A/N: Back again and this time with more inspiration that I did not have before! I have been getting little bouts of an urge to stop writing this because it seemed like I could not go on. But now I have found the inspiration to write once again. Thank you all for your support!
Thank You: A special thanks to the following people for reviewing thus far: Qui, Lola, elendless, Paulina, Ro0tin4Kagome, Megan, Independent.C., Princess Izakyoi, WolfenxPrincess, Mei-Sara , disenchantedxx, katsheswims, mysterychild, IWishIWazKagome, Koniko-chan, Devil's Psychiatrist, copycater, MaNgA-bOy-LoVeR, Meeh-san, Toharu, banxbadxkarma, PInK cuTie KaGomE-micael m, AngelxofxFire16, ShadowStar666, lost-x-angel, KInasha14, XoXPosterGirlXoX, Katsheswims, sillyo0omeeh, Shadows Realm, drop dead lover, PinK cuTie KaGomE-miceal m, moonlite phox, bang bang baby B-A-N-G, yumemiru905, Kitsune Diva, Inu'sHardcoreBitchThatLovesRamen, kaginulover33, not a user , MikoNLove, haunting hanyou, Amarioko, EmeraldoftheFlame, Inudaughter, KhayenRose, kiaya, My Love Inuyasha, fallenangel7191, Hoshi Phoenix, Celestial Enchantress, Sakura-Blossom-Goddess, Neisha, Megan Consoer, Selina, Wolf Girl, Karen, Jen, caliste07, Kiss and Kill, CrazyLikeaFox, angicakesisinuyashasluvr, Lady Yevon, Kawaii-CherryWolf, WasteMyTime, waterangel444, InuFanJinx, Princess Ashes, Eri, Katie, angel-tears-16, Jen, jeeringsmiles, Selina, Wolf Girl, butterflywinds, Megan Consoer, Ivy-Crystal, Karen, Angel-Tears-16, Moongirlz, Vyx, Anne79, Forest Sentry Koneji, Ally Inu, PiperWolfBlossom, Moon-Miko-ashes, Insane-and-Psycho, Eri, Animefanatic1632, Apathy Angel, Raven657, Queen Tatooine, Danyu, marijang69, Jynx, Starr Stealer, Hand off the hanyou, a100rinchhead, Katie, MizuShoubai, Angel of Death 88, KougaDemonAddict, Lulu, Crystal, Sesshouismine, Lizz456, KatanaFox, Hanyou665, She-Demonstriss, none, short-tempered, twigy, ArtemisMoon, Hot Bitch (a.k.a. Celeste), Inuyasha-Is-My-Boyfriend, Crutches the Magic Hippie, Latinachica, Kagomeissosexy, Orlando-Inu-Lover, Hi, Annie, Tarzan, Kenshrix, Kinomoto, Dark Hanyou Lover, Shaq, InuFan4Life, AuronZs10, EarthQueen11492, LinaoftheLight, chickichicki, tomariella222, spotzplaya888, elementalobsession, Black Betty, InnocentDarkSassyCat, Dark Daimon Fate, Innocent Hope, dreamz-of-hope, azn-modern-miko, Lady Dark Angel, GohanzGirl, Schezerade7, Ria-chan, Shokora no Sakuhen, Embury, lyn, inuschopstiks, Silver Rain Drops, kawaii-arula, inu-kaglover45, Malitia, AzaraRubie, dragdr, and Alarnia. Thank you for sticking with me so far especially with my random updates and I sincerely hope that you continue to do so. Your words mean more to me than you -or I- may ever know. If I have forgotten anyone please let me know. I am sorry if I did.
"Kind words can be short and easy to speak but their echoes are truly endless." -Mother Theresa
Dedication: This fanfiction is dedicated to Ria-chan, my little sister and best friend. She proof read the first two chapters of this story and has given me the inspiration to begin my story anew. But most important of all, she believes in me, which is why I posted this fic and for that I am eternally grateful. She has been my constant anchor when my world seems like it is turning upside down and inside out. She has been there for me and listened to my complaints and I thank every star at night for leading me to her. Thank you, Ria-chan! Love you lots, sweetie!
Disclaimer: Blah, blah, blah. I bet that's all you readers hear and read when you see these disclaimers. They're the same every time. Inuyasha and the characters affiliated with him do not, in any way, belong to me. They belong to Rumiko Takahashi, Viz, Shogakuken, etc.
