The Final Chapter's coming up soon guys, thenb I'll work on the bridge that connects it to "Time", the sequel which was started long before this story. Im currently working on the next chapter as I release this one. Should be out within the next 24-48 hours (note: SHOULD BE)
Stewie2kill
-----------------------------------------------
Chapter 13
(The Sad Song of the Swan)
Inuyasha's heart raced with panicky speed. He was so close to Naraku's castle now that he could actually taste the foul air.
"Damn it all!" He growled as he landed once more and forced himself to make yet another leap.
He still was completely unsure of how he was going to take on the enormous task of defeating Naraku's insidious plot, but he had an idea of how he might accomplish such a task of deletion. He clutched the hilt of his Tetsaiga and faced forward towards the darkened castle courtyard.
"Ok Tetsaiga," he murmured at his sword as he flew ever closer towards the castle, "it seems that you may have no need this time to come out and fight."
His sword emitted a slight shocking sensation and rumbled a little under his grip.
"Sorry. I'll make it up to you later if I still come out intact." He continued as he finally found solid ground right outside the gates of the huge castle gates.
It didn't take long for Naraku to respond to the recent appearance of Inuyasha as almost immediately it seemed the gates of the castle started to slowly open. As Inuyasha walked through them he found himself faced with a vast expanse of barren courtyard ground, the first few inches of which were covered with a low profile miasma. Opposite the main gate was a huge white wall which wrapped all around the castle.
Inuyasha looked to his left and saw that the courtyard was empty and lonely, much more like an arena of sorts which had two immense sweeping staircases upon either side .An icy wind blew, chilling Inuyasha's bones, almost seemingly preparing him for what he was about to do.
"Much expected Inuyasha…" A voice called as a figure slowly walked out from the right staircase. "I'm surprised that you even came."
"Where's Miroku?!" Inuyasha yelled, grabbing the hilt of his sword and drawing it, knowing full and well he wasn't going to need it if his plan were to succeed.
"Probably dead by now." Naraku shrugged. "But that's not what's important."
Naraku's cold and vicious eyes grew steadily closer, a sneer of sorts curling onto his lips as he saw Inuyasha's face fill with horror at his words.
"What is important is this." Naraku laughed as he drew out a small marble sized ball filled with swirling purple mist. "You see the red flecks?"
Inuyasha reluctantly drew his eyes to the orb, knowing full and well that Naraku was simply toying with him. That Naraku probably already knew that he knew what it was and that Inuyasha had probably already even formed a counter attack plan.
"Those red fleck's are pieces of you heart." Naraku continued on, ignoring the uninterested attitude that Inuyasha held. "And if I decide to give this thing a small squeeze…"
Naraku's hands tightened slightly around the orb and as he did Inuyasha felt a burning sensation that pulsated in his chest and head. Letting out a gasp for air as he faltered back and forth a little Naraku laughed.
"Oh now see," He laughed heartily, "That's the fun part about this! I can kill both of you at the same time!"
"How's about shutting up for once in your life." Inuyasha laughed and smiled through his painful expression.
A smile curled across the evil lips of Naraku's mouth as his purple eyes flashed dangerously in the direction of the hanyou.
"Do you understand what is going to happen now?" he asked calmly with an evil and airy tone to his voice.
"Yea." Inuyasha replied as he regained balance. "Now I kick your ass from here to the continent."
Naraku laughed maliciously in a way that only he could as a steady wind slowly began to blow in the swirling storm overhead.
"What could you possibly have to try and save your pathetic life this time?" he pondered aloud curiously as his eyes fixed upon the determined and scared amber ones that loomed back at him out of the darkness.
"Simple." Inuyasha said as he shrunk his Tetsaiga back to its small form. "Just…like…this…"
Inuyasha placed the blade on his wrists and cut several long slashes down both and winced a little at the pain. Naraku laughed hysterically at the act as he watched the blood pour onto the ground.
"Damn!" he said aloud. "And I was looking forward to some fun."
Inuyasha looked at him blindly and preyed to the gods that his plan would work as he felt his dizzy and frail state become even more-so with each splash of blood that hit the ground.
"Then come and get it." He murmured and with all the strength he could muster he cracked the blade of the Tetsaiga in two.
There was a long pause in which only the wind and the splashing of Inuyasha's blood upon the hard and barren ground could be heard before Naraku emitted a loud swearing. Inuyasha's vision slowly faded and he felt the last few bits of hope form, exactly the way he had hoped they would. There was a pulsing sound as the red flecks in the swirling orb slowly turned a deep crimson and began to disappear one-by-one.
"So you really think that you can fix everything?!" Naraku shouted as he yelled at the crumpled figure which was now attracting a violent tornado of red and black flecks around itself. "The monk is still dead!"
"Bad move." Inuyasha's heinous and rough voice called out.
A slashing sound was emitted from the figure and several large red boomerangs of light came whirling towards Naraku who tried to deflect them with his barrier, but failed when they busted through and knocked him to hit knees.
Inuyasha rose and looked at his arm which was covered in blood with deep crimson eyes and enormous fangs.
"Heh, heh, heh." He laughed heartily as he ran his tongue up the large slash mark, cleaning the wound and licking his lips. "So, where's the next four-hundred gonna land?"
Naraku got up and staggered a little bit.
"Damn," he muttered a blood streamed from a small cut on his cheek, "I miscalculated."
"Your damn right you did." Inuyasha said joyfully as his demon blood coursed through his veins. "So now tell me. Where DO you want the shot that ends your pathetic life to end up?"
