Aktio was once again counting the reasons that he hated inertia. At least he was beginning to remember why he hated it in the first place. Being slung around the back of the BMW belonging to the younger youkai no inu brought flashbacks of being slammed around the cockpit of his Aesti. Yurika, on the other hand, was apparently having flashbacks of rollercoasters, which was the only explanation he could give for the fact that she had convinced their inhuman driver to open every window in the car plus the sunroof. Several times as they ducked and dodged through traffic he had to admonish her to please keep all of her limbs inside of the vehicle.

Inuyasha was only peripherally aware of the events occurring inside of his vehicle. Ruri was listening to it with some amusement through his ears, but he was more concerned with arriving at their destination in one piece than Yurika's love of roller coasters and Akito's lack of such for inertia. It wasn't so much other drivers that worried him so much as it was the Black M3 with purple ghost flames mirroring his M5's garnet ones. He was grateful that at least there didn't tend to be very many traffic officers on this particular road.

Akito leaned forward into the front seat and tried to be oblivious to Yurika's swirling hair, which had decided to swirl its way into his face. "Isn't our exit coming up soon?"

"Hai," the youkai responded calmly.

"So, shouldn't we be someplace other than the inside lane?"

"Hai," the youkai repeated as calmly as before. Then, betraying that demeanor, he jerked his hand down and shoved the transmission into the next gear, throwing Akito back into his seat and Yurika into another fit of gleeful screaming. As Inuyasha dove the vehicle across the lanes of traffic Akito's voice joined his wife's, although there was a different emotion behind it.

Greg sat beside Sesshoumaru in the elder's vehicle and watched his boss' M5 exit the freeway. He and Dean had both agreed with nii-san when he said he intended to go alone to free nee-san. He didn't need anyone to watch his back on the way in and Saburouta could watch it on the way out. The Lackeys would better help by visiting Naraku with Sesshoumaru to keep the bastard occupied while the kanchou's escape was effected.

Yurika, however, did not see things exactly the same way, which was the reason she was not informed of the plan until the originally-intended groups were getting into their vehicles. Not that it made any difference to the outcome. The youngest member of the household was as weak to a woman's tears as his father, uncle, and grandfather were.

// \\

Inuyasha killed the engine and let the car roll forward of its own volition for the last few feet. The Tenkawas followed his lead as he stepped from the vehicle and onto the gravely roadside. It seemed as if the road hadn't been repaired in fifty years and saw little use during that time, which would explain why Naraku would choose to use the ruins ahead for his own purposes. He walked around behind the vehicle and opened the trunk while Yurika and Akito walked ahead a few feet, exploring the area.

"Akito..." Yurika started but let hang as she admired the trees around her.

"Hai, Yurika-san?" Akito returned.

Yurika turned her head to face him as the walked and smiled warmly as she took his arm. "Akito, you don't have to call me 'Yurika-san,' How about just 'Yurika'?"

Akito let the smile infect his face slightly as he nodded in acknowledgement. Yurika felt some of the lingering sadness leave herself as she saw the smile of the man she loved and married, not the dark and vengeful man Ruri had told her of.

For his part, Akito guessed at the question she had not asked. "Seeing Hoshino-san helped me to remember, and meeting you... again... has helped too. I don't remember everything, but I do remember you, Hoshino-san, and Ryoko-san. I remember Ai, fighting Jovians, and Gai. I... I remember marrying you, and I remember getting onto the shuttle, but after that... It's like I can't pull it out from the back of my brain. I know it's there, I just can't get to it."

Yurika nodded and looked out at the trees around them again as they walked a little further down the road. She curled her arms more tightly around his and leaned her head against his shoulder before continuing. "I know you're not entirely the Akito I knew, at least not yet. I know I'm not entirely the woman you knew, either. What we went through... I don't think anyone could go through that unscarred. I can only imagine how much worse it was for Lapis Lazuli. As fragile as Ruri-Ruri is..."

"Ruri is far less fragile and you know it, even though sometimes we do not respect her as such. If Lapis is anything like Ruri, she will survive." The couple turned and for a moment did not recognize the owner if they recognized his voice. His formerly odd black raiment now was explained as it formed the underlayer of the armour he now wore. Had he been arrayed like this when Ruri announced their intentions, Yurika would have had serious objections.

