Author's Note: Maannnnnn....this time over a month before my next update. Really sorry again, I really am trying my hardest.....And it seems like this story's review activity has gone down the drain....well, it's what I get for having such late updates....wahhhh...on the upside, not to sound pretentious....but I personally think that this chapter is awesome. I mean....I put everything I had into it...I hope you guys think so too. It's so packed full of major events. Really plot-filled. I think so, anyway.
Disclaimer: Me: Dan, you get to do it again!
Dan: Hmmm....*goes below to read the chapter*....wait....WHAT??? I did WHAT???? How dare you make me....!!!
Me: NO...SPOILERS!!!! Idiot....just say the disclaimer.
Dan: *grumble* Fine. My blasted owner JimmyDANj2 doesn't own Inuyasha or Legend of Zelda. He only owns this story and any plots or original characters associated with it. Damn him.
Me: Man, you're so hostile. Well, enjoy the chapter!
"So, what the hell do we do now?" Inuyasha growled. "We're no effing closer to defeating Braelhei than when we first started!"
Having the blunt truth of their position shoved in their faces, everyone pondered this reality with a grim expression.
"Inuyasha....raises a good point..." Link slowly mused. "After all that, we've only managed to accomplish reviving Midna...and we have no idea what to do next. I mean, we haven't received anything that would somehow aid us in defeating Braelhei since coming here..."
"At least we know who Braelhei is now..." Kagome supplied.
"But how in the world do we even go about st-" Zelda was cut off as Midna coughed loudly.
"Um...eh-heh...." Midna started, with a timid giggle.
Link turned his face to her with a questioning look.
"Is...something the matter, Midna?"
"W-Well..." she slowly uttered. "It's just that...I might have neglected to mention something about that..."
Zelda pursed her lips in contemplation.
"Like...?"
"Well, it so happens that....I do know what we must do next. The Goddesses told me, and they said that our next step would be extremely crucial if we are to have any chance. We....are to head over to the Nexus of the Divine. In order to hear the Fated Declaration."
Lia frowned.
"And...you kept this to yourself because....."
Midna winced.
"It's just....so much happened yesterday, and everyone was so worn out...I just didn't want add another worry to the pile."
Lia turned to Dan and opened her mouth, only for him to answer her question before it was even uttered.
"Don't look at me. I wasn't aware in the slightest. It's not like the Goddesses would confide in me. I'm simply along for the ride."
Kagome hesitated.
"Well...so, what exactly is this Fated Declaration?"
"It is Destiny's only known tangible edict. That is, it's the only thing that can be relayed to us as Destiny's statement that is concrete. It is above even the Goddesses' jurisdiction-" Here, Dan disgustedly muttered, "What isn't these days?", causing Midna to frown. "-and the only thing they could do involving it was prophesize its eventual fated location and stress our necessity to hear its meaning."
Link furrowed his brows.
"What does this....declaration have to do with Braelhei?"
"Supposedly...it tells us something like the only way that we can defeat him...and in the process, save all our worlds."
"...And....where is this Nexus?" Zelda inquired.
Midna gave a crooked smile.
"Well, that much, at least, was clear when the Goddesses talked to me. Any guesses?"
No one answered.
"Where else....but my former castle?"
Eve's eyes were half-lidded, as the wind whipped her violet hair behind her. Specks and particles buffeted her placid face as she zoomed through the air at a tremendous velocity, perched on a cloud of shadow.
She frowned slightly as she remembered the words relayed to her just before her leave.
"You know what to do. Go there, and make sure to remember..." he hissed. "Remember...and use any means necessary....immerse him in as much darkness as possible. This is essential. Go, and do not fail me."
She sighed at the orders issued to her from her Lord.
"Is something the matter, Mistress?" inquired a voice speeding along just to her right.
She shook her head, both as a negative to the question, and to clear her head of her reverie.
"No, Kazuma, I'm okay. It's...just...I feel hesitant."
Kazuma frowned.
"Is this...about Ralek?"
"Well, not so much as....I mean, to do something like this, and to him, again...." she trailed off.
