Summary: Her Purity revised! Knowing the end was near, Naraku kidnaps and rapes Kagome, leaving her terrified of men, including Inuyasha. With this knowledge, Inuyasha tries to help her, but what happens when her condition only gets worse?
Notes: Her Purity revised.
Chapter Eight: Revival
Rating: M

The Crown Jewel

Sesshomaru walked slowly down the halls of Naraku's castle, his eyes never leaving the burden that lay in his arms. His mind was racing, but there were no thoughts filtering through his brain; he seemed to be in shock. Kagura's death, though it wasn't sudden, came as a surprise to him. She was dead. Her body lay motionless in his arms, still seeping miasma and blood, the latter of which stained his armor, ceaselessly reminding him that she was gone forever.

His hand twitched suddenly and something sharp poked into his palm. Sesshomaru paused in mid-step and averted his eyes from Kagura's pale face to his hand, which was now clenched tightly. He forced it open, his face remaining stoic as the jewel shard that the wolf demon left behind was revealed to him, along with small smears of blood from where the pointed ends had punctured into his hand. Tenseiga pulsed again at his side and Sesshomaru continued walking, his pace just a bit faster. He didn't know how long he was walking through the castle for, but he was beginning to feel impatient by the time he found the fork that led to the priestess. He stopped and took a tentative sniff. Yes, Inuyasha had undoubtedly found his mate by now. He could smell the pain and rage and shock. Sesshomaru stared down at Kagura's face. Though he didn't express it, he could understand what his younger half-brother was feeling in this moment.

He was about to take a step when the entire compound shook violently. Though he didn't lose his balance, Sesshomaru held still and didn't move until the tremors stopped. There were loud howls coming from somewhere down the hall and it sounded as if the castle itself were being torn apart. His eyes narrowed; there was something about these sounds that felt vaguely familiar to him, but he ignored it and continued walking. He was nearly half way to the dead priestess when he realized that Inuyasha's scent had changed. It had become much more primal. Something clicked in the back of Sesshomaru's mind, but he dismissed it until later and stopped at the set of double sliding shoji doors, which were slightly open. He pushed through them, his ears tuning out the loud shouts of surprise and pain and the roars of rage from outside. Upon entering the room, he noticed that the roof had been torn apart and debris was littered all across the room. It hindered him in finding Inuyasha's mate's body, but when he did, Sesshomaru gently set Kagura to the ground and drew Tenseiga, which was beating gently in his palms. He clenched the sword tightly, his eyes scanning his surroundings, searching for the imps that served to take souls to hell. He was surprised at how quickly he had found them; the priestess's death was a little over an hour ago, and the imps preferred to make quick work of the souls. It seemed that they were having particular trouble taking this soul, however. They noticed Sesshomaru and hastily began to try and haul the soul of the priestess away, but it seemed as if it were chained to the body; she wasn't ready to leave yet.

Sesshomaru struck; the imps opened their mouths in silent screams of pain before they melted into the background, leaving the soul to finally merge with the body.

Kagome's eyes opened.

Sesshomaru noted impatiently that it took her a while to recognize where she was before her eyes snapped open fully in fear. She clenched Kagura's robes around her torso and sat up, looking down in surprise that all of her wounds were suddenly healed. She seemed almost happily stunned before she finally noticed his demonic aura. Almost in slow motion, she turned to face him, fear suddenly written all over her face. He sheathed Tenseiga before turning and walking over to Kagura. He knew the girl was watching his every move carefully, and when he turned around to face her again, she scrambled away quickly until her back hit the wall, trapping her. Her breathing became labored and he could tell that she wanted to search for an exit, but was too terrified to take her eyes off of him. His hand clenched around the shard; this suited him well.

But then something glinted in the corner of his eyes, and Sesshomaru slowly turned his head towards it, his eyes narrowing considerably. His hands clenched and unfurled repeatedly, but he forced himself not to move as Tetsusaiga sparkled brightly in his eyes. The priestess immediately noticed what he was looking at and darted for the sword, seemingly not caring about the consequences as long as she had some form of protection. Sesshomaru started on first impulse, his old habits nearly getting the better of him, but he pulled back. The priestess pressed her back against the wall, as if trying to blend in with the wood, and held the sword out in front of her with shaky hands.

