Complete the Circle
Chapter Forty-Five: The Last Soul
She watched the arrow fly swiftly into the heart of darkness, purifying and destroying all evil that came in contact with it. She quickly notched another arrow into her bow and let that arrow fly, too. By this time, she was immune to the screams of pain and fury that arose from those that she was battling.
"Kagome, behind you!" Inuyasha shouted quickly. She turned around and fired another arrow. She didn't really need to aim since the entire land was swarming with the forces of the dark, with Naraku behind them all.
"Kaze no Kizu!" Inuyasha shouted, unleashing the power in the newly formed Tetsusaiga. She was glad that Inuyasha was here, fighting alongside her, even if he would only exist in this realm. It was better than him being lost to her for another lifetime.
She fired another arrow into a hoard of youkai that were surrounding Miroku. Without his air rip, Miroku had lost the ability to annihilate groups of youkai at a time. But he still killed many with his staff, his face calm as always, never betraying what emotions he felt as he fought this losing battle.
If they die, it's my fault, thought Kagome as she fired another arrow at a group who was trying to attack Midoriko from the back. I decided to stay, and like the friends that they are, they decided to stay with me. She looked at Sango, swinging Hiraikotsu with all her might. Sango and Miroku didn't have to stay. They could have left and lived their life out together. But they didn't leave. They stayed, just because she wanted to stay in this realm, by the side of her Inuyasha.
Finally, Naraku's army retreated for the time being. Kagome sat down where she was, breathing hard. She was soon joined by Inuyasha, Sango, and Miroku.
"How long will we have to fight like this?" asked Miroku, sweat trickling down his brow.
"Until the dead soul is reborn," Midoriko said, walking slowly to them. She didn't seem tired at all.
"But Inuyasha is already here," Kagome said. Wasn't Inuyasha the last soul that Midoriko was talking about? The missing soul, the one who had died?
"With Inuyasha, there will still only be four of you," Midoriko said, not understanding what Kagome was speaking of. "One soul is missing."
"Huh?" asked Sango.
"There seems to be some misunderstanding," Miroku said. "We thought you were talking about the missing soul being Inuyasha."
"No, no," the ancient priestess replied. "I speak of the Last Soul. The fifth, the Soul of Life."
"What?" asked Sango and Kagome, not understanding her at all.
"Us four represent the first four souls," Inuyasha explained. "Courage, friendship, wisdom, and love."
"And there is one last soul representing life?" asked Miroku.
"Yes. A soul is composed of courage, friendship, wisdom, and love, but it also contains life," Midoriko said. "That was the last element that I failed to realize, which has cost me my own life."
"Wait a minute," Sango said, suddenly realizing something. "If the Last Soul isn't dead, then that means that we still have a chance to find the person."
"If you wish, I can send you out of here to seek the Last Soul," she said.
"How will we know if he or she is the Last Soul?" asked Kagome, not really wanting to leave Inuyasha's side.
"He should be your friend, someone close to you who has borne the same troubles that you have borne," she said, her image starting to become blurry. The immense evil in the land was starting to weaken her power.
"Just go before she doesn't have the energy to send you anymore," Inuyasha said, his tone clearly voicing that he wanted them to leave before it was too late and they were trapped in this land of eternal battle.
"But Inuyasha…" Kagome started, but not knowing how to voice her feelings.
"What if we can't return?" asked Sango, saying what her friend was afraid to say.
"You'll find a way," he replied. Kagome looked away from him, surveying the darkened earth of this soon lifeless plain. "Kagome, c'mon," he said gently. She didn't want to look at him, for fear of him seeing the tears that were so quickly gathering in her eyes.
Inuyasha stood up from his crouched position and helped Kagome up. He led her a little ways from the group, his touch feeling so solid that Kagome had trouble believing that he was truly dead.
"Hey, hey. Don't cry," he said, wiping the tears off her face gently. "Everything will be all right."
"How can it be all right if you're dead?" she asked, biting her lip to keep from crying.
"My body is still alive," he said. "If, no, when we defeat Naraku, I'll just pop back into my body and everything is going to be okay again."
She looked at him, wondering if he was just lying to make her feel better. But there was no deceit in his eyes.
"Is… Is this true?" she asked, almost afraid of the answer.
"Of course it is!" he grinned. "So don't worry about anything, okay? And don't cry. I don't like to see you cry."
