Nefatu - I'm really glad that you enjoyed my story:) Here's hoping that this chapter still hold your interest like the privious two
Que-min - Wow thank you:) I'm glad you liked it to so much..haha..i hope that i don't disappoint you with this one!
Disclaimer: I do not own InuYasha
Just as Miroku finished his sentence a blinding light engulfed the group causing them all to look away, all but Lunius. A deep growl filled his chest as he looked into the light, "You're lucky I'm feeling generous," he spat at Kouga and then vanished the same way as he had appeared, however the glowing man remained and the sun rose behind him.
Kouga didn't care about this new arrival he just wanted to find his precious Kagome, he turned to the others, "Where's Kagome?"
"Kagome!" yelled InuYasha who was by her side, apparently not paying attention to his own wounds and forgetting he had just been knocked unconscious for the past couple of minutes. He stood gazing at the lifeless girl at his feet. He knelt down besides her, ignoring the wolf demon that was on the other side of him mimicking his own actions; hair was spread out around her, her once white shirt and green skirt was covered in dirt. He could smell the blood around her neck, "Please wake up," he said while brushing stands of raven black from her face, he then turned to the others, "What happened to her?"
The glowing man started his way to the fallen girl however Kouga was in front of him instantly growling in his throat, "Don't you dare touch her," he was ready for another battle, no one touches Kagome and gets away with it.
"Relax wolf, I just want to see if my suspicions of what my Brother has done are true," the voice was stern and yet full of warmth and trust. Sensing this Kouga let the man pass but not without letting out a growl of warning.
"You're the Brother of that thing!" spat Sango flailing her arm to where Lunius once was, "Who are you and why should we trust you!"
"My name is Lumius and I'm sorry for what my brother has done to your friend, and you should trust me because I may be the only one who can help your friend," he said calmly while bending down towards Kagome, he gently moved the hair from around her neck revealing two holes and a trial of blood trickling from each, but the blood looked like it was mixed with a strange black ooze. "I was afraid of this, she has been bitten and the curse is upon her, she is already slipping into the darkness, her blood has already started to turn black."
"What is this curse and what does it do?" asked Miroku, he has never seen or heard of such a curse.
"It's called Eternal Sleep and its inflicted by my Brother's salvia seeping into the victims veins, as it travels it turns the blood to darkness and once it reaches the victims brain it throws them into a sleep full of nightmares and takes away their memory one by one until they know nothing and then become nothing. With every memory that she forgets she will slowly disappear."
"What can we do?" asked InuYasha looking up from the girl to face the still glowing man. He was mentally cursing himself for not being there to protect her when she really needed him; he was willing to do anything to bring her back, just so he could apologize. Unknown to InuYasha, Kouga was having the same talk with himself in his own head how if he had gotten there sooner she would be alright now, he had let her down.
The man said nothing for a moment going over options in his mind, he then moved opposite of InuYasha and placed his hands over the girl and she was instantly engulfed in light, like the man, you could only see her outline. "As long as my hands are here and she is within my light her dreams will be pleasurable, however I can't reverse the curse, my Brother and I are equal I can only give her more comfort not lift it."
"There's got to be something else we can do," pleaded Sango, Kirara had transformed back into her small kitten like stage and was by Sango's side with Shippo, the trio was looking at the strange man hoping and praying that there was something that he wasn't telling them, that they could some how wake up Kagome.
"Kagome," whispered Kouga as he dropped to his knees besides InuYasha, bending down about to hug her when he was thrown backwards.
"Don't even think about touching her wolf," spat InuYasha baring his fangs and claws at the wolf.
"What do you think your doing Mutt Face?" Kouga growled back as he flipped himself back on his feet returning the threat to InuYasha.
"Keeping your filth off of her," InuYasha said standing up so he was eye to eye with Kouga.
"Gentlemen please, save the anger for my Brother, you're going to need it," said Lumius in a calm assertive tone, looking at the demons.
"Need it?" asked Sango curiously.
"Yes," continued Lumius, "but first we need to get you all out of this place and where it is safe." With that said the entire group was surrounded by a blinding light, they felt weightless but as soon as the sensation was upon them it was gone and the light vanished.
When their eyes finally adjusted and the spots were finally gone from their eyes they were finally able to take in their surroundings. It would have been a log cabin if it was made out of wood but what was wood was marble. The Furniture was made with white silk, and a big glass window was in the wall behind them, revealing an ocean of big white fluffy clouds. A large fire place was located to the east of the room and the fire inside danced beautifully however there was nothing burning. It was unlike the village houses that they all had been in before which had only one room, this place had several they could only imagine what the other rooms looked like especially since this one looked like it was only for company.
"Where are we?" asked Shippo with tear stains on his cheeks trying to sound brave but was failing horribly.
Finally the group turned to see Kagome floating in front of a man with his arms hovering over her. Except now the group was able to see more then just an outline. Kagome looked beautiful her once tattered clothing was now clean and her matted hair was flowing beautifully underneath her as if in a small breeze. Then they noticed the man, the man was the complete opposite of Lunius, his hair was a golden blonde and had an amazing shine, his eyes were a deep teal that stood out against his tanned skin. The armor he wore was identical to Lunius's except for the golden sun that seemed to leak a golden outline on his white armor. He was beautiful.
"You are in my home, untouchable by my Brother and now I owe you all an explanation," said Lunius.
"Ya think?" scoffed InuYasha under his breath, folding his arms across his chest.
