic life, or the only other survivor in your family, hmm? Better choose soon, or I'll kill them both," He mocked, sneering down at her.
Miroku stood shakily, wincing in disgust as he braced himself against the slimy, pulsing wall of flesh. Each time he pulled in a breath, pain lanced down his right side. He pressed his fingers gingerly into his ribs and flinched when barely brushing them sent another wave of pain coursing up and down his body.
Using his staff for support, and thanking the kami for his deathgrip on it during the fall, he began moving forward, gasping for air and trying to block out pain from what he assumed to be broken ribs. Each step felt like a small eternity, and he fell against the wall, completely oblivious to texture as he slid down it and allowed frustrated tears to fall.
"You know," A voice said, breaking the silence. "You can just suck me up into the wind tunnel. It would be ironic, wouldn't it, to kill me with the curse I put on your family?"
Miroku looked up, hate suffusing his features as he took in the sight of Naraku, now nothing more than a floating head and torso supported by the flesh moving and rolling revoltingly.
"Begone abomination," Miroku snapped, trying to focus on Naraku's face instead of the flesh moving sickly, making wet smacking sounds. A disgusting parody of noises the monk didn't want to think about.
"You can end it. Give the woman back her little brother, free them of my existence. Or are you too scared of losing yourself to the wind tunnel? You are, aren't you? Cowardly little man, playing at being brave when really you're just too selfish and afraid of dying," He taunted.
The beads clattered as he unwound them from his wrist and felt the cloth covering the wind tunnel fall away. The sneering face was sucked in, it's laughter mocking him until his fist closed and he angrily tugged the cloth into place and wrapped the rosary back around it.
"Damn monster," He grunted, standing again, determined more than ever to find Naraku. "Should have known better," He berated himself, muttering to distract himself from the pain as he began walking into the darkness.
He offered a prayer to any divine beings that were listening, and offered himself up to them if they would allow him the opportunity to free the woman he loved.
After fading in an out of consciousness for what felt like hours, Kouga finally felt himself being dropped. At least, it felt like he was falling. When he hit solid ground scant seconds later, he opened bleary eyes only to find Ah Un staring down at him.
"I think it's best if you go find Kagome and Sesshoumaru," He whimpered, his hand soaked in blood as he pulled it from his side. The bleeding hadn't stopped, and he wondered how much longer he was going to be able to stay conscious.
Eyes glazed as he thought about the wolf tribe, the people he was supposed to protect. He thought about Ayame and his refusal to mate her, and realized that it wasn't a bad idea. Allowing the flashes of his life to overwhelm him, he exhaled slowly, a small smile dancing on his lips.
Until something that felt like fire lanced up his side and the smell of burning flesh rose, acrid, to his nose. In the distance he heard a wolf howling in anguish, and realized in a peripheral sort of way that the agonized sound echoing through the fleshy cave was coming from him. Blue eyes shot open and caught the sight of the dragon's strange blue lightning aimed for his side just before another burst of white hot pain pulsed through him.
He panted through teeth clenched together, sweat pouring down his forehead completely unnoticed. After several minutes, after the spikes of heat abated into a less intense, dull throbbing, he pushed himself up on his elbows and forced his jaw apart.
"Thanks, real lifesaver. And it's a damn good thing you didn't warn me, don't think I could have gone through with it," He joked. A foot stamped at the ground impatiently and he nodded, claws digging into the wall as he half pushed half drug himself up from the ground. Spots danced in his vision and threatened to swell and doom him to unconsciousness.
"I will be damned if I faint like some girl," He spat as he moved over to the dragon, almost collapsing against the beast when he finally reached it. After several pain filled minutes, something strange happened. A lightheaded sort of blankness filled him, and thanking every ancestor of the wolf tribe, he climbed onto the saddle and gave a snort.
"Let's go find the others."
Sango had long ago dove for her weapon and threatened to kill the youkai. She had tried everything she knew, hoping to gain the freedom of both males. The hanyou however, had stuck to his offer and refused to budge. Contemplating the two faces, relaxed in whatever spelled slumber Naraku held them in, she fell to her knees. Kirara still growled angrily.
