The Priestesses' Regeneration Song that Connects the Worlds

by aquagon

Two months later, Inuyasha's group welcomes back Miko and Yasha together with their friends from the alternate Earth. Now, they must fulfill the mission they were given by destiny: become the Seirei to save the world the Dragonia. While many hardships await them, they will also receive the help from a world called Ar Ciel... Sequel to Entwining of Destinies.

16. Of Wolves and Armors

Chapter 12: Of Wolves and Armors

A protection to be used to guard one's life
A weapon used to take away others' lives
Which one of those is the right way
To use the metal covering you?

{Opening: Kimi ga Inai Mirai}

- "Okay, it's time for us to set out" – said Kagome smiling as everybody stood in front of the well's shack the following morning – "So, mom, grandpa, I leave the rest to you" –

They all were now wearing their typical outfits for the Warring States Era: the boys were all wearing kimonos similar to that of Inuyasha but in the colors of their respective elements and bearing embroidery allusive to them such as leaves, snowflakes, fireballs and the like; although Miguel also had his embroidery encased in hexagons like his cousins. Henry was the only exception, as his outfit was similar to Naraku's but predominantly black with some white outlines that contained spheres and without the bone armor, eyes or tentacles. As for Tiffany, she wore a kosode similar to the one Rin wore but divided in red and orange stripes that had suns and flames embroidered; and she also wore tabi and zouri on her feet.

- "Don't worry about us, dear" – said Mrs. Higurashi – "We'll keep doing here everything you'll need for your return to be pleasant, and also, so Miko'll be able to look forward to going to school again" –

- "Though that won't be anytime soon…" – said Miko as her smile disappeared and she stared downward – "I'm sorry, mom… But I don't really want to go back to that horrible place filled with bullies…" –

- "It's fine" – said her mother as she hugged her – "I know you going to class is important, but we won't force you until you feel better" –

- "Even though both me and Hitomi were looking forward so much to having you with us at school…" – Souta sighed while both mother and child separated from each other.

- "Even so, you can be sure the main bullies won't bother you anymore" – said Kagome with a smile – "After all, they all ended up getting expelled" –

- "Anyway, we'll worry about that later" – said Gerardo with his arms crossed.

- "Yeah. We shouldn't keep Miroku and the others waiting!" – said Inuyasha with determination.

- "That lead on Naraku can end up getting cold if we don't hurry!" – said Yasha excited.

- "And so, see you all later!" – said Kagome as she and Miko went first into the well and jumped in, followed by Inuyasha and Yasha, and then by the rest.

But as they were finished their crossing into the other era, somebody was spying on Kagome's family from behind the house…

- "What did that Yasha kid mean by a lead and somebody called Naraku?" – said Yuka confused, as they had seen the whole conversation and the party dressed in their Warring States Era garb.

- "Are they involved in something dangerous or what? And what was up with all their weird outfits?" – said Eri as they both stared at each other.

- "Let's just go and ask her family!" – said Yuka, but as both girls tried getting out from behind the house, somebody grabbed them by the arms.

- "So that's where you two were!" – said Ayumi while looking at them with a scary smile.

- "A-Ayumi…!" – said both girls shivering.

- "Come now! We'll be late for class if we keep dawdling here!" – said her as she started pulling them away from the scene.

- "Ahh, nooo!" – shouted them both.

- "Huh? Did you say something, Souta?" – asked his mother when she heard the shouts' echo.

- "Nothing. Maybe it was the wind or something?" – said Souta confused.

Meanwhile, the party had arrived back at the Warring States Era, leaving the well as they were greeted by Miroku, Sango and Shippou.

- "Hi, everybody!" – said Kagome as she greeted them – "Sorry to have been absent for so long!" –

- "Don't worry, Kagome-sama" – said Miroku with a smile – "Still, we have been rather worried about how you were after I called you last night" –

- "Yeah… I didn't really have a good experience in my first school day…" – said Miko as she closed her hands and held them against her chest.

- "How so?" – asked Sango a bit surprised.

- "The other kids bullied her and dumped a bucketful of mud over her head…" – said Yasha gritting his teeth at the memory of these events.

- "The kids over there did that!?" – said Shippou, unable to believe it – "But the ones in Kaede's village had treated you so well!" –

- "And that wasn't the only thing…" – said Inuyasha crossing his arms – "The kids in Dragonia also treated her and Yasha really well…" –

- "Poor Miko" – said Sango as she knelt down to hug the girl – "Don't worry. You know we'll always be supporting you, even if we can't physically be there" -

- "Thanks, Sango-nee…" – said Miko smiling a bit – "Still, Gaby-nee, Tiffa-nee, Inuyasha-nii, Yasha, and even Souta and his girlfriend all tried to help me, but as you can see…" –

- "None of us got there in time…" – said Inuyasha cracking his knuckles.

- "Aghhh! If I had been there, I'd have scared them to death!" – shouted Shippou irate.

- "I see you more trying to run away with any of the girls there or being the one scared to death instead, Shippou" – said Gabriela with an annoyed expression, causing Shippou to start laughing nervously. It was then that they noticed she seemed to have gotten bags under her eyes.

- "Um, Gaby? Couldn't you sleep well last night or something?" – asked Miguel worried.

- "I was up until late into the night because I got an unexpected visit…" – sighed Gabriela, causing everybody to look at each other shocked – "Illyusa's ghost went to see me last night" –

- "She didn't try to hurt you or anything, right?" – asked Gerardo as he looked at his sister with worry.

- "No, don't worry Gerar!" – said her smiling – "Instead, she actually came to explain me some stuff about being the Priestess of the Dragon and how to improve my Healing Light" –

- "Wait a second…" - said Henry looking at her shocked – "Are you serious!?" –

- "As weird as it sounds, yeah" – nodded Gabriela – "We didn't have enough time to cover everything, but she taught me to basics of some Dragonian rituals, and also how use some of the knowledge in anatomy and medicine Gerar's taught me to make my healing more powerful and efficient" –

- "That's not to mean I was wasting away my time either" – said Gerardo as he eyed Inuyasha – "Right, Inuyasha?" –

- "Yeah. Ya really needed a good sparring time to start working out these powers of yers!" – said Inuyasha smirking.

- "Hey, why didn't you tell us about that!?" – said Miguel angry.

- "Yeah! We need to learn techs as badly as you do!" – said Carlos.

