Previously…

Almost there… Alice thought before she and the others came to a screeching halt.

"Oh kami no…" Alice whispered.

The one peaceful, bright town that had greeted them when they first arrived was now long gone. In its place stood a dark, desolate town where not even a speck of life echoed throughout the battered streets.

Chapter 22: Into the Darkness

"What happened here?" Shippo exclaimed.

Alice merely shook her head, still recovering from the shock of the scene that lay in front of her.

"Naraku," Sango spoke up in the silence that shrouded over the whole town.

Everyone looked over at Sango, suddenly realizing that she was more than likely right.

"Yes, Naraku must have been the cause of all this," Miroku agreed with a slight amount of anger breaking in his voice.

"If Naraku's allowed to stay in the castle, then the whole town…" Kagome started before Alice cut her off, "We can't allow that, let's get going."

Without waiting for a reply, Alice set off into the ruins of what once was such a peaceful town. I know what Kagome was going to say next, but I don't want to think about it now… Yukimara, Toki, everyone! You'd better be okay!

But as Alice was about to cross the bridge Inuyasha darted in front of her and growled, "Kagura!"

"Kagura?" Alice said in confusion before she saw the named person walk up to the group, standing between them and the ruins of the Castle Town.

"You sure kept me waiting, I was about to fall asleep," Kagura mocked the group as Alice unsheathed her sword.

"So sorry," Alice snapped back as her sword became a lit with a red flame.

"What's your purpose here Kagura?" Miroku demanded as he stepped forward to stand beside Alice.

"I was merely waiting here for you all to come, I knew that you'd come here eventually so I just sat here and waited," Kagura replied.

"What do you want?" Kagome called out as Alice grew more frustrated due to Kagura avoiding the question.

"Answer it already," she snapped while pointing her sword at Kagura.

Kagura grinned at Alice before replying, "It's simple really. The only thing I need from you is your soul."

A flash of surprise and fear charged through Alice's veins as she stared at Kagura with anger and a little confusion in her gaze.

"My soul? Yeah right, just try it!" Alice yelled back while Inuyasha growled, "Don't be too sure about that, you're gonna die right here, right now!"

"Have you forgotten already? I have a barrier fool, you can't even lay a finger on me," Kagura shot back.

At this Alice grinned, which caused Kagura to take a step back in confusion.

"I would get my hopes up if I were you," Alice stated as she raised her sword higher, which now glowed with a pure blue light.

Confusion gone in a flash, Kagura replied, "I see you're just filled with confidence, but don't get too full of yourself! Though, I wouldn't mind seeing your hopes crumble when you see that your efforts are useless. Just go ahead and die already!"

With this said, Kagura unleashed her wind blades, which Alice nimbly dodged.

"What are you aiming at?" Alice taunted as she pushed forward to attack Kagura.

Here it comes… Alice thought as she swung her sword down on the barrier that protected Kagura. The instant the sword made contact with the barrier Alice felt her Shikigami tear through the protective shield until it shattered from underneath her.

"Ha, not so powerful now huh?" Alice said as she smirked at Kagura, who was now glaring at her in frustration.

"The barrier, it's gone!" Kagura said in shock as Alice glared at her and replied, "Of course, you didn't think I'd actually let you take my soul, did you?"

"Great job Alice," Shippo called from Kagome's shoulder.

"Yeah now get out of the way!" Inuyasha yelled as Alice glared at him before jumping back behind him.

"Kaze no Kizu!" Inuyasha shouted as the attack raced towards Kagura.

"Keh," Kagura muttered as she jumped onto one of her feathers, just barely dodging the attack.

"Wait Kagura, I'm not finished with you!" Inuyasha called after her while Alice glared up at the woman.

When Kagura and Alice's eyes met, Kagura grinned and murmured, "I'll let you live for now, seeing that you could be useful to me later on."

"What's that supposed to mean?" Alice demanded but before she could say anything else, Kagura took off with a gust of wind.

Inuyasha and Alice glared after Kagura in frustration before Alice felt a light tap on her shoulder and turned to see Kagome.

"That was amazing Alice, you really destroyed the barrier," Kagome stated in amazement.

"Were there any doubts?" Alice replied while smiling.

Kagome and Sango giggled, while Miroku and Inuyasha turned away from Alice.

"What, you guys didn't think I could do it did you?" Alice said more seriously.

"I believed in you," Shippo replied innocently.

"Thanks Shippo," Alice responded while she bent down to pat the kitsune on the head.

"We can finally beat Naraku now, no doubt about it," Inuyasha said happily, trying to change the subject.

