Chapter 18: Onward to the Castle

"Another day off?" Alice said in disbelief.

"Yes, we need some time to get ready for the trip to the castle, and relaxing isn't such a bad idea either," Kagome replied.

"I agree," Shippo put in happily while Alice sighed and reluctantly nodded her head in agreement.

"I think I'll go for a walk," Miroku stated as he got up, "Inuyasha, would you care to join me?"

"Sure," Inuyasha replied as the two walked out of the house.

"I'm going to go shopping, would you like to come Sango?" Kagome asked. Sango nodded and the pair followed Miroku and Inuyasha out the door.

"So, what do you want to do today?" Shippo asked while jumping up on Alice's shoulder.

"I'm going to collect some herbs today, we're running pretty low so it would be nice to restock our supplies," Alice answered as she walked out of the house and towards the woods.

Once there, Alice quickly located a patch of herbs and knelt down to pick some. Shippo, meanwhile, jumped off her shoulder and ran towards a patch of flowers. When Alice finished gathering the herbs she picked in her cloth bag she turned towards Shippo, who was just sitting there ideally looking at the flowers, his green eyes dull with boredom.

"Hey Shippo, come here for a second," Alice called.

Shippo looked over at Alice curiously before getting up and running over to her.

"What? Do you need help with something?" Shippo asked once he got there.

"Here, give me your hands," Alice instructed as she got to her feet and bent down.

"Why would I do that?" Shippo asked with a slight blush.

"Oh come on, it'll be fine," Alice pressed on happily.

"No… I" Shippo was cut off as Alice grabbed his hands.

"What are you…?" Shippo yelled in surprise as Alice threw him high in the air.

"Wow Shippo, you're really light!" Alice said as she caught his hands and continued, "Okay one more time."

This time, Shippo laughed as he went up in the air and back down into Alice's arms.

Alice laughed, "Not so bad huh?"

"Do it again! Do it again!" Shippo begged excitedly.

Another burst of laughter came from Alice as she threw Shippo up in the air once again.

The afternoon went by in a flash, as the two played together all day. When sunset came around, they happily went back to Densuke's house and met up with the others.

"It seems like you two had a nice and relaxing day," Miroku pointed out happily as everyone settled down around the fire pit for dinner.

Both Alice and Shippo smiled as they nodded. Everyone laughed and ate their dinners around the warm fire, sharing their experiences of the day and when nighttime came around they all fell into a peaceful slumber.

/././././././

"We've rested enough, let's get going already," Inuyasha said impatiently the next morning.

"Yes, yes. We're coming," Alice replied as they said their goodbyes to Densuke and went on their way towards the castle.

The group made pretty good pace and soon they reached the spot where they met the three demon women. Thank goodness they're gone Alice thought as they passed by the clearing. Pretty soon, she could make out the sound of people and ran faster in their direction.

As they passed through a tree tunnel, Alice let out a sigh of relief, "There's the Castle Town, about time too."

Everyone came to a stop on the bridge that led to the castle town and looked back at Alice, who went on while inspecting the town, "Hmm… I thought this place would be at least a little livelier than it is now. Tsuzumi Village looks like way more fun than this place."

"Yeah, I'm getting a weird feeling from this place," Inuyasha stated as he turned his head to face the town.

"Same here," Miroku agreed in a serious tone.

"Well, things aren't always what they appear to be, take Miroku for example," Shippo said from atop Alice's shoulder.

"You have a point there," Sango giggled as Miroku turned back and eyed them questionably.

"What do you mean by that?" he asked them, "I'm as normal as can be."

Alice widened her eyes and looked back and forth at the three, not quite catching what the two had said before.

"Huh?" She replied innocently as the three all laughed together.

"What?" Alice asked, looking at all three of them, "What?"

"You're right Alice, it is pretty gloomy for a Castle Town," Kagome agreed, putting the group back on topic. Everyone nodded in agreement and set out into the town.

"I hope I can take a bath here," Kagome complained from where she walked in between Sango and Alice.

Sango nodded as Alice looked over at Kagome and smiled, "Yeah, we've been camping out so much lately and we've had to make do without one. A bath would be awesome right now."

"Bath? We don't need one of those yet," Inuyasha replied while looking back at the three.

He then slackened his pace so he stood in between Alice and Kagome, and sniffed at Kagome. After a few seconds he wrinkled his nose which was immediately spotted by Kagome, who stiffened and glared down at Inuyasha.

"Inuyasha! Sit, sit, sit!" Kagome yelled in an angry tone that made everyone back up one step from her.

Inuyasha was about to reply to Kagome but did three consecutive face plants in a row before he could even utter a word.

Wow, I didn't know Kagome had it in her to do that to Inuyasha Alice thought as she sighed and looked at the two.

"There they go again," Shippo stated with a grin.

Alice shook her head, walked past everyone and took the lead into the Castle Town.

