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Sesshoumaru was forced to place Kagome on his mount in order to prepare himself for the battle. The strategy would be obvious: Kagome would be Naraku's only objective until she was killed. After the jewel was absorbed, he could fight the others at his leisure.

"Kagome, where is the Shikon no Tama?" her urged.

Kagome raised her head weekly, examining the still-dark form that had just entered the limits of their vision. She blinked once, then twice before she turned back to Sesshoumaru.
"There are two..." she whispered.

Chapter 24: Duality

"Kagome-chan... how can there be two?" Sango asked.

Kagome shook her head weakly. "I don't know... but there are." She turned back to Sesshoumaru. "At the base of his neck is one... that one is completely corrupted. The other is in his right arm. It...it's strange. It doesn't look impure at all."

Sesshoumaru nodded. "Don't worry. I think I understand." He gently pulled her forward by her collar until they were face to face. "No matter what happens, do not risk yourself. Stay where you are protected." He kissed her once, no more than a swift chaste brush of his lips on hers. For the first time since she had known him, she realized he was actually frightened. He had no worry for himself, it was for her that he was afraid.

She nodded once, but spoke no promises. Nothing would stop her; she would not lose Sesshoumaru the way she lost Inuyasha. Not without a fight.

Sesshoumaru had already drawn Tetsusaiga, Miroku and Sango looked grim and prepared. Kohaku also had his weapon drawn, looking resolutely ahead of him, a tortured look on his face in the presence of his former master. They walked forward singularly, Sesshoumaru first, humans in a wall behind him protecting Kagome, who came last on Ah-Un.

It began as a low rumble from the figure in front of them, growing in pitch and volume as they came to a stop in front of him. A cold laugh from his still indistinguishable form.

"This looks familiar. A slightly different stage, but all the same foolish players. Well... minus one. Inuyasha always followed the same script. In the end, it was all too easy to destroy him."

Sesshoumaru was surprised at the anger incited by the insult to his brother's memory. He glared, lifting his blade.

"What's wrong, Sesshoumaru-sama?" Naraku mocked. "Are you forgetting your lines? No self-righteous declarations of your own power today? No threats?" His voice was an oozing hiss, the air darkened even further around his deceptively human-looking form. "It used to be a matter of revenge... but you're rather desperate tonight, aren't you?"

Sesshoumaru refused to answer.

"You really did it--took your brother's bitch I mean." His eyes opened, glowing a dark red. The crimson light caught on the twisted corners of his smirk. "And her life is in my hands... what a dilemma... I wonder what would happen to her if it were accidently destroyed?"

"Bastard," Miroku growled behind the silent demon lord. "Enough of your fucking melodramas."

Kagome gave a shuddering whimper behind them. Sesshoumaru charged. And that familiar cold laughter filled the thick air.

The instant Sesshoumaru began his forward motion, Naraku's swarms were unleashed. They chocked the air in less than a second, pouring out of the sky, ground, air, and Naraku himself. Miroku was only an instant behind the demon lord.

"Sesshoumaru! Behind me!" The monk's face was set in desperate determination. Sesshoumaru momentarily resented the order, but fell behind the monk. With a flash of dark light, the beads were whipped from around Miroku's hand, a tumult of air shaking the ground. Recklessly, the monk pulled in wave after wave of demon as the pair pressed forward, trees and ground ripping and consuming them.

Sesshoumaru came forward in the wake and advanced with the monk. He swung the Tetsusaiga recklessly, decimating the ranks of the demons. He was painfully aware, even in his haze of bloodlust, that every step in pursuit took him further from Kagome.

The legions of demons were thinning, but only slowly, despite Miroku's prolonged use of his kazaana. Beads of sweat dripped down Miroku's face, but he barely felt them. He was aware of the Saimyoushou swarming into his hand, a painful cold searing his arm and spreading upward. 'Now,' he thought, 'Now is my last opportunity. I will not let him escape, even if it kills me.'

Gradually, the demon and the monk's paths forked, Sesshoumaru storming after Naraku while Miroku sucked the demons still emerging from the woods.

