Disclaimer: I still don't own Inuyasha, nor do I own the characters in this fic!!

Replies on reviews:

ALL: Oh my god!! I've never thought I would really get over 50 reviews THAT SOON!! Well, as I have promised, here is the next chapter, have fun reading!!

lunemangelus: Thanks for reviewing! But I guess you should read all chapters first before reviewing, because most questions can be answered after you've passed a couple of chapters.

Anime-Girl: Thanks a lot!! Don't worry, I just get busy this week, but I will finish this story!

vegito044: Wow!! Thank you very much!!

apple sauce: Hahaha, well since you guys have managed to get me more than 50 reviews, here's the next chapter!! Enjoy it!

laura: Thanks!! I'll update as soon as I've set the chapter in my computer.

CahadrasMoonShine: Hahaha well.. I don't like Naraku either, but since he's the only worst bad guy of the series I'll have to use him ^-^!! Don't worry... he's... *mpppffhhh [puts hand on mouth].... oops almost revealed things I shouldn't!!...pfew...*

cherry-sama: Thanks thanks! Don't worry, I'll update as soon as possible!

Anime Fan: Hi! Thanks for reviewing! About the idea... well nothing personal and no offence but I don't really know much about Shippou's past and about himself (hahaha I know that's your point about me writing a story about him) so I don't really know HOW to write a story about him. But you know what? If I manage to discover a plot that fits him, I'll be surely to write a story about him ^-^!

Madmoomoos: Thanks! But I'm sorry to disappoint you, in chapter 5 I've said in my Author's Notes that I won't be putting Kirara, Shippou, Miroku or Sango in this story, because I can't find a fitting role for them in my story. So this a story only consisting the characters Kikyou, Kagome (and her family), Inuyasha, Sesshoumaru and Naraku and a little bit of Kouga. I'm just a beginner so I haven't really managed to write a story with all characters in it...a bit too noisy I think. Hope you'll still continue reading and reviewing this story after knowing this ^-^!


Italic: thoughts
-- --: locations
' ': spoken words
~*~*~*~*~: time gap



THE LIFE OF A SONG-MAIDEN

-by Kittymui-

The dark Kagome

~*~*~*~ Morning again ~*~*~*~

'Sesshoumaru!!' Inuyasha yelled as he slammed the door open of Sesshoumaru's room.

'Can't you knock?' Sesshoumaru snarled.

'She's gone!' Inuyasha voice filled with despair.

'Who?' he frowned.

'Kagome! Kagome is not in the castle anymore!'

Sesshoumaru stood up and walked to the window. 'I know, a servant told me.'

'Then what are you standing there for!!' Let's go find her!' He shouted.

Sesshoumaru turned around, his face as calm as always. 'Where? A servant told me that she jumped from her balcony into the forest.'

'I don't care!! She could be in danger right now!'

'Well, I'm not stopping you.' he responded. And Inuyasha ran out of the door.

~*~*~*~ A couple of days later ~*~*~*~

Inuyasha finally returned to the castle. He searched for 3 full days and night, without success.
He slowly walked to Kagome's room and sat down in a chair, his eyes closed and his hand covering his forehead and eyes.

Kagome, where could you be...? He moved his hand away and looked up at the ceiling.

Why have I exhausted myself for 3 days just to find her?
He inhaled the air in the room. Kagome's scent is still fresh in this room...what a fine scent. He thought as he closed his eyes.

He let himself fall on Kagome's bed. Kagome...where are you? And he fell asleep.

~*~*~*~

-- In Inuyasha's dream --

Inuyasha was walking in the dark. 'Where am I?' he thought as he continued to walk. Then he suddenly noticed an altar in a distance and he walked towards it.

Someone is lying on the altar! he thought and when he realized who it was, he quickened his pace.

'Kagome!!' he shouted as he had almost reached the altar.

Kagome was dressed in a silver white gown. She seemed to be sleeping.

[AN: Just like snow white but without the glass and flowers ^-^. Don't worry! I don't own it!]

'K-Kagome?' Inuyasha raised his hand to touch her face, but stopped when a voice suddenly halted him.

'Do NOT touch her!' a shadow spoke as it approached Inuyasha.

'T-this voice...it sounds familiar...' Inuyasha turned around.

The shadow became slightly visible and Inuyasha's eyes widened in shock. 'K-Kagome?' She definitely looks like her, but something's different...

'Confusing isn't it? She smirked.

Inuyasha took a step backwards. 'You're not her!! Who are you?!' he snarled.

'You'll find out pretty soon, Inuyasha.' She said with an evil smile.

Then all became dark again.

Inuyasha woke up. 'What was that?' he wondered as he sat up. He slowly got up and walked to the balcony.