"As soon as there is life, there is danger."
-Ralph Waldo Emerson
Chapter 15: A Mind Asunder
"Let me help you, Miroku. You cannot possibly think that I would leave here knowing that you were facing this alone?!" Sango cried out, her cheeks burning with fury.
Miroku shook his head adamantly. The thought of her being in that ballroom with Kagome on a rampage was too much for him to take. Should something happen to her… Miroku shook the thoughts from his mind as he placed both hands on her shoulders. "You have to go with Selena and protect her. This is going to get out of hand soon, sweetheart. I need to know that you are safe," he explained, his voice calm despite the fact that there were screams echoing all around them.
"We do not know what Kagome will do or what she is capable of as the Maiden. Stay away." Before Sango could think to protest to his actions his lips had crushed down on hers in a breathless kiss. And just like that he was gone. Sango's eyes watered and even now her heart demanded that she go after him. But logic and reasoning was soon eating its way into her mind.
Of course she could not go. Miroku did not need another distraction or it could cost him dearly- perhaps with his life…
Sango bit down on her lip hard. With one swish of her skirt she fled the little hallway in search of Selena. She needed to help her sister, which was more important than anything else. She no longer had her powers now that her pregnancy had reached one of the final stages; she was helpless. Sango could not risk anything happening to her.
"Sango!"
The woman turned her head to see Selena. Her tiny form was already coming toward her as fast as her feet and large belly was able to take her. Sango might have laughed at how comical she looked had it not been for the gravity of their situation. Sango reached out to clasp the pale, cold hand of the woman that stood a little shorter than she. "Have you seen, Sesshomaru, Sango?" Selena demanded in a panic. "I need to get to him." And that must have been the last thing that the dog demon needed… Sango merely shook her head.
"What we need to do is leave for safer ground, Selena. Sesshomaru will be fine. I promise you that." Sango pressed a fleeting kiss to her sister's forehead before she took her hand and tugged gently. "This way. We will follow the king." They would be safe there. Sango winced at the inhuman cry that erupted as a melancholic harmony from the ballroom behind them. Kagome… She was a raging demon now. And what frightened Sango more was that she had no idea if this was the true Maiden that they saw or something else altogether.
Selena looked back in confusion when Sango stopped in mid-step, trying to turn them in another direction. She did not even have the moment to ask what they were doing; the stairs to the higher floors were already looming above them. Sango was traveling too quickly for them to stop for a breath. "Okinamaru will help you, Kagome," Sango whispered to herself as she helped Selena begin the long trek. "I know he can."
'Where is your true master?' Kagome hissed out once again as she placed one foot in front of the other. Teinin, however, could no more talk than he could flee. Sweat gleamed as extra clothing upon his forehead, a delicate sheen that wilted into beaded droplets that traced his temple, down his cheek. The strands of his hair made the little bead of sweat disappear.
What was he to do? Surely, Naraku would never come to this place. He would not want to get his hands dirty with such a messy job as this. Teinin was able to cast one side-long glance at his mutilated comrade. Was that an eyeball he saw? The lump in his throat made it so hard to breathe or swallow. He tried many times to push it down with the muscles of his throat but to no avail.
Kagome's smirk widened over once-delicate features. Her entire being demanded that she kill this creature and use his mental trails to trace his master's whereabouts. Her six wings surged up in a ruffle of feathers, an arch of silken white. They were glowing, pulsing with their power and looking quite demonic in the broken light of the ballroom. What to do with him? Kill? Or torture as she had done to his little friend? Teinin was still rooted to the spot, even as his body trembled with a violent force as the Maiden walked closer. Silent steps… A jaguar could have been no stealthier than she. Nor more lethal. Danger clung to her; she wore power as a second skin. She was truly a law unto herself. He tried to command his legs to move, but for some reason, they were rooted to the spot below him. Invisible hands seemed to have gripped him in no show of mercy for his pathetic soul. He was a pawn to be dispensed with now that he was no longer needed.
Damn him… That damned Naraku would not come for him.
Kagome lifted a seemingly fragile hand. Each of her slender fingers was wrapped by the crimson vines, dripping in blood that made a light trail. The hem of her dress dragged along to smear them in a dance of death. She paused when someone pounded on the barrier that she had erected to keep intruders out. A mere flick of her eyes over her shoulder revealed the silver-haired dog demon of before. His clawed fists were trying their best to break through the crackling bubble of energy unlike any they had felt before. It reeked of a demonic aura- Inuyasha had never thought he would ever feel Kagome like this. Her light had been completely drowned out.
