A/N: Forgive the delay and the lack of editing. Here it is, readable, hopefully not too confusing, and it may be awhile before the next update as I have holiday plans. Thanks for tuning it! :))
.
.
.
The obelisk stood before them, and all paused a few feet from the doorway.
Royoukan, Kagura, Touran, Shuran, Shunran, Karan, Koryuu, Shiori, Kirara, Ai, Ah-Un, Gon, Bun, Ken, Suijin, Jinchuu, Inuyasha holding the blade of Tetsusaiga, and Sou'unga carrying Shippou and Sesshoumaru's souls, all looked at each other with uncertain glances now.
"Sou'unga, Shippou, Sesshoumaru," Inuyasha said after a long pause, "I don't want to risk you three getting separated in a way that makes it hard for us to find you all again. Maybe you should sit this one out. I don't know if all the rest of us need to go or not..."
"Come on, what are we afraid of?" Ai jumped from Ah-Un's back and laughed, and before anyone could stop her, vanished through the doorway.
"AI!" Inuyasha yelped, leaping in after her.
"Wait, you can't all just-"
"Aaaannnnd they're gone," Shippou sighed, "well, I guess they'll understand what you meant right about...now."
%-The little one is very brave. She reminds me of you, Shippou. You and Inuyasha both.%
"She's fiesty alright," Shippou giggled.
%-Uo, I think they won't have to worry about her so much.%
"No, not at all," Sou'unga smiled, "her heart is pure, her path will be simple."
Ai bolted through the doorway, and on the other side, she saw something strange, at first. In the middle of a large expanse, a wide open space she couldn't see the beginning or end of, she saw a deep pool, full of sparkling beautiful koi fish, and paused to watch them, smiling.
"I see," she whispered, "I understand now."
And she turned around and marched out the doorway, smiling up at Sou'unga, startling the three souls there with the swiftness of her return.
"They're soooo far behind me," she laughed, and Sou'unga laughed, and mystified, Shippou and Sesshoumaru could only exchange meaningful silence and wonder why their hearts felt this lightness and Knowing that couldn't be put in words, from Sou'unga, that they could not decode.
"I think it will take them just a little longer, little Ai. But tell me, do you know where Zusaku is?"
"Right there at the edge of the door, like almost everyone else," Ai nodded.
"Good. That means he may not be the first to take hold of the Key."
"How long will it take for one of them to understand?"
"I'm not sure."
"Uhm," Shippou interrupted, "how long will you make us wait before you tell us how to understand it?"
"I couldn't explain it to you," Ai shrugged, "you just Know."
"What she means," Sou'unga smiled before they could protest that answer, "is that it's a different answer for everyone, but when you know it, you know it in your heart. Her heart, as I said, is pure. She always listens to it, and it told her immediately to turn about. She wanted to see how far Zusaku had gotten, nothing more. She had no intention of fighting him alone. So she did, and she left. That was her path, and it was easy for her. You see?"
"I think I'm starting to," Shippou agreed.
%-So the Key to the Key is not to find The Key, but to find THE KEY.%
Shippou chuckled. Ai chuckled too. Sou'unga smiled all three smiles. They waited for the others now, patient, but wary as well, for still Zusaku was present, though they could not reach him...
.
Shiori walked slowly forward, then paused, surveying the darkness around her. Clicking her tongue a few times, she heard nothingness about her, and her noises did not bounce back from against any other surface in the vast expanse. This was strange, especially because a short distance away, there seemed to be some kind of object laying on the ground in the only illuminated area of this wide nothing.
"An illusion?" she mused out loud, then clicked her tongue again, and waited, and this time she heard many echoes, ones that made no sense; multiple echoes that told her that there were walls within walls, and doors within doors, and twisted things where there was nothing...
"A mysterious place, this Nether," Shiori murmured out loud to herself, but looking again at the object, she could now see what it was more clearly, and felt a small gasp leave her, "but what's this? It looks like the Blood Coral Crystal," she murmured out loud, recalling the old familiar heirloom of the Bat Clan, the one she'd given to Inuyasha to let him break it for his sword's powers.
She paused then, feeling uncomfortable; this one looked whole, and glowed softly, and if it was indeed the same one that had been destroyed, somehow now made whole in the Nether, then does it also contain...?
.
Royoukan stopped as soon as he realized he was alone, and sniffed, and looked about warily, and then stretching his jaw, he summoned a wolf minion from a different place in the Nether altogether, and gestured to it.
"A small fish hanyou child came in here before me," Royoukan said to the minion, "and I must be assured that she is safe before I continue."
