Chapter 27: Naraku's Insidious Plot
Shortly after receiving the 'news' regarding the fate of her village and its people, Sango set out from the young lord's castle, with Naraku guiding her:
"We cannot travel any further by horse."
After Naraku ties off the twin horses to a tree, he looks over at Sango, dressed in her armored bodysuit and weapon in hand, resting nearby...
"...Is Sango dead?"
As he turns to walk away, Sango's eyes snap awake, before replying to Naraku with a fighter's will,
"I will not die! I will not die until I kill Inuyasha!"
"Hmm, good. But are you in any condition for a decent battle?"
Gritting her teeth a bit from her injuries, Sango lifts herself up (using Hiraikotsu) from the ground:
"Slaying demons...is my sole duty in life..."
Flashback, a few hours earlier...
Sango is readying herself before setting out to hunt down Inuyasha...
"I assume you cannot be deterred?"
She says nothing in return, only slipping her sword under her belt...
"Very well. Then I shall send Naraku with you. He is my advisor and well-reverse in the ways of demons. His knowledge will prove useful. When your mission is complete, here upon return to me."
Sango glares a bit at the lord, but that does not faze him:
"You have lost all of your family and your fellow villagers. I am much saddened for you and your plight."
End of Flashback
As they continued to move up the mountain path, Sango stops to kneel on the ground, her exhaustion and pain taking a further toll on her being:
I will not return to this place. I do not have much time left...
Please body, hold up a little longer. Hold fast until I can complete my final task!
Meanwhile, at the Village of the Demon Slayers
Once everything was finished regarding the gravesites as well as cleaning up the carnage of the demons, Inuyasha (who was pulling a wagon of wrapped body parts) says to Myoga,
"So this the cave where the Shikon-no-Tama was created..."
"Yes. We are currently heading to the outskirts of the village, to the limestone cave. This village has actually served as a sort-of, factory."
Coraline asks,
"Factory, you say?"
"Yes. They made armor and weapons from the skins and bones of slain demons."
By this time, the gang had reached the said limestone cave:
"The villagers, threw all of the unused portions, into this limestone cavern."
Inuyasha turns the wagon around, and knocks the pile of demon parts into the cave, before pushing the wagon in with it...
(Crash...)
"This place is filled with a collection of demon remains. It is fabled that deep inside this particular limestone cave, lies the carcass of a gargantuan beast."
Coraline hmed, before asking,
"And yet, this where the Shikon-no-Tama formed, correct?"
"Yes, according to the local legend, at least..."
As they all looked into the dark of the mouth, Inuyasha says to the flea demon,
"Good work, Myoga."
"Thank you for the compliment, Master Inuyasha. Anything to help; I am more than just a parasite."
Inuyasha smirks and replies,
"Yeah, until the going gets rough, then your big talk about loyalty and courage dries up and you take off on me again."
"Master! How could you doubt my loyalty?!" Inuyasha replies sarcastically,
"Oh, you're right, how could I?" Miroku then asks,
"So, do you think that we should venture in?"
"Yeah, definitely. Let's go in." But as he begins walking in, Myoga suddenly shouts,
"Wait, hold on a minute, Master Inuyasha!"
"What now?"
(Block, whoosh)
"Gah!"
Inuyasha is then sent backwards by an invisible barrier! As he lifts himself up, Myoga explains:
"A strong barrier has been placed over the entrance of the cave, to prevent trespassers like us from casually wandering in and out."
"Be quicker with that kind of information next time, okay?!"
Back to the Mountain Path
As they continued onward to the Village of the Demon Slayers, Sango was using Hiraikotsu as a crutch, breathing heavily...
Her mind flashes back to the horror that caused her injuries, namely, the horror on her dear brother's face...
"Gh..."
She falls to her knees, her exhaustion getting to her again...Naraku turns around and asks,
"Are you in great pain, Sango?"
"(Pant, pant, pant) I am fine..."
