From the eruption, the pot suddenly rattled, and curious, both the slayer and priestess peered inside, but rather than greeted by a mixture of strangely colored liquid, they instead witnessed a large bubble of green goo rise above the pot. A frightening moan escaped from the deformed face of all the insects and what not crammed together before bursting back into the pot where a foul stench suddenly filled the room.

Everyone had to cover their noses in disgust.

"Now that's better!" Kotake exclaimed delightfully as she stirred the contents of the pot from sticking. "Now all that's left is to wait for Koume to return and we can get down to business!"

After some time waiting, and Inuyasha impatiently tapping his foot while his two female companions took turns stirring the mixture in the cauldron, Koume, the nicer witch, finally returned. In her hand, she held a brown sack, which she carried gingerly before approaching her elder sister.

"It took a while," The old woman breathed before tossing the bag to Kotake who took it hastily.

Before opening the bag, Kotake quickly surveyed the room before her eyes suddenly landed upon small Shippo, who curiously stared back. "Sonny, why don't you go outside for bit?"

Shippo scrunched his face in confusion as Koume pushed him toward the door. "But why?"

"Nothing for your eyes to see," She replied before her younger sister opened the door and ushered him outside before closing it. "Now let's see what we've got!" Unwrapping the lid, Kotake withdrew a normal human sized, decapitated head from the bag before presenting it to her guests in the room, who immediately paled at the sight of it. "Yes, you did a good job my dear sister. Good job, indeed."

Koume brightened at the praise. "Thank you, sister. I must admit, it was no easy feat. If I were a younger Gerudo, then I would have returned some time ago. Fortunately the body wasn't too cold."

As the blood dripped from the hacked off neck, and the familiar eyes of a dead man rolled back into his head, Kagome threw her hands to her mouth and looked away.

"What the hell is that?!"

Serena barely shot him a glance. "Well as far as I can see, it's a severed head, stupid."

Inuyasha shot her a look. "I can see it's a head, but what the hell are they doing with it?" After looking at the head closer, realization crossed his mind. "Wait a minu…is that the bastard thief?"

Miroku and Sango nodded.

Too wrapped up in their own devices to hear the conversation, Kotake chanted a few spells before she quickly dropped a large ladle into the cauldron, bringing the foul smelling liquid to the mouth of the severed head her sister diligently held before her. The liquid was forced into Sakon's mouth, some spilling out from the sides of his lips, and after a few seconds of silence, the mouth opened with an alarming gasp. Koume then released the head, where it floated before them strange like.

"There we have it, sister!" Kotake elatedly exclaimed.

Koume brightened at the sight. "It was a lot easier than I thought it'd be."

"Well you wanted information, right?" Kotake questioned as she turned to stare at her guests. "Why not from a dead man himself?"

Sango was absolutely appalled by the very sight. How on earth was it possible to bring a head back to life? It didn't seem possible. "He's breathing…"

"Somehow this doesn't seem right…" Miroku muttered worriedly.

Even Inuyasha, Kagome and Serena, and even the boat keeper, who was still tied at the floor, were at a loss for words, but Link on the other hand didn't seem all that surprised.

"Well…what are you waiting for? Ask the head what you want!" Kotake interrupted their chilled silence.

Hearing this, and while quietly scrutinizing the head from close up, the little fairy approached. "You mean like a crystal ball?"

Kotake nodded. "Yes, ask it whatever you want. Do not be afraid, he won't bite. The head is completely harmless."

After a moment of silent pondering, the little fairy came up with a question that buzzed around her mind since the moment Koume brought the head in. "Why are you so ugly?" She questioned and at this, the eyes that stared back at her ominously brightened, and a foul stench escaped the mouth as Sakon groaned. "Ew!" The stench was just putrid.

"Serena, be serious," Link warned, and at this, the fairy only nodded.

"I know, I know…okay…Will I ever be as famous as the Great Fairy?" Serena asked curiously, but she never received a word from the floating head, merely a blank stare and many sweat drops around the room.

"Serena…" Link warned.

She only turned. "What? She said we could ask the head whatever we wanted!"

Koume tittered to herself. "A human head cannot predict the future, little fairy."

"Ohhh…Alright…I have a serious question this time. I promise…Sakon, I want to hear it from you straight up. Did you lay your filthy hands on Kagome?"

