Disclaimer: I do not own Inuyasha, or its characters. I do own, however, the original characters: Alden, Cora, and Setsuko. Using my original characters in your own stories is not permitted, unless with my consent. Thank you.

Chapter 9

Powers of Purity

Freed, that spirit fully stretched out its long wings and leered its red eyes. Flames danced around it in its elated vigor; it had emerged, though severely scathed. Its shape, however, still remained enshrouded in blackness, appearing obscure and shadowy. It stood still in the air, as the flames from the explosion burned, encircling it. Rocky bits and ash showered down afterward in an ominous cloud. That spirit had created a deep volcanic crater, molten material beginning to spew forth. Its wings carried it up, far into the dark sky above.

Alden broke out of his new nightmare, head immediately shooting up and eyes firing open. Beads of sweat were accumulating on his forehead, his breath once again an unsteady panting. The dream had proved to be trembling and frightening, but not as intense as his previous. He did not thrash so violently this time; Cora still remained sound asleep. He gathered his breath and laid his head back down, trying to calm himself. Soon, his body relaxed and his mind fell into an abrupt serenity, as he fell back to sleep once again.

As Alden awoke in the morning, he heard the careful scribbling noise of his sister's writing; she had been adding a new entry in her notebook. Her things lay strewn about on the floor carelessly, as she no longer had her backpack. She was already dressed and prepared for the day's adventures, while she wrote feverishly despite her frequent spelling errors. Cora would sometimes catch herself in a spelling mistake, erasing her letters and trying to sound out the word in her head. She contorted her mouth in concentration as she came up with her best spelling for her current word.

Alden forced himself to get up and ready. He dressed himself and by that time, Cora had finished writing. She obviously had much to write about their travels yesterday.

"You ready to go?" Alden asked Cora, heading out the door.

"Yep," she said joyfully, closing her notebook with a swift movement. "Let's go have breakfast."

They entered the adjacent abode, everyone already gathered for some tea and bread. Miroku and Kaede had not returned yet; Kagome showed a look of concern as a result. She wondered what had become of the ill girl. Inuyasha did not seem preoccupied with such thoughts; he seemed particularity impassive this morning.

"Good morning," Cora greeted them, smiling brightly. "I'm hungry."

"Oh. Hi, Cora!" Kagome said, her worries dispelled momentarily. "Here, have some bread. It's good. I bet nothing like your bread back at home."

Cora took a slice and chewed it gratefully.

"Hm. It is good," she said. "Very good."

Alden conversed with Sango for a while in an undertone, Inuyasha snorting at their mushy comments to each other. Sango blushed sporadically, responding with a giddy mumble. Myoga soon interrupted their conversation, however, much to their disappointment.

"Ahem," he said, trying to get their attention. "Master Alden, if I may ask you something. Sorry to bother you."

"Not a problem, Myoga," Alden said. "What's wrong?"

"Oh, nothing. Just thought an update on your dreams might be interesting."

"Oh, sure. I forgot to tell everyone, sorry."

Myoga increased the volume of his ahem's to get everyone's attention, and Alden began.

"Last night, I dreamt of that shadowy figure again. It was finally free from underneath the earth. Fire swirled around it, like it created a volcanic eruption or something like it. It stretched out its wings and flew up into the sky, and then I woke up."

"Your dreams sound scary," Kagome said. "I know I wouldn't be able to fall asleep after having all these nightmares."

"You get used to them."

"Hm. Interesting once again," Myoga said. "But you still are unable to discern the shadowy figure, Master Alden?"

"I can't tell what it is," Alden told them. "That's the only unclear part about my dreams."

"You said that whatever the shadow is, it has wings, and it is the size of perhaps, Kagome?"

"Yes. That much I can tell. But that's it. Not too much help, is it?"

"Hm. A shadow from underneath the earth....."

Myoga began mumbling things to himself, while everyone resumed their previous conversations.

After everyone was done eating breakfast and conversing, they exited the abode into a cloudless day. The sky was blue, the wind gentle and pleasant. It consoled Kagome slightly, who was currently worried about the sickly girl's well being. She wondered if they should leave the village to check to see what had transpired. But before she could ask the others, a giant crash was heard. She turned around immediately.

