Chapter 23: Golden Eyes and a Purple Crescent
Pain fluttered through Alice's body as she shakily raised a hand to her head while using the other to help her sit up off the cold, hard floor she laid on.
Gingerly opening one of her ice, blue eyes she murmured, "What happened? Where am I?"
After slowly looking around the dimly lit room, memories came flooding back to her:
A deafening crack, feeling the wind rush against her skin, reaching out towards Inuyasha, seeing his frustrated expression as he was repelled by a barrier, her friend yelling her name, echoing sounds in her ears, finally surrendering to the darkness only to feel the horrible impact of her body smashing into the wooden floor below; it all became clear and with a painful grunt, Alice moved to her feet to stand on shaky legs.
"I have to find the others…" she whispered to herself as she began to walk towards the door before mentally slapping herself.
I should probably heal myself first before going out to look for them; I'm still in Naraku's Castle after all. And with a sigh, Alice knelt down and began to heal the many scratches and bruises that were scattered across her body.
Still, wouldn't they have found me by now? I mean, I couldn't have been knocked out for too terribly long…she thought as a soothing feeling engulfed her body as her healing Shikigami took effect.
"Ah, much better," Alice said happily as she stretched out her arms before returning to her feet, "Now onward to look for everyone else."
And with these words said, Alice made her way through the castle in search of everyone else. But as she walked deeper and deeper into the dark castle, Alice felt herself wishing that her friends would show up soon.
This place is even creepier than last time; I guess I have Naraku to thank for that… Ugh! Focus Alice! What's the best thing to do now? I guess heading to the castle tower isn't such a bad idea. I mean, we did see Naraku there last and I'm sure that's where everyone else is headed to… I just hope I'm going the right direction. (A/N: Alice = directionally challenged xD)
Room after room passed by and still Alice couldn't even come close to recognizing where she was. I don't think things could get any worse…she thought bitterly before walking headlong into a cold, armored chest.
"Hey, watch it!" Alice snapped as she looked up to see the person she had bumped into.
Pure dread coursed through her veins as she stared into the cold, lifeless eyes of a Samurai that she and the others had encountered moments before their separation.
Stifling a squeal of surprise, Alice immediately jumped back just in time to see a sharp blade slam down where she had just been standing.
"Whoa, what are you doing?" she screeched at the Samurai, unsheathing her sword and raising it for protection against the crazy corpse.
A creek for behind caused Alice to turn in a flash, only to see a dozen or more dead Samurai behind her, all raising their swords threateningly. I'm surrounded! Alice tried to keep calm but the situation was slowly spiraling out of her control as she fell to a knee when the blunt end of a sword slammed into her side.
"Stay back!" Alice warned as she held her side with one hand and held her sword with the other, "I said, stay back!"
In a flash, half of the Samurai that surrounded her were obliterated by a flash of green light.
"Huh?" was all Alice could say as she spotted a flash of silver from her left before the rest of the Samurai around her disappeared in another wave of green.
When the smoke cleared, Alice was left staring in amazement at a demon, she presumed due to the attack she witnessed, with long, flowing, silver hair that easily came to the figure's knees.
The demon itself was clothed in a magnificent red and white honeycomb kimono, decorated with strong looking armor, a spiky chest plate, and a yellow and purple obi that held everything together. Across the demon's left shoulder was a long fuzzy looking boa, completing the demon's elegant and somewhat royal look.
"Who are you?" an annoyingly high pitched voice demanded from behind Alice, who in turn looked back to see a lizard-like frog clothed in a simple brown kimono and holding a two headed staff.
"I beg your pardon? Who are you?" Alice replied with a little irritation slipping of her voice.
The little demon was about to reply but Alice merely turned away from him, eyes immediately focusing on the demon that had saved her.
"Who are you? Why are you here?" Alice questioned, tilting her sword towards him.
Slowly, the demon turned his head ever so slightly so he could take a look back at Alice who immediately flinched at the site of the demon's golden eyes.
Those eyes… Where have I seen them before? As the demon turned fully towards Alice, she widened her eyes at the crescent moon on his forehead, accompanied by two crests that adorned his cheeks.
"Humph, it seems like I'll have to be the one who talks first huh?" Alice sighed, "My name's Alice, what's yours?"
