Sweat and blood coated the young monk's skin as he struggled to find his Sango. Sango had also been trying to get to him, so when they met up in the hallway it was a huge breath of relief for both of them and a large smile.

"Even injured you look beautiful, Sango." Miroku held back a cough and tried to look as confident as he could in front of the taijiya.

Instead of her normal strength, a weak whisper escaped the demon slayer's lips. "I don't think I can hold out much longer."

"I have a plan. The knife you always keep on you, the one of demon bone, tell me you still have it!"

"Of course.." Sango reached inside of her shirt and pulled out a small knife she had cleverly hid. For a very small item it had a great amount of detail, the handle was intricately carved into a dragon shape, with gold lining most of the grooves. Miroku took a quick look at where exactly where it was placed, and grinned.

"I had no where else to put it, just take it!"

"Fine, now we need..."

"Here I am! I'm here to save you guys!" Shippou entered, out of breath. "We have to do something or we are all going to die. That doll is sucking the life out of Nami! She looks awful!" The young fox demon's eyes flooded with tears, and his tiny hands shook.

"Calm down, Shippou." Miroku cut in calmly. "I need you to do something for me."

"W-What is it Miroku?"

"Close your eyes and be brave."

The instant Shippou closed his eyes, Miroku came down on him hard with Sango's knife, right in his arm. The shriek was enough to make everyone wince, and Sango's hand instinctively went to Miroku's.

"What do you think you are doing!"

"If that doll is the cause of this, then I'm going to go with my instinct. A sutra just isn't powerful enough for something like this alone. " He pulled out the knife, which was thickly coated with Shippou's blood. "The blood of virgin demon on demon bone should be, though. I saw Master Mushin do it before, and I trust him."

"You are taking the word of that drunk?" Sango muttered softly. Shippou was the only one to pick it up with his sharp sense of hearing, and gulped.

"Help me up Sango. I need to get to Nami's room now!."

The group used every bit of strength they had to make it to the bedroom. Miroku grabbed onto the wall for support. Sango tried to support his other side, but from the way she staggered she needed him more than the other way around.Shippou was still in shock, it was only by hearing Miroku's voice that he was able to continue on. Both monk and taijiya were amazed at the amount of damage the curse had already brought on her. The skin on the new bride's face, dry and flaky, showed just how much her condition had deteriorated in a short amount of time. For a moment Sango questioned if Nami were already dead, but Miroku gently pushed her back.

"Right." Miroku raised his hand slowly. The illusions that had plagued him before, the ones of Kagome and his father, were just as vivid as ever, but he had learned to look past them. He brought the blade full force against the doll Nami held, but was stopped by Sango's hand before the doll was cut.

"Sango! What are doing?"

"Kohaku..." Sango's eyes were overtaken by the illusion. Instead of Nami and the dark doll she saw her brother, bleeding and in pain from Naraku's torment. How did you get here, Kohaku? What did Naraku do to you? I can't lose you, I've lost everyone else! Kotaku! Thinking on his feet, Shippou used his fox fire to brush against Sango's nose and make her release her grip.

"You are a valuable member of this team, Shippou." Miroku said, and brought the blade down once more. It cut straight between the dolls eyes, and out of it bubbled toxic miasma. The taijiya covered her mouth, but the toxic substance did not seem to spread throughout the room. Miroku pried the doll away from Nami's arms, and immediately his wounds began to heal.

"Is it over?" Shippou asked, as all of his injuries cleared up except the one on his arm.

"I don't know. I-"

The conversation stopped when a thick, black, gurgling sludge began to ooze out of the doll. It slithered its way down the side of the bed and onto the floor. It hissed and popped as it grew, gradually taking on a human like form. Sango lifted Nami from the bed to her chest, and backed away from the growing threat.

Red, crooked eyes formed in its head with white pupils within. Silver teeth jetted out next, while ears and more distinct facial features formed. Only a minute later it was obvious that the form it was trying to take was that of its host, Nami, except decidedly twisted and dark.

Shippou was scared enough, but when he heard a gasp from behind him, he jumped right into the air.Grandpa, Kei, and Souta had arrived and were watching from just outside of the door. Kei was still trembling, her eyes set on Nami, but Souta and his grandfather watched with steady eyes.