"Stop!" he yelled out, wishing that he had his trusty sword. Then he would not feel so damned helpless. "Kagome, listen to me! Don't kill him. He's not worth it. Follow my voice back from the darkness."
Inuyasha had no idea how he would get through to her this way. 'Listen carefully, little dog, for I will not say this again. She slumbers deeply now. She shan't awaken until I deem my work is done here.' The Maiden lifted her other arm, fingers splayed wide, and shot a breeze of energy in Inuyasha's direction. It moved through the barrier as though nothing and propelled the half-demon backward onto his rump. It sent him skidding across the debris-littered floor.
She was there, her eyes devoid of any emotion, any guilt as she faced the cowering Teinin. He did not even know what to do. Fear had frozen him in his spot and left him nothing but his own quaking and his own dry mouth. Run… He needed to run. But there was no way out of this barrier. It held him in place. It cornered him as Kagome moved toward him- predator to prey. And Teinin had no doubt that he was the prey. Soft whimpers came from his mouth as lightening whipped past his head and slashed over his cheek. A gash parted through his flesh to bleed. The noxious scent filled the air, igniting Kagome's blood lust further as she took another step o him.
"I don't know!" Teinin cried out, his voice rising above the crashing of power to power. "I don't know where he is!"
Laughter filled the air instead of silence. Low, wicked flashes of bubbling voice permeated the air like a thick cloud, suffocating all that heard and breathed it in. 'You do not know?' the Maiden wondered. 'Well then, I see that I have no use for you any longer. Come here to me.' She quirked her finger and the man's body was thrown into the air. It was there that he hung like a rag doll ready to be played with. Or torn to pieces. Teinin screamed as the darkness began to creep from all sides.
Like millions of hands, the ebony crept along the air as though walls were there, sneaking over his ankles and his wrists, biting into the delicate veins so that blood spurted. Images of their last encounter flew before Teinin's eyes. They widened into deep abysses of pewter color, silver and molten platinum. His throat opened and the screams refused to cease. They flung out to bounce out at the walls, mixing in with Kagome's laughter. The eerie sound chilled all who heard right down to the bone.
The crimson vines along Kagome's back pulsed, glowed as though water flowed through them. Her finger curled inward and Teinen felt not a limb shift out of place. There was a rustle of wings in his mind and his eyes dilated into opaque circles. Inside the walls and barriers, a force loomed up. Red eyes flashed from the darkness. Death watched him as Kagome's spirit touched a single barrier in his mind, a memory, and it blackened. As soon as it crumbled to ash pain flung itself from Teinin's head to every nerve ending in his arm. He screamed out once again before he tried to struggle away. The hands holding him in place tightened and crushed the wrists in his arms into dust. Anguish burst through his brain cells, leaking blood from one ear.
But the pain was no matter anymore. All that was raging as a beast inside of him to match Kagome's fury was the instinct to run. To fight or flee was no longer and issue. He had to flee. Kagome's spirit was spreading inside of his mind, swinging his head from side to side with the lashes she slammed into him. She ignored everything else. So intent was she on her need t kill, she did not notice the black cloud that was beginning to sprout from the ground. Miasma- deeply purple- curled like a snake coiled to strike. Another presence entered the deserted ballroom. A presence that pushed at the Maiden's energy. It easily slipped into her barrier as though it were nothing.
Startled, furious, but also in slight curiosity, Kagome felt herself lift her head and gaze to the left. A single winged eyebrow moved up. A raven-haired man stood not too far away, crimson eyes boring into her own and a smirk touching the corners of his pale lips. Teinin's head lolled forward with some effort and he peeked up beneath his swinging locks. "Lord… Lord Naraku," he whispered in agony. He had come to save him.
Inuyasha felt fury swell in him just at looking at the man. This was the one that had ended his father's life and ultimately his mother's as well. His nails bit into the sensitive flesh of his palms. Blood followed soon after to drip to the floor in a steady rhythm. "Naraku! You bastard!" he yelled out as he slammed his hands into the barrier holding him back.
Naraku shot him only a small glance. "I did not expect you to survive," was all that he said.
Kagome's eyes narrowed as she turned fully to face the mysterious man. The one she had been looking for. 'You kept me waiting,' she hissed through her long fangs.