Seconds ticked by in silence as the two just stared at each other before Alice snapped, "Hey speak up already would ya?"
"Silence girl!" the shrill annoying voice commanded from behind as the little demon walked past Alice to stand next to the other demon, "You should be bowing your head in respect to Lord Sesshomaru not speaking to him in such a tone as before!"
"Oh, and why should I pipsqueak?" Alice replied while glaring down at the little demon, who in turn glared back but before he could reply Alice continued, looking towards the silver demon, Sesshomaru she presumed, "Anyway, do you know how to get to the castle tower from here?"
"Of course girl, what do you take us for?" the tiny demon replied which earned him a doubtful look from Alice. "Okay then, which direction is the tower?" Alice asked with a slight smirk. Let's see if you can do what you actually say you can do.
The tiny demon in turn merely huffed and turned towards Sesshomaru, who looked expectantly at him, before saying, "Just a moment Lord Sesshomaru, this girl distracted me and now I'm looking for the path again."
Alice couldn't believe her ears but before she could yell at the tiny demon, Sesshomaru spoke up with a smooth and somewhat displeased tone, "Jaken, don't tell me you forgot the way."
So he does speak Alice thought with a sigh as she glanced towards Sesshomaru.
"No, of course not!" Jaken replied shakily as Alice sighed, "Yeah right, you have no clue where we are."
"Silence! Who asked for your input anyway?" Jaken retorted, "Besides, you don't even know the way." Alice glared at Jaken before noticing Sesshomaru walking away from the two.
"Oh, Lord Sesshomaru!" Jaken called before running after him and with a reluctant sigh Alice followed.
But when she rounded the corner, Alice flinched at the sight of a huge miasma cloud covering most of the hallway.
"I guess this is where we part girl," Jaken said in a mocking and pleased tone as the two faced the cloud.
"Yeah, I guess so," Alice replied as she began walking through the cloud, leaving the tiny demon behind.
"Hey!" Jaken yelled out but Alice ignored him, focusing on keeping up with Sesshomaru.
Within a few minutes, the three were safely outside of the cloud as Jaken turned to Alice and demanded, "Girl how is it that you can pass through that cloud of miasma? No human should be able to accomplish such a task."
"First, stop calling me girl! I gave you my name so start using it," Alice snapped, "And second of all, I'm immune to this poison so it's no surprise to me that I can walk through it unharmed."
As Alice turned around though she let out a slight sigh of relief, "I know where we are now!"
"You do? Then lead us to the castle tower," Jaken ordered.
"Humph, I'm only doing this because you helped me here," Alice muttered as she walked past Jaken and up to Sesshomaru.
"Lead the way then," Sesshomaru stated as Alice passed him and took the lead.
What a bunch… I hope we can find Inuyasha and the others soon because I don't know how much longer I can stand that little nuisance. But then again I guess it's a good idea to stick with them due to all of those demons and Samurai in the castle. You know what they say, power in numbers.
While walking through the halls, Alice became more and more excited as the pathway around her slowly became more familiar with each step. But when she turned into a central room she came face to face with a familiar looking girl.
"Toki?" Alice exclaimed in disbelief as she stared at the girl.
Toki, immediately sensing the groups living presence, began walking towards the three in a somewhat threatening manner. In a flash of silver, Sesshomaru stepped in between Alice and Toki and instantly Alice knew of his intentions as he brought out his sword.
"No, Toki isn't the enemy! Stop!" Alice yelled out but she was too late and watched in horror as Sesshomaru brought his sword down on the girl, easily dispatching her.
Tears filled her gaze as Alice glared at Sesshomaru as snapped, "What was that for? You monster, she was just an innocent girl!"
Without waiting for a reply, Alice ran over to Toki's motionless body and knelt down beside it tears threatening to drip down her face. Almost instantly, Toki's body lit up with a blindingly pure light that made Alice wince at its brightness.
"Thank you for everything," the orb spoke in Toki's voice.
"Huh? Toki, is that you?" Alice whispered in shock, looking up at the orb floating over her and Toki's body.
"Really, thank you for everything. Because of you, I was able to escape that evil man's spell and now I can finally rest," Toki responded.
Realization hit Alice in a wave of sorrow. I see, so this is her soul. But what does she mean by 'that evil man's spell'? Does she mean Naraku? Is he the reason why all of those corpses are walking about?
