Of This World And Yesterday
Take me with you on this journey
Where the boundaries of time are now tossed
In cathedrals of the forest
In the words of the tongues now lost.
-Loreena McKennitt, Night Ride Across the Caucasus
Chapter 9- Bound
Glass was shattered on the floor, pointed, sharp ends catching snippets of light, provided from the dull ceiling lamps above. Specimens of various creatures lay in fleshy masses on the floor, bits of chemical preservatives pooling around their motley forms, creating a ghastly odor in the air. Tables were cleared in the sweep of an arm, evidence of icy fury, myriad numbers of bottles and fluted glasses broken.
In the midst of the mess, Karasu sat.
Her desk was a shambles, though she had gathered her wits quickly enough to avoid smashing her precious poppets. There was no excusing the destruction of her art. Rage had settled itself into a more productive mode of thought, and she sat calmly in her chair, legs crossed and with her hands lightly trailing off the armrests, hanging into empty space as she looked forward with black eyes, picking out minute rainbow colors in a mixing of oil based solvents.
She'd predicted the magic of Dreamweaver. If she was Saturn's kin, then it was only logical she share certain modes of attack. A Silence Wall of her own. That was already in her plans, compensated for and instigated when she wished. A senshi would never let down her friends. Some bizarre rule they had, an honor code Karasu would occasionally contemplate. You die before you let your friends die. Pluto had no major defensive capabilities. Only Mercury, Saturn and now Weaver possessed that trait. Her hypothesis was tested and proven correct. So she'd been able to repulse the Shadow Buster. Karasu was, after all, not augmenting her powers yet.
It was the hanyou's action that had created the wave of rage. She hated having only part of a puzzle...pieces missing were leaving her picture incomplete. Ebony eyes flicked to the distant ring in the lab's center. Her reflective pool could only show so much of the past. If it was not in her own, personal memory...then it became piecemeal, fragmented, bits of the story weaving a tangled skein, the tapestry incomplete.
Five hundred years. Five hundred years, Shikon no Tama was silent. Until the Noh mask incident, and it sang for attention again.
She lifted a hand to her mouth, idly tapping a nail against her lip thoughtfully, eyes half lidded as she considered. In the past, of course, she'd heard rumors. Leaving Nihon was a choice- she had wings, and wanted to fly on them. But she could never leave completely. Something drew her back, a migration every several decades, circling further and further, only to return again home. Karasu remembered the youkai who scarred her when she arrived. Red kimono, white hair. And she'd left, seeing him pinned to that tree. No use killing one who was already dead.
But then something began to wander the countryside.
Quietly.
She was new to the game then, still learning of her powers and the adaptations she would have to make for her Vessel. Sometimes, a youkai would disappear. Suddenly. Rumors among youkai would circulate that there was one absorbing others...blending them and making them part of himself when he chose. Rumor whispered he changed form if he so desired, changing faces as well as shape. Weakened as she was, still learning, it was unlikely he would care for an ally, and if he merely absorbed youkai into himself...she was vulnerable, more than ever before. It was unlikely she could kill him.
Karasu was not stupid. Her impatience at Tau Ceti was a harsh lesson. Play for time, play for time, always play for time, wait for the chance, the opportunity. She secreted herself when he was near, and eventually fled across the sea when the mood seemed right.
And so she knew bits and pieces of the story of the Shikon no Tama.
Had she known the damn thing would resurface, she would have paid more attention to the stories of it. Would have watched and waited for it. Damn pool of hers couldn't see the future.
Which was fluid, of course. What happened in the past could be changed, by proper action in the future. For a moment, a smile curved her lips. Then it slipped away. The senshi faced the Black Moon family for a time. Invade the past by the future. Not so bad a plan. Though they had underestimated the senshi, not knowing their fullest potential. Pluto's arrival and stoppage of time had given the senshi the edge they needed to defeat Prince Diamond.
He had not had all the information on the senshi.
Karasu did not intend to make others mistakes.
