Hey everybody, new chapter, finally!
I am so, so, sooooo sorry for such a ridiculously-long wait this time! I can only offer the following excuses: busy with university (semester two of year five, done!), my day job, typing for my other fics, and then of course...a couple moments of the dreaded writer's block.
I promise I will try to do better for next time and not leave you all on pins and needles, but I can only emphasize the word try as there's a last project portfolio for one class that I need to work on for the next week and a half. Ugh, Life Interference 101...
So then, getting back to this tale...I'm gonna be honest: this may or may not be one of my 'best quality' original chapters, but this is as far as my imagination would go. I'll leave it for you to decide in your own circles, but hopefully, it'll still be as good as what's been written so far. Oh! And for those in the audience that are language-curious, the Irish-English translations will be available at the bottom of the chapter. Also, I'll be trying to write a certain character's speech to a roughly-accurate Irish accent, so just watch that some of those 'spelling mistakes' may be done on purpose.
Anyway, read on and love on :D
Chapter 136 (Special): Battle From Centuries Past
Recap:
...Just when it looked like our misfit group of heroes from all over and even beyond Sengoku Edo were about to finally get one over their greatest enemy, things only took a turn for the worst within the death trap that was Mount Hakurei.
First, Naraku successfully regenerates a brand new body more demonic than ever before, leaving his enemies to be buried alive within the crumbling mountain unless they acted fast (which they did, thankfully)...
Then he would meet Kikyō outside near the border of the mountain base, practically rubbing it in the undead priestess's face that her arrival was not a coincidence forged by chance events: Naraku had planned out everything to the letter this time, leading to the very moment...where he could kill her!
One thrust of the claws was all it took, and poor Kikyō goes tumbling over the side of a crevice leading to her doom in the form of a river of miasma...
This event would not go unnoticed by one individual of the retreating party, Coraline, which goes so far as triggering the summon of another through her body, before disappearing in a flash of arctic blue light. Her lover would make chase after her by following the path of a power release with the likeness of a certain legendary bird...but would only meet with the failure of reaching Kikyō, his dear friend from a less compromising time...
As soon as everyone of his extended group met with him, Lumos would reappear to lead them all to a space below the poisonous crevice, straight to a figure standing in the mist...
That person, was both Coraline, yet, not Coraline, someone lost from centuries before the Sengoku Edo period began.
Now...
We return to the moment when Inuyasha and company had just found what they were hoping to be a familiar redhead, but instead was a stranger whom had distant relations to their friend, family and lover. Shaking off some of his shock, young Shippo would ask the question that had risen within practically everyone's skulls.
"...I-I don't get this at all: why would Coraline's, ancestor be here?! And...w-where did Coraline go?"
Miroku replies,
"We're just as confused as you are, my young friend...though it likely has something to do with Kikyō's, unfortunate demise...That release of power before..."
He turns his blue irises to meet Freeman's jade green surrounded by a dark earthy ring.
"You said it looked like a phoenix, correct?"
"Yeah. I remember the artwork for Cora's family crest had a phoenix bird shaped just like that burst of power...The symbol itself is basically the Croft calling card, or so she's spoken about in the past...Still, doesn't really answer what she did, though, does it?"
Sango adds,
"Nor does it explain why we're all meeting the face of Rosiagnes rather than Coraline..."
"An bhfuil tú ceart go leor?"
"Huh?"
Eyes focus back on the vision that's the centuries past Celtic, who tilts her head to the side slightly while narrowing her two-tone blue irises in confusion.
"Tá sibh uilig ag stánadh...Cad é an fhadhb?"
Almost everyone on the opposite side of the desolate landscape near the miasma riverbank could not find a way to respond to her, especially considering the obvious language barrier...Inuyasha, on the other hand, gave way to his growing anxiety and frustrations over not seeing his intended mate, and growls before calling back aggravatingly,
"We don't understand a lick of what you're sayin', woman! Speak normally and tell us what you've done! Where's Coraline?!"
As Besa and Shippo work to keep the dog demon from springing on her, Rosiagnes furrows her eyebrows in further befuddlement.
What is that dog warrior speaking of? The young man with skin the colour of moistened earth can heed my speech, so why-
...Aw, blast it all; I'm still speaking in me mother tongue, aren't I?
"Ní haon ionadh go bhfuil siad chomh fainiciúil sin ó mo láithreacht...Go han-mhaith ansin. Lumos!"
The Will O' Wisp caught in the middle of this predicament snaps to it at the waterfall-curled redhead's call, flying to stop just around the top of her throat around the larynx. The action and audio catches everyone's attention, Ginta and Hakkaku whispering to one another,
"Now what's she doin'?"
"Don't know..."
There's a second-long pause, before the predecessor Croft cries out with glowing blue irises,
"Glaoigh ar na teangacha."
...A similar shine emits like a bright star twinkle from Lumos, which spreads in ripple waves over the redhead's neck. The audience watches with wary expressions, mystery and intrigue coarsening through the air...
Half a minute later, the strange spell of sorts was finished, and the little orb of sentient white-blue light backs away with a soft, ghostly moan just as their human familiar breathes out a sigh with a small smile.
"My thanks, young Wisp. Now thay're shan't be a miscommunication issue hereon."
Several gasps resonate, and Freeman realizes,
"Whoa; she flipped the script with her voice! How'd she do that?"
Feeling the new stares of bewilderment and not missing the exclaim, Rosiagnes chuckles silently before focusing ahead of her.
"I trust ye can all perceive me speech na'ow?"
The wolf demon with deep blue irises and long black hair tied back in a ponytail calls back a bit uncertainly,
"Uh, if by perceive, ya mean we can understand what you're sayin', then yeah."
"Tha' be precisely what I mean, warrior wolf...Now, I understand ye all have questions regarding me emergence, and I shall try t' answer as many as I can. 'owever, take heed that some of me answers may be limited, as d'ere are things I can't be revealing at dis time."
Narrowing her eyes and glancing towards the skies above, she adds with a bit of distaste,
"Especially since while the devil marred by spider may 'ave vanished, his ears may still be lingeren'."
Sango mutters to herself in confusion while holding her brown eyes a little wide in surprise from the older young woman's current tongue,
"Devil marred by spider...?"
The monk dressed in dark purple robes guesses,
"I believe that may be her personal reference to Naraku, if we'll recall that strange scar we've seen on his back a few times before."
"Right..."
Growling a little through his teeth, Inuyasha would be the first one to inquire information out of Rosiagnes, albeit in an interrogative manner.
"Oh I've got a question alrigh'! What have you done with Coraline? Where is she?"
Holding out a hand in a calming gesture, the woman with toasted ivory skin feather-touched with the early signs of aging replies in kind.
"Peace, warrior of the dog fang. Me reincard is not gone...She is merely restin', safe within the depths of our soul."
"...Resting? Whaddo you mean?"
"Because I no longer have a body of me own to work with, I had to arise within hers, which makes logical sense since we are both of the same spiritual origin. We come from the same soul, but are different Crofts...What ye see currently, is bu' a projection of what I last looked like, (sad smile) before I met me demise centuries ago."
Inuyasha makes a sound of awe mixed with suspicion, and Shippo hops atop his shoulder before timidly asking the woman,
"S-So, you're not here to take over Coraline's body?"
"No, fox chile. I be doing no such thing. That would be an act of most terrible selfishness...I am only here temporarily until me reincard gathers enough strength to return on her own, which may take a little time because of how much Aura Power had been used on me part."
Stepping forward, Miroku asks,
"And, what exactly did you do, if I may?"
Sighing and shaking her head, Rosiagnes replies vaguely,
"Tha' there, is one question I cannot answer in full...other than it does have t' do with the priestess of these lands the devil marred by spider sought vengeance against."
Time Skip, Unknown POV
...What is this?...The eternal darkness...does not feel as suffocating as it usually is...
