I know that it's been like forever since I last updated…
Enjoy this chapter anyhow!
Chapter six: Kagura's 'rival'
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Kagome shot an arrow at Naraku but to no avail. His barrier blocked the arrow.
Naraku chuckled. "How foolish of you…But never mind, this girl's powers will make me even stronger…Sayonara!" With that, he vanished in a cloud of miasma.
Kagome dropped to her knees, shocked. Shinsuke covered her mouth with her hands and Inuyasha cursed; he rounded on his brother.
"Why was Naraku here!?" the hanyou roared.
"To take her, obviously," Sesshoumaru replied as if it was the most obvious answer.
Inuyasha narrowed his eyes at him. "You knew he was here, didn't you? You knew he was after her!"
"Perhaps," Sesshoumaru said curtly. "But then again she was-"
He wasn't able to finish his sentence. Kagome had regained her nerve and the miko had done the unexpected. She slapped the youkai lord, hard on his left cheek.
Inuyasha stared at Kagome with awe. "How dare you!" Kagome snarled angrily. "You knew that Naraku was going to get her and you didn't even bother warning her!"
Sesshoumaru stared angrily at the miko, who glared angrily back at him. "Filthy ningen! How dare you touch me?" Sesshoumaru's eyes went blood red but Kagome didn't flinch.
"That's enough," a cold voice said calmly.
Inuyasha and the others wheeled around to find Takeida walking towards them; she looked imposing and majestic and Sesshoumaru immediately forgot his temper. She looked at Sesshoumaru then Inuyasha.
"Sesshoumaru…What you did was treacherous! I never thought that you…Your Chichiue would have been ashamed! And as for you"-Takeida glared at Kagome, who flinched-"I would be pleased if you don't harm my son again."
"Bring her back, Sesshoumaru," Takeida continued as she knelt next to Shinsuke, who was in shock. "If you do not, then may Kami have mercy on your soul."
Sesshoumaru glared angrily at his mother's turned back. "Need I repeat myself, Sesshoumaru? Hurry, Inuyasha and the priestess can come with you."
"Wait a darn minute," Inuyasha said. "I'm not going with him and neither is he coming with us! Naraku is my prey and who are you to tell me what to do?"
"Osuwari," Kagome, she had just realized something very important.
"What was that for?!" Inuyasha roared through a mouthful of dirt; he didn't want to be humiliated in front of Sesshoumaru's mother.
"Didn't you hear what Naraku said?" Kagome said.
Inuyasha looked dumbly at her. "And why should I?"
Inuyasha's stubborn attitude was giving Kagome a headache. "Naraku said 'this girl's powers will make me even stronger' "
"And?"
"Naraku intends to absorb her!" Kagome said, worry in her eyes.
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Helen stirred; she was aching all over and she had the slightest suspicion that she was bruised.
Her eyes fluttered open. She found herself in a dungeon. The polished wooden floors were wet with a dark liquid that stung her flesh.
"So you're the worthless Helen, huh," a haughty voice said smugly. Helen angrily looked up; no one called her 'worthless' before!
A woman was standing just beyond the bars of the cell. She was holding a fan and her ruby red lips glistened when she smiled maliciously.
"Who do you think you are? Calling me 'worthless,'" Helen said angrily.
The woman smirked at her. "You're not even that pretty, so I see no reason why I should worry."
"What are you talking about?"
The woman turned her back on her. "I don't have to tell you since you won't live long anyway."
Helen stared at her retreating back. What was she talking about?
"Coward," Helen said under her breath. The woman turned to her.
"What did you call me?" she asked dangerously. Helen smirked at her. She didn't like being alone and thought that this woman could at least keep her company. "I called you a coward," the young violinist taunted.
The woman opened the fan she held with a snap. "Insolent little insect! I'm going to-"
"Stop, Kagura," a blank voice said. Helen's eyebrows rose in shock. A white child appeared out of nowhere beside Kagura. She was all white except for blank black eyes and she held a mirror in her hands.
"Give me one reason, Kanna," the woman called Kagura said.
"Naraku will deal with her," Kanna said looking at Helen with those black eyes. "She is not your prey."
"Fine," Kagura said, closing her fan.
They walked away. Helen stared after them and momentarily wondered what she could have done to piss off Kagura.
'You're not even that pretty, so I see no reason why I should worry.'
Helen's eyes widened. She, Kagura, liked Sesshoumaru! She found the idea so stupid and funny that she burst out laughing.
"Only an idiot would like him!" she said under her breath.
She sighed and leaned against the wall, her dark curls falling past her shoulders. How do I get out of here? She thought. Her eyes fell against the bars of her prison and she noticed that one of the bars was rusted all over. Probably because of the black liquid, she decided.