An evilly-grinning demon skull appeared to be gnawing on his left shoulder, its fangs centering themselves around his arm and leading to the demonhide and titanium pieces which were wrapped around his upper and lower arms. His sword arm was swathed in a leather similar to his left but with none of the metal, while more demon bones, wrapped in composites, formed gauntlets around his wrists.

Even though she found the arms and similar legs of the armour disturbing, she found the torso and helm even more so. The closest thing Yurika had ever seen to Inu's chest armour was the armour she saw Sesshoumaru put on all those years ago when he went to the Higurashi shrine to await Ruri's and Inuyasha's return. Like that armour, Inuyasha's "breastplate" had razor-sharp spikes protruding from it at regular intervals, but whereas the elder wore a single band around his chest, his son seemed to be wearing the entire ribcage of some long-dead beast.

The helm was to both Yurika and Akito the most frightening of all. Even though it didn't appear to have any shred of demon bone or hide, it was styled in such a way that it seemed as though it were forged of them. Though the armour in pieces was not styled as such, when combined with the white hair cascading from the helm and his golden eyes it gave Inuyasha the appearance of being a samurai of the damned.

Ruri had been peripherally aware of the armour's existence. She knew that it had been commissioned by him and forged several years before they had met. It had been an attempt by Inuyasha and Sesshoumaru to quietly keep some of the ancient smithing techniques alive. The armour held nothing like the power of the Tenseiga or Tetsusaiga inside of it, but neither youkai had ever seriously expected the armour to ever be worn as intended.

'Do you really think the dangers between us are that great?'

'Honestly? I don't know. I sincerely hope not, and that I'm being over-precautious. However, this is Naraku we're dealing with.'

'Hai. Even if he doesn't understand modern technology-'

'- we should not underestimate him.'

Inuyasha paused and shifted the small pack on his back which was the cloak Ruri had worn in Sengoku Jidai years ago before continuing. "Akito-san, Yurika-san, stay here." He tossed each of them a small distortion field generator and headset. "The headsets are -"

"No." Both men looked at Yurika, one in startled confusion and one in resignation. It was the latter who spoke.

"Yurika-san... mama... you know what happened at Ruri's abduction, and after. At best, this will be no different, and I'm not expecting the best to happen."

"Ruri is as much mine as she is yours. I have as much right to go in there as you do," she replied pointedly.

One of the demon's eyebrows arched upwards. "I don't disagree with you, but I don't think it's a question of right. I may not know exactly what I'll be facing in there, but I am certain that very little of it will be human."

"So, it's dangerous, big deal. It's not anything that-"

"Fine," Inuyasha replied with more snarl than he would have liked, cutting her off. He pulled his helm's faceplate from its home at the base of his neck and tossed it to Yurika. "Akito-san, you're comfortable with a stick, ne?"

"H-Hai," Akito stammered in reply and stepped forward when the demon proffered the keys. Inuyasha then reached behind him and withdrew a weapon from underneath the cloak folded on his back. He checked the chamber then handed it to Akito, who hardened his face and nodded in reply.

"Keep the channel on that headset open. If everything goes south, you're it. Sesshoumaru-sama, Dean and Greg will be monitoring but are too far away to help." The two locked eyes for a moment, each sizing the other up. Then without warning Inuyasha turned and walked towards the forest's edge, thumbing the hammer loop off of his revolver as he walked. "Yurika-san! Youkoso! Ruri's getting impatient."

'Baka.'

'Hai. How's Saburouta-san doing?'

'Bored. But he's only hit on Kagura-san four times.'

'Only four?'

'Fuujin no Mai discouraged him without leaving any permanent damage.'

Inuyasha laughed softly to himself. "'I see.'"

Yurika jogged to catch up to his side. "Nani?"

The demon shook his head slightly as they walked. "Nothing. Just something Ruri said is all."

Yurika walked quietly beside him for a while before saying anything further. "Inuyahsa-kun... will you tell me everthing about what happened in Sengoku Jidai? Everything that you couldn't tell Akito and I then?"

Inuyasha resigned himself and began retelling the story of his grandmother as they picked their way through the ever-denser underbrush. There were several parts that brought redness to both or either of the espoused, but Yurika was now aware of the story in its entirety.

"Did you always intend to marry Ruri-chan?" she asked when he had finished. Knowing their destination was at hand, Inuyasha chose to stop and stand before her to answer the question.

