Chapter 20: Sing From Thy Heart
Naraku's castle...
Naraku sat in his favorite room at his castle, a molevent smirk etched on his features... He had just witnessed a most intriguing conversation between inuyasha's miko friend, Kagome and Sesshomaru's three uncles, the three younger brothers of the great and powerful inutaisho... The dog general was legendary in status and power, and Naraku had secretly been planning to steal the powerful sword that Lord Sesshomaru welded... The fang, tensaiga had the power to raise the dead, a power that was truly formidable... And now, to find out that lord Sesshomaru actually had a weakness was truly a delightful find... To think that a pathetic whisp of a girl could cast such an alluring spell on Sesshomaru was absolutely perfect for Naraku's plan... He would pose as a powerful Lord and gain the inu's trust so that he would receive an invitation to the miko's performance... Then he would sit back and observe Sesshomaru's behavior and continue from there with his dark and evil plans...
" Thank you for showing me Kanna... Your dismissed... " Naraku said grinning.
The void demoness disappeared, leaving Naraku to his dark thoughts...
" Indeed... This shall truly prove to be very... Interesting... " Naraku said grinning excitedly to himself...
Over the next three days, word spread like wildfire of an alluring beauty and her mystical voice, drawing demon lords and ladies from far and wide to the castle in the north where the great Lord inutaisho's brothers resided... As a show of respect, the lords had decided to surprise Kagome after seeing her performance in her time and built a stage for her in secret in the garden near the back interence to the castle... Leaders had been very sweet and picked out a very special kimono for her lady and friend, a glittering gold kimono with light peach roses on it... It was truly breathtaking... After Keseara had helped Kagome dress, she outlined Kagome's eyes with charcoal, painted her lips a pinkish red and dusted Kagome's eyelids with shimmering light peach eyeshadow... Once Keseara was happy with her work, Keseara stepped back and admired her work...
" You are simply beautiful, my lady... " Keseara said smiling warmly, " Lord Sesshomaru will indeed be most pleased... "
Kagome blushed deeply and smiled brightly.
" Keseara... " Kagome said suddenly worried, " I'm very nervous... "
" All will be fine, my lady... " Keseara said reassuringly, " Just think only of Lord Sesshomaru..."
Kagome smiled as Keseara left her room... Outside in the garden, the sun was shining brightly as more and more demons began to show up... All were chattering away excitedly as they thought about the intriguing miko and wondered what she looked like...
" I heard she is far too beautiful to be human... " A boar demon said grinning excitedly.
" I heard that she is lovely as well... " a snake demon hissed grinning, " But her voiccce is really ssssomething... "
" I heard that as well... " a demon in a baboon pelt said smoothly, " I am truly anxious to see for myself if the rumors are true... "
A few miles away, Sango, Miroku and Shippo were all uneasy about the rise of demonic auras in the area...
" This is certainly strange Sango... " Miroku said worriedly, " There are a lot of powerful demons in this area... "
" I agree Miroku, should we check into it ?" Sango asked worriedly.
" Yes... With inuyasha still not back, and Kagome still at home, it's up to us to make sure the villages stay safe from demon attacks... " Miroku said.
" I wonder what's up?" Shippo asked timidly.
" Alright... Let's go kilala! " Sango said as they flew in the direction of the demonic aura...
About twenty five miles away from the castle...
" Inuyasha... " Sesshomaru growled quietly, " Something strange is going on... Do you feel that?"
" Yeah... There are a lot of powerful demons near by... " inuyasha said worriedly as his ears twitched, " Very powerful... "
Both brothers, fearing for Kagome's safety, rushed in the direction of the demonic aura, unaware of what was going on...
Back at the castle, a short time later...
Ratesu, Kion, and Kumi all walked to Kagome's room and gently knocked on her door...
" Yes?" Kagome called nervously...
Ratesu opened her door and peaked inside...
" Everything is ready my lady... Our guest of honor is close... " Ratesu said warmly, " Are you ready my dear? "
" I don't suppose I'm allowed to change my mind... Am I?" Kagome asked nervously...
" No... You may not... " Ratesu said smirking.
