/Where am I/
Blurred vision dappled with dark blotches allowed limited perception of the girl's surroundings, but with that, she could see that she had indeed been locked up tight. The walls and floor around her were made of a silvery metal she was unable to identify, and as she gradually regained the use of her other senses, she felt herself bound hand and foot by chain to the wall against which she sat. Blinking a few times, her eyesight cleared, and she could see that the room she was in was very small; maybe sixteen square feet in all. The ceiling was low, too, and the mingled scents of blood and smoke floated in the damp air.
Suddenly, her supersensitive hearing picked up the sound of footsteps, muffled and apparently barefoot. Kagome shuddered as her location—and position—finally made sense to her. /I am Naraku's prisoner. This is not good/ she thought, feeling her heartbeat quicken.
"Kagome."
The miko jumped at the sound of her name, uttered by none other than her captor, smirking proudly as he opened up a door she hadn't seen. The hanyou crawled halfway into the chamber holding a key in his mouth, then took the key and unlocked Kagome's shackles. Rubbing her wrists, she waited until he backed out of the room to exit after him.
"Why did you let me out?" she asked cautiously, keeping her voice at a low volume.
Naraku's smile grew wider. "I sensed that you were awake, and so I thought it best to release you." After a short pause, he added, "At least for now."
Feeling unsafe—and very uncomfortable; she was wearing but a very short, sleeveless white dress—Kagome tried to build up a store of magic in case he tried anything, but she felt herself drained of any such thing. /Of course… He took the Tamashii no Tama after the transformation./
"Indeed, I did," Naraku replied to her thought. "Not only was it incredibly easy to find you, but you are also powerless now."
"I hate you," Kagome growled through clenched teeth. She glared at him with sincere loathing; she meant what she had said.
Taking a step forward and pushing Kagome against the wall, he brought his face close to hers as he had done two nights previous. This time, though, he felt her terrified, ragged breathing on his lips. "Yes, I know you despise me, Kagome. However…" Even closer, he opened her mouth slightly with his hand on her chin and muttered, "I lust after you."
Kagome felt the words on her tongue, shivering at the horrible feeling. "Let go of me…" she whispered. Knowing she had no other option, Kagome prepared to use alchemy to free herself, but before she had the chance, Naraku stepped away.
"Listen to me, wretch," he said darkly. "I /know/ you. I /know/ what you're going to do before you do it." With crimson eyes gleaming in the pale moonlight that beamed through a window above them, he turned away from her and started to walk away. His raven-hued hair billowed behind him as he said, "Don't try anything with me, Kagome."
/Do not hold your breath/ Kagome thought when Naraku had left the hallway. /I don't have to try anything at all./ Looking up through the enormous, circular window, she saw the crescent-shaped moon and debated whether she should try to reach Sakura telepathically or if it would take too much energy. Finally, she knew it would be for her own good, and it would also automatically let Sakura know exactly where Kagome was.
/Sakura/ Kagome screamed mentally, reaching out in desperation for the girl's mind. /Sakura/
/Kagome/ came the confused reply.
/Oh, thank god. Sakura/please, hurry up and find me/
Then the extraordinarily loud clang of a shuriken gun made the poor little oukami nearly jump out of her skin. To her left, a huge chunk of the wall fell forward, cut out of place by seven giant shuriken. Sakura ran into the hallway, followed by six others, two of whom were Steph and Miyako. Kagome's eyes lit up.
"Funny; I was almost here when you found me," Sakura said with a smug look.
"Sakura!" Kagome wailed, leaping into her sister's arms. "I am so glad you are here."
The older girl hugged Kagome briefly before the door at the opposite end of the hallway burst open, revealing an infuriated spider hanyou. Sakura shoved Kagome behind her, clenching her fists.
"So, the heroes finally show themselves," said Naraku. "Well, I'm terribly sorry, but you won't be getting my dearest Kagome back any time soon."
A white-haired boy stepped out from the group, his jet-black eyes like bottomless pits of raging fury. "Don't you /dare/ talk about her like she /belongs/ to you!" he shouted.
"Ah, you must be Akeifa," Naraku said coolly. "King of Thieves, eh? Interesting."
This time, Sakura took the floor. "Shut up!" she screamed. Turning back to the others, she spoke without hesitation: "Protect Kagome! Axel, help me!"
Another redhead emerged. This one, male, had fairly dark skin, and he wore a torn-up tuxedo jacket over a dark red shirt. He wore pants that were covered in zippers and chains, and his shoes—though barely visible—were a pair of red-and-black DC sneakers. His eyes were also red.
Without pausing at all, Sakura and Axel leapt into the air, jumping off opposite walls and invisibly bombarding Naraku with kunai and shuriken from Sakura, fireballs from Axel. Miraculously, they'd caught him off guard, and he was hit by enough of the attacks to be momentarily distracted. "Now, guys/Go!" She raced out of the hallway, along with the others. Although Naraku made no move to pursue them, Miyako used her powers to warp everyone back to their home, causing a wild, flaming whirlwind to engulf them all. When it dissipated, they were nowhere in sight.
/Pathetic…/ he thought, effortlessly mending the wall with magic. /You are all so incredibly easy to manipulate./