She thought she knew of- and had compensated for- everyone's abilities.
If that were true, then what the hell had that hanyou been powering up to do?
That sword. That massive sword. She replayed their first meeting over and over in her mind, watched it over and over in the pool. She had not been wrong; he did not have a sword before. His 'Sankontetsou' was powerful enough. But the magical energy he was powering up then was a considerable step up.
What had she missed?
Too many fragments in the tangled skein. It was unclear.
If she had missed the vastly important sword, what else was missing from the portrait? Sometimes faces appeared, swimming in the torrent of years. And yet they faded away and blurred before she could distinguish who or what they were. Karasu did not like not having all the information.
Still.
How strong was the thing?
She frowned delicately, brows puckering slightly as she stood, smoothing her white lab coat and primly buttoning the top again, where it had come undone. Glass crunched and squealed underfoot as she crossed to her row of poppets on the wall, lifting her spectacles from their chain around her neck, and setting them critically on the bridge of her nose. One of the smaller wax figures gleamed in the dim lamplight, and she selected this one carefully, holding the tiny artwork and moving to one of the laboratory's small alcoves.
A box rested on a small table there. It was elaborately carved, obsidian and gold weaving a braided pattern on the sloping sides, a black diamond crescent decorating the top. A crooked handle jutted out the side, a glassy black handle ready to be turned. Sound no longer came from the old music box. One of Queen Nehelenia's minions had gutted it ages ago. To Karasu it was a priceless antique. Though what remained inside was even more precious.
She turned the crank, and there was a hollow noise from within it, the lid rattling open quietly, slowly opening to reveal a glossy reflection of Karasu's face. Mirrors lined the inside of the box, the top, the bottom, the sides, reflecting themselves and each other into infinity.
"Good evening, Lemures."
Chittering sounded from within the box's depths, and inside revealed a handful of small creatures, not much larger than a fist. There was nothing immediately threatening about the things; they resembled little dustballs, or maybe hairballs. Though on closer inspection, there in the darkness, slanted, vee-shaped eyes opened, faintly aglow in shades of crimson.
Lemures. Small, fairly insignificant creatures in appearance, but the cause of a great deal of difficulty for the senshi as they battled Queen Nehelenia of the Dead Moon. Lemures worm their way into one's thoughts, into one's dreams, slowly and steadily weaving nightmares, feeding off the anxiety and despair they create. Useful little things, Lemures.
Karasu lovingly set her precious poppet into the center of the box, and watched as the nightmare-givers slowly swarmed to it. The little figure stood defiantly a moment, before being devoured in the darkness. Here, from this distance, they would take longer to effect their target. Though here, from this distance, they were not in direct contact, and therefore undetectable.
Her reflection slipped into oblivion, and she caressed the black diamond moon on the lid.
A harsh cry interrupted her reverie, and she turned to watch an agitated Evermore flap his way though the laboratory, wildly circling in the air. Another frown creased Karasu's brows. Evermore could be histrionic at times, usually when he thought she was upset. She slipped her glasses off the bridge of her nose, letting them dangle around her neck as she moved to grab at her familiar. "Baka. Slow down. Make sense," she ordered as he settled onto her forearm, shaking his ragged wings and cawing rapidly.
Images flooded her mind, in the chaotic snapshots the bird projected. A jinja. Of course, either Hikawa or Higurashi. A line of people, mostly female. A man with black hair. Long black hair. Karasu's frown increased as she tried to make sense of the maelstrom of thoughts. Then a distorted image of Meioh Setsuna, her Timestaff in hand. Then a flurry of black feathers and a feeling of panic and fear, combined with a sharp pain.
Karasu pushed Evermore's wing back to reveal a small gash, made from the beak of a bird. "Ah, Evermore, you should be more careful next time you go spying. I'll clean you up in a moment. Now let's see if I can get anything clearer here. I don't like it when Pluto starts waving her staff around at things."
