Chapter 93: Aura of the Exorcist
A new day dawns, and we find our group traveling through a wide open field of wild grass after leaving the knoll they camped at the other night, continuing their hard but well-worth journey...
When they come to the middle of the field, Coraline, her outfit of the day consisting of a white form-fit t-shirt, red jean jacket, green khaki skinny jeans, and her black combat boots, suddenly stops, darting her eyes around on the defense:
"Guys...there's something here."
Sango, also on alert, replies,
"Yes, I've been sensing it too. The Demonic Aura's been getting stronger and stronger..."
...It was then that a large cloud of miasmatic fumes begins to rise from the next area ahead, and slowly move towards them!
Freeman, he wearing an outfit of a dark blue tank-top, brown khakis, and his black/white high-tops, in contrast to his brother's outfit of a bright green t-shirt, relaxed-fit blue jeans, and his own black/white high-tops, points his finger forward and says a bit nervously,
"Uuuh, I think that might be the source..."
Inuyasha raises a clawed hand:
"A demon?!"
He then springs into a run toward the cloud of poisonous fumes, much to Coraline's protest:
"Wait, Inuyasha!"
The dog demon just keeps leaping forward towards the purple cloud...At the same time, just up ahead on the other side of the miasma cloud, we find an elder woman with long gray hair tied back, lightly weather-beaten skin, wearing a dark green kimono robe with a lighter-shaded haori and a tan hakama, thrusting a staff made with a cluster bells on top onto the ground before calling out,
"Show yourself, apparition!"
(...Rustle)
"Hm!"
A weasel demon then comes slithering in a charge through the tall grass, before leaping up to attack the woman! But she was ready for it:
"There you are!"
Throwing down her staff, she then takes out a small pot and tosses a handful of powder at the demon, causing it to reel in pain and retreat back. The elderly woman takes her staff back into her hand before pursuing the beast:
"You shall die, you weasel demon!"
Unfortunately, her reflexes were not as fast as the demon's, and her swing would miss before she fell on her back to the ground:
"Grh...Uh!"
The weasel demon then lunges to attack her, and she lets out a yell, just as help arrived in the form of a silver-haired dog demon:
"Iron Reaver, Soul Stealer!"
(Slash)
The demon stood no chance, and its body would disintegrate into spectral flames shortly after taking the blow from the claws...Once the task was complete, Inuyasha walks up to the stunned elder and says,
"You shouldn't be wandering about like this, old woman. Go home where it's safe and warm."
She jumps to a stand and shouts in shock,
"Y-You have dog ears! Another new demon?!"
Thinking quickly, she throws some of her powder at Inuyasha:
"Off with you, demon!"
He wouldn't take to the gesture kindly (obviously), and shouts back while raising a fist,
"What do ya think you're doin'?! That's some way of showin' your gratitude!"
(Grab)
Thankfully, Miroku and the twins came to hold Inuyasha back with the monk's staff and their hands respectively:
"That's quite enough."
"Come on, man, why?" "Yeah, cut her some slack, would ya?"
"Don't even try to stop me!"
The old woman chides seriously,
"That's it, monk and friends. Hold him right there!"
She then threw more of the powder at Inuyasha's face:
"Off with you, demon!"
He lets out a few coughs, while Miroku does his best to ignore, and the twins mumble,
"Another eventful day after another in this realm..."
"You said it."
Once everyone else caught up and misunderstandings were cleared, they'd all find themselves sitting on a log by another beech tree standing proud from the exposed ground, as the old woman tells them about what she's been seeing for the last while...
"Demons are on the rise?" Coraline ponders after Miroku,
"Guess this explains the Demonic Aura..."
"Demonic Aura?" Sango explains to the old woman,
"We journey around the countryside, slaying demons."
"Hmph. So we're comrades. Anyway, as I was telling you, there's been a sudden increase in demons, and that's why I came out of retirement."
Inuyasha comments bluntly with a scowl,
"You should've done the world a favour and stayed retired, old woman."
She reaches into her pot in a threatening gesture:
"Perhaps you need another lesson..."
The dog demon ducks behind Coraline's back in mild fear, and Miroku chides,
"Calm down, Madam Exorcist. You wouldn't know the reason for the increase in demons, would you?"
She relaxes and replies,
"I'm quite sure it's because of the curse." Besa asks,
"What curse, ma'am?"