He gave her a meaningful look, to which her terrified expression didn't give any indication that she had noticed at all. Feeling his muscles tighten with irritation, Sesshomaru stared down at Kagura for a few seconds before tossing the jewel shard at the priestess, who yelped and dodged it as if it were contaminated. Sesshomaru paused at her reaction, wondering what she would do, but knew he would have to wait. He walked to the door and paused just outside of it, giving the priestess and Kagura one last glance before leaving all together. Now wasn't the time.

Kagome watched the demon go and stared at the door for minutes after he left as if to make sure he was really gone. Still fearful that he might return, she tightened the robe around her body and averted her eyes to the dead corpse of Kagura, dropping the Tetsusaiga to the ground. Kagome felt her breath catch at the miasma that was pouring out of a large hole in the demon, but knew that she was safe from it. The huge hole in the roof would help suck it all out. Licking her lips in anxiety, Kagome slowly crawled over to the jewel shard, her eyes widening. No negative energy tainted the shard; it was still has bright as ever, which meant that Sesshomaru had pure intentions.

Shaking her head in denial, Kagome grasped the shard before slowly sliding over to Kagura, tears filling her eyes. He had done this, she knew because of the miasma. She looked briefly at the door again, questions bombarding her tired mind. Why had Sesshomaru brought Kagura to her? And why had he given her the jewel shard? Surely it was because he wanted Kagome to purify the demon. A connection was made in her mind. Once Kagura was miasma free, he could revive her with Tenseiga, and she would be able to live, truly live.

No! Kagome's mind argued. She clenched her eyes shut, but the tears flowed regardless. She couldn't do it. If she let Sesshomaru revive her, then he would only use her for her body, just like him. Something in the back of her mind contradicted Kagome's belief, but she adamantly ignored it; all men were the same. She would not let Kagura suffer like she had.

But another part of her disagreed. Kagura had tried to help them; she even salvaged Shippo's innocence. Didn't she owe this to the dead demon? Kagome looked down at the pure shard in her hand, her conflicted emotions throwing her into a state of confusion. Then, without totally registering her movements, Kagome slowly brought the shard forward and pressed it against Kagura's chest, just above the gaping wound. She closed her eyes momentarily and opened them again; the miasma had dissipated, but was still lingering, attached to the body. Kagome pulled her hand back hastily, as if she had committed a crime, before biting her lip, leaving the shard in Kagura. She felt as if she had just sentenced the dead woman to a life in hell, which in a way, she had.

oOo

Far outside the castle, a war was raging on. Hundreds upon hundreds of dead bodies littered the earth; blood soaked the land and trees, most of which had been uprooted or burned to ashes. Screams and shouts could be heard for miles as demons clashed, brandishing weapons and war cries. Some demons were huge; taller than sixteen feet, while others didn't even reach up to a full three. It wasn't difficult to tell which side each demon was fighting for; a pack of wolves, alongside with several humans, fought fiercely, slicing through the bodies of their enemies, most of which were contorted grotesquely.

Naraku felt a sigh of—contentment? Malice? He couldn't decide which, as they were both the same to him, but he glared down laughingly at the scenes of destruction below him. After he had finally ridden himself of Kagura, he had walked to the premises of his castle only to discover the huge mass of wolves, all of whom stared at him in stunned silence. They opened their large jaws, but nothing but the sound of gurgling escaped them as Naraku quickly cut through them. Even the sounds of their deaths had not reached the ears of the wolf prince. He had called forth his demons, breathing in the air of his own miasma deeply as he waited. The purple gas didn't escape the bubble shape barrier Kanna had erected around him, which was why none of his enemies could sniff out where he was at the moment. He worked this to his advantage; he had a surprise on his side. Naraku smirked; not like he'd need it.

