Chapter 8: The god of the underworld, and the void.
It was morning and Mekura had already been up for more than an hour. He gently called Sango's name, waking her from her peaceful sleep, she opened her eyes to find Mekura fully dressed. He had laid out all of Sango's clothing next to her along with her sword. Mekura turned and exited the small house. He slowly walked over to Lady Kaede's home to wake Kagome. Shortly afterwards he would find Miroku already awake that only left Inuyasha. He made his way over to the tree where Inuyasha normally fell asleep in, and woke him. The five of them had breakfast and left the village when they were done.
They traveled across the quiet land, everything seemed peaceful, even the thick fog had vanished. If they didn't know any better, it would seem that everything was normal. They traveled for five hours straight. It would only be a matter of minutes before they arrived at their destination.
"We're almost there." Mekura stopped for a brief second, he examined his surroundings and made sure that everyone had their weapons ready.
Kagome had her bow and countless arrows, Miroku brought various talismans and spells, Inuyasha only had tetsusaiga, Sango her boomerang and katana, and Mekura carried with him the two items that he would only need, his black onyx katana and his blindfold.
They continued walking and finally came upon a ghastly site; it was a large flaming gate. Skulls decorated the entire stone entrance, which rested in the middle of a large field. The gate to the underworld looked out of place in such a beautiful and serene area.
"Inuyasha…Sango, are you both ready to enter?" Mekura asked. They nodded their heads and stared confidently at the large gate. "Miroku, Kagome, make sure that no creatures or demons escape from the underworld. A single demon could wreak havoc all over the land, destroy them at all costs."
Miroku placed his hand on Mekura's shoulder and handed him a small piece of paper and smiled, "Take this…just in case you find yourself in a desperate situation." Mekura took the neatly folded piece of paper and tucked it underneath his shirt, along with another piece of paper that he had been holding on to.
"Lets get going…" Inuyasha said before Mekura stopped him from entering the gate.
"There is one last thing you two should know before going in with me. Once we set foot in the underworld, we're going to be completely surrounded by a near infinite amount of demons. I'm not even sure that it's going to be possible to kill any of them. If one of you two have any doubts, now is the time to turn back." Mekura placed his hand on his katana and looked at both Sango and Inuyasha.
"We've come this far…there's no point in turning back now!" smirked Inuyasha.
"And you Sango?" asked Mekura.
"I can't turn my back on you, I still haven't repaid you for saving my life." Replied Sango.
"Well, then…lets go." Mekura leapt into the gate and disappeared. Sango and Inuyasha both followed and were carried through a long tunnel. Finally, the three of them emerged on the other side of the gate.
They stood before a massive army of demons, all wielding some form of weapon. At first the demons appeared confused by their appearance, and then it dawned on them. They were facing the enemy. Dozens of demons began running towards them, raising their battle weapons high in the air.
"I tell you one thing Mekura…you were right. There are a lot of demons down here and I'm pretty sure that I sent most of them down here!" laughed Inuyasha.
The three of them began hacking away at the large demons and pressed forward. They were outnumbered, but with their fighting skills and perseverance, they wouldn't falter so easily. Countless demons were cut down in a matter of minutes, as soon as the large beasts fell they would slowly pick themselves up and begin to heal.
Sango and Inuyasha ran through the rows of demons slicing as many as they could. It would get to a point where they would have to stop for a second to wipe the blood from their faces. Mekura stopped and turned back, he severed the head off an attacking demon and waited for Inuyasha and Sango to catch up. The two of them darted through the sea of demons and finally caught up with Mekura.
Inuyasha preformed his "iron reaver, soul stealer" attack and shredded ten demons into little pieces. He looked at Mekura and asked, "There's one thing you haven't told us Mekura…" Inuyasha began to say, "…what or who are we looking for?"
"We're looking for the demon responsible for opening the gate." He replied.
Just then Sango placed her sword back into its scabbard and grabbed her boomerang from her back. She threw the large weapon with such great force that it left a ripple trailing behind it. The large boomerang cut down dozens of pursuing demons in half. "Do you know what demon that is?" asked Sango as she caught the returning weapon.
"Not really, but I have a strong feeling that its that specter we've seen before." He replied. "I have a hunch that IT will find us first, it's just a matter of when. Lets get going, I have a feeling that we should journey towards that strange sound in the distance." Mekura pointed into the distance. A strange black energy could be seen, it appeared to spiral and howl quietly.
They resumed running, but only this time they had some idea on where to head. They dodged numerous demons of all shapes and sizes. Each one of them would hack off a limb or head, in hopes that the demon wouldn't get up so quickly. As they approached their destination, the howling grew louder and more intense. The demons in that particular area appeared to be larger and more ferocious than the ones by the gate.
Meanwhile, back in the mortal world, Kagome and Miroku stood guard by the gate to the underworld. The unholy gate began to shake, the flames surrounding it shot straight into the sky, shadows of many creatures could be seen from within. The gate began to moan and wail. It seemed as if it wanted to dispel what was inside of it. Suddenly, five demons emerged from the fiery gate. They held spiked maces in their enormous hands, and fixed their sights on Miroku and Kagome.
"Mekura was right, it was a good thing that we stayed out here." Remarked Kagome. She grabbed an arrow and took aim. Kagome released the first arrow and successfully struck the demon in the middle of its head. The arrow engulfed its body in its pure energy, causing the beast to explode into ash. The four remaining demons roared in anger as their companion disappeared, they simultaneously charged at Kagome and Miroku.