- "Calm down, guys. We already talked about it last night, and we decided the next nights we'll all practice together" – said Gerardo – "Nobody here wants to be a dead weight, right?" –

- "Yeah…" – said Carlos – "But we still could've joined you guys…" -

- "Don't sweat the small stuff! Anyway, what was the lead on Naraku ya wanted to tell us about, Miroku?" – asked Inuyasha to cut to the chase.

- "Well, one of the villages to the north has been attacked by strange wolves lately" – said Miroku – "And we could feel traces of a powerful evil presence in the area" –

- "So, you think Naraku or Mouryoumaru could be around?" – asked Yasha with a serious face.

- "That's exactly what we think" – said Sango as Kirara jumped off her shoulder and turned into her larger form – "Come now! We might lose their tracks if we take longer!" –

- "Before we set out, give us a moment" – said Henry as he nodded to Gabriela.

- "Okay, give me a second!" – said Gabriela as she started singing Habreliarasa Burkei again. Once she finished, while she didn't invoke in full the gateway to Dragonia, it exhibited a flash of white light that blinded them all. Once it dimmed enough, everyone saw that her song had brought all their Bonded Dragons to that world.

- "Ah, Iadla!" – said Gerardo as his dragon flew to him – "I know it's only been a couple days, but I've been missing you!" –

- "Same here, Gerar!" – said Iadla to his mind, although the others only heard her cries – "I was wondering when you and the others'd call us!" –

- "Sorry! It's just we couldn't have you guys in Kagome's era or we'd have caused a mess!" – said Henry to Anryuujin.

- "Aww, we wanted to eat the food you had over there!" – said Drago in a sad voice.

- "Hmph, and I thought you'd have run away from me, Tiff!" – said Flameck to his partner, who just scowled at him.

However, Sango, Miroku and Shippou just stared at them, confused at how they were talking to the dragons but they seemed to be just replying with cries and screeches.

- "Umm, guys… Can you actually talk to these lizards…?" – asked Shippou as he looked at them skeptically. All the dragons replied with a "I'm no lizard!", but it was just like a combination of their screeches to the three.

- "They're our dragon partners" – explained Gabriela with a smile – "So, we've called them so we can go faster to wherever we need!" –

- "That's pretty convenient!" – said Sango with a smile – "But will they be able to follow Kirara's pace?" –

- "I'm sure they can, Sango-chan" – said Kagome as she looked at Shia with pride – "We did a test flight with them when they formed partnerships with us, so I can guarantee they're reliable" –

- "In that case, let's get going" – said Miroku as he looked curiously at the dragons – "We have some questions about this all, but we'll talk on the road to the village where we found the lead" –

And with that settled, the dragons stepped a bit away from their partners, enshrouded themselves in their respective elemental auras to grow to their true sizes, and then allowed their partners to ride on them, awing Miroku, Sango and Shippou with their transformation.

- "It's going to be a bit weird to not ride on Inuyasha's back or my bicycle now, but it'll be more convenient too!" – said Kagome as she saddled up on Shia and the spherical barrier enclosed around her.

- "This way we can also save up strength for fighting!" – said Inuyasha excitedly.

- "You know Kagome, you could also get on Gouka or make Inuyasha ride on me if you want that" – said Shia with an amused voice.

- "S-Shia! What're you saying!?" – said Kagome as she blushed, which caused everybody else but Miroku, Sango and Shippou to laugh. The three just looked at her confused.

- "Is anything the matter, Kagome?" – asked Inuyasha – "Gouka told me what yer dragon said, and I'd have no problems with that" –

- "N-No, it's nothing!" – said Kagome dying from embarrassment. They then took off and started following Kirara's lead as they flew over the plains, mountains and valleys.

- "So, why is it that you're all preferring to ride on dragons rather than fly on your own now?" – asked Miroku with curiosity as he looked over the shoulder to the squad of dragon riders.

- "It's because… We lost all our abilities and powers since we stepped into Dragonia…" – said Gerardo gritting his teeth as he lowered his gaze.

- "That means you can't even fly well using the armors!?" – asked Sango as her eyes widened.

- "Yeah… We need to learn how to fly well using them now…" – said Gabriela closing her eyes.

- "Agh! We're gonna die! Everybody's useless in battle now!" – said Shippou as he started crying hysterically.

- "Be quiet already, Shippou!" – said Inuyasha annoyed at his crying.

- "Well, that's why we're asking our dragons to take us from a place to another" – said Henry.

- "There's also that using the armors to fly seems to be more tiring than before" – added Gerardo – "So we've decided to only wear them for fighting or when we require particularly powerful spells to be used" –

- "Good decision" – said Miroku with a smile – "If using them is so tiring, it would have been suicidal for you to arrive at your destination with your energies depleted and ripe for the enemies to defeat you" –

- "There's another question we've got" – said Sango as she looked at the dragons – "I see the dragons you have now as partners are akin to sacred creatures, as they radiate something I can't quite put my finger on…" –

- "Yeah, Sango-chan" – said Kagome with a smile – "Dragons are holy creatures in Dragonia and are quite revered over there" –

- "All people have dragons in there that act as their helpers and friends, just like you do with Kirara, Sango-nee!" – said Miko with a smile.

- "But that means you can understand them?" – asked Shippou surprised, completing the rest of the question Sango had started.

- "Yeah, we can" – said Yasha with a smile – "It's kinda hard to explain, but they talk to our minds directly" –

- "It's part of the benefits of using the pact we've established" – said Gerardo with a smile – "You need to transmit your feelings to a dragon and have them responded in kind for the pact to be formed" –

- "And once you do, you can talk to them without even needing to say anything!" – said Gabriela as she patted Drago, who let out a pleased growl.

- "It's great! Hopefully they'll also be a great help to us!" – said Sango pleased, and Kirara roared to express a similar feeling.

- "But… there's something weird happening to me…" – said Miko as she looked at her Seirei Crystal. It was still covered in the opaque, thick layer of darkened white crystal it had coated itself in the previous day – "I don't get why my Seirei Crystal's gotten like this now…" –

- "Mine is in the same state, Miko…" – said Kagome taking out her own and looking at it with worry. It was exactly in the same state as Miko's – "And strangely, I can't feel any energy flowing through me beyond my spiritual powers…" –

- "You feel the same way too, Onee-san!?" – asked Miko as she stared at her shocked.