Link wanted to smack his forehead. "That's not an appropriate question to ask at this time."

"Yes it is!" The fairy replied back. "Just because we weren't there at the time, doesn't mean nothing could have happened." Serena turned back to the head. "Well? Answer the question!"

Sakon's head suddenly shook, and a smirk suddenly lifted upon his lips before his eyes silently looked upon the small fairy. "No…I did not lay my hands on her entirely…Though I did ravish her with my eyes, I was interrupted before I could have my way with her..."

Immediately after getting the answer she wished to hear, Serena fluttered into Kagome's open palm before nestling there softly. "I hope you're not mad. I felt you deserved to know the truth from him yourself."

"Thank you," Kagome held the small fairy close to her cheek affectionately.

Deciding that it was now his turn to ask questions, a certain half demon stepped up. "Alright you bastard. I want to know everything. Start from the beginning. Why did you kidnap Kagome and why did you take the jewel. Who the hell are you working for?"

"One question at a time!" Kotake barked, and at this, Inuyasha scowled. "He cannot answer all your questions at once. This is a fragile spell. Too much can break it, and trust me, you don't want that to happen."

"What would happen?" Serena asked.

"Why, the brains would burst and I won't be responsible for cleaning up the mess!" Kotake replied, and at this, everyone made a face.

At this, everyone made a face.

With a huff, the half demon turned away from the older witch and back to the floating head before him, staring at him blankly. "Fine. Who approached you?"

"A man in a cloak approached me…He promised me wealth and anything else I desired," Sakon replied.

"Why did you kidnap Kagome?" Miroku suddenly had the courage to ask, and at this, he received an honest answer, but not one that he or anyone else in the room wished to hear.

"I desired her. Her form of beauty is one I have never seen before. My master only wanted the jewel that the girl had in her possession. The power, he said, was calling to him," Sakon replied honestly.

Well, now that that was out of the way, it was now clear to the group that it was indeed the power residing within the Sacred Jewel that had caused some misfortune to fall upon their group of friends, and the fact that someone, not from their world knew of this power, was indeed unsettling.

While he did not appreciate the dead man's honesty of desiring Kagome, but thankful he had slain him before any harm could befall his friends, Link felt he needed to know just who this mysterious cloaked one was. "Who was your master, and where can we find him?"

A brief pause was followed after the question. "I have never seen his face as it was always hidden. Nor have I heard his name spoken. If you plan to search for my master, you might as well give up, because he was in fact, the one who approached me."

"What do you mean?" Miroku asked curiously.

"My master is the one who approaches me then disappears without a trace."

Serena felt the many questions buzzing around her tiny fairy head. What in the world was this … head saying? "That makes no sense! He just up and vanishes or what?"

A soft growl emanated from the mouth of the head as the face turned to acknowledge the small ball of light fluttering near the half demon. "That is all I can say."

Inuyasha fisted his hands as his claws pierced his skin, but not enough to cause bleeding. "Some help that was."

"What about the boat keeper? Was he in on your scheme from the very beginning or did you use him?" Sango asked, and at this the head chuckled.

"He was nothing but a mindless puppet for me."

After standing there for a few minutes, taking in all the question and answers jumping back and forth between them, Kagome finally had the courage to step forward, if not a little hesitantly at first, but she refused to hold her head down. "Sakon…"

His eyes swiveled to meet hers. "What is it, my beloved?"

'Ew…even dead he still wants me…' Clearing her throat, Kagome asked her question. "What is your master's plan?"

"My master wishes for power…" A pause suddenly followed before the head shifted its attention onto another occupant of the house, and that happened to be a certain young swordsman with blonde hair and blue eyes, who returned the stair passively. "He also wants revenge on the so called 'hero,'" He replied snidely. "He wishes for your demise, boy."

At this, Link glared. Someone wished revenge on him? Well, there were only a few names he could think of. One, mainly being the Gerudo King of Evil, Ganondorf, but that possibility seemed entirely not plausible. The second could be the incarnate of Majora, but if he recalled correctly, he had vanquished that evil spirit from the mask years before; so it seemed unlikely that it would suddenly manifest itself upon the world again, unless, of course, history decided to repeat itself.

There were plenty of others out there whom he had fought, but no other name came to mind but that of Majora. This was starting to get tiresome. Who on earth wished for his demise? Just thinking about it was enough to anger him.

