Luna: Next chapter is here!
Veron: And we have a visitor!
Luna: Hai!
Veron: reads paper Jareth the Goblin King…
Luna: grabs it from her NANI? I ordered Keiichi from Oh My Goddess!
Jareth: coughs If you would finish your bickering.
Luna: Aww…his name was right above Keichii's and I was half asleep when I marked it. Damn.
Veron: opens mouth It's not fa-
Luna & Jareth: both glare
Veron: What?Luna: hushed voice Remember the damn ballroom? Or maybe the Escher room?
Veron: …oops?
Luna: sigh
Jareth: This was not in the contract.
Luna: still yelling at Veron
Jareth: Well, I suppose I'll have to then. Here is the next chapter of this god-awful piece of so called literature. And if you do not read it, I shall have to throw you into the Bog of Eternal Stench.
HAPPY FOURTH OF JULY FOR THOSE OF YOU THAT ARE AMERICAN LIKE ME if not well…WHO CARES PARTY FOR ABSOLUTELY NO REASON! THAT MAKES IT EVEN BETTER
Disclaimer: I own nothing! Not Jareth from Labyrinth or Inuyasha-Gumi. But I am just torturing Jareth for a bit. That is if he doesn't get the readers first. Stupid order form! But I own the plot so nyeh!
Chapter 17: Bad Headlines = Angry Rin
Everyone was seated in the massive meeting room that belonged to Sesshomaru on the fifth floor. Newspaper articles lying like road kill for all to see.
"Archaeologists presumed dead after being claimed Missing for two months"
The words made her breath constrict, nearly making her drop her tea on her lap. They couldn't have given up so soon could they? After all it was Sesshomaru who had placed the claim to the police, he had more weight to throw around in this country then most political figures! And they had just given up even with his name on the documents?
Rin seethed.
She was so angry; that her eyes had a slight pink tinge to them, making tiny sparks prickle through the air around her. Making Kagome glare at her instead of the newspaper.
" Rin." She called out to her apprentice sternly, her stormy eyes dark in disapproval.
" Calm down. It's not worth you collapsing again. You barely woke up two days ago after a week! You need to conserve your energy!"
Rin quieted down, her eyes were aflame with hatred toward the police force at that moment. And most likely would shoot down any cop that decided to drop by and apologize. Who would return with an arrow sticking out of his gut. Nah, better make it his throat for good measure.
" Now is our chance to strike." Sesshomaru spoke, his deep voice breaking Rin's murderous train of thought. That voice…it sounded familiar. She knew it did, living with him since she was tiny. But it seemed to prick something in the back of her brain. Something she had heard once long ago. But she'd reflect on that later, right now focusing was most important.
" We can research as we please to find them without the worry of the police interfering. And if any officer should choose to wonder, we can merely act utterly devastated and say that we believe that they are still alive. They've seen enough cases with hopeful relatives and friends after the case is closed and will dismiss it."
" And if they don't?" Inuyasha spat, raising a brow.
" Then we shall have to…convince them won't we?"
Yup, this was a hell of a lot deeper then Rin had thought. She just figured that something weird had happened. But if Sesshomaru was willing to kill to get them back, and men in uniform of all things…
There was something they weren't telling her.
She could see it. As soon as she walked in that morning, all of their eyes had widened and they had mumbled greetings to her. As if she'd been a mother and had convicted them of the crime of stealing from the cooking jar. All but her Sesshomaru of course, but even now the others were fidgeting and refusing to look her way. All but Kagome and Sesshomaru. This was the one thing that served to ignite her anger.
" WHAT THE HELL ARE YOU HIDING FROM ME?" She exploded, standing up quickly and slamming her hands on the table, making her cup of tea tip over and drip over the side.
Silence.
"WELL? WHAT IS IT? DON'T ACT COY! I CAN SEE IT. YOU'VE BEEN TRYING TO HIDE SOMETHING EVER SINCE I GOT HERE!"
Inuyasha, Miroku and Sango averted their eyes guiltily and gazed solemnly at the carpet like it was the cause of their despair.