In fact...it almost feels, as if the earth is moving off my person...The weight of damnable death, is lifting.
...The dark...It is, giving me strength...to awake!
"Hh! H-hh...!..."
I do not understand what manner of the earth and stars has allowed this event to transpire...but somehow, I am breathing once again.
My eyes snap awake, wide as a new page boy's during their first arduous fortnight, my lungs sharply sucking in air from my surroundings...My body, feels considerably stiff, as if I had been bedridden for months, but at the same time, I can feel a tingling in the flow of my blood. Deciding to give the rest of me time to adjust, I peer around with but my pupils, absorbing in the build of these unfamiliar quarters.
What is this place?...Walls as thin as parchment, cut like windows. A wooden floor, blocked by this blanket underneath my back...
Another cloak is overtop of me save my neck and skull...
And I sense...the presence of evil.
"Ah. So glad you could join the world of the living at last."
...Who is that?
Looking towards my right, I find myself staring at a stranger dressed in a set of robes unfamiliar in style to say a scholar or a monk. The garb has more colour if with a dark theme, and is lined with a type of armour made from, bone...His appearance almost reminds me of a lord or perhaps even a young king, but with the tenacity of a rogue. A long mane of wavy black hair, skin as pale as the glow of the moon, strong yet lean facial features...and eyes the colour of dried blood, quite unusual.
Hm, his dress coupled with the room suggests foreign ground...And I feel this shiver of blackness from he...
Could he be the one who awoke me from beyond the grave?
"I must admit, I was a little skeptical to whether this spell would work on someone born from beyond these lands as well as the netherworld...But, it seems that fate is continuing to bless me."
His lips curve into a smile that held quite a high amount of pride and confidence.
"I imagine you must have some questions. Please, feel free to ask away."
My dry throat was resistant to dislodging my tongue, so my voice would come out a little hoarse and rasped.
"...Who, are you?"
"I am Naraku."
Na-ra-ku. Such a strange name...
"Ah...And, what manner of entity, do you claim yourself as?"
My eyes narrow if a little weakly:
"You look like man, and yet, I sense something that tells me otherwise. An, evil, beyond comprehension...Only those, who practice necromancy, are capable of performing a feat such as resurrecting the dead. Tell me: are you a dark warlock?"
His face reflects an odd sort of amusement which also told me he was a little curious on my words.
"Ha...I do not know what you mean by 'warlock', but if you are trying to suggest I am a magician, you are both close and could not be anymore wrong...To make it simple for you, I am a creature that can mimic the appearance of mortals, who will usually associate these 'beasts' from the depths of Hell."
...Demon...
Any other person but myself would have likely been frightened or repulsed by the idea of laying helpless within the proximity of the devil's spawn...But instead, I felt this wave of irony hit me, making my lips split to release a whisper of a chuckle with a most bitter smile.
"How much more ironic can this be for someone of my stature, to have fought a crusade against heathens who practiced such deviant and undesirable lives...only to be reborn by the hands of one said entity..."
Breathing out a sigh, I decide now was the right moment to test my limitations for movement, placing my palm gingerly atop the strange material underneath my body, before slowly pushing myself upward into a sitting position, groaning quietly from the sore ache in my muscles as I did so...
"I would exercise caution in moving too quickly. You have only just risen, and given the special lengths I had to undergo, your new body will still be adjusting."
Special lengths? Hmph, such self-confidence he has...But then, my body...
As I turn to face this mysterious evil that posed as man, one of my hands found itself softly running over my chest, feeling no signs of trauma or injury.
It's as if my demise never occurred...
"...Tell me, foreign devil: what business does someone of your nature have with a man previously trapped in eternal slumber?"
I meet his eyes with a suspicious glare:
"Why have you awoken me, and with a new body nonetheless?"
He chuckles a little as if my inquiry the most humourous thing he has heard in his life, before answering simply,
"Some fair questions you ask, my friend...and I have but one answer to them all. My reasons concern with that of a, common enemy we share."
Common enemy?
"You are able to recall all if not most of your past life, correct?"
"...Yes, though there are a few pieces in a haze."
"As expected. It should all come back clearly within the next hour as your spirit begins to settle into your new body...But returning to topic...does the name, Croft, ring with familiarity?"
My breath hitches, and my teeth clench.
Croft...!?
"How do you know that name? Explain!"
"Ha. How interesting that a single name causes such unease and anger...As for how I know have knowledge of it, well, it's quite a long story..."
He reaches for something laying on his right side, and lifts it up to hold, revealing the object as a silver mirror of reasonable design...Then a moment later, an image appears within the glass, they being what looks to be a younger version of the lass who had a hand in my death centuries ago.
What is this?...She looks alot like, her, but dresses in an odd manner...
"I have come to know this version more than that of the one you are most familiar with...This other redheaded lass..."
The image changes, reflecting that of the woman I know in but a heartbeat, whose name makes my blood run hot like melted iron.
"I believe you know her better than I?"
Clenching my hand into a fist, I growl,
"Oh that I do...for how can I forget the face of the witch who sent my comrades and I to our doom?"
Rosiagnes Croft...
"Heh. I can feel the anger wafting off your person...You wish to enact vengeance on her, don't you, make this woman suffer for daring to defy you and your men?"
I dart my eyes up to his:
"Perhaps...why?"
"What if I were to tell you, that your enemy was just as alive as you are now, within the body of her reincarnation no less?"
What...?!
Miroku's POV
How is it that the universe can make the atmosphere go from perilous to confusing in but the drop of a bead?
Night has fallen over the lands, and our large group decided to camp in an area away from the destroyed Mount Hakurei as well as that river of miasma. We're now nestled in a zone between there and the path leading to Shintarou's Village, a ground of mixed grass and barren dirt near a treeline...
Though our bodies may be slowly warming up by the fire, our hearts were still chilled by confusion and tension, partly in due to the unfortunate failure in stopping that fiend Naraku's plans...while the other half went towards our new ally we were speaking to through that of someone else's being.
"So you have been aware of what was transpiring, but have chosen not to act directly until now?"
Rosiagnes nods, replying solemnly,
"This war be not my own, but that of me reincard's as well as ye all. I can only act as a guide...or rather, that was me intent, but I suppose fate be having different plans."
"And how long will it be again until Coraline returns?"
She looks over at Sango - who was sitting beside me atop a fallen log - and says,
"The exact time is uncertain, but I have confidence it won't be days. She may even take back her body as early as tomorrow."
"I see..."
"I can sense the unease in ye tone, lass, but please do not concern yerself until ye are sick with it. As I say, I be not looking for a second life. This is me reincard's time now."
Rosiagnes eyes the rest of us with a knowing sort of smile.
"Tha' goes for the rest of ye as well. Don't be giving yeselves a reason to slow yer own recovery down."
A few of us smile sheepishly, and though Kōga was trying to keep as stoically casual as possible, there was no mistaking the curiousity in his next question.
"So how exactly are ya able to speak our language right now and not that other gibberish from before?"
"Hmph, first, that 'gibberish' be Gaeilge Ársa, warrior, and I'll kindly ask ye to watch your attitude over me native tongue. As fer how I be able to speak to ye all without the communication barrier, I simply called upon the tongues of a clan member who understood what ye were yammering about. In which case, I be borrowing me reincard's ability to speak this, Jan-pen-knees or whatever ye call it 'ere."
I almost wanted to laugh at how she smoothly retorted back to the wolf demon, her tone and manner reminding me of the redheaded young lady we were more familiar with.
Definitely proof she's Coraline's family...
Freeman seemed to notice as well, guffawing from his seat between his mate Ginta and the third wolf demon present, Hakkaku,
"Hehaha, that almost sounds like something Cor would say!...Nice to know where sis gets her confidence from, family-wise, I mean."
"My thanks for the compliment, clan brother."
"...Clan brother?"
Rosiagnes's smile becomes a little more sentimental.
