THE REVENGE OF THE SITH IS FINALLY HERE!
I also happened to be listening to The Phantom Menace soundtrack as I write this. If you can't tell, I'm a rapid Star Wars fan. I think I'll dedicate this chapter to George Lucas.
Anyway, on with the story...
Chapter 13: Naraku
Naraku eyed the two youkai lionesses that stood protectively before the great oak doors. They hissed and growled at him with flashing silver eyes, sensing that something was somehow amiss. To all appearances, he was Raizel. He took a step forward and their snarling increased.
He could have killed them, but their loyalty to their master impressed him. Misguided loyalty to be sure, but loyalty all the same. It was a concept that he'd found lacking in the past when it came to servants. Naraku knew from Raizel's memory that these beasts followed strength. If that was the case, then they would be following him in a matter of minutes. There was no point in wasting two good youkai as long as they obeyed him.
Naraku opened his hand and blew the contents from it. It was a light miasma, not enough to kill, but certaintly enough to stun. The two females coughed and weakened, but they refused to settle down. Naraku felt an inkling of admiration as he was forced to give them a stronger dose.
He pushed open the doors as they lay unconscious at his feet. Naraku vowed that he would find a male body as soon as possible. He walked silently to the raised dais. Great tapestries of strange design adorned the walls of the Great Hall. Naraku gathered that these were of European origin. He cast Raizel's red eyes to the head that sat high on the dais.
Kagura.
"I see that you have finally returned Raizel. I heard the commotion outside. Was there a problem?" Her red eyes narrowed at her 'servant'. Naraku lowered Raizel's eyes and bowed her head.
"No my lady," he replied with Raizel's voice. And the problem I have will be resolved shortly, Naraku added silently. Kagura eyed him carefully, as if searching for any signs of betrayal.
After a moment of thought, Naraku realized that she probably was. Raizel was intelligent, perhaps too intelligent for her own good. After all, the reason she had released Naraku in the first place was so that Kagura would die. The wench's fear of her subordinate's betrayal was actually justified.
"Did you kill Inuyasha?" Kagura finally asked.
"No lady, I did not." He may be playing the part of Raizel, but he would not call the wench 'Master'. "However," Naraku continued in Raizel's voice, "I did discover something very interesting." Kagura raised an eyebrow at that.
"Interesting?" she asked. "What did you find?" Naraku smiled inwardly at her tone. Kagura suspected something. Fortunetely for him, Kagura had never been very good at manipulation.
"If I may, my lady, may I step forward to show you?" Naraku made a show of looking around him, as if suspecting unfriendly eyes.
Kagura eyed her servant suspiciously. As much as she distrusted the woman, her lionesses had let her through. She carelessly threw aside her suspicions as she assented to the woman's request.
"Come forward then," she said sharply. "And be quick about it!" Was it merely her imagination, or did Raizel just smile then? Something about that smile reminded her of her former master.
Naraku stepped forward, still keeping his eyes lowered to the ground. He pretended to pull an object from Raizel's kimono. He held out an enclosed fist to the decapitated head.
"Well?" Kagura asked eagerly. A faint trickle of uneasiness tickled the back of her mind. "Raizel?"
"Kagura."
Kagura gasped in fear. That had not been a woman's voice. Her servant lifted her head and stared insolently at her with an all too familiar smirk.
Naraku.
Kagura started to shriek, but Naraku slammed his other hand against her mouth. She tried to bite it, but Naraku released a miasma into her mouth.
As she hacked and coughed, her eyes widened in terror. Naraku bent Raizel's head down so that it was on level with her's. He whispered softly into her ear.
"You belong to me Kagura. It's time to return to where you first came."
Kagura screamed wordlessly as her vision swam and blackened. She had the sensation of being sucked into a tunnel. Horror filled her as she heard Naraku's voice laughing in her mind.
"NO!" She silently screamed. Naraku laughed.
"Return to me Kagura."
And she did, in truth, there was nothing she could have done. The flesh of Raizel's hand had softened and enveloped the other youkai's head. In this way, Kagura was absorbed back into the body of her creator.
Naraku sighed contently as he took a seat on the dias. Raizel's green hair slowly darkened into the black of Kagura's. Other than that, no other physical change appeared. Naraku closed his eyes as he accessed the wench's memories. He searched for something that had intrigued him from Raizel's mind. There.
The Hand of the Spider.
Naraku tapped his chin thoughtfully. So that little project of his had survived after all. Interesting.
He continued to sift through Kagura's mind as he uncovered every plan, every plot of hers. Some were ridiculous, not surprising, coming from Kagura. But others...
With a little refinement of his own, they might actually have merit. There was one in fact that intrigued him.
Kagura had been planning to steal the ashes of a certain priestess. However, there was one thing that concerned him.