"You can have me if you let them both go free," She whispered, heart clenching painfully in her chest.
"I don't think I heard you right, what is it you said?" He jeered.
"You can have me. Just let them go," She repeated. The flesh around her shifted and grew and slithered around her, capturing her. They squeezed her body like a snake coiling around it's prey, trying to strangle her. Just as different colored spots began dancing in her vision from lack of air, the coils eased somewhat, and she was able to draw in a breath.
She turned, looking hatefully at the hanyou. "Release them," She demanded.
The two bodies fell to the ground, crumbling like clay as they fell.
"You tricked me!" She snapped.
"You were a fool if you expected differently," The figure laughed darkly. Any light that had been present extinguished itself, and a clammy appendage coiled around her head, covering her mouth to block out her screams of outrage.
"The monk still lives, and so does your little brother, huntress. Bite into that, and I know you're thinking about it, and you'll end up swallowing miasma," He laughed as she felt herself moving through the dark.
Miroku moved unsteadily through the darkness, the stabbing pain in his side growing steadily worse as he called on his spiritual powers, on the powers of love, of anything really, to try and find Sango. A small eternity had passed and he felt like he was walking in circles.
"You know, I can just take you to her," Naraku's voice broke the silence, all the more infuriating for it's apparent apathy. "She was so foolish, trying to give herself up for you and the boy. Didn't even fight as I took her really," It taunted.
"What are you talking about?" The monk demanded. Light suffused the cavern and Miroku turned to face the disembodied head and torso.
"The woman gave herself up to keep you and the boy safe. Foolishly, she fell for another of my tricks, and now needs you to save her. Again."
"How do I know you're not trying to trick me?" Miroku demanded several minutes later.
"You don't. But you could just swallow me up and save the woman. Then again, you've already proven that you're too much of a coward to do it. Just like your father. You know he didn't even try to find me? He just went and bedded as many women as possible until you were born."
"Leave me! I will not fall prey to your lies!" Miroku shouted. The head laughed, the hair surrounding the torso and hanging past the body swaying. The sight of it sickened him even more.
"Fair enough. Good luck finding her on your own monk."
It vanished as easily as it had appeared, at least Miroku assumed, since he hadn't seen the thing appear to begin with. The walls around him began to rumble ominously and he watched as they reshaped themselves into a whole new path. In the distance he saw the outline of an entrance and flickering, shadowy light on the other side.
Wary of a trap, he staggered forward. Even knowing that Naraku was setting him up for something, he figured following the path to him would bring him to his goal more quickly. And hopefully, if he was the first one there, he could finish everything, once and for all.
Kagome held tightly to Sesshoumaru, trying to make out movement and shape as they flew through Naraku's body.
"Have you sensed any of the others?" She asked for the third time.
"No," He replied tersely. After they flew along one wall. After tearing through one with the Bakusaiga, Sesshoumaru had been forced to vacate, the miko clutching him tightly as miasma had poured from the wound he'd inflicted. Immune to poisons he might be, but the woman was not, and it was proving to be a distinct disadvantage. Not to mention the repeated question was beginning to grate on his nerves.
He desperately wanted to use Bakusaiga to just keep moving closer to the hanyou instead of taking the longer way. Unfortunately, he had declared the woman pack, she had declared him her alpha on numerous occasions. And one didn't kill pack unless they challenged.
That did not keep him from imagining it.
"I was thinking," Kagome began several minutes later.
"What woman?"
"I don't know if I'd hurt you or not, but I could try to purify the miasma," She started. He stopped and glared down at her, willing himself to hold onto her and not throw her into the darkness below them.
"How long have you been thinking about this?" He ground out.
"Since we discovered the other wall was miasma. But I don't want to hurt you, we need every bit of strength for the battle with Naraku," She insisted when his glare only intensified.
"You will do it. This Sesshoumaru has survived you thus far. I will not allow myself to be taken down this close to the hanyou."
