Oy, I apologize to the people that have been waiting for this chapter, very, very much. Thanx for teh patience.
Naruto, KH, Inuyasha, FFVII, Labyrinth... Belongs to respective ownahs.
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Ninjas, Demons, and Hearts! Oh My!
Chapter Five
"So what store was it?" Kagome asked.
They had picked the most inconspicuous people they could to go to the mall with Ophelia. Well, except for Tobi who followed them anyway. Other than that, there was Kagome, Leon, Yuffie, and Neji.
The people in the mall stared, of course. The ones that recognized them either didn't care or thought they were really good cosplayers. Probably the latter.
"It didn't have a sign. And it..." she paused then continued. "It's boarded up."
"What? So we're on a wild goose chase?" Yuffie whined.
"It just disappeared last time so maybe it will just appear this time," Ophelia said, trying to convince them as well as herself.
When they reached the boarded up windows, she sighed. But yet another idea struck her.
"Neji," she started. "What's in there?"
"Byakugan!" He scanned across the boards. To someone else, it would look like Neji was staring into space, but they knew better. "Nothing. Just boxes and shelves... and... wait." He frowned.
"What do you see?" Leon asked him.
"It's... an illusion."
Illusion? There were no real illusions in Ophelia's world that she knew of.
"What do you mean?" Kagome asked before Ophelia could.
"I mean," the Hyuga said, reaching towards the wall, "it's fake." Neji's hand fazed right through the wood. Like the boards weren't there.
"But how can that be? When I touched it last time it—"
She stopped talking when she put her hand on the boards by Neji's. They all stared at what happened. The wood was solid to Ophelia. Her hand stopped while Neji's hand went on.
"Woah..." Yuffie mumbled when she touched it and went through as well.
"So Opehelia-chan can't go through," Tobi spoke up.
Neji and Yuffie looked at them, nodded, then went inside.
"It's because you're not meant to be here, isn't it?" Ophelia thought out loud. "That you guys can go through."
"Probably," Leon agreed.
It seemed like forever before the two ninjas came back out, but they weren't alone. A man with scraggly brown hair and slight dark spots under his eyes was with them. Ophelia recognized the shop owner.
"Oh. It's you," he said when he saw her. He sighed. "I didn't think you'd go home and dump it on your movies."
"I didn't! I set it on my T.V. and it must have fallen," she argued, then stopped. "Wait... then why'd you give it to me in the first place?!"
The shop owner (who's name tag said Gary) shrugged. "I dunno. I guess it was to see if you'd do something more creative with it than me."
As if on cue, another person stepped out of the fake wall. It took a second, but she realized it was none other than Jareth, The Goblin King. The Labyrinth was an older movie, with not-so-good graphics, but it was still cool.
"Who are you?" Yuffie inquired the poofy-haired blonde.
"It depends. Who wants to know?" was Jareth's witty reply.
"The Great Ninja Yuffie, that's who!"
"You brought out Jareth?" Ophelia asked incrediously. "On purpose?"
Gary just nodded, already bored by their conversation. "I hope there's a reason why you're bugging me."
"We came to ask you if there's any more of that powder left," Kagome explained.
"Why? Oh... you think it will get you back home. I don't know if it will or not, but feel free to try," he said, tossing another little bag to Ophelia. She caught it quickly.
"You don't know it it will work?" asked Leon.
"Nope. Never had a chance to try. I lost this guy's movie," he explained, "down a storm drain. I didn't feel like dragging out anymore nutjobs like him, so I just let it be... until you came along, anyway."
This confused Ophelia. "Me? What's so special about me?"
"You looked like you could use a little... adventure," Jareth said.
Gary nodded. "He talked me into it."
"Adventure?!" she cried. "People could get killed! Fictional villains are out doing who knows what!"
That threw them off track. "There are more?" Gary asked, narrowing his eyes. "How much powder got on those movies?"
"Um... almost the whole... bag?" she mumbled nervously.
"Haha!" Gary suddenly busted out. "Give the girl a prize!"
They all stared him (including the surprised Jareth).
"So now, what? These villains won't go back to their worlds? That's rich."
"We have to get them home!" Ophelia snapped at the shop owner, who abruptly stopped laughing.
"I told you. I. Don't. Know."
"Well, thanks for nothing, Mister," Yuffie said and started to walk away, but stopped.
A little girl with a mirror had appeared in front of her. Kanna. One of Naraku's minions.
Ophelia and Kagome recognized what was happening when the mirror glowed slightly.
"Move! She'll suck out your soul!" they warned the others, too late. Leon, Yuffie, Gary and Neji were ensnared by the mirror. Their souls were being slowly ripped from them.
"No! S-Stop!" Ophelia cried. "What do you want?!" This is all my fault, she thought. If I hadn't brought them to this world, then...
Without thinking, she launched herself at the little white haired girl. Kanna's face remained emotionless as she turned the mirror to Ophelia, releasing the others. They fell to the ground gasping. Now it was Ophelia's soul in jeopardy, though. It was much more painful than it looked on television. Her knees gave way, in shock.
But before it was halfway out of her, multiple shuriken imbedded themselves in Kanna and the mirror. The connection was broken and Ophelia's soul came back to her.
The white dress turned crimson with blood. Still, no emotion showed as she disappeared in a cloud of miasma.
"Is Ophelia-chan alright?"
She looked up to see Tobi offering her a hand. Gratefully, she took it and stood.
Twice. That was the second time he had saved her. She was going to have to keep tabs if this kept up.