Chapter 34: Undisclosed Secrets
Everything was black. No matter where she looked, all Alice could see was the endless sea of nothingness. The only thing that remained was a worn dirt path on which she stood, stretching as far as she could see until it faded away into the distance.
Whether it was the absence anyone or anything, some part of her knew that she was in a dream. Looking lazily from left to right, Alice's eyes filled with worry. I know this is a dream, but where is everything? She thought as she turned right and headed down the worn dirt path.
Unlike her previous dreams, this one felt like a void, empty of all emotions. A sudden light appearing in front of her made Alice quicken her pace to the point that she was practically sprinting towards the warm, welcoming light.
However, once she reached the light it vanished and before Alice could let out a cry of frustration a cloud of mist surrounded her. Gasping in surprise, she whipped around to see a deserted, worn down town.
"Where am I?" Alice murmured as she looked around at the deteriorating houses and her feet began to move on her own around the mysterious town.
Stopping, Alice looked to her left and shuddered at the sight of a massive tomb stone in front of her. Something about it made her feel very uneasy, the whole scene in fact had the same effect on her and now she wanted nothing more than to wake up to see the welcoming sky and faces of her companions.
A sudden pain flashed through Alice as her breath caught in her throat. Something heavy had slammed into her stomach as she stared in disbelief at a dark figure in front of her. Falling almost in slow motion, Alice's mind was in chaos from the pain in her stomach to the dark figure that caught her in its strong arms.
The figure held Alice close so that her head was pressed against its hard chest. The musky scent of the figure ran through Alice's nose as she scrunched it up in disgust. Looking up, she tried to identify the figure but it was still shadowed by some unseen force making the features indistinguishable, even at the close view Alice had.
"Thanks for catching me, but could you let me go?" said Alice as she began to try and wriggle out of the figure's strong grasp, but her efforts were in vain as the figure continued to hold her tight.
"I said let go! Let go of me!" Alice snapped as she thrashed more violently to free herself from the figure, but once again her efforts were to no avail as she remained pressed firmly against the dark figure.
Fine, I warned him. If he won't let me go then I'll have to resort to… Alice's thoughts were cut short as she felt the figure bend over so she could feel its warm breath on her bare shoulder. Suppressing a shudder, Alice tried to turn herself to get away from the figure's breath but when she turned her head around to see what it was up to her eyes widened in fear and confusion.
"What are you…?" Alice gasped as she saw a sharp fang accompanied by another belonging to the figure as it bent down so the sharp fangs were inches above her shoulder.
A fiery bolt of pain seared through Alice's shoulder as she let out a scream of pain as the figure bit down. Instantly Alice thrashed with all her might to get away from the figure but she could do nothing as the fire of pain was soon replaced by a bolt of pure agony as she felt it spread from her shoulder to her entire body, making every cell feel like it was on fire.
Screaming in pain, Alice gave on last attempt to free herself from the figure. Placing her hands on its chest, she pushed with all her might and found herself quite suddenly crashing into the cold dirt floor below. Instantly she curled into a ball, tears streaming steadily down her face as the pain only grew in size.
Faintly she could hear what sounded like laughter, but it was like listening through multiple layers of cotton. Opening one eye to a crack, Alice tried to find where the laughter was coming from but at the sight of her reflection in a broken piece of glass lying near her, her eyes widened is shock. Staring back at her with blood red eyes was herself in the exact same position as she was in now.
No…No! Th-This isn't real! I-I- Alice's mind was in chaos. Between the pain of her shoulder and her reflection, Alice felt her heart pound inside her as fear rose up. The only thing she could do at the moment was scream. Scream in horror and pain as her eyes slammed shut and she held her head.
"Alice…?" spoke a soft yet urgent voice amidst the chaos, "Alice? Alice wake up. Alice… Alice!"
Gasping, Alice's eyes snapped open as she jerked awake, cold sweat running down her forehead. She was greeted by a dusky night sky outlined by the overhanging branches of the trees above her head and the shadowy outline of a figure kneeling next to her.
"Alice? You okay?" a high pitched hushed voice asked her nervously.
