Moonlight Rose

Chapter 53: Illusions

"Ku ku ku. You have finally arrived my dear." Naraku said, smiling.

"Naraku, you bastard!" Kagome screamed. "It is time for you to die!"

"I think you are horribly mistaken. It is you, my darling, who must die. But do not worry your pretty little head about anything. I will revive you after you are dead, so you can be my mate." Naraku said.

"Me? Your mate? If that wasn't so disgusting, it'd be laughable." Kagome spat.

"Meet my newest pet. Byakuya of illusions." Naraku stepped to the side and a man with an uncanny resemblance to him stepped forward.

"It's a pleasure to meet you all. Naraku has told me so much about you. I know all your strengths and weaknesses." Byakuya said with an evil smile. "Like you, slayer, wish for your brother's life. But he will die so we can complete the jewel."

"Hirakotsu!" Sango swung her weapon at the man, who split in two, laughing. Miasma poured from his body and covered the area.

"Wind tunnel!" Miroku immediately sucked up the miasma.

"Miroku no! It's poison!" Sango yelled, but it was already too late. Miroku's body doubled over in pain.

"The poor fool." Byakuya said, reappearing by Kanna.

"Dance of blades!" Kagura's voice was heard sending her attack from the sky. Setsuki dodged them and sent a blast of spiritual power to the wind demon, causing her feather to catch on fire. "You bitch! Dance of the dragon!" Several tornadoes surrounded the area, but they were all focused on killing Setsuki.

"You cannot cut me down!" Setsuki yelled from inside of the tornadoes. The wind cut her body, but she wasn't fazed by the flesh wounds. She sent a powerful kick to the winds surrounding her and they dissipated.

"I see why Saseko killed you." Kagura said.

"Bitch." Setsuki growled, then laughed. "You're nothing more than a puppet. You are disposable."

Kagura snarled at Setsuki. "You will die bitch. And this time, you won't be revived."

"My goddess is with me, so she has the last words. Not you." Setsuki said, without a sliver of fear in her voice.

Kagome looked to her right when she felt Kikyo's dark aura approaching her. "I don't understand the point of basically kidnapping me earlier. It was stupid."

Kikyo smirked. "You will find out soon enough."

Kagome rolled her eyes, but she knew that Kikyo had been up to something. She had to have known that Kagome wouldn't have fought her in the Underworld. There was something up…and Kagome wanted to know what the hell it was.

Don't let your guard down. She is a sneaky one. Kagome heard her goddess' voice inside of her head and felt her guard lift inside of her. Kagome looked Kikyo in the eyes. There was no way she'd let that bitch show her up. It was impossible. Just as she thought that, her body got really hot. It started at her fingertips and worked its way up her arms and spread through her whole body.

What's going on? She wondered.

"Don't fight it." Naraku watched as Kagome struggled to move. "It'll all be over soon. And when you return, you will be my queen. I promise."

"Don't make promises you can't keep, Naraku." She managed to get out before she fell to the ground. Sesshomaru growled and ran to try and catch her, but as soon as his fingers touched her, an electric shock ran through her body.

"Haven't you been taught to never touch a priestess when she's becoming a dark miko?" Naraku asked.

Sesshomaru growled again. There was no way Kagome was becoming a dark miko. He looked up at Kikyo and saw her smirking, but there was something different about her. She was somehow…paler that she normally was, not to say that she had color previously. He reached for Kagome again, knowing that he could take the pain of the electric shock that had once gone through his system.

"Do not touch her mutt!" Naraku charged at Sesshomaru.

"She is my mate you vile haynou!" Sesshomaru pulled his sword from his side and went for Naraku's neck.

Naraku laughed bitterly. "You cannot kill me!"

Sango watched, wanting to run to Kagome's side and just as she was, Setsuki stopped her.

"We have bigger problems. Kagome can take care of herself." Just as she said that, a blue light appeared in front of them.

"Hello. My name is Byakuya. It is a pleasure to meet, and soon kill you." A man with ruby red lips and his hair pulled into a ponytail said. He looked identical to Naraku, so they knew he was a part of the haynou. "I do detest fighting, though. So I'm sure if you would surrender to Naraku, he would make your deaths quick and painless."

Setsuki scoffed. "I'd rather kiss you than surrender to him."

Byakuya blushed. "I'm flattered, really I am. While I am sure that there is some male that finds you and your uh…girly parts attractive, I don't. Now, the monk, on the other hand," he looked at Miroku and licked his lips, "I will see if Naraku will let me keep you."

"Let me stop you right there. I quite enjoy lady parts and the ones I love are that of my Sango." As he said that Sango blushed. "Now, enough idle chatter!" Miroku opened his wind tunnel and not even three seconds later, the air around them was filled with Naraku's poisonous insects.

"Close it monk!" Sango yelled. "Hiroktsu!" Sango flung her giant bone boomerang and killed the bugs, and at the same time, Setsuki was blasting large groups of them with her purification energy. Sango aimed her weapon at Byakuya, but he disappeared just when the weapon was about to hit him.

"It was an illusion." Setsuki said, staring at the white rose that was in the spot where the lipstick wearing man once stood. She sighed.

"You are a fool to think that you can defeat me so easily." Byakuya decided to toy with the group in front of him. Byakuya appeared behind them, then another in front of them, followed by another until they were surrounded by thirty or so Byakuyas. "See if you can find the real one."

"I'm glad I remembered this technique." She closed her eyes and brought her hands to her mouth. Setsuki blew a long breath. The images all shattered like they'd only ben mirrors, and the real Byakuya was revealed to have been standing beside Miroku the entire time.

"That's just weird." Miroku said.

Setsuki grabbed Sango's boomerang and infused a bit of it with her miko energy and sent it hurdling towards Byakuya.

"It is all fine. My purpose has been served." He bowed his head and accepted his fate.

"What was his purpose?" Sango asked, just as Kagome screamed.


It's been a little minute since I've been on here with school starting back and whatnot. Sigh. College life isn't really easy lol. But I've got a steady pace now so everything should be just dandy. Enjoy! :)

~KM705.M-san