"Does it still hurt, Naraku?" Mizoshi asked gently.
Finally, after several grueling weeks, Naraku was beginning to retain his former state of dark beauty. The livid bruises that had been under his then dull garnet eyes had been replaced by clear, alabaster skin--brightening those eyes back to their original bright ruby glory. Only days ago, his hair was black and stringy, not unlike fetid moss. Now, it was restored to its raven waving gleam. Naraku's entire body had seemed to be thinner and frailer than it should've been. His entire kimono had appeared to be entirely too big for him, and the shoulders and sleeves had sagged horribly. Such a rush of pity was felt for him. It was as if he had shrunken inside himself.
Thankfully, he healed further.His once deathly pale skin had reverted back to its normal soft ivory. Today, his elaborate clothing of deep blue and princely purple actually fit his newly constructed body that had taken all this time to rebuild.
And all because of Sesshoumaru…
Sidling up closer to the dark hanyou who watched, straight-faced, without comment, she tried again. "Are you better?"
He grinned all of a sudden. In truth, the lightening-fast motion of his lips startled her. It was no different than a spider striking with its fangs. "You can see for yourself, Mizoshi." A sarcasticness coated his tone.
Her cheeks were burning. "Yes, I can see that you are better, but as to how you feel…"
In a flash, she was in his arms with his mouth covering her own.
Inside, she melted. Warmth flooded through her.
This is what I remember. Before he was attacked…
It had all happened too fast--which is precisely what the dog youkai had intended. Of course, Mizoshi had been sound asleep at the nearly fatal moment for Naraku. It had been Kagura, the wind witch, who had awoken her to the nasty surprise.
The first thing she saw upon being returned to the world of the waking had been Kagura's enraged scarlet eyes. After selecting some amazingly new crude words from her already astounding collection, the huffy incarnation had unceremoniously seized her by both wrists and pulled her to her feet. She was instructed to cover herself and to leave immediately. The castle was under siege.
How odd it was on that flying feather. Up so high in the forbidding snow-swollen clouds. To know that Naraku was in a battle to the death. When Mizoshi demanded to know what exactly was happening, Kagura had answered with but one word.
Sesshoumaru.
Simply by observing the wistfulness in her eyes, she had recognized immediately that she was not in good company.
If Sesshoumaru had won, with Naraku's head as the prize, Mizoshi would've surelydied with him. Without the dark hanyou's protection, the wind witch would've certainly have slain her as a first testament of this "freedom" she so desperately desired. It was betrayal. Sheer and simple. She had wanted her master to die so she could walk away from his smoking corpse with the inuyoukai she had adored for from afar. Hand in hand.
Meanwhile, Mizoshi's blood would've decorated the trees.
Luckily, Naraku had gotten away. What followed was a day or two of circling with the wind witch, waiting for the master's command of where to land. A day or two of pure torture where Mizoshi had seriously considering leaping to a doom of her own choosing to escape the woman's incessant harsh demeanor.
In the end, Naraku had settled on a mountaintop. But, not before a brief excursion on a nameless island.
As the memories swirled around each other, Mizoshi was jolted back to reality when she was aware Naraku's lips were pressing against the most sensitive part of hear ear. She blushed.
"As to how I feel," he whispered, "does this provide an adequate response?" His mouth was now making a steady, shivering trail to her neck.
"Naraku!" she exclaimed in shock.
He moves so fast. Never giving me a chance to react.
Languidly, he turned her head so she could meet his crimson eyes. "Yes? Is there something else you wanted?" he asked teasingly.
"Your health." She was only aware of how lame this statement sounded when she realized she couldn't reach out and take it back.
However, this seemed to please the dark hanyou.
"Ah, Mizoshi," he murmured. "So loyal. So true. You would never betray me, would you?" he purred.
But she almost had. Once. In a very obscure way. After the incident back at the old location the castle, Naraku had been gone for many days and nights. Healing. In the basement.
Asking Kagura anything was a mistake in itself. When she had pressed about his whereabouts, the demoness had shrugged craftily and suggested that perhaps he was below. Then, she went on to "kindly" suggest that perhaps their shared "master" would enjoy a visit.
Pathetically, she considered the idea. Then, it came to her that Kagura was trying to put her in a very dangerous position. A position of which Mizoshi could've possibly been...punished. Brutally so. How often did he remind her to stay away from the basement? Especially when he was currently down there...
That was the first occasion in Mizoshi's life where rage blinded her, and she didn't show it. She didn't shout. She didn't throw a heavy object. She didn't create any angry flames. Instead, she just walked away.
Maybe she was becoming a mature woman after all.
The thought in itself was horrifying.
