A/N: Oh guys, I know I am a never-updating bitch, and I'm sorry! The university that I go to isn't exactly reasonable with the damn requirements. Also, my boyfriend and I just broke up, and those of you who have ever had a boyfriend probably know how upsetting that is, and I just can't seem to concentrate. Oh well... I guess we probably weren't really meant to be, ne?
But now I have to look for a new boyfriend! Oh, the thrill of the hunt... LOL!
To all my lovely reviewers, thank you sooo much for sticking with me, even now that I update like, every blue moon. I have just gained a bit of inspiration, so I may be back to updating again about once a week. This story has five chapters to go, by the way! And please excuse any typos I may have. Remember, I don't have, and have never had, a beta.
Besides, we all know what does to our formats...
This chap is insanely long, so I split it into two parts, so you all won't get an eye-burn or anything. Arigatou for reading and please review! I love you all!
Disclaimer: I own nothing. Damn.
SEVEN WEEKS
The New Moon – Part 1
Inuyasha was practically flying across the fields with Kagome on his back. Eagerness crawled at his insides as he anticipated the upcoming fight. He knew it had to be now... screw the new moon. He was gonna kill Naraku. NOW.
He could hear Kagome whimpering slightly from the pains in her abdomen. 'Menstrual cramps,' he thought. 'Oh well... at least her heat is over.'
"Ne, Kagome," he said. "Since we're so close to the tower and all, why don't you give me a briefing of what we might be facing there?"
Kagome frowned, which went unnoticed since she was on Inuyasha's back. "What do you want to know?"
"Everything," he replied, leaping sharply over a protruding tree root. "I want to hear about Naraku, the damn tower, the Shikon and the Shikon no Tama."
"Right now?"
"No, tomorrow. After we kill Naraku and all that," he replied, his voice dripping with sarcasm. "Well?"
"Ok, ok! Sheesh... Let's start off with Naraku. He used to be one of the knights of the palace. A blue star, if you may. He was one of the best imperial guards because honestly, the man is an incredible fighter."
"Keh. Not better than me, I'm sure."
"Oh shut up. Anyway," Kagome continued. "He always gave me the creeps... quite a braggart, with a tainted aura. He was always trying to get me to notice him, if you catch my drift."
"Fucking lech. Did he make moves on you?"
"Oh, of course not. I was the princess and all, and one thing about that is, I can't be touched by any man. Literally. The power of the shikon, which I will be telling you about LATER," she said when Inuyasha started to interrupt. "It dispels strong surges of power whenever anyone of the opposite sex comes near enough to touch. The power surge sort of shocks any man whose powers are weaker than mine. And since I was the most powerful person here, no one can touch me."
"Ok, so how did he manage to abduct you?" Inuyasha inquired, keeping his eyes on the horizon, watching the approaching tower.
"Well, when he disappeared for about two years, I really started to worry. But then, he came back, and his aura had changed from tainted to a solid black. I sensed his power all over the place. My knights refused to let me fight him. But... He defeated all my knights," she choked on tears that were beginning to gather in her eyes.
Inuyasha panicked at the scent of tears. "Hey, you don't have to go on if..."
"No, it's ok," she replied. "He killed my brother, decked Sango and Miroku, gave Miroku that curse... then he approached me. The moment his hands touched my skin, I knew I wouldn't win. He was more powerful. I tried to fight him, but he knocked me unconscious, and the next thing I knew, I was a prisoner in the garnet tower."
Inuyasha ground his teeth together in fury. How dare he... "So, how did you get out?"
"He had put me in a dome that repelled my powers. It would not let me pass, but I figured out that it was the Shikon that it was blocking, not me. The Shikon is the power bestowed to every princess upon ascending the throne. So, I gathered the Shikon, and put it into the Shikon no Tama."
"Which is what?"
"The Shikon no Tama," she continued. "Ordinarily acts as a fuel to my power. But I have learned that if needed, I could use it as a sort of storage for the Shikon itself. The Shikon is what my holy powers as a princess is called. I summoned my powers into the gem, but right before I pulled them all in there, I used my last powers to call for you, and teleport out of the Garnet Tower."
"The girl in my dreams... it was you, calling me," Inuyasha mused. "You came to me in my dreams." At Kagome's nod, he continued. "So what happened after that?"