This seemed to lift everyone's spirits until Miroku pointed out, "But now Naraku is aware that we are able to break his barrier."

"Yeah, and? It'll be easier to get to Naraku now since he won't have any barrier to protect himself," Inuyasha growled.

"Right, let's get going already before Naraku decides to chicken out and run away," Alice stated as she walked towards the castle.

"How horrible," Kagome whispered as they walked through the ruined town, "I hope everyone's alright."

"Yeah," Sango agreed while Alice nodded.

"Come on, we're almost there," Inuyasha stated as they saw the entrance of the castle come into view through the dark mist that enshrouded the town.

As Alice took the first steps into the castle, she shivered as a wave of uneasiness raged through her.

"Ugh, it's even worse than before," Alice muttered as they walked through the creaking hallways of the castle.

"It looks like the castle is in no better condition than the town," Shippo pointed out.

"Keh, looks like Naraku wasn't too happy that we got away," Inuyasha growled.

I wonder, if we had stayed would this have never happened? Alice thought as a wave of guilt passed through her.

Miroku, who seemed to notice this, spoke up saying, "I think that with Naraku in the castle this all was bound to happen eventually."

"Yeah," Sango agreed as Alice looked over at Miroku and smiled thank you.

But just as the group was about to walk up a set of stairs, Alice stopped as she saw a glimmer of light underneath the first step.

"What's this?" Alice murmured as she knelt down to investigate.

Her eyes widened in concern as she pulled out the red pinwheel that was in Toki's possession last she saw of it.

"This is Toki's pinwheel, why is it here?" Alice questioned as she dusted the pinwheel off.

"It couldn't have been that Toki," Kagome trailed off as she stared at the pinwheel in shock.

"I guess she wasn't able to escape," Sango said sadly as Alice felt a wave of sorrow run through her.

"I pray that isn't the case," Miroku said as Shippo added, "Yeah, she could've just dropped it on her way out."

Let's hope so… Alice thought as she placed the pinwheel in her kimono's obi and stood up to face everyone, determination flashing in her eyes.

"Regardless, let's go and find Naraku," Inuyasha stated as the group headed up the stairs.

Yes, for Toki Alice thought as she followed the group up the stairs. Once at the top, the group was greeted with a dead end.

"Now what?" Shippo asked as they looked around.

"What else, we keep moving forward," Inuyasha replied as he climbed through a window that led to the roof of a section of the castle.

"Did I mention I'm not so good with heights?" Alice said fearfully as she slowly followed the others across the narrow roof.

"Don't worry, we'll be fine," Sango reassured her as she climber through the window on the other side.

"You can face demons without flinching but you cower at heights? How pathetic," Inuyasha stated with a slight grin on his face.

"Shut up!" Alice snapped as she glared at him and within a few moments she was standing right beside the group, safely inside the castle.

"Let's go," Kagome said as Inuyasha led the way while Alice took up the rear.

After a few seconds, Alice heard a familiar buzzing sound and the group stopped to see a whole swarm of Saimyosho blocking their path.

"Oh no, the Saimyosho," Miroku pointed out as Alice narrowed her eyes.

"They're everywhere," Sango added as she lost count of how many there were.

"Damn annoying pests," Inuyasha growled.

"We have to get away from this place, or Naraku might find us," Kagome pointed out.

"Yeah, let's get going," Miroku said as they retraced their steps back to the window.

"Jeez guys, do you want me to have a heart attack," Alice complained as she looked out the window.

"Quit your complaining," Inuyasha growled.

"Easy for you to sayyyy" Alice started before she felt Inuyasha pick her up and throw her across the roof and into the other window.

"Ahhh!" Alice screamed as she flew into the other window and landed hard.

"See, it's not so bad," Inuyasha smirked as Alice glared up at him while the rest of the group quickly filed into the hallway.

Kagome and the others sighed before continuing through the castle.

"Do you even know where we're going?" Alice asked Inuyasha as they walked through the endless hallways of the castle.

"Keh" Inuyasha replied as they stepped into a mini courtyard and looked around the tattered place.

"What's that?" Sango asked as they walked up to a bed of flowers in the corner of the courtyard.

The whole bed of flowers was a mess and Alice assumed it was partially due to the lack of care it received. But one flower stood out among the rest, perfectly healthy among its dead or withering companions.

"Oh, a flower, and it's beautiful," Alice stated as she stared at the pink flower in awe.

"Indeed, it is beautiful, but it's not just looks. This flower is called a Pyrethrum, and when you burn it the smoke that it gives off is able to kill any insect," Sango explained, "It should work on demons as well, as long as they're insects as well."

