Chapter Twelve
There they were, just the two of them.
Sworn enemies, they faced off in the gelid, inky blackness of Naraku's chamber. He looked as if the demons within had finally overtaken Owiguno's heart, and his discarded human form had burst apart like a ripe melon. The stink of Naraku clung to the air, and if InuYasha hadn't been so tired, he would have offered up a wry comment. In fact, the half-demon was exhausted and drenched in his own sweat and blood. His enemy's latest reincarnation had done her job very well.
The venom she had injected had not been enough to kill him, but it certainly had drained him of his strength. It had also thinned his blood; he still bled profusely from the wound over his kidney.
InuYasha glared at the beast before him, clinging desperately to the sword his father had granted him in death. Both knew it must end here. Both knew, without a doubt, how it would end. InuYasha was far too banged up to mount an assault of any meaning, and the demons that held Naraku together were each a significant threat in their own right.
One idea held InuYasha steady as he faced his enemy, and that was truth. He had been forced to come here alone. Only he could protect Kikyo. Kagome and the others were on their own. The only way he could be sure they wouldn't get themselves into trouble without him would be to end it now. But, he could not end it in the way his friends needed. Not in his condition, blood oozing from the gaping wound where that bitch had probed his insides with her fingers.
It was the one time InuYasha had come into the presence of his greatest enemy and actually found himself at a loss for words. He knew he was about to die, and the only way for InuYasha to keep his dignity was to face Naraku as the hero he had so unwittingly become in his time with Kagome and the others.
Visions of his friends raced, unwanted, into the half-demon's thoughts. Fearless and loyal Sango, demon-slayer, hell-bent on rescuing her lost brother, hell-bent, just as all of his friends, on recovering the shattered Shikon jewel and seeing Naraku defeated. Her dear friend Kirara. Lustful and wise Miroku, so unlike any monk InuYasha had ever seen, and even more unlike any friend InuYasha could have ever anticipated. Youthful and cocky Shippo, the full-fledged fox demon who reminded InuYasha more of himself than any of the others could have possibly imagined, more so than he would ever care to admit.
Kagome. Sweet, gentle, gracious, noble. Dear Kagome. His heart tore in so many places all at once when he thought of her. How could she ever forgive him for this? She was a friend in its truest form, someone who would have given her soul to be with him, who had offered it up in so many heart wrenching moments over their time together. So close to being his lover, in truth, so very close, yet kept apart by a promise InuYasha held even closer to his heart, so close that even his friends didn't matter in the grand scheme of things. Tears welled up in his eyes as he stared at the monster before him.
Naraku.
The bastard began to chuckle, a sound that chilled InuYasha to the bone. His fists closed tighter around the hilt of Tetsusaiga, but it really didn't matter. The damage to his arm made the weapon damn near impossible to lift, let alone wield. It was the poison that rendered his arm useless. The black widow demon, Naraku's latest reincarnation, had seen to that. He figured she had been instructed to let him live, to see that he made it here alive, just so it would come to this point
In this way, Naraku could finish it in the manner of his own choosing.
"Tell me, InuYasha," his enemy said in a silky smooth tone, so rich and arrogant. "Is all this really worth it? Your friends will die anyway. Beginning with that clueless wench of yours."
Kagome. InuYasha couldn't even find the strength to curse the bastard's name. The blood was flowing faster now, falling to the ground like a heavy rain. The poison had run its course until it was thoroughly into his bloodstream. He was dying already, and they hadn't even begun to fight. The thought of his friends suffering scared him to no end.
"A pity it must end like this. I always found you to be an intriguing adversary."
InuYasha let the Tetsusaiga fall to the ground as he slid to a knee, drained of energy. He groaned in agony, resting his good hand to his chest as he tried to catch his breath. It came away drenched in blood. Blinking, he tried to find Naraku, but his vision blurred. Naraku was no longer a viable shape in his path.
"How does it feel, InuYasha? I have never known such suffering myself." InuYasha's heart began to pound in his ears as the blood in his veins turned to ice. He flexed his good claw. Even in his weakened state, the half-demon found the strength to snarl. Naraku laughed. "Try as I might, I could never understand. Perhaps, if you were to live long enough to see the deaths of your friends, I could witness the agony for myself."
InuYasha could not find his words, only the rage that dwelled within. Desperately, he searched his thoughts for an action, any action, that might shift the tide, despite knowing the futility of the situation. Next to him, he could feel the presence of his Tetsusaiga, beckoning him, but he couldn't even move his hand to the hilt.
Damn you, Naraku. You coward.