"Once I managed to store the Shikon in the Tama, I teleported out of the dome. I then camped out near the palace, waiting for you to come along. Of course, losing the Shikon from inside me made me just another priestess with a good blast of reiryoku. I could be touched, I couldn't pray for the land, and I had to watch helplessly as the land began to whither. But I HAD to get away. I made the Shikon sensitive to evil powers, so it would respond whenever Naraku was around. It kept him thinking that it was still me in the dome for a while."
"That would explain why he didn't figure out that the princess was missing," he said, but then something occurred to him. "But after you got out, why didn't you just return to the palace and show Miroku that you were ok? Why did you leave them to worry about that?"
"Well, for one, I wanted to somehow be able to help you fight Naraku," she said. "He owes me for killing Souta, and I knew that if I went back to the palace, they wouldn't let me fight with you. Plus, you being from another land, would be unfamiliar with certain things that not even Miroku, a man who grew up here, would know. I know almost everything about this land, so I knew I could be the only one to help you."
"So you posed as an archer and cat burglar to get me to keep you with me."
"Hai. I was taught by my father how to use a bow since I could walk, since he thought, being the future princess, I had to somehow learn to defend myself. I never really stopped training. I always shot in private back in the palace whenever I had the chance. I wish otou could see how good I got... but it's not like it matters."
"Why not? Is he dead?"
"No, but he doesn't remember me. He doesn't even know that he had a daughter named Kagome and a son named Souta. He had been so proud of me, gloating to everyone that his daughter and son bore star marks, and I was the future princess. We didn't really know that he wasn't supposed to remember us once we were seated. Once a star-bearer is taken into the palace, all memories of that person are erased from the minds of those who knew him. Same goes for me."
"That's terrible! Nobody should be kept from their family! Anyway, what about that prophecy thing? Is that the book I saw beside your throne the day I got to Crystallia? The thick black one? And how did I get a mark? I'm not from here," Inuyasha inquired.
"The thick black book is the Book of the Prophecy. I don't know the reason, but I am only allowed to read that book one page per week. That's why though I am knowledgeable about most things, there are still some things I am not to know til much later. The prophecy doesn't state what actually happens... It reveals the secrets of Crystallia, and the forces within," she answered. "I don't know the outcome of anything, but from that book, I will know how to counter unbecoming things. And as for you having the mark... I have yet to get to that page. I think I was just about to start on that chapter when I was kidnapped."
"Oh, I think I get it," Inuyasha said, pausing for a moment to regard just how close they were to the Garnet Tower. "We're close, Kagome. And I could smell so many scents from here. Most of them aren't so good. Hold on to me, ok? This is gonna be a damn rough ride
"Chikuso!"
The frustrated swearing pulled Miroku from his less than fitful sleep. The previous day had been rough and tiring, and uncomfortable as he was, tied up to a wall, the exhaustion had claimed his senses soon after...
Miroku felt his cheeks heat up as he remembered... he and Sango... they had finally admitted their feelings to one another. And as annoying as it was that he couldn't even kiss her after the admittance (as he had always dreamed of doing), the thought had put him into enough ease that he had actually fallen asleep right after Sango nodded off.
Hmph. They had finally 'fessed up, but they were still slow if compared to Inuyasha and Aza- er, Kagome. From what he had gathered, they had already gone waaaay past kissing. Inuyasha, that lucky bastard!
He looked up as he heard the clinking of chains and more swearing coming from his girlfriend. "Sango? What is going on?" he asked as he blinked his eyes rapidly in an effort to help them adjust to the darkness.
"Miroku? You're awake?"
"Oh, no, I'm talking to you in my sleep," he answered. "What are you doing, Sango-chan?"
"I'm trying to slip out of these chains. We have to get free sometime," she replied as she went back to work.
"Oh," Miroku said oh-so-articulately. "Wish I had thought of that. But Sango, these chains are skin tight! You can't slip out without harming your lovely skin."
"Maybe on you," she said. "They're a bit more loose on me, so I grunt just groan might be... able to! Argh!"
"But..."
"And as for my skin," she interrupted. "There isn't a part of me that isn't already bruised, so I don't have a problem with that."
"But what will you do if you indeed get out of those chains?"
"I don't know, ok?" she snapped. "Maybe I'll try to help YOU get out of yours."
Miroku's eyes had adjusted to the dark by now, and he stared at Sango as she continued to fidget with her chains. He sighed in defeat before turning to his own chains.