"Why does this all seem familiar to me?" Souta asked quietly.

"It's because I know I've told this story before," his grandfather scratched his beard," just never thought it would come from something I ordered from eBay. I love that store. Now lets see, what was it exactly."

"If you can think of anything," Kei said, "Please hurry. They need you in there."

"Now I remember. Those are the sorts of demons that take control of objects to get into places that are heavily guarded. They have control of the air, so they can manipulate it into any way they wish, from a picture to a weapon."

"That explains me seeing Kagome," Souta nodded. "The air in front of me was manipulated so I only saw her. And all those cuts we got could have been from air cutting into our skin."

"Smart boy! When I was a boy my household too dealt with such a threat, now if I can only remember how it was we got rid of it."

"Hurry!" Mother and son exclaimed in unison.

'Thats it! I remember. Souta, do you remember a few weeks ago when I got that artifact left to me by my great aunt. It was a small gray statue of an unknown species of bird in flight, with eyes made of pure jade. You have to go down to the basement and get it!"

"Why did you put it in the basement again?"

"It wasn't supposed to be exposed to any sunlight, but now isn't the time for a history lesson my boy, just go get it!"

"Right!"

Kei watched her son scramble off, and she got up slowly. "I'll go help him. You shouldn't stay here, you might get caught up in the battle."

"I'm going to protect this household just like I've always had, now go help Souta."


The cat hanyou had been following her dog counterpart for a while before she finally got frustrated. She reached over and grabbed his shoulder, yanking him back so he could look her in the face.

"Where are we going? Tell me."

"Somewhere. If you want to go off, fine, but don't come crying if you get in a battle you can't handle."

Ass. "What is the big secret?"

"Do you ever shut up?"

One of these days, I'm going to get some new beads. If those beads of subjugation helped Kagome, they will certaintly help me. She imagined herself putting InuYasha into a huge crater in which he could no longer be seen. She giggled, and InuYasha followed her eyes to see where she was looking.

"Ain't no way."

"What are you talking about?"

"I don't need to say. It's never going to happen, so you can just stop laughing."

The two travelers reached a body of water. Marathon rushed to it and knelt down, cleaning off her face and hands. It was a refreshing relief from the heat of the sun, though InuYasha seemed less than interested in it. After dunking her hands in the icy cold water, she continued to follow InuYasha, right to the base of a tree.

Only a foot away was a small grave marker. The catgirl watched as InuYasha took fresh flowers out of his jacket and placed them at the stones edge. He bowed his head and closed his eyes.

Marathon was too timid at first to interrupt whatever her partner was going through, so she waited a moment to speak. "InuYasha," she said after a few minutes, "Who are you visiting?"

"My mother."

She lowered her head respectfully and sat a few feet away. "How long ago was it that she died?"

"I was still a kid, that's all you need to know."

"So you are an orphan?"

"Yeah, whatever."

"Don't get an attitude with me! I'm trying to be nice to you."

"I don't need your pity!"

"I was just going to say...that I don't remember my parents either so I can kind of understand."

"Bull. You didn't see your mother slain right before you."

"At least you got to know your mother!"

"Well maybe your mother is still alive! You don't know!"

"If she is, maybe I don't want to meet her then. Tell me, did you at least know that both of your parents were good people."

"Yeah. My old man was a general, a big shot who ruled the demon world. He did everything right, except spawn Sesshomaru.LMAO! I still don't know enough about him, except for the fact that the power he had surpasses mine in all aspects." The dogboy's expression turned sour as he spoke.

"So, what?"

"Like Miroku said, women just wouldn't understand. One day people are gonna forget my old man and see what I have to offer. Someday."

"Oh I get it. Its just another stupid guy thing."

"Stupid guy thing? What the hell do you know!"

"Enough. Its nothing but a brute force thing, no matter what century you are from."

"I'm not striving to be like my father, but I WILL be better than him. You hear that, cat!"

"Like a loser like you could compete with a general." Marathon said smugly, but when she watched InuYasha dig his claws into the soil above his mother's grave, softed her voice. "I guess I should let you visit with her."

"Yeah you should."