The minion paused and closed it's two main eyes, but it's third eye blinked rapidly, and then the wolf turned about and looked back at the doorway, ears up straight, tail up straight, one paw lifted.
"She has already made it out safely then? That is well," Royoukan nodded, "I did not wish her to fall to harm, though I know she is ready for battle. Such small soft things, little children are," he mumbled to himself, turning to look at the middle of the room before him again.
Upon a large tree stump on the midst of absolute nothing, Royoukan saw what appeared to be a box...
"Is this the Box that Zusaku brought with him?" Royoukan mused out loud, beginning to approach it cautiously...
Royoukan hesitated as he drew closer to the Box, unsure why it felt so strange.
"Is this Box an illusion?" he asked himself out loud, frowning, "and if it's not, then why would Zusaku leave it here? Or were there two?"
.
Touran cast about in the dark, ignoring the light in the middle of the room as she called frantically.
"Ai! Ai!"
She heard a giggle behind her, and it sounded like the little Lucky Koi Fish herself, and Touran whirled around and saw the doorway behind her, but saw nothing outside of it. A fear crept upon her for a brief moment, and her heart skipped a beat; and when it did, she felt a very strong pull, and impulsively, she took one step towards the doorway, and was nearly thrust outside of it.
Stumbling slightly, off balance, Touran gasped and wrapped her arms around the hanyou girl as soon as she saw the girl was no longer under the obelisk's enchantment.
"Ai! You worried me! Don't run off ahead of everyone like that!" Touran squeezed in relief.
"I only wanted to see how far he'd gotten," Ai chuckled, "and he's only just at the doorway. You all were pretty far behind me."
"You mean, you saw everyone? But I didn't see..."
"It's hard to explain," Ai furrowed her brow, "but like, I saw, I saw everyone between the door and me, and I was at the middle of the room and at the edge of the door at the same time. It's not like normal places, you can be in the middle and at the door at the same time there."
"Nothing about any of this has been normal," Touran agreed with her.
%-You're telling me, Touran.%
"Sesshoumaru, I hope you're back in your normal body soon. I don't think I can get used to hearing your voice in my head," Touran said.
%-Why not? I thought you were accustomed to hearing voices in your head, Touran,% he teased.
"I will punch you, Sesshoumaru. That's the first thing I'm going to do when you're alive again, is Punch you!"
%-You promise?% his voice sounded coy and devious, and she laughed out loud.
"I promise!"
Ai giggled, her tinkling laugh punctuating Touran's own.
"You two are great friends, aren't you?"
%-She used to have a crush on me, before I became Kagura's Wife.%
"Still would, except for having found this one dashing white tiger..."
%-Touran, are you playing with my toys?!%
"I only borrow them when you're not looking," Touran winked over at the orb, and it was Sesshoumaru's turn to laugh.
%-Well, play with them gently, would you? I don't want to find any teeth marks when you're done.%
"Oh, don't worry, you won't Find the teeth marks," she giggled, but then mindful of young ears, they quit there and waited for the others...
.
Kirara sat quietly and blinked at the vastness before her. There was a strange magic here, she could feel it in her bones, and something was pulling at her to go both forward and back, and not knowing which was right, she sat to think about it.
A light in the midst of the darkness began to materialize, and she saw a small wisp of flame, just like she had a flash of before.
Her hackles raised, and she stood again, a small growl beginning to form as her lips lifted from her fangs, claws extending from her toes...
"Kirara," a voice from everywhere, from nowhere, whispered to her, but loudly, "Kirara, you must Guard the Guardian."
And suddenly soothed by the familiar voice, Kirara relaxed; a vision of a miko appeared, and it sounded like Midoriko whispered to her softly.
"It's good to see you again, old friend. I can barely reach through to speak to you now, through the dream of my mortal reincarnation touching your soul. Know this, Kirara...the only way to defeat the Phoenix is to face his flames. You must protect the Protector, Kirara, at all costs. Shiori does not know that her blood magic is essential, but her powers will be needed in the Earthly Realm if Shippou and Sesshoumaru are to be returned to their bodies. Go and find her, guide her through the path," Midoriko whispered, and Kirara closed her eyes and became still.
A flash of purple and a wisp of flame crossed her mind, and she opened her eyes, and found herself sitting in the middle of the room, next to a Blood Coral Crystal that looked very familiar, and when she looked back, she saw Shiori.
It didn't seem at first like Shiori saw her sitting there though...
.
Gon, Bun, and Ken, the only three to have entered into the same path together from the start, each now held one of Bokuseno's flowers with their tails, and had each put one of the fruits in their jackets, and all now looked querulously at each other, scratching their heads.