"There sure are a ton of people here," Alice murmured as they walked through the streets.

"Yeah, no kidding," Sango agreed.

As the group passed by a hotel, a lone boy reached forward and grabbed Alice's hand saying, "Are you guys going to the castle? If you are could you please help me?"

Alice turned towards the boy and replied sweetly, "Yep, we're going there right now. What do you need us to do?"

"Umm… Can you take this pinwheel and give it to my sister? I made it for her," the boy responded shyly.

"You miss her don't you," Kagome said to the boy, whose face turned bright red as he replied, "No way! She's the one who misses me, not the other way around. Just give her this and tell her to hang in there okay? Oh right, her name is Toki if it helps."

Alice nodded and took the red pinwheel from the boy's hands, "We'll make sure she gets it."

They were about to head off but a woman in a bright green kimono stopped them saying, "You're going to the castle? Everyone, these people are going to the castle!"

"Hey, no need to go shouting it to the world," Alice snapped as three more women came out of the hotel in front of them and looked expectantly at the group.

"What?" one of them said as another put in, "Is it true?"

Hope flashed in their eyes as Alice nodded, "Yes, we are heading there but tell me, what exactly is going on in that castle?"

All three looked at each other before explaining, "We're the wives of the Samurai that went to the castle. They said that they'd be back soon but months have already passed by and no one has returned yet."

"Poor things," Sango murmured sympathetically.

"It's really hard to be a Samurai huh?" Kagome asked.

"Yes, we've only been together for a short time," one of the women replied sadly.

"But we've gathered together to form a plan on getting our husbands some food," another woman explained.

"So that's why all of you are here… Say, how about we take the food to your husbands?" Alice offered.

"Hey what're you saying?" Inuyasha cut in annoyed.

"It's fine, we can take them," Kagome countered while looking over at Inuyasha as Sango agreed, "We're going there anyway, might as well bring the food to the Samurai."

"Thank you so much! Please give this to my husband, Yukimara," the woman in front of Alice replied thankfully as she handed a rice ball to her.

The other two women did the same, and bowed in gratitude once Alice wrapped them all up in a handkerchief and put it in her bag. Everyone said their goodbyes and set off towards the castle with newly found tasks on their hands.

When they approached the gate however, an old man said to himself, "The King has changed."

Alice stopped dead in her tracks, almost causing Inuyasha to collide with her as she ran up to the man and asked, "What do you mean by that? What happened to the King?"

"Alice come on already," Inuyasha called over to her, but Alice ignored him and went on, "How is he different?"

Alice noticed that everyone had given up on getting her to move on and walked up beside her as the old man answered, "Everything! The look in his eyes is much colder than before and he's so much more violent than before. For instance, if he doesn't like you he'll kill you on the spot! He's even gone as far as kicking me, his head counselor, out."

"Sounds like someone I know," Shippo murmured as he cast a glance at Inuyasha.

"What're you looking at Shippo," Inuyasha growled.

Alice sighed, ignoring the two as the man went on, "It's almost like he's possessed by a demon. I don't know about the situation you guys are in but I'm almost positive this rumor is true."

'If this continues on for much longer, the castle will be ruined and our king will be lost," the old man finished worriedly as he began to walk away, deep in thought.

"Let's go figure out what exactly happened here," Alice said as she looked towards everyone else.

"Yes," Kagome agreed as they walked towards the castle gates.

They were just about to pass through when a guard yelled, "Wait!" Everyone stopped and looked expectantly at the guard.

"What?" Alice asked impatiently.

"This is the road that heads to the castle," another guard explained.

"No, it's headed to my house, of course it heads to the castle! Now step aside and let us through," Alice snapped before Kagome moved in front of her and said, "What she means is that we would like to go to the castle."

"No, this is a restricted area, you can't pass," the guard responded firmly.

Alice glared at the guard before seeing an old man pass through.

"But he's passing through," Inuyasha voiced Alice's frustration.

"He's going to the castle to pay taxes, so he has permission to go through," the guard replied simply.

"What! Stop making us wait around here," Inuyasha growled as Alice bit down on her lower lip in an effort to control her temper.

"Inuyasha, let's head back for now," Kagome advised as she pulled the two away from the guards and the castle gate.

"It's no good getting into a fight here," Sango put in as Inuyasha replied stubbornly, "But how the heck are we supposed to get through?"

Kagome and Sango successfully got the two to walk away but their tempers were still flaring.

"Wow, I never realized how alike the two are," Shippo whispered to Kagome.

Both Inuyasha and Alice turned around and yelled at the same time, "What! No way! I'm definetly not like him/her!"

The two then faced each other and yelled, "What's that supposed to mean?"

They glared at each other until Alice felt a hard hit to her head and immediately flinched and held her head.

Inuyasha mimicked her as they both looked towards Miroku in shock who said with forced calmness, "You two need to calm down before you destroy the whole town."