"Mistress...I'm not certain of the exact circumstances, and as such, I cannot give you exact advice...except that the word of our Lord is law. If it's something that's...not desired, then it's best to just get it over with. And hope for the best regarding our sakes."
Eve sighed.
"Yeah...I know....I dunno why it's just now all of a sudden something like this is kicking in. I didn't have any problem with much before..."
Both of them remained silent, deep in their own thoughts as they raced through the twilit atmosphere towards a far-off, looming castle.
"There it is."
"Wow, Midna, your house is huge!"
"It's...a castle, technically, Kagome."
"It was a joke."
"Keh! Not a very good one."
"Just trying to lighten atmosphere a bit, gosh."
"Well, you're not going to be able to lighten it much if...well, I mean, look at it."
Lia grimaced.
"You have a point there, Zelda."
There they stood, on the shadowed side of the looming castle. However, it could hardly bear any resemblance to how it was before Braelhei's invasion. Being dark, sinister, and overbearing, the walls of the large structure sharply contrasted to the serene twilight that had once encompassed it.
Midna sighed.
"It pains me to see my castle like this. It's just further proof of the mark and bearing Braelhei has scarred upon my realm."
Inuyasha squinted at a window located near the top.
"So....the place we gotta get to is in a locked room at the top of the eastern tower, right?"
Kagome giggled nervously.
"That's so cliche. Next thing you know, we're gonna have to rescue a damsel in distress."
Dan rolled his eyes.
"Are we done? We shouldn't be wasting time. Not that it's that important to me, but if we linger any longer, won't all mortal worlds be in jeopardy?"
Lia poked him on his head from behind.
"Don't be such a stick in the mud, Dan. We're all human, after all."
"Not me." He muttered broodingly.
"An' I'm only half-human!" Inuyasha stated.
Zelda smiled.
"But Dan's right. We really should get going."
They approached the immense double doors. Link stepped forward to push them open, but right after he did so, the ground beneath them shook and trembled.
Dan reacted quickly, and immediately emitted a blast of radiation that forced every person but himself outwards a fair distance. As such, when the black vortex burst into existence, he was the only one to be taken beneath its depths.
Lia shook her head, but immediately brushed off her disorientation.
"DAN!"
She rushed towards him as he was sucked under, only to collide with the ground as the portal thinned out to a mere speck, then dissipated altogether.
"Damn! Dan!"
Kagome approached her and placed a hand on her shoulder.
"Calm down, Lia. He'll be fine. Remember who we're talking about here."
Lia stared at the spot where Dan disappeared in silent anger.
"Hmph. We take one step in....and the bastard gets himself wrapped up in another mess. He's so stupid...."
"Don't worry, Lia. We'll find him. Even if this is now the home of the enemy....it's my castle. We'll definitely find him," Midna said.
Inuyasha snorted.
"I say we screw the petty stuff and just barge on through!"
"No, we won't be hasty. The enemy already knew we were coming. We can't afford to make mistakes," Link replied, his features sharpening into a serious expression.
"Big talk coming from the person who pretty much tried to commit suicide just to save someone he thought might be-"
"Wait, wait!" Kagome hastily cut in. "Let's not argue. In fact..." Kagome paused in contemplation.
"...I think we can do something that'll satisfy both of you." She grinned.
"Tsk, tsk..." Daargrek sneered. "Oh, the once almighty Ralek, now under my power, as helpless as a rat! Tell me...how does it feel to be reduced down to this?"
Dan did not spare him a glance.
"Well...I can say that you're not the most original person I know. I mean...to keep me in chains of all things? You're referring the person who's been kept in chains the majority of his life. And a long life at that. But otherwise...yes, I suppose I do feel rather demeaned, captured by you of all people. The mightiest dreck among drecks."
Daargrek's eyes narrowed.
"Hmph. And how, pray tell, do you know of me? I was created years after you were imprisoned."
"I don't, specifically. I just know that that bastard would make a dreck like you, to be his servant. To get all the lowly tasks accomplished in my stead once I was gone and to be his connection to the outside world. You're just like a janitor who does all the things he finds himself above doing."
Daargrek's visage turned still more angry.