But before Alice could say a word, Toki's soul floated up until it vanished with a burst of light. "Toki!"
While Alice looked up sadly at the spot where the soul disappeared, Jaken spoke up, "You see girl, my Lord's intentions were good. If you destroy the corpse, the soul is freed."
Not even bothering to yell at the tiny demon for saying girl again Alice sighed, looking towards Sesshomaru, who had his back towards her, "I see."
"Don't waste our time! Get up and lead the way already!" Jaken demanded in a harsher tone.
Alice merely glared at the little demon before taking out the red pinwheel from her kimono's obi and placing it in the now cold hands of Toki.
"Rest well my friend," Alice murmured as she hid her now closed eyes behind her bangs.
"Hey girl! Get a move on already, don't make Lord Sesshomaru wait any longer," Jaken yelled but before Alice could reply Sesshomaru cut in, "Jaken."
"See, I told you! What is it my lord?" Jaken replied.
"Leave her be," Sesshomaru stated simply but with a serious note in his otherwise emotionless tone.
Jaken looked a bit taken back when Alice turned to look at the two.
Wonder what his problem is Alice thought as she walked up to Sesshomaru and as she passed him she murmured under her breath so only the two could hear what she said, "Thanks, and sorry for what I said before."
Knowing that the demon wouldn't reply, Alice followed the path that lead to the tower. But after climbing a set of stairs, the trio came face to face with a hoard of demons.
Good, I could use a good fight Alice thought with a smirk as she unsheathed her sword which immediately became a lit with a bright red fire. Not bothering to see if the two behind her were going to aid in the fight, Alice leapt forward and destroyed the first wave of demons in front of them.
From the corner of her eyes, Alice saw Jaken raise his staff and looked on in surprise as a burst of fire came from one of the heads atop the staff.
"Die you pests," the little demon yelled.
Within moments, most of the demons were gone and Alice turned to look at Sesshomaru and muttered, "Is he even going to try and help?"
Apparently hearing Alice, Sesshomaru glanced over at her before charging in her direction, unsheathing his own sword. Alice took a step back in surprise as Sesshomaru closed in on her and before she could even bring her sword up for protection, the demon lord swung down his sword.
Eyes closed in fear, Alice waited for the impact to come but it never came. Turning around in confusion, she noticed that a huge demon, that went unnoticed by her, was destroyed in a flash of green light. Turning back to Sesshomaru, Alice sighed and muttered her thanks.
Show off Alice thought as she sheathed her sword and continuing down the hallway that was now adorned with royal patterns.
"We're almost there," Alice stated as she narrowed her eyes at the familiar pathway.
The room where we encountered Naraku last isn't far now. I hope everyone is okay.
"Hey, you never answered my question from before. Why are you guys here anyway?" Alice asked, trying to start a conversation amidst the awkward silence that hovered over the group.
"I mean what connection do you have to Naraku anyway? Did he attack you're pack or something?" Alice continued as she turned a corner, only to slam into a hard chest.
After taking a swift step back, Alice held her head and snapped, "Hey watch where…"
Words catching in her throat, Alice recognized Inuyasha's face as he looked down at her, a little surprise showing through his golden eyes.
"Inuyasha! There you are!" Alice exclaimed happily before continuing, "It's good to see that you're all safe seeing as this place is crawling with demons. I was starting to get worried about you guys when you didn't show up."
"I'm glad you're okay too! After seeing you fall like that we were all worried," Kagome replied, walking up to Alice.
"Yeah, the further we went, the more corpses we encountered," Sango explained.
"But why were they only going after you and us?" Shippo asked Alice.
"I don't know. But their efforts weren't very good, but maybe that's was because there were three of us," Alice replied as she looked up in thought.
"Huh, three of you? What do you mean?" Kagome asked as a confused look passed over the group.
Alice turned her attention towards them and pointed back to Sesshomaru and Jaken standing behind her, "Yeah, these guys were traveling with me and helped me find my way here."
"Sesshomaru? What're you doing here?" Inuyasha growled.
At the familiar note in his tone and on the face of everyone else, Alice tilted her head questioningly before asking, "Do you all know Sesshomaru or something?"
"Know him? He's Inuyasha's older brother!" Kagome replied in surprise.