But before anyone could say a thing Inuyasha's ears perked up as he muttered, "This scent…"

"What?" everyone replied in sync as Inuyasha walked off.

They all looked at each other and shrugged before following Inuyasha. Inuyasha lead the group to the hotel they were in front of only moments ago and as Alice entered the hotel she gasped in surprise at who she saw.

"Hello everyone," the village headman of Kasasagi Town greeted as everyone walked in.

"What are you doing here?" Alice asked.

"I thought I smelled a familiar scent," Inuyasha muttered.

"Just going to pay the annual taxes. But I've heard that demons have been spotted within the castle," the headman replied unhappily.

"Demons? What do you mean?" Sango asked worry beginning to take form in her eyes.

As the headman began to explain, Alice found her concentration drifting away from their conversation.

"Hey Kagome, what are taxes anyway?" Shippo asked as Kagome replied, "Taxes are money given to the king as a thank you for his protection."

"Why doesn't everyone just protect themselves?" Shippo went on.

Alice sighed as the conversation between the two carried on. Give it up Kagome, this conversation is probably too complicated for him to comprehend.

Inuyasha cut in explaining to Shippo, "Basically weak and cowardly people need to be protected."

"He doesn't understand either," Miroku whispered as he leaned over to Alice.

"It has nothing to do with that. It's simply how the system works," Kagome countered.

"Man, humans and their complicated ways," Inuyasha muttered as he rolled his eyes.

"I think you're the one making it complicated," Alice sighed before turning to the headman and continuing, "But with that behind us, would you mind if we accompany you to the castle?"

"Sure, I'd love the company," the headman agreed happily.

"Okay then, lead the way," Alice finished as the group walked out of the hotel and towards the castle.

Let's hope this works Alice prayed as they arrived at the castle gates once more.

"Hold it right there," the guard yelled at them. Inuyasha smirked and replied, "You have to let us through this time."

The guard's face became annoyed at Inuyasha's smug expression but before he could call for backup, the headman spoke up, "Please let us through, these people are my guards."

"You're the headman of Kasasagi Town right?" the guard asked suspiciously.

"Yep, and I've come to pay my taxes," the headman affirmed.

The guard thought it over for a moment before Alice snapped, "Any day now!"

This seemed to get the guard's attention and he quickly nodded and stepped aside to let them pass.

"About time," Alice muttered as they walked through the gate.

"Thank goodness we got in," Kagome said on a happier note.

"Let's get this over with," Alice said impatiently as she ran ahead of everyone.

"Wait Alice! We need to stick together," Kagome called after Alice who sighed and turned around to face everyone saying, "Okay but hurry…"

A sharp pain exploded from Alice's shoulder as she let out a startled gasp.

"Alice!" Sango called as Alice fell to the ground on the other side of the bridge.

"Ugh" Alice groaned as she looked up to see a demon standing in front of her.

"Why you…" Alice yelled as she tried to get up but, by some unseen force, was pinned to the ground.

What's going on? I can't move! Alice thought as she struggled to get up. The demon chuckled before turning its back towards Alice and confronting the others.

"Why is there a demon in the castle?" Shippo asked fearfully.

"Keh, who knows, but it won't be here for long," Inuyasha growled as he unsheathed Tessaiga.

Inuyasha quickly dispatched the demon in one swing of his mighty sword as the group ran over to Alice.

"Alice, what's wrong? Are you hurt?" Kagome asked worriedly.

"I don't know I just can't move. That demon…" Alice stopped as she saw a glimmer of light on her arm.

Is that a spider web? Alice thought as she began to notice the clear strands that covered her body. Maybe if we find the source of these strands I'll be able to move again…

Alice looked around until she spotted the source of the strands and yelled out, "Inuyasha, that tree over there!"

Inuyasha quickly turned around and swiped at the named tree. A scream came out of the tree as a small spider demon crawled out, desperately trying to escape. But Inuyasha was too fast for it and it was soon slain.

The moment the spider had disappeared in a cloud of dust, Alice felt her hands twitch as she let out a sigh of relief before getting up onto her feet.

"Where'd the headman go?" Alice asked after she looked around and saw that he was nowhere to be found.

"I told him to go back since it was dangerous," Kagome replied as Alice nodded in understanding.

"If they've taken over the entrance than I can't imagine what's going on inside, I hope everyone is okay," Miroku stated worriedly.

"Yeah, let's hope so," Kagome agreed.

"Well the let's go in and see for ourselves, but let's try not to wander too far away," Sango instructed with a glance towards Alice who along with Inuyasha was impatiently waiting for the others at the castle's entrance.

"Let's do this thing," Alice said as she led the way into the darkness of the castle.

Here I come Naraku, and this time neither of us can wake up like our previous encounters. It's time for me to end this thing and for you to pay for what you have done to everyone.


With courage flaring brightly in their hearts, the group takes their first steps into the darkness but what dangers await them?
Find out in the next chapter!

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