"I guess you're right. We have to get free and grunt maybe get out of this place to find Inuyasha and Kagome."
Sango paused. "Oh... you have already met up with them, haven't you? How are they?"
"They are quite fine. And allow me to say that those two are a lot 'closer' than we would have anticipated."
"Nani? You mean..."
"They are an item, if you catch my drift."
"Oh!" Sango exclaimed, distracted enough to suddenly quit her work. "Why the heck didn't Kagome tell me?! Oh, she is sooo gonna get it! And... Oh my... So... that's why Inuyasha got furious about the glitch! It would give him a shorter time to be with Kagome!"
"Oh," Miroku said. 'I guess Inuyasha isn't so lucky after all.' "We have no time to lose, then. Let's hurry and get these gods be damned contraptions off our hands!"
"Hai! Hayaku, Miro-chan! Hurry up!"
"You called me 'Miro-chan', my dove?"
"Drop it, Miroku. Hurry up!" Sango exclaimed as she worked on her binds with a newfound determination.
"Kaze no Kizu!"
A hoarse yell came from the last of the dozen youkai that had been attacking them as it slowly disintegrated. Kagome was still holding on to her bow, a glowing arrow notched up in case any more youkai decided to spring and launch an attack against them.
Now that the action was over, a horrible scent suddenly filled her nose. She placed a hand over her nose and mouth as she put her weapon away, wondering what could possibly have such an ungodly odor. A sound off to her right made Kagome turn, and a surprised gasp escaped her as she saw Inuyasha on his knees, retching out the contents of his stomach.
"Inuyasha!" she exclaimed, running over to him with a hand still over her nose. He straightened as she approached, before pulling her to him and burying his nose in her hair.
"Inuyasha?" she asked, the disgusting scent forgotten as she wrapped her arms around him. He was breathing shallowly, but he seemed to be trying to inhale as much of her scent as possible. "Inu, what is going on?"
"Horrible... the scent is horrible!" he said, muffled by her shoulder pressed against his face.
"I know, I smell it too, but..." she trailed off as she realized. Inuyasha was extremely sensitive to smells, and if the smell was horrible to her, it must have been nauseating for him.
He looked up then, and slowly stood, pulling her against him and instructing her to ride on his back. Kagome grimaced slightly as she saw the large diagonal wound that Inuyasha was now sporting on his back. She looked up cautiously as she climbed up his back, wincing as she saw the sun begin to set.
Oh why, why, why did those stubborn youkai have to attack them when Inuyasha was almost human?
They could see the tower clearly from their position on the hill they had been battling on, but the grounds surrounding it was shrouded in what appeared to be dark mist.
Both would bet that the smell came from down there.
Inuyasha set off again, an arm against his face to block out the dizzying smell. It was horrible, and as they quickly descended, landing firmly at the bottom of the hill, they finally found where the horrible stench was coming from.
Kagome gagged at the sight before her. About a hundred mangled, rotten bodies lay on the field a few meters before them, starving vultures and birds of prey feeding on their remaining flesh. Inuyasha turned away, holding his hand tightly over his nose as the horrible scent of decay threatened to overwhelm him. Just a few hundred meters beyond the field of decaying bodies stood the Garnet Tower, surrounded by a nearly translucent red dome.
Kagome looked down at the hanyou carrying her, noticing with unease that he looked a little green. She herself could feel bile begin to rise in her throat, but she stubbornly tamped it down as she slid off Inuyasha's back.
"Kagome, where are you going? Oi!" Inuyasha called as she began to walk away from him. His voice was muffled by the sleeved arm that had yet to leave his nose.
Kagome refused to acknowledge him as she walked towards a bunch of bodies, examining them critically as she tried to hold in her breath.
"Naraku," she whispered venomously. "Naraku killed all these people."
"What?"
"He killed all these people," Kagome continued, making her way back to Inuyasha. "Look at them," she gestured to a nearby corpse, whose decaying body revealed that his head had been almost completely severed from his neck, leaving only a tiny amount of sinew to hold it there. "This is Naraku's horrible killing style. His trademark, so to speak. He would kill a person, leaving him 'nearly headless', as he likes to say."
Inuyasha held back another round of retches as he pulled his arm away from his nose. "This is... heartless. Who are all these people?" he asked, noticing that they all seemed to be wearing similar outfits. "Imperial guards?"