"Get behind me Kagome!" shouted Miroku as he moved in front of Kagome. He removed his prayer beads from the palm of his hand and unleashed the fury of the wind tunnel. The four demons tried in vain to escape the strong currents, but were sucked into the void.
Just as they about to sit down for a second to rest, more shadows could be seen moving about from within the gate. Two gray specters shot out from the gate and looked at both Kagome and Miroku. The two evil specters gave out a blood-curdling laugh as they drew closer to them.
"I hope that they're not in there to long…" whispered Kagome as she stood back up, aiming her bow at one of the two specters.
Back at the underworld, Inuyasha split a demon that looked like a chimera in two. Sango fended off three serpent-like demons, she hacked their heads clean off and watched as they melted into a puddle of green slime. Mekura had placed his blindfold on and was currently engaging five demons, which appeared to like ox. It seemed like a losing battle, as they killed countless demons and monsters. Just as they were beginning to tire the horde of demons stopped, each demon moved back and retreated into the shadows.
"That's not a good sign…" Inuyasha looked around and noticed that only they remained. A few yards away, was the source of the black energy. The three of them cautiously walked and found themselves at a large spiraling vortex in the ground. Inuyasha approached the vortex and watched as a few small stones fell inside, disappearing mysteriously.
"What do you make of that?" asked Inuyasha. He moved away from the vortex and turned to Sango and Mekura. "You hear me?" he asked. Inuyasha noticed that they were both staring at something. He looked forward and saw the black specter a few feet away from them.
"…" The specter made a strange sound as it hovered in front of them, "…that is the void…" The specter flew over them and floated over the black void, "…nothing that goes in…ever comes out." It said in a wailing voice. "It will be your final resting place…" it laughed.
Mekura walked closer towards the black void and spoke to the black specter, "Are you the one who has opened the gate?"
A pair of bright red eyes appeared from within the black specter as Mekura spoke to it, "…yes, and if you three want to close it…you will have to destroy me, but I should warn you…I am invincible. Even if you manage to destroy me you three will be trapped down here forever!" cackled the black specter.
"No creature is invincible, everything has a weakness!" shouted Mekura.
"Come down here and show us what you're made of!" added Inuyasha.
"I am the Akujin and I shall consume your pathetic souls!" The Akujin flew at them with great speed and landed behind them.
Inuyasha, Mekura and Sango attacked the Akujin with everything they had, but the black specter dodged all of their attacks with the greatest of ease. It maneuvered around them, slashing them with its invisible claws. This continued for two minutes and our three heroes were losing a lot of blood. The Akujin continually cut them across the back and stomachs, spilling their blood on the black ground.
"There has to be a weakness to this foul creature…" wondered Mekura. He clutched a wound across his chest and felt something beneath his shirt. He reached inside and found the mysterious paper that Miroku had given him. He opened it quickly and smiled, he held in his hand just what he needed.
"Inuyasha, Sango get its attention. I know how to hurt that son of a bitch!" Mekura held the paper securely in his hand and waited as Inuyasha and Sango drew the Akujin's attention. The black specter cut Inuyasha across the chest, knocking him down. Just as it was in reach of Sango, Mekura jumped towards the Akujin. He placed the small piece of paper on the Akujin and rolled backwards.
"Arrrgggghhhhh…" The Akujin began to wail and cry out, its agonizing cries echoed. It thrashed about and its black shroud began to fade away into the air. Its hideous form was finally revealed, it was a mass of flesh. It had numerous eyes covering its body, bone and muscle were exposed, and it had no real flesh covering its body.
"What did you do to it?" asked Sango.
Mekura smiled and told her what he had placed on the Akujin, it was a powerful spell given to him by Miroku. The spell wouldn't kill the Akujin, but it would make it vulnerable to their attacks.
"Lets not waste anymore time then, lets kill the damn thing!" shouted Inuyasha. The three of them ran at the weakened Akujin and began repaying it. They hacked and slashed at its horrific body, its thick yellow blood splattered all over the ground. The Akujin flailed its puny arms in an effort to protect itself. Mekura sliced its two arms clean off with one single swipe, the Akujin began to cry out in pain as it was being battered. Sango thrust her sword into the Akujin's frail throat and pulled the sword out, the demon began stumbling backwards. It didn't know that it was being lead towards the black vortex.
Inuyasha wiped the foul smelling blood from his face and swung tetsusaiga. The Akujin's head came clean off, a steady stream of blood sprayed high into the air, before Mekura delivered one final blow. He raised his beautifully crafted sword above the headless Akujin and split the demon down the middle. Its revolting body fell backwards and was sucked in by the spiraling vortex. Mekura sheathed his sword and bent down, picking up the Akujin's head.
The head of the Akujin blurted out various profanities and curses as thick blood poured from its neck and mouth, "…y-you shall never leave my realm…its only a matter of minutes…before the gate closes…trapping you here forever…" The numerous eyes on the Akujin's head rolled back as it spoke its dying words. Mekura threw the head into the center of the vortex, where it would disappear, never to be seen again.
"Lets get out of here! Inuyasha placed tetsusaiga back in its scabbard. The three of them began to run towards the gate unopposed. The ground began to shake and the small flames on the ground grew higher. As they ran, Inuyasha looked back and found a swarm of demons pursuing them. Alas, there was no time to battle and their time was growing short.
AN: Cliffhanger!