Imperfect but Operational

For the second time that day, Inuyasha found himself back in a large, white room that invoked feelings both majestic and haunting.

"Look, I have to go now!" Inuyasha said angrily at the five, white-robed and hooded beings before him. The tallest of them stepped forward and addressed him, keeping his face under the shadow of the hood.

"We cannot allow that. This is something he must pull through on his own."

"No, he needs me to get him out! He can't open a gate, he not a guardian yet!"

"He should never become one," the one on the far right said with a hint of jeer. The tall one raised a pacifying hand to stop Inuyasha's reply to that.

"You are well aware, Inuyasha, of how the council feels about a human guardian."

"Of course I am. It's the same way you felt when a half-breed took up the gate—and I have yet to disappoint."

"The key word being yet," the one on the right dropped again.

"Be that as it may," the tall one interjected loudly, "your purpose was not to make him a guardian, but to guide him in fulfilling the prophecy."

Inuyasha had nothing to say to that. The shortest one spoke next.

"He will survive, only Voldemort can kill him so you need not worry."

"You don't think I know that? But do you have any idea how badly he could hurt himself over there? At the very least he'll end up crippled!"

"You have other duties to attend to, young one," the last guardian stated, obviously female judging from the voice and figure. "He will return in due time...and through a forced opening; the same way he came to Hell. You simply need to wait for it."

Inuyasha stared at the elders in disbelief. They were knowingly preventing him from saving a human in Hell.

Finally releasing a frustrated snarl he stalked out of the room, slamming the door behind him. The guardian on the right looked at the rest.

"You give him too much leeway," he accused, directing the criticism most specifically at the tallest. "He disregards the rules, never follows any of the standard procedures, and is disrespectful to his superiors."

The shortest one grinned beneath his hood.

"Well, I've always liked him. So much spunk."

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Harry leaned forward and moaned, splashing more blood onto the runic design, moving it around with pale and shaky fingers. The adrenaline had long since worn off and the pain of his injuries made itself well known. Add the sheer amount of blood he put into the ritual and Harry found himself at the brink of death.

The ritual proved to be every bit as complicated as it looked. In addition to his own, it required demon blood and, being in the desperate situation that he was in, he used the most convenient supply available—a mixture of different bloods of the demons he had been fighting.

It didn't help that, during the entire process, rubble from the low ceiling constantly rained down on him from the incessant attacks by the demons. His blood shield was not going to hold for much longer; it weakened along with him.

Harry hastened to finish the runic design as his meek protection took another hit. The pain had begun to recede as numbness took over, but this was simply a sign that his body would fail him at any moment. The shield was struck again, and again, and again, until—

CRACK

"Fuck..."

The ward came down, and with it an entire side of his hideaway. A demon had broken through the small opening with a massive swing of its hand. One of the claws—half the size of Harry's body—came inches from scraping his back. Harry spared the hideous, tree-sized demons behind him a glance, catching a brief glimpse of their hungry faces before turning back to his work.

In a last bout of strength, Harry slammed his hands on the center of the design, muttering the incantation in rapid Latin. The ritual was as complete as he hoped it needed to be and the circle was constructed a little crudely, but he was in no position to be explicit. Instead, he hoped against hope that he could finish the deed before the impending claws and teeth he knew were descending on him in that very moment struck home.

As if to answer his prayer, a blinding light suddenly encased him, sending the demons reeling back, roaring in a manner that suggested the light harmed them. Harry paid no attention to their plight; all he could focus on was the fresh pain that tore rampantly through his body. He could feel his insides twisting and his bones remolding. A searing heat shot from his cranium to the base of his spine, then spread outwards to curl every nerve ending within his body—a body that was changing.

At the same time, amidst all the agony of being reconstructed, Harry felt waves upon waves of power washing over his body. Power that was sucked from the demons around him, power that was his own, only enhanced. He knew, somehow, that this power was his power.

It ended as quickly as it started, leaving Harry lying on the ground, gasping and shaking. He couldn't remember if he screamed during the process or not, but his throat felt raw. He lay there for several more moments, his mind feeling both stimulated and blank.

Eventually control returned to him and he pushed himself up from the ground, immediately noticing the difference in himself. Everything seemed to be on stereo. He could hear the heavy breathing of lone demon that survived, as well as the ground shifting under its toes as it began to pick itself back up again, still dazed from the light. He could smell the foulness that reeked from the torn and bloodied bodies littered about, the lingering stench of their putrid breath, each demon having its own distinct scent.

Harry smiled, feeling a small prick on his bottom lip and ran his tongue over two, sharp fangs.

'I have fangs. Win.'

He looked at his hands, still flesh colored, but also equipped with ten pointed claws, each itching to tear through demon flesh.

'And claws. Double win,' Harry thought with a growing grin not unlike a child before a candy store. 'I think it's time to test these puppies out.'

He faltered at the thought, thinking of what Inuyasha would say to him for his rash decision. He already had an array of excuses collected in the back of his mind for when that time came—the first and foremost being: he was about to die.

The demon nearby, towering at close to thirty feet tall, had fully recovered and charged. But its movements seemed slower than its inhuman speed before; Harry felt like he had more time to react.

He prepared to jump, feeling the new, stronger muscles tightening, and leapt forward, flying twenty feet clean into the air. Harry laughed as the rush of air whipped his hair around. He felt as though he were flying without a broom. He did a flip before landing on the skull of the demon. It roared and brought its hand up to swat Harry off. Harry responded by jumping off its head and landing gracefully on the ground by its feet. The demon ended up hitting itself on the head in a classic move of stupidity.

Harry laughed again, feeling the presence of a second demon coming up behind him—no doubt attracted by the bloodbath he had created. Harry turned and leapt at it, raising his clawed hand and bringing it down on the demon's shoulder, throwing out energy from the sharp tips on instinct and effectively tearing off the arm. He landed in a splatter of blood, loving it. Some part of him knew he shouldn't be, but his new, demon blood impaired his judgment like a drug the second the sent of blood reached his acute nose. The slight scent of fear coming off the demon only further excited him.

For the first time in his life, he felt free. He could protect himself; he could choose to do whatever he wanted.

A shrill call sounded from the distance and Harry knew more demons would come. He welcomed it.

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Well, it's not that long, sorry. I have a couple things in mind as to what Harry looks like now but there aren't any wings or dog ears (those are reserved for Inuyasha only! ;D), so sorry again. And we'll find out how much of a demon Harry really his soon.

I also don't know if Harry will eventually fix his relationship with his old friend, but he will be making new ones!

Thanks for the reviews! You guys rock my socks!