"Always? No." He reflected a moment before continuing. "Ruri may die of embarrassment before we get a chance to save her. Gomen, Ruri. To directly answer you, Yurika-san, it was shortly after Ruri rescued you that I cemented my decision that I wished to marry her. I did always love her, but until then it was more the love you hold for her than the one I now have. I know that at first she did have a school girl's crush on me. That cooled and matured into a friendship... kinship... that was and is irreplaceable... We should keep moving. We're almost there. Keep that mask ready. It can protect you from any poisonous fumes a demon may throw at us."

They pushed past the last of the underbrush and found themselves confronted by a high stone wall. They looked to each side and saw that the wall continued for some distance, with encroaching forest preventing them from seeing any corner or curve in the wall.

"Which way do to go, Inu-kun?" Yurika asked, still looking from side to side.

The youkai craned his neck backwards. "Up."

"Nani?" Yurika asked, looking up to the top of the wall with him. She suddenly let out a yelp of surprise when she felt her future son-in-law's arm slide around her waist. Her struggle to get out of the embrace reversed itself when she suddenly felt herself leaving the ground.

She yelped again and clung to his neck, almost knocking him off balance mid-leap. He landed on top of the wall, balancing gingerly with Yurika still glomping his neck. Inuyasha surveyed the grounds below them, trying to fetch as much of the ruins' layout as he could from his memories of visiting here as a young child. Satisfied he was familiar enough, he leapt down and released Yurika when on solid ground again.

The demon looked in both directions then headed towards the entrance, thumbing his katana loose in its sheath. Yurika paused for a second, then hurried to catch up with him.

"Inu-kun, why didn't we just drive up the front gate?" she asked as they jogged. She was a little more breathless than she would have liked, but running every morning didn't prepare one to keep up with a demon. The youkai ahead of her paused, sniffing the air.

"Would have, had the wind not been blowing straight into the gate."

"Nan da?"

"Going in this way, I smell them before they smell me." the demon punctuated the sentence by beginning to climb a nearby section of ruin which gently sloped upwards. Yurika followed a short distance behind, grateful he'd slowed his pace. She watched as he paused a short distance behind what looked like the edge of the ruin they were on.

Inuyasha closed his eyes as he crouched near the edge without risking looking over it. The wind was still to his face and he was fairly certain that his first opponent hadn't sensed him yet. At least, there had been no change to scent since he first became aware of it, which meant either ignorance or a far deadlier opponent than he would have expected to be at the outer gate. It was youkai no neko, certainly, which meant either could be the case. However, that meant his next move would betray him, as even if his smell remained hidden, removing his sword from its sheath would certainly be heard.

Yurika saw him coil slightly, obviously preparing to strike. Then, he seemed to blur before her eyes. It took her a moment to realize he suddenly wasn't there, and a split second later she heard metal striking metal. She raced forward, stopping just short of the edge, and flung her head over. Below her, she saw Inuyasha clash swords again with a girl who looked to be several years younger than Ruri.

Inuyasha shoved his sword against his opponent's and leapt a few feet backwards to regroup. The youkai no neko appeared to be content to do the same. It was the latter who spoke first. "So, you're an heir of Inutaishou. Are you Sesshoumaru or Inuyasha?"

Inuyasha slowly circled, choosing his words carefully. "I am an heir, yes. I am Inutaishou Inuyasha, the second to bear this given name."

He watched as the countenance of his opponent fell slightly. "So you're not one of the two that my grandmother used to tell me stories about."

Inuyasha laughed aloud. "No, I assure you that you're the first youkai no neko I've fought. So, you decide you wanted revenge on my clan after all?"

"No, just taking advantage of the chance to be youkai for a while instead of pretending to be a petty mortal."

Inuyasha couldn't hold back his smirk. "There's nothing wrong with mortals, you know."

"You would be one to talk, wouldn't you?" The neko turned and looked up at Yurika. "You're here to rescue one human female, but you bring another with you. I suppose one human can't keep a youkai entertained so you had to acquire a second." The demon smiled evilly at Yurika's reddening and now bluing face.

Inuyasha felt his blood boil but shoved emotions away and exuded the coolness of his father. "I believe you have misread the relationships. Let's get this over with."