It came as no great revelation that the scarlet-eyed sorceress was depressed. She had lost her chance at freedom. She had lost her chance with the man she had developed a fondness for. In her beguiling mind, she'd lost it all. Her hopes had been dashed. Again.
When Naraku had emerged from the basement, Kagura and many other subjects were intently discussed with her. In Naraku's much weakened state, he couldn't do much else besides lay on his mattress and talk. Yet, there wasn't any doubt he could assert himself if necessary. Even Kagura, the perpetually disobedient incarnation was careful not to displease him. She was still wallowing in any case.
Mizoshi had learned more than a sufficient share of what had transpired in the past. Kagura had indeed tried to run before, but she had to return to her master's "waiting arms" due to the fact she would've died otherwise. The jewel shards she had stolen from none other than Kouga had been forcibly removed from her grasp and she was all but slaughtered for them. The wind sorceress had no other options. Still, she did not escape her punishment. Mizoshi knew better than to pursue the matter any further when she saw the wickedness light up her lover's eyes.
Eventually, they spoke about the siege on the castle. And Mizoshi learned the tale in its entirety. From the dark hanyou's own cracked, bloodless lips.
Sesshoumaru was a youkai with no honor. He had undermined the barrier and had called out for Naraku. Attempting to defend his castle was no small duty, for not only Sesshoumaru, but his brother Inuyasha sorely outnumbered Naraku as well.
Inuyasha was not dead. Not by any means. The fact that he was related by blood to this bloodthirsty youkai lord Sesshoumaru did not vindicate him in Mizoshi's eyes. If they were siblings, she had the keen notion they were both rotten fruit rejected by the same branch. It mattered little if one was a youkai and one was a hanyou, or how one brother happened to be full-blooded and the other merely half. She didn't plumb the topic of the dog brothers' parentage.
Damn Sesshoumaru. Damn him for wounding Naraku! As for this Inuyasha, well, I hope I never meet him.
Sesshoumaruwas proving to be a continous hazard. Whatwas his complaint withNaraku and those around him?
I beheld him battling with Naraku from my initial encounter with the dark hanyou. Then, he almost plunged his sword into my back when I was injured because I had consorted with him. Although, I suspect he would've done so anyway.
It was too much to ask that he leave the castle in peace. But no. He brought along his brother as well. The very same demon that sought the Shikon jewel. Or rather, its shards.
Mizoshi wanted to use her phoenix flames. She wanted to set Sesshoumaru's bone-white fur pelt afire and watch the conflagration spread.
Then, immediately afterwards, she felt guilty at her own imagings.
Regardless, the Shikon shards were here to stay. Thus, it was not unusual when they entered the present conversation.
His liquid chuckle permeated the air. "I don't need to hear the answer. You won't betray me. Ever." There was a deadly firmness in his voice. To illustrate his point, he pulled her against him dangerously tight. The demonstration was clear.
I will never let you go in either vein. Should you do betray me, I'll be forced to…
Suddenly, she couldn't go on. Even inside her head.
To make the situation worse, at long last, he had to mention them.
"The Shikon jewel shards were my tiny saviors, Mizoshi. Without them, I may not have survived."
Silence.
Wait for it.
"I must have the rest of them!" he hissed. "I must complete the entire jewel, or my travails—for fifty years--will have meant nothing. Nothing!"
Mizoshi stayed immobile in the crook of his arm. Her breathing was becoming shallow.
He's not finished just yet…
"With the Shikon jewel, I will attain ultimate power, and none will have the stamina to stand in the way of my ambition."
At this point, he would stare into space--herself forgotten. This was her cue to stay invisible.
How I hate him in this state.
Unbidden, the question broke free from her lips. She was to be no longer transparent.
"But, Naraku, do you not think yourself powerful enough just as you are now? I mean…"
That did it. The dark hanyou was sorely shaken out of his trance.
"Impertinence!" he thundered. Out of nowhere, his hand shot out—slamming into the nearby tea table. The delicate china cup didn't stand a chance when it struck the floor. The splinters narrowly missed Mizoshi. Thankfully, the cup itself had been drunk clean.
Alarmed that the next thing to hit the floor would be her, she fearfully looked into her lover's strange, emotionless, yet heatedred eyes.
He's mad at me.
Will it be the dungeon again? I don't know what I'd do if I had to spend more time down there.
Immediately, Mizoshi bent down to clean up the mess as an act of contrition, but the dark hanyou tightened his grip around her even more, effectively preventing her from touching the mess below.
"Mizoshi," he said slowly, "I will overlook your words. You are new to your demonic heritage and to the jewel itself. Were you better versed, you would never have even thought about what you uttered."
This did not sound like any kind of presumption. This sounded like a serious threat.