"You just wait. You thought you've experienced hell, but you've experienced nothing of the sort compared to what our Lord's going to do to you. Excruciating pain beyond pain. And you're right about one thing. I exist only to fulfill the regal desires of my Lord. I shall do all in my power to make sure he is reasonably satisfied. Right now, that involves you, ripped apart limb from limb." He stated with a smirk.
Dan looked bored, his half-lidded eyes mocking.
"Does it? Do you really think that you actually know just what your Lord wants?"
Daargrek pursed lips into a thin line.
"You're lucky that my patience can tolerate your insolence, or you would have already been-!"
"So what's stopping you? Why not just kill me here and now? Is it that you know, deep down, that your Lord doesn't care nearly enough about you to tell you a damned thing? You really don't know what he wants."
Daargrek silently seethed, but maliciously grinned as he materialized a scythe composed entirely of shadow.
"I'm sure...my Lord will forgive me...for ridding him of such a vile insect," he hissed as he viciously swung his sickle blade through the air in an arc, towards the enchained prisoner.
The beast snarled, but was promptly silenced when a curved blade jammed his mouth shut from the bottom and ripped out through the other side.
Lia trodded over its corpse as she sprinted up the spiral stairs.
"Inuyasha, hurry up! Can't you be a little faster?"
"Shut up! I don't see you fighting off 40 of these things! And why are you in such a rush, eh? Antsy about rescuin' Dan?"
A faint blush appeared on her face even as she impaled another shadow beast through the abdomen.
"Mind your own business!! Just hurry the hell up!"
"Keh! Don't have to tell me twice, wench!" he yelled as he sliced one beast in two, vertically down the middle.
He then sent a wind scar surging through the black ranks. Black blood poured freely onto the floor and seeped through the cracks.
Inuyasha dashed through the opening he created to the other side, and scooped Kagome, who was using her vantage point from the stairs to fire arrows left and right at the beasts, up in his arms, causing her to yelp in surprise. He unceremoniously flung her over his shoulder, her chin colliding with his back as he raced up the spiral staircase.
"Inuyasha! Don't just suddenly do that! Plus, you're being too reckless!! You still have that injury from before."
"I told you, it's nothing! An' in case you didn't hear from Lia, we're in a hurry!"
Kagome's eyes furrowed in contemplation.
"Inuyasha, are you absolutely sure we'll find him while this way?"
"Keh, weren't you listening? Midna said that this is still her castle, remember? They can't completely erase the twilight energy from it without eradicating the place. So she's still attuned to the familiar energy here, and that way, she can analyze the castle. She discovered that Dan is kept at the same place as where we were headed to in the first place."
They heard Lia's rapid footsteps directly above them and as their heads peeked out above the floor, they witnessed her flying back towards a wall. She rammed into it with a dull thud, and swiped the back of her hand across the blood acculumated at the corner of her lip.
Kagome jumped off from her perch on Inuyasha's shoulder, and ran to Lia.
"Are you okay, Lia??"
"Y-Yeah..." she panted in response.
It was then that Kagome turned her head and, while simultaneously gasping, backed away several steps from the hulking, black behemoth that towered above her.
Inuyasha quickly positioned himself in front of both of them, and held out Tetsusaiga in a defensive stance, his legs tensed and his body slightly hunched over.
"Heh. This big ugly thing proves that we're really close. Gotta say...they couldn't have chosen a more repulsive guard." He smirked.
It had no eyes or nose, only a an ellipse for a mouth, with jagged teeth, currently bared in a snarl, flecks of drool and spittle sliding off.
It roared and charged in primal fury.
"Come an' get it, you deformed brute!" Inuyasha roared back with equal intensity.
Daargrek trembled in ill-concealed rage while gazing at the column of tendrils that stopped his scythe completely in its tracks.
Eve, with her hand outstretched, glared at him.
She slowly stepped over the shards of broken glass from the window behind her.
"...What do you think you're doing? Your specific orders from our Lord were to capture him unharmed."
Kazuma floated in through the uneven opening and touched down behind his mistress.
Daargrek stepped back and forced a smile on his face.
"Forgive me. I forgot myself for a moment."
Eve did not relent in her glare.
