INUYASHA: SEALED FATES UNLEASHED

By: Lady JenDragon

Disclaimer: Yeah…we all know the routine…not mine….yeah yeah.

Author Notes: This one's almost complete. Whew! Whatta ride!

Chapter Thirty-Two

Hidden Motive

It felt like they walked rather quickly for what felt like forever.

Apparently the others were having just as much trouble getting around in the light as she. She heard Sango sigh somewhere behind her, Kagome was sure. Inuyasha grumbled under his breath about the fog doing something to his senses. Miroku remained quiet except for the occasional grunt from the pain emanating from his hand. Rin was never heard and Tir gave out a small grunt even being in the back had its disadvantages. Tir was a lot larger than the rest of them, he must be taking baby steps compared to the rest of them. And now KiRaRa disappeared again according to Sango. She wondered if Sesshomaru would admit to having issues with this fog? He never said a word…but then he usually said very little.

Kagome had to admit this was a great way to slow people down when you were out of time. Damn celestial demon. 'She always seems to have the upper hand.' Kagome frowned. 'Even with Asaia's help.'

"Use one of your arrows, Kagome." Asaia whispered. "With Atokiyada weakened, it could break apart this bright fog."

Kagome wondered if Asaia heard her thoughts but then shook the idea away as crazy. Her arrows? Of course, she forgot they might be useful here. Would they work? She had no choice but to try. Immediately, she pulled an arrow off her back and lifted her bow into the air with her eyes still closed. Unsure where to aim, she pulled back as hard as she could and let the arrow sail through the air.

Kagome heard the whistling through the air as the arrow charged across whatever they were in. It must be another since the arrow remained in flight. The whistling was pretty loud even from where she stood. Kagome waited another second.

Suddenly the bright fog seemingly lit by the sun itself parted as the arrow cut through. It found the opposite wall of another room of the castle. Quickly the brightness dissipated revealing the room. It was a massive room full of mirrors, much larger than the throne room they left behind with the pile of demons and debris all over the floor. In the center was the water bowl but Atokiyada was nowhere to be seen. Kagome spied the small objects lying on the floor in front of the floor-to-ceiling mirrors. It appeared they too had mirrors attached to them.

"I'd be careful…" Inuyasha still held Tetsusaiga firmly. "She's planning something."

It was then Sesshomaru stepped forward and strode across the floor towards the waterbowl. Glancing up there was a large mirror on the ceiling over the waterbowl reflecting its surface. The group seemingly held its breath as he walked, waiting for something to happen to him. He could detect their breathing patterns that separated them having perfected his ability to decipher identities in the fog, human stench aside.

The others watched him warily. Yet nothing happened to the eldest son of the Dog General. Sesshomaru looked into the waterbowl finding nothing unusual. Kagome admitted it did emanate an eerie aura watching Inuyasha's brother inspect the waterbowl. An aura unlike anything she felt before.

Sango could feel something…someone watching them. More Sand Dragons or did the demon-celestial have something else up her sleeve? No, that card was already played and proved a failure. No, she was playing some kind of game. Were the mirrors involved?

"I don't like this." Sango whispered. "Something's not right."

"Agreed." Inuyasha growled in agreement. "She's up to something."

Tir groaned at that moment. Apparently, Asaia knew he was speaking in some kind of demon dragon tongue. If there was such a thing, Kagome thought. But if Asaia and Tir were friends in the past, it made sense Asaia would understand him.

"Tir believes she's trying to use her waterbowl to trap us in some form of prison." Asaia glanced around the room. "It would be her last defense. The mirrors are here for a reason."

Kagome frowned. "Who defeated her last time?"

"Your father." Came Jaken's voice from the entrance to the room behind them.

The group spun to face him. The green Imp had several scrolls under his arm and he appeared out of breath. Where the hell had he gone Inuyasha wanted to know. He frowned ready to give the stupid demon a piece of his mind. And for scaring him.

"It…it's all here in the scrolls." Jaken ran towards Sesshomaru.

Inuyasha yanked the nearest scroll from the Imp and handed it to Asaia. He did not know what was contained on the scrolls but figured if anyone could translate it would be Asaia. She was a celestial human after all.

"After you all went off to charge her, I found the scroll room before reaching the throne room." Jaken folded his arms in an obvious brag of such a find. "I went through the scrolls to see if there was anything on how to destroy her."

"Well done, Master Jaken." Rin smiled and clapped her hands together.

"I'd save the celebrating for after we put her back in her place, personally." Inuyasha frowned deeply, checking over his shoulders. "She has to be around her somewhere. Ain't no way she's going to go down without a fight."