"Yes. I didn't know they were here. I had wondered about what happened to the guards stationed here. When I left the dome, I had teleported out of the tower and appeared on the teleportation pod near the palace," she said, referring to the the platform Inuyasha had appeared on when Sango brought them to Crystallia. "Gods, these men all died before anybody managed to inform the palace what was going on."
"I can't imagine anybody doing this. This is a complete massacre..." Inuyasha replied, looking at the corpses with a mix of disgust and utter pity. He clenched his fists, gritting his teeth in anger. "And this has got to stop."
The Shikon no Tama pulsed violently, the dark red tint momentarily lighting up, before the bloody hue overtook it once again. Naraku grinned as he stared at the jewel, which looked terribly conflicted by the way the colors rapidly pulsed.
Naraku's evil, and Azalea's purity both seem to be drawing hard on the jewel. She was near, and he could feel it. The jewel could feel it. Her pure heart was trying to envelope the hatred and bitterness he had placed into the jewel, trying to purify the corruption he had appended into the holy tool.
"Naraku-sama," soft voice called from the doorway of his chambers. "Inuyasha and Azalea are almost upon the castle."
"Good," he replied, standing as he slowly put the raging Shikon no Tama into a fold of his robes. "Call upon Kagura. It is time."
"YES!!!" Sango cried, wrenching her throbbing right hand free of its chain. She rubbed her abused wrist with her still bound left hand, Giving Miroku a small smile as he grinned at her in congratulations.
"One hand to go, Sango," he said cheerfully, still unable to slip out of his own binds.
Sango gave him a big smirk, before gleefully flexing her free hand, making a short scythe spring out from beneath her tight sleeve. She then slashed off her other shackles, before leaning down to undo her feet.
"Tada!" she said proudly as she marched towards the bewildered monk.
"Wow. I didn't know that was there, Sango-chan," Miroku said in amazement. "You hide some mean weapons in that outfit."
"I'm a taijiya. Or I was, at least, and I need as many weapons as I can get," she replied, slashing off Miroku's shackles before giving him a short, almost shocking kiss on the lips.
Miroku was shocked to find himself blushing.
He cleared his throat to divert the attention from his flushed cheeks. "So... where did you get your outfit? You can't tell me they were the same ones you wore to the palace six years ago."
"Of course not!" Sango replied with a grin. "These were my mother's."
"Your mother? I don't believe you have ever told me about your mother," Miroku said as they walked towards the door of their cell.
"You're right. I will, after we defeat Naraku and get the Shikon back. And that's not an IF."
Both peeked out through the bars, trying to see if there were any guards around, and were rather shell-shocked to find all the corridors empty. Not to mention, completely silent.
"What's going on? Where are all the guards?" Miroku asked in a hushed voice.
"Who cares? The more people there are, the harder to get out," Sango replied as she maneuvered to get her weapon between the locks of the cell.
"But Sango, doesn't this mean that there may be a lot of things going on beyond our knowledge? Maybe Inuyasha-sama and Kagome-sama have finally reached the tower," Miroku said hopefully as Sango popped the cell door open.
"We can hope," Sango replied. "But for now, Miroku, we need to find our weapons."
The sun hung dangerously low on the horizon as Kagome made her way through the field of bodies slowly, being careful not to step on any part of any of the mangled bodies. Inuyasha trailed behind her, his nose buried in his sleeves. Kagome was careful not to disturb anything in further fear of fumes, since her companion had the tendency to pass out at extreme scents.
Ha... one thing she had a stronger resistance against than him. Ironic that scent was the thing that Inuyasha mostly used to get by, but it was also the thing that could deck him most easily.
Kagome walked on, spotting a rather conspicuous looking spot in the middle of the corpses. It was as if the soldiers had stood around that particular spot before they were brutally massacred. Inuyasha stopped right behind her, looking around, figuring as she was that they may be standing at the exact same place were Naraku stood as he finished off the imperial guards.
A sudden shiver crept up Kagome's spine, and she instinctively looked up.
"Inuyasha, look!" Kagome pointed up as she noticed a single, white feather, slowly falling from nowhere. She and Inuyasha watched, struck dumb, as it landed on one of the dead bodies close to her.
At the exact moment it landed, strong winds blew through the field, wildly throwing about smaller fragments and decaying clothing into a whole tornado of dark, swirling jyaki.