If Kagome was resurrected, could he bind her to his will? It might be difficult, but the rewards would far outweigh the difficulties if he could succeed. The look on Inuyasha's face would be reward enough.
This would take some thought.
aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa
"I strongly protest this treatment!" Miroku complained.
"Oh shut up Miroku!" Inuyasha growled down at the wooden sword in his hand. Quite by accident, he had recently discovered that he could hear the monk if he had a grip on the sword. Recently as in ten minutes ago.
Miroku considered shocking the hanyou again and decided against it. Being berated by Inuyasha was definetely preferable to being beaten by Kaoru.
It's not like he had really meant to look in on Kaoru as he bathed, it just sort of happened. The dead monk had found that with just the right jolt of spiritual energy he could move the sword in little hops along the ground. Was it really his fault that he had accidently flung himself into the washroom? And was it equally his fault that a naked Kaoru was standing in the tub?
Apparently she thought so.
And now he was being twirled carelessly in a certain hanyou's hand. Even if Miroku escaped and accidentally ventured near the washroom again, a slightly bewildered Kenshin had been placed on sentry duty in front of the door.
"...I swear, don't you ever change Miroku?" Inuyasha was saying. "I mean, you're a married man with descendants for crying out loud. If Sango were here..." Miroku blocked out the rest.
Sango.
If Miroku still had a body, there would have been a pain in his chest. He thought of the beautiful youkai slayer that he'd been blessed to grow old with.
Sango.
Inuyasha trailed off as he realized that his friend was no longer paying any attention to him.
"Miroku?"
Silence.
Inuyasha stared down at the wooden bokken. Why had Miroku suddenly shut up? Was it..oh...
He'd been talking about Sango.
Inuyasha stared down at his friend, not knowing what to say. An uncomfortable silence surrounded them until the hanyou finally spoke up hesitantly.
"I'm...sorry Miroku," Inuyasha muttered. He wasn't good with apologies. There was a few seconds more of silence before the monk responded.
"No, it's all right Inuyasha. You're right, if Sango was here she would have smacked me hard with the Hiraikotsu," Miroku laughed it off, but Inuyasha detected the tinge of sorrow to it. His own thoughts drifted to his beloved wife.
Kagome.
Inuyasha felt a sharp pang in his chest. His amber eyes stared unseeing into the trees. He shook his head suddenly to clear away his thoughts, but the pang remained.
The two of them continued to walk silently away from the house. Yahiko had gone into town with Megumi to buy supplies for Kaoru. Usually Kenshin did that, but off course, he was on sentry duty. Inuyasha reminded himself to pay Kaoru back for the expenses when they returned to the house. He could tell that she was short of money.
"Miroku," Inuyasha said. If the monk still had a body, he would have looked at the hanyou.
"What?" Miroku asked. There was a pause.
"What do you think of Sessh...Kenshin?"
"He's a good man." Inuyasha stopped to look down at the sword in his hand. Miroku continued. "Of course, you knew that already. You're just having trouble admitting it to yourself."
Miroku was right, he was. Inuyasha wanted to like Kenshin, wanted to trust him in fact. But his past relationship with Sesshoumaru seemed to be a shadow between them.
"I don't know what to think Miroku," the hanyou lord admitted. "He's not Sesshoumaru, but yet at the same time, he is." There was a pause as Miroku thought about that.
"Kagome wasn't exactly Kikyo," the monk reminded gently, knowing he was touching on a delicate subject. Inuyasha sighed.
"I know," he said softly. Silver bangs shrouded his eyes as he stared down at the ground. The wooden sword in his clawed hands trembled slightly.
"Take it one day at a time Inuyasha," the monk suggested. "I know this isn't easy for you. At the very least, try hard for Yahiko's sake. Kenshin's a good man and the boy looks up to him."
Yahiko.
Miroku caught the direction of his thoughts. He didn't need his spiritual gifts to know what his old friend was thinking.
"Yahiko doesn't know he's our descendant, does he?" Miroku asked. Inuyasha shook his head. He hadn't quite gotten up the courage to tell the boy yet. Kenshin and the others knew, but had kept silent. Inuyasha knew why and respected them for it. It was his duty to tell Yahiko, not theirs.
"Inuyasha," Miroku said. "Perhaps...perhaps we should speak with him once he returns with Megumi." The hanyou gave a start before reluctantly agreeing. It had to be done and now might be one of the few peaceful moments they had for awhile.
What were they to do about Naraku?
"One thing at a time Inuyasha," Miroku said. Inuyasha glared at the sword. He was beginning to suspect that Miroku could read his mind when he held the sword. Even so, the hanyou nodded his head in reluctant agreement.
One thing at a time.
Inuyasha turned around as he and Miroku headed back to the house. Yahiko and Megumi should be back soon.