"I know that, I'm just saying, what if it weakens you, or makes you more vulnerable?"
"Do. It."
His tone left absolutely no room for argument, and despite her muttering something about stubborn asses, she called forth her own power. He felt static running along his form when she touched, could feel it sparking and leaping eagerly.
As if to exhibit his own eagerness, he unsheathed Bakusaiga and swung it, cleanly slicing through a wall. Kagome's aura swelled and though the jyaki flooded the area and swirled around them, it was purified before it touched either of them.
He allowed himself a smile as he changed direction, following the scent of the hanyou and cutting through one wall after another, ignoring the flesh that sizzled and turned to ash behind them as he created one opening after another.
It felt like hours as they soared through the caverns and demolished one obstacle after another. But with each one that fell, Sesshoumaru could smell the hanyou and Kagome felt the jewel tugging at her all the more insistently.
"I smell the boy, and the taijiya," He informed her later. Kagome couldn't tell how much time had passed, or how far they were from their goal. Was Naraku creating more fodder for Sesshoumaru so they'd take longer? And why hadn't he tried to trick them by now? Or had Magatsuhi been the one that was supposed to stop them?
"How far away are they, can you tell?" She asked.
"Not far. Their scents are strong."
"What about Miroku or Kouga?"
"The wolf is just ahead. I smell his blood, and Ah Un. The monk has been moving throughout the area as well, but far below us."
"We should find them before we confront Naraku," Kagome tried to persuade.
"If we come across the wolf he may join us, but we will not go seeking anyone. We must kill-"
"No, it wouldn't be right. They aren't your pack, and I get that, but they are part of mine," She insisted stubbornly.
"I don't think you understand what pack means, and when this is over, I will explain it to you," He answered blandly.
"Well until then, you'll just have to deal with me and my interpretation. If you don't, I'll zap you. I've got my powers back," She threatened ominously.
He wanted to drop her into the abyss below them. He wanted to keep going and kill the hanyou and just leave. But the woman was essential because of the jewel, and he couldn't in good conscience leave the kit she cared for orphaned for a second time in his young life. And one didn't kill pack, no matter how tempting. He also knew the threats were empty ones, and that she'd no more harm him than he would her, although their reasoning was different.
He also knew that she would hound him endlessly unless he gave in, and that was not something he wanted to endure, especially when ten minutes quick work would quiet her.
"If this Sesshoumaru finds the others, will you cease your foolishness?" He demanded archly.
"Pretty much," She admitted cheekily, flashing a grin up at him. He scowled down at her, angry that she had taken his capitulation as a victory.
Despite the seriousness of their situation, he let himself smile as he sped up, slashing wildly as he traced the wolf's scent. Her squeak of surprise soothed his pride as he tore through the barriers like a madman, barely giving the miasma time to even leak out of the flesh before he was past it, determined to get everything over and done with.
In less than five minutes they were hovering on front of Ah Un and Kouga, who sat astride the dragon with glazed eyes and a furious expression.
"Where the hell have you guys been?" The wolf demanded.
"Kouga, your side, it's-"
"The dragon fixed it for me. We gotta find the others," Kouga snapped impatiently, dismissing her concern. Sesshoumaru studied his face for a moment, recognizing the signs of adrenaline and endorphins. Hopefully they would hold out until the battle was over.
"I know where the monk is. The taijiya and the boy are in a chamber not far. The miko," He added, throwing a glare at the woman clinging to his side, "Refuses to fight without the monk."
Kouga muttered something uncomplimentary under his breath before heaving a sigh.
"Let's go get him," He conceded, hands fisted around Ah Un's mane in lieu of the reins. Sesshoumaru nodded and dropped into a steep dive, barreling through the darkness.
"Someday you'll have to do this when I can enjoy it," Kagome spat as he evened out and began weaving through tunnels, searching for the monk.
"This Sesshoumaru doubts there will ever be another occasion for you to be this close," He retorted shortly, taking a measure of comfort when there were no witty retorts forthcoming. He kept his senses sharp, making sure Ah Un followed closely and followed the scent of the lecherous houshi.