Ah, he could finally see his army of demons approaching from the horizon. He could hear the ruffles and whisper's of his enemies come to a halt as they all stared into the sky. They clearly couldn't see him thanks to the barrier, so Naraku drew a small, wooden doll from the depths of his robes and pulled a long, greasy hair from his head. He wrapped the thin string of hair tightly around the doll and clenched it tightly. Below him, mud and dirt compressed together, building on itself until it became a tall creature that formed itself clothes, grew long hair, and paled considerably, creating a double. Everyone's attention was immediately redirected toward the puppet, which had sprouted several tentacles and whipped them around threateningly. They attacked it without question, and Naraku, seeing no reason to stay, flew off out of the outer barrier of his castle and into the forest beyond.

oOo

Miroku hurriedly dodged to his right as a tentacle shot at him. With its speed and momentum, it wasn't able to retract quickly enough. It burrowed into the hard ground and Miroku stole that chance to cleave the appendage in half with his staff, his eyes darting around for more immediate signs of danger. The appendage that was in the ground wiggled as if in agonizing pain before it sank pointlessly to the ground and disintegrated into ash and dust. He moved away from it quickly, not wanting to risk impairing his vision. Something bumped into him, nearly knocking him to the ground, but Miroku regained balance and spun in a flurry of purple robes, his staff raised above his head in preparation for strike. He lowered it upon sight of Koga. The wolf demon seemed distracted by something. What was once rage on his face had rapidly transformed into confusion as he stared down at his right arm. Miroku had only seconds to contemplate the sudden realization on the demons face before another tentacle came flying at them from ahead. Koga sliced it away deftly with his claws, but before Miroku had the chance to inquire, he had sprinted away again. Miroku stared after the demon, but he only had a second to spare. Heavy tremors began to shake the ground and he nearly lost his balance again. When he regained it, he silently cursed the gods; an earthquake was the last thing they needed right now.

Spinning around, Miroku quickly examined his surroundings before fumbling with the prayer beads wrapped around his right arm. Tearing them off, he pulled back the binding and took aim towards Naraku's puppet; excess debris, severed limbs, and fallen enemies came flying towards him, but the puppet merely smirked. Miroku couldn't help the bitter smile he gave in return as the Saimyoushou finally made an appearance. He knew it would hurt from past experience, but the poison took a while to spread—hopefully he would still have enough time to take down Naraku before his own downfall.

The Saimyoushou were as close as they could get without being forcefully sucked in by his Wind Tunnel. Miroku grit his teeth, his eyes set, ready for impact, but before anything more could happen, he heard a scream from his right and turned just in time to see a bout of brown hair as a small body crashed into his, knocking his hand off course and allowing the Saimyoushou to fly right past them.

Slightly dazed, Miroku sat up and immediately covered his Wind Tunnel, hoping he hadn't accidentally sucked in any comrades by accident. Just as he finished, a small hand grabbed him by his robes and hauled him to his feet. Before he knew it, the same hand connected with his face, and this time, the slap stung more than ever before.

"Don't you dare—" Sango's voice found his ears and Miroku spun around in shock. For a split second, they shared eye contact, and Miroku was surprised and awed at the look she had in her eyes. She pulled her hand back for another strike, but seemed to think better of it. She lowered it to her side and shook her head. Miroku, not quite understanding, took the time to thank God that they had enough companions to get along the fight well enough that he and Sango not only didn't have to participate, but were quite well protected.

It didn't stop the extra precaution though. Sango seemed to realize this, for she grabbed him by his hand and led him under the cover of some pine trees. Between them, she raised her hand yet again for the slap, but as it came down, Miroku grabbed it and looked sternly at her.

"Save your energy," he said softly. His chest tightened slightly as he saw her lip tremble and her eyes glisten.

"Why don't you take your own advice?" she hissed back, snatching her arm out of his grip. "What do you think you're doing, using your Wind Tunnel against the Saimyoushou? Get just one in and it'll kill you!"

Miroku didn't answer and averted his eyes, enraging Sango even more. He grit his teeth harshly together as he heard her breathing become labored, and when he looked back down at her, the blazing fire she had in her eyes made his heart skip a beat. Suddenly, Sango turned her back on him and ran out from the cover of the trees, back to the fight. Miroku stared after her, his own breathing suddenly labored and his blood rushing.