Kagome had struggled her way down from Ah-Un, holding her bow tightly. Both taijia were furiously tearing apart the attacking demons, trying to keep Kagome protected. Ah-Un released blasts of white hot energy from his mouth while at the same time trying to help steady his mistress. Kagome couldn't see Sesshoumaru any more, only the light and heat from his attacks. Miroku was a dark blur in the middle of the tossing maelstrom. With all her concentration, Kagome drew her bow. They needed her help.



Sango heard a terrible scream of agony break the wall of sound, her attention immediately snapping to the source. Miroku was hunched over in the eye of his own storm, his shoulders rising and falling erratically. The beads on his hand fluttered freely as his other hand braced his wrist. Poisonous insects were everywhere, and Miroku didn't seem to care that most of them were swarming into his hand.

She heard a warning yell from Kohaku before she felt claws slash across her left arm. Her attention snapped back the fight in front of her, Kagome's light arrows streaking by like comets between long and loud intervals of darkness.

The light around Miroku seemed to darken, the energy of his winds crackling ominously. Suddenly, as if a damn burst, the intensity of the winds increased, the radius enlarging enough to buffet them with the currents.

'It's ripping!' Sango realized in alarm. 'He's going to be sucked in!'

"Houshi-sama!" She yelled once in fear, the sound completely lost in the chaos.

She slashed out violently with her sword, feeling the scathing splatters of demon blood on her face and neck. In a brief moment of clarity, she saw his eyes meet hers from across the battle field. His face was twisted in pain, but his eyes were strangely calm, apologetically resigned. He smiled slightly. He ripped the rosary completely, throwing it away from him. With that last painful look, he turned and ran, plunging himself into the thickest of the demons.

She watched him distance himself-- he was leaving her. A cold fear gripped her even as she fought, unconsciously fighting towards him.

"Aneue!" Kohaku's cry brought her back to herself-- she could not leave Kagome or all was lost... but... Miroku...

A white arrow split the darkness next to her. "Sango-chan!" She chanced a backward glance at Kagome's worried and tired face. "Go get him!"

Her indecision vanished, she threw herself forward, filled with a consuming resolution. She charged the hurricane, sword drawn. 'No more deaths.'



Kagome felt her strength reaching its limits. Already she relied completely on Ah-Un to support her weight. Fortunately (or not), her enemies were so thick that she didn't have to try to aim. Kohaku darted like a fish, weaving his way around them with his scythe streaking out in broad sweeps.

One of the dragon's heads growled in warning and spun to look over its body. It let out a glowing lightning ball behind it, Kagome's gaze chasing the glowing beacon.

"Oh no," she whispered. Soldiers melted from the woods behind them, scattered pieces of armor glinting dully. Pale skin stretched and sagged over rotting bones, dark and sightless eye sockets sunken in putrefying faces. A staggering variety of vicious weapons were clasped in hundreds of dead fingers, human and youkai. Fluidly, they moved towards the miko and her tiring protectors.

Sesshoumaru was surprised to find that the monk had managed to clear most of the path to Naraku. Of course, the lack of opposition to him only meant that Naraku's minions were concentrating their energies on reaching his beloved. All the more reason to find Naraku and kill him quickly.

The problem of finding him was easily solved. Laughing, Naraku slipped through his wall of demons, directly charging the demon lord. Sesshoumaru countered hastily, Tetsusaiga clanging darkly against Naraku's blade. As he attempted to attack the hanyou, the other demons would surge around him, get in his way while Naraku swung at him unhindered. A dark light shone from his neck, a white one from his sword arm, both visible to even him now.

Sesshoumaru slashed out with his poisonous whip, dicing through the obstructions. He growled as he collided with Naraku, embedding Tetsusaiga deep withing the hanyou's flesh.

Naraku only smiled in response, pushing away the fang with his own blade, his body's tear sealing smoothly as it was withdrawn.

"Your mate isn't doing very well, Sesshoumaru," the hanyou yelled with a grin, both spots of light seeming to flicker darkly for a moment. Somewhere behind him, Sesshoumaru heard Kagome scream in pain. "She's too far gone to keep fighting." Sesshoumaru's eyes flashed red.

"Die," he growled.