The water in the pool was still, and tiny lights reflected off the mirror's surface, evidence of the low lamps in the room. She watched, lips drawn finely as she waited for the shadows to merge and flow, drawing into shapes.
Cherry colored light pierced the surface, a pale reflection of the original brightness. Nevertheless, Karasu squinted against it, running a hand over the smoother feathers of Evermore's neck. The image he showed her of Pluto was clear there, eyes closed as she concentrated her powers.
The next scene made her fist clench in the scruff of her familiar's neck, sending him squawking out of her arms.
New arrivals.
She smacked the water, obliterating the scene.
"Meioh Setsuna, Sailor Pluto, Guardian of Time and Space, Soldier of Revolution...you are becoming a serious pain in my ass."
New arrivals. Four figures all together, one obviously a youkai cat. One of the others may have had a tail. She didn't really care. Youkai. And that meant from the past. Likely companions of the other two, the hanyou and the budding miko.
She was deathly calm.
Now she had not one, but possibly four renegade magicks in her plans? One looked like a kid, much too small. Therefore not strong. She eliminated that one. The other two, however, were adults, and hence a threat.
"No more friends from the past, Pretty Soldier Sailor Pluto."
There was a line of poppets before her, one in a sailor fuku of black and garnet, an elegant giant key in her hands. She snatched it from the line, gripping it tightly.
In her desk lay several black silk ribbons. Their ends were cut at an angle, clean and sharp, and the one she selected fluttered as she brought it up to the light, watching the matte darkness absorb the low light. She set herself down at the chair, the wheels squealing in protest as she brought herself closer to the desk, slowly wrapping the ribbon around the waxen doll, wrapping it tighter and tighter around the figure.
As she did this, a dim darkness cut its way around the edges of the ribbon, charging it with energy. The ribbon grew tighter, more constricting, binding.
Binding....
Binding until the waxen arms crushed under the tension, smashing the Timestaff and Garnet Orb into the poppet's body, cutting into its mock flesh.
Dizziness began to wash over the witch, hedging at her vision as her magic began to infuse the black silk.
"No more friends to interrupt things."
And she slipped into the darkness of her own mind.
"...and so we decided to summon you here," Artemis finished saying, sitting back on his haunches as he finished addressing the new arrivals. Each was wide eyed, looking a bit overwhelmed, even though they were accustomed to strange things happening. Cats talking was one of the least of the surprises.
They'd made it inside just as Grandpa Hino arrived home, calling out for Rei. Quickly stuffing everyone inside her room, she helped get the groceries unpacked, and felt endlessly grateful that Grandpa wanted to rest and watch tv after shopping. Hearing talking and hushed chatter from the other room, he laughed and told her to go spend time with her friends, and to be sure to study for any upcoming tests.
Rei was very glad the other senshi came over often enough to make it expected.
Her room was not small, but taking in the quickly growing number of people, everyone was wedged into the space a bit tightly, hemmed into the walls, though Chibiusa and the cats had taken up residence on Rei's bed. Sango, Miroku and Shippou had subconsciously stuck closer to Kagome and Inuyasha, forming a small knot distinguishing one group from another. Sango had stuck herself firmly next to Miroku, taking the outside seat. After all, she reasoned, there were several pretty girls in the room, and the last thing she wanted was for him to try grabbing at one of the younger ones. If time travel was an everyday occurrence to them, then what else could they do? That was logic, of course.
Cats talking was a bit of a surprise, and that began a round of explaining. Sango had relaxed after the first couple minutes of listening to them, letting her hand slide slowly down from hiraikotsu as the events of the last couple days were related to them. A youkai, who claimed to be something called a 'Magus' of another something called a 'Death Busters.' There was so much to remember. So many people. Sailor Senshi, their names floating around the room in muted introductions.