A lightning bolt of some sort had appeared from the pure sky, shattering its serenity. The shot of light came down directly above the unaware Inuyasha.

It was Totosai on his cow; he landed directly on top of Inuyasha's back. His multi-eyed cow gave a slothful moo.

"Oh, it's Totosai!" Kagome exclaimed, the others gathering around the trampled Inuyasha.

"Mind getting off me, you old geezer?!?" Inuyasha bellowed.

Totosai looked below him.

"Oh, sorry there, Inuyasha. Didn't see you."

He moved his cow slowly off Inuyasha, its hooves leaving various marks upon his body. Inuyasha finally stood up and brushed it off.

"Feh. Stupid old man," he muttered.

The others now took notice of what Totosai had in his possession. Besides his forging hammer that he carried regularly, he had Cora's backpack and a type of sword. He dismounted the cow abruptly, leaving his hammer beside it. Totosai carried the backpack in one hand and the peculiar sheathed sword in the other.

"Well, the weapons are done," he said. "Here you are."

He handed the backpack to Cora, who found it unusually heavier than it was after she emptied it. Totosai gave the sword to Alden, who accepted it, somewhat awestruck.

"Master Totosai," Myoga said abruptly, hopping onto the cow's flank.

"Why, Myoga. How have you been?"

"Fine. Are these the weapons you have forged for the two?"

"Why yes. New innovations if I do say so myself."

"Hm. What do they do?"

"Ah, yes. A demonstration. That would be good."

Totosai sauntered over to Cora and Alden, who were listening intently.

"May I see these for a minute?" he asked.

They returned the backpack and sword to him, curious to know what he was going to do with them.

"Okay," Totosai said, standing in the midst of everyone so all could see. "Now to show you how to properly wield and use your new weapons."

He set the backpack down on the ground, so that he could carefully hold the sword with two hands.

"First the sword for the young man," Totosai said.

He unsheathed the black scabbard from the sword, revealing a great shimmering blade. It had a sharp point, and seemed very durable and strong. Although not as big and long as the Tetsusaiga, it seemed to be quite useful in battle. Totosai then took the new sword in one hand, and gave it a swift flick with his wrist. It extended in length abruptly, making a familiar clicking sound as it did. Alden recognized the sound.

"Hey, isn't that the umbrella?" he asked Totosai.

"Why yes, it is," Totosai said. "At least, parts of that bewildering contraption. I saw its extending abilities as a useful aid. You can get a powerful thrust with it, and the blade is made of strong steel. It will prove to be a good sword."

Alden recognized the umbrella's handle at the end of the sword, as Totosai brandished it in the air for a while. He seemed proud of the success of his new inventive sword, as he shortened the length of it. He sheathed it once more, and handed it back to Alden.

"Um, thank you," Alden said.

"Next, the girl's weapon," Totosai announced, grasping the backpack's handles. "I think you'll find this one interesting."

"Hm. I wonder....." Myoga thought.

Totosai put the backpack on himself, adjusting it properly around his shoulders. Once securely fastened, he pulled a lever that was curiously protruding from one of its pockets. After the lever was pulled down, the backpack flew open and ejected some sort of slender flying objects. They were aimed directly at Inuyasha, him having a fraction of a second to react.

"What in the hell?" he wondered.

He ducked, and they exploded at his heels with a low, resonating boom. Totosai then readjusted the lever and pulled it down again.

"Hey, old man, what the hell was that?!?" Inuyasha yelled at him.

The backpack released three more soaring objects, although these were much smaller this time. They whistled through the air, bursting with a small snap in Inuyasha's midst once again.

"This new weapon I put together can eject anything you want," Totosai explained. "All you have to do is load it up, and pull this small lever here. It'll fire it with merciless speed; anything can become your projectile. Mainly used for distracting or luring demons though.....just for protection like you asked for."

Totosai meandered over to Cora, placing something in her hand. She opened her palm and there were a few of the smaller projectiles in her hand.

"Some firecrackers that explode on contact," Totosai told her. "You can use anything, but those tend to be more useful with their noise and explosions. Helps you to scare off demons or distract them. If you run out, you may ask me for more. Or, you can use plain rocks to pelt, up to you, little girl."

"Thank you, Mr. Totosai," Cora said, still slightly bewildered.