"I am so sorry, my lady," Naraku returned gallantly. He bowed from the waist as his robed arm swung out to cut through the air. He left a trail of curling poison in the air. "It only dawned on me that I might need the man you so desperately wish to kill. He is, after all, somewhat useful to me."
The Maiden watched him through narrowed eyes, glittering sapphire gems veiled by sweeping lashes. Heartbeats passed; silence drifted. And to everyone's surprise, Kagome laughed. Her lips parted to release the highly amused sound as she flicked her wrist. Teinin was sent tumbling and skidding across the floor to land at Naraku's feet. 'It is quite hard to find good help these days. But also a good battle. I have slept for many a century; this body has finally allowed me passage into the world and here I find myself in Madrien once again. And up against you. I think it might be sufficed to say that you can provide me a good fight?'
Naraku smirked, kicking Teinin's body aside. The fool was utterly useless, but he needed him for the odd jobs such as bringing the Maiden to the surface. "Teinin, go back to the castle and once again clean yourself up. I can take care of this from here," Naraku snapped. He moved forth, but it seemed to be more a glide. His robes flapped behind him.
Kagome moved with him as a shadow. Her eyes never left his moving form as she focused on the ebb and flow of his power. It collided with hers and sprayed sparks to the ground, catching the corpses aflame. 'Confident, are you not, Naraku? That is very foolish!' Kagome lunged forward, feathers flying all over the place as crimson-tipped snow. They swirled about dangerously, sharpening and hardening as the lightening poured out of her form. Naraku leapt into the air as she came after him, talons raised and lengthening. But she encountered only the empty air. A growl rumbled deep in her throat as she turned back.
Naraku was no where in sight… What had happened to him? Where was he…? Kagome grazed the length of the room. All that she could see was Sesshomaru, Miroku and Inuyasha. She cared for none of them. The Maiden needed the other man, the most powerful of the bunch. 'Naraku,' she bit out, her voice growing louder and louder, filling with frustration. And to her chagrin, he continued to laugh at her. Like she was some sort of weakling. That angered her more than anything else. The Maiden flung her arms out and light seared through the dome of energy. It filled each corner and space until there was nothing left to the imagination. Power sparked from the tips of her fingers and went seeking out. She knew he was here.
Naraku appeared behind Kagome in the blink of an eye. "Kagome!" Inuyasha yelled out.
He collided into the wall, disturbing the flow of energy for just one moment before the entire dome shifted back into place. Naraku's eyes widened when his hands encountered nothing but the subtle hollow of an apparition. His fingers closed over nothing, just as Kagome's had. His entire body pitched forward only to be thrown into a sudden darkness- the abyss that the Maiden of Twilight could create. It opened a hole into the ground beneath him. The floor parted evenly into a sphere. Hands reached up- nails gleaming and eyes opening in the middle of the palms, hundreds of them to watch as he descended- and horrid screams erupted through the air. Naraku went face-first only to encounter Kagome as she sifted up from the floor through the sea of writhing hands. She moved through it like it was water and she light. But her crimson orbs cried out something else.
He gritted his teeth and moved out of her way while she tried to reach for him with the energy trickling out. But his body was reacting to whatever that she sent out. It beat through him like so many hearts, hammers and hands.
Naraku allowed the adrenaline to course hotly in his veins as he hovered away from Kagome's reach. She lifted her slender form completely from the ground and landed with a small tap of her feet to the floor. Wisps of her silken gown sighed along the cracked floor. Her wings unfurled and sharpened. The feathers turned a steel-like fashion and pointed straight towards him. Little hollows of light began to seep forward, tainted by darkness of the blackest kind and collect into sphere before each tip. The Maiden's smirk was quite confident as she faced the man in front of her. And he may have been more so. "Pray, do not be too gentle, my lady," he mocked as he glided effortlessly forward.
Sesshomaru and Inuyasha both watched with confused eyes as their nemesis went for a frontal strike when it was clear that he would die if he did so… But it might have been for the better. After all, their problems would be over. Naraku sent himself straight for the Maiden with no care in the world and did not stop. He dodged the blows of energy, watching Kagome rise into the air. The flaps of her wings on amplified the strength of each of the spheres. They sliced through the air as knives, but failed to hit him. A growl dropped from the woman's lips. She did not want to be outdone.