"He is just ahead," Sesshoumaru intoned as they followed a path that seemed too convenient to the daiyoukai. A light flickered through a small entrance, and he was about to fly through it when he came to a sudden stop. Ah Un stopped next to him, reluctant to go in.
"What's going on, isn't he in there?" Kagome demanded.
"Hush!" Sesshoumaru snapped, forcing the sound of the pulsing walls away, the breathing of his companions and their heartbeats. Below all of those, he heard a strange whistling sound.
"I hear the wind," He finally said, unable to make heads or tales of the revelation.
"Miroku's wind tunnel, it must be spreading, come on, we have to hurry," Kagome urged, tugging on his sleeve, eyes wide with concern. Sesshoumaru nodded and shot forward, and Ah Un, despite initial misgivings, followed warily. Once inside the small cave, they watched Miroku, the rosary dangling uselessly from his left hand, his right hand beginning to open.
"Miroku, stop!" Kagome shouted. When the monk didn't even look at her, she looked at where his hand was aimed.
And saw nothing.
"It's got to be an illusion, he wouldn't open it unless he thought he had to. We have to stop him," She told Sesshoumaru. Just then the wind picked up, and the whistling turned to a roar as the clenched fist opened and they felt the pull of the vortex.
Kagome felt Sesshoumaru stiffen himself as he resisted the pull of the wind, and he darted quickly over to Ah Un, throwing her over the saddle unceremoniously.
"Do not let her go," He commanded the wolf. Kouga nodded, even though he was clinging tightly to Ah Un, who was in turn was digging in all four taloned feet, rumbling angrily. Kouga threw himself over Kagome, pinning her down even as she was shouting at him.
Sesshoumaru then moved, carefully, bracing himself against the paths of least resistance less he get sucked in. He stalked closer to the monk, who seemed oblivious to his presence. First he tried striking the monk's head, but the blow, which would normally knock a man unconscious, didn't seem to faze the man. Damning his luck, he moved closer to the black hole that seemed determined to swallow everyone within the cave. Sesshoumaru saw it spreading in tiny increments, knew the illusion's aim was to make the monk consume himself at least, if not all of them.
He dug his boots into the soft tissue of the cave floor, willing himself to stay as if it would make it possible despite the conditions that fought against him. His hand shot out and wrapped around the monk's wrist. Still no flicker of awareness entered the man's eyes. When Sesshoumaru shifted his hand forward, closer to the wind tunnel, he bent the monk's fingers. At first they resisted, but when one finger broke under his insistence, it was as if the spell lifted, and the monk's hand curled and he moaned in pain, dropping to the floor. The winds stopped, and Kagome's shouting rung through the cave.
"Do you know where you are?" Sesshoumaru demanded.
"I was, how did you get here?" Miroku asked, confusion evident.
"Naraku was manipulating you. You almost killed us all, including yourself," Sesshoumaru informed him coldly. Miroku's eyes widened as he glanced behind him, as if noticing Kagome and Kouga for the first time. The priestess had squirmed from beneath the wolf and was running over to them both.
Sesshoumaru watched as she hugged the man and helped him wrap his hand back up, speaking gently the whole time as the monk tried to resist the tears Sesshoumaru could easily smell.
"Damn it Kagome, next time just smack me or something, you hit the damn burns," Kouga shouted from atop Ah Un.
"Monk, join the wolf. I would have this finished," Sesshoumaru commanded, effectively silencing the chaos of the wolf shouting and the monk's erratic scents. Kagome glared up at the daiyoukai and then sighed, her face a mask of acceptance.
"He's right, we need to get this done. Your wind tunnel is spreading too quickly," Kagome told him. "Don't open it again, no matter what you see," She demanded gently. Miroku nodded, still shaken by what he had almost done. He moved, still staggering, and Kagome wove her arm around his shoulder and let him use her as a crutch, even going so far as to use her hands to cup his feet as he struggled into the saddle.