Naraku grinned. "That's it. Let us see what happens together, shall we?"
Alive, InuYasha might be able to find a way to protect his friends, but in his present condition he couldn't do much of anything, let alone protect himself. He hated the fact that his emotions were at the forefront of his defenses. He wasn't supposed to let his guard down. His cold, hard exterior was his only real armor for the unstable rift between demonic nature and mortality. InuYasha lowered his eyes. He could feel his own heartbeat slowing even as he longed for an answer, a way to end Naraku's reign of terror.
An answer to which, it seemed, was unobtainable.
Kirara descended, finally, toward the gaping maw of a cave that they knew could only be the entrance of Naraku's lair. She trembled against her nagging fear that this was all a terrible mistake, but she knew she couldn't risk anything less than her all in locating InuYasha and giving him the help he needed to bring Naraku down for good. The weight of the bow she clung to only reminded her needlessly of how desperate she was to see the end of Naraku and this nightmare that was his bidding. She brought her face close to Kirara's ear as the fire-cat brought them down.
"Thank you, Kirara," she whispered. "I'll go alone from here."
Kagome hopped from the fire-cat's back and steadied her bow over her shoulder. "Now you go back to Sango and Miroku. InuYasha and I'll be just fine."
The fire-cat only watched as Kagome plunged into the shadows of the cave at full speed, desperate to find her friend. Then, as was the girl's bidding, Kirara leapt into the sky and headed back full-speed toward the swamp where Sango and Miroku waited.
Standing high above the cave on a cliff overlooking the dark lands that stretched out before her, Kikyo stared after the fire-cat that raced over the lands. She'd brought the wench of the future with her from the swamp, and then headed back. Why did she leave the girl alone here? Not that Kikyo cared, but it was odd.
Of course. They knew that this was where InuYasha had come. That was perfectly clear. She'd come in order to help the half-demon to defeat his nemesis. There was little the girl could do but get in InuYasha's way. The fool. Kikyo didn't care, though. She was dead, and soon InuYasha and his friends would join her.
Would she wander the earth forever, though, in this state of undead? A soulless creature without conscience?
If InuYasha were to die, he would simply die, but Kikyo…
She was already dead.
That was a mystery best left unanswered. At least for now. The truth would only stand in the way, wouldn't it?
She turned on her heel and marched away.
The soul collectors reappeared from beyond the shadows and glided effortlessly through the air around her. She paused. "You're sure?" But of course, she knew they were. The soul collectors were never wrong. "Very well."
Kagome's sacred arrow split the darkness with its piercing light, burning a path several meters wide through the thick goo, the Black Widow demon's webbing, she had learned. The mountain was close. Right up that path. It was too bad Kirara couldn't have gotten her closer, but they had both been worried sick about Sango and Miroku, so Kagome wouldn't let the fire-cat waste any more time than absolutely necessary.
InuYasha will just have to hold his own until I can get to him… which he would have preferred anyway, she thought with a small smile. That smile faded almost instantly; her dear friend was in desperate need of help. She couldn't let him face Naraku alone. Hold on tight, InuYasha. I'm coming.
She nocked another arrow when she realized her path was closing up before her. The mountain seemed to loom closer. She stopped only briefly to take aim and loose the arrow, its powerful light illuminated the path before her, burning through both dead and dying trees, and spiderweb. How long had that beast been lurking out here? Long enough, Kagome knew, to turn the whole area into a desolate graveyard.
Somehow, she doubted it had taken long at all.
Kikyo had just turned a corner in the darkness in the path outside the cave where she knew InuYasha and Naraku were now facing off in what could only be the final showdown, when she froze, a look of surprise splashing across her face. It had been a long time since Kikyo had been surprised, but this time, there was no denying it. She was quite literally in shock at who she had stumbled upon. The look on Kagome's face revealed no less to her.
The two stood there at the mouth of the cave for what seemed a silent eternity. Neither dared to speak, both wondering who would initiate the confrontation. By the look on the schoolgirl's face, she too understood InuYasha's destiny awaited them beyond the mouth of the cave. She too knew Naraku and his minions were behind these terrible events that had transformed the forest into a graveyard.
Kagome stared long and hard at her counterpart. She gripped her bow so tight that her knuckles had gone white. Kikyo could see the girl was fast running out of arrows. She had but two left in her quiver.
Rather than comment, Kikyo looked to her own quiver, plucked three arrows from the leather container, and dropped them on the ground at Kagome's feet.
The younger girl stared down at them.
"You… you're helping me?" she murmured.
