Chapter 29: Working for the Enemy

The wooden floor creaked under Alice's footsteps as Kagura led her through the dark castle that belonged to Naraku. Panic made her heart cold as ice as she realized that there was almost no chance that she would get out of this mess. Luckily for the Shikigami user though, Kagura didn't seem to notice her mistake in taking Alice instead of Utsugi back to Naraku's castle.

I should be safe for now but Kagura has always been an easy one to trick… I highly doubt that it will be the same for Naraku the girl thought worriedly. If he does find out what then? This castle is surrounded by a barrier and I have no clue where I am, not to mention Naraku has the home field advantage here.

At the sight of Kagura coming to a stop in front of one of the rooms, Alice halted and looked over at Kagura who teased, "You sure had a hard time did you?"

At her humiliating tone, Alice felt anger boil up inside her but fought to keep it down. I'm Utsugi now remember? Unless I act like her I can't fool Kagura into believing me. Now calm down Alice… Think emotionless she thought, taking a breath in and clearing her thoughts.

"I miss calculated, nothing more or less," she replied in an emotionless tone.

"Don't worry, the failure with the wolf demons isn't that big of a problem. I just thought I'd lessen the effort by setting them on Inuyasha to keep him busy while I took care of the others," Kagura explained while Alice fought down another wave of irritation towards the wind sorcerer.

"I see," the girl replied as Kagura looked her up and down.

"You could've at least tried to fight a little cleaner. You're filthy for kami's sake!" Kagura observed before sighing, "Whatever, I'll see you later. But you'd at least better be clean by then."

Watching Kagura walk away, the Shikigami user quickly went into the room and closed the door. Her heart was pounding and she was almost certain that the wind sorceress had seen through her disguise. Sliding down the door, Alice hugged her knees as she sat alone in the dimly lit room.

Oh kami, what am I going to do? Alice thought with a look up to the ceiling above her. I barely know anything about Utsugi, let alone just what she did while staying in this castle. What should I do? Should I just stay here or venture around?

Shaking her head to clear the thoughts in her mind, she slowly stood. Regardless, I need to get out of these dirty clothes. Sorry Kaede, but I won't be returning this outfit you so kindly gave me.

Walking over to the doorway that connected the room to another, Alice pushed back the screen and saw what looked like a wardrobe in the corner and hastily walked over to it.

Great, these are Utsugi's clothes she thought as she pulled out the clothes that were identical to what she was wearing right now, but only less dirty. Quickly, Alice changed out of the muddy priestess outfit she wore, making use of the cloth and bucket of water in the corner of the room to clean the remaining mud that stuck to her body off, before changing into Utsugi's clothes.

Wow, these fit much better than the clothes Kaede gave me. But I guess that's because Utsugi and I are practically twins the girl reluctantly thought as she imagined her lookalike more as an evil clone than a loving sister. Going back over to the main room, Alice looked out the sole window, wishing that she could be out there instead of being trapped in here. Seizing a delicate comb on a nearby table, she proceeded to comb her hair that was covered in snarls.

I guess that mask was a onetime thing huh? Alice thought as she wasn't able to find a replacement mask among Utsugi's attire. Oh well, that thing's creepy as Hell. No way would I be able to stand wearing it. Though it would help disguise me even more… I'll just have to deal without it then huh?

After finishing combing her hair, Alice smiled at how the comb made her hair silky smooth. Her eyes widened at its increased length that had her hair coming down to her stomach instead of the longish hair that came down just below her shoulders when she first arrived in the era.

I guess a lot of time really did pass… Okay the first thing I'm going to do when I get back is cut some of this hair off she thought, though she liked the way her hair brushed against her back with each turn of her head.

Getting up, Alice decided that a walk around the dark castle wouldn't be such a bad idea. It will let me get to know my surroundings, and I'm sure I'll be able to think of an excuse if anyone finds it suspicious her thoughts reassured her as she stepped out of the room and into the long hallway.

After a brief moment of deciding which way to go, Alice went right, following the path Kagura led her on to take her to the room. But the farther she moved away from the room the more painful the headache, which she received after first entering the barrier, became.

Ugh this is horrible… It must be the miasma that's causing this she thought while she rested a bit to let the headache pass. How can Kagura and Utsugi stand this?

Opening her eyes once more, the girl continued down the halls until a familiar figure caught her eyes. Kohaku! Alice barely kept herself from calling out as she picked up her pace to walk towards the young demon slayer. When she was right next to the boy, the Shikigami user assumed her would at least greet her but his position staring off into space with empty brown eyes remained the same.