Blinking so her eyes could adjust to the dimly lit surroundings, Alice made out the fiery orange hair of Shippo, accompanied by Sango's warm yet slightly worried brown eyes. Fur brushing up against her back alerted her to Kirara on whom she rested slightly upright.
"Where are we?" asked Alice in a raspy voice that hadn't been used in days.
Her side was killing her and she could dully feel a soft pain radiating from her body as she looked down to see the faint remains of scars on her body. Memories came flooding back to her as she remembered the events that took place in Naraku's dark castle: being trapped, saving Rin, fighting Naraku's incarnation, pushing Kagome out of the way, then blank. Frowning, Alice tried to remember what happened next but after pushing Kagome out of the way the memories faded into black.
Taking a breath, Alice proceeded to push herself up from where she lay, only to feel a gentle hand rest on her shoulder and keep her down as Sango instructed, "Easy Alice, your wounds have yet to fully heal. We don't want them to open so just stay where you are. Right now we're on the outskirts of Tsuzumi Village."
"Tsuzumi Village?" Alice repeated, voice laced with confusion, how had they got there?
"Yes, you've been out for about three full days Alice," Shippo explained as his bright green eyes sparkled with relief but still held streaks of worry in their depths.
"I see…" Alice murmured.
The thought of herself being asleep for almost three whole days bothered Alice. She knew her injuries were nothing to overlook but she didn't expect them to be that bad.
Noticing the lack of voices and presences in the area, Alice looked over at Sango and asked, "Where are the others?"
"Miroku and Inuyasha decided to go on ahead of us to see if Densuke, remember that man that let us stay at his house the last time we were here?" Sango paused and waited to see if Alice remembered and once she nodded Sango continued, "Well they went to see if Densuke was still there and if we could spend a day or two with him while you recover. Kagome went with them to see if she could find any bandages since she was running low."
Alice nodded in understanding then settled back into the natural curve of Kirara's body, letting the neko's warmth soothe her scars until she became drowsy once more. While Sango returned to keep watch next to the fire that was built before Alice awoke, Shippo snuggled in next to Alice and quickly fell asleep with one of her arms draped across him.
Minutes passed and still there was no sign of the trio. Alice had tried to stay awake to see them when they arrived but her eyelids seemed to be weighed down by bricks as her whole body became numb in relaxation.
A sudden snap of a branch and rustle in the bushes nearby however, caused all of Alice's weariness to evaporate as her body suddenly stiffened, causing Shippo to open his sleepy, teal eyes in question to what was going on. Sango had risen from where she sat near the fire, Hirakotsu ready for any sign of suspicious activity from where the noise was heard.
The noise grew louder and louder until Alice could make out three shadowed figures approaching the camp. She attempted to get up to help Sango but a sharp pain exploded from her shoulder as she proceeded to stand, causing her to slump back down on her knees while holding onto the frightened kitsune in her arms.
"Alice stay where you are! I can handle things here," Sango ordered with her sharp brown eyes still pinned in the direction of the figures.
"But-" Alice started before Kirara swooped under her and with a startled yelp Alice found herself on top of the neko who had made a quick ascent and was now hovering a good 20 feet above the area.
The figures seemed oblivious to what was occurring and continued closer to the tense camp site. Just as Sango was about to give a warning throw at the opposing group, the fire dimly lit up the features of the head figure.
Bright red robes and gleaming white hair greeted Sango and the other to the return of Inuyasha and Miroku and Kagome who stood behind the hanyou with questioning looks as Inuyasha looked around the area saying, "Hmm? What is it?"
Letting out a relieved yet semi frustrated sigh, Sango lowered her Hirakotsu and shook her head, "It's nothing, did you guys find Densuke or are we staying here for the night?"
"We found him, it took a while because all the villagers were preparing for a festival but we somehow managed to find him through the crowd and asked him and he agreed to let us stay," Kagome explained.
"That's great, but what's this festival that you mentioned? I didn't think there'd be any kind of festival until Hatsuyuki (A/N: First fall of snow)," questioned Sango with a tilt of her head.
"Same here, but apparently this festival is only celebrated here in Tsuzumi," Miroku answered, "It's called Dorama. The whole village takes part in a sort of competition involving drums."