Despite her worry, she said nothing, instead striding quickly to Sesshoumaru.
"Cloud or cling?" She demanded, rolling her eyes. Despite the indignity of her suggestion, her merely glared and she moved to his side. He wrapped an arm around her waist and they took off, flying low at first, exiting the cave, then picking up altitude.
"Expand your aura to those two. We will be encountering more miasma," He warned as he unsheathed Bakusaiga.
"I don't know if I can-" She started.
"You can. Do it," He demanded.
She only had seconds to create a sort of bubble around the group, all of her focus on maintaining it and purifying the miasma before it could reach them as Sesshoumaru tore through one wall after another impatiently. Kagome could see his growing irritation as the sword flashed, creating one opening after another. Just outside of the barrier she could feel the inky blackness, like a plague, hovering, touching her aura. Despite being purified, she felt the sickness and death it brought, and fought nausea as Sesshoumaru moved faster and faster. They tore through the dark clouds of jyaki and had it been, say, a day in the sky, and the jyaki were replaced with real clouds, she would have been having the time of her life. As it was, she tried to think about that image instead of the oily feeling the clouds of poison produced.
"Only another barrier or two," He murmured, and Kagome could hear the eagerness in his voice. Once again they were close to it all being over, and despite the fear stabbing at her and the feeling of her heartbeat doubling, there was a trill of excitement that ran through her.
Sesshoumaru, despite his eagerness, could not help but feel wary of the ease with which they were finding the hanyou. After the maze of tunnels and caverns his body had become, it seemed too simple. But as they crashed through the last wall, the flesh of the hanyou melting beneath Bakusaiga's strike, he realized why the hanyou had not deigned to move.
Power flowed from his form, and Sesshoumaru could sense nothing human in the body of his foe. In fact, it felt as if the man had become a full demon.
"Foolish hanyou, he has already made his wish," Sesshoumaru proclaimed.
"Sango and Kohaku are down there," Kagome whispered urgently, pointing lower, where the front of the organic platform met the floor. Both the taijiya and the boy were held by coils of flesh that were vaguely snakelike.
"We have to save them," She demanded.
"Welcome," A voice boomed out. Sesshoumaru shifted his gaze to the armless torso, eyes keen for any weakness. "It seems you have regained your powers. It will do you no good," The voice, only an approximation of Naraku's, observed.
"You must have already known that. I bet you've watched everything we've done while you hid, coward!" Kagome called out, face flushed with anger.
Tentacles shot out, pulling Miroku and Kouga from Ah Un and another knocking the dragon into one of the fleshy walls. The limbs coiled around the man and youkai tightly, preventing movement. Kouga, his wound flaring in pain, went berserk, trying to break free as the coils grew tighter. Kagome heard something break and flinched.
"Well miko, it seems I have everything you want. Your friends, the jewel. I'm even going to destroy that pathetic little village you love so much. I bet the kit is there, waiting," It taunted. Anger rising in her, she pulled her power viciously from herself, throwing it at the youkai. When it made contact, she watched it explode in a flash of light and felt a flash of triumph. It soon faded however, when the light dimmed and Naraku still hung suspended, untouched.
"I'll make a deal with you. I will trade you for all of your friends, and even the little inu prince. I'll spare the village as well."
"Promise?" Kagome called. She was shaken roughly by Sesshoumaru and looked up into furious golden eyes.
"It is a trick, as with Inu Yasha," He snarled, his arm tightening on her waist.
"Let me say goodbye to my friends first," She demanded. When Naraku only laughed, she turned herself in Sesshoumaru's grip and leaned up to his cheek.
"It'll buy time. You won't let him hurt me and he'll never hurt you," She whispered confidently into his ear as she threw her arms around him in an awkward hug. "Now take me down to the others. We need time," She urged quietly. He obeyed reluctantly, acknowledging the wisdom of her plan.
He had prepared for the eventuality that the miko would die. Had made plans in case Naraku succeeded in destroying her. But he had not imagined himself passively watching as it happened, nor had it ever occurred to him that she would walk towards her destruction with open arms.