"Poor thing. You couldn't die even if you want to, could you?" Naraku then holds out a familiar shard:
"Would you care to try this?" Sango rises to a half-stand, and replies in shock,
"But that's...a Shikon-no-Tama shard!"
As Naraku moves to kneel in front of Sango, she asks,
"But, how did you get a hold of it? Where did you get it from?"
"I've had it for a long time...I'm willing to lend it to you."
"To, to me?"
"I imagine you have come to believe that the Shikon-no-Tama is only used for evil, but it may be used for good as well..."
At the Same Time
"Hrrrraaaaahhh!"
(Clang, whoosh)
"Gyah, (thud) uh..."
"Inuyasha!"
The said half-demon tried to use Tessaiga to break the barrier, but was unsuccessful...
"Rgh, damn it..." Shippo asks,
"You think it may be hopeless?"
"Well I can't force my way in, and any villagers who may have known how to get passed the barrier are now gone."
"Not all of them were killed."
"What?"
Miroku continues his thought:
"I remember: The best of their slayers were at some castle during the attack."
Myoga chimes in:
"Right. The demons decimated the village because it lacked their most talented slayers. Otherwise, their attack would've been easily thwarted."
Inuyasha turns to Miroku:
"Got it. So we have to find out where that castle is, and see if there are any surviving slayers who can tell us more about the secret of the Shikon-no-Tama. Hopefully, one of them also knows the magic trick for opening this stupid cave. Let's go, we don't have all day."
But just as everyone began setting off, Coraline (carrying Kilala) stops, sensing something strange from the cave:
...Hm...
"Hurry up, Coraline, or we'll leave you behind!"
"Uh, right, coming!"
Small Time Skip
Soon enough, Inuyasha and the others were away from the village, and into the forest trying to track down the whereabouts of the castle...
"Myoga, a little help? Where exactly is this castle?"
"Hm? Don't tell me you're lost. Master, with all due respect, I assumed you knew where you were going."
"Listen, flea: You're the one whose suppose to know. I can't think of everything!"
"Why not follow your nose, Inuyasha? The castle can't be too far away. You're a demon; you should be able to sniff it out from here."
Inuyasha replies to Miroku,
"Yeah well, I can't get a whiff of anything from here..."
Suddenly, Kilala's ears twitch, and she goes on alert of something approaching:
"Hm? What is it, Kilala? Trouble?"
But before Coraline or anyone else could react:
(Whizzzzz...SPIIIIINNNN, CRASH)
A giant boomerang comes swinging through the trees, and everyone ducks only just in time to avoid it!
The weapon spins back, landing in the hands of its wielder: Sango...
As the dust settles, Sango asks,
"Are you Inuyasha? I have come to gain my revenge."
"Oh yeah, and who are you?"
Myoga recognizes her:
"Sango!"
Coraline concludes,
"So she's one of the demon slayers...!"
"Master Inuyasha, trust me: You mustn't fight her..."
Sango readies her weapon again:
"Hiraikotsu!"
(Toss, Spin...)
"You really gotta work on your timing..."
After muttering that to Myoga, Inuyasha quickly pulls out Tessaiga, blocking the boomerang, yet he was still shoved back by the impact!
Miroku notices that as well:
"The Tessaiga was pushed back!" Coraline softly mutters,
"Oh no...Inuyasha..."
As Sango's weapon returns to her, Inuyasha asks her,
"Hey, what're you comin' after me for?"
"Silence! I am here to avenge my people!"
(Toss, Spin...)
Inuyasha leaps out of Hiraikotsu's path just in time, landing back on the ground while asking,
"Hey Myoga, what's she talkin' about anyway?" Said flea demon replies fearfully,
"I haven't the faintest idea. Here it comes again!"
(Crash)
"Guh!"
Inuyasha leaps away from the boomerang again, and Coraline says with a serious glare,
"We have to do something about that weapon!"
"I am ready. (Beads rattling) Wind Tunnel!"
(Whooooooosssssssshhhhhhh...)