" then, I guess I'm as ready as I'll ever be... " Kagome sighed nervously, " I hope those demons like my voice as much as you three and Sesshomaru do... I'd rather not be eaten because the demons don't like my voice... "
That last part wasn't meant for anyone else to hear, but Ratesu still heard her words and smiled... Any demon would have to be a fool not to love the sound of her voice... Kagome's heart hammered loudly in her chest as she followed Ratesu and his brothers to the back garden... Unaware of the surprise that awaited her... By now, Sesshomaru and inuyasha had found themselves in the garden of a massive castle where hundreds of demon lords and ladies of the highest social standing, all sat as they chattered about the performance that was due to take place at any moment...
" What performance do you speak of?" Sesshomaru asked curiously...
" Oh, lord Sesshomaru, it is rumored that an incredible beauty is supposed sing to honor a special demon lord... We were all sent invitations to enjoy the food and festivities... " A cat demon named Raemore said grinning, " My name is Raemore... "
" This is intriguing... We shall watch as well... " Sesshomaru said sitting down...
An irritated inuyasha begrudgingly sat down beside him as a hush fell over the crowd... Sango, Miroku and Shippo were seated a few rows behind Sesshomaru and inuyasha, and we're about to call to them, when Ratesu appeared on the stage...
" My lords and ladies, honored guests of our castle! This little miko has recently found her soul mate! She is wishing to honor him with her voice in the inu tradition, so please show her the proper respect and enjoy the performance! " Ratesu boomed up on stage...
The crowd erupted in whispers as Kagome gulped down nervously and walked out on stage... Once her eyes locked on to Sesshomaru's, everyone else seemed to vanish as one of her favorite songs came to mind... Once again, her reiki unleashed and flared as she began to sing for the audience full of demons, and more importantly... The love of her life... Kagome's reiki pulsed out a beat as she recalled one of her favorite songs and locked eyes with Sesshomaru once more as her reiki pulsed to the beat of her heart...
" To the beat of my,
To the beat of my,
To the beat of my Heart.
I'm thinking about,
Letting it it out,
I wanna give in,
I wanna go out,
Been looking around,
I've finally found,
The rhythm of love,
The feeling of sound,
It's making a change,
The feeling is strange,
It's coming right back,
Right back in my range,
Not worried about, anything else,
I'm waking up,
To the beat of my,
To the beat of my,
To the beat of my heart."
The crowd of demons gasped at the incredible display of power before them, her energy flowed and sparkled around her as her voice reached out to everyone around her touching them all in a wonderful warming light... Sango, Miroku, and Shipping, all looked at Kagome in awe as she continued her mesmerizing performance...
" The beat of my heart,
The beat of my heart,
The beat of my heart,
It tears us apart.
The beat of my heart,
The beat of my heart,
The beat of my heart,
Now I'm back to the start.
To the beat of my,
To the beat of my,
To the beat of my heart,
I'm up from my down,
I turn it around,
I'm making it back,
I'm not gonna drown,
I'm taking a stance,
I won't miss a chance,
I want you to see,
I'm not scared to dance.
The way that you feel,
Could never be real,
I want you to know I finished the deal,
So I'm saying to you,
I'll always be true,
To the rhythm inside.
To the beat of my,
To the beat of my,
To the beat of my heart,
The beat of my heart,
The beat of my heart,
The beat of my heart,
Yeah, it tears us apart,
The beat of my heart,
The beat of my heart,
The beat of my heart,
Yeah I'm back to the start,
To the beat of my,
To the beat of my,
To the beat of my heart."
As Kagome finished her song, her eyes glowed violet as her power shot up in the air for her big finale and showered her and her audience with sparks of radiant light... Every demon in the audience roared as they cheered for her to keep singing, so captivated by her voice were they... Kagome grinned as she caught sesshomaru giving her a heated look,and she hoped it meant what she hoped it did,for truth be told, after meeting Sesshomaru, she didn't want anyone else but him... He had already captured her heart... When she saw Sesshomaru smile and begin to clap with the rest of the audience, she closed her now lavender eyes as she thought of the next sing that she wanted to sing... After a few moments, the crowd once again fell silent as Kagome's reiki swirled and pulsed around her with a life of its own...