- "Kagome-sama, maybe you should try putting the powers derived from these crystals to use?" – suggested Miroku as he looked at both girls with a frown – "That way, we may be able to ascertain what is the problem with them" –

- "Yeah, thanks for the suggestion, Miroku-sama" – said Kagome as she nodded – "Miko, shall we do it at the same time?" –

- "I'm fine with that, Onee-san!" – said the younger girl. Both took out their crystals and put them into the respective Dragtemns. Then they both chanted their transformation spell:

- "Illyusea Pawatz Dragoon!" – said them both as they pressed the closed crystal screens containing their Seirei Crystals. However, it didn't bring about the desired effect: instead, their Dragtemns sounded off an alarm as they showed on their screens a "Transformation Command Rejected!" error.

- "Aghh! That thing just gave me a nasty flashblack!" – said Gabriela as she gritted her teeth and looked at Kagome and Miko horrified.

- "You and me both, Gaby… You and me both…" – said Gerardo shaking his head repeatedly.

- "Kagome, try pressing on the error message to see what's the cause" – said Henry as he noticed the holo-screen had a "display details" button below the error.

- "Ah, thanks, Henry-kun!" – said Kagome as she pressed it. Fortunately for Gerardo and Gabriela, the alarm stopped sounding and the warning was completely different from the one they had gotten during their catastrophic final battle with Tenebross. Kagome started reading it: - "Your Seirei Crystal is currently under Hypercristallization. Under this state, using any sort of dragon power or Seirei Magic is impossible. Please wait until the Hypercristallization goes away" –

- "Umm, what's Hypercristallization?" – asked Inuyasha confused upon having heard the details in in the warning.

- "Maybe that refers to the weird crystalline stuff coating their crystals, Nii-san?" – asked Yasha blinking.

- "Let's check it up on the Draglimnt and see what it's all about" – said Roger as he input the term into his Dragtemn and started searching for it – "Ah, here it is! I'll send copies of this to everybody's Dragtemns so you can read it yourselves!" –

He pressed a couple of buttons and everybody got the holo-screens in their Dragtemns displayed, showing the article Roger had sent them:

"Hypercristallization: This term refers to a phenomenon in which a Seirei Core, Dragon Core or Seirei Crystal coats itself in a layer of thick, nonconductive crystal that interferes with the Seireiterfa and Dragcyal that makes them up, and renders them unable to perform their functions as enablers for the Power of the Dragon and Seirei Magic. The cause is generally an emotional shock that scars the sufferer so badly that their mind goes blank due to being unable to process it. In this case, the emotional shock surpasses the threshold that would spur the creation of a magical song or a spell, but as the person is unable to properly process it, no such creation takes place and the emotions go out of control, causing the sufferer to temporarily shut down mentally and leading to some of the energy to pass on to the Seireiterfa and Dragcyal and overload it, which in turns causes it to form nonconductive crystal in an attempt to shield itself from damage. The Hypercristallization is temporary in nature and the nonconductive crystal will weaken and become brittle enough to fall off on its own once the traumatized person has been able to put their emotions back in control, allowing the minerals to accomplish their functions again"

- "Phew, it was pretty long, but this explains it" – said Gerardo – "Looks like Kagome and Miko have their Seirei powers disabled for now then" –

- "Yeah… It's all because of me… I'm sorry, Onee-san…" – said Miko about to start crying.

- "Don't worry, Miko. It's not your fault" – said Kagome in an attempt to console her – "Still, I just realized yesterday that it looks like our feelings are more connected than I thought…" –

- "You mean that the reason you started bawling out of nowhere while we were in class…!?" – said Roger shocked.

- "Something like that happened yesterday!?" – asked Miroku shocked.

- "Yeah… I'm sure the reason I started crying like that was because I got the full brunt of Miko's shock and sadness… As if I had been feeling it myself…" – said Kagome lowering her gaze.

- "Whoa, so you two are the sisters who really understand each other the best! That's neat!" – said Shippou excited.

- "But still… We've seen the downside to it…" – said Gabriela, trying to not imagine how things'd be if she and Gerardo were connected to that same level.

- "I'm sorry I caused you to be embarrassed in your class, Onee-san!" – said Miko as she covered her eyes with her hands and started sobbing.

- "Miko, it's not your fault…" – said Kagome as she attempted to resist the urge to start crying, although a few tears still escaped from her eyes. She also took advantage of their emotional link to send to Miko her honest feelings about wanting to console her – "Again, I'm sorry for not having been there to protect you from these bullies…" –

- "Come now, ya two! Stop blaming yerselves for that whole mess!" – said Inuyasha exasperated from seeing Miko cry and Kagome tearing up – "None of ya had any part in that!" –

- "Nii-san is right! We've gotta just keep going forward! You two have got each other now, so don't be sad!" – said Yasha with a smile.

- "Thanks, Yasha!" – said Miko as she stopped sobbing and smiled at him.

- "Thanks for you too, Inuyasha!" – said Kagome while she smiled.

- "Now these matters have been put to rest, I want to tell everybody we have almost arrived at the village where we got the lead" – said Miroku as he pointed to a village several meters in ahead of and below them – "So it would be prudent for us to descend here so we may walk the rest of the way" –

- "Agreed. We'd terrify the villagers if we swooped down on Kirara and the dragons!" – said Carlos as he laughed. The others either laughed or smiled, and their mounts softly descended until they touched ground. Once there, the dragons removed the barriers protecting their respective riders and after they were dismounted, they returned to their compact size.

- "I think it'll be better if you guys stay perched on our shoulders, heads or backs" – said Kagome with a smile as she looked at Shia and then at the other dragons – "Maybe we can make it look like they're like Kirara to the villagers" –

- "Wouldn't that be the actual case, Kagome?" – said Sango as she giggled amused.

- "Hehe, that's right, Sango-nee!" – said Miko as she laughed too and the others smiled.

- "In any case, let's go and ask the people exactly what is happening" – suggested Miroku – "That way we can ensure we have an actual lead in our hands and that we're not wasting our time" –

Miroku then led the party to the village, which prompted curious stares from the villagers between their large number and their companions.

- "Look! Looks like there's a noble entourage going through our village!" – said a man.

- "Yeah, but it's kind of weird they're not being carried around or having anybody that looks like a servant with them!" – said a woman.

- "And look how they've got youkai with them!" – said another man.