"Did you, now. You'll have to be more cautious in your service to our Lord in the future, Daargrek. If you are so easily provoked, I for one think that you are ill fit to be trusted with such matters."
Daargrek's travesty of a smile grew wider.
"I apologize. It shall not happen again."
"I should hope not."
Dan chuckled.
"Even now, I see that you are as demanding as ever, Eve."
Eve glanced at him, but looked away quickly.
"Well, then, Eve, since you are here, I can go out and dispose of the rest of the intruders while you remain here to stand guard over our prisoner."
As Daargrek moved towards the door handle, Eve halted him in his tracks.
"No. You are to let them proceed on their own through the castle."
Daargrek frowned.
"But...our Lord's orders were merely to capture Ralek. He said nothing about leaving the rest of them alone. The castle itself isn't particularly well-defended. I doubt anything will impede them for long."
"Yes, those were his orders to you, perhaps. However, he happens to confide in me a few more important matters."
Daargrek visibly bristled. A grim smile twisted his face. He looked less like the humanoid shape he was a moment ago.
"Very well, then."
"Hraaaaaahhh!!!" Inuyasha bellowed as he drove the curve of his blade deep into the beast's left chest area. He barreled the beast along the ground, dragging it with his gargantuan strength.
It screeched in agony, but seemed to force it down, and aimed its open mouth directly down at Inuyasha, a dark sphere of energy charging in its salivated depths.
Inuyasha only smirked, and let loose a wind scar, which pushed the beast away, ploughing it across the ground, the yellow daggers of energy impaling it in several places. Its back collided with the far wall.
It attempted to push itself to a standing position, but before it was able, Lia darted towards it from above in an arc and stabbed down at its dome-shaped head with her single dagger. It screeched as she twisted it out and jumped backwards in a somersault.
An arrow flew towards its open wound and struck with an explosion of pink light.
The monster's spluttered and its body retched, before bulging and finally bursting, sprays of black blood raining over the trio.
Inuyasha grinned and hitched his massive blade on his shoulder.
"Keh! Nothin' to it. What a pathetically weak guard."
But Lia had already dashed towards the double doors located up ahead.
"Oi! Wait up!"
He and Kagome hastily followed.
Lia forced the doors open, and rushed inside.
"Dan!!"
Her eyes widened a fraction when saw him hung limply from the wall by chains.
To the far right wall, a gemstone the size of a fist rested on a table. It possessed a complete, blank, white hue.
Inuyasha and Kagome had caught up, and they looked towards the stone.
"Look!" Kagome exclaimed. "That must be what'll transport us to the Nexus!"
Lia disregarded this, however, and ran towards Dan.
A swath of onyx swirled into existence near the ceiling of the room. Eve materialized, and dropped, upside down in midair, towards the gemstone, a bubbly grin on her face.
"Trap....activated!" She declared with a happy giggle.
She pointed two fingers at the stone and shot a thin, dark beam at it point blank. The stone distorted into the same shade for a second, then faded back to white, before bursting into miniscule shards.
"Wha...?"
A seal appeared and stretched the span of the entire floor, its white glow tracing its intricate, circular patterns and then ascending into the air.
The room flashed with light: a brilliant, blinding, vibrant light. The no longer glowing shards sprinkled noiselessly onto the ground. The chains fell back and clattered against the wall before hanging limp, its shackles vacant of substance.
Link grunted as he dropped down to the ground like a dead weight.
"Ugh....dammit....where-where am...?"
Beside him suddenly fell Zelda and Midna, followed by Dan, Lia, Inuyasha, and Kagome.
Inuyasha shook his head of confusion.
"Shit...what the fuck happened? Did our plan fail?"
Link gritted his teeth.
"I think we can safely say that it did. Even if they didn't know that we split into two groups with one as a diversion, that doesn't matter if they're just going to transport us somewhere else. Secret passages or no, me, Zelda, and Midna would've still ended up in that room. We couldn't have anticipated this outcome...."
"At least Dan's with us again," Kagome said.
"But what the hell happened with that stone? And for that matter, where the fuck are we now?"
"Exactly where you wanted to be!" a voice giggled.
Eve floated above them, grinning like a Cheshire cat.
Inuyasha snarled and brandished Tetsusaiga.