"We were thinking of joining in since another group had to drop out to tend to something important. Sound okay to you Sango?" Kagome questioned, the excitement shinning in her eyes clearly visible from where Alice and Kirara hovered unnoticed above the group.
"Yeah but-" Sango started.
"Keh, we're only staying as long as Alice remains asleep. If she happens to wake up before this festival we'll be leaving," Inuyasha interrupted with a look to where Alice had woken up moments ago, only to find her absence.
"Alice!" Kagome gasped as the three noticed for the first time since they had returned that Alice wasn't where they had left her.
"Where could she have gone? And without Sango noticing?" Miroku pondered while scanning the area.
"That baka probably wandered off somewhere thinking she'd be able to handle herself when she clearly ca-" Inuyasha was cut off by a sudden yelp in surprise, quickly followed by Shippo hitting him square in the face, knocking him down in the process.
"What was that Inuyasha? Cause I'm pretty sure I can kick your butt even in the state I'm in," Alice growled as everyone looked up at her, Sango with a sigh, Miroku and Kagome with surprise while both Inuyasha and Shippo we're recovering from the impact.
As Kirara descended from where she and Alice hovered, Inuyasha got up and growled back, "Why you-" while raising his fist threateningly.
"Inuyasha! Sit!" Kagome commanded and instantly the hanyou fell face first into the leafy ground as Kagome scolded, "Inuyasha! Don't go and make Alice's injuries worse! I just finished bandaging them up only a few hours ago and I'm not going to let that effort go to waste."
Lifting his leaf strewn head from the ground Inuyasha moaned, "Kagome, why you…"
"Anyway," Alice continued as Kirara landed, paying little attention to the recovering hanyou beside her, "I think this Dorama festival thing sounds great. It'll give everyone a break from traveling and while you guys are drumming away I can get to work on finding out possible places to where Naraku escaped to."
"Great idea Alice," Kagome answered happily as Miroku helped Inuyasha off the ground and onto his own two feet, "Though it stinks that there isn't enough room on the team for you to join in."
Alice chuckled, "Come now Kagome, I know I have recovered enough to be awake and moving but I doubt that I have recovered enough to handle all that drumming."
"Yes, and Alice won't be totally left to do nothing. She'll be looking for signs of Naraku as well, so that should keep her busy enough without pushing herself too hard," Miroku added while Alice nodded in agreement.
"And she'll have Kirara with her too," Sango put in with a nod towards the neko.
"Of course, and maybe if I finish early we can come and enjoy the festival with you all," Alice stated warmly while stroking the head of Kirara lovingly.
"That would be great!" Kagome smiled happily, her brown eyes shining with warmth and happiness.
"Yes, it would be a pleasure to enjoy the festival together," Sango agreed, "But how about we start heading towards Densuke's? Together or not, no one is going to be very happy if we don't get at least some sleep tonight."
With that, everyone laughed and began the walk towards Tsuzumi Village and Densuke's house and while the others walked in front of her, Alice felt some warmth reach her heart which had been chilled by her dreams and the memories from before.
Looking up at the midnight sky, her smile faded away as she thought Where could Naraku have escaped to? What is he planning next? And Utsugi, why was she helping me back there? Is she trying to atone for trying to kill me?
With an exhausted sigh Alice shook her head. Kirara curiously looked back at Alice with her warm ruby eyes and nuzzled one of her legs. Alice bent down to pat Kirara on the head while murmuring, "I don't know Kirara. Everything seems to have gotten that much more confusing. There are just too many secrets lying around and no answers to any of them."
/./././././•/././././././
"Ready to head on out Kirara?" Alice asked the neko from where she sat in Densuke's house.
They had arrived as planned at the man's house and were unsurprisingly surprised to find the village lit up with many torches and decorations, matching the multicolored leaves that covered the ground. Only a few moments ago, the group along with Densuke had headed out to the town's central plaza to start the main event, the drumming competition, leaving Kirara and Alice to finish their meals that Kagome had prepared in peace.
Kirara gave a little shake of her fur and then transformed before walking over to Alice and helping her onto her back. Once atop Kirara, Alice let the neko take her outside and up into the fresh mountain air, breathing it in with a relaxed yet determined sigh.
