Chapter 7: Kumo no ito
The group walked out of Akebi Village and towards the old temple, but right after they left the village, Alice noticed a familiar face.
"You!" Alice gasped as she ran over to a man standing outside the village, "You're the one who found me in that forest!"
After taking a closer look at Alice the man jumped back in surprise before a dark cloud of hatred and pain filled his eyes. "Hey! You're the one from that time! Have you come back to abduct another innocent person?" he spat.
"Demon!" he yelled "Demon! Everyone come here! Demon," the man turned his attention back to Alice, "Give me back my daughter!"
"Oh not that crap again," she retorted, "I didn't abduct your daughter! Can't you get that through your think skull?!" But once she saw the mass of villagers headed towards her direction, Alice instinctively unsheathed her sword and quickly stepped back a few steps.
"What the hell is he talking about?" Inuyasha questioned her.
"It's nonsense," Alice replied bitterly, "This moron here thinks that I'm a demon and took his daughter, that's all."
"Quit being so rude," Kagome told the two, turning to the man, "Listen mister, Alice is no demon and I highly doubt she'd abduct your daughter."
The man glared at Kagome before saying, "What? Then what's with the weird clothing?"
"Excuse me! No I think you mean…" Alice began angrily before Kagome cut in, giving her a glare that she had to look away from.
"It's just the style of clothing from her village, she lives a long ways away so you probably don't recognize it," Kagome explained.
"Hmph, now do you believe me?" Alice grumbled.
"Well, now that you mention it, you do look way too weak to be a demon," the man replied, calming down a bit.
"What?!" Alice yelled as she raised her sword and pointed it in the direction of the man, "I'll show you weak!"
The man flinched in surprise at the deadly note in Alice's voice, but lucky he was saved from her attack as Inuyasha held her hands behind her back.
"You finally got the picture, but before you go celebrating, you'd better say sorry to her before she kills you," Inuyasha warned while tilting his head towards the furious Alice.
The old man bowed at Alice and said that he was sorry for the misunderstanding, which at this action, she calmed down and Inuyasha let go of her hands and she put her sword back in her obi.
"Well I guess I can forgive you," Alice replied with a tiny bit of anger still remaining in her voice and the man sighed in relief.
"Well at least this problem is resolved. I can't believe we were about to catch a kid," he breathed as he turned to the other members in the group of villagers that met Alice in the forest, "I guess we were so panicked and caught up in the rescue mission that we weren't thinking straight."
"You think?" Alice muttered as Kagome asked, "You were panicking? Why? What happened?"
The man met Kagome's eyes and explained sadly, "A demon took off with our daughter this morning and we haven't been able to find her since."
At that instant Alice felt horrible for the man. It wasn't their fault that they thought I was a demon she thought. I mean, they must've been terrified and when they saw me they must've jumped to the conclusion that I stole their daughter.
"Demon? As in that giant spider demon?" Inuyasha questioned the man.
"Yes! He came to our village in the early morning and stole my daughter. After that, we all went searching for her. And that's when we met you," the man explained as he looked at Alice, "We saw your strange clothes and assumed that you were the demon in disguise."
So they thought I was the spider demon huh? Well I'll kill that spider once I see it Alice thought as she clenched her fist together and glared at the ground. How dare it get me involved in this! And blamed for its mess for that matter! She took a deep breath in before turning towards the man.
"Don't worry, I understand. But, may I ask you something? Did you see a well anywhere near that forest you met me in? Or anything strange for that matter?" she asked.
The man thought for a moment before shaking his head. "No, there was no well anywhere in that forest. As for something strange, other than your clothes, no. I searched that area for a while and nothing came to me as strange. How about you guys?" the man asked his companions.
All of them shook their head and agreed that they saw nothing out of the ordinary in the forest.
"I see," Alice sighed, looking down in disappointment.
"Damn. We finally find a place that could solve this mess and there's nothing. What a waste of time," Inuyasha growled in frustration.
"It's too bad, but I guess we should head back to Kaede's village huh?" Shippo said sadly.
"Hold on!" Kagome spoke up before the group could turn around and head back to Kaede's village. "We promised to that old man and everyone else in the village that we'd slay that spider demon. We can't go back on our promise now. And plus," Kagome continued as she pointed in the man's direction, "we have to save his daughter."