"The one of the Demon's Head Castle." Freeman quirks a brow:
"That's not the real name of the place, is it?"
"No, it's not the proper name, but everyone calls it the Demon's Head Castle. It's said that the head of a demon destroyed by an ancestor was buried to ward off evil spirits, and the castle was built over it."
The three modern teens gasp, and Inuyasha mutters,
"Don't tell me you guys actually believe the old hag."
Madam Exorcist reaches into her pot of powder again, and he ducks behind Coraline for protection, again...The former continues:
"For some strange reason, the demon has come out of hiding and has started tormenting people again. And no amount of exorcism has worked..."
She stands up and starts walking:
"Now then, follow me." Inuyasha asks,
"Follow you? Where to?"
"To the Demon's Head Castle, where else? Didn't you say you youngsters were demon slayers?"
Coraline mutters with a wry smile,
"I dunno if that's the proper term for us...(Serious frown) Anyway, what do all think we should do?"
Inuyasha scoffs,
"We don't have time for this," but Miroku argues,
"But, since we already know the story..."
"Finding Naraku is top priority! (Turns to Coraline) Isn't that right?"
"Yes, but, I have this feeling..." Madam Exorcist calls from the distance,
"I understand the reward is tremendous!"
"Kuh, who needs a reward?...Huh?"
Inuyasha then notices that the monk of their group had gone to catch up to the elder woman's steps:
"What are we waiting for, then?"
"We split the earnings evenly."
The dog demon sweatdrops in irritation:
"Man..."
...Meanwhile, at the mysterious Demon's Head Town, as dark-ridden clouds hover overhead in the sky, we zoom inside the chambers of the lord of the mansion in question said to host the dark entity, as he sits in silence with his head bowed...But for a split second, we see their shadow morph to that of a beast, to which an unfortunate maid would spot by accident as she was passing the room:
"Uh!"
Worse still, the lord, whom either is or is possessed by the demon, hears her, and turns wicked eyes to the crack in the door, causing the maid to fall on her rear and try to back away...
(Slam)
"Auh!"
"(Growl) Spying on me?!" The maid begs,
"N-No, my lord, forgive me! I did not see anything! Nothing at all!"
The demonic lord does not heed her plea, and raises a katana in the air...
"My lord! Aaaah!"
(SLICE)
Small Time Skip
As soon as they reached the town, the elder exorcist would lead Inuyasha and the others to meet with an old retainer of the castle lord in front of one of the conjoining buildings of the mansion, learning of the erratic behaviour of the leader as of late...
"...I see."
"In any case, our lord has been acting strange in recent days. He locks himself up in his room and refuses to leave."
Coraline hms, and her eyes flash her signature ice blue, before she whispers to Inuyasha,
"...Am I just being hyper-sensitive, or do you also feel a spike of dark energy from this place?"
"Yeah. That field was nothin' compared to this place. This must be the center of the Demonic Aura."
Miroku and Sango would take note of the change too:
"Definitely a Demonic Aura..."
"Surrounding the entire castle."
The exorcist turns around to see everyone on edge:
"Mm? What's the reason for all the glum faces, and what are you all mumbling about back there?"
Shippo replies as Kilala growls with her fur bristling on alert,
"Everyone senses the Demonic Aura, so we're uneasy."
The twins shiver and Besa adds,
"Yeah. Even we can feel a bad vibe from this place, and we don't have to use our Seven Light shards to heighten our senses."
"Demonic Aura? What does that mean?"
Miroku was surprised by the exorcist's confusion:
"Uh, Madam Exorcist: Don't you feel or sense anything unusual here at the castle?"
"Feel what?"
Inuyasha was flabbergasted:
"Is this woman for real?!" She replies with a smug air,
"It's all in your imagination...or perhaps you're all feeling frightened? You're so young; absolutely hopeless."
The dog demon mumbles,
"Does anyone else get the feeling that she's a fake?"
Freeman shoots him a thumbs-up in agreement, while Shippo mutters,
"Yeah. Even I can sense the Demonic Aura...Uh?"
Everyone looks to their right when they hear footsteps, and watch as two male servants carry away a stretcher with a wicker mat covering a body...That body, would belong to the maid from before...The exorcist mutters grimly,
"Another body..." The old retainer remarks mournfully,
"That is the seventh victim...The lord slays every vassal or maid that tries to approach his room..."