Totosai took off the new backpack, and returned it to Cora.

"There you are," he said. "Take good care of it. It'll come in good use I'm sure."

"It's nice, but what am I going to use to carry my stuff in now?" Cora thought to herself.

"Well, there you are," Totosai said, mounting his cow. "Hope they'll help you."

"Interesting weapons, Totosai," Myoga commented. "They seem very useful indeed. And very suitable for them."

"Yes. Well, I'll be off then....."

"Wait, Totosai," Kagome said. "Before you leave, do you want anything to eat? We have to pay you back some way for these weapons."

"Well, actually.....now that you mention it....."

"Then it's settled."

About an hour later, they all sat down to a wholesome brunch. Kagome shared her bread again, as well as some stew she cooked with ingredients from the humble, altruistic villagers. Totosai consumed most of the stew, Inuyasha hitting him on the skull for it, but Kagome reprimanded him sharply. She allowed Totosai to eat to his heart's desire; his weapons were indeed a worthy tradeoff.

Once the meal concluded, Totosai leapt back onto his cow.

"Thank you, Kagome," he said. "Thank you for the meal. And if you need anything else, you know where to find me."

"Okay," Kagome said. "And thank you, Totosai. Thank you so much for the weapons."

"Well, I'm off!"

Totosai took his hammer and slapped the cow's flank with it. It bolted off immediately. Kagome waved as Totosai and the cow disappeared into the distance.

"Well, now that that's settled," she said. "I wonder how Miroku and Kaede are doing....."

"Feh. I wouldn't worry too much about it," Inuyasha told her. "I'm sure they took care of it."

"I hope so....."

For a while, everyone sat around outside the abodes and relaxed. Cora was loading up her new catapult backpack with the fireworks that Totosai had given her, while Shippo watched. Alden and Sango conversed with each other, while Myoga examined the new sword that lay beside them. Inuyasha sat looking up at the sky, appearing somewhat pensive. Kagome sat comfortably, petting Kilala's head. She mewed in contentment.

Abruptly however, something caught Kagome's attention. She suddenly felt an unusual aura, immediately identifying it.

"A jewel shard is nearby!" she told everyone.

Before anyone could speak or respond to Kagome, a shriek shattered the ephemeral placid atmosphere.

"Demon!" a villager screamed. "A demon!"

Inuyasha's ears pricked up, and he sniffed the air.

"Ha. It's about time," Inuyasha said, standing up. "Finally, a demon with a jewel shard."

The frantic villager's figure appeared in the distance.

"Demon!" he cried.

Inuyasha took off, the others following behind him. Alden and Sango rode Kilala, Alden grasping his new sword tightly. Kagome was riding her bike, with Cora holding onto her back, struggling somewhat. She had her backpack on, so it was difficult to grip steadily. Shippo sat in the basket, holding Kagome's backpack; the three of them stayed in the rear.

"It's after our jewel shards," Kagome thought, eyeing her backpack. "We keep p endangering this village because we have the shards here."

The terrified villager ran straight past them, as they got closer to the demon's midst. Kagome's sense grew more acute, she could almost see the shard's light. They approached closer, and beheld the demon.

It was a human-sized demon that was tearing through the earth with its sharp claws. It ran on its four legs, eyes focused ahead. The demon possessed a swift, slender body with white ghastly skin.

Kagome sensed the shard, and then clearly saw the light.

"Inuyasha, the shard is in its back!" she yelled to him.

"I'm on it!" Inuyasha said.

He unsheathed Tetsusaiga with a strong demeanor, the blade growing and shining. Inuyasha saw the fast demon scampering along the ground, and swung Tetsusaiga at it. It evaded the sword's arc, hurling itself through the air. It landed on the earth, its claws digging, its eyes now set on Kagome.

"It's after Kagome!" Inuyasha realized. "She has the shards with her!"

The demon flew through the air, carried mysteriously by the slight wind, as it dove at Kagome. She discerned its figure, but had no time to react.

"Ah!" she gasped.

"I got it!" Cora screamed abruptly. "Fire!"

She pulled the lever on her backpack, and it unleashed the petite fireworks, aimed precisely for the airborne demon. However, they swiveled somewhat, missing the demon slightly. The demon, nonetheless, appeared to become disoriented.