"Would you?" the man gasped as hope began to flicker in his sad eyes. "But we've already sent a rescue team there once and no one came back," he continued as his eyes became sad once more, "Are you sure you can do it?"
Inuyasha smiled, "Of course! We'll squish that spider and bring everyone, including your daughter, back safely."
Kagome, Shippo, and Alice all nodded in agreement as determination filled their eyes with a fierce fire that gave the man hope.
"Oh thank you! I wish you luck," the man replied as he and the other villagers behind him bowed in respect.
Inuyasha nodded and the group set out towards the temple to save the little girl.
"Inuyasha this is so unlike you. Are you okay?" Shippo asked as they got out of hearing from the villagers.
"What? Do I have to ignore every plea for help we get? Plus, I was getting bored of all this pointless walking around. I need a little excitement or else I'll explode," Inuyasha explained.
"Oh, I see," Shippo concluded as he jumped onto Alice's shoulder.
"It's probably some really old demon that's just hiding in that temple, scared for its life. This will be a piece of cake," Inuyasha said amusement glowing in his golden eyes.
"You're forgetting that the villagers said he's acting strange Inuyasha," Alice put in as she glanced over at him, "This new trait that he has may make him stronger than normal. We need to be prepared for anything."
"Yes, Alice is right," Kagome agreed, "We need to be prepared for anything in this battle, especially since we've never even seen the spider before."
"Shut up! It can't be anything that my Tessaiga can't handle. Let's get going already," Inuyasha growled.
Kagome jumped onto Inuyasha's back as Shippo got in a comfortable position on Alice's shoulder as the group began to pick up its pace and before long they were traveling at a quick but steady pace. Alice felt a chill go down her spine as they entered the mountains to the north of the village. This is so strange she thought as they climbed the mountain trail. It's like I can sense a great evil from up ahead. Does this aura belong to the spider?
Alice looked over at Kagome and saw that she could sense the evil aura as well. When they turned the corner, she saw the old temple and the Shikigami user stared in amazement at the structure of the temple itself.
"So this is what temples looked like back then," she said quietly as Kagome got off Inuyasha and the group began to proceed towards the castle.
"Yeah, it's really something else huh?" Kagome replied, "Nothing like the buildings in our time right?"
The girl nodded as they walked up the temple steps, pushed open the doors and stepped inside. As her eyes adjusted to the dimly lit temple, she found herself gasping in surprise at all the spider webs strewn among the corridors. There was just something about those hair-like strands that made Alice feel very uncomfortable to the point that she felt dizzy.
"Whoa there," Kagome cautioned as she walked up to her and supported her as Alice felt her legs wobble.
"What's the problem?" Inuyasha asked as he walked up to the two. "Don't tell me you're afraid of some measly spider webs."
"Inuyasha! Try to be more considerate won't you?" Kagome scolded before turning her attention back to Alice and saying in a caring and concerned voice, "Maybe you should let us handle this while you wait outside."
"No, I'll be fine. Just please let me rest a bit," Alice mumbled as she leaned on Kagome, grateful for her support, and closed her eyes.
The villagers were right to fear this spider, its aura is enough to give any person without a proper training a skull splitting headache. I sure hope we know what we're doing Alice thought, and after a few minutes she opened her eyes and painfully looked towards the group.
"I'm fine now, let's get going and save that little girl already. The poor thing must be terrified," she said, trying to keep her voice strong as she saw concern flash though Shippo and Kagome's eyes.
"About time," Inuyasha complained and they began walking through the temple's hallways.
"Pretty creepy place huh?" Kagome told Alice, trying to distract her from the aura.
"No kidding. It's the perfect place for a giant spider to be," the girl replied, smiling at Kagome while nodding and mouthing thank-you to her.
It's nice for Kagome to help but with or without her help I don't think I can last too terribly long in here. I hope we make this quick before I pass out, or worse. Alice shuddered at the thought of passing out in the creepy temple.
The group continued on in silence as they walked through hallway upon hallway and room upon room. How many rooms does this temple have? It sure didn't look this big from the outside she thought as they entered yet another room. Alice looked over at Inuyasha, who was leading the group, and began to doubt whether are not he could navigate accurately through the temple. I sure hope he knows where he's going because I'm clueless. But I guess having Inuyasha as a guide isn't so bad, I mean he is in a way a dog.