Still, she stood up and walked over to the rusted bar. She kicked it hard and sure enough it broke through. Thank you rust! Helen thought as she slipped between the gap in the bars. She stood up and dusted herself off.
She started down the long, dark corridor, careful to listen for any sound that would indicate the presence of unwanted individuals.
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"She thinks she can escape?" Kagura said. She, Kanna and Naraku were watching Helen navigate around the castle via Kanna's mirror. Naraku had intended for one of the bars of Helen's prison to be rusty, something that Kagura didn't know about.
"Shall I go stop her?" Kagura volunteered. She didn't usually offer to do anything for Naraku but since the woman involved was Helen-her beloved's reluctant betrothed-she wanted a nice excuse to cut her head off.
"No," Naraku said. "Let's see how this one fares. I'll stop her myself."
Kagura watched as her maker stood up and left the room.
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Helen peeked around the corridors and…Yes! She could see the exit! She ran to the double doors, unaware that no one stopped her; that is until she reached the castle's courtyard.
She ran when suddenly something-or rather someone-in a monkey suit blocked her path.
What the-! She thought. Clothing in the past was certainly weird.
"Did you think that I would actually let you escape?" the man in the monkey suit said.
"Who are you anyway?" Helen asked. She was aware that this man was powerful; it made the hairs on her nape stand on end.
Her eyes widened when disgusting, slimy tentacles erupted from beneath the monkey skin. The tentacles wrapped themselves around her.
Naraku chuckled. "With the powers of a full demon, I'll be even stronger, strong enough to destroy Inuyasha and Sesshoumaru."
"Do you think so?" a cold voice asked dangerously. Naraku spun around; Inuyasha, Sesshoumaru and Kagome were right behind him.
"How did you…? My barrier?" Naraku said.
Sesshoumaru smirked at him. "Your castle was easy to find." In truth, Kagura-by sending him a message with the wind-had told him about Naraku's barrier, but Naraku wasn't to know that, Kagura's life would be endangered.
"Where is Helen?" Kagome asked.
"Hmph," Naraku said. Kagome's eyes fell on the lump of tentacles beside him and she understood all.
"You're trying to absorb…!" was all Kagome could say.
Sesshoumaru stared at the lump of tentacles. Personally, he didn't care if Naraku absorbed Helen or not; but since Naraku would grow stronger if he did, Sesshoumaru had no choice but to help the poor girl.
"Kaze no Kizu!" Inuyasha shouted, sending the dangerous blast at Naraku, it came into contact with a barrier.
"Quit hiding behind walls, Naraku!" Inuyasha snarled.
A small smirk passed across Naraku's face. "Be patient, when I finish absorbing this girl, I'll be strong enough to kill the three of you…in the meantime, how about a little fun?"
A strong gust of wind blew at them and Kagura landed in front of them from her feather. Her eyes locked with Sesshoumaru's for a moment before she sent her wind blades at them. Inuyasha jumped in the air, Kagome with him. Kagura's wind blades didn't even come close to Sesshoumaru.
"Long time no see, Inuyasha," Kagura said. "I guess you're here to save the trash that Naraku caught. But where are the others? I hope they're not sick!" Her wind blades were aimed only at them and not at Sesshoumaru; Kagome noticed this and grew suspicious.
"What did you mean by that last remark!? Do you know why Sango is ill?" Inuyasha asked.
Kagura smirked. "Perhaps."
Angered, Inuyasha sent a wind scar at her, but to his surprise, Sesshoumaru dispelled his attack. "She's mine," he said. He turned and engaged Kagura in fake combat. She sent her wind blades at him and he allowed his Tokijin to be knocked from his hand. The sword flew into the air, right at Naraku's feet.
"You're getting rusty, Sesshoumaru," Inuyasha taunted. "Hijin Kesso!" His blades of blood whizzed towards Kagura, who jumped onto her feather. "Ryuuja no mai!" Tornados headed toward Inuyasha and Kagome.
"Two can play at that game…Bakuryuuha!" The backlash wave sent Kagura's tornados right at her. Sesshoumaru watched in horror as his beloved was thrown backwards into the castle with a loud crash.
"And to think I had to use it on you…You're not even worthy of it," Inuyasha said, placing his sword on his shoulder. Sesshoumaru glared at his brother; he was itching to kill the little half-breed.
"Now Narkau, cough up Helen!" Inuyasha said.
But there was something wrong. Naraku's eyes fell on the mass of tentacles that encased his victim. A pulse of energy emitted from the tentacles.