"Brother?" Alice echoed as she looked between the two. So that's why he looked so familiar…
After a few seconds of silence, Sesshomaru walked forward until he stood in between Inuyasha and Alice and stated, "So Inuyasha, this girl is one of your companions?"
"So, what about it?" Inuyasha growled as Alice sighed and muttered under her breath, "Really, how long is it going to take you to start using my name."
"Alice, this is where we part." Sesshomaru stated as Alice's heart skipped a beat at the sound of her name coming from the demon lord.
"Yeah, I guess so. Safe travels then," Alice replied as Sesshomaru cast a quick glance back at her before saying, "Jaken, let's get going."
"Where are you going off to?" Inuyasha demanded as Sesshomaru walked by him, completely ignoring his younger sibling.
"Yes, my lord," Jaken stated as he followed Sesshomaru into the other room that was connected to the one Alice and the others were currently in.
"Oi! Wait a second Sesshomaru!" Inuyasha yelled after them, but it was too late as the two disappeared into the other room.
"Now that we're all together, we'd better get going too," Miroku stated with a look towards Alice, who in turn nodded in agreement.
"Knowing Sesshomaru, he's probably after Naraku too," Shippo stated as Alice walked ahead of the group in the direction Sesshomaru went in.
"Yeah, you're right, I mean why else would he be here? Let's get going then," Alice said as Inuyasha put in, "I won't let him get to Naraku before me, he's going to go down by my sword."
Alice smiled. Am I sensing some sibling rivalry here? Well, we'll just have to wait and see who gives the final blow. But when she turned the corner into the other room, Alice came to a halt as she spotted Sesshomaru encircled by a mass of dead Samurai.
"Sesshomaru!" Alice and Inuyasha called out in sync.
"Look at all the corpses! There's so many of them!" Kagome stated in surprise.
"Yeah, and they're all attacking Sesshomaru," Sango added.
"We should go ahead while Sesshomaru deals with them," Miroku offered as they headed towards the door leading out of the room.
"Too bad Sesshomaru, looks like we'll be going on ahead of you," Inuyasha teased with a smirk as the group ran by him.
While passing Sesshomaru, who was valiantly fighting off the mass of corpses, Alice looked on worriedly before stepping into the other room.
But as they stepped into the other room, the group came face to face with none other than the corpse of Yukimara.
"Yukimara!" Shippo yelled in disbelief.
"Indeed, it is Yukimara," Miroku agreed with a look of shock on his face.
After a quick glance around the room Alice narrowed her eyes in frustration while saying in a cold and frustrated tone, "Looks like Naraku's nowhere to be found."
"What? Naraku's not here?" Inuyasha growled in anger.
Yukimara, as if on signal, then began walking slowly towards the group as Sango warned, "Be careful everyone, here he comes."
"There's a demonic aura coming off of Yukimara. Naraku must be using his corpse to control all the others," Miroku pointed out.
"But we can't just attack him, he saved our lives back then," Kagome argued as Inuyasha unsheathed his Tessaiga.
"Exactly, that's why Naraku used him as the source of the spell since he knew that regardless of the fact that Yukimara is a walking dead we wouldn't be able to kill him," Miroku explained angrily.
"Stupid Naraku! Playing tricks and cheating as usual," Shippo growled but this came on deaf ears to Alice who was staring at Yukimara in horror.
If you destroy the corpse the soul is freed Jaken's words came flying back to her as she looked towards Yukimara, who came to a halt facing the group.
"I see, then there's no other option huh?" Alice murmured as she let her bangs cover her eyes, feeling everyone's stare boring into her.
"Alice?" Kagome asked as Alice bit her bottom lip.
I have to do it! If I don't Naraku will win and Yukimara's soul will never be free. Just think of that and nothing else!
After a moment of silence, Alice unsheathed her sword, which glowed with blue fire, granting her a quick, quite gasp from Kagome who stood next to her. Lifting her head to face Yukimara, a few tears formed in Alice's eyes as she raced passed her surprised friends and towards Yukimara, who in turn unsheathed his sword and pointed it challengingly at Alice.
"Alice stop!" "Don't do it!" "Come back!" A chorus of yells from behind her stated but Alice ignored them, determination shining in her eyes.