"Yes, let's," the cat demon echoed, and once again Yurika refused to believe what her eyes were telling her. The demon appeared to have cloned itself standing there. There were four demons surrounding him, now six, a dozen. Yurika quickly lost count as they all began spinning in a circle around Inuyasha. The opponent's laughter echoed off of the stone walls and a thick smell like cheap fake flowers clung to Yurika's nose. Yurika could only guess that it was designed to overwhelm the sensitive senses of Ruri's youkai. She watched as Inuyasha simply stood in the center of what she guessed to be an illusion, poised to strike but making no move. She watched as he slowly moved his left hand up to his helm and slid a visor down over his eyes.

The youkai no neko's laughter redoubled. "How is that supposed to help if you can't locate me by sound or smell either?"

Yurika found herself wondering the same thing when suddenly Inuyasha sprang at one of the copies, impaling it in the shoulder with his blade. Yurika's ears recoiled at the sound of the scream which suddenly filled the area and watched in shock as the copy youkai disappeared suddenly, leaving only the original kneeling on the ground and staring at the sword in her shoulder with a similar look of shock on her face. "How... did... you..."

Inuyasha quickly pulled his blade from the wound. "Simple. Your copies don't give off heat. IR cameras in the helm, feeding into the visor."

"I guess... technology... isn't cheating... or is it..." the demon said before passing out and slumping forward onto the grass. Yurika watched transfixed as Inuyasha gently laid the inert form out and then deftly withdrew the Tenseiga from his side to plunge it into the wound. She continued to stare as light surged around the fallen youkai the Inuyasha's blade, then dissipated. Inuyasha replaced the sword to his side and then turned to look up at Yurika.

"You going to stay up there all day or are we going to go get Ruri?"

"H...hai," Yurika said nervously. "What about..." she let her voice trail off as she looked at the inert form on the ground.

Inuyahsa followed her gaze. "She'll be fine. Tenseiga has healed her wound, though she has lost some blood."

Yurika slowly climbed down as Inuyasha examined the locking mechanism on the door to the underground portion of the ruins. "How do we unlock it?" she asked as she stepped up beside him. "We don't have a key to it."

"Sure we do," the demon retorted, drawing his gun and firing three rounds into the lock. He paused to replace the spent cartridges then gave the door a swift kick, wresting the remnant of the lock out of the wall with the door as it swung open. "See? It just needed some persuasion.

"Remind me not to debate you," Yurika murmured.

// \\

Some weeks from the present, Sesshoumaru and his son might debate which road was in worse repair. As it was, Sesshoumaru merely assumed that his car was having a worse time than his son's. Unlike his son, he had no intention of slipping quietly anywhere. Greg and Dean were well aware of this fact and were as grateful for the five-point harnesses installed in the vehicle as they were aware of said fact.

Sesshoumaru parked his car just far enough away from the temple Naraku had claimed as to avoid it being caught up in any rather nasty explosions that might occur. The three moved quickly from the vehicle and underneath the arches leading to the temple, and soon stood before the gates of the temple itself. The Lackeys checked their weapons and took up positions on either side of the gate. Sesshoumaru opted to wait no longer and simply sliced through the gates with Toukijin.

Dean and Greg followed Sesshoumaru into the courtyard only to find it empty except for a lone figure seated comfortably on a rock in the center of the area. "Where is Naraku?" Dean demanded, leveling his weapon at their apparent host.

The man stood to face them. Though not nearly as foreboding as Inuyasha currently appeared, he still bore a dark aura around himself. Sesshoumaru could tell easily enough that the man was fully human, yet even then detected demonic sorcery coming form him. He wore no armour, simply a grey shirt and darker grey pants, over which he wore a black coat which reached nearly to his ankles and black boots which stretched nearly to his knees. A stiff wind arose, blowing the man's dark hair away from his face and flipping his coat to reveal the broadsword at his side. "Naraku has asked me to keep you entertained until he arrives," the man said gaily.

Sesshoumaru's eyes narrowed and his voice did not share the man's mirth, as he realized it was his opponent's sword that was the origin of the sorcery around the human. "There is no time for games. I will fight you if I must, but my business is solely with Naraku."

"Then consider me an authorized representative until he arrives, if that pleases you. I am Clayton MacLeod, and though I'm no immortal, I do enjoy a good swordfight," the man responded griping the hilt of his blade.

