Chapter 30: Bound by Blood

Once again she was back at that dreadful castle, but this time Alice was determined to make it her last visit. The sun had gone down and the castle was even darker than before, the moon hidden by the dark clouds that hovered in the sky. Kagura had led her back to Utsugi's room with orders to stay in the room until Naraku called for her. And so the girl sat next to the window, staring up at the waning moon behind the clouds. Regret and anger tore at her as she realized that she was the reason why Rin was somewhere in the castle by herself.

Ugh! I'm such an idiot! Why'd I even think of letting her stay by herself when I knew Naraku was after her? How much stupider can I get? Alice clenched her fist before glaring down at the ground. I should've never listened to Naraku and stayed with Sesshomaru or done at least something to stop him…

Her rage was soon replaced by a chill of fear and sorrow. Who am I kidding? There was no way to save Rin from getting taken. I doomed her the moment we met and now I'm trying to save her when I can barely keep the fact that I'm not Utsugi from Naraku. Maybe I'm in over my head this time around after all.

Sighing, Alice turned her attention to the doorway, hoping yet not hoping that Kagura would show up so she didn't have to stay in the room. But a last, the wind sorceress had yet to show and the night was already upon the girl.

Slowly getting up, the Shikigami user made her way to the futon in the corner of the room and sat down on it. Grabbing the porcelain brush from before, Alice combed her hair in an attempt to calm herself down. Unfortunately, it had little effect as she fought to remain calm.

What if Naraku finds out I'm not Utsugi while I'm asleep? What if Rin gets hurt and I don't come to help her in time? she thought before a growl of her stomach woke her from her thoughts. She pulled out the boar's meat she collected from before sighed.

"So much for my luck," Alice grumbled as she threw the raw meat out the window and laid down on the futon.

For the first few minutes she just laid there, arms stretched out wide on the bed as she stared at the ceiling. Rolling over so her back faced the door, Alice closed her eyes in an attempt to get some rest, pushing down the thoughts that entered her mind.

Almost instantly she found herself in a dream world where everything was sunny and bright. Smiling, she walked over to a sakura tree and marveled at its beauty. Breathing in its sweet aroma soothed her very soul as the girl closed her eyes in serenity. Suddenly, the aroma was gone and Alice's eyes snapped open to see that she was in a different part of the forest, but something didn't seem quite right. Surprise glittered in her blue eyes as she looked down to see her cobalt sword in her right hand.

"How did…?" she started before gasping and dropping the sword as if it were on fire.

Alice held her hands close to her chest as she stared at the sword in horror. A stream of red was trickling down the blade of the sword into a puddle of scarlet liquid. Shakily, she brought her hands to her face before recoiling at their damp touch. Her face visibly paled at the sight of her own bloodstained hands as the girl fought down a scream of horror.

"This isn't happening! This…This is just a dream Alice, remember? Just wake up and it'll all be gone… Come on you can do it," she told herself in a shaky voice.

But no matter how hard she tried, Alice remained trapped in the dream that had so quickly turned into a nightmare. Panic began to take its hold of her as she found herself struggling to breathe. Taking a step back, the Shikigami user's foot bumped into something soft and she whirled around.

This time a scream left Alice's mouth as she stared in horror at Inuyasha's bloodstained body lying before her.

"In-Inuyasha…No…Thi-This can't be happening!" Alice whispered as she fell to her knees, eyes locked onto the wound in the hanyou's chest.

Grabbing her head, Alice shut her eyes and felt warm tears wash down her face. She heard voices all around her say how she murdered Inuyasha. That it was all her fault and she betrayed her friends.

"Please…Make it stop… Just… STOP!" she screamed out wishing away all the voices in a flash.

Alice jerked awake as she grabbed her chest and shot up from where she lay on the futon. Eyes wide in horror, sweat dripped down her forehead as her breaths came in short gasps. Gulping and sitting up straighter, the girl moved her hand to her temple and tried to calm herself down. After a while her efforts were rewarded as she felt her heart slow down and her shaky hands come to a still.