Kagome smiled weakly, wiping the tears away from her eyes.
"That's better," he said. Then he smiled genuinely. "You look much prettier when you're smiling." He squeezed her hand gently, then led her back to the group.
"Let's go," Kagome said, her voice unwavering. "Let's find that last soul." Midoriko nodded, and with a slight gesture from her hand, sent them through the portal back into their own world.
Shippou paced around the gate of light worriedly. It had already been several hours since they had gone in. Had something happened to them?
"Ahhhhh! They were probably defeated!" Shippou said despairingly, pounding his head. "I should have followed them!"
Suddenly, three figures emerged from the door of the four flowers. Shippou looked at them, trying to figure out if they were Kagome, Sango, and Miroku.
"Shippou-chan!" Kagome said, seeing the small kitsune trying to see beyond the blinding light of the gate.
"Kagome!" he said, running to her. "I was worried!"
"Don't worry, Shippou-chan. I'm okay," she said, hugging the small boy.
"Hey, Miroku, do you think…?" asked Sango, nudging Miroku in the ribs.
"Could be," he said, trying to think of anyone else that would be a possible candidate for the Last Soul.
"Did you already defeat Naraku?" asked Shippou.
"No, not yet," Kagome said, putting the child on the floor. "We're looking for someone's help."
"I'll help!" Shippou volunteered eagerly. He didn't want to be left out again.
"But Shippou-chan," said Kagome, not really wanting him to be in danger.
"Kagome-chan, I think Shippou is the Last Soul that Midoriko was talking about," said Sango. Kagome was about the protest when she started to think. Shippou had been with them throughout their adventures, and he did bear the same troubles that they had to. Why didn't she notice it before? Why didn't she realize that Shippou was the Last Soul?
"What's a Last Soul?" asked Shippou, curious.
"I'll explain when we get inside," said Miroku, jumping into the door again.
"Come on," said Sango as she jumped in after Miroku. Shippou followed her quickly, not wanting to be left behind. Kagome went in after Shippou, wondering what would happen now that they had the last soul.
"Here they come," said Midoriko as she readied three arrows in her bow. "With the complete soul, we should be able to overcome this darkness." She watched out of the corner of her eye as she saw the others get ready. They were all very brave, and she hoped that with their courage, friendship, wisdom and love for each other, they would be able to overcome death and breathe life into this barren world.
"Ready?" she asked.
"Kaze no Kizu!" Inuyasha shouted as he let the devastating attack wipe out a portion of the dark army.
"Fire!" Midoriko shouted as she let her three arrows fly through the air, each hitting their mark. She saw the girl, Kagome, fire suddenly with deadly accuracy.
Soon, arrows were obsolete, and they had to resort to hand to hand combat. She saw Kagome take a sword from Inuyasha and power it with her miko powers to fight the youkai that were quickly descending upon them all.
"So we meet again, Midoriko," a dragon demon breathed, laughing maniacally. "I never would have thought that you would send for outside help. If I'd known, I would've sent someone to curse your resting place."
"But you didn't," she said, bringing her sword around quickly and stabbing the demon in the eye. He roared terribly and proceeded to kill her as he had done so many centuries ago, when he suddenly felt his body being ripped to shreds.
"Feh! Weakling," Inuyasha said, swinging Tetsusaiga to clean it of the youkai's blood.
"We have to hurry," she said. "The youkai will all return again if we don't."
"I know, I know," Inuyasha said. "They can't die, just like you." She was glad he caught on to her entire situation so quickly.
"Inuyasha, come quickly!" Miroku said suddenly. "You have to help Kagome!"
"What?!" asked Inuyasha, running to the direction that Miroku was pointing. Miroku stood there, looking after Inuyasha.
"Are you not going to help him?" asked Midoriko, aware that the youkai were suddenly not attacking her and were all heading towards Inuyasha's direction.
"Now why would I do that?" he asked, turning to face her slowly. She gasped as he suddenly attacked her. Then she brought her sword around and sliced him in half.
"H-How could you do that to your own people?" he asked, as the wooden core within him snapped.
"I have been betrayed more than once," she said softly as the puppet fell, destroyed. She hoped that the others would not be so easily fooled by appearances.
Inuyasha ran quickly to the place that Miroku had pointed, but he couldn't see Kagome anywhere. Hoards of youkai were flooding the scene, and he already had trouble fighting them off, much less look for Kagome.
