It was a legend known by many; a tall tale many thought would never come true. The legend told of a slayer and priestess who would come to protect, sisters who would become angels, and a jewel that would be forever split. A slayer and priestess would protect the jewel with a silver soul.
An untrained priestess would start the legend as told by the prophets, the slayer and priestess would disappear from time for five hundred years and then reappear. It sounds impossible doesn't it. Let's just say, this is where the story begins.
The demon exterminator hated the jewel. The Shikon Jewel was the source of all her pain and misery. It was the source of her brother's death as well as the demise of her entire family. But most of all, she hated the one in possession of the sacred jewel, Naraku.
He had already killed her love, Miroku, by the curse in his hand. It was a void passed down in every generation that sucked up everything in its path and was sealed by simple prayer beads.
"No Miroku!" she cried. The prayer beads had long since disappeared from around the monk's hand. Looks of sheer terror came over everyone's faces.
"Sango stay away or you'll be devoured as well!" the monk urged. Miroku ran opposite his friends to a place where he could die and not bring anyone with him. His right hand turned towards him of its own accord and pulled Miroku into its dark depths. Screaming for the man she loved, Sango knelt into Kagome's arms and sobbed at her great loss.
The young slayer grimaced as the memory resurfaced itself. All she wanted was to forget the awful pain, forget she was ever in love with a lecherous monk, and forget Miroku himself.
She just couldn't do it. Sango couldn't go on living knowing there was nothing she could have ever done to prevent those happenings. She couldn't protect her only beloved brother nor the only man who ever made her feel loved.
Love was a feeling long since forgotten when her family had perished. Now that emotion was suppressed by the feeling of sorrow and loss. Sango hoped it would never resurface again, for it was the cause of her sorrow-felt heart. If she had never loved Miroku in the first place, she would have felt no remorse by his sudden death, but alas she did love him and to a great extent.
All she had left in the entire world were Kirara, Inuyasha, and Kagome. Shippou had been killed by a demon that had slinked around Kagome and sliced the kitsune's throat. Kagome thought it was her fault for not being able to protect her adoptive son. The whole group had drowned in depression, but the emotion of vengeance grew stronger in each of them against Naraku.
They had trained hard over two years and thought they could finally take on the evil hanyou. Sango improved her skills with her hiraikotsu and Kirara was more agile in flying. Her speed had improved as well. Kagome learned to battle with a sword from Totousai and Inuyasha practiced the Backlash Wave.
They walked in silence towards the location of a dark miasma, thought to be the location of the real Naraku. The group passed the dead trees and meadows, past the dying crops and the fallen corpses to a tall, menacing mountain. Naraku's mansion stood dark and dreary on top. The element of evil surrounded them as they climbed the steep trail that led to their target.
"I see they have finally found my true hiding place. I have missed them terribly for the past two years. Today they will die by my hand, for I have grown tired of their interference with my plans." a maniacal voice threatened from a behind a dark screen. A single candle flickered in the shadows, making a figure's shadow an evil silhouette against the wall.