"That's it! No way am I staying here another night, I can't take it!" she told herself as she got up from the futon and straightened her rumpled clothes.

Looking over at the window, Alice saw the first streaks of dawn light up the sky, giving her some hope in this otherwise hopeless situation. Inuyasha and the others will come and find me, I know it. But for now I need to find Rin and do what I can to escape she thought as she walked to the door before hesitating momentarily.

"What am I doing? Who cares what Naraku says I need to find Rin," Alice said aloud as she slid open the door and walked down the hall.

Looking around, she realized that walking through the castle alone wasn't such a good idea, mainly due to the fact she had no clue where she was going. Sighing, Alice walked into the room on her left and saw that it was empty so she turned to leave when something caught her eye.

"Huh? What's that?" the girl murmured as she walked closer to the object.

It's some sort of cocoon she thought as she neared the pinkish purple glowing sphere that came to a height a little taller than her. Suddenly, the cocoon shifted towards Alice as she fought to keep a squeal of surprise and shock from spilling out of her mouth at the sudden action. A growl of some sort followed the movement and alerted her to the presence inside the web. Something's inside of it, but what? she thought as she cautiously looked at the egg.

"It's Naraku's new incarnation," a monotonous tone sounded from behind Alice as she turned to see a white child holding a mirror before her.

Settling down her shock Alice asked the girl, "Yeah? How do you…Well, who are you?"

"Kanna," the girl replied emotionlessly.

"I see," Alice murmured as she looked quizzically at the little girl's soulless black eyes.

I wonder what she's doing here… She's not human but she doesn't appear to be a demon either… Just what is this girl who calls herself Kanna? she thought before her attention was drawn to the mirror in Kanna's small delicate hands.

A mirror? Why would she keep something like that? There's something about it… Like the mirror is pulling me towards it as I look at it the girl observed as she stared at her reflection in the mirror before shaking her head and looking at the white child.

"It will be born very soon," Kanna explained softly.

Born? That thing inside of the cocoon? Alice thought as she looked at the mass of webs over her shoulder.

"It's inevitable, no one can stop it from happening," Kanna continued.

Things just can't be simple around here can they? Alice sighed. But one thing's for sure, I'm getting out of here now, no way am I staying here for even a second longer with this… this, whatever it is, and this creepy kid.

Not even blinking or showing an emotion, Kanna turned and left the room as if being called to go somewhere by an unheard voice. Alice just stared as the little girl departed before letting out a sigh of relief to see her go away.

"Now let's find Rin and get the heck out of here," she told herself as she walked out the door only to come to a grinding halt as she met her reflection.

"Utsugi!" Alice gasped as she took a step back in surprise, "What are you doing here?"

Mentally slapping herself for asking such a stupid question, Alice narrowed her eyes as Utsugi pointed out, "When you stand like that and wear my clothes you really do look like me…"

"Yeah, well, okay. What's your point?" Alice asked warily.

"Nothing but an observation," her reflection replied monotonously.

Sighing at her emotionless tone the girl looked up and muttered, "Wow you sure seem happy to see me again… Why are you even after me anyway? Is there some kind of reason or do you just simply hate me?"

She merely stared at her in silence as the girl waited for the woman to reply. Biting down on her lower lip, Alice felt annoyance bubble up inside her as Utsugi ignored her question. But realization hit her hard as her eyes widened in anger.

"You…You're the reason why I'm stuck here aren't you?" Alice accused with venom in her voice, "Well then you'd better send me back right this instant!"

Narrowing her eyes in the first sign of emotion Alice had ever seen, Utsugi murmured, "If you can prove yourself to me than I will."

"Fine, this should be interesting," Alice replied darkly as her hands became a lit with blue Shikigami.