"Let's go," Alice stated and Kirara began to fly north towards the towering peaks, laced with patches of white among their colorful tops.
Feeling the cold, crisp air sent a chill through Alice and she suddenly wished that she was back in the clothes she had borrowed from Utsugi.
The clothes she wore now were that of a light, almost white, blue kimono with and intricate design flowing down the right side. The sleeves came to just above her hands, hiding them under the fabric, but her shoulders were bare seeing as the kimono abruptly stopped at the shoulders, leaving the sleeves to start in the middle of her upper arm. Finally, each sleeves, as well as her kimono, were adorned with a few strands deeper blue ribbons that wove elegantly around her.
Covering her frigid shoulders from the wind, Alice shivered at the sight of the first of many destinations she and Kirara would go to that day. Landing gracefully, Kirara proceeded to continue on with Alice on her back but Alice halted her with a light tug of the neko's scruff.
"Hold on Kirara, you don't have to go carrying me anywhere while I can just as plainly walk with you," Alice said as she began to get off Kirara, who gave a worried yet stern growl.
"Oh come on, I'll be fine. And if I need to rest I'll tell you," Alice replied stubbornly as she set her two feet on the ground.
Instantly she felt the stinging sensation from the night before jolt up her legs and throughout her body, making her wince. Kirara immediately proceeded to get Alice back up on her back but Alice refused, keeping Kirara back with a strong, determined hand.
"You don't understand, I must do this," Alice hissed in pain, her blue eyes narrowed in pain, "If I don't that would mean he won and I won't lose, not to trash like him."
Kirara let out a worried whimper but stayed back as Alice took a deep breath and shakily started forwards. He's wrong, they care… They care! I'm not just with them as a tool to find Naraku and fight him! I won't let him deceive me like Utsugi! Alice shouted in her mind as her legs began to numb to the pain.
But with each bolt that passed through this barrier the words came back. Back with the feeling of utter confusion and despair. Back to that dark, lonely, miserable room. Back to staring into those crimson eyes that left her paralyzed and unable to say a word, even though her friends were among her.
Damn him! Alice clenched her fists so that her nails dug into the skin of her palm, coming close to drawing blood. Ever since that day she couldn't shake off the feeling that he was right. She had tried to push it away by telling herself that her friends enjoyed her company and were worried about her, but then came that dark feeling that they were only worried because she was of some use to them and once that purpose was all used up she would be left for dead.
Her feet meeting the hard, echoing floor of a snow bordered cave interrupted her thoughts as she came to a halt in front of the entrance. With an encouraging nudge from Kirara, Alice proceeded further into the cave to talk to an old man that might hold the answers to some of her many questions.
"Hey there old man, how's the digging coming along?" Alice greeted the elderly man in front of her who immediately whipped around, shovel raised threateningly.
Kirara let out a warning growl, fur bristling with confusion and aggression. Alice merely stopped the shovel from proceeding any further with one swift movement of her hand while the other was held up to tell Kirara to stay back.
"Trying to steal my gold are you?" the old man yelled, giving the two newcomers suspicious glares.
"Of course not, you remember me don't you old man?" Alice replied calmly as she let go of the shovel.
The old man gave her a questioning look before recognition shinned in his old gray eyes, "Oh! It's you! I'm terribly sorry, old habits really," the elder chuckled, "So did you manage to find that boy, Kohaku was it?"
At the mention of Kohaku's name, Kirara perked her ears up and listened more intently while Alice sighed, a pleasant memory tainted with a not so happy ending reforming in her mind, "Yes, though he is not with me now, and that's why I've come to see you. Have you seen that boy anywhere, or perhaps heard of him in some village?"
"Well you've got a mighty hard friend to keep track of young lady," the elder smiled before continuing on more serious, "But to answer your question, no I have not seen this boy around, nor have I heard of his whereabouts."
"Shame, it would've helped me greatly to know where he might possibly be," Alice murmured in a defeated tone, "Before I leave you to your work can you answer one more question of mine? You've lived here in this world for a while now and rumor has it that you've traveled quite a bit in your youth, am I correct?"
