CHAPTER FORTY

Naraku

I growled, disembodied limbs drifting about me. How was I supposed to form myself together again without any proper demons? It seemed as though history was repeating itself all over again.

The deformed jewel that had brought me back to health drifted before my eyes. It steadily pulsated, a hazy, deep purple coursing out of it. It was audible, too. A quiet heartbeat in the musty room of silence. Someone had given this to me. It was counterfeit, yes. But still, it had revived me. Hardly, but it was keeping me alive. I knew right away it was not forged from Midoriko's soul. However, I could not complain.

Of course, my incarnations, all who had formed after I did, were also returned. The piles of muck lay scattered about the floor, squishing, scrunching, attempting to form. The purple, vein-filled clumps of material were emitting smoky clouds of miasma every moment. However, it seemed to me that Kagura would be birthed first, seeing as the feint outline of a scar could now be seen scrawled within the sludge. Nevertheless, as expected, all of the people that had once originally formed from my body were in various stages of redevelopment.

Kagura's body was forming rather quickly. Already, small tendrils of mud were beginning to branch away from the original puddle. I could only guess that these be her limbs. Every morsel in my body wanted to stomp on it. Spit on her inability to destroy Inuyasha and his pitiful team. Disregard her wishes for freedom. But I didn't. She would be useful in due time.

I smirked at this image, as the skin from my floating arm overlapped itself to attach to my shoulder. It flexed for a bit, melding the two together. Finally, I had proper use of it. With another, louder heartbeat from the jewel, my other appendages began to drift towards me. This was it. I would be a true form again.

I could feel the red, oxygen-exposed veins forming, the flesh molding like clay to fit my body.

Eventually, I was a complete form. Exposed, but complete.

I examined my pale skin, running my hand along the groves between the muscles. Cold, the blood just beginning to pump through it. Looking at myself through a broken piece of glass in the corner, my reflection showed my true appearance. Curly, black locks hung just past my hips, mussy and frizzed. Red eyes glared back at me, my large hand rubbing my forearm. My body was lean and thin, as usual, no scars from previous battles evident. But sure enough, when I turned slightly, the deep wrinkles of an old, dated scar appeared. The legs of a disgusting spider. The evidence of a disgusting mortal existing before me.

I shook the thoughts out of my mind, shifting to gaze at the piles of muck loitering about on the ground.

"Oh...?" I mused quietly, bending down. Tucked neatly within the walls of purple mud, was a beating, fist-sized red object. Small, violet veins embroidered its surface as it lit. I recognized it instantly. Kagura's heart.

I grazed my fingertips over its slimy exterior, feeling its blood pump beneath its thick skin. All those memories were flooding back. I remembered the satisfied feeling without further thought, of squeezing this particular object to a pulp. Her dismayed expression as she plummeted to her death. To her dying wish. My sadistic smile broadened. I remember that feeling of triumph. Of a job well done.

I had killed that traitor.

How unfortunate, though. She would likely do it all again if she lived another time.

I pressed my fingers into the soft flesh more, feeling its warm fluids seep around them. Should I? Should I eliminate the threat beforehand? I pondered a conclusion for mere moments before I again, reached the same one as earlier.

No.

This new enemy, as far as I'm concerned, could be a drastic threat if she learned correctly. Underlying power was definitely evident, in addition to a past connection to Sesshomaru. And though her appearance...though it showed me no prowess, one glimpse in that old, dusty white mirror proved me otherwise.

Kanna's mirror. The pieces were fusing together yet again, revealing incidents of the past. While I was gone, and if requested, earlier. Just gazing into her large eyes, and I could unveil her past. Every weakness, every sore spot- any emotion felt. I remember watching her life through, watching every misfortune several times. And though she felt nothing now for that daiyokai, she did in the past. Just out of curiosity, I wonder if I could snap any heart strings.

At that pondering, I felt a smile play at my lips. Just as soon, though, when a voice erupted through the quiet, another frown was replacing my grin.

"What is this?!" cried a deep, feminine voice. Turning my gaze back to the sludge piles, a fair-skinned woman lay hunched over, red eyes madly searching her arms. Over her shoulder blades, a scratchy etch of spider legs could be seen.

"Now Kagura," I murmured quietly, slipping my arm through the arm of a kimono that was left for me. "Do you really suppose you didn't want to return to this world?" I repressed an aggravated groan that was threatening to surface from my throat. I watched the crimson orbs turn to fire as they reached mine.

"Naraku...how are we alive again?!" she shouted, nails digging into the hollow wood of the floor. Her black, disheveled hair fell in strands around her face, falling over her lean shoulders and down to her waist. She looked ready to jump at me, but stopped abruptly at the sight of her heart within my hands. I glanced at it.

"I'd watch yourself. We don't want another...incident like the one before, do we?" I rolled the beating ball of thick skin around a bit in my palm, feeling its warmth pulse through my hand. Just one squeeze, and I could bust it into several bloody pieces. Kagura knew this all to well; and watching her muscles freeze, eyes bulging, I directed a mischievous gaze at her through my coal-black bangs. "I suppose though, if you still want freedom, we could negotiate a fair price."

I saw her eyes shift slowly between her heart, and my eyes. She knew the past deceit. She remembered that awful pain she had felt before as I had shot three hard, spiked tentacles straight through her and around her precious, precious heart. Which now once again, lay victim within my hand.

I gripped the convulsing organ once again as a warning of what she could face again. I witnessed in bliss as she doubled over, letting out wounded twisted cries of agony. I knew I had her attention.

However much she disbelieved my offer, I for one, knew that I was completely serious. For I had a new target. I could twist that girl's actions around to bite her in the gut. I could twist her around, make her betray the trust she just had begun to receive. I could destroy her before she even had the chance to attack me in my weak state. I just needed time.

"W-what do you want?" cried the antagonized minion before me. I could see her muscles cringing in utter pain as I tightened my hold. And then I let it go. I let it go, watching her astonishment unfold, as she stared frightened, but curious at the floor.

"I need you to kidnap someone, Kagura. And bring her back to me."