What the-? Naraku thought. A second later the tentacle was ripped apart by a strong ray of light coming from within. Inuyasha covered his and Kagome's faces with the sleeve of his haori to shield against the light. Sesshoumaru, however didn't. He wanted to see what was going on and his eyes widened. Helen emerged from the cocoon of tentacles but she didn't look like Helen at all. For only a second, Sesshoumaru saw a golden haired figure emerge from the tentacles before a second pulse of energy hummed in the air. Light swirled around Helen and she fell to the ground, back to her old black haired self.
She coughed and glared at Naraku: "That was disgusting!"
She doesn't remember what just happened? Sesshoumaru thought. Only he and Naraku had seen the golden haired Helen but it was only for a second and he didn't see much except for her golden locks. Was that her true demonic self? Sesshoumaru thought.
"Hn, you are powerful," Naraku said. He thrust a tentacle at her. Helen screamed and ducked. A sword lying at Naraku's feet caught her eyes.
Kagome knew what her cousin was thinking. "Helen no!"
Too late, the girl picked up the sword and it pulsed.
"The entity in the Tokijin will possess her!" Kagome said with worry.
"I don't think so," Sesshoumaru said.
Inuyasha and Kagome stared at Helen. The sword only pulsed in her hand, she seemed normal and it was strange that the sword didn't possess her like it did Kaijinbo.
"You…" Naraku said. Even he was shocked that the girl before him could hold the sword and not be possessed. To do so, she would have to be more evil than the sword itself, but since she wasn't…It puzzled them that she could hold it.
Helen stared at the blade in her hand. She knew to whom it belonged. Without the slightest hesitation, she threw the sword back at Sesshoumaru, who caught it. The daiyoukai stared at the sword. The evil entity in it was gone, where, he didn't know.
"You're a fool!" Naraku jeered. He thrust a tentacle at her, but Kagome had shot an arrow which found its mark and the tentacle was purified into oblivion.
"You're not touching her!" Kagome snapped.
"How noble of you," Naraku jeered.
"Kaze no Kizu!" Inuyasha's wind scar caught Naraku off guard. His Kaze no Kizu was soon joined by Sesshoumaru's Dragon Strike, leaving Naraku impaired.
Kagome ran to her cousin and dragged her away from Naraku.
"You're gonna die here, Naraku," Inuyasha said. Tessaiga pulsed with energy.
"I don't think so," Naraku said. A cloud of miasma surrounded the hanyou and he vanished.
"Dammit! Why does that always have to happen!?" Inuyasha roared.
Sesshoumaru stared at the castle, Kagura's scent was gone. He wondered where she had gone before his eyes fell on Helen.
Where did that burst of light come from? Why did she look like a demoness back then when her true self was bound by human bondage?
He pushed the questions to the back of his mind as he turned to leave.
"Sesshoumaru, wait," Helen called after him. He stopped and didn't look at her.
"You knew, didn't you? You knew Naraku was in the garden."
"I knew it," Inuyasha muttered, glaring at Sesshoumaru's back.
"Your mother is expecting you," Sesshoumaru said coldly. "You should return to her." With that he walked off.
"Inu baka," Helen muttered. Kagome looked at her and asked: "So…You wanna go back to your mom?"
Helen didn't answer her. "I should at least tell her that I'm fine…And then I'll go back to the present, I have a violin recital this Saturday you know."
Kagome nodded at her. "Me and Inuyasha will take you back…Then we're going back to the present."
"And then," Inuyasha interjected. "I'm gonna find out why Sango is so sick, I'm sure Kagura or Naraku has something to do with it."
They walked out of the now abandoned palace.
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Sesshoumaru walked into the palace and was immediately greeted by his mother. "Well?" Takeida asked.
"She's alive and Inuyasha and the miko are bringing her here," Sesshoumaru said. His mother's cold expression softened slightly. "Why do you hate her so?" she asked her son as they walked on.
Takeida paused, her eyes widened and she stared at her son. "You're not…?"
"No," Sesshoumaru said flatly feeling insulted by what his mother meant. "I have…"
"You have a lover, don't you?" It amazed Sesshoumaru as to how his mother could discern his thoughts easily. His silence was the answer she needed. She sighed as they entered the youkai lord's study.
"Well, who is she?" she asked at last.
"Her name is Kagura, a wind sorceress."
Takeida's eyes widened. "Naraku's incarnate?" She had heard of Kagura from the many rumors in the lands.
"Sesshoumaru…That woman…She doesn't even have a soul!" His mother sounded agitated.
"She is the one I choose," Sesshoumaru said stubbornly. "And nothing you do can make me change my mind."
His mother's eyes bore into him. "Be that way, you stubborn dog." With that she left the room.
Sesshoumaru sighed and stared out the window.
Outside the door, Takeida paused. Her son was stubborn and she knew that she couldn't make him leave Kagura. A small smile crept on to her lips. She had a plan.
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All done, sorry if it's so short.