"Sorry." Naraku said as his eyes moved toward the horizon "But I've got better plans."
"Inuyasha!" Kagome's voice cried out.
"Kagome no!" Sango yelled at her. "Something's wrong."
"What do you…" Kagome started, but just then she looked at Inuyasha's face. "He changed?!"
Sango nodded and landed softly near the two fighting figures.
"Oh no you don't you bastard." Inuyasha yelled as he ran straight towards Naraku and slammed a four inch long claw straight into his side.
There was a loud yelp as Naraku staggered in mid-air.
"Inuyasha!" A voice called to the right of the two fighting figures, a voice that shook the blood of the demon which consumed the purity of the hanyou heart which now stood, trembling.
"Damn," Naraku moaned again as he put up his purple shield, "This just keeps getting better and better."
Inuyasha shot a glance to where the voice had come from. Kill, kill, the voice in his head said as he fixed them upon a man whose dark hair and violet eyes shone brilliantly in the dimly lit, stormy atmosphere. There was a thud in his chest as he bit his lip hard, feeling blood pulse from it and trickle down his chin. No, I don't-…, Miroku…
A sudden draft swirled in the leaves of the deadened tree surrounding the castle. This is too fast, Inuyasha thought as he looked around, his vision clearing, What's happening?! The wind picked up, now swirling in the clouds directly above Inuyasha.
"SLOW-DOWN!!!" He screamed, bringing his hands to his head and collapsing to the ground.
There was a bright flash of light and Miroku watched as his lover was slowly consumed by the demon within him. Was this what he had to watch? Miroku questioned to himself as he felt his heart rise to his chest. Was he going to have to watch his one true love actually destroy everyone and everything? All these thoughts accumulated in a matter of seconds as Miroku made the decision that he decided was best. Bringing his right hand up he started to remove the cloth and beads….
Inuyasha... I'm sorry…
Inuyasha sat, his hands still on his head as he screamed. He didn't know why or how long he was screaming but however long it was he finally felt himself choke on his own sore throat before silencing himself. It was quiet, Inuyasha thought as he looked out at Naraku, who was frozen, a malevolent expression in his evil, half-lidded, purple eyes. His gaze continued around until he saw a gigantic purple and black hole start to form from where he was sure the monk was standing.
"Heh," he laughed thinking that his end was sure to be near, "So it really does happen in slow motion. I guess the rumors are true."
There was a pause as Inuyasha bowed his head waiting for the wind that he could feel swirling around him to consume him, and suck him into the void of the monk's hand. Nevertheless he became ever so slightly aware that the more he seemed to wait, the more he started to become uncomfortably aware that the time was starting to grow longer and longer.
Inuyasha's silvery haired head lifted up to the same frozen scene that he had seen minutes before.
"What the hell?!" He murmured to himself as he looked around at the still-life scene. "I yelled shut-up of course, but I didn't think that it would actually do anything…"
He got up and took the time to re-gain his balance and come to his senses a little more.
"What to do…" He whispered to himself as he looked around.
Of course the first thing that came into his mind was the thought of destroying the evil, fleeing figure of Naraku who wasn't but a few feet away, however Inuyasha shook his head and proceeded to walk over to the other figure, the one of the dark-haired man.
Amber eyes surveyed the frozen features of the determined face and saddened violet eyes as he held the hand that contained the wind tunnel up.
"Miroku…" He whispered, as he felt a tear run down his face. "This is all for you, because of you, to save you."
The frozen features of the man he loved remained motionless, un-sensing of the loving presence which stood so near to him.
"I know that you can't hear me," Inuyasha murmured as he bent forward and laid his hand over the beads and cloth the contained the wind tunnel, "But, please, tell me that you love me…"
Inuyasha brought his lips closer to the frozen statue of a figure's own.
"At least… one… more… time…"
Inuyasha felt the shrill intensity that he got every time he and the monk kissed run straight through his body as he locked lips with the figure.
There was a huge flash as the wind picked up again and time resumed it's rightful place in reality. Inuyasha pulled his head back and looked into eyes that were now fixed upon his own.
"Inuyasha…" Miroku said slightly his eyes darting all over the place, "How'd you…"
"We don't have time for that." Inuyasha yelled at him, motioning towards where Naraku had been, but when he looked back he had found that the figure had disappeared.
"Where'd he-" Inuyasha started but had no time to even finish his question properly before a loud voice boomed over him, averting his eyes from the ground and back into the sky.
"Too late Inuyasha." Naraku boomed as he held out another small orb which seemed to contain a pure white light.
"Coward!" Inuyasha yelled as he reached for his sword.
"No, not this time Inuyasha." Naraku smiled as he held out the orb as if to drop it. "It's too deep now to fix."
"What do you mean?!" Inuyasha growled, baring his fangs maliciously.
Naraku smiled his evil grin.
"Forget it," he said as he dropped the orb, "You'll find out soon enough."
The orb fell, almost in seemingly slow motion. Amber and violet eyes were fixed upon it as it tumbled through the sky, plummeting towards the cold, hard earth that lay beneath it.
"Miroku." Inuyasha quickly whispered as he turned to face the man he had grown to love so deeply. "I love you."
"I love you too… Inuyasha." Miroku said silently as his gaze turned towards the hanyou. "And I always will…"
The orb hit the ground with a thud and cracked with a small tinkling sound, comparable to breaking a tea cup. There was a huge white flash as Inuyasha looked at the man he called his own slowly fade from his vision. Somehow, he thought as he felt himself flying through a wisp of wind, everything would be all right.
(((T)))