"Oi, Miroku, where's—" he asked, then noticed that Miroku wasn't there. "Damn it! Must've lost him somewhere…" He searched through the crowd while trying to fight, but without success. I can't find anyone… Maybe they aren't even here anymore. He tried his senses to find his friends, but could find no one that way. I guess I'm the only one here. He readied his sword and jumped above the rest of the youkai.
"Kaze no Kizu!" he shouted as he let the devastating blow wipe out the youkai in the surrounding area. Okay, I hope that everyone else is okay, wherever they are. He was about to head back towards Midoriko's direction when a root-like projection emerged from the ground and grabbed his leg.
"What the—!" he said as he yanked his leg away from the binding, only to step backwards into more of the strange root-like tentacles, which quickly surrounded and bound him.
"What do you fear?" a woman's voice asked, appearing from behind a curtain of thin, young roots. She was a tree demon, her skin white, but hard, her hair green and thick. Her amber eyes revealed that she was more than just a tree-youkai, and as her eyes locked on to Inuyasha's, he felt his body become paralyzed.
"What do you fear?" she asked again. "To die? To be alone? Or to be forgotten? Rejected…?" Inuyasha tried to fight against his bonds, but he still couldn't move. If only I can move my body, he thought, trying to force his body to move. Damn it. What did that girl do to me? She approached him slowly, her eyes never leaving his. She raised one finger, her long nail touching his forehead.
"I'll tie you to your nightmares."
And he lost sight of the true world.
Miroku fought the youkai quickly, knowing that he couldn't afford to be slow. His staff seemed to be moving by itself and he lost count of how many that he had killed. He had tried to reunite with his friends during battle, but couldn't find them, so in the end he just gave up and fought his own battle. He hoped that Sango was okay, but knew that she had enough power to take care of herself.
He sliced another youkai in half, feeling that something was amiss. Earlier, he had felt a tiny prick on his head, as if someone was bored enough to pluck a hair out, and wondered if it had any significance. What if Naraku really had plucked his hair and was now using a puppet to deceive his friends? His face was grim as he made quick work of two other youkai, all the while his anxiety growing stronger.
"You would be the one who represents wisdom, would you not?" a female voice asked. He turned to her and noticed from the corner of his eye that the other youkai had withdrawn. This youkai must be pretty important then, he thought, trying to find her weakness. Her eyes were shockingly blue, almost unreal in its intensity. There was a mind behind those eyes, and Miroku was afraid to learn just how powerful her mind was.
She brushed her dark her carelessly away from her face, seemingly nonchalant about what she was going to do or who was standing before her.
"To whom do I owe the pleasure of speaking to?" Miroku asked, bowing slightly. Youkai or no, she was definitely beautiful. But he didn't care about her. All he wanted was to get the whole thing over with and go back with Sango.
"Just think of me as an assistant of Naraku-sama," she said, her voice melodious and smooth, almost entrancing.
"Naraku?" Miroku asked, appearing pleasantly surprised. They both knew it was an act.
"He has spoken to us of you four and the traits you represent," she said, neither walking closer nor walking farther away.
"And he thinks me to be wisdom?" he asked, sounding flattered. She shrugged, uncaring. But his mind was racing. Naraku knew of what they represented. What else did he know? What was he planning?
"Let us test the boundaries of your mind," she said, the scenery around her changing, morphing into one with four walls of darkness surrounding a dirt field, the storm clouds moving quickly ahead, blocking out the sunlight while no wind blew. It was eerily quiet.
"How does your mind bend, Houshi-sama?" she asked. "How does it think?" She looked at the four walls surrounding them. "You're trapped, Houshi-sama. Trapped. Trapped until you can defeat me," she said, rising off the ground and sitting on a dark cloud.
"Very well. I shall defeat you," Miroku said, knowing that this was all a distraction. Something was up, and Naraku didn't want him to figure it out before it was too late.
"Defeat me with your mind, Houshi-sama," she said. "Guess the flaw of this world of mine, Houshi-sama. And while you do, answer my riddles. For every riddle you answer, you come closer to defeating me."
"So to Naraku, you are expendable," Miroku said, hoping that this youkai would release him without wasting too much of his time. She smiled at him, already knowing what he had said to be fact.
"You are smart, but are you wise?" she asked. "Let us begin."