"DAMMIT! I KNEW THEM BETTER THEN YOU DID! SO TELL ME! I DESERVE TO KNOW!" She cried, tears of frustration collecting in her eyes.
Silence reigned again.
"WELL?!"
Miroku managed to speak first.
" Kanna-san told us when we visited her a few weeks back…
…
That the skull her companions found in the cave was the cause of their disappearance."
Sango spoke up.
" And Kagome said…
…
That in that cave is where an evil bandit named Onigumo died."
Inuyasha snarled at his name but managed to continue the conversation.
" Onigumo is this bandit…
…
That Kagome saved. He lusted after her like a toy."
Rin's eyes widened as Kagome closed her eyes.
" Inuyasha…why did you seal her?"
Inuyasha's eyes widened as emotion flooded his golden eyes, shaking Rin by the shoulders.
" I didn't seal her!"
" I didn't! I tried to warn her…about the bandit..."
The bandit…the skull...Naraku finding it. It made sense now. Naraku had found the cave of Onigumo's remains, a tiny thread of the web of the Shikon no Tama.
" Naraku found Onigumo's skull then." Rin said, gazing at all of them as they nodded.
And Onigumo…is the one who killed Inuyasha's incarnate. Kagome's love. The one who sealed her.
Rin bit her lip as she put the pieces together.
"…Something weird had changed in his scent…something demon had entered him…"
Rin trained her eyes on Sesshomaru, gazing at him somberly.
" When I…
…
Contacted Inuyasha's incarnate.
He told me something…
…About how he died.
…
He didn't seal Kagome.
…Onigumo did."
Inuyasha's eyes widened, as did everyone else's as they focused on Kagome. The miko barely nodded as she bit her lip, her eyebrows furrowing in sadness.
" And…" Rin trailed off as she shut her eyes, remembering his words.
" …Something demon had entered him. Gave him power more then any mortal could handle."
" Onigumo did something. To him to make him able to change forms. To be able to…
…
Forfeit Kagome's attacks.
Inuyasha said that it gave him more power then any mortal would be able to handle. So great that it most likely…
…
Seeped into the very remains themselves."
Sango stood up, her eyes wide as she cried out.
" So Naraku is in danger of the skull? He might be in danger because of the power inside of it?"
" No. Everyone is."
The room snapped their attention on Kagome as she spoke her face calm and collected, but refusing to open her eyes.
" Onigumo…
…
Was jealous of Inuyasha-kun. Because he had me. But most of all…
…
He was a hanyou.
And I was human. Just like Onigumo, who couldn't understand why I would love someone impure as he put it. So he became jealous. And lusted after me. Wanted me. But couldn't have me because he couldn't move.
His darkest desire…
The thing he wanted the most
Above all else…
Wasn't the jewel...
It was me."
Rin glanced at Inuyasha, who was glowering mercilessly at the window. If looks could kill…Onigumo would be dead…ten times over.
" I sensed his power when Inuyasha and I went to the cave. The only way someone would know where he lie was if they knew…
…
Or he called out to them."
" But he was dead! No one could have survived this long! I mean…beside you of course…" Rin finished sheepishly.
" But you said so yourself. Inuyasha-kun said that his power was greater then any mortal can handle. When that happens to a normal human, it seeps into their very being, their soul and bones so it can stay. And not die. For miko's if we ever truly let our emotions get the best of us. We could very well use our very soul up to kill something.
…
But that is rare."
" So Kagome-san, you're saying the Onigumo's skull can talk? And led them to find him?"
" Yes."
" Why?"
" I heard him."
Stunned silence.
" His head may have been gone but his ribs were not. I could hear his very aura whispering to me. Saying my name…
…
Moaning it.
He could speak.
He just needed a weak enough host to take over."
" So you're saying that…
…
Naraku is possessed by this skull?"
" Yes."
Sesshomaru stood, carrying his briefcase with him.
" There is only one way to find out. They used the same airport terminal to arrive here that you did when you came back from America. They had returned from Egypt, why there I cannot fathom but they did. Sometime between 1 PM and 8 PM. So we must find the clerk who was commanding the desk at that terminal."