"Whatever is the matter, my lady?" Naraku mocked as he slid behind a column. The darkness of his poison was enough for the marble to go from its perfect alabaster to an ebony color the blackest of nights would never be able to overcome. "Have you grown soft these past millennia's, I wonder?"
Inuyasha could only watch in his helplessness as Naraku lured the Maiden farther into his grasp. He growled – his fingers tightened into two fists at his side. He pounded them on the barrier before turning about and feeling along the edges.
"What are you doing?"
Inuyasha did not even look to his brother as he scratched along the barrier with nails that could have ripped throats from the faces of mountain rocks. "I am trying to find a way in. I cannot stand here and watch, Sesshomaru. I can't!"
Sesshomaru looked up once more to the two beings flying through the air once more and then decided he had to help his younger sibling. Should Naraku win…? Then they might not stand much of a chance against him. He slipped around the other bend, tying to find some weakness or flaw in their barrier. But there seemed to be none that he could see. Or find.
Naraku wondered why the Maiden was not stronger… Why she did not attack him with her full force. But when he caught the flash of silver, he knew instantly. Inuyasha. That damned half-demon was able to keep her slightly conscious to the fact that he would die should she use one of her attacks. Well, this had to end right here then. He was done playing with her now; all the amusement could wait until another time. When more suffering would come.
Naraku's arms spread as though to embrace Kagome's body. But as she reached out to dig her claws into his skin, the blackened blood seeped up like a well. It clung to her skin and burned through the delicate flesh. The stench lingered heavily in the air and Inuyasha covered his sensitive nose. Miasma… Miasma and toxins of the skin. He grabbed onto Sesshomaru's arm and tugged him backward. They would never be able to stand it for long. "Get back," he hissed.
'What are you doing?' the Maiden demanded, trying to tug her hand back. But it did not budge. Instead, Naraku's body was absorbing hers almost. She blinked once and her other hand came to wrench and tear through his skin. But more blood prickled through his skin and clung to her, anchored her. She struggled to no avail. 'Release me!'
"Such high demands from someone that is in no position to do anything," came the man's answer. The blood wriggled along her fair skin. Scorch marks traveled up and down before sinking deeper into her skin, bringing her through him. He was trying to take her power. Her mind knew it, but her body did not have a way to comply. Spheres of swirling energy slammed into Naraku's body over and over. It was the panic of Kagome's mind that made her falter, that made her attacks lessen. The Maiden had not expected such a thing.
Naraku's laughter danced about her with malicious intent, sending shivers running up and down her spine. There was a crumbling in her mind that she felt. Something was… moving along the edges of her conscious. Fear struck through her at the intimate contact. His talons scraped across the walls of her mind. Whatever he touched turned to ash and fell to the ground. Jagged pieces of glass. That's what the pain felt like. The Maiden – Kagome – opened her mouth to scream but nothing came. Her eyes were dilating until only black remained behind to stare into nothing.
'You will listen to me very carefully. I am your master now. You will obey my commands. I control that part of you'
Naraku was everywhere inside of her. She could feel him gaining leverage in her mind, becoming a simple shadow at first and then his weight began to burden her. Kagome continued to struggle and thrash about, not caring which way her power went now. She just wanted Naraku to leave her be. Hundreds of spider-like creatures crawled along her skin, poison seeping from their legs and increasing the hold he had on her.
'Submit to me, Maiden. I can offer you what you crave.' Naraku grinned down at her. His fangs glinted and she saw her reflection there, the blood seeping from the pressure in her temples.
No! She could not go to him! Her mind was being pulled from all different directions. She could not fight him… A lump of panic swelled farther and choked off her air. She needed help. Realization was dawning on her as the Maiden receded into her mind once again to allow her host to dominate.
Kagome blinked, trying to clear the haze from her mind. Where was she? Her eyes came face to face with Naraku. Pure evil stared back at her from eyes satanic, frightening. Her scream froze in her throat.
"What the hell can we do?" Inuyasha bellowed, ramming his body over and over into the barrier. It would not budge. The powers were only growing in strength as Naraku held on to Kagome. Inuyasha's heart stuttered in fear, dropping lower and lower into his stomach. He could not help her. The realization hit him harder than anything else in his life. He was unable to help her here as he had been with Chardul… She was going to be hurt once again.
Sesshomaru turned his head at the spike in power in the room. But it was not Naraku's nor was it Kagome's. Inuyasha stood there, as stoic as the statues lining the interior of the king's world. His fingers curled into themselves quickly, piercing the thick skin until blood began to run in rivulets down his fingers to drip to the floor. "Inuyasha?" Sesshomaru breathed, knowing what was happening. He did not know if he should stop him or not. It might very well help them in their quest to defeating Naraku.