Sailor Moon, Tuxedo Kamen, Sailor Chibimoon, Sailor Mercury, Sailor Mars, Sailor Jupiter, Sailor Venus, Sailor Saturn, Sailor Pluto...and then the strangest member of all, Sailor Dreamweaver, a reborn ghost once named Ukifune, posing as Saturn's sister. Sango hadn't gotten a clear view of Ukifune before they left her old mansion, not the way Inuyasha had, or even the distorted and altered version Miroku and Kagome had seen. Looking at the floor before her, she could see Shippou regularly glancing at the older girl, sitting perched on a strange looking chair with wheels, at a desk with a boxy thing sitting on top of it, and some books beside that. Saturn, Tomoe Hotaru, leaned partially against the desk beside her, hands folded and calmly watchful. There was an eeriness about the two of them, something submerged, but distinctly powerful. She wanted to talk to the others, to see what they thought personally of these strange senshi people.
From the floor, the taiji-ya watched as the smallest of the three cats, Diana, occasionally turned and whispered conspiratorially to Kirara. Sango knew her feline friend was intelligent, and the three cats seemed a bit disappointed when they discovered she could not talk. Despite that, the little one was speaking to her as though she could reply, earning a blink and occasionally a mew in return. Sango wondered if Kirara was actually able to communicate with them somehow. Strange.
The black cat, Luna, was taking her turn talking, "This Karasu woman is both daimon and youkai, somehow. Bringing people forward from the past is not a usual thing, since it can alter what has already happened."
"The future is fluid," came the comment from the woman with deep green hair. Setsuna, the one with the Timestaff, Sango remembered, blinking and watching her as she stood in the room's corner. Light pressed in through the window, casting a checkerboard of light on the ground beside her. "And in a way, so is the past. Chibiusa's coming here from many centuries in the future altered the way things occurred. Kami's arrival and rebirth also sent ripples through time."
Miroku stirred, warily glancing at the two black haired senshi seated at the desk. There was an aura around them, not necessarily evil, but somehow destructive, deathly, and it gave him reason to be alert. Ukifune was dangerous in the past, and so he would be wary of her now, disrupted by shikon no kakera or not. The nightmare of the kazaana devouring both himself and Sango was not an experience he wanted to go through in real life. "And so you want us to help you?"
That earned a look of acknowledgment from Setsuna, a slight bow of the head.
"We think she's after the Shikon no Tama," Kagome said simply, sighing. "But I don't know. Something just doesn't fit right. She said something about us not being relevant at school today. That doesn't really sound right. She would have come straight after me if that's what she was after. But she spent a lot of time just wandering around and trying to collect Hoste instead."
"And we stopped her from that," Inuyasha snorted. "But if she wasn't after the tama, why would she show up at your school?"
Kagome sighed, closing her eyes and conceding the point. "I know...."
"Well...um..." Shippou began uncertainly, looking around at everyone else. "Why does she need people's souls anyway? Is she trying to stay alive or something? She's not using Shinidama-chuu or anything if that's what she's after."
"We don't know yet, Shippou-kun," Kami told him quietly, earning her a nervous, wide eyed look from the kitsune. "The Death Busters were gathering them to open a gateway for their leader, Pharaoh 90. Karasu seems to be working on her own."
"But she's got a bunch of youkai-daimon working for her," Minako added with a frown. "I want to know where she's getting them from. Youkai aren't exactly common these days, and daimon need to merge with a Vessel. Usually a human, but that one time when we first met with Hotaru-chan," she waved a hand at the short haired girl, "it was a little tabby cat off the street. She'd have to be getting them from somewhere. What, does she have a zoo full of youkai just sitting around or something?"
Minako was looking around, hoping for someone to answer her, but all she got in reply were shrugs and a couple sets of averted eyes. After a moment, Sango cleared her throat tentatively, thinking of how the taiji-ya often made weaponry out of youkai bones, scales and hide. "Ah...would the Vessel have to be alive, to merge with it?"
Several blinks, and then everyone looked at Ami, who was already thinking about the suggestion. "Define 'alive'?" she asked after a moment.
Sango looked taken aback. There was more than one way to be alive? Then she considered various ways people could be back from the dead, current company not excluded. "Well, alive...not dead, or ressurected...normal alive."