- "Excuse me, we would like to know what is the problem in your village" – said Miroku as he asked an old man that was looking at them with apprehension – "We exterminate youkai for a living, so if there are any causing you trouble, we would be more than happy to take care of them" –

- "Oh, Houshi-sama!" – said the old man – "It's terrible! Lately, our horses and cattle have been killed and eaten by wolves!" –

- "Wolves!?" – jumped Inuyasha in surprise.

- "And they're not any old wolves either!" – added an old woman that walked to them – "They're wolf youkai!" –

- "Maybe Kouga is behind this?" – said Sango to Kagome.

- "I doubt it. I haven't ever heard anything about him or his tribe attacking humans after we met" – said Kagome.

- "Ugh, Kagome…" – snorted Gerardo as he started saying something, but he then cut himself off and turned around – "No, don't mind me… I'll tell you if mister big bad wolf ever comes across us… But it's one of the main reasons Gaby and I can't stand him…" –

- "Okay, though I've got the feeling I won't like what I'm going to hear…" – said Kagome shaking her head.

- "Nah, it's not the stupid wolf" – said Inuyasha sniffing the air – "It reeks of wolf, but the scent is kinda different from his stench" –

- "So, you think it could be someone from the same species as him?" – asked Miroku with curiosity.

- "Yeah, no doubt 'bout it" – said Inuyasha crossing his arms. He then faced in the direction where he felt the scent was most intense – "Let's follow the scent!" –

- "That way we'll find them and the cause of the animal massacre, right?" – asked Kagome with a smile.

- "Umm, Gerar-nii… Is everything okay?" – asked Miko worried about how Gerardo seemed to be shocked before what was happening.

- "Umm, guys… This is exactly what was happening in the manga at this point…" – said he with his eyes widened.

- "Seriously!?" – asked Yasha surprised.

- "Yeah, and we better move fast!" – said Gerardo – "Maybe we'll be able to avoid a massacre if we follow the track now!" –

- "I'll go with you, Gerar!" – said Gabriela running behind him.

- "Hey, wait for us!" – said their other friends.

- "Agh, I forgot…" – said Gerardo stopping on his tracks suddenly after they left the village, causing Gabriela to crash into him followed by all the other.

- "Hey, what was the big idea!?" – shouted Gabriela angry.

- "I'm sorry… It's just… Inuyasha, Yasha…" – said Gerardo as he looked at them. His friends then facefaulted upon noticing he didn't know the direction they needed to take.

- "Yeah, don't worry. We'll lead ya guys to the scent's source" – said Inuyasha amused to then turn to his dragon – "Gouka!" –

The dragon leapt from his shoulder and transformed himself into its larger form, allowing Inuyasha to ride him. The others did the same thing with their dragons, as also did Sango with Kirara.

- "Okay, follow me now!" – said Inuyasha as he pointed them in a direction and Gouka flew ahead of the others – "We'll get there in a blink!" –

However, while they were still in mid-flight…

- "Guys, it's started smelling of blood!" – said Yasha visibly alarmed.

- "Yeah, and it's a large amount too!" – said Inuyasha gritting his fangs.

- "In other words… We're too late…" – said Gerardo lowering his face and closing a hand into a fist.

- "Whatcha mean?" – asked Inuyasha a bit worried.

- "There was a bunch of wolf youkai of a clan different from Kouga's escaping from Naraku's monsters around this area, but it was all composed by elderly and children…" – said Gerardo closing his eyes.

- "In other words, the scent Inuyasha and Yasha caught was of these people!?" – asked Kagome horrified.

Gerardo didn't have any need to answer though, as they arrived after a few more seconds at the cliff Inuyasha and Yasha had been leading them to through their noses, and they were met with the ghastly sight of multiple bodies of elderly and children wolf youkai dismembered and decapitated strewn throughout the place, with the whole craggy and rugged road being stained red with their blood.

- "That damn bastard…!" – said Gerardo scowling.

- "By the gods…!" – said Gabriela covering her mouth with her hands.

- "Damn it…!" - said Henry upon seeing this.

- "That Naraku guy is really a sicko!" – said Tiffany with her mouth agape.

- "We had seen this before in the manga…" – said Roger.

- "But seeing it in person is infinitely more horrible…" – said Kember.

- "Ahaha… I think I feel sick to the stomach…" – said Carlos laughing nervously.

- "As if I didn't want to kill him enough already…" – said Miguel frowning.

The party then descended upon the area and had their dragons return to their smaller sizes after they dismounted them.

- "Yeah, no doubt they're the wolves the villagers talked about…" – said Inuyasha recognizing their scent while he looked at them with pity.

- "And like Gerardo-kun said, there were even kids here…" – said Miroku as he looked with sadness at the bodies of two children whose heads had been messily cut off.

- "How terrible…" – said Sango as she checked other two bodies that seemed to have died from blood loss.

- "Dammit with that stupid bastard…!" – said Yasha punching the ground – "Yeah, I don't like these wolves any more than Nii-san does, but this is way over the line!" –

- "You said it, Yasha!" – said Miko gripping the bow she had on her back tightly – "He always has to be killing anybody who just happens to be on his way instead of facing us!" –

- "And it's a sure thing that bastard is involved" – said Inuyasha as he looked around – "His stench is all over the place!" –

- "Was it really Naraku, Nii-san?" – asked Yasha confused – "Sure, it does smell like him, but it's not exactly his same smell! It doesn't smell like Kagura, Kanna or Hakudoushi either!" –

- "Yasha, Kagura and Hakudoushi are dead already" – said Kagome as she focused on the memories of their deaths so Miko would be up to date on the current events. Inuyasha did the same thing for Yasha.

- "But Yasha's right about one thing: this stench is that cretin Byakuya's" – said Inuyasha flexing his claws.

- "Naraku's latest detachment, right?" – asked Yasha with a serious gaze, now having gotten how Naraku's final creation looked and smelled.

- "Yeah. That idiot is always hovering around in his stupid origami crane and putting up illusions to annoy us" – said Inuyasha scoffing at the memory of the problems Byakuya had caused them so far.

- "But, are they far away from us, Inuyasha?" – asked Miroku with a doubtful face.

- "No. There's also two wolf scents mixed with his', and they're not that far away from us" – said Inuyasha as he looked at Gouka. His companion understood his signal and changed again into his larger form.

- "Okay guys, time to hop on our dragons again!" – said Gerardo to the others.