Kohaku? Alice thought as she looked at the kid worriedly. What happened to you? I've never seen him so out of it… This must be what Sango meant by Naraku controlling him. Is Naraku keeping him from feeling anything at all?

"Don't waste your time with Kohaku. He can't feel a thing since he's Naraku's puppet, remember?" Kagura's cold voice made Alice jump out of her skin as she casually turned her head to see the sorceress over her shoulder, careful to make sure her eyes weren't betraying her shock.

"Yeah, I almost forgot about that," Alice murmured as she turned her back on Kagura and let her eyelids cover most of her eyes as she worried about Kohaku's safety and possible future.

"Anyway, Naraku wants a word with you," Kagura's voice broke through the moment of sorrow Alice was feeling as she glared at the corner of her eyes in annoyance.

Turning around, she let the incarnation lead her through the castle rooms and hallways until she stopped at a door and nodded for her to continue on. Alice nodded and as soon as Kagura saw this she huffed and walked away to some unknown place in the dreary castle.

This is it, don't screw this up, Alice told herself as she took a deep breath in and out before placing an emotionless expression on her face and walking into the room in which Naraku stayed in. The crimson eyes of her enemy met her own emotionless blue ones as she entered the room.

"Utsugi," Naraku greeted in a smooth voice that sent chills down the girl's spine, "Kagura tells me that the plan to use the wolf demons as bait for Inuyasha's group failed. It seems like you lost your mask in the fight as well," he finished while narrowing his eyes at Alice.

Cold dread pored through Alice's veins at the dark hanyou's eyes that were narrowed in suspicion as she began to doubt if she could trick him like she did with Kagura. Nonetheless she stayed quiet and still as she stared right back at Naraku's gaze.

"I can't believe you'd have such a difficult time fighting Inuyasha or even the girl, Alice," Naraku continued as Alice almost jumped at the sound of her name coming from the man's lips.

The tension of the moment seemed to drain her of all her power as she fought to control her rising emotions. Looking away from his gaze, Alice slowly breathed in and out, desperately trying to calm herself.

"What's wrong Utsugi?" Naraku's voice sounded closer to Alice as she looked up to see him standing right next to her.

"Nothing, why would there be?" Alice started, "And the thing with Inuyasha was a mere miss calculation of their power on my part."

"Hmph. Anyways, your next mission will be to find a girl named Rin," Naraku went on, eyes looking over Alice's shoulder, "Kagura, you will accompany Utsugi."

" Fine," Kagura replied with little enthusiasm before turning to Alice, "Well, let's go already."

Nodding, Alice proceeded to follow Kagura out of the room but right as she passed Naraku, she felt a rough, cold hand grab her own. Her skin seemed to burn at his touch as she held back a scream of pain while the look of shock that formed on her face was quickly hidden, as she turned her head to see what he wanted with her.

"Utsugi, don't fail again," Naraku merely said with a cold almost threatening note in his tone.

That's all he had to say? Then what's with making a scene out of it? Alice thought as she pulled her hand away after it was released from Naraku's grasp. Turning around to follow Kagura, who was waiting for her, she looked down and noticed a trickle of blood running down her palm.

What was that all about? Alice thought as she clutched her hand and looked out the corner of her eye where Naraku stood with narrowed eyes and the slightest of smirks.

/ . / . / . / . / . / . / . / . / . / . / . / . / . /

"Here we are, the Field of Ignorance," Kagura announced as she landed the feather she and Alice rode into the middle of a wide field.

Gracefully stepping off of the feather, Alice watched as it returned to its original, smaller form and the sorceress put the small feather back in her hair. Once done, the two examined the area which was filled with green grass, flowers of every color under the sun, and small streams here and there.

"It's very odd to me of why you'd team up with someone like Naraku," Kagura spoke up as Alice turned to face her, "I mean you were a priestess in the past after all."

A priestess? Utsugi? So she really isn't a demon after all. But what caused her to change and team up with Naraku nonetheless? Alice thought.

"Anyway, the girl known as Rin should be around here somewhere," Kagura stated, looking around, "Let's split up and find her."

"Sure," the girl agreed in a monotonous tone as she watched Kagura fly away.

Once she was sure Kagura was out of sight Alice let her emotions run wild as she held her head and said aloud, "Oh kami! What have I gotten into? Ugh! I'm such an idiot! I should've just jumped off that feather the moment I knew it was Kagura!"

Letting out a scream in frustration out of the mess she got herself in. Alice looked around and started walking.

"Field of Ignorance huh? Kami I have no clue where I am," she talked to herself as she looked around the unfamiliar place.

"Oh what the heck, it doesn't matter now! I need to find Inuyasha and the others!" Alice told herself as she crossed a wooden bridge.