They all nodded.
Rin had been left at home with Miroku and Sango. But she was really just a tag a long to see Kanna again and question her on Kagome's hypothesis about the skull speaking.
Inuyasha and Kagome were sitting on a blue cushioned bench; their chins perched on their hands as they waited for Sesshomaru to finish speaking to the manager.
Sesshomaru stepped out, as if waiting for someone, his arms crossed over his chest. His gaze not even flickering to the manager's door as it clicked behind him.
When in a swirl of luggage and papers a young man stopped.
Right in front of Kagome, clasping her hands in his.
" My beautiful miko, how I have longed to see you again."
Luna: evil grin Nyeh. Koga's here.
Veron: After what, 11 chapters of disappearance?
Jareth: toying with a crystal sphere
Luna: watches it with awed eyes
Jareth: If you look into it…it will show you your dreams…
Veron: eyes widen and she brings out her katana and smacks it out of his hand, making it break.
Jareth: glares
Luna: blink blink
Veron: Show her, her dreams ne? You might want to beware of showing her.
Jareth: And that is?
Veron: Does the word 'caramel' strike fear into your heart?
Jareth: No.
Veron: You poor naïve royal
Luna: blinks again REVIEW!
Review Responses
szmadad: Nice to see that you are incredibly perceptive! :) And…gomen ne for making you cry! ((hands boxes of cyber tissues)) Yeah…it is really unfair, but don't worry. I'm a sap for happy endings!
Captured Moon: LOL about the gun thing, I have often wondered that too. Wouldn't purifying bullets be the coolest thing ever? Yeah…now that you mention it, it IS sort of the series in reverse. And I can't hate Kikyo anymore. Which a part of be rather despises. Since I bought another imported dvd. And they had an hour long prologue on Kikyo and Inuyasha's relationship before everything bad happened.
…
I ACTUALLY ROOTED FOR KIKYO!
Somebody stop me before I replay the cute moment again!
…
Too late. Damn you Veron and you're slow reflexes…
I nearly forced myself to cry on that episode…and I NEVER cry at ANYTHING. Except maybe funerals…But either way, thanks for reviewing :)
InuYashaHanyou: Thanks and don't worry about the worries over not reviewing last time. It's okay! ((glomps))
lz: Thanks and ((notices her sniffle)) DON'T CRY! ((glomps))
Foamyfun: Actually, I agree with you. I'm not being conceited or anything, but I have noticed a change in my writing since beginning this story. My writing changed while I was doing TSATL. For the better if my amount of reviews tell me anything… And thanks for reviewing! By the way…your name…foamy I mean, go to illwillpress.com, you'll love foamy the squirrel, ((winks))
Sango Twin: We talked already ne? ((glomps))
i won't tell: QUESTIONS! YAY! Um…where did I get the inspiration? Good question…this idea had been worked on in my mind for almost a year while I was working on TSATL. I just kept tweaking it until I had a starting plot line I liked. I have no idea where I got the idea from. I actually never remember, but I should write down where I get the muse messages…And about keeping the story good throughout? I try my best to make it detailed and flow together so that way it won't make drastic changes and shock everyone. I guess that's about all….((hugs)) thanks for reviewing
dragon's kitty: LET'S GO TO SCHOOL IN SWEDEN! j/k. ((huggles Dragon and hands her pocky)) NO CRY!
IMPROVED Uber Rei Model 06: Aw…thanks…((blinks)) DON'T CRY! ((glomps and huggles))
fetchboy84: I hope you have more fun sailing And I shall have to look into your new one-shot and I reviewed the first chappie of the romantic IMTP spin off and the chapter of IMTP! I have an idea for your next chapter . What if he found one of those pottery machines? Like down in the basement and starts playing with it? That be cool ((huggles))
10 more reviews and I'll update…
…
AT LEAST 9!
…
I'm begging aren't I?
…
Please?
…
((big puppy eyes)) ONEGAIIIIIIIIIIII!