He looked up at the clear sky. 'It's already evening huh?'

Inuyasha suddenly felt something coming and without second thought, he quickly jumped back into the room.

BWAAAAHHHMMM

A huge lightning bolt struck the balcony, causing a big hole at the spot where Inuyasha stood.

'What the hell!!?!' Inuyasha shouted.

At the same time, Sesshoumaru had entered the room and ran to Inuyasha's side. 'What happened?' he asked.

'I...' Inuyasha began, but stopped explaining when his ears caught a familiar yet different voice.

The voice was singing a song in a very harsh way, almost unbearable for the sensitive ears of Inuyasha.

'Inuyasha, look!!' Sesshoumaru suddenly shouted while fixing his gaze on something outside.

Inuyasha followed his gaze and looked at the same direction. His jaw dropped at the sight.

As the song continued, an earthquake suddenly started and a black castle was rising out of the earth in a distance. Huge pieces of rocks and earth flew everywhere as the castle continued to elevate out of the earth.

After a while, the singing stopped and the castle stopped elevating. The ground stopped trembling, the castle had completely risen.

What the..!! Inuyasha thought, looking at the huge castle in a distance. The castle was medieval-like and was twice a high as the castle of Sesshoumaru and Inuyasha. It had a very high tower standing in the middle of it.

Sesshoumaru and Inuyasha didn't notice it before because of the trembling, but someone was definitely standing on top of the highest tower in the middle of the castle.

Long raven hair was dancing with the wind. The person was looking directly at Sesshoumaru and Inuyasha.

Their eyes widened in shock. The person standing there looked exactly like Kagome, only dressed in a pitch-black gown. Her face was emotionless.

She suddenly raised her arms to the sky and closed her eyes. She opened her mouth and a very cold and harsh voice could be heard all over the land.

Inuyasha winced as the voice reached his ears. It was almost painful for him to listen to the tune. 'Sesshoumaru, t-that can't be Kagome, can it?' he groaned as he turned to Sesshoumaru.

He looked at Inuyasha, his face as expressionless as always. 'Can you think of anybody else, who uses her voice to control powers?' he stated plainly.

As the girl continued to sing, huge dark clouds appeared out of nowhere, causing darkness to fall over the whole land. Lightning bolts came out of the clouds and hit several places in the forest, causing trees to catch fire. Since there was no rain, the fire spread immediately and the forest soon became a sea of fire.
The fire strange enough didn't affect both castles.

Sesshoumaru and Inuyasha continued to stare in shock at the landscape of fire. 'This... this is terrible!!' Inuyasha yelled.

Finally the girl stopped singing and opened her eyes. She looked at Inuyasha.

'K-Kagome?' Inuyasha whispered in disbelief.

It was as if the girl had heard Inuyasha and an evil smile appeared on her face before her figure faded away.

'Come Inuyasha, we need to discuss about this.' Sesshoumaru said before he left the room. Inuyasha followed him, after taking another look at the black castle.

~*~*~*~

'You remember the prophecy, right?' He asked, standing by the window.

'Yeah, it was definitely talking about Kagome.' Inuyasha responded, he was sitting in a chair.

'Remember the lower part?' Sesshoumaru continued. 'It was saying something about a duet...'

Something struck Inuyasha and he quickly stood up and turned to his brother.

'Precisely...' Sesshoumaru knew that his brother realized what the prophecy was saying. 'A duet will be sung side by side.'

'Hate will compose the songs the Death and Destruction and Love will bare the tones of Life and Healing.' He took over the citation.

'That means...' Inuyasha began.

'Kagome has two different paths that she can choose to walk in her life as the song-maiden.' Sesshoumaru finished his sentence. 'And right now, she has chosen the dark one.' He continued.

'But...why? I thought she cared about this world.' Inuyasha said, very frustrated.

'I don't know.' Sesshoumaru replied.

'This is really frustrating,' Inuyasha stood up and walked towards the door. 'I'm definitely going to demand an answer!'

When he almost reached the doorway, Sesshoumaru halted him. 'Where do you think you're going?' He demanded.

'The the black castle, now out of my way!' he snarled.

'Going to an unknown place without using your brain is suicide!!'

'You're not going to stop me! Leave me be or I'll really get angry!' he gritted his teeth.

'Fine! I won't stop you then!!' With that, Sesshoumaru moved his arm away and looked away.

Inuyasha quickly left the room, without looking at his brother.

~*~*~*~

It was already evening, dark clouds covered the sky and the sound of thunder could be heard once in a while. The black castle stood silently on the horizon.

A red dragon appeared in the sky, carrying his determined master, and flew towards the castle.