"Aye. Me reincard 'as been callin' ye and your blood brother kin for years now, and in the days of old when the Crofts thrived like a field of Bell Heath'a, we call all our allies fam'ly...Given tha' d'ere are no living Crofts other than she t' turn to, ye 'ave all essentially become 'er new clan, along with de host fam'ly back in the other era...By dat extension, ye are more clan t' me."
"...Whoa..."
The rest of us were just as mesmerized by such a recognition, though Sango seemed to connect to the ideal more through her own life, back before the senseless act committed by Naraku that brought her to us.
"I can understand that. We demon slayers have a similar outlook on family relations...My, own clan viewed everyone as fellow brothers and sisters, even if we weren't directly related by blood."
Ginta even threw his opinion into the ring.
"It's the same for us wolf demons: there are different tribes, but we still remain interconnected through brotherhood...Something we'll need to strengthen in the coming times."
Hakkaku and Kōga nod in agreement with him, and Shippo hums in his own recognition, for from what he's spoken about during those quiet hours of our travels, his fox demon tribe was big on familial interconnection through the spirit rather than direct blood as well...He then glances over to where Inuyasha has been sitting these last few hours since the more awkward dinner we all shared, that being a branch atop a tall tree several feet from our proximity, and sighs while shaking his head and muttering,
"I guess a quiet Inuyasha's a little better than a brooding Inuyasha, but...I wish he wasn't acting so cold..."
"Do not judge his manner, fox chile...He 'as the right to be actin' the way 'e is."
We all look at Rosiagnes in shock for her opinion on Inuyasha's attitude, and she frowns sadly but sternly while remarking,
"Keep in mind that he 'as not only lost an old, dear friend none too long ago, but his heart is yearnin' for the comfort of his lover whom is currently resting within the depths of our soul. (Sad smile) I may be Croft, but I be not the Croft he wants."
"Mm...yeah, I guess that's fair...Poor Inuyasha; his heart must be a mess right now."
"Mos' likely...but from what I've observed, he is a strong one too. I 'ave confidence he will 'bounce back' as it is said sooner rather than later...It will just take time and a great amount of patience, is all."
Scoffing, Kōga comments gruffly but not too unkindly,
"Yeah well, he better not be plannin' on mullin' around for too long's all I'll say. I mean, I get that he's been dealt a bad loss, but we all have this last, (mumbling) comin' up on close to a year and a half, I think, (regular volume) yet we've all been forced to push forward or risk that bastard Naraku get too far ahead down that road...The time for mourning can't overwhelm the time for action."
Huh...I think that's the most insightful I've ever heard him sound.
No one makes a movement to disagree with him, not even Rosiagnes.
"Aye, wolf, ye make a fair point. Grief is but as natural as the air we breathe during the worst of times, but it cannot be made a routine if ye wish to honour the memory of the lives lost...The dead may wish to live, but their true desire, is for their loved ones to live on when they cannot."
That was an intriguing statement I didn't expect from the spirit of someone who was pulled from the afterlife.
"Is that so?"
"Aye, monk...That be what comes out from the heart of the next world, eventually. Some take longer to realize it, of course, but that thought does embed the mind."
Interesting...I wonder, if Kikyō has come to reside with that thought too.
...Speaking of her.
"I know what ye are wishing to ask of me next. Ye wish t' know what I did to help the priestess."
"U-Uhm! Yes...but if it's something you can't talk about, I won't-"
She waves a hand dismissively.
"Spare ye stuttering, monk; it's fine...As I said earlier, I cannot reveal her fate in full, but I can explain the purpose of the phoenix."
The phoenix...
Inuyasha's POV
Though my heart's still in the dark over...recent loss and vulnerability, my ears were fully in tune with the conversation below, and would twitch come the moment that, Rosiagnes woman mentions Kikyō, even if so subtly...
"What ye had all witnessed is a very powerful ability we Crofts are able to develop with extensive training in both body and spirit, a ritual spell if ye will."
Ritual spell?
"It be known in me native tongue as Daingniú, and translated to yours, Fortification...The simplest way I can explain it, is that me soul as well as Kikyaō's forged a temporary bond wit' one another, similar to what it used ta be before Coraline broke it with help from dat damnable devil from beyond Hell. In that light, I was able to transfer some of me aura to she, which took form of the phoenix ye all saw, and flew to wrap a barrier around 'er body."
Besa summarizes,
"So in other words, you tried to protect her from destruction in the river of miasma."
"Aye...Unfortunately, even I did not have the strength to still the fatal wounds dealt by Nau'raku...The devil, was successful in getting what he wished for."
I clench a fist tight and fight to hold down a low, menacing growl.
Yeah...that bastard was able to kill Kikyō a second time...and there was nothing we could do to stop it. Not me, not the others, not even Coraline's ancestor.
He got away with it!...But then...if she knew that, then why-
"However, I shan't allow he'im to get away with complete annihilation of the priestess...I am not fully certain if me spell worked, but...there is a chance her body may not have perished in the poison."
Everyone gasps, including myself, and Sango asks,
"Are you saying that...her, corpse, could be out there somewhere?"
"Aye. Not definitely, but could be...and before any of ye ask, no, I would not know where to start searchin'."
I couldn't keep my mouth shut after that statement, finally reaching my tolerance of this woman's cryptic talk.
"Kuh, that's real helpful!"
I feel the stare of multiple eyes on my form, and I don't keep them waiting, jumping down from the tree to step right over to this ancient woman harboring my intended's body. I glare at her, and she returns my expression with a cool, stern gaze of her own.
"There be something ye wish to say to me, dog man?"
"Grh, oh there's plenty I wanna demand from you, woman, but based on what you've been talkin' about so far, I know you won't provide a straight answer."
Besa and Miroku call my name to try and stop me from saying something callous, but I wouldn't have it, fed up with everything that's been going on since we first came to this stupid mountain area.
"It's clear you're keepin' alot of info to yourself, and out of respect for Kikyō's memory, I'm willing to let some of it slide...But the fact that I'm continuing to stare at someone who only vaguely resembles Coraline, and not her, is really tweakin' at my last nerve. If you've got nothing useful to say, then quit usin' my woman's body and give her back!"
Glaring back, Rosiagnes holds to a calm tone yet replies stiffly,
"It be not that simple, swordsman. Me reincard needs time t' rest, so ye will just have to deal with me presence in the meantime."
"The only reason she's resting is because you used up a good amount of her energy!"
"She wanted to save the priestess but did not know how! I did, so she stepped aside and allowed me to guide 'er Aura Power into doin' that. 'Tis not me fault that the spell takes a high amount of spiritual power!"
"You still knew it would!"
"Enough of ye nonsense!"
She suddenly darts to her feet, tall enough that she could meet me eye-to-eye, hers glowing slightly in anger from my pushing, not that I cared much because I was feeling just as pissed.
"There is much more at stake here than ye realize, and I will not be lectured by a young whelp who wears his heart on his sleeve!...How me reincard puts up with ye is beyond me comprehension."
Why this...!
If she wasn't occupying my intended's body, I swear I would've struck this aggravating woman. Instead, all I could do was growl at her lowly and clench my fists tight enough to threaten skin breakage, while her eyes began glowing in and out like Coraline's, only in a way that seemed more controlled...
"Whoa whoa, alright, break it up, you two!"
Freeman suddenly jumps to his feet and rushes over so he was lodging himself between us.
"There's already enough tension in the air as it is thanks to, recent events, and we don't need t' pile it on!...Let's try to remember we're on the same side, okay?"
Same side? Tuh, yeah, right...
Rosiagnes took the guy's words in - admittingly - better than I was, breathing out a short breath before replying in a mutter,
"Very well, ye be correct...Excuse me; I think I be needing some space from the fire."
On that note, she turns away sharply, gesturing at the little orb Lumos to follow her, and makes her way over to one of the cherry blossom trees about twelve feet away...We watch her go for a moment, before Freeman turns to face me with an expression I hardly see on him, one that reflects disappointment.