The blue haired girl's lips pursed, and she lifted a hand to her lips in thought, eyes searching the floor rapidly as she thought. "I'm not sure. Alive, yes. But if she had tissue samples with living cells, then it may be possible for the daimon to form a whole new Vessel off the genetic codes remaining in the DNA of the cells."
"Huh?"
That came from several people, most of the Inuyasha-tachi, as well as a couple of the senshi. The time travelers from the past felt relieved they weren't the only ones not to get all that. "Ami-chan," asked Usagi, "what?"
"Like a template, Usako," Mamoru told her, then also added the others in the explanation, seeing the bewildered looks. "DNA is what makes us look the way we do, determines what our hair and eye color are, for instance. The daimon would read that information from the cell, and use that to form a new body."
Usagi was nodding, understanding, but Mamoru had lost the newcomers. Slowly, Shippou realized how uncomfortable they were, and none really wanted to ask the inevitable question. "Um...Kagome? What's a cell?"
The girl sighed, reminding herself that they didn't even have a basic grasp of biology. "It's...a small thing...and it makes up you. Everything. Little tiny things that work together to make you alive. Everything has cells. It's something we learn about it Biology class in school. I can show you my book when we get home."
"Speaking of which, where is everybody going to stay?" Makoto asked, coming up onto her knees and folding her arms, laying them on top of the bed as she looked around the room. "If that Karasu woman is watching us, she knows that you guys are here."
"Well, you can all stay at my house," Kagome said, as though the answer were obvious. They were her friends. Mama would love to meet them all.
"Feh. If she's watching us, she'd be able to watch even more of us if we're all in one place," Inuyasha told her with a frown.
There were a couple of nervous looks among the senshi, as though some seemed to already have guessed that. "Inuyasha is right," Luna agreed, leaping down from off the bed. "It may be best to separate."
"Is that a good idea?" Sango asked, startled. "We just arrived here...we barely know each other...."
Kagome unfolded her legs from under her, slowly standing up from where she was wedged next to Inuyasha. "We'll keep in contact, through the phone. And we'll see you tomorrow. Oh, you'll need some clothes, all three of you. And what will we do with Kirara? Two tailed cats don't usually walk around Tokyo every day...and Shippou, your tail and ears...we'll have to find a way to...."
"I can just turn into a human," Shippou scoffed, mustering a bit of pride before the strangers. "I can make myself look however I want."
"Feh! And usually with a nice poofy tail!"
"Oy! I can so!" he shouted back at the hanyou, hands turning into little fists.
"Oh, but Shippou-kun, your tail is so cute," Kami told him with a smile, resting her hands on her knees and leaning forward with a smile. The kitsune half leapt backward, then began to flush pink.
"Aw, it is adorable," Makoto laughed, teasing, resting a hand on her cheek and winking at the embarrassed kit. "I like the tail too."
"I am not cute," he huffed, plopping down and folding his arms stoutly. "I'm not."
"Oh, come on," Minako soothed, waving a hand at the little argument. "We'll figure things out tomorrow, ne?"
"You're all welcome at our home, right, Setsuna-mama?" Hotaru asked as she stood up, smoothing her pleated skirt. Her reply was a shrug as Setsuna moved off the wall, wincing suddenly as she did so, a sharp pain lancing through her head.
"Setsuna-mama?" Hotaru asked curiously, seeing her start.
"No...it's fine..." a weak laugh came from Setsuna, and she rubbed her temple a moment as the pain faded. "I'm fine."
Uncertainly, Hotaru continued, "We...we could fit a couple more, even if Haruka-papa and Michiru-mama are returning tonight. We've got the couch, and the sleeping bag I use when I go to Chibiusa's sometimes."
"I would be honored to stay at the home of such lovely-" Miroku began, but ended in a yelp of pain when Sango whacked him in the head. She'd been waiting for that. "Ow! I was merely accepting the kind offer of a roof-"
"You are not staying in a house with a bunch of girls in the middle of the night, houshi-sama," she glared, almost glad for the usual routine to kick in. A sense of familiarity was reassuring in this strange place.