Kouga was snarling, losing himself to the instinctual bestial side that existed within every youkai. Kagome moved to him first and cupped his face in her hands. He snarled angrily at her, although he stopped thrashing.
"Stop fighting, he'll hurt you more. You need to live for Ayame and the clans," She whispered, moving to place a kiss on his cheek even though his fangs seemed ready to rip into her face the minute she was in range. But he quieted, and Sesshoumaru saw awareness begin to flicker in his eyes as she shifted away, moving to a crying Miroku.
"Don't do this," He whispered brokenly as he watched her approach.
"I have to. Trust Sesshoumaru," Kagome told him, moving to kiss his cheek as well. "You'll have to take care of Sango after this, she'll need it. Tell her I love her and forgive her. Make sure Shippou gets back to the shiro, he belongs there," Kagome commanded gently as she pulled away. Miroku nodded, unable to speak.
She cast a quick glance at the still unconscious Sango and Kohaku and sighed wearily. Sesshoumaru grabbed her wrist and pulled Tenseiga, sheathe and all, from his belt and pushed it roughly into her chest, gold eyes narrowed.
"What-" She began, but stopped when he shook his head. Confused, she hugged it to her chest tightly, the binding on the handle rubbing against her cheek.
"I'm ready," She called out.
The tentacles burst from the platform and Kagome was yanked from the floor and into the air. Sesshoumaru fought the urge to blindly follow, instead trying to formulate a plan.
"Miko! What is the second defense against human men?" He called up to her as he watched the tentacles relax their coils around the others. Kouga moved to catch Kohaku, and Miroku, despite his broken finger, caught Sango awkwardly, shaking her to wake her up. Coils unwrapped from around a small Kirara as well, and the harsh jolted her into awareness. Shaking herself, she transformed, eyes blazing with fury as she moved to the taijiya and roared angrily.
Sango awoke looking into the mouth of her long time companion and shifted uneasily. "I'm sorry I let myself get tricked," She whispered, looking into Miroku's eyes and throwing herself into his arms.
"Everyone, get out," Sesshoumaru commanded.
"What about Kagome?" Kouga snarled, still treading the line between sanity and the beast.
"What about her?" Sango asked, looking around. When she looked up and saw the miko dangling helplessly, she let out a strangled gasp.
"She traded her life for ours," Miroku informed her sadly, refusing to look up.
"But it's a trick, it's the same thing he did to me," Sango started angrily. "He'll just kill all of us."
"Get out. I will deal with this," Sesshoumaru commanded.
Suddenly the world seemed to rock, and there was a faint groaning, as if somewhere, Naraku's body was caving in on itself.
"Out, now!" He snarled, eyes bleeding red as he swept his arm at the entrance. "Soon the miasma will fill this place. Get out!" He roared. Despite looking ready to protest, Kouga ran to where Ah Un still lay and urged him up, throwing Kohaku over the saddle before hopping on, and Sango and Miroku jumped onto Kirara's back. Each took a moment to look up at the miko dangling several meters over them and calling out to her before both beasts shot forward. Sesshoumaru could feel the walls beginning to collapse, felt the cave in of the structure Naraku had turned his body into.
"What are you trying to accomplish?" Kagome snapped, buying Sesshoumaru time.
"I am poisoning the land that created me. Where my miasma falls, death will follow. I will destroy Kikyou's village and wipe her history from the face of the earth!" He finished in a snarl. Not that Kagome could even see him snarl anymore, his face lost to darkness so absolute, finding any distinctive lines impossible in the dim light.
"Is that what this is still about? Kikyou? God, you're worse than a teenage girl. So she didn't love you, and the jewel couldn't make her love you. Nothing could. You can't force love, it just happens. Has the jewel brought yo any happiness?" Kagome demanded. "Did it grant your wish the first time? Has it this time? Why are you doing this to yourself?" She cried out.