"Dude, really? Ya had to go and play the accusation card on her?"
"What're you-"
"Look, I get it. You're hurtin'; we all are...but taking your frustrations out on Cor's ancestor isn't gonna help anybody, least of all you. If anything, this is what that spider bastard's expecting us all to do: pin the kind of blame on eachother that doesn't exist."
Miroku and the wolf - to my surprise - nod in agreement with his judgment.
"Freeman makes an excellent point: we cannot allow our anger and misery to destroy our bonds. We're all on the same side, even if our interests may differ a little."
"Yeah, and consider how that Rosiagnes woman is feelin' right now. She's been forced to return from the dead, on both foreign land and within a body that ain't hers...If ya think she asked to get thrust into unfamiliar territory, tuh, then you really don't know much past your own problems, mutt."
I glare at Kōga more so than the monk...but inside, I started to reevaluate my choice of words while considering their points, as well as a bit of what the woman of subject was saying before she stormed off...You can imagine how much of a moron I felt like by the end of my trail of thinking.
...Dammit...I just had to let my mouth run, didn't I?
Releasing a sigh that had an undertone of a growl, I mutter reluctantly,
"Alright...maybe there's some merit to what you're all sayin'...What should I do about it, though?"
I could see everyone was visibly surprised that I was admitting a need for guidance, which thank kami only lasted a few seconds, before the squirt makes his own suggestion, climbing atop my shoulder so we were at eye-level.
"Well, it wouldn't hurt to go and try talking to her again, but, ya know, just do it without sounding super angry this time."
Sango adds with a half-smile,
"Though she'll likely not admit it aloud, Rosiagnes needs someone to help her navigate our land, and who better than the one her reincarnation holds dear?"
"...Hmph, I think it'd be fair to say she's a stone's throw from hating me."
"If that was true, she likely would've tried to attack you by now."
I glance over at Besa, and he chides with that wise, gentle smile of his,
"Again, keep in mind that the poor woman's walking on unfamiliar ground and has to rely on knowledge that's not hers in order to avoid running into total disaster...It may not look like it, Inuyasha, but Rosiagnes is very scared to be back alive."
Scared, huh?...Haaah, alright, I think I've got enough to go on now.
Not breathing another word, I start moving away from the camp on my own in the direction that Rosiagnes left for...The closer I got towards her form underneath the cherry blossom tree, the lousier I began to feel, especially when I realize,
She's like a more, lost version of Kikyō, when she was revived by that ogre bitch, Urasue...
Brought back to the land of the living without any real warning, and certainly not by their choice.
"...I'm surprised ye are approachin' me, swordsman."
I snap back to reality at the sound of that accent-rough voice, watching as the woman turns around to face me, her expression seemingly blank but with an undertone of bitterness in her eyes.
"I would 'ave guessed ye to keep as fa' away from me as possible, based on what ye said."
"Uh, yeah, about that...Haah, look, I'm...I'm sorry for making you sound like the bad guy. That was my anger talking...I, know this isn't your fault; you're just tryin' to do what's best for Coraline in whatever way you can."
She relaxes with surprise from my willingness to apologize, before breathing out a breath with an almost sheepish smile.
"Aye, well...me own temper is not helping the situation either, so, I apologize as well fo' regardin' ye so abrasively."
"Tch, it's fine. You're not the first human to act harsh towards me."
...An awkward kind of quiet falls between us for a few minutes, and I found myself watching Lumos as a way to avoid a weird eye-lock with the woman who has very distant relations with my intended...
"I have witnessed 'ow protective ye are with me reincard."
Snapping out of my daze, I look at Rosiagnes with a bit of confusion and surprise.
"You have?"
"Aye. Ye certainly give it yer all when it comes to her safety, and 'ave not fallen short in bestowing that needed affection for lovers to survive...Ye both have yer moments of conflict, but what partners do not?"
She turns her vision from the flowering branches to meet my eyes again.
"What I be saying is despite me initial feelings about the two of ye undertaking such a relationship...ye 'ave been good for me reincard, and are an admirable protector."
Hm...
"Mind if I ask what you thought about us in the beginning?"
"(Shrug) To be frank, I was not confident ye would move on from your old feelings fer the priestess and leave Coraline hangin' like a rusted sword."
My eyes widen by how blunt her opinion was.
...Well there's some honesty I didn't expect.
"G-Guh, uhm..."
"Heh, calm yerself, dog warrior...I have not the same opinion as it was in the beginning, to which I thank me reincard's courage to confess t' ye for...Ye are coming along to meeting me standards fo' what sort of man I want for me family's women."
"Hmph, is that right?"
"Aye...Anyway, ye relations to me reincard are the least of me worries at dis present."
Her eyes cast to the night sky, narrowed in a foreboding manner.
"Wha' concerns me, is the probable repercussions tha' may ensue the longer I remain in this world."
"Whaddo you mean?"
"I am speaking of the devil marred by spider...and this eerie yet distant beat from the underworld I have been feeling since night farst touched the ground."
What?!
A noise of surprise escapes through my mouth, before I ask with an incredulous expression,
"Why didn't you say something earlier?"
"It was not strong enough to warrant immediate attention and ye all demanded other more important information."
"...Ah...Okay...Well how 'bout we focus on that now."
"Ye sure ye want t' leave the topic of me reincard so quickly?"
Reluctantly, I reply,
"If you say Coraline's safe, then, I can settle with believing she'll come back when she's recovered...Now what's this about a shift in the spirit world? What's going on?"
"Haah, if ye insist..."
Unknown POV
It has been long enough that my old spirit and newly-reformed body have forged a bond, and this demon in the form of man, Naraku, has since given me a short summary of the course of events that led to his decision to bring me back to the living...
"I see...So that heathen woman has arisen within the body of her descendant, because of another heretic ye had done away with recently."
We are different natures, yet he and I share a commonality of interfering forces...
"You say heretic, but I would call her a pest of a priestess...But never mind her; that problem's been taken care of. Our focus should be on the other woman that must be rid of."
Adjusting my new garments known as a kimono, the colour being black as ink with matching hakama, white stockings called tabi, and wooden footwear by name of zōri, I turn back to the devil's spawn with a nod.
"Mm, yes, that blasted woman of Croft...I never imagined having another chance to destroy her, after what happened so many years ago..."
Looking back on the event in question now, perhaps my men and I were a little hasty in obtaining the power of that creature's mask. But how were we to know that the energies would mean the end of our lives? It only got worse the more that Croft woman came between us and our goals, and before we knew it, the darkness consumed my fellow knights and I...while she 'self-righteously' casts Majora's dark power away, before succumbing to her own demise.
All to protect a clan who foolishly embrace the dangerous abnormalities of this realm. Pah...
Glancing at the skin of my hand, I comment aloud,
"And it would seem our battle of wills has continued to newer generations, since my own descendant has received the sharp end of that damnable blade...You say that it was a strand of his hair that allowed you to establish a connection to our collective soul, correct?"
"Indeed. I had a feeling that Bishop fellow's presence in this time would prove useful to me, and what better way than with his own flesh? My original intent was to eventually create an incarnation of myself based off of his image...but given current circumstances, I believe I made a more strategic choice."
A bitter smirk carves onto my lips as I reply,
"Ha. So in other words, I am no more than a blunt tool to you, a new sword."
Demon though he is, he had the decency to be honest.
"Perhaps, but my own goals should not have to deter your own, my friend. When it comes down to it, we both want the same thing."
Yes...The Crofts must be put to an end.
Clenching my fist tight...I activate an ability new to me, but not so to my descendant when he was alive, namely, a deep purple blade of sorts that protrudes from the back of my wrist like a deadly extension of my bone.
"Very well then, Naraku...While I would have declined an offer of alliance with someone of freakish origins in the past, now, I feel it beneficial to take a parchment page out of my descendant's strategies...I shall continue what he was unable to finish, and obliterate both Crofts in one body."