Kami was laughing, a hand pressed to her mouth, though most of the senshi looked confused as to the source of her merriment, and the despairing looks on the faces of the other time travelers.
Minako, for the second time that evening, began to get a devilish look on her face. She was having entirely too much fun picking out the pairings in the group. The Sailor Suited Pretty Soldier of Love was going to have to be one busy girl...well, nothing like setting up friends amid crazed demon attacks to liven up her day.
"I'll take him then," Mamoru offered after a moment, looking at the injured houshi. "My apartment's big enough."
"Sango-san?" Hotaru asked the taiji-ya, a question on her face. "You're welcome to stay with us, if you wish."
She was still looking a bit irritated, but sighed and stood herself up at the offer, nodding. "Yes...Kirara?" The youkai cat turned away from some sort of consultation with Diana, and leapt over to Sango, landing in her outstretched arms. She sent a wary glance at Kami, who returned her gaze evenly. The senshi's lavender eyes were steady, even, watchful, and after a moment, Sango gave her a small smile, breaking a bit of the tension.
"I'm sure we can squeeze in Shippou," Kagome said, coming to stand next to the kitsune, who was slowly edging his way closer to the two sisters again. When he didn't respond, she bent down a bit, puzzled. "Right, Shippou-chan?"
"What? Oh. Uh...sure," he agreed after a moment, backing away and turning to face Kagome as she picked him up.
"Well, that settles that...." Usagi sighed as she looked at the various people in the room. Quite an oddball group, that was for sure. "We can meet at the Fruit Parlor, tomorrow? After everybody's out of school and has modern clothes and everything?"
There was a general sound of agreement from the senshi, and Kagome quickly explained that a 'Fruit Parlor' was a place to eat, a restaurant. That seemed like a good enough explanation to them, and there were more nods. "Okay...then...well...Ami-chan?"
"Yes?"
"Um...we have a math test coming up...and...um...with the new enemy...."
"You are still studying, Tsukino Usagi!" Rei snapped, hands on hips. "Do you want to fail math and history?"
"Rei-chan!" Usagi shouted, irritated. "I was going to ask if we were still going to meet, since I don't want to flunk math and history! Not say we shouldn't! Baka!"
"Good. You need to study more!"
"Ugh...I've got a math test coming up too," Kagome moaned, checking the clock on Rei's bedstand. With all the talking, it was running late. And this had been one long day. Weariness was beginning to settle in, and the prospect of spending most of tomorrow pouring over math texts was not promising.
"Then you can join us, Kagome-chan!" Usagi cheered with a grin. "We'll meet up with Mamo-chan and the others at the Crown afterwards?"
"I..." she started, a little surprised as the enthusiasm the odangoed girl was showing. Rei had an unreadable expression on her face, and glanced at Chibiusa, who shrugged. Usagi was studying. Willfully. Amazing.
"I still have my notes from last year," Ami told the younger girl with a shy smile. "It wouldn't be difficult to dig them out again. I can help if you need some tutoring."
"That...that would be great...." Kagome stuttered, barely believing her luck. Someone who kept their notes from the previous year? How rare was that?
"Right now, get some rest," the blue haired girl warned, holding up a finger cautiously. "Having your Hoste stolen is no small thing. Get some sleep tonight. You can get caught up tomorrow."
"But I need to study- I'm already behind in most of my classes-"
That earned a chuckle from most of the Inner Senshi. "Kagome, you keep that up, you'll turn into Ami-chan," Minako warned laughingly. "Don't worry, Ami's gotten Usagi through her classes for years now. Someone who actually wants to work can't be worse than that!"
Usagi sniffled in mock agony. "Minako-chan. You're as mean as Rei-chan."
"And what is that supposed to mean?!" the miko shouted, bearing down on the future Princess of the Moon.