"I see a light in the middle of the room, but I can't make out what's illuminated," Gon admitted, looking at his brothers.
"I see a pedestal beneath the light, but I can't tell what's sitting on it," Bun also admitted, glancing at the other two monkeys.
"I see a stone cup," Ken peered, and his two brothers noised agreement as the three of them approached.
In a few steps, they were at the pedestal, and Ken gently lifted the stone cup, and when he turned to look at his brothers, there the door was just behind them, as if they'd never walked to the center of the room.
"Brothers," Ken blinked, and they followed his gaze, and they all paused for just a moment before smiling.
"I think we found something useful, and now we've got to get out of here with it," Bun stated the obvious.
They stepped out of the doorway, and saw Ai and Touran already exited, and holding up the stone cup, they smiled, and Gon spoke.
"We found something. I don't know what exactly it is, but we found it and I think we need it," he grinned.
"The Stone Bowl of Buddha," Sou'unga recognized it, "a holy artifact, sent through the obelisk from the Heavens to you. That's right," he said with a slow smile, "you three bear the element of Wood, of Earth, don't you? And you are triplets, sharing the pearl from Hosenki in your three tails, carrying the three fruits and flowers of that old magnolia who sheathes my brother's blades. Yes, Earth to the Earthly."
"Uh, what are you saying?" Bun asked with a slight frown, a bit confused.
"He called it the Stone Bowl of Buddha," Gon informed needlessly, and Bun scowled back at him, crossing his arms as if to say 'I Heard That!'
But Ken smiled and nodded, understanding what his brothers lagged behind on.
"So we need this in the Earthly Realm, not for the fight with the bird."
"Yes, that would appear to be the case," Sou'unga agreed.
"Say," Shippou piped up, peering at the bowl, "I seem to recall something about a Stone Bowl of Buddha when we all went to the Mirror Castle of Kaguya-hime, when Naraku faked his death and Kagura took a piece of Inuyasha's Fire-Rat Robe, and we found out about why."
"It's the same one," Sou'unga informed him, and Shippou oohed and looked closer.
%-It has a mark on the inside,% Sesshoumaru noticed, then upon closer inspection, %-the mark of the Element of Earth?%
"So it is," Touran agreed, smiling.
.
Kagura halted and looked around, realizing that suddenly, she was very alone, and there was nothing before her, save one pale beam of light cast upon a fragile, wilting flower. But as she went to draw near to it, it stayed far away; she stopped and flicked out her fan, uncertain of anything except that this had to be some kind of illusion...
"A wilting flower," she huffed, and her being felt odd, and her heart felt unsettled, and her mind could not define this sensation, "what, what kind of illusion...what am I supposed to do here?"
.
Inuyasha felt Tetsusaiga pulse in his hand, and speak in his Qilin voice, seeming slightly surprised himself.
"We must have the same Path here, Inuyasha. Look, up ahead, what do you see?"
"A light in the middle of the darkness," Inuyasha frowned, "but what's that it's illuminating?"
"Let's find out," Qilin Tetsusaiga's voice urged, and Inuyasha started to walk forward...
.
"Illusions," Jinchuu, the black fox with the grey pearl murmured, fingering a sutra, then leaving it alone in his pocket as he looked at the light in the middle of the room, "I see. They draw on the heart, and cannot be dispelled by usual means. So this is why I am alone. It is a path to find what my heart must draw out from this pool of energy..."
And having realized that, he took one step forward and reached out with one paw, and his hand was beneath the light, and his paw felt the form of an object unfamiliar to him, and he took it and held it, and looked at it for a long moment before he smiled.
"So this is what he seeks," Jinchuu smiled, tucking the ornate, delicate key into his chest pocket, nearest his heart, and walked outside.
"Nogitsune," Gon greeted with a smile as he saw the seven-tailed black fox emerge from the doorway.
"His name is Jinchuu," Ai informed with a giggle, "but I think he took that as a compliment when you called him Nogitsune."
%-I find that many foxes only Pretend to be insulted when you call them that,% Sesshoumaru chuckled softly, and Shippou rolled his eyes.
"I found what he was looking for, and he shall never be able to obtain it so long as I carry it," Jinchuu winked at the others.
"You mean you found the Key?" Touran gasped, then grinned, "oh, how clever!"
"But how," Shippou asked curiously, "how is it that your path was the one that led to the Key, if Zusaku is the one who seeks it most?"