- "We gotta do that so we can stop Kouga from doing something stupid and the like, right?" – asked Henry.

- "Yeah. We may even do something to change the upcoming battle to our favor" – said Gerardo with a serious face.

- "What exactly is going to happen?" – asked Kagome with curiosity.

- "Summarizing it, Byakuya is employing one of the wolf children for a plan to steal Kouga's Shikon shards, and that also involves using another of them as bait for Mouryoumaru" – said Gerardo as he mounted Iadla.

- "So, your plan is attempting to rescue one of these children and pre-empt Mouryoumaru's appearance, right?" – asked Miroku guessing what Gerardo was trying to do with his foresight.

- "I wouldn't have expected otherwise from you, Miroku" – said Gerardo with a smile.

- "In that case, let's hurry!" – said Inuyasha when he saw everybody was ready for taking off again – "The scents're coming from over there, and the guy who killed the wolves is spreading their blood's stench all over!" –

He then led them to an area further inside the craggy mountains. Once there, they saw Kouga's henchmen Ginta and Hakkaku running in their same direction.

- "Huh? Aren't those Kouga's friends?" – commented Miroku.

- "Looks like they're always getting in trouble" – said Sango. Then Inuyasha thought it'd be a nice idea to play them a prank and signaled Gouka to roar at them.

- "Graaaaarrgh!" – roared the dragon. Instantly, both Ginta and Hakkaku turned around and were scared out of their wits when they saw the whole dragon squad:

- "Aggh! A dragon flock! We're gonna get eaten!" – said them as they tried to run even faster.

- "Guys, it's us!" – said Kagome from Shia's back – "We're here to help!" –

- "K-Kagome-neesan!?" – said Ginta scared upon seeing her riding her dragon – "Where didja'll get those dragons!? And why there's a kid looking like you and a small Inuyasha!? And what're all those people!?" –

- "Let's leave the introductions and explanations for later! Isn't that idiot wolf in trouble now!?" – asked Inuyasha angry.

- "Ah, yeah! A wolf kid suddenly started attacking us and he had to break off from us!" – said Hakkaku as they ran faster to follow the pace set by Kirara and the dragons.

- "Like we thought…" – said Gerardo putting a hand over his chin – "Inuyasha, can you feel any other wolf scents aside of the one of Kouga?" –

- "Wait a sec…." – said Inuyasha – "Yeah! There's one that reeks of blood, and there's another weak one further in!" –

- "Okay! Tell us more or less where the weaker one is coming from!" – said Miguel – "We can do the work of rescuing that one while you deal with Byakuya!" –

- "Okay!" – said Inuyasha as he unsheathed Tessaiga.

- "And I'm not gonna stay put here, Nii-san!" – said Yasha doing the same thing.

- "Agh! That small Inuyasha has the same sword too!?" – shouted Ginta scared.

- "Looks like Kouga didn't tell them anything about the curse Kagome got from Naraku or the time she and Inuyasha got turned into kids, right?" – said Shippou looking unimpressed.

- "Let's be fair to them, Shippou" – sighed Sango – "Kouga never saw Miko and Yasha, and he didn't even take part in the final battle we had two months ago" –

- "Not to mention he didn't have to deal with the fallout of Miko getting separated from Kagome-sama" – said Miroku shaking his head.

- "Though I'm kind of wondering how Kouga's going to react to having me and Miko present at the same time" – said Kagome a bit doubtful.

- "Surely the first thing he's gonna do is insist that you're her mate and all that bullshit" – said Gerardo rolling his eyes.

- "Yeah… Onee-san, don't you think you should be more direct about rejecting him? I mean, he even proposed to you when you were locked at my age and all!" – said Miko a bit weirded out.

- "Well, I did reject him when that happened, and I'm not really interested in a relationship with him" – said Kagome.

- "Heh, I'm sure Ayame'll be happy to hear that!" – said Yasha.

- "Man, Kouga's not gonna like hearing that…" – said Hakkaku.

- "But Kagome-nee-san did just say that she blew him off…" – said Ginta.

However, their chatter was interrupted when they arrived at the place and saw how Kouga was fighting against a horrible youkai that was at the orders of Byakuya. There also was a younger wolf youkai that seemed to be badly wounded.

- "Oh my, it's a lot more pests…. Wait, what are those!?" – said Byakuya initially confident, but he then lost his cool when he saw the dragon squad flying in.

- "There's that bastard Byakuya!" – said Inuyasha as he jumped off Gouka and pointed his sword at him.

- "Yasha, tell us where the other scent's coming from!" – said Miguel immediately.

- "Okay, follow me! Let's go, Pyrafile!" – said he to this dragon, who roared as he took off in front of the others. He was followed by the group from Gerardo's Earth and Miko, while the others stayed with Inuyasha and Kouga.

- "Wait, you're not going there!" – said Byakuya as he tried to cut off Yasha and the others from continuing further, but Kouga stopped him.

- "Where ya think you're going!?" – said Kouga as he ran in front of him – "And you, dog breath, stay back! I've now gotten what's happening here..." –

He then glared at the horrible youkai that was accompanying Byakuya.

- "That ugly killed his comrades and took his little brother hostage to force this kid to attack me… And I'll now take revenge for it!" – said Kouga as the palm of his right hand glowed with a strong light.

- "Huhuhu, you're the only one who'll be dying here!" – said the horrible youkai. However, Kagome had gotten closer to the wounded boy and was tending to his wounds using her first aid kit.

- "Kouga's fist is being enshrouded by light…" - commented her. Byakuya just laughed at their whole predicament, although he couldn't hide his nervousness at the fact Yasha and the others had escaped his grasp.

- "Uhuhu, my claws are bathed in wolf youkai blood… You must want your blood to join theirs!" – said the horrible youkai. However, then next instant the light disappeared from Kouga's fist and revealed he was now wearing on it a weapon made from a bracelet that was linked by chains to claws that ended on each of his fingers.

- "Just shut up you goddamn mouth!" – said Kouga as he slashed at the youkai with his weapon, ripping it to shreds and burning it to cinders with the thunderclap it released. The waves propagated for several meters, ripping apart the ground they traveled through.

- "Amazing…" – said Kagome shocked.

- "So this is the Goraishi!" – said Miroku amazed.

- "Hmph, so this is the power that stupid wolf's weapon has?" – said Inuyasha looking unimpressed.