"Indeed," Utsugi agreed as her hands glowed with red Shikigami.

Instantly the two powers clashed together as Alice and Utsugi charged towards each other. Both swiped at each other, coming dangerously close to hitting the other but never making contact with anything except for the walls and floor which were torn away at the first touch of the Shikigami.

Alice swung and missed her target by mere inches as Utsugi called out, "What was that? There was hardly any focus in that swing."

"Shut up! You're not doing any better," Alice snarled as she dodged Utsugi's own swing and tried to kick her feet from out under her.

The two tumbled over each other and jumped around the wide hallway, destroying everything in their path. Holes were visible everywhere in the floor, wall and even roof as the two were intently focused on their battle.

"You think you can stop him? Naraku?" Utsugi asked as she blocked Alice's attack and swung.

"Of course! Naraku stands no match to me!" Alice retorted, ducking to avoid her hand and retaliating.

"Fool, you're far too weak to face him on your own. You can't even protect your own friends and companions, let alone yourself. You'd only get yourself killed if you fought Naraku on your own," Utsugi replied earning herself a deadly glare from Alice.

"You…You just…SHUT UP!" Alice screamed as she felt her vision turn red and her Shikigami flare out around her.

Fear shot through Utsugi's eyes for a moment as Alice's Shikigami swept over her. In a useless attempt to protect herself, the reflection held her arms up but she was soon overpowered and thrown roughly to the opposite wall. Through all of this, Alice felt her rage control her body as she walked over to Utsugi and glared down at her.

"I should kill you right here and now but you're the only way for me to get back. Consider yourself lucky then," she said darkly as she watched the light from Utsugi's eyes die out as she slumped to the floor in defeat.

Calming down a bit, Alice looked at the destruction made in the dark halls. What a mess… I guess I should go and get Rin and leave. There's no way Naraku didn't hear all of this and I'm certain he's on his way she thought as she glanced down once more at Utsugi, narrowing her eyes in contempt, the red hue still slightly present in her gaze.

"What a surprise, it seems we have a guest," Naraku's voice sounded behind Alice, causing a wave of horror to rush over her as she spun around to see the dark hanyou and Kagura before her.

"Naraku…" Alice narrowed her eyes as her hands once again became a lit with a blue light.

Memories of what Utsugi had told her made her vision glaze over red once more as she charged towards Naraku. I'll show her that I can too beat him by myself Alice thought as she pulled her hand back in preparation for the attack.

But when she was mere feet away from her target, a blinding pain shot up Alice's body causing her to gasp and come to an abrupt stop. The force was so sudden and intense that her Shikigami was blown away from her hands and she grabbed her arms, eyes wide with pain and confusion.

"What the…?" the girl started as she looked down at her feet to see that she was standing in a purple circle that had mysteriously appeared around her the moment she stepped in the middle of it.

"You didn't think I had actually fallen for your act did you Alice?" Naraku sneered as the named narrowed her eyes and bit down on her lower lip.

"I knew from the start that you weren't Utsugi. But your help with capturing that little girl was very much appreciated," Naraku finished with a smirk that sent a wave of rage through Alice.

"Then why…?" she began.

"Those who rush events face a greater chance at failure dear Alice," Naraku interrupted, "I knew that if I waited and took the time to set some traps you would easily get caught when you attempted to escape."

"Why you…" Alice spat angrily, her Shikigami returning with force at her hands as her pain was forgotten, "Die Naraku!"

"Hmph," Naraku merely narrowed his eyes, not even flinching, as her hand flashed towards him with considerable force behind it.

Suddenly an unseen force slammed down on the Shikigami user, making her collapse to her knees and let out a scream of pain as the force seared her skin. The wave, unlike before, didn't die down and continued to pummel Alice with invisible fire.