"Now's our chance!" Sango cried. "Hiraikotsu!"

Sango unleashed her mammoth boomerang at the demon, which still remained in midair. The demon sensed the incoming object, and dodged it, although still befuddled. It got caught in Hiraikotsu's gust as it soared by. It was hurled in Alden's direction.

Alden quickly unsheathed his newly acquired blade and thrust it out, lengthening it. Kilala moved in swiftly, and Alden managed to strike it down. However, the demon managed to slice Alden's arm in the process.

The demon plummeted to the earth below. Seeing as it was temporarily incapacitated, Inuyasha seized the opportunity.

"Tetsusaiga!" he cried.

He leapt up valiantly and came down upon the demon, cleaving its soft body. It tore to shreds, revealing the cursed jewel shard.

Fresh blood spilled from Alden's injured arm profusely; it was badly maimed. Kilala soared down and touched the ground gently, Sango helping the swooning Alden to dismount. His arm seared with great pain; he felt faint and was about to pass out. The others rushed over to him.

"Ugh," Alden mumbled.

Sango laid him down and held his head. Cora ran over to him practically in tears.

"Alden!" she cried.

They scrutinized Alden's arm; it was deeply slashed by the demon's razor claws.

"Oh, no," Kagome gasped. "I'll go get bandages!"

"Alden!" Cora continued to yell. "Alden! Wake up!"

He was on the brink of unconsciousness. Kagome rushed back to the village to get bandages and any medicine she could find. The villagers provided some herbal treatments.

"He's going to pass out," Sango said. "Let's carry him back."

"Alden," Cora said. "Please be okay."

She stared at his mutilated arm, wanting to touch it, to soothe it. She looked at the deep gashes, hoping they would heal. She held her hand over the cuts, as her arm began to glow brightly. It was the shard from within.

"Huh?" Cora wondered.

She wasn't trying to tap into her powers, so what was happening? Her arm continued to shine, and thus, she concentrated. Her palm that was hovering over Alden's cuts began to glow as well. The shine matched in strength, as she focused determinedly.

Everyone gathered around them. By this time, Kagome had returned with the medicine and bandages for Alden. The light was spectacular.

Everyone, including some people that approached from the village, watched in awe. Cora's palm persevered in its brilliant light, as Alden came back into consciousness.

"Cora?" he mumbled, opening his eyes feebly.

"Alden!" she cried.

Suddenly, Cora's lit palm sparked, and Alden's injured arm began to glow, in sync with the other lights. Mysteriously, the deep gashes on his arm commenced to heal, his skin mending itself in strands. Alden felt a sudden relief of pain, as he opened his eyes completely. He watched, awestruck, as Cora's palm healed all of his wounds.

The lights slowly faded, Alden's arm completely healed. Not a single scratch, mark, or scar was left from the wound. Everyone that was gathered around them watched the light from Cora's palm disappear, as her shard's power returned to a dormant state from within her arm.

Myoga was atop Kagome's shoulder; he witnessed the entire spectacle.

"Amazing!" he remarked. "The girl possesses the power to heal!"

Everyone gasped.

"She has the powers of a priestess, this girl," a villager commented. "That light is brilliantly pure!"

"What immense powers of purity!" someone else exclaimed.

"I healed Alden?" Cora wondered, still confused. "Are these my powers from the shard?"

Alden looked at his arm, and then at Cora.

"Thanks," he said. "Guess we discovered your powers."

Cora smiled and hugged him around the neck.

The villagers conversed amongst themselves for a while about what they had just witnessed. Alden was able to stand up, his strength completely restored anew. Sango hurried over to him, relieved. Kagome couldn't believe Cora's powers.

"That was amazing, Cora!" she told her. "You're able to heal! You've finally discovered what your powers are from that shard in your arm. Do you think you can do it again?"

"I don't know," Cora said. "Maybe if I concentrate."

She focused, her light shining forth once more, but nothing became of it.

"Maybe because there's no wounds to heal," Myoga said.

Inuyasha eyed the cursed jewel shard, which now lay on the ground beside the gathered crowd. He leapt over to examine it. The shard radiated its purple cursed color.

"Still cursed....." he said.