"What the fuck is going on?!" Inuyasha yelled, dropping his arm from his nose as he rushed towards Kagome, pulling her close with an arm as the other went to the hilt of Tetsusaiga.
"I don't know! This wind! It's... Oh, gods!" Kagome cried, pointing a bit away.
"What?!" Inuyasha asked, turning to look in the direction of Kagome's horrified eyes. "Kami-sama..."
The swirling winds of jyaki was passing over all the dead bodies, and it seemed to be reviving each one – except for the fact that the bodies remained their rotten, decayed selves.
The mangled corpses were rising to their feet, heads hanging by only the thinnest thread of tissue. Some have decayed so badly that the heads fell off as they began to stand, to be crushed by the pounding footsteps of its own body.
Kagome was pale with horror, Inuyasha nearly green with disgust. The skin and lean that hung weakly from the dried dead bones were falling off, leaving behind the corpses a trail of crumbled filth as they slowly walked towards the huddled pair.
"This is not good... this is not sanitary..." Inuyasha mumbled as he pulled out Tetsusaiga. Something seemed off, though, and he looked at his sword. It took him only a moment to figure out what it was.
"Kuso!" he spat angrily, tearing his gaze away from the old katana in his hand.
"Inuyasha, Tetsusaiga isn't transforming!" Kagome cried, clutching one sleeve of his haori as she stared alternately between his battered katana and the approaching zombies. Both looked up to find that the sun was by now barely peeking through the far-off mountain ranges.
"What a fucking bad time for the damn sun to set!" Inuyasha said, pulling back his sleeves after putting Tetsusaiga back in its scabbard, readying himself for the undoubtedly repulsive battle. "I can't use Tetsusaiga without my youki... might as well do hand-to-hand."
"Ee. Be careful, Inu-chan."
"Take care of yourself... koishii."
Both turned away from each other, pushing slightly against the other's back as they assessed their enemies. Kagome couldn't help the revolted shudder that passed through her spine as she watched a particularly distorted corpse making its way toward her, its moth-bitten eyes lolling out of their sockets as the head hung limply on thin sinews of muscle around its neck.
Her disgust turned to guilt as her eyes headed south to its chest, and upon seeing his name patch, she realized that the corpse she was now eyeing with disdain was one of the guards she had particularly enjoyed speaking with on lazy afternoons in the palace.
Inuyasha though, had no other thoughts other than utter and absolute abhorrence of the undead monsters walking towards them. His lips curved up into a snarl as pulled a hand back to strike at his first victim.
He lunged forward as the first zombie came into range. He immediately headed for the chest, intending to pull out whatever he could and hope that it disables the monster. It teetered as he pulled out a rotted, still heart from its chest, but it kept advancing and he was left with no choice but to try and mutilate the lot in the hopes that they would stop attacking if they were only toe-sized.
Kagome notched up an arrow as she heard Inuyasha give his trademark snarl before attacking. She fired the moment she felt him leave her side, pinning three corpses with one arrow as she did.
The headless zombie that was pinned most upfront pulled a hand back, and pulled the arrow out of their bodies, and Kagome choked as a glob of blackened ooze squirted from their chest. The zombie threw the arrow aside, advancing towards her as his feet unsteadily clanked against one another as he struggled to walk.
"Sankon Tetsusou!" Inuyasha yelled from behind her, and Kagome noted that he was using the good old "whack it until it stops moving" routine. But she couldn't possibly do that...
"Kya!" she exclaimed as one nasty-looking fellow with green goo coming out of its eye reached for her arm. She pulled her arm free, shuddering with repulsion.
She noticed that most of them were now beginning to move faster, and seemed to have been alerted to the fact that they carried weapons with them. She used her bow to fend them off, hacking off any part within reach.
"Shit," Inuyasha cursed as he dodged a sword that had been aimed for his head. It seemed the zombies wanted another member to their "nearly headless troop". He grabbed the offending sword from the creature in front of him, gagging at the putrid scent and the view of its pecked-out nose.
Seeing that Tetsusaiga was useless for now, he had to resort to drastic measures... even if it meant taking from a dead soldier. Oh well... dead people won't be missing their stuff, anyway.
"INUYASHA!"
Kagome's shout cut through his thoughts, and he turned around to see a large zombie looming behind him, a large battle axe aiming for his head.