"He doesn't listen to his Heart," Jinchuu smiled, "and I do. My Heart desires most, right now, to Thwart him. I found the Key he needs to open his Box, which definitely thwarts him from finding the Key himself. I think that's what this place is...the link through each of our hearts between the Nether and the Heavens and the Earth, the place where all three meet."
"Wise beyond your years, not even yet a kyuubi and you discerned the riddle," Sou'unga agreed with a grin.
"Well He could put it in words," Bun huffed, "why couldn't you?"
"Hush, brother, you'll start to squabble needlessly," Ken giggled and poked his brother's arm, "save it for the big mean bird!"
"Oh, fine," Bun grinned, poking his brother back.
.
Koryuu slowly walked up to the light in the middle of the vastness, and paused at what he saw.
"You know not what you seek," the cloud before him spoke in a voice he felt was faintly familiar.
"Then tell me, what do I seek?" he asked, trusting the question that formed from his lips.
"You seek the means to hasten your return, so that you may help save your friends. But what lies beyond this desire?"
Koryuu paused, and folded his wings in pensive thought, and took a minute to reflect.
"I suppose...what I really want, is to know for sure that this will all turn out alright."
"What you seek is Certainty."
"Am I uncertain?"
"If you must ask, then you are."
"That's true," Koryuu said quietly, "but if I cannot find it, will I ever be able to leave here?"
"I am as uncertain as you are."
Koryuu thought about that for a long time, but then slowly, he smiled.
"Then I must cast away my doubt," he whispered, and unfurling his great wide pinions, he flapped his wings mightily, and the cloud dispersed, and the door was just behind him again, and he turned and left the obelisk.
"Koryuu, you're back," Shippou smiled, "what did you discover?"
"Courage, Shippou," Koryuu smiled, grinning a toothy grin, and they all smiled back at the young dragon, whose heart was now strengthened.
.
Shunran was wary at first when she observed the budding flower in the middle of the room, but deigned to examine it further. She drew close to it, but when she got within arm's reach, she could not touch it; it moved from her hand to the side and ahead and behind, so that it was never quite where she thought it should be when her hand went to grasp it.
"An illusion, of course," she frowned, but trying to use her magic to dispel it did no good, so she sat with her legs crossed and began to meditate upon the solution...
.
Suijin saw a flash of fire and feathers, and a hint of smoke filled her nose, and brandishing her mighty Trident of Amakoi, she walked into the darkness between herself and the light, unafraid of any kind of fire beast, for she was a Water Goddess, and what was fire to her?
A strange thing happened then; she stood beneath the light, and was illuminated, and when she turned to look back, she saw herself standing by the door, and some of the others between, but as if ghosts, transparent.
Shunran, the Flower Panther, was sitting just near her feet, seeming to stare into the emptiness just to her left. Royoukan, the hell-wolf, was a couple of steps away, looking just to her right, as if seeing something he hesitated to touch. Shiori also wore this expression, but she was maybe two steps further away. Kirara was right next to Shiori and seemed to see her, but the girl did not seem to acknowledge the cat at the moment, so Suijin wasn't sure if Shiori could sense Kirara or not. Inuyasha was walking towards her but seemed not to see her. Kagura was back by the door still, looking puzzled. Shuran, the Thunder Cat, was just at her elbow, and the crackle of his lightning was almost palpable. Karan was about halfway between Kagura and Inuyasha, her face looking agitated, a scowl in her expression. Suijin could not see Touran, Ai, Koryuu, Jinchuu, the three monkeys, or Ah-Un...
And then, a flash of fire caught her eye, and she saw another at the doorway, and it could only be one entity, she was sure of it.
"Zusaku!" she felt a deep anger rise within her like an ocean tide, and her Trident of Amakoi responded, and pulsed, and her pearl in her hand began to glow, and suddenly, Ah-Un appeared at her side and seemed to see her, and she reached out, and he was not transparent like the rest, and she leapt onto his back and raised her Trident high...
Ah-Un flared his jyaki and covered them in the barrier, and sensing the shift in energy, Suijin held more tightly and brought her knees in to press against the dragon's flanks, and Ah-Un soared...
The distance between them seemed to stretch into infinity, but Suijin felt no fear of missing her target; Ah-Un blasted through the Thunder Wall, and they were upon the Phoenix, and Suijin struck with a mighty blow.
"AMAKOI TIDAL SURGE!" her battlecry rung out, and Zusaku was engulfed in a conjured wave of water, and he shrieked, and his feathers hissed, and he flapped his wings madly and dropped his box, shedding his human form to swiftly revert to his bird form...
And Ah-Un smiled with both heads, and Suijin smiled, and they headed out the doorway together, knowing they had done what they were meant to.