Kikyo said nothing. She merely turned to leave. Kagome lowered to a knee, scooping up the dead priestess's offering. She started toward the darkness of the cave. Finally, Kikyo spoke: "What will you do when you find there is nothing you can do to save him?"
She didn't hear a response from her young counterpart. She waited only long enough to hear Kagome's footsteps rushing off in the opposite direction.
No doubt, Kikyo thought, to her doom.
"Such heart, even in your darkest hour."
InuYasha forced a growl, difficult as it was. Then he collapsed again in a pool of his own blood. Poor Kagome. She was going to die, and there was nothing he could do about it. He had resigned himself to death, but in doing so, he had forfeited Kagome's life as well. Sango, Miroku, Shippo, Kirara… they were face no lesser fate. All because of his rash decision to face Naraku alone. He'd been such a fool; without a doubt there would be no correcting this mistake.
"Do you feel the darkness of your soul, InuYasha? The harsh whisper of your inner demons, struggling to break free and reign in the chaos that is your soul?"
Naraku's voice, though a mere whisper, felt as though it was spoken right above him. He blinked up and tried to focus on the mass above, but he could not detect the source of the voice. Off in the corner, the writhing mass of demonic filth that had once made up the core of Naraku remained. If the voice came from there, it had been disembodied.
"Do you hear the footsteps coming? It is the girl you love, InuYasha. Do you hear her approaching? Coming for you" The voice came even closer, grew even louder. "Do you hear? I do."
"What are you going to do to her?" InuYasha murmured, lacking the strength to snarl.
"Me? I said nothing of the sort. The question is, InuYasha, what are you going to do to her. Personally, I can't wait to find out."
InuYasha's entire body suddenly went into a fit of spasms, and then was wrenched completely stiff. He loosed a terrible howl of pain that echoed through the caves. All the while it was accompanied by Naraku's sinister laugh. All sense fled the half-demon's brain, sending him spiraling through a world of disorientation. Flashes of light circled within his brain, racked so numbed he couldn't put shape to the haze before his eyes.
He wrenched again, a shrill scream echoing through the caves. He longed for death, prayed the end of this terrible pain would come.
And then, he thought, perhaps, Naraku granted his wish.
Kagome rushed headlong through the black caverns, her heart thundering in her ears. She could sense it, up ahead, the presence of the near-complete Shikon jewel. The gem that Naraku held in his possession. Damn him, that evil serpent that had caused InuYasha and her other companions so much pain. He had taken Kohaku from Sango, forcing him to wipe out the entire demon-slayer village. He had cursed Miroku's grandfather with the Wind Tunnel in his right palm, the devastating weapon that would one day swallow the monk from existence if Naraku was not soon destroyed. He had turned InuYasha on Kikyo, and Kikyo on InuYasha, damaging a precious love for an eternity.
As Sango had said just the other day, only Kagome had no true link to Naraku, and seemed to be following them needlessly on a meaningless quest. It was perhaps too late for them all, if InuYasha failed now. That was why Kagome was so determined to get to him now. She could not let him face this evil alone.
She wondered why Kikyo had helped her. If there was really nothing she could do for InuYasha, why aid her in a foolish endeavor to reach him, only to watch him fail? Kagome shook the thought away, determined to reach her friend. If nothing else, she could be with him in the end, couldn't she? At the cost of her own life, Kagome would be with him in the end. Of that she could be certain. InuYasha—indeed their very friendship—deserved no less.
A terrible sound permeated violently through the empty darkness, stopping Kagome in her tracks. Her eyes went wide with fright when she realized that she recognized the sound. It was InuYasha, bellowing in pain. Her heart threatened to explode in her chest. Breathing heavily, she closed her eyes, wiping away the tears only now starting to fall. It was too dark continue on this way, she realized. If she was going to continue, she needed light.
She rummaged through her backpack until she found what she was looking for… her flashlight. She switched it on, looked about the bleak, eerie cavern, and continued on down the path. "I'm coming, InuYasha," she whispered, an oath more to herself than to her wounded friend. She refused to give up on him after all this time together.
Another, terrible scream shattered the darkness. Kagome's heart raced even faster the moment InuYasha's screams faltered, and then stopped completely, all in a span of about three seconds. She nearly stumbled over her own feet as she tried to pick up her pace despite the fact that she was already running all out.
One thought rushed through her mind, a continuous and devastating realization that continued to pound inside her head with the same intensity of her aching heart.
We're all going to die today, aren't we?
She was determined, if they were indeed breathing their last breaths in this life, to find a way to make sure she died in InuYasha arms, at the very least.