-- At the black castle --

'Kagome!! Come out and talk to me!! I know you're here!!' Inuyasha yelled as he jumped off his dragon and landed in the courtyard.

He quickly turned around after he heard a voice. 'Kukuku, an uninvited guest...' the man laughed. He was no longer wearing a baboon pelt, but dressed like a lord in a black robe.

'Who the hell are you!? And where are you keeping Kagome!' Inuyasha growled.

'My name is Naraku, the lord of this castle and I believe, that the one you are searching for, would be my queen.'

What the...?! His queen?! Inuyasha's eyes widened. 'You're lying!! Where is she?!! Let me talk to her!!'

Suddenly a voice spoke out of nowhere. 'Naraku, why are you holding our guest outside? Please invite him in, he must have traveled a long way.'

This voice...it's a bit different but I am definitely sure it's Kagome's! Inuyasha thought.

'As you wish, my queen.' Naraku turned to Inuyasha. 'Well, she's waiting for you in the throne chamber.' He said before he vanished.

Without hesitation, Inuyasha dashed into the castle.

-- In the throne chamber --

Inuyasha pushed the huge doors open and entered the big chamber. It was dark, only candles on the walls were causing the dim light inside the room.

Inuyasha could clearly see the throne with someone sitting on it and he slowly approached it. He stopped as he recognized who it was and stood there, about 3 meters away from the person.

Raven black hair resting on her shoulders, her head resting on her hand, which in turn was leaning on the arm of the throne. She seemed to be sleeping.

'K-Kagome?'

The girl slowly opened her dark blue eyes. 'I-Inuyasha?' she responded. 'What are you doing here?'

She looks normal, there's nothing different about her, except for her clothes...then what did Sesshoumaru meant with the dark path? Inuyasha thought frustrated. 'That's what I was planning to ask you!' he replied, slightly irritated. 'I came to retrieve you!'

Kagome slowly stood up and walked towards him, but stopped as he continued to talk.

'I don't know why you're aiding that Naraku but this dark path or whatever you have chosen isn't right. Dark clouds have covered the sky again and the forests have died.' He looked at Kagome, who was dressed in pitch black.

'And this... this isn't you, this isn't the Kagome I know!!'

Kagome's dark blue eyes was slightly filled with hope and she continued to walk to him, until she was standing in front of him, within arm reach.

Inuyasha put both his hands on her shoulders. 'Please, please stop this nonsense and come back to the castle with me!!' he shouted, tightening his grip on her shoulders.

'Inuyasha...' she whispered as she looked in his eyes. She was hoping to find something, something that would show his feelings towards her, but the answer she feared was already given as Inuyasha averted her gave.

'T-the world will die if you don't stop this...' he turned to look at Kagome. 'I don't want to see that...'

All her hopes had disappeared in an instance and she closed her eyes.

'What am I to you?' she finally asked after a short silence.

'I-I...I...' Inuyasha was shocked by her question. Why does she suddenly ask me this...what is she to me? A song-maiden, right? The one who can save this world...but...but why am I hesitating? Inuyasha gazed away. There is something more... but what is it?? Why can't I answer her question??

'Enough of this crap!!!' Kagome suddenly yelled, her voice was cold and harsh now.

Inuyasha immediately snapped out of his thoughts. He turned to look at Kagome, her eyes were still shut.

'Kagome?' he asked.

Kagome's eyes shot open after she heard her name and looked straight into his eyes. 'You're too late now...' she suddenly smirked.

Inuyasha was startled. H-her eyes...changed color!?! 'You're...you're eyes...' he stuttered, still looking at her eyes.

Her eyes were cold now and they were only filled with hatred, sorrow and disappointment.

'Got sharp eyes, Inu-kun.' she laughed.

[AN: The suffix -kun is usually used to refer to someone you know quite well]

'You're Kagome?' he asked in disbelief. 'No! You're not her! What have you done to her!?' he shouted angrily.

'Why Inuyasha, don't you recognize me?' she smiled as she raised her hand to touch his face.

He quickly smacked her hand away and took a step backwards. 'Don't you touch me!! You are totally different than the Kagome I know!!'

'Hidoi... that hurts you know... no wonder she wanted to get away from you!' she wailed as she rubbed her hand.

'Who are you talking about?' Inuyasha demanded, even more frustrated.

'Well, your dear Kagome of course.' she taunted him.

Inuyasha couldn't suppress his anger anymore and grabbed her throat; his nails digging into her skin but not deep enough to cause any blood.

'Quit playing games and tell me where she is!!' he growled.

'She...is...right here.' she groaned. 'standing in...front...of you!!'

'Tell the truth, you bitch!!' he snarled as he tightened his grip.

'Goddammit, why...don't you listen to...me? She...is...right...' She raised her hand and pointed at her head. '...here...'