So is this decree made by me, Clayton Bishop, of the Trinity Knighthood.
Time Skip, No POV
Morning would arrive at a rather sluggish pace for our large group of unofficial heroes, and by the time the sun rose high into the blue, everyone was finishing breakfast and preparing to move elsewhere to get further away from the remnants of Mount Hakurei. Rosiagnes was still occupying Coraline's body, so the atmosphere continues to have an undertone of awkwardness, though everyone was slowly getting used to her presence...
Right now, she was overlooking the lands ahead from atop a small incline, with Lumos hovering around her from. A gentle breeze billows up her red waterfall curls as she breathes out a sigh.
These lands...So different from me home country, yet, the colours look familiar enough...
"A beautiful sight, isn't it?"
"Hm?"
She shifts her head to see Sango approaching with a kind smile on her face, Kilala bounding alongside her.
"Ah, Sond-go, is it?"
"Heh, Sango, actually."
"Apologies. Me accent is quite rough."
"That's alright...Tell me, did your home village have a similar nature to that of these lands?"
Widening her two-tone blue irises a little, the redhead then obliges the brunette's question.
"...Aye, there are features that match...For example, the forests: so vast and teeming wit'd mystery jus' waiting to be uncovered."
She looks to the air above with a wistful smile.
"The sky is as blue as it was back when the weather was fine, perfact for explorin', training one's skills of the blade and of course, visiting the friends of Majora..."
"Yes, we've been told of what sort of creatures live there. Ones like Lumos, as well as something known as Dryads."
"Ah yes, the Dryads. Not someone ye want to get on the wrong side of, I can tell ye that. (Small smirk) I remember a few instances when a few thick-headed men from me clan tried to get the attention of a dryad maiden, only t' end up thrown all the way into the foaming shores of the ocean."
The notion was enough to make both women laugh a little...
"I suppose that be one of the faults of 'umanity."
"Huh?"
An almost pitying smile forms on Rosiagnes's lips as she muses,
"We 'ave this tendency to let our more prideful thoughts take lead rather dan logic or compassion, and use fear as a way t' acknowledge what we cannot fathom...One thing me people, me kin, strive for is t' be as open as possible, take time to understand what is before we judge."
"And I imagine that attracted some unwanted trouble?"
"Afraid so...Ye and the others of de main group 'ave been introduced t' today's faction of what I knew then as the Trinity Knighthood, a problem that was once constant fer me clan as soon as they found us."
Sango's face fell into a frown as she recalls that said encounter.
"A little hard to dismiss that event completely, especially considering that their leader Constantine tried to kill Coraline."
"Mm, aye...Constantine...His appearance, the clashes between he and me reincard...It be less coincidental than ye may 'ave perceived it. Fated, in fact."
The brunette looks up at the older redhead with attentive surprise traced in her facial features.
"Fated, you say?"
"Aye...Dis, Constantine, be not the first Bishop who served the Trinity Knighthood...nor the first of tha' family to take on a member of me clan. His appearance...is strikingly similar to that of the man who led the knights to foolishly try and claim Majora's precious mask."
Which has me wonderin'...could that shift, have been Cl-
(Pulse)
"Hm!"
Suddenly, Rosiagnes senses a strong beat of negative power echo from a distance...moving slowly towards the unsuspecting village whose young head was once in charge of the tranquil Hijiri Island...
"What's wrong? Do you sense something?"
"Aye...and it be not a good thing. Not at all."
Before Sango could ask further questions, the women turn around to the sound of agitated moans coming from Lumos, whom also felt the vibration of dark energy and dove back to the camp to stir the attention of the others before leading them up here. Freeman would be the first to touch the top of the small incline while asking,
"Oi, how come, hah, Lumos, is goin' off like an oversensitive smoke detector? What's going on?"
"He be approaching."
"Huh?"
Eyes fall on the woman from more ancient times, her eyes narrowing into a glare and clouding over with that bright, dark arctic blue essence of her soul.
"Over yonder, towards a clearing before that village...I sense the aura of someone I had hoped would stay back in the realm of the dead."
Moving to stand on Rosiagnes's right to gaze into the distance from her vantage, Miroku asks,
"An enemy of yours, I presume?"
"Correct, monk, bu' most of ye, save the three wolves, may find him familiar to that of another deceased man...One tha' me reincard had eliminated, by using the most deadly technique o' Shattersoul...or did she?"
A few gasps emit from the group, and Besa inquires with a touch of urgency,
"Hold on!...Are you saying that, Bishop's soul...may not have been completely destroyed?"
"What I be sayin' is that a very large bulk was annihilated...but a fragment may have in fact escaped to these lands before that Bishop left, back when he and his men invaded to kidnap me reincard...all in thanks to the aid of another, more demonic entity."
Kōga curses,
"Aw crap, don't tell us: it was Naraku, wasn't it?!"
One nod gave way to a flood of emotions to come crashing against the bodies of this extended group, ranging from distress to anger and of course dread...
"Bu' the devil marred by spider be the least of our issues this hour."
That pool of negativity dries out a little to make room for confusion to pour and mix in, and Rosiagnes explains while drawing out that fabled Croft Family sword,
"If he 'as resurrected the one man in the one manner I think, then dese lands will be cursed with a new form of chaos that had touched me own centuries ago...unless I go and engage battle with them before they reach the village."
"You're not thinking of doing that alone, are you? We've only just emerged from that ticking time bomb of a mountain with our lives yesterday, not to mention the level of mystery that's still hanging in the air."
Turning her glowing eyes to meet with Besa's dark forest green irises, the Croft from yester-year replies with a stern air,
"There be no choice, young man. If that daft crusade leader lingers in dis realm fer too long, it becomes tha' much harder to rid him. His strength grows with each step; there be no time for hesitant hearts."
(Sheeeen...)
On that note, Rosiagnes invokes a deeper stimulant of her Aura Powers, the energy billowing over her body to settle as an outline against her dress and skin...before she takes off with speed that settled between the top levels of Inuyasha and Kōga!
"Uh!" "Damn, Cora's ancestor's fast!"
"Wait, Rosiagnes!"
Groaning a little, the dog demon dressed in the furs of the fire rat hurries to pursue after the woman with long waterfall curls, the rest following his example simultaneously...
...
The trail of swift footfalls continues into the canopy of the narrow forest strip, the illuminated form of Rosiagnes Croft leading the way, hopping over large roots protruding their elbows through the mossy ground and ducking under low-bearing conifer branches. Her focus was beyond her by at least half a kilometer, they being a dark figure entering a meadow break in the tree cover.
I know not why that devil was crazy enough to revive ye...but I know it be you...
Clayton Bishop.
The woman eases her way through a low-growing bush, entering the clearing first...She slows herself into a steady walk, continuing until she stops near the center...
"Your sensory is as sharp as ever, to have known of my presence closing in to this area...Although..."
Someone emerges from the other end of the clearing, the natural light revealing a man who could very well be Constantine Bishop back from the dead. This man shared the other's tall height, porcelain complexion, military-cropped gray-blond hair, and steel gray eyes with a ring of dark purple around the irises...Though there were some distinct differences: this male had stubble on his chin, skin that carried a weather-beaten quality, and was of course wearing the clothing provided to him by another whose current location was unknown...
"I would expect no less from a heathen like you."
A sardonic sort of smile carves onto Rosiagnes's lips, matching that of her age-old enemy.
"Clayton. Tis been too long."
"That it has..."
Everyone else of our misfit group of heroes will have caught up by this point, stopping at the edge of the forest strip touching the meadow to stare ahead with wide eyes at the pending scene before them.
"Whoa..." "That's..."
"He looks like a more, rugged version of Bishop tryin' to pass as a samurai."
The three wolf demons from the eastern tribe would of course be the odd ones left out of the topic loop, having only just heard about the one Trinity soldier familiar to the Croft currently occupying the said redhead's body the other night.