Blood seeped into Inuyasha's eyes and stained them, creating a bloodlust, a haze of killing. All he had to do was take one step forward. His mind made one last ditch effort to stop himself from becoming the full-fledged demon inside of him. From becoming the monster he had always known was lurking there. Kagome was threatened. The beast in him lifted its head, fangs dripping in their anticipation. He roared for retribution, snarling loudly back at Naraku.
He had already sensed the demonic aura in the room that did not belong to him. As he turned is head, he spotted the rippling mass of Inuyasha's energy and smirked. "Well, well, the beast has finally reared its ugly head," he sneered loudly, cackling. The sound would have sent shivers up and down a spine. Naraku tossed Kagome to the side, watching with dead eyes as she bounced slightly and then lay still, trembling. He tasted fear in the air. He smelled it all around him. This was what he longed for.
But even as he brought his full attention to Inuyasha and the way his body was contorting, giving in to the demon inside of him, Naraku flooded Kagome's mind with his will, implanting small memories along the way, triggers that ensure she would be forever in his grasp should he need her. Her mind was a desert of broken walls and crumbling foundations – she had nothing to fall back on any longer. The thought, the very feeling was more than she could bear to handle. He was in her mind, reading her thoughts… Kagome squeezed her eyes shut, willing him to leave. Please…
Naraku floated back down to the ground and his robes danced about him, oozing miasma in thick, ominous clouds. A poison fit for the dead. "Hello, Inuyasha. It is so good to see you once again."
Inuyasha snarled, baring his elongating fangs at the demon before him. His crimson eyes were more than amused. They were laughing back at Inuyasha, mocking him as he had been doing to his family for years. He was surprised they had lasted as long as they did. But this was a moment he was going to enjoy for years to come. He would finally be rid of this half-demon abomination.
Naraku glided forward, rounding Inuyasha as though his hissing and spitting meant nothing whatsoever. He watched him for long, breathless moments. The room itself seemed to wish to hold its breath so that fates could be decided. Who would die here? The voice of the dead drifted eerily from room to room with such a wondering question.
Inuyasha snarled as his enemy came closer and closer. He swiped his talons to the side and encountered nothing but air. A laugh was his mocking answer. "You have become weak, Inuyasha," Naraku called. But the demon inside of Inuyasha's mind would not take such a verbal beating. The out-of-control demon raged, propelling himself forward, tackling Naraku to the ground so that the crimson-eyed demon had to melt into the ground to get away. But Inuyasha was there, his fingers pinching into Naraku's jaw as he used it to push him into the wall, cracking the solid marble with the force of it.
Naraku's eyes narrowed and he deliberately slashed a hole into his wrist. Toxic fumes seeped out in a deadly hiss, as though a balloon being released of its air to sustain its life. Inuyasha inhaled sharply and began to cough, his lungs beginning to wither with the poison clouding his system. He fell back, his crimson eyes now widened and his fangs bursting from their sheaths. Inuyasha roared out his agony. The poison was ripping at his system and even Sesshomaru could not get close enough.
He was a full demon, an ancient in the age of those like him. He would feel the pain far more than those who would be younger than him.
Sesshomaru held his sleeve over his sensitive nose before leaping into the air. Expertly, he back-flipped through the air and landed deftly in front of Naraku, sweeping his sword over the man's back. A large gash appeared, bleeding and angry. But the same miasma plaguing Inuyasha followed suit and poured out as a thick waterfall. Sesshomaru growled out a cry.
"You think I am so easy," Naraku yelled, backhanding Sesshomaru. The force pushed the towering demon into a wall across the ballroom. The echoing crash was ominous. "It is so easy to take out all of you. I cannot be beaten. Now, Maiden, come to me." Naraku held his hand out to Kagome. She watched helplessly from the sidelines.
But at the single slither of her name from the man's lips, she found her muscles working of their own accord; she pushed herself up and took a shaking step forward.
A/N: Well, that is this chapter for you. I finally got around to finishing and editing it. So sorry to keep all of you waiting. But school has to come first, of course, or there is no computer for me. But I promise to try to be a little more consistent with my updates from now on. Please press the tempting button and submit your review! Tell me what you think and I'll love you forever and ever.