Asaia unrolled the scroll, her eyes quickly read the page. "Jaken is right. How strange…the demons who put Atokiyada into her prison before, their descendents now come to fulfill the same task."

Sango and Kagome exchanged a quick glance.

"We break her waterbowl, we break her link to this world." Sango spoke loud enough for the group standing nearby to hear only.

Where was KiRaRa? The demon cat wandered off again without an explanation. Sango did not know her friend sauntered off somewhere when they were trying to find their way through the dense fog. Was she finding something else to help them? Sango glanced at Sesshomaru.

Sango walked forward pulling Herykotsu to ready position. "The waterbowl's gone!"

Sesshomaru looked down to find it gone yet the mirrors reflected as if the waterbowl remained in its place. The dog demon was momentarily distracted by Jaken's arrival, no one witnessed the waterbowl's disappearance.

"It was never here." Asaia spoke calmly. "The mirrors, it's in the mirrors."

"How do we figure out which one is the real waterbowl?" Inuyasha gripped Tetsusaiga harder with both hands.

"The Backlash Wave won't work on this one, Inuyasha." Miroku added. "Mirrors will only throw whatever attack you use right back at you."

"Miroku's right." Sango agreed. "She planned the perfect way to protect her waterbowl. Anything we toss at it will come right back at us. So, what can we use that won't be construed as an attack?"

"FOOLS!" Atokiyada's voice boomed throughout the room. "DID YOU HONESTLY BELIEVE YOU COULD DEFEAT ME?"

Her image appeared in every mirror replacing the waterbowl, an eerie smile across her lips. Kagome could feel her aura emanating out of each mirror. At first she did not understand what this meant. How could she emanate from every mirror? Unless Atokiyada used the mirrors as doorways into her private lair? Kagome's eyes widened.

"Whatever you do, don't get caught in the mirrors." Kagome warned. "They're traps."

Sango nodded. "Tricky to get out of once you're in it."

Rin ran to Jaken for cover. Tir tightened the distance between Asaia and himself. Kagome, Miroku, Sango and Inuyasha backed up to Asaia, hoping for some kind of defense. Shippo stood by Miroku's feet, clutching his robes. Sesshomaru remained where he stood where the waterbowl once stood.

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Cat eyes watched from the shadows of the impending battle. This would be no simple battle. Nothing on this planet would compare to its importance. It would be the second battle in many millennia that would become legend among demon-kind everywhere. Even humans would not dare speak of such an event so carelessly.

It would wait until the moment was right.

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How the hell were they supposed to get out of this one? Naraku was a walk in the park as far as evil deeds went. Heck, he could handle anything that half-breed could dish out. Most of the time anyway, Inuyasha admitted silently.

But this was a level he did not understand.

His mind reeled from what she told him. The deeds he committed against Kagome and the others. He remembered nothing of those night's events. Part of him wondered if Atokiyada was conjuring things yet Kagome's face looked positively horrified. He knew not what to believe at the moment. But he had to defeat this celestial demon so he could figure the rest of it out later.

"If anyone has any ideas, now's the time to share." Inuyasha growled.

There was little time for answers. Atokiyada shot lightning-like bolts at them that came from every direction. The group scattered to avoid being hit from several directions. Tir used his claws to deflect several bolts that rebounded and re-entered the mirrors. Atokiyada easily caught them and sent them back out with her hands.

Rin was picked up by Jaken who took two hits, falling to the floor, releasing Rin in time to watch her skid across the floor and out the door. Sesshomaru leaped out of the way of four bolts finding him. He could hear Rin screaming the entire way out the door.

Sango tackled Miroku then they had to leap to the left to avoid getting hit. Shippo narrowly escaped a bolt using his demon fox magic to deflect another. He too made a dash for the door to stay out of the fight. This was better left to those more capable of defeating the celestial demon.

"He's got the right idea." Kagome found her way to Sango and Miroku huddled in the corner.

They glanced at Inuyasha deflecting the bolts with Tetsusaiga. Sesshomaru joined in with Tenseiga quickly dispensing with the bolts. Strange Tenseiga did not deflect the bolts like Tetsusaiga. Did the sword possess the power to dissolve the lightning bolts?

"Are you seeing this?" Kagome wondered.

"Yes, I am." Sango replied. "She's weakening."

"We're keeping her trapped in her world." Miroku imagined. "She's slowly losing ground and time. It won't be long until she has to make a move into our world."

"Can we seal the mirrors?" Kagome asked hopefully.

Tir and Asaia easily avoided the bolts, deflecting some while others bounced back from the mirrors and then back at them. Jaken attempted to use the Staff of Two Heads that only made the bolts move faster. It also made the bolts more difficult to evade. Kagome felt there was something here they could use against Atokiyada.