Miroku's Wind Tunnel manages to catch the Hiraikotsu!
"I got it!"
But that victory would be short-lived, when a swarm of the Insects of Hell came soaring in!
"Watch it, Miroku! It's Naraku's wasps! You'll get poisoned if you suck them in!"
Seeing no choice, Miroku stifles his Wind Tunnel, as he asks in a shout,
"W-What are they doing here?!" Inuyasha turns to see the insects:
"What?! No way!"
As Sango catches Hiraikotsu again on the rebound, we see Naraku on scene not too far behind her!
"Naraku..."
"Inuyasha, she will destroy you. So you may as well accept your fate." Inuyasha retorts heatedly,
"Keep dreaming, monkey! It's you that's going down!"
But Inuyasha would not charge in Naraku's direction for very long, as he leaps over Sango and her boomerang, but is caught by his ankle courtesy of a chain!
"I am your opponent, not him!"
"If you keep interfering like this, I'm gonna have to take care of you!"
"Just try it! Maybe my defenseless village was quick for you to slaughter, but I won't die so easily!"
On the sidelines, Shippo exclaims,
"Hey! That slayer believes Inuyasha attacked her village!" Coraline adds just as angry,
"Naraku must've tricked her somehow...Bastard..."
As Sango throws Hiraikotsu, Coraline notices a familiar glow coming from her back:
(Gasp) Oh god...She has a jewel shard embedded in her back!
Inuyasha barely manages to block Hiraikotsu again with Tessaiga, before starting the charge at Sango:
"Now, before her weapon returns..."
But Sango had more than one method to use in this fight:
"Poison Powder!"
(Boom, boom)
Inuyasha cringes back:
"Gh! A miasma..."
"It's easy to to overwhelm the delicate senses of an overgrown mongrel such as yourself."
"Damn, I can't get close..."
Naraku watches the battle, remarking,
"Ha. The slayer shall finish him off in no time. (Turn) Now what-Well, if it isn't the holy monk."
Miroku makes a stance against the demon:
"Naraku, prepare to die!"
"My apologies for not obliging you, but all I shall prepare to do, is gather the jewel shards."
"Whatever you've been scheming it is all over!"
Naraku pulls out a sword:
"Oh really?"
With that, Miroku and Naraku go staff to sword, and the former manages to rip off one of Naraku's hands!
"Ngah!"
(Crash)
Naraku barely dodges Miroku's staff, as his sword hand falls onto the dirt...He is now on the ground, and blocked from moving another step by a vengeful Miroku...
Coraline and Shippo are impressed:
"Whoa..."
"He did it!"
(Shoom...)
"Huh?"
Coraline turns around, and her eyes bulge out, seeing Naraku's hand shooting towards them!
"Coraline!"
She quickly grabs her combat knife, and tries to swipe at the hand, but misses, allowing it to snatch up the large shard of the Shikon-no-Tama from her neck!
"Nooo!"
Naraku reattaches the hand to his socket, mission completed:
"(Evil chuckle) This shard is not for the likes of you. Now that I possess it, there's no reason to linger."
Inuyasha comes to stand on Miroku's left:
"Not without a fight, Naraku!"
"I bid you farewell..."
Suddenly, a misty purple-black smoke begins to surround the demon, and Inuyasha shouts while he and Miroku race to stop him,
"You're not going anywhere, Naraku!"
Unfortunately, the smoke proved too much for either male to handle, allowing Naraku to flee, sending the following message:
"Sango, I shall meet you at the castle. I trust that you shall not fail in killing Inuyasha before you return..."
Sango watches him go, wondering,
Can I really trust Naraku?
(Mew)
"Huh?"
Sango turns around, and sees Kilala:
"Kilala! You're still alive!"
The cat demon leaps into Sango's welcome arms, both happy to see the other...Sango then asks Kilala in a whisper,
"Kilala, I want you to follow him. And if he does anything strange...kill him."