Easily dodging the sword Yukimara swiped at her, Alice quickly used her sword to fling Yukimara's from his hands. The sword flew and spiraled until sticking in the ground a few feet away.
In a flash Alice pulled back her sword, aiming for Yukimara's stomach. Gasps were heard from behind her but Alice knew it was too late to do anything to stop her as she closed her eyes and pushed forward with all her might. Her sword instantly went through the man's corpse, blood dripping from the end.
A second ticked by, but it felt like an eternity to Alice before she pulled back her sword that was no covered in the man the rescued her's blood. The action caused some specks of blood to appear on Alice's body, but no one spoke in the few short moments of shock that purged through them.
Yukimara then began to fall forward, unable to stand any longer and Alice immediately dropped her sword, grabbed him so he wouldn't fall to the ground, and came to her knees, slowly lowering him onto her lap. Unable to control her tears any longer, Alice buried her face into Yukimara's cold shoulder and cried.
"Yukimara, I'm sorry. I'm so sorry," Alice sobbed as she held his body closer.
Seconds ticked by and in between hiccups Alice could make out the light tap of feet on the floor coming towards her. When she opened her eyes, she noticed Yukimara's body begin to glow with a pure light that engulfed her for a moment.
It's so warm… Alice thought as she looked up to see Yukimara's soul drifted away into nothing.
"Alice?" Shippo asked timidly while Alice let her bangs cover her eyes once more, ashamed to look at any of them.
"I had to do it. If I didn't Naraku would've won and Yukimara's soul would be trapped forever," Alice murmured.
"I see, so if the corpse is destroyed then the soul will be freed," Miroku stated, repeating the exact same word said by Jaken.
Alice nodded as Inuyasha growled, "Damn that Naraku! I'll never forgive him for this!"
"Alice, here," Kagome said as Alice turned to face Kagome who had a wet cloth in her hand. Alice gratefully took it and wiped the blood from her face and the traces of tears from her eyes.
"Thank you Kagome," Alice murmured.
"I've had just about enough of Naraku!" Shippo growled as Alice laid Yukimara's body down on the floor and prayed for his happiness.
Miroku and Kagome joined her for a moment before Alice's blood ran cold at the familiar sound of buzzing that filled the room.
Jerking her head up, Alice spotted a Saimyosho looking directly at her and the rest of the group.
"A Saimyosho!" Sango gasped as Inuyasha added, "Damn, it must've seen the whole thing."
Instantly, rage poured through Alice as she grabbed her sword and ran towards the Saimyosho that was now flying away from the group. Red glazed over Alice's vision as she yelled out, raising her sword to bring down on the bug, but as she was about to reach the bug, the floor beneath her split open.
Not again! Alice gasped as she felt herself fall, but not even a second passed before she felt a strong hand grab her arm, keeping her from plummeting down into the darkness. A quick glance up brought another gasp from Alice as she recognized the golden eyes and purple crescent moon on her rescuer's forehead.
"Sesshomaru…" Alice whispered as he pulled her up to stand beside him. After catching her breath, Alice narrowed her eyes at the sight of the Saimyosho flying away through a hole in the tattered ceiling.
"It looks like it's headed towards Ayame Village," Jaken's voice sounded from behind Alice.
With one last glance at Alice, Sesshomaru walked towards the exit and stated, "If Naraku isn't here than there is no reason for us to stick around. Let's go Jaken."
And with these words said, the two left the room.
"Alice are you okay?" Kagome asked as she walked up to Alice and laid a hand on her shoulder.
"Yeah," Alice replied simply as she flicked her sword and put it back in her kimono's obi, "Let's get going. If Sesshomaru is right, then Naraku should be somewhere near Ayame Village."
Everyone nodded as Alice looked back at Yukimara's body. I'm sorry for what has happened to you Yukimara. I promise we'll avenge your death along with everyone else's. Just wait, we'll bring Naraku down!
And with one last glance back at Yukimara, the group headed onward towards the village known as Ayame.
Done with updating all the chapters! Yay! ^w^
Enter Sesshomaru~ Oooh I loove this guy /huggles/
But what does Alice think of him? Friend, foe, or something more?
Wanna know the next chapter's title? Well here it is:
Retrace: Resolve
Yay for Retrace's xDD And this time I'm taking a slight break from Kagome and moving onto another character
Please read and review~
