Ch. 90- The True Water God

Inuyasha © Rumiko Takahashi

The fake Water God staggered through the shrine corridors, his bony left arm hanging limply beside him as he gave off an ominous hiss.

"Wound my arm, eh, little worm?!" he questioned as he looked around. "Where are you hiding...?"

In a castle storage shed, Kagome took a quick peek out the door, only to gasp as she saw the encroaching impostor, forcing her to quickly shut it. She grabbed her bow and arrows, preparing to shoot the moment he got too close while Shippo, Taromaru, and Suekichi stood behind her.

"He's coming closer...!" Taromaru whispered.

"Shh!" Kagome shushed.

'I have to keep these kids safe...at least until Inuyasha gets here!' she thought.

The group stilled as they heard the footsteps grow louder...but then...there was silence.

"W...what happened?" asked Suekichi.

"Did he leave?" Taromaru asked.

"I...I don't know," Kagome whispered...but then, she felt a chill go down her spine, causing her to slowly turn her head up toward the ceiling...and she gasped as she saw the fake Water God's head, peeking from above the rafters!

"AAH! THERE HE IS!" Shippo shrieked.

"AAAAAAAAAHH!" Kagome screamed as she fired an arrow...but in her panic, she accidentally hit the rafters instead of the impostor Water God's head! "Uh...oops!"

"Heheheheh..." the fake Water God chuckled, sinisterly. "Fools...you will not escape!"

"Quick! Let's get out of here!" Kagome cried as she and the boys turned to open the door...but it wouldn't budge!

"Hey! What's going on?!" Taromaru questioned. "The door is stuck!"

Outside...it looked like something had coiled around the shed, squeezing it tightly. It almost looked like...a serpent's body.

"Oh, no! We're trapped in here!" Shippo cried.

"Little wench..." the impostor deity hissed. "I'll kill you, first!"

"Stay back!" Kagome shouted as she tried to notch another arrow, but before she could shoot, the fake Water God's bony appendage grabbed her ankle and pulled her down, causing her to fall to the floor!

"Kagome!" Shippo shouted.

"Watch out!" yelled Taromaru as he pointed at the Trident of Amakoi, the spearhead headed right toward her!

"DIE!" the fake Water God shouted, causing Kagome to gasp before she screwed her eyes shut.

'INUYASHA, HELP ME!' she yelled mentally...and then, KRASH! The door suddenly burst open, and Inuyasha came barreling in, holding the trident back with the Tetsusaiga!

"Back...OFF!" he yelled as he pushed the halberd away, even though it caused his sword to shrink down in size.

"Inuyasha! You came!" Kagome exclaimed.

"You, again...!" hissed the fake Water God. "I thought I drowned you, dog boy!"

"Keh!" Inuyasha scoffed. "I ain't easy to kill off. As for you, you impostor, you finally show your true colors, huh?"

'Wait...impostor?' thought Kagome.

"Kagome," Inuyasha said as he glanced back at her. "You and the kids okay?"

"We're fine!" Kagome answered before she turned to look at the boys...who were all sporting large bumps on their heads from when Inuyasha came crashing through the door. "Boys, you okay?"

"Ugh...more or less," Shippo groaned.

"Uh...my bad," Inuyasha said, sheepishly, but then he noticed that the fake Water God was slipping away. "Hey! Where do you think you're going?!"

"Inuyasha, he's outside! Hurry!" Kagome called, prompting the half-demon to run out onto the bridge. He looked around, his hand on the hilt of his sword, preparing to strike at any moment.

"Where'd that damn fraud get to?!" Inuyasha questioned.

"Inuyasha, watch out!" Kagome cried, but her call came too late, for Inuyasha suddenly found himself getting grabbed by the ankle and dragged into the lake!

"Not again!" Shippo shouted.

"Inuyasha!" Kagome cried out, just as the half-demon emerged from the water, his body wrapped in the giant body of a white serpent.

"What the hell?!" Inuyasha questioned as he looked up...and he gasped as he saw the fake Water God, his torso connected to the snake's tail.

"You'll pay for calling me an impostor, half-demon!" he hissed as he began to squeeze Inuyasha, who grunted as he tried to get free.