"Very well," Sesshoumaru said, trademark coolness oozing from his voice. "Let's begin."

// \\

Inuyasha and Yurika wandered through the twisting corridors of the ruins. The youkai knew he was close to Ruri, but neither could sense the strength of their link enough to guide the rescue party. Inuyasha had never been this far into the ruins, Saburouta and Ruri were unconscious when brought through in, and Yurika was just following her future son-in-law around. In short, everyone was just about hopelessly lost.

The pair continued to wander in the near-darkness, which was illuminated only by the light from the unsheathed Tenseiga the youkai carried. After what seemed like ages of wandering they found themselves staring into a large chamber illuminated by torchlight. Inuyasha sheathed the blade and stepped into the room. He took in as much as he could through his peripheral vision, but he left his focus at the far end of the room. Yurika trailed slightly behind, not needing the connection Ruri had to know that a fight was probably imminent.

"You mask your presence well, youkai no mizu," Inuyasha said flatly to the man at the far end of the room.

"And you do not," the other returned. Yurika moved so that she had a clear view around Inuyasha. She had expected to see someone looking somewhat like either of the youkai she knew, but saw something quite different."

"He's youkai no mizu as well?" she said in shocked disbelief. The being before them bore high, aquiline features and skin which was bluer than her hair. It was a four-armed beast, the two on its left grasping a trident which appeared to have come from someplace other than Japan. Flowing robes hid its true shape, for which Yurika found herself grateful.

"Hai," the more familiar of the youkai present replied. He broke his gaze with his opponent to better take in the room. "I had thought youkai no mizu held a natural sense of grace and poise like my mother did which also made them decent interior decorators. I see I was wrong on both counts."

Yurika looked at the floor and for the first time since they became aware of the light ahead of them actually took in what was there. As the floor tapered down from where she stood, it was covered in what became three or four inches of water and was scattered with corpses. She gasped and jumped closer to Inuyasha. For his part, Inuyasha withheld his reaction and returned his gaze back to his opponent.

The youkai no mizu hugged his trident with two of his arms and leaned against it. "Well, I see you managed to kill the first of the three little challenges Naraku-sama set up for you. Not surprising, really. She was only hoping for a good fight and had nothing personal at stake. She lacked the passion necessary to take a head like yours and carry it back to her clan."

Inuyasha stepped forward a few paces, just enough down the slope into the room that he connected with the water there. "I'd rather not stand around and talk if you don't mind. Like you I have a personal interest at stake here, even if it's far different from your reason for fighting."

"Ah, yes, your little woman. Hmm. I don't think that reason compares to seeking revenge upon you for killing your own, revered mother. But, perhaps I should find out what she tastes like after I kill you."

Inyasha's eyes narrowed and began to glow subtly. "I suppose saying 'over my dead body' would be moot, wouldn't it?"

Baka' sounded in his head, which he echoed with 'Hai.'

Yurika was once again made aware of the frightening speed that youkai possessed. She watched silently as Inuyasha charged his opponent, drawing his blade at the last possible moment and striking. Part of her mind argued that he was moving slower than she had seen him move earlier, but the rest of her mind had trouble believing it.

It was with equal shock that she watched the opponent deftly deflect the blow with his trident. It didn't appear to affect the dark-armoured youkai, who simply pressed on with his attacks. The two broke their attacks off momentarily to regroup.

"You know," the full mizu youkai began, "we never did introduce ourseves. I am Tsumetaimizu. It was quite rude of you to simply attack me. You must have learned such behavior from your father or that ignorant uncle of yours. It certainly was not from the half which clans you with me."

Inuyasha sheathed his blade and placed his hands behind his back. "There is nothing which clans me to you. Those that at one time linked me to your clan forced me to kill them in order to defend those whom I have sworn to protect."

"Legend has it that a member of house of Inutaishou killed two of the greatest of all youkai no mizu. The legend goes on to say that one of them was killed by the greatest and most ancient of our sorcery, Mizu no Shi. How you were there, I don't know and don't care. But how about this, then, as a means for my revenge?" Tsumetaimizu slammed the end of his trident into the stones paving the floor before him and grasping it with all four hands. "The Mizu no Shi you cast was powerful, but it cannot compare to one which is powered by the Trident of Amakoi!"

Inuyasha smirked but made no move. "So, you gonna get that remark trademarked?"