A suddenly chill swept through the room, and the occupants inside the hut felt a tingling run down their spines as the eyes of the head floating before them suddenly rolled back behind its sockets ominously. "He wants you to suffer for all the pain he received because of you!"

At this, the head lunged for Link, who in response grasped the hilt of his sword. Kagome screamed in fright as she reached out for the younger boy across from her, but before she could reach him and before he could draw his sword from his sheathe, the witches reacted with a wave of their wands. Instantly the head had ceased its fast approach for Link before dropping to the floor nosily.

Because he had heard the startling screaming from inside the hut, Shippo immediately sprang into action and pushed the door to the hut open with a loud slam. Inside, he saw his friends silently staring at each other and as his heart pounded worriedly, he couldn't help but feel that something had happened. "Are you guys alright? What happened?" Of course, when he asked this, his friends turned to stare at him, and that's when he felt it. Something had knocked against his foot, and curiously, he peered down to see what it was.

Shippo regretted looking down or for that matter, running inside to see to his friends' safety. Just beside his furry foot, lay a pale and bloodied head, its white eyes staring at him with its mouth agape and black goo spilling from the sides. Not only was it a fright to see, but he remembered the face all too well, and it didn't help that he suddenly found himself swaying from side to side. Before he knew it, his friends had rushed toward him, but everything soon darkened after.

OOO

"Shippo? Shippo?" Kagome's soothing voice called out.

After what seemed like a few minutes of total darkness, the tyke's eyes fluttered open. His mother was the first one he took notice of, affectionately holding him upon her lap while running her hands through his hair lovingly. Blinking the sleep from his eyes, he raised himself up into a seated position before looking around curiously. "I had such a horrible dream…"

Kagome smiled softly. "Did you? It's alright now."

There were no others in the room with them, even the witches, who normally sat inside tending to their own affairs, were absent, as well as that of the boatman they had questioned previously.

"I dreamt I saw a scary looking head…" Shippo muttered tiredly. It had seemed so real, as if it had actually happened. But there was no head to be seen.

"You weren't dreaming!" A squeaky voice whispered into his ear quite loudly, and surprised, Shippo turned and gasped as he fell back in fright.

Dangling in front of his face was a shriveled and decaying head, with many needles penetrating its face. It was so terrifying that he sprang to his feet and scampered behind his mother in fright, who stood protectively in front of him annoyed.

"Sit boy!" Not surprisingly, the half demon's face met the hard wood of the floorboard. "Will you cut it out? Now is not the time for your childish pranks." With that said, she picked up the small boy and left the hut, leaving Inuyasha sitting on the floor with a grin stretched on his face.

After observing this from the far window, Serena fluttered over, but she hadn't expected to see the half demon grinning from ear to ear. "So was it worth it?"

Inuyasha chuckled. "It was worth it. Doesn't take much to scare the runt."

"You're such an idiot,"

With a roll of her eyes, the little fairy fluttered away from the strange half demon before slipping through the open window where she found her companions gathered just outside the spring. Sango and Miroku were talking together, while the witches were busy talking some kind of business with the Deku Princess and her many monkey friends gathered around them; if Serena had to guess, it was just about time for all of them to head out to the palace.

A conversation just below the hut caught her attention, and as she looked down, she spotted the priestess talking with the boat keeper, who had recently been released from his ropes when they realized he had been innocent the entire time. They looked to be in deep conversation. Wondering what they could be discussing, she silently hovered before them and listened in.

Kagome laughed good naturedly, holding her stomach as a fit of giggles escaped her, which of course had the boat man talking up a storm about some thing or other Serena hadn't caught.

"I never knew such a thing could be possible!" Kagome laughed, and this urged a nod from the older man.

Serena merely stared. They sure were getting along…strangely…Where the heck was Link at a time like this? "Oh…he's over there…" Truthfully, he was there, a far distance from his other companions, leaning against a tall lofty tree with his eyes staring at nothing in particular. She didn't have to guess twice that something was definitely on his mind, and she doubted it was about Kagome and the old geezer. What was up with him?

Shippo was at a loss as to what his surrogate mother was laughing about, and he had no clue what the boat man was talking about either. More than likely it was grown up stuff, because he didn't recognize anything nor could he form a picture in his head. "I don't get it…"

Deciding to interrupt their baffling and enjoyable conversation, Serena fluttered down and hovered in between the two. She heard the boat man take in an intake of breath but she ignored him and focused more on little Shippo wrapped in Kagome's arms. "Hey, are you okay? You didn't look so hot a while ago."