Miroku asks,
"Do you think his erratic behaviour is caused by the demon's curse?"
"Most likely. (Stands up) The demon appears after dark has fallen. Until then, please come and rest inside."
Time Skip
Night has fallen in the castle courtyard, the sky mostly clear save a few thin clouds rolling over the glowing moon, and the elder exorcist was doing some stretching to prep herself for what was to come:
"One, two, three! One, two, three!"
She switches to some deep breathing drills, while everyone else was sitting around, Inuyasha laying on his side, Freeman completely on his back...
"Now listen up: You must be prepared!" Inuyasha comments,
"You sure got spunk, old woman." Coraline adds to herself,
No kidding. It's like she's completely numb to the Demonic Aura...
Either she's built that strong an immunity, or her powers of detection could be wavering.
She then turns her eyes to watch her orb-shaped companion as he floated around close to everyone while jittering with nerves, and says aloud,
"I dunno what we should expect, but if Lumos is feeling this paranoid, it can't be good."
Miroku mutters with a frown,
"The Demonic Aura here is so unsettling, even for those as experienced as we. Let's finish this up and get out of here quickly."
Sango was all for the plan:
"I agree."
(Step, step, step, step)
It was then a young woman with long dark brown hair, black-brown eyes, a fair complexion and wearing the garments of royalty consisting of a light green kimono tied with a light purple sash and a red robe overtop decorated lightly with pink cherry blossoms and sun designs approached the group:
"You are the ones who've come to slay the demon? Please, be careful, and do whatever it takes to save my father."
Sango and Coraline reply,
"Your father?"
"So you must be the princess of this castle."
"Many monks and priestesses have attempted to exorcise the demon, but have failed each time. They have payed with their very lives."
Miroku steps forward to kneel before the princess and vows,
"Rest assured, my dear princess. I shall stand firm here and conduct the exorcism no matter how many days and nights it requires."
As Besa and Freeman facepalm and shake their heads simultaneously at the monk's quick change of tune, Sango, exasperated tick-mark abound, broods to herself,
Weren't you just saying we should finish this up quickly and get outta here?!
"Demon! The demon has returned!"
Everyone snaps to it at the man's call, and Miroku says to the royal,
"Don't worry, princess! I'll take care of this!"
And he runs off ahead to the source of the yell, leaving the princess to watch him go in silence, unaware of one other member of our group who began to shake even more come her arrival...
The sky above forms a cloudy vortex above the castle, and coming out from the center, was the giant head of the demon that was evoking the terror, its appearance akin to that of a horned gargoyle with yellow tan skin, thick black hair growing out the back of its skull, large red eyes, and sharp pointy fangs prodding from its outstretched mouth!
Everyone in our group plus a few castle retainers runs towards it, with Inuyasha stopping to stare at the monster with glaring eyes:
"The demon head!"
Sango rushes out ahead of the rest with her weapon at ready:
"I'll go! Kilala!"
Her twin-tailed companion runs forward and shifts into her full form for Sango to hop aboard, as she adds,
"I'll destroy it in one shot!"
Shippo hops onto Coraline's shoulder and asks curiously,
"Sango's strong, but doesn't she look more intense than usual?"
She replies with a nervous smile,
"Heh, no denyin' that..."
Hoh boy...
The slayer and cat demon charge at the demon head, it at them, before Sango unleashes her weapon:
"Hiraikotsu!"
(Toss, spin...)
But, then the demon's red eyes glow, and just as the giant boomerang makes contact, the structure of the demon becomes temporarily airy, with the weapon going through it like it was made of steam! Everyone back on the ground was stunned, and Inuyasha and Freeman exclaim,
"It went through it!"
"No fair! Foul! I call foul!"
Sango catches her weapon, also quite surprised by the failure:
"What happened?!"
Inuyasha then hops up onto the rooftop, deciding to take over with his Tessaiga:
"Move, Sango!"
The demon head turns its attention to the dog demon, as the latter jumps up high to unleash his sword's power:
"Wind Scar!"
(SLASH)
The monster lets out a pained howl, as the three-clawed slash cuts it right down the middle! Inuyasha lands back on the ground and mutters proudly,
"And that my friends, is how it's done." Besa then points to the sky and says,
"Uh, might be too early to celebrate. Look!"