The demon made no reply but began the incantation. "By the powers of darkness,"

Yurika backed slowly and fearfully into the dark hallway they had come from. She recognized the name of the spell that Ruri's love used to kill, no, destroy his grandmother.

"By the waters of life from time's beginning,"

Ruri sat in the room serving as her cell, eyes tightly closed and oblivious to Saburouta's questions about her welfare. Her mind and entire being screamed out to Inuyasha to do something to defend himself.

"Let me walk the path of darkness,"

'There is no defending against mizu no shi, Ruri.'

'So you're just going to stand there and die?!'

'Nope.'

"And destroy... that... that which..."

Yurika stared transfixed. Inu had described the spell as having a deadly grace about it, but she couldn't see it. All she could see was a torrent of dark energy and water swirling around the caster. Suddenly, she saw Inu blur as she had seen him do outside of the ruins.

Inuyasha moved forward with speed he hadn't used in years, if ever, which far surpassed the speed he had used outside. He grasped the kodachi at his back as he flowed forward. The fool was losing what little control he had over the spell and now was the time to strike. The smaller blades leapt from their home and dove at their targets. The youkai no mizu couldn't have blocked the attacks even if he had been paying attention. As it was, he stared dumbfoundedly as the trident was thrown from his hands. Reality did not come to him until he saw Inuyasha's second kodachi pierce through the torrent around him to bury itself in his side.

The torrent suddenly found the forces binding it broken and desperately searched for a home or target. Inuyasha's eyes narrowed coldly as he released the blade and stepped back from Tsumetaimizu. He spread his arms wide and let the torrent embrace him as he absorbed it into him. The mizu no youkai's eyes opened in terror and he looked down, unable to meet the frozen gaze of his adversary. He fixated upon the blade still in his side. Inuyasha stepped forward and pulled the weapon quickly from the wounded enemy and replaced both blades in their sheaths.

"How did you.." the youkai gasped out.

"If I had tried to attack you at any other point than when I did, I would have simply bounced off of the torrent. If I attack in the moment between when mizu no shi protects you and when it attacks me, I'm safe and you're the one who is vulnerable."

"So that's... how you did it..."

"No, it's not actually," Inuyasha responded coolly. The sheathed Tenseiga at his side helped him sense the minions of the underworld gathering before him and preparing to pounce upon the dying youkai. "You see, you didn't cast mizu no shi."

Inuyasha sloshed quickly a few paces away to collect the fallen Trident of Amakoi. "Mizu no shi is one of the few spells inherent to our kind which maintains a balance to the natural order of things and does not simply rely on black magicks. You violated that order twice. First, when you cast your spell you chose to only call upon the darkness to aide you and never the light. Second, this." Inuyasha held up the halberd. "You can never use holy relics in casting. The gods do not smile on our using their weapons as simple wands."

The youkai no mizu began to cast a healing spell on himself, which Inuyasha didn't bother to try to stop. "Well, allow me to correct... my mistakes and try again," the youkai said, staggering to his feet. He wasn't completely healed, but healed enough to be dangerous. "You should have killed me when you had the chance."

Inuyasha spun the halberd above his head, stopping it and himself in a throwing position. "Yeah, my family gets that a lot." With that, he spun and hurled the spear into the wall near the doorway Yurika was standing in and embedding the weapon into a seal placed there.

Yurika leaned into the room, careful to avoid the murky waters, in time to see the seal that the youkai no mizu had placed on the wall explode. She heard Tsumetaimizu gasp and turned to see stark fear on his face. She then looked to Inuyasha, who simply stood there, standing at a point where he could see the seal and still watch his wounded opponent out of the corner of his eye.

Ruri could see through Inuyasha's eyes that he had guessed the situation correctly based on the stark terror emanating from that corner of the roomcontaining Tsumetaimizu. Near the erupting seal Inuyasha saw Yurika and turned to face her and the seal. There was still a possibility he was wrong, even if it was a small possibility, but if he was wrong he would need to act quickly. He sloshed towards the wall and the trident protruding from it. Grasping the weapon, he gave it a firm pull, dislodging it from the wall.

'You realize that if you don't let her come over there she's going to die of curiosity.'

'Curiosity might also kill her if I'm wrong.'

'You're right and we both know it.'