Kilala tenses with a growl, understanding the request, before leaping off, transforming into her full form to fly after Naraku...
"I will not let you escape!" "You're dead, Naraku!"
(...Spin...)
(Crash)
"Gah!"
Inuyasha is then blocked into a stop by Hiraikotsu...Sango calls to Inuyasha:
"Prepare to fight, Inuyasha...or die on the spot."
"Listen: Why don't you back off! I'm not interested!"
Sango does not heed his attitude, and charges towards him, her thoughts being,
I have to end him now, while I still have some life left in me!
"Hygyahh!"
(Toss...)
Inuyasha jumps away from Hiraikotsu's path, before throwing his Tessaiga back:
"Will you cut it out?!"
(Tok, crash)
Sango is distracted by the upturn of dirt courtesy of the sword, that she misses catching her boomerang on the rebound:
"What? No!"
She tries to go after it, but stops as Inuyasha begins charging at her:
"Not so tough now, are you?"
She hops back, and throws out another bomb of poison:
"Poison powder!"
...However:
"Rrrah!"
(SWIPE)
Inuyasha knocks off Sango's filter mask!
My poison-shielding mask!
Lucky for Sango, she would not be left to fend for her life within the poisonous smog:
(Grab)
Inuyasha grasps her arm, and leaps out of the cloud! Sango was confused by his act of selflessness:
What's he doing? He-He isn't trying to save me, is he?
That's impossible...!
They land safely away from the poison smog, and Sango reaches for her blade:
He's the one that attacked my village!
(STAB)
She drives the blade into Inuyasha's arm...! It was around this time that Coraline and Shippo came running towards them:
"Inuyasha! Gh!"
The half-demon of course, isn't fazed much by the blade, and only looks at Sango in annoyance:
"You idiot. Haven't you realized that maybe Naraku has been tricking you? (Takes sword) Give it up! I haven't even gotten started and you're covered in blood."
"What, do you mean?"
(...Drip...drip...)
Apparently, thanks to the shard of the jewel embedded in Sango, she didn't notice that her wounds re-opened during the fight:
"Uh! I, didn't realize I lost so much blood during the fight. I, haven't even felt any pain from my wounds."
Coraline moves to Inuyasha:
"Inuyasha, you're not hurt too bad, right?"
"I'll live."
Sango looks down at herself in disbelief, her mind going back to a time before this chaos had began...
Flashback
She and Kohaku are in a grassy field full of wild flowers, where butterflies were abundant...
"Kohaku. Are you, afraid of becoming a demon slayer?"
"N-No, of course not. I'm not afraid..."
She sees the truth in his eyes and smiles gently:
"Oh yeah? I'll let you in on a little secret: All of us are just a little bit afraid of fighting demons."
"Huh? Even you, Sango?"
"Yep. And not just me, but father and all of the others too. But we never fight alone; we're always with someone. We fight together side-by-side with our family and friends. The strength of our numbers gives us our courage..."
Scene Shift: Her brother's death...
"Help me, Sango...I'm so afraid..."
End Flashback
"...Ko-haku...Uuhh..."
Sango passes out...Shippo asks,
"Is she dead?"
Coraline narrows her eyes in concern:
"...No. She's still alive, barely. (Kneels down) It seems that the shard of the jewel embedded in her back was providing her with extra endurance."
"No wonder: I could tell from the start that she was badly injured from the smell of her blood. Naraku must've used the jewel shard to manipulate her into fighting me to the death."
Coraline felt her fist clench:
...That wicked bastard's gonna pay for this.
Meanwhile, Miroku was in pursuit of the insect horde that Naraku was hidden within:
"(Pant, pant) You can't lose me that easy! Huh?"
He suddenly stops, when his path was cut short, courtesy of a small chasm...Miroku then hears something coming from behind, and the next thing he knew, he was on Kilala's back!
"Gah! Uh...Thanks! I appreciate the ride!"
Kilala's speed soon prevailed, and she would catch up to the baboon-cloaked demon:
"Narakuuuuu!"