Sango didn't remember how it got there, but Miroku's rosary was now wrapped around her hand and she was soaked in blood. She could still see the winds from Miroku's kazaana, even if she couldn't see him. She fought to keep her footing as she plunged forward through the tempest, knocking away the demons that tried to reach her like one possessed.

Miroku felt something cold hit his wrist, his tightly shut eyes snapping open. He looked in shock at the slender hand holding dark beads against his wrist, trying to wrench them around. She was behind him, her arms wrapped around him to anchor herself, pressing her desperately against his back.

Instinctively, he snapped his hand shut as Sango whipped the rosary around, the winds slowing to a trickle. His whole arm felt as though it were consuming itself, the poison surged through his blood like millions of needles. Even though it was sealed, the kazaana sparked and hissed-- it was growing and there was no stopping it. Sango was still pressed against him. 'She's crying,' he realized before the poison overcame him and he crumpled.

The army of dead soldiers reached them more quickly than Kohaku would have thought possible. They closed in behind them, the demons attacking from the front. Trusting Ah-Un to hold the front, he slashed at Kagome's attackers. The girl's bow was dangling limply from her hand as she sagged against the dragon, screaming in pain. She fell, her hands clutching her head as she fought for her soul.

'I have to protect Kagome-sama,' Kohaku thought. He tried not to look into the hollow faces of the attackers. He wondered if they were they like he had been. Did he attack like this, mindless and mercilessly? His skills had certainly increased-- his hands killed eagerly without him thinking about it. The undead continued to swarm, closing further around them. The small fighter tied down his loathing and pity. There would be time for regret after he had finished this fight. He gave in, letting his fighting instinct, the training gained from his enslavement, engulf him. 'It is easier...if I don't feel the pain."



Miroku was on the ground, bleeding and unresponsive. His face was drawn and pale, his right hand shaking and shining purple as small winds continued to emerge from it.

Sango stood over him, tears streaming down her face as she fought back the demons trying to reach them. She could feel the winds growing even as she struggled with the emboldened masses. They were wearing her down. Her body moved woodenly, as if it knew it had already lost. As she tired, more of their blows landed solidly. "Miroku... how could you?" she panted. "This time... I won't be the one left alone."



Kagome struggled where she had fallen, trying to bring herself under control. She wanted to just lay down where she was and give in to the darkness that was trying to claim her, but she clung to her promise to Sesshoumaru. Everything seemed hazy-- but she could feel her lifeline in front of her-- the Shikon no Tama... and Sesshoumaru. She began to crawl, dragging herself along the ground. The dragon and Kohaku moved with her. If she had to die, she wanted to be with Sesshoumaru.



Sesshoumaru was making less progress than he would care to admit. His skill was by far the greater, but Naraku's body healed as fast as he could strike. Shouki enveloped the two combatants, hissing as it kissed Sesshoumaru's pale skin. Worse, after every strike, more limbs would form from Naraku's twisted body. Sesshoumaru took each stroke with great care, not daring to hit either glowing jewel in the demon's body. Somehow, he had to get the Shikon no Tama.



Kohaku was rapidly losing ground against the demons and Kagura's dead army. They attacked without hesitation, spreading to encircle them as they pressed closer. Kagome was moving on the ground... slowly. Her dimming aura spread like a warm blanket around her, holding back the shouki. Kohaku was left with no choice but to move forward with her. In the back of his mind, he wondered what Sesshoumaru would do to him if he let Kagome get hurt. Bleeding now from several places, he was pressed back to Kagome's side.



Naraku grinned at Kagome's slow approach. Sesshoumaru renewed his attack with rekindled fervor as Naraku's shouki thinned, dissipating in a slight pink haze. She was still alive and fighting-- but she had not stayed back like he had insisted.

"She's tenacious, isn't she, Sesshoumaru?" Naraku taunted. "I can't believe she's lasted so long."

Sesshoumaru growled in outrage, locking himself against the hanyou's disgusting body. Slithering tentacles attempted to ensnare him as he slashed with his claws. 'Which jewel do I go for first?'