The fox child nodded. "Yeah…That head scared me..." Why couldn't Inuyasha just leave him alone? He was tired of being made fun of, and always having Kagome have his back and sit him had him feeling a little put off. If he were only bigger, he would show Inuyasha who wasn't a baby.

"I bet it…Voo Doo dolls give me the creeps too!" Serena replied back. "Of course this was my second time seeing one." As she was thinking about it, she wondered if those witch sisters planned to use Sakon's head as one of their dolls too.

Shippo blinked. "You mean that doll?"

"Well…they aren't really dolls…Think of them as shrunken heads…You saw Sakon's, but instead of having eyes, these ones are sewn shut, and these one's have their teeth removed for different uses. Basically it's a head, without its stuffing…if you get what I mean…Shippo? Hey, you aren't looking so good…"

Once again, Shippo found himself paling at the very thought of it. He remembered Inuyasha dangling the head in front of him when he woke up, holding its graying hair in his grip. As he imagined it replay before him, he suddenly felt sick. "The eyes…its hair…" Thinking about it made him half sick, and the priestess struck the little fairy with a disapproving frown.

Seeing this, she fluttered back. "I'm sorry! Let me go get some water!" After that, she fluttered inside the cabin to find something small in order to carry the water.

Sighing, the priestess turned to the child lying in her arms sickly, and she stroked his hair away from his eyes. "Aww, my poor little Shippo…"

After having been surprised at seeing an actual fairy right before his eyes, the boat man turned his attention back to the young girl beside him. "I remember when my wife used to coo over our child…" His voice broke the young girl away Shippo. "That was the ugliest child I ever did see," He admitted with a shake of his head that had Kagome smiling awkwardly. "You know, I prayed that he would grow out of it as he grew older…but it was from her side of the family…" He replied.

Despite the fact that he had called his son ugly, Kagome managed to smile somewhat. "So, how long have you lived out here?"

"Since I was but a child. My mother ran the boat shop a mile from here and my father was a local fisherman."

Kagome nodded. "Where is your family? At home?"

Sadly, the older man shook his head and scratched his beard as if pondering on old memories. "My wife passed away some time back. Boy did she used to spoil that boy!"

"Your son?"

He nodded. "That's right. Nigel's his name…ugliest damned kid you ever did see. Always thought he was a bit…strange…eccentric wouldn't be the word for it. He never did quite fit in with the family…or any. Hell, he might very well fit in with the circus, but I'd doubt they'd stick around him for long."

"Oh?"

"That's right. He ran off a year ago. Never did find out where he went, but he had this odd fantasy about flying and trying to prove he could be anything he wanted. Well I didn't doubt he couldn't, but his dreams were a tad unrealistic..." Looking at the child in her arms, he offered a kind smile. "Now that little boy of yours…he's something different. Not that I mean any disrespect."

The priestess waved it off. "It's okay. I'm actually his adoptive mother, I guess you could say. We've been together for a while now. He's had some tough times, but we've managed to bring him into our family."

The boat man smiled. When he realized they hadn't gotten lost in conversation, he turned his attention to the sun setting off behind the trees. "Well it's getting late. This is where we say goodbye. It was nice meeting you Kagome," He shook her hand and then ruffled little Shippo's head. "You too little guy."

"Would you like a lift back?" She asked, but he kindly refused the offer.

"I think I've caused enough trouble for you and your friends for one day," He laughed before placing his goggles upon his face. "But you and your friends take care of yourselves. These woods can get pretty dangerous at night. If you all need a place to stay, you're all welcome to stay at my place," He offered. After that, he said his goodbyes to the rest of her companions and the witches before returning back into the deep brush.

Because it was nearing sunset, and because they knew it was time to depart back to the Palace, where they knew his Majesty awaited the return of his Princess, the witches gathered the group together.

Kotake cleared her throat. "Well, now that we have everything straightened out, let's go."

"To the Palace?" Miroku asked, and at the witches' nods, the group hurriedly prepared to depart.

The Deku Princess happily rejoiced with her monkey friends, who hooted and clapped merrily from beside her. She could finally return home safely.