When Miroku returned to the fight, he made it a point to use his staff instead of the Wind Tunnel.

oOo

Sesshomaru stepped lightly onto the battle ground, his eyes scanning the horizon quickly. The first thing that caught his eyes was the horde of demons that were scattered throughout the compound; bodies littered the ground, along with blood, and the familiar stench of death penetrated his sensitive nose. Demons here and there were fighting each other like animals. Most of them, Sesshomaru noted, were wolves. The rest were demons that he knew Naraku had spawned because of their deformities.

Never taking his eyes from the gruesome scene, Sesshomaru barely lifted his foot to take a step when a small body, not even the height of his knee, slammed into his leg and clutched to him. Sesshomaru looked down, his eyes narrowed at the kitsune pup that had latched onto his being. Sesshomaru lowered his foot again and was able to feel the trembles from the pup.

Shippo buried his face into the white cloth of Sesshomaru's clothing. He was terrified out of his mind. He couldn't find Sango, Miroku, or Kirara anywhere, and was trying to run to the cover of the forest that he knew was beyond the barrier, but was too afraid to dash across the battleground. He was cowering in a small hole in the side of the manor when a huge demon suddenly skidded by him and stopped. It was too stuffy for Shippo to smell whether the demon was an ally or a wolf, but he got his answer anyway when a long, clawed hand rustled into the hole, prodding inside for the kitsune. Shippo squealed and used his foxfire, which he knew was only a temporary defense, but he had taken the time to make an escape and ran headlong into Sesshomaru. Shippo was surprised at first, but immediately used the older demon's appearance to his advantage and clung to him.

Sesshomaru glanced down at the pup with considerable disdain before slicing through Naraku's spawn with his claws; the demon was so weak that he needn't bother using his swords. When the screams of the demon died away, he returned his attention to the kitsune pup and wondered briefly what he should do with him.

Shippo looked up at his savior, his expression grateful, yet at the same time, wary. He murmured a small thanks and slowly disentangled himself from Sesshomaru's leg. Sesshomaru, sensing the kit's reluctance to let go, lifted the pup buy the neck of his haori and brought him up to eye-level. Ignoring the frightened squeak that emanated from the small fox, Sesshomaru tucked the pup against his chest and began walking, graceful as ever.

Slicing away any foe that got in his way, Sesshomaru slowed to a halt when he reached the premises of the barrier. He lowered the pup to the ground just inside the barrier, being mindful of his claws. The last thing he needed was Inuyasha raging over a poisoned pup when he was already grieving for his mate. Sesshomaru couldn't help but smirk to himself when he imagined Inuyasha's surprise that he had revived the priestess.

The pup looked up at him questioningly when Sesshomaru released him. The older demon nodded pointedly towards the forest that was beyond the barrier.

"Many of the trees are hollow enough for you to hide in, pup. Wait in them." Sesshomaru then turned on his heel and strode away, withdrawing Tokijin and Bakusaiga from their sheathes as he did so.

Shippo watched him go, slightly awed, but turned quickly and exited the barrier. He felt the change immediately; the air here was much lighter, easier to breathe, most likely because the environment turned green. The trees and grass were alive outside of the barrier.

Deciding not to waste time, Shippo hurriedly sought out a hollowed out tree and climbed into it after scratching a big enough hole into the bark. There, he waited for what felt like hours, and was debating whether or not he should go back to see what was going on when an unlikely person strode into view.

"Kagome…?" Shippo wondered aloud. With sudden excitement and relief, Shippo stuck his head out of the hole to call to her, only to push himself back in, his lip trembling with fear. The woman he had mistaken for Kagome arched a fine eyebrow at the sight of him, cowering in a tree. She slowly lifted her bow.

oOo

"Kikyo."

The sound of her name drew the dead woman's attention. She slowly turned on the spot, pulling her bow in front of her and fingering an arrow as Naraku approached from behind.

He lifted an eyebrow at her notched arrow.

"My, my." His hiss of a whisper seemed to echo in the surrounding forest. "Aren't we allies now?"

He suddenly found himself face to face with an energy charged arrow. Kikyo's face was turned away from him, but she was staring at him through the corners of her eyes, and Naraku felt perverse satisfaction at the look of hatred on her face.

"You didn't hold up your end of the bargain."

Naraku felt his smirk fade slightly as her words processed through his brain.