Looking up, the Shikigami user stopped at the sight of a young girl picking flowers before her. The girl was dressed in a short orange and yellow kimono, tied together with a green obi. Her dark - almost black - brown hair was left down except for a small tuft of hair tied up with an orange hair band.

"Hello, are you Rin?" Alice asked the girl, assuming she was Rin since Naraku wouldn't send her out in the middle of nowhere if he didn't know the girl was nearby.

At the sight of her warm chocolate eyes, Alice fought back the urge to hug the girl who reminded her of Kagome the instant their eyes met. The girl looked up at her innocently, hanging onto the two flowers she had just picked.

"Huh? Oh yes, I am," the girl known as Rin replied in a small voice.

"Really?" Alice responded, eyes widening a bit in surprise.

What does Naraku want with a girl like this? She's hardly a threat and I don't sense anything special about her whatsoever.

"What are you doing in a place like this?" Alice continued kneeling down to the girl's height.

"Well, I'm picking flowers to make a bouquet," Rin answered with a smile.

"That's sweet. Hey, do you want me to help pick flowers with you?" Alice offered, smiling warmly at the little girl.

"You'd help me? Thank you" Rin replied happily as she hugged the Shikigami user, whose eyes immediately widened at the sudden bond of trust the young girl had made with her.

She's so innocent. I can't think of any reason Naraku would want to capture her. Does she have some connection to Inuyasha and the others or something? she thought as the girl backed up and smiled brightly at her.

"Okay, first we need to pick six different color flowers," Rin explained while leading Alice over to a patch near the two.

Smiling, the two pick a wide variety of different color flowers. Some were purple, others were the color of the sun shining down on them. With each minute that passed by, Alice felt her heart warming up with happiness at spending time with the innocent young girl. It's amazing how some people can have this effect on others even just after they've met Alice thought with a smile as she picked a sky blue flower and handed it to the child.

After an hour of picking flowers, Rin smiled and tied a white ribbon around the newly made bouquet, marveling at their effort. Alice smiled with her, enjoying her presence more and more with each passing moment.

"Thank you so much for helping! The flowers are beautiful," Rin thanked happily.

"No problem, it was nice to spend some time with you picking them," Alice replied, "So what are you planning on doing with them anyway?"

"I think I'm going to put them around the fire and show them to Lord Sesshomaru," Rin answered with a smile.

"That's nice I'm sure… Wait," Alice trailed off, "What?! Sesshomaru?"

"Yep, he's very strong and kind to me so I thought that I'd repay him some way or another," Rin smiled innocently while Alice couldn't believe her ears.

"I see, well that's nice of you," she chuckled as Rin nodded.

So she doesn't have a connection to Inuyasha but rather his brother Sesshomaru… I'm beginning to see just why Naraku wants to capture this girl. He wants to use Rin as bait to trap Sesshomaru! Alice thought as she narrowed her eyes.

"What's wrong?" Rin asked, a worried look appearing on the young girl's face. "Is something the matter?"

Eyes widening in surprise at her worried expression, Alice smiled warmly and patted her on the head. "Don't worry, I'm fine," she lied not wanting the little one to feel sad at any time.

"Okay, but whatever it is I'm sure Lord Sesshomaru can help. Here, let's go," Rin exclaimed as she grabbed Alice's hand and led her through the field.

I highly doubt that Rin… the Shikigami user thought as she let out a quiet sigh, making sure that she couldn't hear its doubtful note.

"I'm back!" Rin called out as she led Alice to a spot next to a huge river that cut through the endless field of green.

"Rin, you're late! Just what were you…" an annoying voice replied, "Rin, who's that with you?"

Frowning at the sight of Jaken, Alice let the little girl explain her being here, "She helped me pick flowers so I thought it would be nice if she stayed with us for a while."

Running up to the green imp, Rin showed him their effort, while Jaken replied in a slight impressed tone, "Flowers huh? I see."

"Yep. I'm going to put the flowers all around the fire like this, see?" Rin responded cheerfully as she flung the petals of the flowers she and Alice had collected around a fire pit, "Isn't it pretty?"

"No, no, no. Don't waste your time putting them around the fire, they'll just get burned. Plus Lord Sesshomaru won't be pleased," Jaken scolded her.

"Why should he be mad? I mean it's not like the flowers are harming anyone," Alice defended Rin, raising an eyebrow.

"Silence girl! You're not a part of this conversation," Jaken yelled.

"I think she's is right Master Jaken. Sesshomaru won't be mad at this," Rin defended Alice this time, frowning at the green imp, "In fact, I think he'll like it."