She felt him staring at her, though she couldn't see eyes. But the distraction was enough. The blast felt like heat coursing over her. Energy swelled and crashed. The sword thrummed in her grip, a cool bubble enveloping her, protecting her from the blast. Appendages around her loosened and Naraku howled in rage as she fell, the tentacles crumbling from Bakusaiga's touch. Sighing in relief as Sesshoumaru caught her, she looked up at him, still confused by his earlier words.
"What is the second line of defense, you never told me," She asked, her blue eyes locked on his red ones.
"Finding protection," He answered, accepting Tenseiga and sliding it back into his sash. "I will give everything I have, add yours, throw it back at him," He commanded. Before she could even reply she felt his strength swelling and rolling around her. The wind began as a whistle and exploded in a roar as she watched, awestruck by the massive energy gathering around them.
Refusing to let his efforts be in vain, she quickly began pulling her own power, focusing it to avoid harming Sesshoumaru, and began trying to weave his and hers together. At first the power wanted to just explode from her fingertips, like an unruly child that wanted free. She sternly 'commanded' it to obey her will, and began weaving the two powers together. When it still refused to obey, she cried out in frustration.
Naraku's own blast of power was hurtling towards them.
"Contain it," Sesshoumaru commanded into her ear. "We will do this," His voice was stern and authoritative, leaving no room for doubt.
She felt more than saw his presence as his own will began to bolster hers. His power, seemingly impervious to her command, began to obey and twine with hers. She looked up to see the darkness flying at them and braced herself, surprised to feel Sesshoumaru at her back. His arms came up around her, his kimono sleeves pushed back by the force of the winds around them. Like two pale shadows, they echoed her own position and she felt him forcing even more of his ki out.
Naraku's jyaki hit, forcefully slamming into the light they were holding before them. Like a small sun, it absorbed the darkness and grew even larger. Kagome clenched her eyes shut, blinded by the brilliance of it. Instead she tried to 'see' with her other senses. Sesshoumaru was there with her, and for a moment she felt as if she was back in his core. Confidence suffused her being and more of her ki flowed into her hands. She instinctively felt it when their reserves were drained, and by that time it felt as if they were holding a star suspended between their hands.
"Now!" She shouted, barely recognizing her voice. She felt his own strength behind her own, throwing their combined efforts at the suspended torso on the platform. She watched their powers hurtle, as if in slow motion, watched them merge completely, surprise shocking through her as the energy combined and doubled.
The star burst, bathing the area in light. Instead of dissipating, the light seemed to expand. Kagome opened her eyes, squinting at their target.
"Take me up there," She demanded. Sesshoumaru's arms wrapped around her waist and he lifted her into the air, flying unsteadily. The light was at it's brightest in the center of the nova, and once more closing her eyes, she let the tugging of the jewel guide her. Shuddering as her fingers came into contact with ash, she dug through the powdery remains, realizing with a sick feeling that it had been where Naraku's heart was. Her fist closed around the jewel and she tugged it out quickly, transferring it to the other and wiping the dust onto her hakama.
"Let's go!" She shouted, flinching guiltily when he jerked his head as if to further his ears from her mouth. The light was still spreading, but noise of Naraku's body caving in only grew worse. Kagome was thankful to note that wherever the light touched, miasma was purified.
They wove in and out of the falling walls and avoided the rain of ash that kept gaining on them as they searched for an exit.
"Bakusaiga," She rasped, the dust settling into her throat. Nausea rolled through her and she tried not to think about eating the charred remains of the former hanyou.
He unsheathed the sword and fell into a steep dive, and once more she allowed a surprised gasp to escape at the cavern floor rose up to meet them. For a moment she wondered why he was aiming down instead of the side and realized that he was taking the easiest way out.
He slashed in a mad frenzy as Naraku's husk was falling apart around them. Sometimes a wall narrowly missed them as she held on tightly.
"Almost there," He snarled, but Kagome could hear fatigue creeping into his voice.
"We'll make it," She assured him, knowing he'd sneer in any other set of circumstances. "You still have to lecture me about what a pack is," She added, trying to project a sense of mirth only to end up sounding sarcastic.