"Huh?"
And looking back up, we see the demon head solidifying back into one again! Inuyasha straightens back up with wide eyes:
"What's going on?!"
How can that be? I hit it square-on with my Wind Scar and it hardly flinched!
Miroku then wonders,
Wait...is that demon head real?
Inuyasha glares at the floating cranium and remarks,
"You're a sucker for punishment! (Leap) Wind Scar!"
(SLASH)
Once again, he lands a clean hit...
"(Lands) Did I get him?"
...But once again, the demon head rejoins itself back up like it never got attacked at all!
"That's impossible!"
Miroku moves in front of him before he readies to make a third attempt with his Tessaiga:
"Wait, Inuyasha."
"Why should I? If my Wind Scar didn't work, how do you expect to destroy it?"
"No weapon will work on that."
"Uh...Miroku..."
The monk pulls out some sutra spells from his robes, as the demon head closes in on him with a growl...
"Sacred Sutra!"
(Toss)
The paper charms plaster onto the monster's nasal, and it howls in pain...The princess of the castle arrives on scene to watch, as the demon head lets out a final screech, before completely disintegrating into a cloud of red dust!
Everyone was in awe, and one retainer mutters,
"Uh! It's gone...!"
An elder maid turns to acknowledge the princess's arrival:
"Princess. The demon has vanished!"
"Huh..."
Miroku calmly remarks,
"Just as I thought. That demon was no more than an illusion." Sango softly mutters,
"It wasn't real?"
The princess eyes the monk intently for a moment, before turning to walk off...Unbeknownst to her, a more benevolent entity was eyeing her, and Coraline turns to Lumos, as he quietly made moans of alarm:
"Hm? Lumos, what's wrong?"
The Will O' Wisp floats to where the princess was last standing, and bops up and down with urgency, causing the redhead to frown in suspicion:
Strange...Before we went to battle the demon head, now known as an illusion, Lumos was acting a bit antsy around the princess until I got his attention...
Now he's doing it again...What does he sense about her royal highness that we don't?
Moving along, the group heads off to a room to have dinner and discuss with the elder retainer what had happened outside the courtyard a moment ago...
"Does that mean that the demon head will appear again tomorrow night?" Miroku replies,
"Yes, it will, because it is make-believe, an illusion to divert everyone's attention from the real demon."
Coraline concludes,
"Which means the real monster is hiding in the shadows of this castle..."
Sango adds,
"Probably. The Demonic Aura hasn't subsided at all."
Madam Exorcist comments calmly,
"Hm, Demonic Aura, huh? (Eats a few dumplings) Well I don't sense anything at all."
The twins grimace with smiles:
"That right?"
Sango stares at the elder woman with an unimpressed air:
Some exorcist you are...
Inuyasha then asks the old retainer,
"Didn't you say the lord has become deranged?"
"Yes, that's correct."
"Are you sure it's a demon's curse and not simply a case of him being possessed?"
...Speaking of the said lord, we check briefly on his person now, as an air of dark energy hovers over his body, while his eyes glow a menacing white as he lets out a low growl...
Inuyasha's POV
Convinced that this lord just might be possessed by some ugly demon, Miroku and I had the old retainer lead us down the corridor to the room where the last maid had been killed recently, just outside where the lord's chamber would be...The old guy was obviously really nervous for our lives, as he whispers in warning,
"If you are noticed, you will be killed." I calmly tell him,
"If that happens, I'll fight back," to which Miroku would shoot down:
"Don't be so hasty. He is the lord of the castle."
Uh, yeah, and he's also a murderer, monk.
Miroku then quietly slides the door open to take a peek at the lord...
"Well, Miroku? Is it a demon?"
"No. He's definitely human...and..."
"Huh? What?"
"There's no way that the Demonic Aura surrounding the castle is coming from the lord. Definitely not."
Hm...So the lord must be a puppet to the real demon...But who, or what, is doing this, and why?
Coraline's POV
While we waited for Inuyasha and Miroku to return with the elder retainer from getting a better look at the lord of the castle, the exorcist decided to help ease our spirits by using some of that powder to dispel the negative vibe, or something like that...
"Hm!"