With this said, Rin handed some flowers to Alice and the two threw the petals around the fire while Jaken watched on with an annoyed face.

"So where is Sesshomaru anyway?" Alice asked once the trio settled down next to the warn fire.

"That's none of your business," Jaken snapped as she glared at him.

"Lord Sesshomaru went out on a walk," Rin replied while Alice smiled at the young girl as Jaken shot her a frustrated look.

The sun was hanging low in the sky, making the light blue sea turn a dark navy blue. Birds began to chirp their farewells to their friends as they flew off towards home.

If this takes any longer I think I'm going to have to stay with these two for the night Alice thought as she stared into the fire. Not that I'd mind, anything's better than staying the night at Naraku's place. Just then, she heard the sound of footsteps light on the ground and turned to see a familiar figure standing above her.

"Sesshomaru, so you finally choose to show up huh?" Alice greeted as she stood up next to the demon lord.

Sesshomaru stared at her with an unreadable expression in his golden eyes before Rin spoke up happily, "Lord Sesshomaru look! This girl helped me pick all of these beautiful flowers and then helped me spread them around the fire."

The demon lord merely nodded while Alice sighed. Still emotionless as ever huh?

"Hey Lord Sesshomaru? Can she stay with us? Please?" Rin begged, clasping her hands together.

"I don't think…" Jaken began before Sesshomaru spoke up in a smooth voice to Alice, "You may do as you please."

"What? Are you sure about this Sesshomaru?" Jaken questioned in disbelief.

"Great! I'm so happy that you can stay with us," Rin cheered as she grabbed Alice's kimono's sleeve and jumped for joy.

"Thanks," Alice replied as she made a small bow towards Sesshomaru to show her gratitude.

Nodding, Sesshomaru walked over to the huge rock that stood in the clearing and sat while the other three resumed their positions around the fire.

"I don't have the slightest clue of why Sesshomaru cares a bit about you," Jaken muttered to the girl as she tilted her head.

"Sesshomaru cares about me? How do you know?" Alice replied disbelieving, "Personally I think he's ignoring me half the time."

"Humph," Jaken sighed as he turned his attention back to the fire, ignoring her question.

Alice sighed, not wanting to start an argument with the little imp again she looked over her shoulder at Sesshomaru. Jaken must be hallucinating if he thinks Sesshomaru cares about me that much. I mean we've only met one time before this.

"Sesshomaru doesn't talk much huh?" Alice said to Rin, seeing if she knew the reason the demon lord didn't talk much.

"You don't think so?" Rin replied.

"Yeah, but hey, not talking at all is a way better thing than talking too much," Alice chuckled.

"I guess but I wouldn't mind seeing a talkative Lord Sesshomaru," Rin smiled as the two looked over at the said person, giggling.

"That would be a sight," Alice chuckled, imagining what Sesshomaru would be like if he talked as much as his younger brother did.

Both laughed before Rin asked, "Hey, aren't you hungry?"

"Well it has been a while since I've eaten anything," the girl trailed off, thinking No thanks to Naraku… In my whole time there I haven't even seen a crumb of food.

"Well then how about we go and get some food?" Rin offered, taking Alice's hand in her own small one and helping her up.

"Sure," Alice smiled as the two walked out of the makeshift camp.

On their way out, she caught Sesshomaru's eye and smiled at him, silently reassuring him that Rin would be safe in her hands. Giving her a small nod, the demon lord diverted his attention back to the river in front of him while the girl let Rin lead her out.

The two walked off into the field and at one moment Alice thought they might've wondered too far but Rin's innocent voice broke through her thoughts, "I've been thinking. Since you're going to be staying with us for now we should have a special dinner for the first night."

"You think?" Alice replied, though she doubted she would stay for long.

Inuyasha and the others may be nearby and they'll pick me up or Naraku might grow impatient and send Kagura to find me. Either way I don't think I'll be staying for very long, sorry Rin she thought.

"What do you have in mind?" Alice continued brightly.

"Hmmm... I know! I remember that I once ate the meat of this huge wild boar, it was so delicious!" Rin replied, "I think we should have wild boar tonight."

"Sounds great, but do you know if they even live around here?" Alice asked.

"I think so," the little girl said as she pointed to the mountains behind her, "I think I saw them over there in the mountains last."

"Great," Alice responded as Rin started towards the mountains ahead of her.

"Wait a moment Rin!" the Shikigami user called out to the girl.

"What is it?" Rin asked, turning around to give her a curious look.

"It's not all that safe in the mountains, so why don't you wait here and let me get so boar meat?" Alice offered, placing a hand on the girls shoulder.

"You'd do that?" Rin replied in surprise as the girl nodded.