Shippo left the crowd to join him.

"Oh, good. Another shard to add to the collection," he said cheerfully. "Better tell Kagome."

The villagers turned toward them, noticing that the jewel shard was glowing an evil aura. The crowd moved over to them to scrutinize it more closely.

"It is cursed," someone said.

"Oh, the jewel shard," Kagome said. "Forgot all about it."

Alden and Sango followed the crowd to where they stood, Cora closely behind. When Cora saw the shard, she immediately bent over it to see it up close.

"So a shard was inside that demon?" she asked.

"No, wait, Cora!" Kagome cried. "Don't touch it! It's....."

It was too late. Cora abruptly snatched the cursed shard from the ground. Unexpectedly, however, it merely radiated in her palm. Nothing happened. But then, her palm began to glow again with its familiar pure light, and the jewel shard was transformed. It changed to a light blue color; Cora had purified it.

Everyone was perplexed.

"She is able to purify the jewel shards as well?" someone wondered.

"Could she indeed by a powerful young priestess?" another person asked aloud.

Cora handed the shard to Kagome.

"What did I do?" she asked.

"I don't know how you did it, Cora, but you just purified this shard that was cursed," Kagome told her. "Only I can do that. But now, you seem to be able to do it too."

"She must be a priestess!" someone exclaimed.

Myoga hopped atop Inuyasha's shoulder and spoke.

"I don't believe that Lady Cora is a priestess," he began. "She does indeed possess remarkable powers of purity, healing, and cleansing it seems, but she is not able to ward off demons. Every time we have encountered a demon, her powers have not been unleashed to subdue them. A priestess is known to be able to do that, most importantly, so I do believe she solely has limited powers of purity, and only that. Her healing powers are like nothing I've seen before, and they must have some sort of link with the shard from within her arm; she seems to draw her powers from it, like some sort of power source. This all has happened perhaps because of the well's distorted magic, as I surmised earlier. Somehow, the shard got embedded in her arm, became distorted, and gave her these powers of purity."

Myoga's words enlightened everyone. After a while, however, he became lost in his own outlandish theories, and in turn, had a soporific effect on everyone. During this time, Kagome's mind began to wander, as she started to think about the ailed girl again. She wondered if she was all right; if Miroku and Kaede had found a cure. Suddenly, she was stricken with an idea that came to her in a flash of epiphany.

"Hey, wait a minute!" she thought to herself. "If Cora was able to heal Alden's arm, then maybe she is able to heal the sick girl's illness too!"

Myoga was still conversing feverishly about his sundry hunches.

"Hey, Myoga," Kagome interrupted. "I was thinking about something....."

"Ah yes, Lady Kagome?" Myoga asked. "Go right ahead."

"Well, since Cora is able to heal.....do you think maybe she is able to help the sick girl that Kaede and Miroku went to help in the other village?"

"Hm. That's a good question. Cora does seem to have certain powers of purity.....being able to purge the body of ailments or malignancies.....perhaps she is capable of something like that."

"Then, there's no time to lose! Let's get going to the village! That poor little girl doesn't seem like she has much time!"

"But we don't even know where they went, Kagome," Sango said.

"Yeah," Cora said. "They could be in any village."

"Feh. I know where they are," Inuyasha told them.

"Really, Inuyasha?" Kagome asked, confused. "You do?"

"Yeah. All I have to do is sniff them out."

"But they could be very far away," Alden said.

"Feh. Doubt it. I can smell that stench from the old lady Kaede's herbal medicine from here."

"Wow, Inuyasha. That's a strong nose you got," Cora said.

"Feh. It's no big deal."

"Well, what we waiting for?!? Let's go!" Kagome yelled.

The villagers gave them supplies for the trip, and they were on their way. Inuyasha was in front, with Cora once again, straddled on his back. She could not ride with Kagome the entire trip. Myoga held on tight to Inuyasha's hair that was moving chaotically in the rush. Kagome rode her bike with Shippo in the basket once again, as he held onto her backpack. It housed the shards, including the newly acquired one. Alden and Sango rode atop a soaring Kilala, flying directly above the others.

The acrid smell of Kaede's herbs grew more acute to Inuyasha, as he hurried hastily, with his nose and perseverance as his twin guides.