"Uhm, someone mind explaining what the heck you lot are so antsy about?"
"Yeah, I'm a bit confused..." "Same..."
Freeman shifts his footing so he was looking at Kōga, Ginta and Hakkaku before giving them the following quick summary.
"Long story short, he was the one responsible for killing Cor's father, and after a series of events that'd take way too long to describe right now, he and sis would eventually meet in a battle to the death within her family's tomb...Don't think I really need to say who won that one."
The latter three nod in a grim understanding, just as Inuyasha notes after sniffing the air,
"'cept we're not really starin' at that dead bastard. Just some past version of 'im...Hell, this guy's scent's all over the place. I'm getting the undead, demon and, some other beast that's definitely not from around these parts."
And what's really bugging me...is that the demon stink's close to Naraku's...
Shippo takes a turn smelling the air towards where Clayton stood, before muttering to himself with furrowed eyebrows and a scrunched-up nose,
"Yeah, it's like the scent can't decide what it is...Too weird..."
Sango notes aloud,
"Well, if we consider the most likely party responsible for reviving this man, I'm almost not surprised that their new origins can be thrown into question."
Miroku adds in his own narrowed observation,
"I almost wonder if they were brought back with a technique similar to how Naraku created his incarnations..."
Besa concludes the speculations by saying,
"It should all become clear in a moment, but in the meantime, let's just all pray that Rosiagnes knows what she's doing."
Rosiagnes's POV
Haaah, once again, I be forced to fight in a battle that should not have been.
To stare at the fool of a man from centuries past was almost nostalgic in its own merit, but not in a way that was sentimental. No...it be a sour and bitter sort of feeling, the kind one gets in looking back on an old nightmare that lost its power. I would have been angry if I did not think this comeback was pathetic and pointless, even though Clayton's revival was not his doing...
"I be surprised ye are willin' ta go through dis daft conviction again, considering 'ow our last encounter ended."
"I assure you, those same mistakes will not be repeated, woman. Not the ones I committed, nor the ones of my descendant in his pursuit of your descendant."
"So ye retain his memories, do ye?"
How interesting...
"I do. As it turned out, the devil spawn who revived me had used a fragment of Constantine's hair and blood he stole with a demon insect agent, combined with another manner of black magic to recreate who you see before you now."
I use my innate ability to see into Clayton's soul...and did not like what I saw.
"Aye, so I notice...yet there be more ye are admitting to. Yer soul...'as become a monster of its own design. Ye are but a sliver of what is holding ye to this earth, while the rest is made up by a mockery 'eart created by the devil marred by spider...Once more, (narrows eyes) I can also sense the power of a creature me people knew better to stay away from, for fear of descending into beast-like madness...The Shadow Being. Its poison runs through ye veins, does it not?"
Chuckling slightly, a bitter sort of smirk curves onto his face as he confirms,
"Yes, it would seem that the ability my blood descendant had obtained from that beast came with me. As I said to Naraku, at one time ago, this would have been an issue of morals...However."
(Shoom)
A deep purple blade manifests through Clayton's wrist joint, extending to almost half his arm's length and glowing a poisonous plum colour! A similar, more eerie gleam would brighten around his grey irises, making himself look more sinister than before.
"Time moves forward, and in order to move with it, one must adapt in any way they have to."
...Blasted fool.
The cat with two tails lets out a growl from atop Sango's shoulder while the fox chile shivers and hops atop Inuyasha's shoulder to hide his eyes behind the other's neck.
"U-U-U-U-Uhh, not again; that power was already creepy enough when Bishop used it!"
Creepy does even begin to describe, little one...Clayton. He has no idea the consequences that came out of this revival.
"By the gods, ye truly let yeself fall into darkness...Clayton, I shall only give ye this warning once: do not start a battle ye know will not end any different from the past. Release yeself from that blatant manifest of flesh while ye can still grasp yer rationale."
"Ha! As if I would listen to the heathen swordswoman who sent me to my first death along with my comrades. The resilience of your clan was what further fueled this desire, to one day meet you in battle once more, and finally finish my objection in ridding the world of the Crofts, the greatest heretics known by Trinity. Unfortunately, my descendant failed and yours was victorious...but now...here we are, the two of us borrowing their flesh in our own manners to put an end to this farce."
Clayton holds his weaponized arm out straight, and in response, I twirl ShatterSoul a few times in my dominant right hand before settling in a fighting stance with my free left fist held out front while I held the sword held up high and a little behind, the blade poised ready to strike...
"Now then...face your doom!"
My old enemy charges first, as I expected he would, going about a speed less common for humans...and much closer to that of the Shadow Beings.
"Tch."
I wait until he brings down that bone-like blade...before countering with a block of shining steel. Metal corrodes against bone as hard as rock, the two of us exchanging the expressions of rival warriors, our eyes burning for victory over the other, just as it had been many years ago...
After another minute or so, my strength would prove to be more fortified, and I threw the man of living contradictions backwards to go sliding against the grass on his heels, while I jump back a few feet. Once he was stable again, Clayton tries best me with another move born from the cursed power of the Shadow Beings. A hazy energy of black-purple emits over the bone-like blade...before he brings it down in a diagonal swing, shooting out an air cut of dark power! My reincard's allies gasp, the fox chile and clan brother who wields the hammer weapon crying out,
"Look out!" "Heads up!"
Hmph, so that be his game, eh?...Let's try this!
Drawing in a big breath and closing my eyes, I concentrate a good amount of my soul energy into my old weapon...before letting it go so it could float just a foot in front of me, that familiar blue glow surrounding its surface, flat and with the blade pointed straight to the skies...Then I silently direct it to start spinning faster than a maple seed in a gust of wind, creating a thin but strong shield to block and dispel the opposing attack!
"Uh! Grrrh...!"
"Ye'll have t' do better than this, Clayton!"
In response to my taunt, he launches several more attacks in that fashion, while I keep the shield going without an inch of concentration broken...Of course, my move was doing more than just protecting my being: it was also absorbing half of the strength from each blow, building up a counterattack to release back at him once he was through.
He should be done any moment...Now!
"Staon dorcha!"
My old blade stops immediately...before spinning on axis the opposite way, and blasting forth a weaker-hued stream of purple energy from its blue-shining steel straight for Clayton!
...However, I expected that he would not be bested easily by such a counter, as evident when he rushes to the side in a duck and roll maneuver, leaving his reflected power to go crashing against the meadow and upturning a mound of dirt and grass. As soon as he was upright, the old knight extends a second bone-hard blade from his other wrist, and lunges fast to try and cut me down with two Shadow Weapons!
Tuh, great, just what I be needin'. Give a madman a sword, he be a dangerous foe. Give him two, and ye be praying for yer head.
Make no mistake: I was not afraid. Nah, this was more cautious annoyance if anything. Thankfully, he be not the first opponent I faced whom carried a high agility, and with my training, I was able to keep up and use ShatterSoul to block...My ears could not help themselves in picking up on the commentary from our audience.
"Amazing...!" "She's able to block with but a single hand!"
"Yeah, that's Euro swordsmanship for ya."
"I'm almost wondering if this was how the battle went back during her time..."
Heh, ye be close, brother of the sickles, but not quite.
There were more knights dressed in mail with shields and long swords back then...
"I suppose it shouldn't be too much of a surprise, considering how much experience she was able to gain."
"Mind you, this Clayton character's not slacking."
"He's almost fighting the same way Bishop did..."
"Tch, he's not that tough; most of the strength's gotta come from his old grudge."
Hm, most likely, warrior of the dog fang...though tis more than tha'.
The spider devil's handiwork be giving Clayton the strength he would not 'ave had back when he lived...
But, such power comes with a cost, one he's yet to feel.