Though the child's face was happy, her eyes betrayed her emotions inside as a flash of worry went through them, failing to get past the girl as she spoke up, "Rin is something the matter?"

Frowning Rin started, "Well not really… It's just...

"Yes? It's okay Rin you can tell me," Alice soothed.

"Well, promise me that you'll come back okay?"

"Huh?" Alice replied in disbelief as the little girl looked up at her with her brown pools of worry.

"Rin, what brought this up? Why'd you think I was going to leave you here all alone?" Alice thought as she pulled the girl closer, trying to reassure her.

"I don't know but I just got this feeling that you weren't going to be staying for long and… Well you've become like a sister to me and I don't want to see you go away," Rin mumbled.

"Oh Rin! Don't worry, I'm not going anywhere!" Alice said, even though she knew she might very well be lying.

Pulling Rin back so the tiny girl was looking into her eyes she continued, "I've never had any siblings before but you're like a sister to me too. But look, I have to go and get that meat or else we'll both go hungry, and doing that will definitely take some points off the responsible older sister stats huh?"

At her teasing tone and grin, Rin smiled and nodded. After a quick hug she let Alice stand up and called out to her, "Don't take too long sis!"

"Don't worry I won't," Alice called over her shoulder as she continued towards the mountains.

Once at the base of the mountains, Alice began her search for the wild boar and found one surprisingly quick. Dispatching it with ease, she knelt down and used her fire Shikigami to sear away the meat of the boar, leaving the remains for a scavenger in the woods to feed off of.

Gathering the meat into her kimono's sleeve's inner pocket the girl stood up and smiled, "Great, now all I need to do is go back to Rin before she starts to worry."

The thought of the little girl being sad tugged at Alice's heart as she retraced her steps back to the spot where she left the lone girl. Looking up she saw that the sun was even lower in the clouds so that one could see violet waves beginning to form within the navy blue sky, yet the puffy white clouds still remained. But when Alice returned to the spot she left Rin, the girl was nowhere in sight. A bolt of panic suddenly rushed through her as she worried about the little girl's safety.

"Rin?" Alice called out while scanning the area, "Rin?"

Where could she have run off to? Kami, I have to find her or else Sesshomaru's going to through a fit the girl thought as she continued calling Rin's name.

"Good job Utsugi," Kagura's voice startled Alice as she turned to see the woman approach her from behind.

"Kagura?" Alice replied, suddenly remembering at the last moment that she had to act mellow in front of the wind sorceress.

If Kagura is here then that means… Oh crap! That means that Naraku has Rin now! Damn! He'd better not hurt her or else he's in a world of trouble Alice thought as she clenched a fist within her kimono's sleeves.

"I was impressed of how quickly you earned the girl's trust," Kagura praised as she walked up to her.

"It wasn't difficult. Where is the girl now?" Alice asked in a monotonous tone.

"I already took her to Naraku's place," the incarnation replied, "But I don't have a clue of how he plans to use her."

Damn! I was hoping that Kagura hadn't taken Rin already… If she hadn't then I could've stayed with Sesshomaru and never have to go back to Naraku's place. Ugh! Well it can't be helped. I must go back and get Rin out of there - no way am I leaving her alone.

Though Alice's fury was mainly pointed at Naraku, some of it was directed at herself for being so foolish as to actually help the diabolical hanyou catch Rin.

"Okay, let's get going. If Sesshomaru shows up we'll be in a world of trouble," Kagura instructed while Alice mentally rolled her eyes thinking You have no idea…

Looking up for a moment the girl let her thoughts wonder while Kagura prepared to get the two out of the field. I have to make my stay there quick. The longer I stay at Naraku's the more likely I'll be found out not to mention I'll probably go crazy if I stay there for too long. I wonder, have the others found out that Utsugi was left behind with them? Did they mistake her as Kagura did me? No, they couldn't have I mean we're two totally different people.

Shaking her head to clear the thoughts away, she focused on her current mission to rescue Rin. Grabbing Kagura's waiting hand, Alice was swept up into the sky, heading back to the nightmare house.


First chapter up for Summer Break~ Yay!
Well this is a fun chapter, I wonder what it would be like to work for your arch enemy?
Can't be an easy task, that's for sure

Well next up we find out what happens when Alice returns back to Naraku's Castle once more to rescue Rin. But danger lies in wait as the longer Alice stays in the castle the more danger she faces.

Oh! And before I forget... If any of you readers want to request a character for me to write in their POV then ask away~
The character will be used in an upcoming Retrace on what the group does while Alice is at Naraku's~

Well that's enough talking for now, Bai!
Please read and review~