"You..." Marathon stood and rested against the tree. " You have some pretty decent looks to you, mutt. Means your mother must have been beautiful. You know what they say. Sons take after their mothers, and daughter's after their fathers."

"Funny," InuYasha's voice softened too, "Mother said I had my old man's eyes."

"Then you do. Hey, there is some fresh flowers just over there. I think adding a little color to the arrangement you already have might be nice, that is if you are interested."

"I guess so, sure."

Marathon helped InuYasha up and they gathered a few additional flowers to add to Izayoi's grave.


Slowly, the ground beneath the demon's feet began to wither and decay. It made no attempt to strike out at anyone, but Miroku and Sango could not have felt any more tense. Both of them remained in defensive stance, and Gramps tried every charm and chant he knew to try to keep the creature at bay.

"Sir," Miroku said, addressing the elderly gentleman, "I don't know if it still has a hold on Nami. Try and get her far away from here."

"If I'm right about that thing, Souta should be on his way to seal it once more!"

"We may not have time to seal the creature." The floor beneath the young monk's feet started to give, and he jumped back. "If I can avoid taking in the miasma, then I should be able to send it to oblivion with my wind tunnel."

Sango cringed slightly with the monk's words. There have been several times when he has used his wind tunnel, and he almost lost his life because of it. "Miroku, are you certain?"

"Yes. I would not lie to the woman I love." He swiftly unwrapped his beads, and held out his hand. "Im ending this now! Wind-"

Some of the ooze that formed the creatures body seperated itself from its host and flew toward Miroku. Instead of being sucked in it sealed the hole, wrapping around his fingers and secreting the miasma that had emerged from the doll. It burned into Miroku's flesh, and he let out a horrid scream that sent Sango immediately to his side.

"Get it off! Get it off!" Miroku panicked, frantically trying to pull the menace from his hand.

"I can't!" Sango pulled at it, burning herself in the process. "It won't budge. I think its fusing with him."

Sango reeled back, still holding Nami, and looked at the damage the demon had already caused. The bed that Nami had rested on was nothing but ashes, and the decay, as it spiraled outward, grew faster.

"We have to leave the room Miroku! I don't know how its doing this but we are going to end up like that-"

"I know!" Miroku held his hand to his chest. "I know." He almost stumbled right into harm's way when he heard Souta thundering up the stairs. Just as he was told, he had fetched the bird statue, which reacted to the demon's presence with a sickening yellow glow.

"What do we do now?" Sango said. I feel helpless. I'm not nearly as prepared as I would have been if I were in the feudal era. It was a mistake for me to get this comfortable.

Grandpa remained out in the hall, but spoke loud enough for everyone to hear. "That blade agitated it, right? Throw the blade into its bosom, and when it starts to reform touch the statue to its weakest point!"

"We can't get anywhere near it! We'll rot!" Sango exclaimed.

"Then- I think I can do it!" Shippou transformed into a bird and grabbed a hold of the statue. "I'll get it there if you think you can throw it, Miroku."

"Right." Miroku took the knife back out with his good hand. The fox demon's blood had solidified around the blade and turned it blood red. He threw it straight into the creature's bosom, and as the ooze began to seperate to avoid touching it, Shippou dropped the bird statue right on top of it. The demon seemed to struggle to hold its form, and with several loud, sickening pops, the goo that made up its body was absorbed into the bird's eye, including what had attached itself to Miroku's hand. The entire process only took a few seconds, soon all the group saw was the small statue, now a deep onyx, wobbling on the floor. Grandpa snatched it back up and handed it to his grandson.

"Take this back and put it in the chest where you found it. Lock it and make sure it is in the shadows." Souta nodded and left.

"I think it's over this time, Shippou." Miroku sat down slowly, making sure his hand was properly sealed. "I don't know if this was caused by our enemy, but it's worth looking into."

"How come the bed and floor haven't turned back to normal?" Shippou asked.

"Do not worry about it." Ms. Higurashi kneeled to pet the young boy's head. "Items are easily replaced. I'm just glad we can all get some rest now."

Sango looked at the young girl she was holding. "Her life force seems to be returning to her, but she will need plenty of rest. Poor girl, hasn't gotten a break a day in her life I bet."

"That goes for all of us." Miroku commented.