- "Yeah! It contains generations of wolf youkai souls!" – said Ginta proud of its heritage.

- "And you're next now" – said Kouga as he pointed his claws to Byakuya.

- "Huh?" – said Byakuya a bit flabbergasted that Kouga had finished off his servant so quickly.

- "You're the bastard behind all this! You're Naraku's underling!" – growled Kouga.

- "That's correct. However, you should know that if I die, that kid's younger brother will die too" – said Byakuya while smirking in a confident way.

However, the next instant he had to drop down to the ground when he noticed that the same dragon squad that had slipped him had flown back and attempted to ram him.

- "Hey, that's not fair!" – said him scared.

- "Uh, excuse me? Did you say this boy'd die too if you got killed?" – asked Miko in a mocking voice.

- "Kai, Shinta is safe with us!" – shouted Yasha as he showed the others how the wolf boy's younger brother was riding along him on Pyrafile – "Don't worry!" –

- "An-chan!" – said Shinta as he looked at his brother with tears on his eyes.

- "Shinta!" – said Kai smiling relieved.

- "Damn it, how did they…!?" – said Byakuya gritting his teeth.

- "Don't get distracted, cretin!" – said Kouga as he tried to slash him, but Byakuya jumped away to avoid him.

However, some Saimyoshou then got closer to him and appeared to be telling him something.

- "Hmph, the plan is a mess now, but looks like the outcome didn't change that much" – said Byakuya as he jumped onto his origami crane to escape – "You should brace yourselves if you know what's good for you!" –

- "Hey, come back here!" – said Inuyasha as he launched a Kaze no Kizu at him, but Byakuya just threw him a couple of lotus flowers to nullify the attack and retreated – "Damn, looks like he got cold feet and ran away!" -

- "You knew where this boy was because of your foresight, right?" – asked Kagome as their friends swooped down and dismounted their dragons.

- "Yup. But still, we can't drop our guard now" – said Gerardo with a serious gaze – "Rather, it'd be a good idea that we transformed now" –

- "Lemme guess, Mouryoumaru is coming now?" – asked Inuyasha after snorting.

- "Yeah, that's right" – said Miguel.

- "By the way, thanks for not killing Kai, Kouga, and for trying to save his younger brother" – said Kagome with a smile.

- "Kagome, that's just because I love kids" – said Kouga as he grabbed her hands, which caused Kagome to just glare at him and Yasha to facepalm.

- "Stop trying to impress her in a moment like this!" – said Inuyasha annoyed at his lack of shame.

- "Yeah, you love them so much that you wanted to marry one, huh?" – said Miko snorting.

- "Huh? And where this mini-Kagome came from?" – said Kouga as he turned to face her with annoyance and surprise on his face.

- "And she's not the only one, third-rate wolf!" – said Yasha as he took out his Tessaiga.

- What!? There's also a mini-dog too!?" – said Kouga shocked – "And what's up with all the dragons here!?" –

- "You're pretty out of date, wolf!" – said Inuyasha as he burst laughing.

- "The two kids here are our younger siblings" – said Kagome after laughing a bit – "As for the dragons, they're all our partners" –

- "And mind you I don't wanna see you getting all mushy with Kagome-nee!" – said Miko pouting. Kouga just stood blinking at her.

- "Anyway, shouldn't you be enabling your powers now?" – asked Miroku with a serious face to interrupt Kouga before he started quarrelling with Miko – "Like Gerardo-kun said, looks like a hard battle is about to begin" –

Everyone looked at each other and nodded, so everybody excepting Kagome and Miko carried out their transformations, and after a few instants, they all were wearing their respective dragon armors.

Gabriela, for her part, went to Kai and Shinta to heal their wounds with her Healing Light, leaving Kouga and his henchmen stunned.

- "Ah, thanks, nee-chan!" – said Shinta smiling.

- "Yeah, thanks for that! I'm feeling a lot better now!" – said Kai. Their bloodstains were cleaned off and their wounds were now closed, though she didn't manage to heal all the scrapes and bruises they had gotten.

- "It's nothing! Rather, I'm sorry I couldn't heal all your bruises and stuff!" – said Gabriela smiling.

- "Even you got one of these armors, mutt!?" – asked Kouga shocked as he eyed Inuyasha and Yasha wearing their red armors with eyes the size of saucers.

- "You betcha, stupid wolf!" – said Inuyasha while looking smugly at Kouga. Everybody then noticed that both his Tessaiga and Yasha's seemed to be enshrouded in flames – "Whoa, looks like our Tessaigas are now resounding with the powers we got from Kinka!" –

- "Man, just when I though the mutt couldn't get more annoying…" – said Kouga as he eyed Kagome, who was looking at her hypercristallized crystal with worry – "Kagome, don't tell me you've got these powers too" –

- "Yeah, I do" – said Kagome while still looking at the crystal and gripping it with a hand. Kouga blinked at her incredulously – "But… We've gotten them disabled for now…" –

- "Kagome-sama, maybe you should try applying your purifying abilities to them?" – suggested Miroku – "I know that the information Roger-kun gave us stated it requires your emotions to stabilize themselves for the hypercristallization to go away, but considering your powers, it's possible it may hasten the process" –

- "Miroku-sama could have a point, Onee-san" – said Miko as she pondered his words – "Besides, didn't you fuse the Shikon jewel shards when you were trapped in that cave with Kikyou? It's possible you can use a similar technique to remove the hypercristallization!" –

- "Right. In that case, let me try it out…" – said Kagome as she closed both her hands around the crystal and started focusing her spiritual powers into it – 'Come now… Remember the way you fused these shards… Remember how Kikyou taught you how to do it…' –

She kept doing it for a few more minutes as a purple light focused itself into her hands, and after some instants, the crystal finally started shining in white again as the opaque crystal layers disintegrated themselves.

- "Ah, it was a success!" – said Sango smiling at her friend – "Good job, Kagome!" –

- "Thanks guys! It was all thanks to the idea Miroku-sama had!" – said Kagome smiling back.

- "Don't mention it. I just happened to remember what you told us about your experience in the cave with Kikyou" – said Miroku as he scratched the back of his neck.

- "Good thing you did, Miroku!" – commented Roger with a smile.

- "Okay, I'll do it now!" – said Miko as she repeated the process Kagome had done. Once she was finished and her crystal was back to normal, she and Kagome did their transformations.