Inuyasha smiled in defeat and rapped the butt of the weapon against the water at his feet. It followed his command and receded, leaving a dry path along the wall's edge for Yurika to follow, who quickly jointed the youkai.

"What is it, Inuyasha?" Yurika asked, peering over his shoulder. It looked as if there was a cavity of sorts behind where the seal had been placed. The youkai reached forward but was quickly and violently repelled by the remnant of the seal. Cursing under his breath, he produced a small tanto and sliced away the last pieces and fully exposing the tiny cavity.

Yurika bent and peered into the opening. "What's in there?"

"The true owner of the Trident of Amakoi, who else would that bastard seal up in here?" Yurika blinked, unsure of the owner of the voice. Inuyasha removed his helm and bent next to her, placing his head near hers.

"Well, well, well. Looks like I was right, eh, Mizu Megami-sama?" Inuyasha said, the humor returning to his voice. Yurika gasped slightly as the cavity's occupant stepped to the edge of the opening.

"An itty bitty water goddess?" Yurika said, the curiosity in her voice climbing.

The woman stared at the faces before her when she suddenly locked onto the features of the demon. "You again?"

It was Inuyasha's turn to have confusion cross his face. "Me... again? Waitaminute..." Inuyasha's shoulders heaved a few times before the laughter worked its way out of his mouth. A few minutes later he regained control of his respiratory system and prepared to answer the questioning looks from the two women before him and to the one in his head.

Gomen nasai, minna-san. I was aware that the true owner of the Trident of Amakoi would be a water goddess, I just didn't expect this one."

"This one?" Yurika echoed, looking at the woman again.

"Why would there be another one?" the deity retorted, then lowered her head. "In Sengoku Jidai, my trident was stolen once before, by a water imp at that time, and this hanyou and his human companions aided me in recovering it."

"Hanyou?" Yurika parroted. "But, he's all demon, not half, and besides," she continued, whirling to face Inuyasha, "you said you had told me everything you two did in the warring states era."

Inuyasha placed a hand on her shoulder, attempting to allay her anger. "I did. It is another who is incorrect here, and has mistaken me for someone else, though it is easily forgiven." He stepped forward and placed a hand next to the opening, allowing the small figure to exit its prison. He placed her gently on the floor and held the trident where she could grasp it. Yurika's eyes widened as the small figure quickly grew to the stature of a normal-sized human. "Mizu Megami-sama, I presume."

The water goddess ran her hands over the staff of her weapon, growing reaccustomed to its feel. "Yet you, I take it, are not Inuyasha."

"No, I am the son of his half-brother Sesshoumaru-sama, Lord of the Western Lands," he shrugged before continuing. "I share the name though. Let's go, Yurika-san." He turned and headed for the door near the temporarily forgotten youkai no mizu.

"Demo..." Yurika started, then hurried to keep up with him, as he was commanding the waters enough to be walking on dry ground.

"Wait," the goddess commanded, causing the youkai only to stop and look back over his shoulder.

"I have no time to waste on further pleasantries. You are not the only one who has been held against her will in these ruins, and, frankly, I care a hell of a lot more about the other captive. I'm demon, not deity, after all. Freeing you en route to freeing her is simply luck on your part."

Mizu megami-sama arched an eyebrow but made no direct reply. "At least you left the punishment of the garbage for me to enjoy." She glided over to one of the corpses and pulled a sheathed weapon from it. She threw the weapon to Inuyasha, who caught it with his off hand.

"A parting gift?" he said flatly.

"You may find it useful. They call it the Sword of Straasha, though whether or not he ever touched it is unknown to me. However, had that fool used it instead of my trident you most likely would not be speaking with me now."

Inuyasha looked to the youkai on the floor whose fear appeared to have been growing steadily throughout their conversation. "Baka ba'ka," he mused. He turned and began to lead Yurika from the room. "However, Arigato, Mizu-megami."

'What is it, hime-chan?' Inuyasha asked, sensing perplexion from her.

'I don't know. It's just that the name of that weapon is somehow familiar.'

The youkai considered her words for a moment as he ran with Yurika through the final corridors. 'Either way, I have no intention of using an untested sword right now.'

Ruri couldn't hide the amusement she felt. 'Perhaps you're not as stupid as you look,' she teased.

'Baka.'

'Perhaps.'

// \\

Next up, Sesshoumaru finishes his fight and Ruri's escape effected...