A/N: the final battle is winding down, and there is a light at the end of the tunnel.. enjoy the chap!
disclaimer: i don't own InuYasha; my OCs belong to me.
Chapter 43: Ur Voice (Is All I Wanna Hear)
The hanyou sneered. "What's wrong, monk; why do you hesitate? Or are you really that afraid, monk?"
"Adamant Barrage!" He sent a torrent of adamant shards sailing at the illusion, the attack having no effect.
It's as if we can't interfere, she thought, landing nimbly on the floor and loading an arrow into her bow, aiming. "I don't think Miroku can see us," the priestess declared as her aura flowed into the bow and arrow, making both glow with a tint of dark pink.
"I'm not upset about wasting an arrow if only to keep that monk from killing himself." She chimed grimly before releasing the arrow. Hit the mark!
The arrow flew past the illusion, hitting the far wall behind it; she clicked her tongue and scowled. Well damn, she thought.
"Miroku the great savior; seems you'd rather save yourself rather than your friends." The illusion Naraku drawled.
"That's enough, Naraku!" Miroku yanked the beads off his wrist.
"NO!" Korihime shouted.
"Wind Tun…"
InuYasha clamped his hand down on the monk's opening palm, halting him before he did something stupid. "I won't let you, Miroku!" He exclaimed, knocking him down back-first and keeping his hand held tight onto his own. "Kagome, the beads! That was close, if we didn't make it on time we'd have been dead." He declared.
She handed him the blue rosary beads as the she-wolf trotted to their side and shrugged her bow onto her shoulder.
Illusion-Naraku chortled. "In the end you chose to save yourself, therefore leaving your ties to this world, monk!"
Miroku grimaced. "Shut up or I'll take you right now with me!" He tried to get up.
"Snap out of it; don't you even recognize me?" InuYasha barked, scowling at him.
"We have to get rid of the illusion," Kagome loaded her bow and fired an arrow at the illusion, surprise registering on her face when the arrow just went through it as Korihime's did. "It's still there?"
Illusion-Naraku chuckled again. "Of course it's still there; it won't disappear not until the monk is dead and I've seen how far Sango will go in order to save him." He explained.
"What does that mean?" Kagome asked warily.
"Fuck!" Korihime growled, glaring at the illusion. "I knew we shouldn't have split up." If only I'd have gone with Sango and Kirara, they wouldn't be separated from us and Miroku won't be on the verge of dying before getting his vengeance on Naraku! She bristled angrily and mentally kicked herself for not thinking things through when she should've.
"Nagareboshi-Kaen!" A wide torrent of blue fire screamed at the incarnation, making him dodge and move to the left.
"Getsu, Lord Sesshomaru!" The boy declared in relief at seeing both daiyokai present.
Sesshomaru glared at the incarnation; Getsu flexed her claws and flicked her right wrist.
"My, my, that was certainly a scary attack, Lady of the West!" Byakuya teased calmly, smirking at the female counterpart of the powerful daiyokai as her aura spiked slightly in response.
Getsu smirked and showed a fang in her expression. "There's more where that came from, Byakuya." She growled.
"If that attack was meant for me, you've got the wrong person, Sesshomaru; but judging by that attack I would imagine both you and your spoiled bitch were listening in on our conversation. So I'll leave you to settle this; bye, now." He declared in the same calm tone, a path opening up for him to flee as he turned and went in the path's direction as a spout of blue fire chased his heels until the path closed up behind him.
"Damn, I missed. He really is a slippery insect." She muttered, flicking her wrist and folding her arms in the sleeves of her kimono.
Her mate said nothing, instead keeping his gold stare on the female demon slayer present, making her ears twitch before her silver eyes followed his gaze and she looked from her to the unconscious girl safely on Ah-Un's back. Sango, she thought, her brow furrowing.
"Sesshomaru, I won't resist you if you wish to kill me." Sango declared boldly, surprising both her brother and the female wolf.
Kohaku blanched. "Sister, what're you saying!? Lord Sesshomaru, please spare my sister!" He cried.
Getsu looked from both siblings to him with concerned silver eyes. He's not seriously contemplating it, is he? Sango may have been selfish in trying to slay the illusion, yes, but I know she felt remorse if it meant hurting Rin in the process. Sesshomaru, whatever you do, please don't kill her. She frowned softly.