The battle continues on for a while, reaching more than half an hour before the two of us would begin to feel our individual endurance and stamina wavering. Sweat was beading my forehead, making a few strands of red hair stick to my skin, and my fingers beg for a break from holding my weapon, their aching as prominent as the rest of my muscles, me legs especially. The grounds were steadily becoming littered with small craters from the expulsions of power, and my reincard's allies had been forced at least two times to shift their position on the perimeter of the meadow to avoid becoming unwanted casualties...
As for Clayton, his situation had turned dare I say, more dire than he would care to talk about.
"Hah...hah...h-hh..."
As I mentioned before, the process by which the devil marred by spider underwent in reviving my old enemy was fiendish even among the standards of regular necromancy practitioners. Using a sliver of a destroyed soul, combined with a half-demon's incarnated flesh, while also reawakening the poison of the Shadow Being?...Using a term from my reincard's time, it's the equivalent of a mad scientist's experiment that would not survive. Such is noticeable now, by judge of the heavier sweat coating his skin and drenching his robes, his steel grey irises glowing feverishly with that plum purple, which was the same colour of his throbbing veins.
All that be missing is the growl of a wild animal...
"Having a bit of tra'uble, Clayton?...Is the body that devil granted ye not longer holding to the power contained?"
"K-Keep, quiet, you, d-damned woman...!"
He grinds his teeth together just as another wave of energy threatens his being, now sparking in a mix of red and purple...which through Coraline's memories, was not an unfamiliar phenomenon.
As I thought: his soul is too weak for such a 'hotch-potch' design. Nau'raku did not account for the instability in his creation.
Shaking my head in disappointment, I scoff,
"Bah. This be turnin' into an exercise of futility, a mockery of a battle for the two of us...Ye would 'ave done well to stay in the afterlife, Clayton, and no' head fa'or an end more disgraceful than yer first."
"I said keep quiet, damn you! Drrh!...The only disgrace that matters to me, is the one met in losing to one such as you..."
Lifting his head with a heavy breath, his eyes completely cloud over with a dark rouge-purple, telling me his spirit was corrupted and lost to help.
"The Crofts...will...DIE!"
And just as if someone poured oil onto a dying fire, Clayton's body suddenly erupts with a huge flame of dark rouge-purple power, his warcry bellowing for all to hear!
Blast it all...!
No POV
As Rosiagnes prepares herself for the climax of this age-old grudge match, Inuyasha and company found themselves dumbfounded by the spectacle that was the raging Trinity Knight. Shippo stutters,
"U-U-U-Uh, I don't remember this part from when Coraline took on Bishop...!"
Miroku comments as his eyebrows furrow together in a serious manner,
"I sense a major shift in demonic presence, mixed with another manner of beast I'm not familiar with. It's almost completely swallowed whatever is left of the human aura!"
Both Inuyasha and Kōga growl through clenched jaws when their noses pick up on a more prominent scent, and the former inquires the latter,
"You recognize that stench too, I take it?"
"How can I not? It's got that bastard Naraku written all over it!"
Having smelt the shift of air themselves, Ginta and Hakkaku stiffen with nervous glares of their own, while Kilala's fur rose on ends to the tune of her own hiss. Glancing behind him at his mate and their best friend, Freeman turns attention back in front of himself to the battlefield while commenting,
"Uhm, I think demon scents are the least of our worries right now. That Clayton dude's lookin' ready to go off like a nuke..."
His brother with black cornrows was also concerned about the change of power distribution.
"No kidding. It's like he's losing control of his abilities...Or maybe, he's lost control over his very being."
"What're you saying?"
"Well think about it: when's the last time we've seen power born from dark intentions work out for anyone with mortal origins?"
"...Never."
Folding his arms in a matter-of-fact fashion, Besa mutters,
"I rest my case," just as Sango wonders with suspicion creeping into her tone,
"If that much is true, then why would Naraku go to the trouble of reproducing Bishop's ancestor?"
The monk offers a probable answer:
"He likely did not take into account the full consequences of using his incarnation spell in such a manner. It may very well be a miracle that Clayton has lasted this long..."
The wolf demon with long black hair and deep blue irises scoffs,
"Who really cares about the Whys at this point? What we should be asking is if that Rosiagnes woman can actually defeat 'im now that his power's gone crazy."
"Don't be an idiot; of course she can take 'im down."
"Huh?"
Eyes filled with surprise turn to the half-dog demon with long silver hair and amber irises, who adds to his defense by stating,
"She's Coraline's ancestor, her family for gods sake. She has the experience and expertise that can best ten men like that Clayton fool without so much as an eyelash bat...And it's that strength, which I see emerging in my intended everyday, that I saw when she took down Bishop back in her family's tomb. (Shakes his head) It just doesn't sound possible that her ancestor, the one whose soul she grew up from, would lose here after all this time."
Everyone on the sidelines grew quiet at Inuyasha's words, feeling more assured that the Croft from another time and plain would prevail...Though on the inside, he would make this solemn promise.
Still...if this is where things will truly make a turn for the worst, I'll step in and get my girl, the one sleeping within the depths of body and spirit, out of danger.
"This is the end of you, Rosiagnes Croft! Once more...this is the end of your barbaric clan!"
On that hoarse shout, the barely-stable, overpowered Clayton makes his speeding charge straight for the redheaded woman dressed in the thick-material checkered dress...who in turn, drew in a deep breath, and stuck out the ShatterSoul sword straight in front of her like a lance.
The only one who be meeting their end...is ye, Clayton.
"Bíseach Aura!"
One second echoes like a heartbeat...before a sliver of power the same shade as Lumos the Will O' Wisp comes sliding up from the hilt of the Celtic blade's hilt to end at the tip, before erupting into a snake-like whirlwind of energy that twists and turns forward, crashing against the opposing force born again by a demon's hands and creating an explosion of blue/red/purple smoky light!
(Ka-BOOM)
Clayton's yell of pain would echo from within the bulk of impacting sounds, the clashing energies threatening to tear his body limb from limb, his blood veins practically stretching to free themselves from his skin. Meanwhile, the audience on the sidelines was forced to cringe back while covering their eyes from the bright shine...
...
As soon as the rumbling settles, Lumos flies from his place above the heads of Inuyasha and Shippo, diving into the dying smoke to search for Rosiagnes...
"Hah...hah...hah...hah...hah..."
She would be found alive if rather exhausted, bending over a little with her free hand atop her knee while the other held the ShatterSoul sword in a half-offensive, half-defensive position a little above her hip. The first to see her form would be Hakkaku:
"Huh? (Points forward) Hey, look, she made it!"
Following his direct of vision, others would quickly express cheers of excitement and relief.
"Alright!" "She won!"
"Wayda go, Rosiagnes!" "Woo-hoo!"
...But then Inuyasha spots the second form that while defeated, was not taken out permanently.
"Huh? Hm...Might be a little early to celebrate, people."
Feeling some stares of confusion, he points a clawed finger towards where Clayton's form would be kneeling. Getting a closer look, we see that his condition has become a little...worse for wear, to be polite. His skin now carried blotches of a deep plum colour as if someone slapped purple paint on him with a paintbrush in a haste, his blood veins throbbing a sickly red, similar in fashion to his bone-like blades that were slowly becoming transparent and forming cracks like fragile glass, and his eyes...were now a full gray with no pupil or iris, making them look sunken.
"Haahhhhh...hhhnhhh...hh-hh-hhnhhhh..."
What's, happening, to me...?
"Yer ties to this realm be dissolvin'...It shan't be long before ye are destroyed."
Fighting the painful trembles, Clayton looks up to see his triumphant enemy looking down at him with a mix of disdain...and just the slightest amount of pity.
"Ye did not have t' take that devil's deal. Ye could have released yeself from that disaster of a body before ye were completely settled in and saved yeself from a more damnable entrance t' Hell...Instead, ye foolishly chose t' fight for a second chance at winnin' a battle ye were doomed ta lose since those years ago. (Shakes head) How many more times must I explain i' to people like ye? To try and dispel that which is unexplained, unattainable, is an impossible task tha' ends in turmoil for the one committing the act. Be one mortal, immortal ar somethin' inbetween, it matter not...for the Hand of Fate be unkind to all."