"I felt it when the girl left this world, and yet I am not whole," Kikyo said coldly. She took careful aim at Naraku's chest, where his heart should have been, and then lowered her bow and arrow. "My soul has not returned."

A frown finally overtook the remaining smirk that was on Naraku's face. He then rearranged his features into a sadistic grin and reached his arm out to the priestess. Large tentacles sprouted from under his sleeve, each of them slithering towards Kikyo, who remained stationary until they were close enough to touch her. Lifting her bow, she brought it down like a sword on one of the appendages, and let out an involuntary gasp as her purification energy bounced away from the tentacle, leaving it perfectly intact.

Naraku gave a small, amused chuckle, and Kikyo's cold and calculating gaze turned on him. The tentacles wrapped slowly around her, and though the bright pink glow around her body should have incinerated him to a dust, it didn't harm him at all.

"You…" she hissed, and her eyes narrowed. "When I used my purification energy to protect your puppet from the girl's arrow, you—"

"Ah," Naraku jeered softly. His tentacles drew her struggling form towards him until he was staring her straight in the eyes. "Yes, you see, when my puppet returned with the girl, I used Kanna to absorb the purification powers you used as a barrier, and she then constructed a new form of protection for me." Now, Naraku's smirk had returned, wider than ever. "Even with the powers you have, priestess, you cannot penetrate this new barrier because it was created with your own energy, and with my dark magic added in, it has become ten times more powerful than the one you placed on my puppet. There is nothing you can do to get past this new barrier of mine.

"Of course," he continued, "I didn't expect to have to get rid of you so soon. I actually thought that my plan to return your soul would work. I'm surprised." His eyes narrowed with malice. "It looks like I might have to wait a while before I can gather all of the shards." He drew her closer to him, his eyes closing as he breathed in the scent of death that emitted from her. "How I've loved you so…" he whispered, and when his eyes opened, Kikyo once more saw her life flash before her eyes before she was gone.

Okay, WOW! I'm getting pretty tired of how long this is dragging out. I mean... Gosh, when am I going to get to the actual part that the summary of this story describes? And I still have the entire fight scene to write!

Anyway, I'm super duper sorry about the long update. Guh, I never have any real excuse. I'm just too damn lazy! Oh well... I'll try to update sooner though. No promises! But I'm going to start writing chapter 9 tomorrow (and I know I said I wouldn't update chapter 8 until chapter 9 was done but...).

Well, I have some other stuff to touch on with you guys right now.

First, I would like to give you all notice that I uploaded some Inuyasha fanart to my Deviantart account! It isn't related to this story, just some random art. So far, I have only Sesshomaru (with both of his arms), Bankotsu, and Kouga. I developed a block when I was drawing Inuyasha, so he's not finished yet. I'm going to try drawing Miroku when I have time, but that's it for now. In my opinion, the pictures are rather tasteful, and they also show quite a bit of skin. ^^" At least, Koga's does, haha. So if you want to take a look, then please just head on over to my Profile page, where you can find a link to my account! And if you can, please leave a reiview! I'd love to know what some of you think of my art!

Second, on a more dpressing note, I'm assuming that all of you have heard about the devastation that occured in Japan in March. My family and I were absolutely stunned that a earthquake of that magnitude could hit anywhere. Half of my mother's side of the family lives in Sendai. We don't talk to them personally because there is the Japanese/English language barrier, and I've only met them once in my life, but that doesn't change the fact that they are still family. My mother's parents in Hawaii talk with them a lot, but they told us that they haven't had contact with anyone since the quake and resulting tsunami. So, my loyal readers and friends, please pray with me for the safety of not only my family, but everyone else who has been affected by this disaster. Let us hope that those who have suffered losses will recover soon and that the poor souls who have been lost will find peace.

That's all for now, I suppose. I know this chapter probably wasn't up to your guys' standards (I know it wasn't for me), but please understand that I'm trying to move things along as quickly as possible with this story. It just takes a while trying to get all of the characters points of views crammed in there. Hopefully, chapter 9 will get through a lot so that I can get to the actual plot in this dang story, haha.

Thank you all for reading, and thank you even more for all of the wonderful reviews that you've left me so far. I really appreciate them. If you find any mistakes, please don't hesitate to infrom me.

~Miyopiyo

Return to Top