"I won't try to justify what I did; I almost killed Rin to get rid of Naraku, I'd do anything if it meant destroying him! So all I ask is that once the curse has been lifted and the monk is safe, let me live until then; after that, I'm all yours." Sango pleaded, glaring at him with hard brown eyes.
Getsu gritted her teeth and scowled. "Don't be such a martyr, Sango. What happened was just a misunderstanding; you didn't mean to try and hurt the girl! I know you didn't… You're not like that! I'll be damned if you give your life up right when it's supposed to get started. Don't sacrifice yourself just to give peace to your conscience! Think about Kohaku and Miroku too! Do you really want to leave the both of them alone in this world if you die so selfishly?" She almost shouted, her silver eyes burning as her hands had crumpled into fists at her sides, her claws digging crescents into her palms.
Sango's eyes widened alertly at her words. "G-Getsu…" She began.
Sesshomaru turned both gold eyes on his mate, seeing her visibly bristling and noticing that her claws were starting to sharpen; he looked away, staring past the female demon slayer at the pink color of the walls. It would've been easier if you just said, 'Sesshomaru, don't kill her', he mused.
Both parties looked up as a part of the 'ceiling' overhead opened to reveal a pure white light.
"The light!" The boy declared.
His gold eyes sharpened at the scent's change in direction. Naraku's stink is in the direction of the light, he thought.
She widened her eyes slightly, sniffing the air and bristling before lowering a hand to the hilt of her katana. "Naraku's scent," she murmured.
"Hurry." Sesshomaru declared, baffling the second woman present, glancing at her and her brother. "You want to find the monk, don't you?" He added, his mate's hand grabbing his own before both daiyokai flew up to chase the source of the light.
"Sesshomaru, do you really intend to kill her?" Getsu asked quietly, perking his ears.
He looked at her again and felt her hand tighten in its grip on his own. "She didn't purposefully try to kill Rin; in retrospect, it sounds like she was trying to avoid hurting her." He surmised.
"So that's a 'no'." She began to feel hope again.
He blinked at hearing the hopeful tone in her voice, looking at her to see she was smiling; his eyes softened at the sight and he squeezed her fingers. "Your little speech did have something to do with it." He added quietly; aside from the fact that you would maim me if I actually did kill Sango, he mused.
Getsu smiled wider and looked forward, the fast pace they flew at causing a ripple in her slightly tousled mane of ebony hair. "When this is over, I want to live with you in the West." She admitted quietly.
"Getsu," Sesshomaru cocked a brow at her confession, looking forward as well. "We don't have to live in the West, we can go wherever we please… I know you don't want to go back there." Not to a place you once called home, he inwardly added with a soft frown.
"I know, but I want to. It's where you call home, and to be honest, wherever you call home is my home too." She assured stubbornly, glancing at him and smirking gently.
He quieted and shook his head softly, sighing. "The West it is." He agreed; even though he knew the West was the last place she wanted to live at, she had indeed told him long ago that she was willing to live in the West with him once she had avenged her clan and restored her honor.
:::::::lLl::::::::
Miasma spewed up from the part of the body the Meido Zangetsuha had cut, surprising those present (not counting Naraku).
"Damn it!" InuYasha made to jump down to protect both the monk and priestess before a bright pink barrier formed around them and he saw the she-wolf standing there with her long bow and an arrow from her quiver in her hands, her blue eyes staring past him at the barrier-encased hanyou.
"I've got them," Korihime declared as he joined them in the safety of her barrier.
InuYasha nodded. "Thanks, I owe you." He replied, smiling a little and seeing her return the smile.
This barrier is almost like Getsu's, but just how long can Korihime keep up her barrier? Kagome wondered at noting that the stink of the poison didn't breach the barrier's domed walls, a relief on both her and Miroku's lungs.
:::::::dDd:::::::
"Damn," she growled as the miasma spewed from the walls, looking at Sango as she went ahead of them. "Sango," she began quietly, looking over at the two children. "Kohaku, put on your mask; I'd rather not have to face Sango if you died of inhaling Naraku's toxic stink." She instructed calmly.
"Don't need to tell me twice," the boy nodded and did as instructed.
The girl looked over at the two daiyokai. "Getsu-onee," she began quietly.
She blinked when seeing her look at her and smiled lightly. "It's alright, Rin, we're gonna be okay." She assured, seeing her nod.
He looked between the two females and couldn't help but smile a little in relief that they were both alive and at his side.