"If that was meant to motivate me, it failed," He snapped. "Perhaps you should try mentioning something this Sesshoumaru would look forward to," He finished. Kagome wondered for several minutes if the daiyoukai had managed to make a joke. A cutting, sarcastic joke, but a joke. Or maybe he was being completely serious and his almost deadpan delivery is what made it funny.
"A warm bath?" She offered. "Decent food?" A snort was her answer. "I know. Rin. The children." He didn't answer, but she felt him begin moving faster, his swings stronger as he tunneled down through the remains of their former enemy.
When she saw the last layer clear beneath his blade, she swore to herself then that dirt and grass were miracles, and that she'd treasure that vision and the smell of fresh air for the rest of her life. A second later however, she was screaming shrilly as the ground rose up to meet them.
"I thought you wanted to experience flight at a time when you could enjoy it," He drawled before he touched down.
"You are a jerk!" She muttered angrily, glad she had screamed in his ear again. She quickly stuffed the jewel into the pocket sewn into her sleeves before she decided throwing something at the daiyoukai was a good idea.
"And you are a loudmouthed, coarse human," He retorted as he rubbed his ear gingerly.
"Better than some stuck up youkai," She snapped. He merely glared and began walking.
"Where are you going?" She demanded.
"Naraku is dead. You have the jewel. It is time to fetch your pup and return to the shiro," He replied. Kagome stopped, hands balled into fists on her hips and she began tapping her foot angrily.
"Even you look like you're about to fall over. Now that Naraku is gone, I want to go see my mother. I want to rest before going back!" She proclaimed.
Several minutes passed in complete silence, blue eyes warring with red that was quickly shifting to gold.
"As you say," He growled, stalking towards the village, completely ignoring the light in the sky that was finally fading, ash falling in it's wake.
"Jerk," She muttered as she ran to catch up. Once at his side, she matched his sedate pace with her own. After several minutes the huts of the village came into view, and there was one startled shout followed by several. Then a stampede was headed at them.
And heading it were several children the Kagome recognized, and only one that was supposed to be in the village.
"What are you guys doing here?" She asked, surprise coloring her voice.
"When that lady took Shippou without you, we knew something was wrong, so we followed. Didn't take long, but we've been hiding in the forest, waiting. Shippou found us," Tegatai told them, beaming. "He told us what was going on. We got here the day after you left," He added. "Zurui was hiding us, but Shippou, he knew."
"Rin is very sorry, but Sango stole Shippou! He didn't want to go, and you told me pack always comes first!" Rin insisted when Sesshoumaru's hard eyes fell to her.
"It seems," He almost sighed, "That I must explain pack to all of you." Kagome giggled, picking Shippou up and hugged him tightly. She saw the hopeful looks of the other children and dropped to her knees, laughing as they all surrounded her.
The rest of the village came scant minutes later, walking at a more sedate pace. Kagome noticed Miroku's finger was in a splint, and his whole hand immobilized. Sango and Kohaku were walking side by side, Sango's arm thrown over Kohaku's shoulder.
"How?" Kagome asked, staring at the living, breathing teenager.
"Kikyou. When Magatsuhi tainted my shard, Naraku just kept laughing. When he finally took the shard, I felt cold. Then Kikyou, I heard her voice, felt her around me," He said, eyes shining with sudden tears. Kagome gulped convulsively, nodding in understanding.
"How did you two, I mean, that was, it felt like both of you, but-" Miroku said, nodding to the ash covered fields.
"Don't know, don't really care right now," She laughed, standing and allowing her hands to be gripped by Shippou and Zurui. Rin had long since run to Sesshoumaru and grabbed his. Biting back any comment about the strangeness of the gesture, she watched him tugged insistently toward the village, and allowed herself to be led as well.
So this marks the end of the Naraku arc. Only...29 chapters left to go. Think you guys can wait that long for the happy ending? (Because there is one, promise.)
Reviews make awesome birthday present...hinthint. xp
Happy Thanksgiving to those that celebrate it!