"Eve!!"
"Wait, you mean this...is the Nexus?" Lia inquired.
All around them, the air seemed saturated with dank, foreboding darkness, with overshadowed boulders and pebbles floating through the air, the stones bobbing up and down lazily. In the distance, an undoubtedly massive castle floated in the still, suspicious atmosphere.
Eve smiled.
"Yep!" she chirped. "This is the Nexus, alright. Well, a branch of it anyway. Isn't this where you wanted to go?"
"Bullshit!" Inuyasha roared. "There's no freaking way that you'd just send us here!"
Eve leered.
"Then I guess I should be a bit more specific. This place is indeed part of the everlasting, ever-encompassing, great Nexus of the Divine. The Nexus is sort of like a different dimension, you see. But of a much higher caliber. This one dimension presides and is ascended over all other dimensions, worlds, and universes. It is timeless, and is where all things originated, even gods. It's pretty much the closest you'll get to having anything to do with the most divine, eminent, and enigmatic force known to anyone. Destiny. Which is why the Fated Declaration can only be heard in a place like this."
Eve touched down to the ground.
"...But...this place we're in right now is a bit special. Kinda artificial, really. The Goddesses had forced an extra section into existence that branched off from the Nexus. This place acts as Lord Braelhei's 'eternal' prison. An area of zero gravity, with spirit and energy completely deadened. A place of anti-life. It's called the Void. Basically, it's a place where the entity of non-being...springs into being. Ironic, isn't it? Almost the completely opposite of the Nexus...being a part of the Nexus." She grinned.
Zelda had a look of dawning, grim-faced, comprehension.
"W-Wait...then...then does that....mean...." She stuttered.
"Naturally, you weren't supposed to come here, specifically." Eve grinned.
"I shattered the stone after infusing it with dark energy. This would, of course, have no other outcome other than you all being transported to the most lifeless part of the Nexus. And the stone itself was the only link to Destiny. Right now, it's shattered and left back in another dimension."
"What?" Midna seethed.
"What does that mean???" Inuyasha vigorously asked.
"It means that it's over for you Chosen." A sinister voice rang out.
A body followed suit, warping out of mid-air.
Dan's face clouded over with dark recognition.
"Braelhei..."
This indeed was Braelhei. Not a shadow, not just an imprint. The real entity, the actual form of Braelhei appeared before them. His humanoid figure was immense, thrice that of a normal person's, and his body was overcome with shadow and darkness. His gigantic cloak was completely still in the heavy atmosphere even as he walked slowly towards them.
"Well, well, well. We can all meet face to face...at last."
Behind him, Kazuma and Daargrek materialized. Both went onto one knee and bowed to their Lord.
Braelhei did not smile. With a solemn face, he outrstetched both massive arms.
"Without further ado, then. Let us commence."
Eve sighed.
"As you wish, my Lord."
Somehow, for some reason, Eve's powers seemed exponentially greater. Her dark tendrils had shot up from the ground and towards Lia with unreal speed.
Lia barely had time to gasp before becoming enveloped in them, her lungs struggling to take in oxygen as it was suffocated beyond previous measure.
"Lia!!" Dan sprung into action and drew out his katana, his entire body crackling with dark purple energy.
He dashed forward, only to be intercepted by Daargrek's scythe. Neither gave an inch, red and purple energies swirling around the pair.
"You're weaker than I remember, Ralek."
Dan glared.
"No shit."
Braelhei did not make any move, except by way of speech.
"Lia...do you remember that fateful day when your parents had suddenly turned cold towards you? They turned unfeeling to the point of cruelty."
Lia stopped struggling. Her eyes were wide open.
"Shut up."
Braelhei ignored her.
"Do you know exactly why that happened? It's all because of this person, right now risking his life trying to rescue you."
Both Dan and Lia froze.
"What....?"
Braelhei smiled. Though it did not reach his eyes.