"Seibai!" Miroku finished off the last of the five guards in the armory, all of whom were blank-faced neko-youkai.
Sango gave him a thumbs-up as she retrieved the last of her many weapons from the storage, and he gave her a win as he signaled for them to head out.
"Where do we go now?" Sango asked. She had been the one to let them out, but it seemed Miroku rather knew his way around the garnet tower. Perhaps from the scriptures?
"We turn right, then we..."
"Help your comrades," a soft but authoritative voice sounded from behind them, making them both twirl around with their weapons at the ready.
"Where are you?" Sango demanded.
"Right here, taijiya," the voice replied, stepping out of the shadows, and Sango immediately recognized the flowing red kimono and the ruby lips.
"Kagura!" Miroku said angrily. "What do you want?"
"I want you to get out of here, now."
Both blinked at the youkai. "Nani?"
"You were saying, you had to turn right, ne, houshi? If you turn right, you will be heading right into Naraku's chambers, which will be pointless since he isn't in there," Kagura said with an air of one explaining that two plus two equals four. "You haven't been reading your books too well. You turn left. That will lead you to the back doors."
Miroku thought for a moment, though he kept his attention on the wind youkai. "Oi... she's right, Sango," he whispered to his girlfriend.
"Nani?" Sango said in surprise.
"Of course, I'm right! I live here!" Kagura said in exasperation. "Inuyasha and Azalea are in danger, fighting for their lives right outside the palace's front doors. Now are you leaving or not?"
Sango could contain herself any longer. "You are our ENEMY! What are you telling us this for?"
"I am not obliged to reveal my reasons to you," Kagura replied snippily. "But I am telling you, you should get out of here before it is too late. This night... Inuyasha will not make it by sunrise if you do not hurry."
They immediately turned left.
Inuyasha jumped back, but he knew he was a fraction too late and would get a bad headache out of this at the least.
"HIRAIKOTSU!"
The sudden shout, accompanied by a flying monstrosity of a boomerang shot through Inuyasha's senses, throwing him for a loop as he watched the axe fall to the monster's feet as the zombie's torso was chopped off his body.
He looked up as the boomerang whizzed by in an arc, returning to its wielder.
"Sango-chan!" Kagome cried tiredly from somewhere behind him. "Miroku-sama!"
Both were running towards the exhausted pair, Sango spinning her weapon around like it weighed nothing, Miroku holding out his shakujou as he swung it in an arc, the pair effectively tearing a path of mangled undead beings.
Inuyasha leapt towards Kagome as they approached, using his claws on the monsters that dared come near.
"Inuyasha, Kagome, duck and cover your faces!" Sango yelled, holding up a dark, fizzing ball that she was aiming in their direction.
Both did as they were told, and Sango threw the bomb a ways away from them. The ball exploded in a show of light and smoke, showing nothing but blasted, rotten body parts as the fog cleared.
Miroku and Sango finally reached Kagome and Inuyasha, and the girls gave each other a small hug accompanied by excited squeals before turning back to the task at hand. Inuyasha gave Miroku an impromptu high five.
"I'm so glad you're both ok!" Kagome said happily even as she let loose a particularly fueled spirit arrow and eliminated at least five of their undead foes.
"Ee, me too Kagome-chan!" Sango said, panting through her teeth as she crushed another zombie with her Hiraikotsu. "But you have a lot of explaining to do once this is over!"
"I know!"
Miroku and Inuyasha were a bit ahead, clearing a path towards the Garnet Tower's front doors. Inuyasha was using his claws and stolen sword on their decaying opponents, Miroku using his shakujou and occasionally, his wind tunnel. The latter weapon rather unnerved the hanyou, who, being beside him, felt the pull of the Kazaana every time it was used.
Miroku stepped up before the closed doors as they reached it, and Inuyasha shouted for the girls to hurry up.
"Save the chit-chat for later! Come on!"
The monk opened the heavy doors with a grunt, motioning for everyone to rush in, before he and Inuyasha shut the door in the zombies' faces.
Nobody noticed that the sun had set the moment they went through the doors.
Inuyasha though, felt the transformation as it seemed to take its time flitting through his body. Kagome noticed too, when she saw that Inuyasha's hair was beginning to turn black.
"Inuyasha! Now?" Kagome said worriedly, kneeling down as the weakened hanyou dropped to his hands and knees before them.
