Chapter 16

Naraku leaned over and stared into the hole. He saw nothing except for the darkness. Kagura then looked in as well.

"The keyhole is here?" She said doubtfully. "I think Riku lied to us."

"You must have more faith in others, Kagura," Naraku said. "The boy did not lie. I can feel a strange power in there. This is the keyhole."

"What are we to do now?" Kagura asked as she waved her fan.

Naraku remained silent. He was not wearing his baboon pelt so it would not obstruct his view. It was still day and light out, and everything was clear. Still something crept up behind Naraku. It jumped. Naraku turned around and grabbed it by the creature's small neck. He held the small black creature as it squirmed in his grasp.

"This is the keyhole," Naraku said. "Otherwise the Heartless would not be here."

"That thing is a Heartless?" Kagura said. "Disgusting."

"I can feel the darkness within the creature," Naraku said. "It wants to reach the heart. It is its only goal." The Shadow kicked Naraku. Naraku was not hurt in the least, but a light appeared where the Heartless had kicked him. A hole had opened up within Naraku and the nearly complete Shikon jewel emerged from his body. It floated up in front of Naraku and the Heartless. The light was coming from the jewel. The Heartless had stopped moving.

"The jewel has tamed it." Naraku said. "Now I shall make this Heartless mine, and add its power to my own. Then I shall see what it truly is." The Heartless began to move again as a dark glow surrounded it. Slowly it began to shrink, being absorbed into Naraku, who had begun to glow as well. Soon the Heartless was gone completely, absorbed into Naraku's body. Naraku then grabbed the jewel and returned it into his body as well. The dark glow surrounding him darkened.

"Now I understand."

-

"I feel a powerful force building up," Kikyo said as she turned. "It feels similar to those creatures I faced." She continued to look back. "It's Naraku, it must be." She started walking toward the presence.

-

A swirl of air suddenly surrounded Inuyasha as the claws came down. They all slashed him but he was still alive. Blood came out of his open wounds.

"Inuyasha, get away," Sora shouted as he ran up. "That spell won't be able to protect you again." Inuyasha jumped away and grabbed his sword. The Heartless started to rear its claws again when Sora came and sliced some of the tentacles off. The creature roared in pain as Inuyasha performed a wind scar as well. The tentacles began to regenerate.

"Inuyasha, attack the heart!" Sora shouted pointing at Heartless symbol on the creature. Inuyasha and Sora both jumped at the same time and slashed the symbol. The creature roared again as sparks began to shoot out of it and a bright light appeared. Then the Heartless was gone.

"Finally, it's dead," Inuyasha said. "Sora, what kind of spell did you use on me?"

"It's called an aero spell," Sora said. "It surrounds the person and protects them from some damage, but with the amount of damage the Heartless was dong to you it wouldn't protect you for long."

"Well, thanks anyway." Inuyasha said.

"No problem." Sora said.

"Inuyasha!" Kagome said as she ran up to him. "Is it over?"

"Yeah, it's gone." Inuyasha said.

"We have to help the others." Kagome said and they went over to Miroku, Sango, Donald, and Goofy, still lying unconscious on the ground. Kirara nudged Sango, trying to wake her up.

"They're out cold," Inuyasha said. "The Heartless was really hurting them, they'll be out for a while." He turned. "I feel a huge mass of energy building up."

"I feel something to," Sora said. "It feels like the Heartless."

"We have to go find it," Kagome said. "But what about the others?"
"I'll stay with them, Kagome," Shippo said. "I'll make sure they wake up."

"Okay, you stay here," Kagome said. "Sora, Inuyasha, let's go."
"Right." They both said and started to run to the presence. As they approached they began to recognize the surroundings.

"Hey, Inuyasha, doesn't this look familiar?" Kagome asked.

"Yeah, it does, we're by the Bone Eater's well." Inuyasha said.

"Why would this power be here?" Sora asked.

"Don't know," Inuyasha said. "Let's find out."
They continued on and as they approached the well they saw two figures standing by it. It was Naraku and Kagura.

"What are they doing here?" Kagome asked.

"Kagome, be careful," Inuyasha said. "The power I feel is coming from Naraku."
"That's Naraku?" Sora asked, seeing the man with the long brown hair in the white baboon cloak.

"Yeah, but what's going on with him?" Inuyasha asked. As he and the rest looked they saw a dark light surrounded Naraku. Even Kagura backed away from him.

"What are you doing here Naraku?" Inuyasha demanded to know.

"Welcome, Inuyasha," Naraku said. "Sora, glad to finally meet you."

Sora did not respond but only got his Keyblade out.

"Kagura, you may leave us." Naraku said.

"But, Naraku-" Kagura started.

"Do as I say." He said and Kagura got on her feather and left. "You three have come searching for the keyhole."

"How did you know?" Sora asked.

"The Heartless know all your plans," Naraku said. "As do I, since the Heartless and I are now one."
"Naraku, what did you do?" Inuyasha asked.

"The power the Heartless have given me, combined with the Shikon jewel shards, is more than I could have imagined," Naraku said. "With this power I am no longer restricted to this world. I can travel to any worlds, destroying them as I please. The Heartless I have absorbed have led me to a greater understanding of them. You can never know the things I do."

"We will not let you destroy any other worlds." Sora said.

"You understand so little," Naraku said. "How can you stop me when I control the Heartless?" Naraku raised his hands and Shadows appeared out of the ground. There were so many of them that they appeared to be one giant black mass.

"The Heartless are part of me," Naraku said. "And I am apart of them. And both of us wish to see this world destroyed." The Heartless attacked.