More tentacles snaked out, lashing towards Kagome. They broke the line of demons and found their targets. Ah-Un stepped protectively over Kagome, biting at them and taking most of the impact. Kagome cringed, flattening herself. She felt them whip against her skin, some trying to wrap around her. She screamed weakly at the repulsive feeling, shuddering reflexively. Her body reacted, scorching the strange appendages till they left her.

She didn't move for a moment, completely dazed and numb. She couldn't hear Naraku's voice anymore. In fact, she hardly felt anything. She reached back to her neck, feeling that something was wrong. The back of her head hurt. She brought her hand into focus in front of her face. It seemed odd to her that it was covered in blood. 'Mine?' she wondered. She knew with a sudden certainty that she wouldn't be able to move again in this battle. She glanced up, her eyes falling to rest on the rapidly shifting white figure, enveloped by a dark and snarling enemy. And two spots of light... both of them seeming to call to her familiarly.



Sango fought on, still protecting the fallen monk. Tears fell steadily now, her attacks growing sloppier as her vision smeared.

The winds from Miroku's hands abruptly stopped. His hand... the kazaana was no longer drawing in air... but neither was he. The Saimyoushou's poison had worked faster than the rip had. With a sob, Sango continued to fight, drawing on her desperation for strength. It would all be over soon, and she could perhaps be content if she might fall in battle beside him.

Sesshoumaru's eyes spiked red, she warm scent of Kagome's blood taunting him. He severed the wave of her attack, slamming Naraku back. He pressed, pushing Naraku away from where Kagome lay, still protected by the lone taijiya.

In fury, he knocked Naraku's inferior blade away. A weak glint of silver, the sword spun off into the darkness. His face grimly set, he slashed at the hanyou's torso.

Naraku laughed as the blade bit into his flesh. He had caught the blade against his arm, blocking his body. Tetsusaiga had almost completely severed the glowing limb. There was a pulse of power from his opponent, and a strange sensation in his hand holding his sword. It was oddly familiar. His eyes widened almost unnoticeably as the Tetsusaiga's power seeped away in his grip. In a second the blade was no more than a chunk of metal.

Seething, he yanked the sword clear as Naraku's arm healed behind it. He tossed the useless piece of metal away from him with an enraged hiss. He wanted to transform. He wanted to grind the damn abomination in his jaws until it was no more than a corroding remnant.

Kagome's blood... there was no time. If he did not remove the jewel, Naraku would assimilate it the instant her life failed. Even if he could manage her resurrection, it would be too late. His youki was growing around him, challenging Naraku's dark aura. The dark lights grappled with each other, spreading outward malignantly. Faster than even he thought he could move, Sesshoumaru shot forward, glowing claws seeking their target.

He found the hanyou's arm more difficult to cut than he estimated, especially only with his claws. They slid through sickeningly, severing it below the shoulder. Sesshoumaru ripped the arm away, the flesh rotting and dissolving in his hand. As it dissipated, a smooth glowing white stone was left in Sesshoumaru's hand. Both demons paused, dangerous smirks haunting both faces.

Sesshoumaru was in front of Kagome, his ivory figure swallowed in his own impenetrable darkness. His rage ignited the air around him, sparking red. She cringed back in spite of herself.

Amidst this oppression, the jewel from Naraku's arm shone warmly through Sesshoumaru's bloody hand. She was closer now. She had spent the last seconds desperately trying to figure out which jewel was really the Shikon no Tama. Now, she could feel the difference.

'Wrong one!' she thought urgently.

A cold laugh split the clouds of youki. This time it came from Sesshoumaru.

(Ah, my last trademark confusing cliffhanger of the story. Good times.)

First off, I'm very sorry it's been so long since I've updated this. There were three weeks in there where I just couldn't get myself to write this chapter. I was sort of intimidated by the scope, but I'm mostly better now. Second, I know this chapter is short, but I wanted to get something up, since you've all been waiting so patiently.

Thanks to everybody who reviewed and helped me get back on track. It really helps to know that somebody's interested and waiting.

That said, next chapter is probably the last one. Give me lots of reviews, and I shall try my hardest to get this thing finished up

This chapter last updated: Friday, August 15, 2003