"Wonderful, we can use it to get rid of the Saimyosho," Kagome pointed out happily.

How convenient Alice thought as she picked the flower and placed it beside Toki's pinwheel in her kimono's obi.

"Let's head back to where those Saimyosho are. Now that we have this flower we can kill them and pass through," Miroku instructed as they headed back to where they had been moments ago.

"Okay, this is the last time I'm going across this roof," Alice vowed as she ran swiftly across the narrow roof.

"But what if we need to escape from this side of the castle?" Shippo asked while looking back at Alice.

"Well then I'll just find another way to get out then," Alice muttered.

"Look, there they are," Kagome pointed out as the group reached the spot where they spotted the swarm of Saimyosho.

"Okay Alice, do you're thing," Sango instructed once she place the Pyrethrum down in the hallway in front of them.

Alice nodded and used her fire Shikigami to catch the flower on fire. After a few minutes, the flower began to give off its insect killing smoke, and within seconds Alice heard the buzzing of the Saimyosho die down until she heard light thumps on the floor.

"Great it's working!" Alice cheered before turning to Inuyasha, who was holding his nose and making a strange face. "What's your problem?"

"What a nasty scent!" Inuyasha complained while Alice finally remembered his strong sense of smell.

"Hang in there Inuyasha, just a bit longer," Kagome soothed as she put a hand on Inuyasha's shoulder.

"It looks like it worked," Sango called out happily as the group turned the corner to see a pile of dead Saimyosho.

"Great, now we can finally get going again," Alice pointed out happily as she took the lead through the hallway.

"Ugh…" Inuyasha grumbled from behind her, "Let's get away from here fast."

But when Alice entered a nearby room she came to a stop.

"What is that?" she asked while pointing to a beaten up man that was walking towards the group.

"They're all over the place," Inuyasha growled as more mysterious, battered men walked into the room.

"Yeah, and they're headed in our direction," Miroku pointed out.

"I'm guessing they're after us…" Inuyasha started.

"No duh," Alice cut in dryly before she gasped in recognition.

"That armor, it's the same at the Samurai that helped us!"

"What?" Shippo replied in confusion before realizing that Alice was right.

"It is them," Kagome agreed, brown eyes opened wide in shock and confusion.

"But weren't they all slain by demons?" Sango questioned as Miroku replied, "Yes, but it seems like some power is controlling their dead bodies."

"What?" Alice couldn't believe her ears or eyes.

"This is defiantly not good, they're aware of our presence in this room, and there's too many to fight off on our own," Miroku warned.

"We've got to get out of here before we're surrounded," Kagome said but Inuyasha argued, "No we must stand our ground!"

"Are you kidding me? There's no way we can take on all of these dead Samurai, and even if we did win I doubt we'd leave unharmed. Besides, they helped us before, we can't just fight them like it was nothing," Alice countered.

"Stop arguing, it will get us nowhere and we'll be cornered if we delay for too long," Miroku pointed out.

"But…" Alice started before Miroku interrupted, "They can sense our living auras, we need to get away while we still can, and maybe we'll lose them."

"Exactly my point," Alice muttered as she unsheathed her sword, "I'll distract them, so run!"

Not bothering to wait for a reply, Alice swung her sword and a huge gust of wind circled throughout the room, trapping the dead Samurai where they stood.

"This won't last forever, so run!" Alice ordered as the group ran out of the room and down the hallway.

But as they ran further down the hallway, Alice found herself slowly being left behind by the others and called out, "Wait guys, you're going too far ahead! We need to stick together!"

To Alice's relief, everyone slowed down and looked back to wait for her to catch up. Alice smiled but before she could take one more step she heard a bone chilling snap from underneath her feet and within a heartbeat the floor from underneath her crumbled into nothing. Time seemed to drag on slowly as Alice watched everyone's eyes slowly fill with horror as she fell.

"Inuyasha!" Alice screamed as she reached out a hand in his direction.

Inuyasha immediately dashed and reached for Alice's hand. Please make it! Alice thought as she stretched out her hand a little further. But to her horror, Inuyasha's hand, as well as the rest of his body, was repelled by a barrier that somehow made its way around her.

"No…" Alice whispered as she pulled her hand back an inch, a little sorrow adding to the fear in her heart.

The last thing she saw was Inuyasha's face, filled with frustration and fear, while he and everyone else's yell echoed around her as she fell into the darkness below.

"Alice!"


Cliffy xD

Alice falls into the darkness, what awaits her at the bottom? New characters arise in the dark castle, but are they friends or foes?

Please read and review~