"I can't think of anything to use." Miroku stated his hand still throbbing. "Nothing's strong enough to counter a celestial demon, sorry."

"We should break the mirrors." Kagome shrugged. "If she can't get into our world, then that's just fine by me."

"What do you suggest?" Sango wanted to know.

Kagome took one of her arrows and pointed it at the mirror across the way. She let it fly. It went into the mirror instead of bouncing off. And it came out the mirror behind them at the same height off the floor. Somehow it was deflected enough through the mirrors it now followed an even path through one mirror out across the room and into the other side. It kept repeating itself three times before Sango and Kagome looked at each other.

"Did you see what I saw?" Sango never took her eyes from the mirror across the way.

"The waterbowl's in the mirror." Kagome smiled. "I'll try to hit it!"

That meant hitting Inuyasha and the water bowl in the same line of sight! Inuyasha was standing in the middle of the room while the bolts continued to bounce back and forth as he deflected them with Tetsusaiga. It was a shame Sesshomaru was doing more than he was at the moment. Kagome took aim and waited for the brief second Inuyasha jumped out of the way. She let it go.

"Hit the mark!" She whispered. "Hit the mark!"

The arrow glowed red as it flew through the air in the room, into the mirror, deflected just before hitting the waterbowl and came back out the other side of the room.

"Damn!" Kagome felt angry. "I won't be able to hit the water bowl! There's too many mirrors!"

Sango lifted a mirrored rock-looking thing in her hand. "Then let's see if we can't break some mirrors."

Kagome smiled as she let the demonslayer have the first crack at the idea. Sango threw the rock as hard as she could but it bounced off the mirror. Not to be undaunted, Kagome stood up and threw her rock. It glowed pink and seemingly slowed down just before it hit the mirror. Kagome felt her heart sink.

But the rock hit the mirror, cracking it. It fell to the floor shattering apart. Sango eagerly began collecting the decorative rocks and began handing them to Kagome as she continued throwing. It took three rocks to break one mirror.

"Keep going!" Asaia called out. "Inuyasha! Don't give up."

One broken…

Two broken…

Three broken…

Kagome worked her way down the center of the room tossing the rocks Sango and Miroku collected from the floor. They continued their operation at a quick pace. Suddenly the mood changed among them. For once they felt they had the edge over their common enemy.

Four broken…

Five broken…

Six broken…

The mirrors went smoky, darkening as Kagome continued throwing the mirrored rocks. It was a good thing the mirrors were quite large in size. There were not many left to break. She was almost to the other side of the room.

Seven broken…

Eight broken…

Nine broken…

Ten broken…

Eleven broken…

There was only two left now…suddenly Atokiyada appeared in them. Her face was grim, her eyes narrowed. Her clothes were a dark blue and her face shimmered in silver. Kagome felt things would take a very different turn here. She stopped as the twelfth mirror fell in pieces to the floor.

'Kagome…' Came Asaia's whisper echoing softly in her ears though the girl was across the floor with Tir. 'Shoot your arrow at Atokiyada then throw the rock at the opposite mirror. We can break Atokiyada's control over the mirrors if there's only one left!'

Kagome nodded hoping no one else heard the suggestion. "Sango give me a rock when I ask for it."

Damn, she forgot about the large mirror on the ceiling above where the waterbowl once stood. That was the fourteenth mirror in the room. Why were there thirteen mirrors on the wall? For the first time, she realized that he last mirror stood the entire height of the room. Enough about the mirrors she decided. Her arrows remained on her back so she would not be without them. She almost forgot she slipped them over her shoulder.

Sango nodded and whispered. "Sure."

Kagome quickly pulled an arrow and aimed it at the last remaining mirror across the room from her. She narrowed her eyes pulling back as hard as she could and let it fly. She pivoted, took the first rock from Sango and threw it hard. She took the second rock and threw it hard and then took the last rock and tossed it just as her arrow hit the opposite mirror.

She sighed deeply as the mirror broke then shattered into pieces. Kagome let the breath she was holding out, her lungs ached.

The mirror on the ceiling shimmered then pulsated for several seconds. Jaken and Rin looked in from the door. Tir stood with Asaia and Inuyasha. Sesshomaru stood alone near the center of the room. Kagome, Miroku and Sango watched where they stood closest to the mirror on the ceiling. Instantly, Atokiyada and the waterbowl fell from the mirror as it shattered.

Atokiyada landed softly on her feet, her waterbowl gently landing behind her upright.

"Silly human." She smiled. "Did you really think destroying a few mirrors would really keep me from entering this world?"

Kagome's eyes widened. 'I just brought her into our world!'