"The Meido turned into blades…" Korihime began softly, feeling her aura spike as she loaded an arrow into her bow and aimed at the bust of the horrified and shocked half-breed. If I can just hit him in the forehead, she thought, hesitating because of her sister. No, I can't kill him yet; Naraku took both of our parents, so it's only right that Getsu and I share in our vengeance. I'll hold off for now, at least until she and Sesshomaru show up, she mused, scowling slightly as she vainly prayed they would show up and soon.
"What's wrong, Korihime? Why aren't you shooting? Or have you picked up fearfulness from that miserable mongrel you mated with?" Naraku drawled, having gone back to his usual slippery composure, his red eyes gleaming as he smirked at the she-wolf.
Her hand gripped the wooden part of her bow and she growled. "It's only right that my sister be here; after all, since the day you burned down our home and killed our parents, you were marked as our kill. I won't take that victory from my older sister's hands. I can't." She explained coldly, seeing his red eyes widen a little at her words before they narrowed.
"You weak-willed mongrel whore, you're a fool to not take the chance and kill me now!" He snarled.
She huffed. "It's not something you'd understand: pack sticks together, no matter what!" She exclaimed.
His lip curled. "You damn brat!" The floor erupted beneath her feet, making her and the couple yelp before she leaped away and landed on a higher ledge.
"InuYasha, Kagome!" She exclaimed as they were swallowed up by the floor.
He chortled. "Well, we're alone at last. What will you do now, Korihime?" He drawled.
She flashed her teeth and growled lowly. Onee-chan, hurry! She thought.
::::::oOo::::::::
"Lord Sesshomaru, Getsu, there's so much miasma!" The boy exclaimed.
He scowled ahead into the darkness of the miasma-laden air, gold eyes sharp. So now you're desperate, aren't you, Naraku? In that case I'll read you your last rites. He lunged forward. "Bakusaiga!" Wide torrents of yellow-and-green energy screamed at the stake-looking limbs infront of them, paving a way onward.
She flew ahead of him. "C'mon, we've gotta hurry." She declared, drawing Mangetsuga from its scabbard and swinging it sharply to the left, sending a wide jet of purple energy sailing at the limbs that stood in her way, destroying them almost as effectively as Bakusaiga had.
He smirked slightly and followed at her heels with Ah-Un tailing him carrying the two children.
If Naraku is this desperate to kill us with just his miasma, then that means Kagome and InuYasha have landed a couple of critical blows to his yokai form. She gripped the hilt of her heirloom katana and growled under her breath. Korihime, please be alright! She thought.
::::::xXx::::::
"Kuro-Fubuki Taiho!" A wide array of black ice shards destroyed the oncoming miasma voids.
She nodded slightly, hopping onto the back of the neko. "Boy am I glad to see you guys," she declared in relief at seeing both monk and demon slayer still alive.
"Korihime," the couple looked at the ice shards that had destroyed the voids, some of them protruding from the walls behind Naraku.
A loud howl rang out before the wall behind them burst open with sparks of green, yellow and purple energy before both daiyokai appeared at last with Ah-Un trailing behind their lead.
"Getsu, you're here!" Korihime beamed in relief.
Sesshomaru smirked slightly at the relief written across his sister-in-law's face, the howl his mate had sounded still humming in his ears. Maybe she really has been around me for too long, he mused.
Getsu huffed and grinned widely. "Where the hell else would I be?" She chuckled as she hovered near the neko to hug her sister tight before they pulled apart.
"So you're all here. You and your worthless group of so-called friends." Naraku growled as he surveyed the rag-tag range of those that had come, from the two daiyokai that were the strongest present to the lowly human children riding the two-headed dragon steed.
Korihime loaded her arrow into the bow, aiming at him. Yer damn right we are; we're all here to kill you once and for all, you miserable fuck, she thought with a low growl brewing in her throat as her aura spiked and flared out slowly.
Mother, Father, I… no, we, will avenge your deaths and restore our clan's honor for good! Getsu gripped the hilt of Mangetsuga as she retreated to her mate's side dutifully, her own demonic aura flaring.
"All of us are here: we survived." InuYasha rebutted gruffly.
Both sisters smirked at his rebuttal. Well, now we know that confidence also runs in the family, the younger sister mused.
A/N: the final showdown! who will come out victorious? will the girls get the long-awaited revenge they've chased down for so many years?
until next chap, see ya! drop a review if y'like.