- "Kagome-nee-san looks heavenly like that!" – said Hakkaku as he saw her wearing her white dragon armor.

- "Hey, Miko looks great too!" – said Shippou angry at the fact they weren't paying attention to her.

- "By the way, Kai" – said Kagome as she walked to him, recognizing the purple glow in one of his legs – "You've got a shard of the Shikon Pearl in your legs, right?" –

- "Yeah, that was why I could run as fast as Kouga did…" – said Kai looking downward.

- "It's a sure thing that Byakuya gave it to you so you could attack Kouga" – said Miroku as he eyed the boy with suspicion.

- "But in that case, why did Byakuya just go away without putting any more of a fight?" – asked Sango.

- "Well, part of the reason was because we ripped up his plans to use Shinta as bait for Kai" – said Gerardo – "That's also going to make our next battle easier" –

- "But he still left these shards here on purpose, right?" – asked Inuyasha suspicious of the whole thing.

And just as he was finishing saying that, a bunch of tentacles emerged from the other side of the forest whose border they had been standing around. The tentacles caught a bunch of youkai that were around, raised them into the sky, and then started absorbing them.

- "Hmph, just right in cue, eh?" – said Gerardo as he mounted Iadla again.

- "Yeah, leaving aside the gigantic moth we killed before it left its cocoon" – said Gabriela smiling.

- "So that's Mouryoumaru, huh?" – said Henry looking at the disgusting bunch of tentacles.

Mouryoumaru then emerged from the forest employing his wings and flew toward where the group was gathered. He first looked at Kouga, and then to the party members from the other Earth, their dragons, and then to Miko and Yasha, and the armors most of them were wearing.

- "Hoh, so these are the kids that Naraku just remembered and that were worrying him so much? Not to mention the bunch of chosen from the dragons that almost ripped him to shreds?" – said Mouryoumaru in a mocking voice. He then directed his gaze at Kouga – "And Kouga, looks like you've changed in the time we didn't see each other" –

- "Kai, stay back and keep Shinta safe. This guy isn't something you can handle" – said Kouga as he stepped forward – 'I'm gonna let this bastard know the power of my Goraishi!' -

- "Okay. Take care!" – said Kai as he grabbed Shinta by the hand and retreated behind Sango and Miroku.

- "Okay guys, like we discussed yesterday! Hexagon formation!" – said Miguel as they all started flying around Mouryoumaru on their dragons and divided themselves in a hexagon shape, with four of them each in a point of the polygon and two of them in the remaining two; excepting for Kagome, Miko, Inuyasha, and Yasha, who were all standing in front of Mouryoumaru and at Kouga's side.

- "Hmph, and what do you expect to accomplish with this? Not like you'll be able to make a dent on my armor" – said Mouryoumaru shaking his head.

Kouga then tried to start running, but he found that his legs weren't responding him.

- 'Damn, I can't move…!' – thought him as he looked down horrified.

- "Muhuhu… I didn't think you'd go through all that trouble to bring yourself to me, Kouga" – said Mouryoumaru as he focused himself on the wolf.

- "Hmph, so you're still after my shards?" – asked Kouga with a falsely confident smile – 'This looks bad… It's like Kagome said… It's all that long-dead miko's fault that I can't move!' –

Mouryoumaru then started his attack by stretching his diamond arm to attack Kouga, who countered by summoning again the Goraishi and slashing at the diamond spears. Both attacks clashed, but the energy wave sent by Kouga went through and hit the demon on the face as well as deflected all his projectiles.

- "Interesting, so you've gotten a new weapon" – said Mouryoumaru smiling maliciously at his opponent – "But why aren't you trying to move away!?" –

- "Shut your trap!" – said Kouga as they both attacked each other again. This time Kouga's attack went off more strongly and hit Mouryoumaru on the head and back, ripping off several of his tentacles.

- "Agh, to think you could damage me so much…" – said Mouryoumaru annoyed.

- "Hehe, looks like the plan was a success" – said Gerardo as he looked at the fight from his position – "He doesn't have Shinta as a hostage, so Kouga has no problem unleashing the full brunt of his attacks on him" –

- "Shouldn't we start helping him anyway, Gerar?" – asked Gabriela, but then she noticed something strange: a piece of flesh was writhing and dragging itself away from the battlefield to where Kai was – "Look out!" -

She tried to fire an arrow to the flesh, but it managed to avoid the impact.

- "Everyone, don't let that thing get close to Kai!" – said Gerardo after Gabriela had caught their attention with her shout and arrow. Miroku and Sango tried to destroy it, but Inuyasha and the others couldn't do anything without harming the kids in the process.

- "No!" – shouted Yasha when he saw what happened next: the flesh had driven itself like a wedge onto Kai's leg and had ripped out the Shikon shard from it while he screamed from the pain.

- "Dammit, no!" – said Kouga as he tried running to him, but Mouryoumaru grabbed him from behind with his diamond arm – "Crap!" –

- "Don't get distracted during a fight!" – said Mouryoumaru in a mocking voice.

- "Guys, hit him with everything you have!" – said Miguel as he gave everyone in the formation the go ahead to attack – "Zephyr Blade!" –

- "Water's Scar!" – said Gerardo.

- "Dark Sphere!" – said Henry.

- "Light Arrow!" – said Gabriela.

The others launched the spells they already had learned at Mouryoumaru's head to try and make him release Kouga, but they were all repelled by six black figures that appeared from nowhere.

- "What the hell!?" – shouted Carlos upon seeing the ice orbs he had thrown had been hit off track and had landed on the ground.

- "What was that!?" – shouted Roger annoyed.

- "Mmmhuhuhu…" – said a voice out of nowhere – "So you're the idiots chosen by the Dragon Gods?" –

- "How pathetic… To think they could've chosen someone as weak as these guys" – said another voice.

- "Who in hell are you!? Come out already!" – said Inuyasha angry as he heard this.

- "Hmph, looks like I've got some unexpected help. How nice" – gloated Mouryoumaru.

- "You bastard…!" – said Kouga seeing how the bit of flesh had now returned and had brought Kai's shard to Mouryoumaru.

- "Enough with the games! Stop being cowards and come out already!" – said Gerardo angry at how whoever it was, they had ruined their attack.

- "Just because you asked for it…" – said another voice as six elemental spheres covered by a shadowy aura appeared before them.

- "What!? There's dragoons here too!?" – said Miguel annoyed.