"I heard the whole thing!" he said. "If I take that trident away from you, you'll just be another scaly water sprite, won't you?!"

"Then just try and take it!" the fake Water God shouted as he tried to hit Inuyasha with the trident, only for the half-demon to duck at the last second. The spearhead ended up hitting the bridge that Inuyasha once stood, causing it to turn into bubbles of foam!

"What the-?!" Kagome questioned.

"It turned into sea foam!" Shippo exclaimed.

"Heheheh..." the fake Water God snickered. "My turn now, dog boy!"

"Keh!" Inuyasha scoffed as he cracked his knuckles. "Go ahead and take your turn, then...at least I'll have the chance to rip you apart!" On that, he began to push the impostor's coils away!

"Not so fast!" the fake Water God shouted before he dove into the water, taking Inuyasha with him!

"Inuyasha!" Kagome cried as she looked around...but she could not find him anywhere beneath the surface.

'Oh, no, no, no! Where is he?!'

Down below, Inuyasha grunted as he struggled to get himself free from the fake Water God's grasp, but the more he struggled, the tighter the impostor squeezed his body...and the tighter he squeezed, the harder it became for Inuyasha to hold his breath.

XXX

Meanwhile, not too far from the shrine...

"Our beloved Water God is trapped inside the cave at the top of this boulder," said one of the goldfish sprites.

"Don't worry," Miroku assured. "We'll have the Water God freed in no time."

Soon, he, Sango, and Kirara began to make their way to the top of the cave where the Water God was sealed away.

"Tell me something, Miroku," said Sango. "Do you think that Inuyasha will be strong enough to defeat the fake Water God?"

"I believe so," Miroku replied. "Inuyasha is always at his strongest when he has someone to protect."

"...Like Kagome," Sango surmised.

"Precisely," Miroku replied. "I noticed during our travels. A while back, before we met you, Inuyasha had been gravely injured and was forced to fight a demon at least 5 times his size. He was about to lose until Kagome appeared, and suddenly, he got an extra burst of strength and vanquished the demon without effort."

"The same thing happened with Tōkajin," Sango pointed out. "Even though Inuyasha was human, when he saw that Kagome was in danger, he found the strength to fight back, even though Tōkajin had the power of a jewel shard."

"Inuyasha might talk a lot," Miroku said, "but in truth, I've never seen someone so fiercely protective over a woman as he is to Kagome."

"...I can see why," Sango said. "Kagome's so kindhearted and caring. If I were him, I'd be protective of her, too."

Soon, they arrived at the top of the cave, and that's when they found something on the boulder that sealed the entrance: a sealing tag.

"I see," Miroku mused. "A sealing spell scroll. This must be where the real Water God is being kept."

"Hello?" a voice called. "Is someone out there?"

"Huh?!" Miroku and Sango muttered in surprise.

"It's the voice of a young woman!" exclaimed Sango.

"So this Water God is actually a Water Goddess!" Miroku realized. "Are you all right in there?!"

"I am fine!" the Water Goddess answered from behind the seal. "Please, you must hurry and undo the seal!"

"Of course, Your Holiness!" Miroku exclaimed before he pulled the sutra away...and soon after, the boulder began to glow before it completely shattered! Miroku and Sango shielded their eyes, waiting for the dust to clear...and as they opened them, they gasped upon seeing a woman inside the cave, dressed in magnificent silk robes and her hair was decorated with coral and other jewelry!

"It's...it's her!" Sango exclaimed.

"The real Water Goddess!" Miroku said...but at that moment, they noticed she was about as big as a newborn kitten.

"She's...quite tiny for a goddess, though," Sango noted.

"Indeed, she is," Miroku concurred.

XXX

Down in the lake...Inuyasha struggled to get free from the impostor Water God's coils.

"Hahahaha!" the fraud laughed. "I'll carve you, slowly, and then leave you for the fishes to eat!"

'Ugh...dammit...!' Inuyasha thought as the last few bubbles of air seeped through his clenched teeth. 'If I don't get outta here, quick, I'll drown!'

Uh-oh!

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