"Ah, Rei-chan, Usagi-chan, can we not fight in front of the people from the past who think we're weird enough already?" Makoto suggested dryly, pointing at the staring newcomers. "Bickering isn't exactly making a great impression on our guests."
After a few more minutes of arranging themselves, the various groups parted ways. Kagome and Inuyasha decided to head back on their own, Shippou clinging to Kagome's shoulder as the hanyou took off, the newfound night cloaking them out of sight. Miroku slipped into the front seat beside Mamoru in his car, while Usagi and Chibiusa argued over who would ride next to Mamoru. Both lost, and Miroku found that car rides are not fun with an arguing future mother and daughter in the back seat, even with their guardian cats trying pointlessly to quiet them down. There was a great deal of squishing in the back of Setsuna's car, trying to wedge hiraikotsu in the back, it being shaped too oddly to fit into the small trunk. Setsuna, Kami, Hotaru, Sango and Kirara finally managed to get themselves in along with the weapon, and drove off back to the Outers home.
"I'll be glad when Haruka-san and Michiru-san are back," Rei sighed after a moment, glancing at Minako, Makoto and Ami, who were standing beside her at the steps leading up to her jinja. "We're not at full force until they are."
"I think things'll work out," Minako added, heading down the first steps. "We've never had to get help before, but they seem like they know what they're doing. Considering the time displacement thing and all."
Makoto cracked her knuckles, a nervous habit as well as a sign she was angry. "Something about it all stinks. Like Kagome said, why not attack her right away if she's after their Shikon no Tama thing?"
"We will have to wait and see, Mako-chan," Ami told her as she headed down after Minako. "If Karasu is after something else...."
"We'll beat her, the way we beat everyone else against us."
Terms of note:
Shinidama-chuu- Kikyou's soul collecting insects
Hope you had some fun this time 'round...Karasu is up to some tricks again. And nope, she doesn't know everything about the search for the Shikon no Tama...if she did...then there'd be no story. She'd know exactly what to do, and then...well, we'd skip all the fun stuff over the next couple days...and I'm assuming you want to see Sango play video games, and Miroku get jealous, and Inuyasha do homework and...oops, am I giving spoilers? Oh hohohoho!
Let me play with how much she knows, okay? ^.^ I know it's more likely she'd know everything via that pool of hers...but then where does the fun go? We'd skip straight to the last day- do not pass Go or collect $200.
Okay, the logical stuff of this Author's Ramblings! Lemures are the creatures that Queen Nehelenia of the Dead Moon used during the SS arc of the Sailormoon manga. In the anime version, they are, yet again, the Underdressed Female Youma Of The Week, same as the daimon. Manga version, they look like evil, demented hairballs from hell. And they give nightmares. Much more subtle than the Underdressed Female Youma Of The Week. As for who she's using them on...anyone want to take a guess? Email and I'll let you know if you're right or not. ^.~
And I wanted to use this chapter to send a few arigatou-s out to those who have been reviewing almost every chapter! This is the first fic I've got that's hit 100 reviews!! So thanks to: Stormie, Rita, Kylara, usagipegasus, Waku-chan, Calendar, poyozodance, Pokey, Lady Inu-Yasha and Jezunya. And of course Elemental and Ambre, who review everything for me. ^.~ Special thanks for sticking with me for so long. Sango-sama, I hope you have more fun with the fic now that Sango and Miroku are around. I've got a lot in store for them. insert maniacal laughter Mina-chan, try to review number 108 instead or something...I know you were crushed you missed 88. :(
To all of you: Thank you so much for the kind reviews. Especially since this started out just as a product of my dementia over these two animes. I really do appriciate your comments. Please keep them coming! ^_~
Til next storytime.
~Queen
Coming up next, in Chapter 10: Shadowed-
The image of that Karasu woman standing over her body, the crystaline soul of Kagome in her hands...bent over an unconscious body, with human black eyes in the face of a youkai that reeked of bird, of raven. A raven youkai...with human eyes...holding a glowing crystal soul....