She tosses out some of the powder from her pot at us as we sat in a line across from her, and shut our eyes to protect ourselves from going blind while Shippo and my brothers cough from the impact...
"Well now, don't you feel a little better?"
I shake my head no before using the sleeve of my jacket to brush away the powder from my face, while Sango replies as she dusts off some from her shoulder with her hand,
"Not in the least."
"What? Not even a little?"
Shippo then asks our twin-tailed cat friend,
"Did it work on you, Kilala?" The exorcist was also curious:
"Well?"
Though clearly a little irritated, she just shakes her head with a mew, as Besa pulls out a handkerchief to lend her and Shippo a hand with cleaning up:
"Let me help you two out a little." Shippo nods and crawls over to his lap with Kilala:
"Thanks, Besa."
I smile at his kind gesture, while Freeman remarks truthfully to the elder exorcist,
"I hate to have to point this out, ma'am, but your powder doesn't seem as strong as it might have been."
"Now that's strange. (Looks in the pot) This is a very special blend of my purification salt. Most demons succumb to it at once."
I hear a tell-tale ghostly moan, and look behind me to see Lumos shaking off some of the powder from his person:
"Oh dear. You too, bud?"
It was then Inuyasha and Miroku came back from their recon mission, and the former scoffs to Madam Exorcist,
"You're such a fake. As if that stuff'll work!"
"What did you say?! Shall I give you a shot of it?!"
She then proceeds to chase Inuyasha around the room trying to hit him with the powder, to which he'd dodge with a smug grin...
"Over here, over here!"
"Hold it!"
I groan with an irritated expression:
Geez, they're acting like children, both of them!
"Hold it, I say!"
"No way!"
I turn to my brothers:
"...Guys?"
"Say no more, sis." "Let's do it."
All three of us spring to our feet, before I shove Inuyasha to a stop come his land back on the floor, while Freeman and Besa block the exorcist from charging at him any further:
"Stop!" "Cease and desist!"
"Huh?"
Inuyasha, whom had fallen on his butt when I pushed him, darts back up and asks,
"What gives, Coraline?" I bark back fiercely,
"I'll tell ya what's gonna give: My patience if this nonsense goes on another second more! You're both adults, so act like it for cripes sake!"
...Both he and the elder hmph but don't object, choosing to sit down, and I let out a sigh of exasperation while Freeman mumbles,
"Times like this when I wonder how we haven't cracked yet..."
No POV
At the same time the minor dispute was being settled, the old retainer meets with the princess and her elder maid to inform them of the possible turn in events...
"(Gasp) My father could be the demon?"
"Yes, Princess. According to the monk, your father is merely possessed, and the demon itself could located anywhere in the castle."
The princess takes in a sharp breath, before turning her eyes away with a pensive expression...
A couple minutes later, the old maid appears in the doorway of the room the group was staying in:
"Excuse me, monk."
"Hm?"
"The princess has requested your presence."
"Who, me?"
Sango immediately goes on the hostile front at the idea of Miroku being alone with another woman (...and I think we all know why):
"Hold on: You're not going alone, are you?"
He turns to the slayer, and takes her hands into his before promising,
"Fear not, my dear Sango. It is true that the princess is beautiful..."
He leans his cheek onto one of her hands to rub, much to her surprise:
"...it is of no matter. My heart belongs to you."
Sango recoils back from Miroku and replies furiously with a blush,
"Th-That's hardly the issue here! I meant that it's too dangerous to go alone since the demon could show up at any moment now."
"If that's what you mean, then don't worry. Miroku is strong enough to take care of himself."
...The slayer sends a rather freaky stare at Inuyasha, who hides behind Coraline while holding her shoulders, asking meekly,
"What's with the glare?"
Coraline sighs with an eyeroll and quietly mutters,
"Think about our relationship, and put Sango and Miroku in our places..."
"Huh?"
The elder exorcist scoffs,
"Hah. You still have much to study in the lessons of life."
Insulted, Inuyasha leans in her direction with a raised fist, as Freeman quickly pulls Shippo into his lap to save him from being squished by the other hand:
"What?! You fake exorcist!"
Coraline giggles and comments,
"Maybe her exorcist abilities aren't as sharp as they used to be, but her woman's intuition is spot-on."
"Thanks alot, traitor."