- "They can't be dragoons like us!" – said Gabriela infuriated – "Whatever these things are, they're all using warped elements!" –

- "Not only that! They reek of an evil presence too!" – said Kagome feeling the evil they radiated.

After a few moments, the elemental spheres burst and took the form of six people riding dragons. Each of them wore a dragon armor colored after one of the main elements, and from looking at the parts, it was easy to discern that five of them were boys and one was a girl, although they couldn't see their faces due to them wearing their armors in full plate mode and having the masks in the helmets closed. But unlike the party, their armors had a dark sheen to them, radiated an evil aura and their dragons were enshrouded by a shadowy aura and seemed to have no life in their eyes.

- "No way! You guys have got to be Tenebross' servants!" – said Kember angry at them.

- "Uhuhu… Lord Tenebross has chosen us to get rid of you" – said the boy wearing the green armor.

- "And that'll be a great pleasure for us to do" – said the girl wearing the red armor.

- "After all, what better pleasure there is for somebody but killing somebody they despise?" – asked the boy wearing the blue armor – "Wouldn't you agree, Gallucci?" –

- "How do you know my surname!?" – asked Gerardo angry – "I don't remember ever having met somebody wearing such a disgusting armor!" –

- "You don't realize it, but all of us know of you, and we hate your guts" – said the boy in the white armor to then point to Gabriela – "And in fact, what a pleasure it was to toy with that stupid girl's heart!" –

- "No way! You can't be him!" – said Gabriela as she looked at him with disgust recognizing the voice.

- "That midget there is going to be a great pleasure to kill!" – said the boy in the yellow armor.

- "As also will be getting rid of this one" – said the boy wearing the black armor – "What with his stupid liking for these Chinese idiocies!" –

- "No way, you can't be those people!" – said Henry angry.

- "There's no way anybody else from our world knows about this!" – said Roger irate.

- "Looks like you can't believe it. Oh well, allow us to break your little stupid minds" – said the boy in the blue armor as he pressed the buttons on the side of his helmet to remove the mask and the chin protector that affixed the whole thing to his head. Once he removed them, Gerardo saw it was a boy of his same age with a pale face, short straight black hair and piercing black eyes.

- "No way! You're that cretin Juan!" – said Gerardo scowling at him with hatred.

- "Looks like you've not forgotten me" – said Juan smiling ironically – "I'm not surprised, after the way I ridiculed you in front of our class" –

- "Gerardo-kun, you know that guy?" – asked Kagome worried.

- "Yeah, I know him, and I hate him with every fiber of my being" – said Gerardo gritting his teeth – "That idiot feigned to be my friend for a few months, but one day, he showed off all the things I had shared with him in front of the class, laughed at me for having the tastes I did, and then proceeded to have the whole class mock and laugh at me" –

- "You're disgusting!" – said Miko as she glared at him – "You're not more than a bully and liar!" –

- "Not like that means much coming from a stupid little girl!" – said Juan laughing, which caused all in Inuyasha's group as well as Kouga's to glare and growl at him.

- "And I think you should recognize me as well" – said the boy wearing the white armor, who after removing his helmet showed he had about Gabriela, Miko, Yasha and Tiffany's age that had short brown hair, brown eyes and pale skin – "No, dear Gaby?" –

- "Don't call me like that, you Toledo freak!" – said Gabriela as she readied an arrow and aimed it at him – "You and me are nothing ever since you saw fit to betray and cheat on me, and make the class start calling me a slut and all those nasty things!" –

- "And fatso over there should know who I am" – said the boy wearing the green armor as he removed his helmet. He was about Miguel's age, had blonde hair, black eyes and a long nose – "Like blackie over there, you've always been an annoyance with your stupid Chinese things, and the fact you never know when to stop eating" –

- "At least I do know a thing or two about cooking and other cultures, you idiot!" – said Miguel as he pointed his arrow to him – "Ricardo, you're so close-minded and ignorant that the one who should've gotten mocked for it was you!" –

- "And is poverty treating you well, Henry?" – asked the boy in the black armor as he removed his helmet, showing he had blonde hair, blue eyes and pale skin – "How do you like knowing that your parents can never give you a better life? And in fact, I'm surprised they could scrounge up enough cash to send you to a private school!" –

- "Shut it! Being from a humble household has nothing to do with how good a person is, Roberto!" – said Henry scowling at him – "No better show of it than you, who has a lot of money but is a piece of scum in the inside!" –

- "How about you, Tiffa?" – asked the girl wearing the red armor, who removed her helmet and showed she had short black hair in a bob cut, brown eyes and a mocking smile on her face – "How nice you're in this other world, as having your stupid foreign presence there was causing our school to go stupid!" –

- "Don't call me by my nickname, Ana!" – said Tiffany as she also readied her bow to fire at her – "I should've known that the stupid shadow'd pick somebody as idiot as you! Always with your stupid hatred of foreigners! And I'm every bit as Spanish as you are!" –

- "Roger, Roger, Roger" – said the boy in the yellow armor as he removed his helmet, showing he had tan skin, black hair and brown eyes – "How it feels that the only way you can help Henry is just by temporarily showing off the stuff you've got that he doesn't? Or better said, by rubbing salt on the wound?" –

- "Shut up, Brayan!" – said Roger angry as he aimed his guns at him – "As if you could understand how it feels to help the ones I consider my friends, when the only thing you've known is bullying others to take their lunches!" –

- "Looks like you've all got your beef with these guys…" – said Inuyasha sweatdropping upon seeing how all those that had similarly colored armors seemed to be mortal enemies.

- "Lord Tenebross gave us these powers so we could have a chance to rid the world of you" – said Juan as he crossed his arms.

- "And it's also a good chance for us to wipe out the people we hate" – said Roberto.

- "How neat… Now we really look like we're in a sentai show, down to the extreme of having our own crappy version of the Psycho Rangers…" – said Henry rolling his eyes.

- "You said it, Henry" – said Gerardo eyeing their evil counterparts with rage – "Tenebross must really be desperate to be choosing the trash from our world to fight us!" -

- "In any case, you won't be helping these guys down there!" – said Toledo – "Because you'll have to deal with us first! We're the ones that'll end your lives: the Antidragoons!" –

The six Antidragoons then threw themselves to attack Gerardo and the others.

{End of Chapter}

{Ending: Shinjitsu no Uta}