(WHACK)
Miroku knocks Naraku hard in his side with his staff...however:
(Turn, Shoooooom)
Naraku suddenly sends out some sort of tree root attack, the ends forming into clawed hands!
"What's this?!"
Kilala and Miroku were soon dodging each charging root, but were soon overwhelmed by the strength, and fell to the ground:
"Gh!"
"(Growl)"
Naraku calls from up above,
"Do not take me lightly, monk."
"Damn you, Naraku!"
Sango's POV, Flashback/Nightmare
"Hey, Sango!"
I see, Kohaku, smiling and waving while approaching me in that flower field...
"Sango!"
Kohaku...
Wait...The sky is darkening...
"(Silent)"
Uh! I can't speak!
"Sango...!"
Kohaku...he's, fading away, getting farther and farther...No!
I have no voice, my body won't move...What's wrong with me?!
End Flashback/Nightmare
I'm, being carried...by who?
I open my eyes, and see, the half-demon, Inuyasha!
"(Gasp)"
He's not only carrying me, but also has Hiraikotsu!
"It's you!"
"So you're conscious?"
"Put me down now! What are you up to?"
"Be quiet."
Suddenly, another person speaks up, who I see as a young woman with long, red hair:
"There's no need to be hostile. We're going after Naraku so that we can get back the jewel shard he stole from us."
"He called you Sango, right? Well Sango, if you bug me anymore, I'll dump you off right here."
"What?!"
"Inuyasha! You're not helping the situation with being so rude! (Turns to me) Excuse him: He hasn't really opened to the whole 'helping others' concept quite yet. He acts tough, but he does have a good heart."
"Keh, you wish..."
I then hear another voice on my shoulder:
"Sango, Inuyasha and the rest of us didn't want to leave you behind. Your wounds are deep."
"You're Myoga." Inuyasha then says,
"Let's get this over with. You're not gonna get away this, Naraku!" I hear Coraline add,
"Damn right," and I feel something, odd:
(Pulse)
"Hm?"
I turn to see, that the red-haired girl's eyes, were glowing an ice blue!
"What the-"
"Hm? Oh, sorry. I guess you've never seen this before, have you? I'm an Aura Reader; human as they come, but with a stronger energy than usual Human Souls. I have the ability to see a person's Aura, or 'Energy of the Soul'."
"...I see."
So strange...I've never heard of an 'Aura Reader' before...This girl...I have this feeling, that she's not from this world...
Back with Naraku, Miroku & Kilala, No POV
Miroku was trying to wrap his head around this change in the situation:
"Is Naraku's appearance an illusion?"
"Illusion or not, it is time that you find out for yourself first hand!"
(Shoooommmm...)
Naraku sends the roots straight at Miroku and Kilala, who whack and claw/bite away to fend off the attack...However, the pieces of the roots soon regenerated!
"Gh! No matter how much I strike, it reverts back!"
He barely dodges another attack, only to have his ankle ensnared by a root hand:
"Uh!"
(STAB)
"GYH!"
Another root then shoots into Miroku's side!
I-It's, gonna pierce, through me!
Luckily, Inuyasha comes swinging in with Tessaiga just in time:
"Hrrraaaaahh!"
(SLICE)
The root is cut in half, and Miroku lands on the ground safe. Inuyasha asks,
"You okay, Miroku? What the heck are ya doin'? You're such a useless Monk..."
Miroku knocks away the piece of root from his person, and calls back,
"Inuyasha, behind you!"
(Shoooom)
Inuyasha turns to hack away two more roots, and he and Miroku stand to face the demon responsible:
"So, you're still alive, Inuyasha?"
"Keh, you think a mere human can kill me? Think again!"
"The last time I looked, you were losing to a wounded slayer."
"Shut up! Admit it, Naraku: You're the one who turned that pack of demons onto the village and annihilated everyone!"
"All I did was mention to the demons that the village guard happened to be thinned that day."