She smirked. 'If you kill me, you....will...also...kill...her!!'

Inuyasha's eyes widened and let go of her throat.

'I really pity her...you know.' She coughed, rubbing her throat. 'She had only suffered till now.'

'What do you mean?'

'She didn't tell you?' she smirked. 'She suffered the death of her family at the age of 10; 5 years later history repeated and she lost her precious onee-sama. Because of the tremendous shock she suffered back then, she had lost her voice.'

'I-I never knew...she never told me...' Inuyasha replied sadly.

'Well, she had planned to...but you were too impatient to listen to her...' She gradually raised her voice. 'And you know who had made her suffer the most?'

She pointed at Inuyasha. 'YOU DID!!!'

Inuyasha was shocked. 'Me?? But how??'

She turned away from him and walked back to the throne. 'She really thought you could rely on you for the rest of her life.' She turned to him. 'She had hoped to find a place in your heart, that was meant for her...'

Inuyasha didn't say anything but only gave her a puzzled look.

She sighed. 'Talk about being dense...' she mumbled. Her eyes suddenly flared with anger. 'She loved you, you bastard!! She really loved you!!!'

She...she what?! She l-loved me?? Inuyasha was startled by the sudden confession. 'B-but...' He was cut off as she continued.

'She gave you a second chance a while ago, but you have totally ruined it!!' She yelled.

'W-where is she now??' Inuyasha asked.

'She's asleep...' she said with a calm voice, but gradually raised her voice. 'She chose to sleep forever, than to live with the tremendous pain...caused by YOU!!!'

'B-but how...?' Inuyasha wondered aloud. Then it struck Inuyasha as he remembered his conversation with Sesshoumaru.

'I don't have any feelings for Kagome, I only protected her because you told me to and because she's the maiden that will save our world!!'

She overheard our conversation! Inuyasha concluded.

'Finally remembering what you've done?' She smirked. 'But it's all too late now...'

Naraku suddenly appeared behind Kagome.

'She awakened ME to live in her place, so I'm in charge now.' she continued.

She took a step backwards and leaned against Naraku's chest with her back. Naraku responded by placing an arm possessively around her waist and pulled her closer.

'And I...' she said as she leaned her head on Naraku's chest. 'chose to aid Naraku.' She gave Inuyasha an evil smile.

Inuyasha fell on his knees. This...this can't be true... An image of Kagome gently smiling at him appeared in his mind. What have I done!? He cried inside his mind.

'Here my queen, why don't you take revenge on him for Kagome?' Naraku smirked as he handed a black bow and arrow to her.

She took the bow and aimed the black arrow at Inuyasha.

She was hesitating. The bitch still has feelings for him huh? Although she's sleeping, she can still influence my actions...
She looked at where her arrow was pointing. Every time she was aiming at his heart, something would move the arrow to another spot on his body. She's preventing me from killing him huh? She thought.

'What's the matter my queen?' Naraku asked as he noticed her struggling in her mind.

'Nothing, just lost some concentration.' she replied and released her arrow.

BZZIIINNGG

The arrow flew swiftly through the air and caught Inuyasha off guard.

Inuyasha realized something was coming at him and looked up. But he realized it too late and the arrow hit him right in the chest, narrowly missed his heart.

'AARRCK' he cried as he fell on his back.

'My queen, you should be aiming for his heart.' Naraku's voice was filled with disappointment.

'I know!!' she yelled as she prepared another arrow. She immediately released it when it aimed exactly at his heart. This will definitely hit! She thought confidently.

Kagome... Inuyasha thought as he tried to get up, only to realize that another arrow was flying towards him. But he wasn't looking at the arrow anymore; he was looking at the person who shot it.

His eyes were locked on hers. Am I going to die by Kagome's hands...? he thought before he closed his eyes.


Another cliffhanger!! I just LOVE them ^o^!! Anyway please look forward to the next chapter: Realizations and Honesty.

Vocabulary:
Hidoi...: That's/You're so cruel...

Hope it's like you have expected...if not... well this IS my story and I'm the one writing it so just accept it!! Just kidding, well if you can think of any other plot or storyline, tell me and maybe I can use it for my next stories. Because this one, I have ALREADY FINISHED!! ^-^ Just haven't put it on my computer yet... so don't worry about me not finishing this story!!

I tend to use a LOT of cliffhangers, so cruel am I not ? Whohohoho, that's kind of my way to get people reviewing ^-^! Don't worry all, I won't blackmail you anymore, I'll just put the next chapter up as soon as I have put it on my computer, that's a promise!

Lots of greets,
~Kittymui~

Posted: 30 June 2003
Last edited: 30 June 2003