It was all she could do to struggle to bring her head up shakily to glare at Naraku with hatred showing in her stained eyes. When her eyes met his, Alice saw Naraku's eyes widen a fraction of an inch and saw what appeared to be a small, quick flash of surprise go through them but it was so swift and sudden that she just assumed the pain was getting to her.

A smirk lit Naraku's face as he looked down at Alice and chuckled, "Indeed you are strong but I wonder…Just how long will you last?"

Unable to reply because the agony of the ceaseless attack claimed her voice, Alice narrowed her eyes one last time in hatred at Naraku before letting her head hang down while her shaky arms fought to keep her up. Closing her eyes, she tried her best to endure the attack as long as she could, not wanting him to have the satisfaction of seeing her fall at his feet.

However, though her will was strong, her body was only human and her arms soon gave out in exhaustion, sending her crashing into the cold, wooden floor. Black dots clouded Alice's vision as she fought to stay awake but her body went numb, betraying her.

Slowly she was swallowed by the blackness but not before hearing Naraku's evil laugh saying, "Sweet dreams Alice."

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

A moan escaped from Alice's lips as she slowly moved into consciousness. From behind, she felt the rough bristling rope that bound her hands together and the unrelenting wooden beam brush up against her back roughly. A sigh was released as she realized her encounter with Naraku was no dream.

Why? Why can't it ever be just a dream? Alice thought as she attempted to get in a more comfortable position until she was stopped by a sudden pain that raged through her entire body.

After a gasp of pain that caused her eyes to snap open wide, she bit down on her bottom lip as tears threatened to spill over. Regaining herself after a few moments, she looked down to examine the feat of her injuries. All along her pale legs, which were now visible due to her hakama being torn - due to Naraku's brutal attack she presumed - were terrible burn scars. Tracing her eyes up to her shoulder, Alice found the same burns trailing all over her body, though they seemed more sever on her left side than right.

What was that? Alice thought as she leaned her head back to rest against the post. How did Naraku do that? I thought I was immune to his miasma but then why are these scars here? she thought with a sigh. More importantly how am I going to get out of this one?

"Awake now are we?" a voice greeted Alice as she narrowed her eyes as the last person she wanted to see stepped into the room with his usual purple and black attire.

In a smooth motion Naraku walked over to where the girl was and looked down on her with his crimson eyes while Alice spat, "Naraku, why is kami's sake did you tie me to this poll? Don't tell me that this huge castle of yours doesn't have a single dungeon in it."

"Of course it does, but we both know how long you'd actually stay put in a cell," he replied with a smirk on his face.

"So you thought that tying me up would restrain me longer?" she inquired with a raised eyebrow.

"It was the better of the two options since you'll have a significantly harder time getting out tied up here than in a flimsy cell," Naraku answered simply.

Alice merely huffed and averted her gaze from the man, which was no simple task seeing that she could only turn her head in a limited amount of directions, no thanks to the wooden beam keeping her immobile.

Naraku chuckled at this and went on a knee to lower himself to her height, "I must say that you put up quite a fight back there. No surprise to me since you obviously inherited Utsugi's and your other descendant's power. Really Alice, you should be thanking Utsugi for your powers not fighting her."

"Huh?" the girl questioned looking at Naraku from the corner of her eyes, "What do you mean? Utsugi isn't my ancestor, she can't be."

"My, my Alice, and I thought you'd be smart enough to figure it out by now," the dark hanyou mocked as she glared at him, "Really now, hasn't it ever occurred to you how similar the two of you are?"

"Shut up! Don't compare me to her. We are nothing alike," Alice objected in a venomous tone, though a part of her knew his words rang true.

"Such harsh words coming from you, do you really hate your own ancestor that much?" Naraku stated while her eyes widened in disbelief.

"What do you mean…?" Alice started as she felt Naraku's cold hand grab her chin, directing her gaze towards his.

"Simple, it's just like I said," he smirked before leaning his head closer to Alice's, who closed her eyes as his warm breath down her neck sent chills up her spine, "Utsugi is your ancestor and you're her descendant. You're bound by blood Alice."