On the sidelines, as Coraline held her up, Sango's eyes widen at what she hears:
(Gasp) So it was him!
"You were after the jewel shards in the village, weren't you?!" Naraku does not deny it:
"Not as slow as you look, Monk. (Smile) The villagers should've been prepared to defend such valuable bounty."
Inuyasha barks furiously,
"You could've just taken 'em! You didn't have to kill everybody!"
"Naraku..." Said demon turns to the girls:
"Sango..."
"The demons in the castle and the demon spider were all part of your trap, weren't they?!"
"Trap? Is that what you call my simple diversions? I thought the slayers of your village could handle any sort of demon. They literally, did not live up to their boasts."
That did it for Sango:
(Grasp)
"DAMN YOOOOUUU!"
(Ping...)
The jewel shard falls out from her back, and Sango collapses...
"Sango!"
At the same time Coraline came to her side, Naraku snatches up the shard he gave to Sango:
"Fool. No use in lending you the Shikon-no-Tama if all you do is choose to defy me..."
Sango grits her teeth, as she tries to prop herself on her elbows, despite Coraline's protest:
"Sango, careful, your injuries!"
"Gh, the jewel shard was suppressing my pain...NARAKU!"
"Heh, it would have been easier for you to die believing that Inuyasha was your sworn enemy, not me."
Sango could not respond, for her mind was once again flashing back to the events that only occurred the day before:
Gh...F-Father...
Kohaku...
Coraline looks hatefully up at the deceitful demon:
"Grr...Of all the low, dirty, sadistic..."
Inuyasha wasn't far off in his own opinion of Naraku:
"You really love to mess around with people's feelings, don'tcha, (Leap) ya creep!"
(Slash)
Naraku lunges backwards, dodging Tessaiga, and replies,
"Are you thinking about Kikyō when you say that?"
"You'll pay for that! Hrrraaaaahhh!"
(SLICE)
Inuyasha successfully beheads Naraku!
As Miroku comes to Inuyasha's side, the latter grumbles,
"Damn him...and good riddance..."
...Or was it? Miroku wasn't too sure:
"Is this really the Naraku I was pursuing? No...no, it can't be!" Even Inuyasha was becoming skeptical:
"This was too easy. He couldn't have had the power to have Kikyō and all those other people suffer so much."
Miroku then looks up, and flinches before shouting,
"Inuyasha, watch out!"
(Crash)
Inuyasha then dodges one of the root limbs of Naraku's body, that was still moving!
"His body is moving without his head on!"
Just as Shippo shouts out the fact, said head of Naraku begins to move as well:
"Hmph, I will not die so easily." Miroku is a bit spooked:
"I-Is that a talking head or am I imagining things?!"
With that, he and Inuyasha begin thrashing at the root appendages once more, but just like before, no matter how many time they sliced and hacked, the roots would regenerate!
"Damn, he just keeps reverting back..."
Sango was just as infuriated as Coraline, but for a somewhat different reason:
He's using the power of the Shikon-no-Tama. I can usually see jewel shards, so why didn't I notice it before?
He's a demon and I didn't sense it at all. Even now, I can't sense any demon spirit in him...
Wait a minute! That cannot be possible, so it must mean-
"Inuyasha, that's not him! It's a puppet!"
"A puppet?"
"In demon puppetry, the master controls the puppet with something hidden deep inside the body. His heart; aim straight for the heart!"
Naraku's head laughs:
"You figured it out."
Coraline narrows her eyes:
"The heart, eh?"
She then uses her Aura Sight, and pinpoints the weak spot:
There! I see an object where his heart's suppose to be!
"Got it..."
She then rises from the ground, much to Sango and Shippo's surprise:
"Huh?"
"Coraline, what're you doin'?"
Said redhead brandishes out her combat knife:
That bastard is done!
"Naraku!"
The other two, Inuyasha and Miroku, watch as Coraline's body glows a bit:
"What the-" "Coraline, wait don't-"
"You're, finished!"