"Please forgive me, Naraku," she gasped out. "I didn't think before I acted. I know how much the Shikon jewel means to you."
The violent embrace relaxed. Slightly. A sigh slipped out of his lips.
"You are forgiven. On this occasion." Though his was no longer holding her as tightly; his fingernails were digging through the fabric of her kimono all the same. No doubt there would be marks left on her back if it wasn't for the protection from the silk.
Desperately, she tried to lock her joints to keep from trembling. She didn't want him to sense her trepidation. Her apprehension.
This occasion? What would happen on another?
Fortunately, Mizoshi was spared the mercy of finding out. However, she sensed it would be nothing good. Naraku did not tolerate disobedience or criticism from anyone. Anyone who wished to live, that is.
"Now, dear Mizoshi, why do you not practice your newest power?" he murmured. "I'll watch right here."
Again, Mizoshi was seized with an abrupt anxiety. "Naraku, I have practiced only outside. What if…"
"Nothing will burn," he assured her.
He interrupts me again. He does that a lot.
Perhaps he does not want me to worry so much. Yes. That would be about right.
She wasn't going to lie. Ever since Naraku's grievous injury, he had been…different. The dark hanyou was more short-tempered, more inclined to bouts of spitting rage, and more apt to strike out. Regrettably, Kagura was the target most of the time. It was no secret how resentful she acted now. She hardly could stand to hide her cool mask of hatred
It's a normal reaction, isn't it? Quite normal. Naraku was almost killed. The attack was so severe; he had to move his entire castle to this mountainside.
In all truth, it came as quite a blow when Mizoshi beheld the very same castle comfortably nestled between the rocks of the mountain itself.
So, he is not a true spider then. He drags his web along with him instead of weaving a new one.
Ordinarily, this would nudge a soft smile Instead, it merely made the nervousness increase.
"Well?" he raised an eyebrow. "I've seen you do it in the past. Let's see it again now."
Trying to keep her spirits up, she nodded good-naturedly and honed her will. Heavily, she closed her eyelids to keep her mind focused. A pleasant heat warmed her body. She could scarcely imagine what manifestation her body took when she did this. Was she glowing?
Then, all at once, her location shifted from right in front of Naraku to a far reach of the room. With pride, she opened her eyes to confirm this suspicion. The dark hanyou was now a considerable distance away.
To her amazement, he began to clap. "Splendid, Mizoshi. Splendid. Teleportation. What a wonderful hallmark of your growing power. Believe me, I should know."
Mizoshi hung her head modestly. "Thank you. Somehow, I don't think I'll get to fly though."
"True, there are limitations to your powers since you are mostly human." His eyes glazed over in meditation. "Hanyou have this trouble. It is their lot in this life." A grating bitterness hardened his tone with every spoken word. "But, the shards of the Shikon jewel can remedy this. That is why I require more assistance."
The castle pet should cease doing her trick?
Instantaneously, she corrected herself.
It makes him happy. Besides, he is the one who is currently training me. Still, it was uncharacteristically generous of him.
He must be planning something.
Yet, she was traipsing around the importance of what the dark hanyou had just mused out loud.
"Assistance?" Mizoshi repeated. "From whom?"
Is that why he's training me?
Shortly afterwards, she knew better than to flatter herself.
"No, dear girl. I do not need your assistance, or that of my own incarnations." Naraku was now smirking oddly. "No. I am to employ seven sedentary soldiers that are just dying for a battle."
He has another secret. As usual.
But, do I really want to discover the details?
At her thunderstruck expression, he frowned and rose to his feet. He drifted over to her and put both of his hands on her shoulders. "There, there, Mizoshi," he soothed. "Everything will run…smoothly from now on."
And then he let her go. Presumably, the dark hanyou had more business to conduct on this…mountain. This nameless mountain.
Surely a mountain of this size must be labeled on a map.
Tentatively, Mizoshi formed her inquiry.
"Naraku?"
Slowly, he turned to face her. "Yes?"
"This mountain. What is its name?"
The dark hanyou snorted. "You mean Kagura hasn't told you?"
She shook her head. "No."
For the second time that afternoon, his lips twitched amusedly. Except at this instant, the dark humor was more pronounced.
"This is Mt. Hakurei," he replied ominously. "A place that will only increase in fame."
Purposefully, he left her to ponder that until the moon rose high.
Author's Note: Whew! I think I got all the facts right. (Except the ones Naraku twisted.) Mizoshi will continue to become stronger mentally and physically. I suppose it's time for her to "grow up." (It happens. Unfortunately.) Band of Seven members will be appearing soon now. (Mainly Bankotsu, Suikotsu, Jakotsu, and possibly Renkotsu. He's just so insane!) Inuyasha will appear alongside them.