"Absolutely young miss, I traveled all over this land when I was your age! Seeing you now reminds me of those days, where weariness never bothered your body and nothing could ever bring you down," the man trailed off, appearing to be lost in thought.
Alice softly narrowed her eyes with a slight smile that fooled the man into thinking she was agreeing with him but how she wished her life could've been as carefree as this man's past, "Great, then with all those places in your mind can you answer this question? If you wanted to be in a place where no one could find you, where would you go?"
"Hmm, tough question there. Where no one would discover me… I don't know young lady but if I were to hide somewhere it would be a place that no one would want to go to. It would be obvious but that's what would also keep me hidden seeing as the people trying to find me wouldn't think of looking there because it's so obvious. It would be in plain sight but also hidden by the person's thoughts."
"I see… Well I'll let you get back to your work. Good day old man," Alice called over her shoulder as she bowed respectfully and turned towards the exit.
Somewhere obvious yet not; a place no one would want to venture to. The old man's onto something I'll give him that, but this gets me no closer to finding Naraku than where I was before. Alice frowned; it was going to be a long day.
/./././././•/././././././
"Alice over here!" Kagome called as Alice turned to watch Kagome along with the others enter Densuke's house and run up to her gleefully.
"Alice, Alice! Look we won! We won!" Shippo cheered, holding up a small bag.
"Oh that's great Shippo," Alice praised as she scooped the young kitsune up into her lap, "What did you win?"
Shippo instantly waved a small bag in front of Alice and from within she could hear the high pitched jangle of many coins inside, "We got some money and we even got this cool medicine that is only made here in Tsuzumi. Sango says it's a really rare and good medicine that can heal almost any wound perfectly in a day."
"Wow, that's amazing! Congratulations on winning," Alice smiled.
"Thank you. So did you have any luck on your end?" Kagome asked as she, as well as the others settled in beside her.
Alice shook her head, "Unfortunately it seems as if Naraku just vanished off the face of the earth. No one I've spoken to has any information or clues to his whereabouts. We've got nothing," Alice finished, clenching her fist with a frustrated glare away from everyone.
"Hmm, this is unfortunate. I'd thought for sure someone here would know something of some use to us here. But alas I guess we have no choice but to continue on to Lady Kaede's village," Miroku sighed.
"Yeah, we'll it's still light out so let's get a move on," Inuyasha instructed as he stood up.
"Yes, if we leave now we should make it to Kaede's village by sundown," Sango agreed as the rest stood up and began to get ready to leave.
Kirara transformed and looking questioningly at Alice to see if she wanted to ride on her back but Alice remained where she was, looking down at the ground, mind lost in thought. We have to find Naraku so he doesn't get the upper hand again. But I guess everyone is right, if anyone would know what to do it'd be Kaede Alice thought as she stood up.
"Alice? You should ride Kirara it-" Kagome started.
"No, I'm fine, I will walk," Alice interrupted, causing everyone's attention to gather towards herself.
"What? Baka don't be stupid. You know you have to take it easy," Inuyasha objected.
"I will walk," Alice repeated with more force, and before anyone could say anything or stop her she grabbed her sword, placed it within her blue obi's loop, and headed out the door towards Kaede's Village.
Sorry for the endless wait! Dx
I've had this writing block for two months now and I've tried to get out of it but it ish hard TuT"
But onward to the chapter, this one is mainly focused on Alice's anxieties over what happened in Chapter 32 and all that she has experienced/heard in Naraku's castle. The title Undisclosed Secrets was chosen because as Alice says more and more secrets are popping up, such as whether Naraku was right, what Utsugi's motives are, what the dream was about, and where exactly Naraku might be hiding. (I love how I'm finally fitting the title in with it all :DD)
And a big Hoopla to MoonDancer89 for all those wonderful reviews which I somehow missed until just recently O.o""
Thank you! ;D
I hope to get the next chapter out within this month but thank you too all those who've stayed with me until now ^-^
Next up: Alice and the others hear some valuable information from an unexpected source and head out to find out if this information holds any answers to their questions. But Alice's worries still remain and are getting worse by the minute as she soon will have to make a decision that could affect the outcome of this struggle against good and evil.
Please read and review~