"H-hh-hhhh, belay, your talk. It's useless, on s-someone of my sta-ture..."
The dying Clayton breathes out a whisper of a chuckle, his chapping lips forming a most bitter of smiles.
"People like I, who see one way and deny others, cannot be persuade...I suspect the same for that dastardly devil who revived me. His evil has but only one mission: rid his enemies by using every means within his grasp, so that none shall stand in his path. He is the kind of creature that will commit great atrocity without looking back in remorse...I knew this, and yet I did not listen to my common sense, or perhaps it did not come back with me."
Looking up at his old enemy with his full gray eyes, the destabilizing man says to her with a voice that grew as hoarse as the ragged elderly,
"Take heed, heathen, that your descendant and her allies do not end the same as I...If he can easily cloud my judgement, I cannot begin to imagine what would horrors await one of your ilk, should they become corrupted by that Naraku devil. You may be a heretic...but there are far, worse, evils, than even you...Farewell."
With that, Clayton expels the sound of a graveyard's breath, before his body burns in a demonic blaze of wine red and grape purple, skin and bone chipping away like sparks and ash...until there was nothing left but an afterglow highlighting the burn spot in the meadow, shaped exactly like the symbol for Trinity...
"Haaaah, Clayton, ye were a fool through and through...an' curse that spider-marred devil fer preying on ye thirst for vengeance."
May he pray the underworld be the littlest bit kind to his soul, for an eternity of torturous repent be a long one...
...Hm?
Just as Rosiagnes sends such a message to her enemy's departed soul (or whatever may have been left), she senses a new demonic aura permeate from a section of the meadow's perimeter. It was not as strong as the one Clayton radiated, but was more clear and precise...a direct creation from the source.
Ah, so he had his eye on his knight, did he?...Paranoia be setting in.
"(Ghostly moan)"
Lumos comes to chirp a few warning sounds to her, and she nods while replying,
"Aye, yes, I just sensed 'is arrival, my friend, but do not be alarmed. Tis only a messenger body."
"Is something wrong, Rosiagnes?"
Turning behind herself to meet the eyes of the large group of misfit heroes, the redhead replies to Miroku,
"Nothing to work into a big lather over...Jus' the devil's eyes and mouth preparing to make a nuisance of themselves, now that 'is latest soldier 'as failed."
Kōga asks her,
"What's that mean?"
"Ye shall see in a moment."
She pivots to stare toward the far West, then calls out with narrowed irises,
"There be no use secluding yeself in the shadows, devil!...I know ye are there, so come out and face us like the man ye disguise yeself as!"
...
...
A figure emerges from the cover of shrubbery and thick tree trunks, moving into the sunlight to reveal themselves as Naraku, cloaked in the baboon skin! Everyone but Rosiagnes gasps and prepares to defend, until she says to them,
"Calm yourselves; that be not the true devil...Jus' one of those, 'demon puppets' as me reincard 'as told me abou'."
...The others relax a little, and Besa comments,
"I guess that makes sense, considering what happened only just yesterday...I wonder if that thing was watching us the whole time..."
His twin brother scoffs,
"That would be so like the freak to do that, play the creeper spy..."
Focusing back between Rosiagnes and 'Naraku', the redhead takes one step towards the demon puppet's direction before saying to the puppeteer through his creation,
"If ye were under the impression that destroying me reincard would be easy while I am in control of her body, ye are a sadder coward than I imagined ye t' be. We of the Croft Clan are trained generation to generation ta adapt, to sa'urvive...Resurrecting me age-old enemy's soul was a fool's mistake, though ye likely did not know of Constantine's demise...That aside, I cannot help but be curious of something else: ye went through quite an elaborate dance to rid yeself of the meddling affairs of the priestess, yet were in quite the haste to rid me reincard not even a day after. Why is that?"
A knowing smirk curves onto the lips of the woman from centuries past.
"Can it be that ye have become jus' as afraid of Coraline, as ye were afraid of Kikyaō? Is that it, devil?...Are ye scared of a woman who knows how to stand against yer evil?"
...
The demon puppet makes no verbal reply, instead shooting out a vine whip from their right arm, which Rosiagnes easily counters with a quick slash of ShatterSoul.
(Slice)
A fragment of thick root drops to the ground just a foot and a half in front of the woman, her expression unchanged.
"Ha. That's quite a reply there...which speaks more volume than ye realize. If ye not going to defend your actions, ye may as well leave. I have no patience for those of your ilk offering no reasonable argument...Jus' remember this, Na'uraku."
Rosiagnes's face falls stern and strong:
"Those who know not their repercussions, shall be destined to meet the most unexpected and grizzly of ends."
...
Once again, the messenger creation says not a word, and only vanishes back into the forest once more...
"Should we try and go after that puppet?"
The redhead with lengthy waterfall curls pivots her head to see the rest approaching, and replies simply to Freeman's question,
"I would not bother. Knowing tha' devil, he'll likely destroy it quickly an' eliminate its trail before we even exit the meadow...Nah. That was just a petty attempt of a scare tactic, ta remind us who we are messing about with."
(Ba-bump...Ba-bump...Ba-bump...)
Suddenly, the center of the woman's chest began throbbing with a familiar bright dark arctic blue light.
"Huh?" "What's happening now?"
"You okay?"
Rosiagnes was just as surprised...until she realizes what was happening.
"Aaah. (Smile) What perfect timin': me reincard has gathered enough strength. She is ready to come back now."
"Come back?...But, won't that mean...?"
Her upturn of mouth falters with a bit of sadness at Shippo's hesitant question.
"Aye, chile. Tis time fo' me to return to the Spirit Realm, an' about bloody time too. No' that yer world does not have its beauty, bu' it's much too different fo' me. Besides, I have lived me life, and have accepted me death long ago...This be the new generation's time."
A few more light smiles form on some of the group members, and Sango says to the soon-to-be-departing woman,
"Well, it was certainly an honour to meet you...Thank you, for keeping our friend's body safe."
"Of course, Slayer Sango, as it was a pleasure to interact with all of ye."
She shifts to meet the amber irises of one fellow in particular.
"It was especially inta'resting gettin' to know ye, Inuyasha."
"Uhm, yeah, same...Before you go, there's, something I meant to ask."
"Aye?"
"...Are you, sure that you don't know what happened to Kikyō's body?"
Humming to herself quietly, Rosiagnes then says to the dog demon,
"Let me pu' it to you this way...Death, 'as more patience than The Living, thus the reason why The End comes so slowly."
And just before Inuyasha or anyone else could ask for the meaning behind the cryptic statement...the woman's body is bathed in a blinding arctic blue light, falling forward for the former to catch in his red-sleeved arms...!
...
...
The meadow grows quiet...until a soft groan echoes into the dog demon's ear, the tone being in that of a much more familiar woman he's come to know for more than a year and a half now.
...Coraline?
Feeling a shift, he looks down...and meets the tired-smiling, two-tone blue eyes of his beloved.
"Heh...Inuyasha."
List of Irish to English Translations used for this chapter (keep in mind that these are rough translations and may not be 100% accurate):
1) An bhfuil tú ceart go leor? - Are you alright/okay?
2) Tá sibh uilig ag stánadh...Cad é an fhadhb? - You're all staring ... What is the problem?
3) Ní haon ionadh go bhfuil siad chomh fainiciúil sin ó mo láithreacht...Go han-mhaith ansin. - No wonder they are so wary of my presence ... Very well then.
4) Glaoigh ar na teangacha. - Call of the tongues.
5) Gaeilge Ársa - Old Irish
6) Staon dorcha! - Dark refrain!
7) Bíseach Aura! - Spiral Aura!