Besa retorts to Inuyasha,
"Hey, it's not Cor's fault that you're only in tune with what goes on between the two of you and not with the hints of other people's signals."
Before this conversation went any further than needed, Miroku moves to stand up and leave to meet with the princess:
"Now then..."
"Monk."
"Yes?"
The elder exorcist holds out a small packet of folded paper:
"Take this purification salt, just one packet, merely as a precaution."
"Thank you. (Bow) I am much obliged."
...But just as he makes his way to the door:
"(Ghostly moan)"
Lumos zooms from his place beside Coraline and blocks Miroku from leaving, bopping up and down in warning...
"Hm? What's wrong, Lumos?"
Coraline watches the Will O' Wisp's movements...before deciding to ask,
"Miroku. Will you at least let Lumos go with you?"
"Huh?"
"I think, he might sense something we can't, and he's become rather paranoid about any one of us going off on their own..."
The monk exchanges eyes with the redhead, noticing something in her irises suggesting another reason for this request...His own eyes widen a touch, before he nods firmly:
"Alright."
Miroku's POV
Once the elder maid guided me to the princess in her chambers, she in turn would then lead me down the corridors to a room that held an old stairwell with charms set up around it leading to the basement of the castle. The princess was in front of me, holding a lamp to light our way down these darkened walls, while Coraline's partner, Lumos, hovered near my shoulder in a way that suggested he wanted to keep his distance from the woman. Yet...he wished to accompany me when he could not stop me from leaving the others:
Why is that?
...What danger do you sense from the princess, Lumos?
I decided to circle back on the question and focus on breaking the quiet between myself and my guide:
"It's a very long stairway..."
"You've probably heard this already: The burial site of the Demon Head is down below."
Hm...and she is leading me down here now.
"...Could you tell me more?"
"The head of a conquered demon is buried beneath this castle...I felt strangely compelled to show it to you, monk."
"I heard that the demon head was buried here to ward off evil..."
"Yes. That is true, but until recently, it has not been a problem. Then the burial site was uncovered, and the demon, escaped...And as you can see, down in this hole..."
Our destination was a massive pit, and when the princess held the light of her lamp to its direction...I was immediately struck with horror by what I saw: Inside the pit, was a mass grave of skeletons wrapped in the garments of priests, priestesses and monks of various standings, mixed with some prayer beads and scrolls!
Human bones!
As I bent down to get a closer look, the princess explains to me,
"These are the bones of the monks and priestesses who failed to slay the demon..."
"This is horrific...!" She kneels by me and adds,
"The demon who occupied this castle craved humans like them, and drained them of their spiritual powers, leaving only their bones."
Lumos then darts in front of me and began bobbing up and down while his body blinked between red and his normal silver blue...I understood now what he was so agitated about:
"I see...(Grim smile) That's why it wants me here."
"Exactly...to absorb your spiritual powers."
No POV
At the same time Miroku was about to receive an unpleasant surprise, everyone else was awaiting his and Lumos's return in the room they were given for the night, with Sango sitting propped against the door-frame between inside and outside, Shippo sitting cross-legged on the porch a foot away from her, and the rest sitting against the wall inside the room...
Inuyasha lets out a yawn and mumbles,
"Wonder what's takin' Miroku so damn long?" Shippo pipes up,
"Um, I dunno...He's sure late. Wonder what he's doin'..."
"Knowin' that lecher and considerin' how long he's been alone with the princess, right about now he's-"
Inuyasha's scenario was cut short by a growl from a miffed Sango and a pointed look from Coraline. Shippo then says,
"Nah. Not even Miroku would do anything like that in this Demonic Aura."
Freeman adds,
"And he's not exactly alone with the woman: Lumos went with him too."
"Keh, right, like that little orb could stop him. I can easily picture it, and believe me, it's not the Demonic Aura he's feeling-"
(Slap)
"Mmph!"
Coraline covers Inuyasha's mouth with her hand before he could go any further in that description:
"Okay, that's enough of that stupidity."
"(Muffled) Wh de haell, Cu-a-lin?!"
"(Mild glare) From this point on, if you don't have anything nice to say about Miroku's behaviour, don't say anything at all. Not to mention we have women and a child present? Honestly..."
The exorcist comments as she laid on her side,
"Like I said, not enough training."