As Inuyasha lead them deeper into the temple Alice only felt her headache grow and before long she could feel sweat curling around her face. I better not let Kagome and Inuyasha see this or else their sure to grow concerned. They can't afford to worry about me, especially when they've already got enough on their mind with that giant spider.
She was wiping the sweat from her face when the group entered a huge room that she presumed to be under the center of the castle. Inuyasha advanced a little farther from where they entered the room and sniffed the air suspiciously. Everyone looked over at Inuyasha with a questioning glance before the hanyou spoke up, "Blood. I smell blood, and not just any blood. Human blood."
Alice felt her eyes widen in horror as she remembered the villager's story about the rescue team that never returned and couldn't help but think that they weren't ever going to be returning to their families and fellow villagers. Kagome saw Alice, who became pale as the combination of her thoughts on whose blood Inuyasha scented was and the massive evil aura that was now surrounding the group, and walked over to her, urging her to sit down and rest for a bit.
Inuyasha saw this and sighed in frustration. "Now's not the time to be turning back, just tough it out a bit longer," he told Alice before looking over to Kagome, instructing, "Kagome, you and Shippo stay here with Alice while I go and slay that demon."
Alice was too tired to respond to Inuyasha, but managed to give him a defiant glare instead.
"What do you mean stay here?" Shippo asked as he jumped from Alice's shoulder and onto Kagome's.
"No matter how strong you are, you'll still be in danger if you try and fight that demon alone," Kagome agreed.
"Oh shut up. I'll be fine by myself, and plus it'll be faster if I go alone. I'll defeat him quickly and then we can get out of here. Just stay here until I get back," Inuyasha replied stubbornly.
Kagome glared at him, looking as if she were about to argue when Inuyasha quickly turned around and began running down the hallway and into the room on the far left.
"Always making decisions on your own. Can't he at least hear what we have to say before running off?" Shippo muttered angrily as they watched as Inuyasha disappeared.
"Yes, his actions are questionable but I'm sure his motives are good," Kagome explained, "He just doesn't want us to get hurt."
"Hmph, I didn't hear him say that," Alice muttered tiredly as she glanced over at the priestess.
"He's just too proud to say something like that," Kagome sighed before knelling down next to Alice and asking, "Anyway, how are you feeling Alice? You look a bit pale."
Alice looked up and before she could reply she saw Kagome stiffen as her eyes widened in fear and surprise.
"What's wrong?" the girl asked as she began to feel concerned.
Kagome just got up from where she was kneeling and walked over to the far side of the hallway.
"Kagome!" Alice called out, now feeling great concern for her. It's like she's in some sort of trance.
"What's wrong Kagome?" Shippo asked.
"This presence… It can't be!" Kagome gasped "I sense a shard of the Shikon Jewel."
"What?!" Shippo said with surprise in his voice.
"There is definitely a shard of the Shikon Jewel nearby, and if I didn't know any better I'd say that spider has it."
"Shikon Jewel? What are you talking about?" Alice inquired.
"It's what we've been looking for this whole time. You see, at first the Shikon Jewel was one whole sphere, but then it was shattered into tiny fragments and now we have to find them. If demons get a hold on these shards their power increases, making them much more powerful then they originally were," Kagome explained.
"Wow, I had no idea something like that even existed. But wait, if your suspicion that the spider has a shard is true, then Inuyasha's in trouble!" Alice said worriedly as she jumped up from where she was sitting, ready to go and help Inuyasha.
But the moment she jumped up and took one step, Alice felt like her head was going to explode. She whimpered from the pain, grabbed her head with one hand and knelt back down on the floor.
"Alice!" Kagome ran over to her and steadied her, "You're not used to a demon's aura so it's normal to feel this way but this needs to stop now before it gets any worse."
Kagome looked over at Shippo. "Come on Shippo lets go help Inuyasha. Alice," Kagome went on, turning her direction back to her, "please stay here and try to fight it."
Alice wanted with all her might to object to Kagome's plan but she was in too much pain to do anything as the two ran in the direction of where Inuyasha disappeared. She then leaned against a nearby wall and closed her eyes, feeling sweat drip coldly down her burning face. This is just great! I'm supposed to be helping everyone, not sitting around here doing nothing!