"I did not provide Ralek with nothing when he served under me. Demons, beasts, they served under him under my orders. They were his to command. You may already know that he destroyed your village. But you probably don't know...that he was supposed to do that years before. And he did indeed try. Though not personally, he did indeed ravage your village with his demons. Not much immediate damage was done. But demonic energy is not to be underestimated. It polluted and invaded the townspeople. Many were infected in various ways: Diseases, internal energy eating away at them. This includes your parents. They had been afflicted, and so their personalities had altered for the worse. They turned greedy, cruel, sadistic..."
Dan had brushed Daargrek aside.
"SHUT UP!!!"
Braelhei smirked.
"So you see, Lia..."
"I told you to SHUT UP!!!"
Black vapors were rising out of Dan's heaving body. Malicious energy came off him in pulses.
"...Everything that has gone wrong in your life, everything that had occurred...all your suffering, all your misfortune....were all because of the man standing in front of you."
Lia seemed to pay no attention to her bindings anymore. Silent tears streamed down her cheeks, some wetting lone strands of azure hair.
With a feral, inhuman roar, Dan sprinted, straight and head-on, at Braelhei.
Eve sighed again.
"You can hardly blame me for being known as the Manipulator, Ralek..."
The tendrils shifted in mid-air.
Dan was charging at a full velocity in a straight line, his blade pointed directly in front of him, his wild silver eyes fixed on nothing but Braelhei.
The tendrils zoomed through the air, carrying Lia with them. They halted directly in Dan's line of attack.
He could not change direction. He could not alter his position in any way. Even his eyes were fixed, and looking away seemed impossible.
"...when you yourself are so easy to manipulate."
Both Dan and Lia's eyes widened for a split second.
The blade ripped through her torso out to the other side, and flecks of blood dispersed like water from a sprinkler.
Lia seemed frozen in place. Dan was trembling slightly, his hands being the fiercest in that regard.
Still visibly shaken, he let go, his eyes not believing the sight before him. He collapsed onto his knees, and his cold, rigid hands flew towards his scalp and gripped it so tightly his hair threatened to rip out from its roots. His head was bent down towards the ground.
He closed his eyes, and seemingly overtaken by something, he screamed in absolute, deafening despair. His hoarse yells resounded off the dead stones and jagged peaks.
Jet-black steam billowed out from his widened eyes, his open mouth, his shaking shoulders, his stone-like hands, and dark liquid leaked and poured out seemingly from every pore on his body.
The steam and liquid converged on a spot to the right of him, and condensed and melded together, until a shape was molded into being.
A sudden spray of wisps of black smoke. And before them all stood a figure, who, in shape, in features, in height, was identical to Dan in every way. The one difference was that this new arrival had everything about him shrouded in complete darkness. His hair was an absolute black. His eyes, his nose, his clothes, they were all encompassed with complete darkness.
Dan had stopped screaming, and fully collapsed onto the ground, his breathing hoarse and uneven, his eyes half-lidded.
"Finally....finally! Your purpose has finally been fulfilled, Ralek."
Braelhei looked down at Dan's form and his face lit up with insane glee.
"You see, Ralek...contrary to some beliefs, although I am the representative of darkness, I am not the greatest threat to the balance of the dimensions and universe. That important role...belongs solely to you."
He stared with something akin to deferring pity at Dan's helpless state.
"And as such, to that effect..." Braelhei softly uttered. "...you may, at last, meet, face-to-face, with your one and only..."
His gaze slowly traveled and alighted upon the blackened being that had finally been brought form.
"...Shadow."
Braelhei laughed eerily, chillingly, to the deadened skies above.
Author's Note: ...My God. Again, not meaning to toot my own horn, but this chapter came out great. Though, I'm pretty sure it doesn't make up for my lack of updates....*sigh*...Well, comments and feedback would immensely be appreciated. More reviews means more motivation to continue (that does not mean I won't try my absolute hardest to get the next chapter out as soon as possible anyway!), and that means you guys get to find out what'll happen to Lia. Man, Dan, not be insensitive, but you gotta stop impaling your friends (not that Link was his friend when Dan did it to him...). *sob* More angsty stuff....I don't enjoy reading angst, but writing it was strangely satisfying....Well, please, review, and I hope you enjoyed.
Random quotation of the day:
"Is it really that we forget to remember? Or in actuality, is it that we remember to forget?"
:) Made it up myself. Totally applies to loads of things.