(SHOOM)
Coraline then throws her knife as hard as she could, it heading on a straight course for it's target, also wrapped in a blue glow:
(TOK)
It hits dead-on where the heart is, the body splitting apart and evaporating, while the head spins, shoots up into the air, before exploding in a cloud of dust and fur!
Everyone looks at the redhead with shock:
"She...did it..."
"Coraline..."
"How did she..."
Snapping out of his daze, Miroku walks over to where the body once was, and picks up a wooden object. Inuyasha asks,
"What is that?"
"This, is demon puppetry. The hair wrapped around inside belongs to Naraku."
"Well that was more than a doll we just fought. "
"It was a counterfeit Naraku. The real Naraku is probably somewhere safe while controlling this puppet."
Miroku then unhooks Coraline's combat knife from the wooden doll:
"I must say, Coraline's aim with a knife is pretty good. And that power..."
"Agh!" "Coraline!"
"Huh?" "Hm?"
Both men turn around, and their eyes widen, when they see Coraline on her knees, holding her head, as her body glows in a pulsing matter!
"Coraline!"
Inuyasha rushes over, Miroku not too far behind, and the former asks,
"What's happening?! What's wrong?" Shippo replies nervously,
"I-I dunno! One second she was fine, just exhausted, and all of a sudden, she just, fell to her knees like this!"
Looking more closely, you could see that Coraline had a look of pain on her face:
(Pulse...pulse...)
"Gggh...Must, resist...Gotta, get...under control..."
That served to confuse everyone even more:
"Resist?" "Get under control?"
"Is her Aura Power overwhelming her?"
After a few more minutes, the pulsing stops, and Coraline relaxes, though was breathing a bit more heavily:
"(Pant, pant, pant) D-Dammit..."
"Coraline?"
"Hm?"
She looks up, and sees Inuyasha and the others looking at her with concern:
"Are you okay?"
"What happened?"
Coraline nods weakly, and replies,
"I'm, okay...or I am now at least...But, my Aura Power...it, felt like, it was trying to take over me..."
"Take over you?"
Coraline looks to Miroku and nods:
"Yes. It can happen to Aura Readers occasionally. You see, because our Human Souls have a stronger energy concentration, it can sometimes overpower us, and unless we remember to suppress the power...the end result can be riddled with consequences I can't even begin to describe."
"...Has this ever happened to you before?"
"No. This is the first for me...My father, though...he's experienced it at least four times in his life before he fully trained himself. Heh, I wouldn't be surprised if something similar will occur for me."
Coraline then frowns and gains a morbid look:
"...This is likely the secondary reason why Trinity wants me: So they can use my power to every extent, and create chaos for their own nefarious purposes..."
That caused a look of worry to pass over Miroku and Shippo, while Inuyasha, was stuck between worry and anger:
So Trinity not only wants her for her Father's knowledge, but to use her as a weapon?
...No...No, that's not gonna happen!
"But I can't worry about that."
"Huh?"
Inuyasha snaps out of his thoughts, and looks to see Coraline gingerly raise herself to a stand, a calm smile on her face:
"Right now, we should focus on getting back to the village, and of course,"
(Grab)
"Getting you some medical help, Sango..."
Sango stares at the other with wonder, before nodding firmly...
Meanwhile, at the Hidden Castle...
(Slice...tok)
Another demon puppet doll mysteriously breaks into two...
The young lord from earlier, is sitting up, in better health than before, wearing a blue kimono and gray pants...
"My young lord. Neither the young girl nor Naraku have returned. Do you think they are slain?"
"...It is possible. Continue a strict guard around the castle."
"Yes, my lord."
As the lord stands up, he thinks to himself,
This castle and this body hide my true identity. I will use them both to great satisfaction, my dear Kagewaki...
Yes. As it turns out, the young lord is in fact Naraku himself!
He looks over at the destroyed demon puppet doll, and smirks, before walking out of the room, his true nature seen among the shadows of the light...