"What the hell?" Alice barely heard Inuyasha call.
She flickered open one of her eyes before closing it again. I must be hearing things…
But when she heard Kagome's piercing scream, Alice's eyes snapped open as she whipped her head around in the direction of the scream. Kagome! Now I know I didn't imagine that!
Alice got up as fast as she could, but seeing as her legs were weak and unstable it took her a minute to get up and start wobbling towards the room everyone disappeared in. She felt her vision get blurry as she neared the door and desperately fought to stay in control. Come on! Just a little further…
When the Shikigami user stumbled in the doorway, she stared in horror at the sight that met her: Inuyasha, Kagome and Shippo were all lying on the floor, caught in one massive spider web. Everyone! What happened? Alice looked over to the far side of the room for barely a second before she saw a massive sphere of energy come her way.
What the? Alice quickly shot her Shikigami out and barely managed to block the attack that left her panting hard.
"What do we have here? Another human? A little girl at that," the spider taunted, "Little girl, you should call yourself lucky to not have been captured by my web, unlike your friends. Unfortunately it's only a matter of time before you're caught to, and judging by your unsteady legs and hard breathing I'd say you have less than a minute before you're through."
Alice felt her anger rise but was unable to say a thing as she continued to glare at the spider. He's right; I probably won't last much longer like this she thought as she turned her attention towards everyone in the massive web. But if I fail, then we're all doomed.
"Why so quiet little girl?" the spider teased. "You think you can save them? Don't make me laugh, you can barely talk let alone save yourself," the spider finished as it sent another ball of energy flying towards Alice.
Alice jumped out of the way just in time and landed on the other side of the room from the huge web that held everyone.
Inuyasha saw her and growled, "He's using the power of a shard of the Shikon Jewel. He's too strong. You won't win, just run away."
Alice stared at him in shock. If I leave, you'll die! I won't abandon you, there has to be something! She desperately wanted to say as she heard the spider laugh.
When she turned to the spider's direction she saw something that brought hope to her in the seemingly hopeless situation. That's serpentine rock! If I can destroy that rock then the spider will lose concentration and everyone will be set free! But it'll take all I have left to destroy it Alice thought before looking over at everyone else. I have to do it, even if it leaves me defenseless. I have to save them! She thought as she unsheathed her sword and let her Shikigami powers flow through it, making the sword glow with the fierceness of fire.
"Oh? Choosing to stay and fight I see. Don't you know it's useless? You should've run while you had the chance, now you'll be the first to die!" the spider shouted sounding amused at her effort.
"Idiot, don't just stand there! Run! Run away now!" Inuyasha commanded.
"You have to run away!" Kagome yelled.
"Hurry, run!" Shippo put in as Alice glared at everyone.
Shut up! Can't you see I'm trying to save you? Just be quite and let me do this! Alice thought before letting her attention shift from the trapped group back to the spider. It's time to end this.
Alice lifted her sword and let her Shikigami flare around her, grinning when she saw a flash of fear go through the spider's eyes. The spider then unleashed its attack, which she deflected with ease.
Right before Alice retaliated, she looked over at Inuyasha and barely managed to whisper, "Don't screw this up!"
She then threw her sword, with all her might, towards the serpentine rock, and when it made contact the rock shattered. At this, the spider immediately lost its concentration, and the web holding Inuyasha and the others came loose, allowing them to escape. Alice fell to her knees as the spider turned and glared at her with hatred in its eyes.
"How dare you make me lose my prey! You'll pay for this!" it snarled as it threw a huge sphere of energy at the now defenseless and worn out girl.
"Alice!" Inuyasha, Kagome and Shippo yelled as they ran to help her.
But they were too late. Seeing that they wouldn't make it on time, Alice closed her eyes as she felt the impact of the spider's dark energy hit her, sending her back into a web behind her.
The last thing she saw was everyone's face filled with horror as they realized they were too late. Alice experienced tunnel vision as she felt the tiny hair-like strands, which were now covering her body, pull her into nothingness.
For anyone who wants to know, the title of this chapter is in Japanese and it translates to "spider web" Pretty fitting title for the chapter huh?
The story continues with the nest chapter has Kagome's point of view starting out where Alice left us so stay tuned xD
Please read and review~