"Inuyasha?! What..." Sango exclaimed when she noticed the changes occurring.
"Why, didn't you know, Sango?!" a voice chuckled from above them, right as the last hair on Inuyasha's head bled black, and his ears moved down his head.
"Naraku!" Miroku shouted, brandishing his staff before him as Sango stood at a protective stance before Inuyasha and Kagome.
"Tonight, I have you all right where I want you," Naraku chuckled as he floated down from the higher parts of the tower to stand a few meters away from them. "Tonight... the pathetic hanyou you have chosen to stand against me shall fall..."
Inuyasha slowly stood up, Kagome supporting his wobbly stance at his side as Naraku continued to gloat.
"He shall fall before me... As nothing but a powerless human."
A/N: Ehehe... prepares to dodge tomatoes and eggs being aimed her way Gomen! But never despair! I have the next chapter written down already!
Responses!!!
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Meowz: I wasn't originally planning to fit Shippou in here, but I guess I will give him a small role, just for you!
Paulina: Sige read mo rin! Hehe... Ok lang yun, textmate. And thanks, I'm glad you think na matino akong writer, unlike yung bastos na medyo lukaret na nag-flame sakin. Bye!
Ixchen: Thanks!
Dragon's Kitty: Nice new name! Thanks, I'm glad you like it!
StarrFire3: Well... hehe... THAT was how it turned out. I hope you liked it!
Fetchboy84: Haha! How shocking it must have been for you to find out about the 69 thing! And you're writing a new fic? I'll be sure to check it out once I have spare time. I'm glad you like my fic. Ja!
Ryngrl5: I'm glad you liked it! And I agree, school is one big bother. I can't wait til I'm out of it. But, oh yeah, then I'll have to work. TT Good luck with your own fic, and I'll check it out too, once I have the time!
InuyashaKagome2: Sigh... my vacation just ended last June 7th. Dang. I'm glad you liked it!
Midoriko-sama: Hehe... thanks again for the jacket. It really helped against my first big flame from last chappy. You know what was funny though? The guy claimed to really hate the fic, but managed to read it all the way to chapter28. Strange, ne? Somebody said it was bordering on stupid. Anyway... may I know where you got your jacket? I think I may need one of my own right about now... Thanks so much for the review! You have no idea how much I appreciate your reviews. I mean, I'm also a fan of your work!
Rikishi: Yeah, I have an idea for a new San/Mir fic, but I'm not gonna post it yet. Gotta finish this one first! And on Summer Slam... I really can't stand Kane, the raping hentai. I'm a sucker for John Cena though drools.
Guardian Angel of ALL Anime: Gomen for the long gaps between updates. Hehe... it's kinda hard since my life has been kinda going downhill. I'm glad you liked my chapter, and hey, I promise to make Inu ang Kag's problem work out!
Lilmissy: Glad you liked it! At syempre, nice and slow for our good old Naraku! Yung cage, sa totoo lang, hindi ko alam e. Hehe... Siguro. Hindi ko na kasi napag-isipan yun. Ok lang, hindi naman importante yun e! And don't cry! Akong bahala, magkakatuluyan yung dalawa! Pero baka matagalan... hint
TheWraith: Ah! Teruo's too late! I have just been flamed! But it's ok, I guess... It's my first real flame, anyway. All the other ones I got before were the 'update now you stupid bitch' type. Haha, and I called those flames. And wow, your idea was EVIL?! Dang! Too bad I didn't get to ask you for it. Looks around at other angry readers Hehe... I mean... Never mind. This will be ending soon, I'm afraid. But at least you'd all get to see how it all ends at last, right?
The Literary Dragon: Oh dear... your plan is infinitely close to my original plan. Here's a cookie! Hands over cookie I baked it myself! Anyway, he has three turning two days left. Short time, ne? And actually, I like happy endings, too hint, hint.
Taramagick: I'm glad you like it!
AnimeObsessionFantasy: Hehe... What is it with anime couples taking so long to admit that they like each other?!
InuyashaGirlie: I'm glad you liked my chapter that much! I guess I kinda find that part funny too. And yes, please check them out as well! Thank YOU for reviewing!
Well, that's all I have time for today! Thank you for reading, and please, read and review! Reviews make me think and type faster. Hint, hint. Ja ne!
ScarletRaven1001