Removing her hand from a slightly ticked dog demon's mouth, Coraline then asks with a serious frown,
"But anyway, Sango, perhaps you and I or maybe Besa and Freeman could head to where Miroku is and make sure he and Lumos are alright?"
"No, thank you. I don't want to interrupt him."
Besa coughs,
"Bull, crap."
Sango glares at him, and he holds his hands up on the defense, before asking the redhead,
"By the way, Cor, why did you send Lumos with Miroku?"
"Well, I hate to sound too suspicious, but I think Lumos may sense something off about the princess that we don't: Every time she came close to our proximity, he started shaking and let out cries of warning like he means for us to run for the hills and not come back."
That caught everyone's attention:
"What?"
"Really?"
Coraline nods, and the exorcist hms before concluding,
"I see...So you sent your spirit companion with the monk as a warning for him not to be caught unawares."
"Yeah...I just hope that Miroku got my silent message and will listen to Lumos, or at the very least send him back to us if things do turn bad."
(...Crash)
Suddenly, the door to the group's room is smashed open, when a retainer is thrown into the room! Inuyasha sprang to his feet immediately and began running to the direction of the lord's chambers:
"It's here!"
Everyone else looks to one another, nods, and scrambles to get themselves ready...Cutting across the castle, we find the lord up and about in the room outside his chambers, having already slew some more retainers, readying to do the same with another poor young maid, while a few others and the elder faced him in shock:
"M-My lord!"
"Please, stop this!"
He does not heed them, growling while holding the maid by her hair and his sword in the other...The elder retainer tries again:
"My lord! Uh!"
He stops when the blade of the katana is pointed threateningly at him...Inuyasha and the others arrive on scene, moving a few retainers aside, and watch, as the lord suddenly winces with pain, before dropping the blade...His appearance then morphs to resemble similarly to the demon head, only with red skin instead of yellow tan!
One of the younger retainers cries out,
"G-Guaaah! The lord has become a demon!" The senior was just as horrified:
"No, my lord!"
Inuyasha holds an arm out to stop him from approaching:
"Let him go. Kuh, so this is the true form of the demon."
Coraline and her brothers weren't as sure:
"Wait...if this is the demon..."
"Then..."
"Where's Miroku?"
Miroku's POV
Th-The princess! She's-
I tried to move and get a fair distance from the woman, but...I found myself unable to move! I barely turn my head to glare at the woman, or should I say...
"Y-You're the, demon!"
"(Chuckle) A little too late, I'm afraid. You've inhaled the Demonic Aura, and your body is feeling limp."
I kept putting as much will into my muscles as I could...and I found my right arm was able to function better:
Huh? Wait...I'm holding the purifying salt of the exorcist in this hand...Maybe...
"Hrrrah!"
(Swing)
"Agh!"
Focusing my spiritual strength into the packet, I then threw the salt into the woman's face, she flinching back to shield herself and forcing her to drop the lamp, causing the area to darken, save the light emitting from my floating friend who was hovering near me in concern:
"(Ghostly moan)"
"(Grit, smile) I'm alright, Lumos...Listen: You must find the others, and warn them of the princess."
He froze, obviously hesitant on leaving me alone, but I shook my head and urged,
"I'll be fine. Now go!"
He 'nods', and began flying out of this place for the stairs...I would then focus my attention on the princess, now revealed to be a blue-skinned demon with red eyes and small horns in her forehead while retaining some of her human disguise:
"Damn you!"
"I made sure I brought the exorcist's purification salt. Adding my own spiritual power made it work."
Ugh, I'm in trouble: This demon is powerful, and this Demonic Aura has left me paralyzed.
I just hope that Lumos can reach the others in time...
"(Laugh) Monk, even though you managed to send that creature away, there's no help forth coming. Besides, that half-demon is probably fighting the lord back at the castle. I used my black magic to manipulate that foolish puppet lord."
She lets out another laugh as I cringe to myself,
What?! Inuyasha...everyone...help me!
Lumos, please hurry!
No POV
So while the Will O' Wisp barreled out of the basement of the castle as fast as he could to get help, Inuyasha and the others were at the lord's chambers getting ready to engage the spell-bound human/demon into battle:
"Hope you're prepared for your funeral, demon."
The demon lord growls, and Inuyasha adds while tapping his sword to his shoulder,
"Heheh, one strike is all it'll take!"