Chapter Six There's Nothing Else I Can Do

(Kagome's point of view. She finally enters the clearing, only to find everyone she once knew close to death. Miroku looks very bad as well.)

Oh my God… this can't be happening… Say this isn't happening…

Fairie: But it is, Kagome-san.

Kagome turns to see the fairie.

Kagome: What are you?

Fairie: You must be the little snit that the pervert loved. Good move, rejecting him and all. He's just going to die anyway.

How heartless… I need to save these guys somehow…

Kagome draws her bow and arrow. She shoots it swiftly at the fairie. The fairie collapses, dropping the Shikon Jewel on the ground. Kagome rushes to pick it up, and when she does, a huge explosion of darkness flies out of the still incomplete Shikon Jewel.

Kagome screams

What's this dark light? Oh… it hurts so badly…

Kagome collapses

(Shippo's POV. He comes back to the clearing after hearing Kagome scream.)

Where's Kagome-chan? Miroku-kun? Anybody…?

Shippo sees the blood and the madness, which, if I described, would send you barfing or weeping.

No…

Shippo tries to wake Kagome first.

Kagome! Wake up! Please… wake up, Kagome… please…

Shippo shakes Kagome. No use. He pulls his hands away and sees blood on them.

She's dead… is she dead…? She can't be dead! They're all dead! They're all gone! No!

Shippo tries to wake Sango, Miroku, Inuyasha, and even the Fairie. No one moves, no one breathes, and Shippo begins to cry.

Guys! Come back! Come back…!

Shippo sees the Tetsusaiga lying on the ground. In his immense sorrow, he picks it up off the ground…

Good-bye world. Goodbye, my deceased friends. I hope that you find peace with Kami-sama…

If I only had the words to tell you how depressing this is… and there's only one choice left…

Shippo plunges the Tetsusaiga into his chest, and so tragically ends his life along with his comrades.

But someone stirs in this mire…

(Miroku's POV)

What… what happened here?

He sees that everyone around him is dead.

Dead… all of them…

This is my fault… They're all gone! All of them! Dead as flesh…!

Miroku becomes a bit teary as he tries to revive everyone in turn. He gets to Sango.

Maybe… Sango-san… Sango-san…

Miroku kisses Sango lightly, but nothing happens.

Sango-chan…

Miroku looks upon the carnage. He begins to weep.

No… no! I can't move on, not without them!

Sango stirs. Or so Miroku thinks.

Sango-chan!

Miroku realizes that nothing happened.

'Tis just an illusion…

Miroku kneels down on the ground. He stares at his fallen comrades, and, too heartbroken to think rationally, runs away, leaving them on the ground…

(Miroku's head jerks up. It's still his POV.)

Why am I thinking of that now? That was ten years ago. There's nothing that can be done now… I don't even remember where that was, what misbegotten town I was in…

Miroku is lying in a bed alone, obviously trying to sleep.

I barely remember those guys… Inuyasha-sama, the obvious leader… Shippo-kun, that cute little guy… Kagome-chan, the woman I thought I loved… and Sango-chan… the woman I do love…

It's not going to change. I screwed up my life. And there's nothing to do about it… nothing at all…

The End DISCLAIMER: Hey! I don't own Inuyasha!

A/N: The third ending I wrote (wow, this thing got a lot of mileage…). I think this is the best one, but for some reason I put up the second one… heh, I don't know…