Alice's eye snapped open as Naraku let go of her and stood up, laughing at her shock and realization.

"No…It can't be…You're lying! I…She…" she fumbled for words as her mind processed that Utsugi really was her ancestor.

"Don't try to deny the truth Alice. The two of you are related and nothing can change that. You cannot kill her simply due to the fact that if she's gone then you'll cease to exist," Naraku sneered as he grinned triumphantly down at Alice.

Biting down on her bottom lip Alice glared up defiantly at him, "Don't think you've won so easily just because you think I can't kill her. Besides, Inuyasha and the others will be here any moment now so you'd best be ready."

"Hmph, I don't need to bother myself with worrying about that pitiful hanyou. Though it surprises me that you think Inuyasha and his companions actually care about you that much," Naraku stated, the grin disappearing from his face.

"Of course they care about me we're…" Alice started.

"Friends? Come now Alice do you honestly believe that?" Naraku interrupted.

"Why wouldn't I? We're a team so everyone looks out for one another, though I guess you wouldn't know what it's like," she countered.

"Well if your bond is so close then tell me, why is it that they couldn't tell the difference between you and Utsugi?" the dark hanyou shot back with a slight grin.

Alice's eyes widened for a mere second before narrowing as Naraku laughed, "Admit it, your so called 'bond' with Inuyasha and his companions is nothing more than an illusion."

"Shut up! I know the others can tell the difference between us! They're not blind to the truth. So do us both a favor and Leave me alone!" the girl snapped as she glared up at him with all the hatred she could muster in her gaze.

"As you wish my dear, but the question is what about yourself? Are you blind to the truth that's in front of your very eyes?" Naraku questioned Alice as he turned and departed from the room.

Once gone, the girl let her head hang in defeat as a lone tear streamed down her cheek. All the information she learned in the short time Naraku had visited her was burning through her mind.

Utsugi's my ancestor? Then why is she trying to kill me? Alice thought with a sigh. So much for family bond… You'd think she'd be grateful to meet her great great great grandchild but instead she had to go and make things a whole lot more complicated.

Looking up, Alice saw that the room had darkened signaling to her that the sun had set and the moon now reigned over the sky. Realizing that she was going to have to stay yet another night in the ominous castle but this time tied up, she sighed and tried in vain to move to a comfortable position. But with her hands were bound together behind her and the pain that shot through her body every time she flinched, the task seemed to be impossible.

Finally the Shikigami user ceased her efforts and began working on untying her hands, knowing that it was going to be a long night's work since her powers held no use in breaking the rope binding her hands together. Ignoring the pain that flashed up her arms due to the scars, Alice wriggled her hands so her nails could slowly work at untying the rope.

No one had to tell her that is was going to be a long, tiring night. She was already fully aware of the fact as the first trickle of blood swiveled down her wrist before falling to the ground with a quiet drop.


The truth between the bond between Utsugi and Alice is revealed! But the question remains why does Utsugi desire Alice's downfall and just how did she bring Alice to the feudal era? Also what is the meaning behind Alice's nightmare?

Okayo so there might be parts in this chapter that get confusing, so here's an explination~
So whenever you see "red hue" or anything having to do with red and Alice's eyes that signals her eyes changing to a scarlet red color. Why are Alice's eyes changing color? Well you'll find out about that later on ;D
Also, the attack thingy that Naraku used was sorta like where Kagome was trapped in the blood circle by Hitomiko in the Final Act where Alice couldn't escape but instead of being burned by flames she was hit by Naraku's poison, thus giving her the scars.
(Sigh, Alice just because you're immune to the poison doesn't mean you're not affected. (Just thought I'd answer that question for Alice xD)

Next up we see what life was like for Utsugi when she was with Inuyasha's group told from Sango's POV in the next chapter Retrace: Suspicion.

Please read and review~