"Many centuries ago my Brother and I were created by the Elements but back then my Brother was not so hostile," Lumius began.
"You mean they really do exist?" asked a shocked Miroku, "The Elements I mean."
"I thought you said that they did monk," stated Sango slyly looking at him out of the corner of her eye.
"Well I lied, I just wanted to stop Kagome's and InuYasha's argument before it got to intense," the monk laughed while putting his hand near the base of his neck, where his black hair was held in a rat tail, out of embarrassment for being found out.
"Hopeless," Shippo sighed rolling his eyes at Miroku.
"They are as real as you or I, but back then there was peace and harmony between them. Until one night my Brother came to me and was full of hatred and anger, when I had asked what was wrong he told me how he was sick of the Elements being a higher rank then he was; how they got everything and he only had the night. So he approached them with the request of becoming an element but they denied his request. When he told me about this he swore he would get even. He told me of a plan to make the Elements miserable, splitting them apart and too busy with the other to notice us. He told me how he was going to steal their weapons and then use them on the other making it look like a betrayal. I refused to be apart of it and begged my Brother not to go through with it. But his anger was great and refused to listen to me. He claimed that I had betrayed him, that day my Brother and I became enemies. That same night he stole the weapons of the Water and Earth elements and attacked Fire and Wind, then did the same with Fire and Wind's weapons to Water and Earth. He put them back in the exact same place he had found them making it appear that nothing had happened. I will never forget that tragic day. The elements confronted each other both accusing and denying the claims of the attacks. Since Water and Earth were always together they both had witnessed the attack and vise versa."
"Which explains the pairings," said Miroku, more to himself then to anyone.
"It was horrible, the once happy couples were now fighting and breaking apart accusing the other of betrayal," nodded Lumius to Miroku.
"I remember that part of the legend," stated Sango, "Earth and Fire were together and so were Wind and Water,"
"Correct," Lumius continued, "Lunius's plan was a success the Elements started a deadly battle that lasted decades until I was able to stop them by blinding them for several minutes with my light so they were unable to attack. Once they were distracted by the light I tried telling them the truth but they were so consumed with rage and sorrow my words fell on deaf ears. But they agreed to stop fighting. They went in separate directions but still are consumed with anger which is why disasters still happen today. This brings us to the present event of my Brother's actions. With no one to stop him he has become a power hungry man and it seems to get worse as time goes on which is why he attacked you all, he thinks everyone is beneath him even the very beings that created him. In order to save your friend Lunius has to lift the curse or die, and the former isn't going to happen and obviously by your attempts earlier you can't defeat him on your own. You need to travel to the homes of the Elements and ask for help, they created us and are the only ones who can destroy us."
"Where do we find them," asked Kouga ready to do anything to save Kagome.
"I can send you to the beginning of the trial to their homes but I can't get you right in front of them. I warn you each element has a different guardian that is very protective of its master, each has its own special strength so beware, now I need you to decide who's going where?"
"I will go to Water and Earth, I heard a rumor that their beauty is like no other," said Miroku with a grin on his face.
Crack. Miroku was hit on the head with the Hiraikotsu "Lecher," snapped Sango and then turned to Lumius, "I'll go with him to make sure he doesn't do anything stupid."
Kouga looked at InuYasha then back at Lumius, "Guess that means me and Mutt Face are going to see Fire and Wind,"
"Me? Go with you? Who said you were going!" shouted InuYasha shooting daggers at Kouga.
"Me that's who! There's no way in hell I'm letting you go alone risking you messing it up for Kagome, we need these gifts," Kouga said mocking the Dog demon.
InuYasha was about to pounce on the cocky demon when Sango put her hand on his shoulder, "InuYasha, please, for Kagome," she said to him softly.
"Fine," InuYasha said through his teeth, "Any other information you can give us?" he whirled around towards Lunius.
"Stay true to your hearts, and always remember who you are fighting for this will give you strength and patience to defeat obstacles you wouldn't think you could concur, and be swift the girl doesn't have much time," Lunius said softly looking sadly at the girl floating in front of him.
The group nodded, InuYasha turned to Shippo and Kirara, "I want you two to stay here and help Lumius with Kagome, do what he says and be strong I'm counting on you," he ordered.
"Okay," gulped Shippo and Kirara nodded to show her understanding.
"Good luck," said Lumius then the quartet were engulfed in light and then were gone.
"Oh I hope they will be back soon," Shippo said as tears threatened to fall once again. Kirara mewed beside him in agreement. Shippo turned towards Kagome and started walking towards her, "Wake up Kagome please, I don't' want to lose you like I did my parents, I couldn't stand losing another Mom," tears were now falling down his already stained cheeks. He looked up to the Man of Light, "Is Kagome going to die," he choked out afraid of the answer.
"Rest little one, she is strong, try not to worry," Lumius smiled down at the shaking child.
"Promise," Shippo asked hope evident in his voice.
Lumius's smile grew, "I will do whatever I can to help her and your friends will be back before you know it." he replied.
Shippo smiled and jumped up onto Lumius's lap and curled up and fell asleep exhausted from the prior events. Lumius continued to smile at Shippo but it soon faded as he looked at the girl. "Be strong Kagome, I pray your friends are as strong as they portray." Kirara jumped on the arm rest of the chair that he was in and curled down beside Lumius, as they all waited for the others return.
A/N: A little boring I know there was a lot of information in this one, but next chapter you get to see whats going on within Kagome's mind. Please review andI will update shortly! And thank you for those who have reviewed already, you're my motivation. Thank you!