"We made him drop his Box," Suijin declared with a victorious raising of her Trident, "and without it, he surely cannot attain victory now."
"So that's what both of you wanted to do, make sure he couldn't use that Box," Jinchuu smiled, "well, that's even better than my idea."
"He will be angry when he finds his way out. I cannot kill him so easily," Suijin admitted, then added, "the others are making progress, I was able to see them as I reached the center and turned about."
"I saw that too when I went in," Ai nodded, "you all looked like ghosts for a minute there. Who's close to the middle?"
"Royoukan, Shunran, Shuran, Shiori and Kirara all seemed very close. Inuyasha was a bit further away but drew nearer. Karan was behind him, but not too far. Kagura was nearly as close to the door as Zusaku, however."
%-Kagura was still right by the door?%
"Yes, she seemed uncertain."
%-I see,% Sesshoumaru said quietly, and Shippou felt a small fleck of emotion from him.
"Don't worry, Sesshoumaru. Her heart is still pretty new to her, she's just not used to it," Shippou said reassuringly.
.
Royoukan finally shook his head and huffed at himself, damning his own cowardice.
"If I am to deliver this Box to the others, then it will be so," he declared, and reaching out, he felt the Box within his grasp, and when he turned about, the door was behind him. He peered around, but could see nothing else, and so walked out, and was greeted by his friends.
%-Royoukan! You've made it out!%
"That I have, Lord Sesshoumaru," Royoukan bowed his head in the direction of the sword that held his soul, then added, "and I have brought what appears to be a Box identical to Zusaku's, or perhaps in some strange way, though I know not how, it might be the same one?"
"It is her box," Ai whispered, "Lady Kanade's, or, I mean, the same one Zusaku had. Suijin, you made him drop it just in time," she giggled.
"It appears so," Suijin smiled at the girl, whose bright eyes reflected pools of water much like her own did...
.
"Ki...Kirara?" Shiori felt the cat brush up against her, and suddenly saw her, and Kirara meowed at her.
"I don't know if this is the same Blood Coral Crystal as the one that Tetsusaiga broke. If it is, then my grandfather...and my father...and all of the ancestors before me...all of the bat youkai who used to prey on humans..."
Kirara nuzzled her hand, and she petted the cat's head, feeling oddly comforted by the small but meaningful gesture.
"Well, if that fear is all I must face to help my friends," she drew in a breath as she reached forward, "then I will take the risk."
The Blood Coral Crystal glowed, but it was not red as the one she remembered, but rather purple, like the pearl she'd been gifted, and she felt soothed, and a voice she faintly recognized whispered in her ear.
"Shiori, this Blood Coral Crystal is not for the same kind of barrier you are used to. Take it with you when you return to the Mortal Realm, and you will soon discover what you must do with it. I love you, daughter."
"I love you too, Father," she whispered, wiping the tears from her eyes as she nodded, then turning to Kirara, she saw the door beyond, and hopped onto the cat's back, and they exited the obelisk.
"Shiori!" Ai said happily, running to hug her.
"Ai, we were all so worried, but I think we underestimated you," Shiori said in relief, hugging the girl back.
"You have a pretty ball there, Big Sister. It seems very special," Ai beamed.
"Yes, it is," Shiori agreed, "my Father told me to keep it until we return to the Mortal Realm, and that I would learn what to do with it after that. So I don't know if it will help us defeat Zusaku, but it will help with something, I'm sure of it."
.
Shuran looked around cautiously, alert, sniffing about for the others and catching no scent but his own. He saw the door behind him, but he didn't want to leave yet; the light he stood beneath was the only one in the whole place, and he was sure an enemy could spot him easily if he turned his back.
"Shuran," a voice he didn't recognize spoke to him soothingly, coming from nowhere and everywhere at once, loud in volume but quiet as a whisper, like it was in his mind more than outside his ears, "you came in here to become as a distraction so that the others could rescue the little girl, to please your sister who has taken a liking to her so much. But she is safe for the moment. However," the voice continued, and now he caught a whiff of what could only be a Phoenix, the smell of fire and feathers, "he has been doused with water by the Goddess Suijin, and we know what happens to wet things with lightning. Now is your time to create the diversion, Shuran. Strike with a mighty blow!"
With a laugh and a roar, Shuran summoned his thunder and pointed it, right at where he felt the pressure in the air shift as the bird rose into the air and flapped his wings...
Zusaku shrieked, surprised by this unexpected, unseen aerial attack, and one wing felt as if it had almost been shorn, for he'd taken a very direct hit to the joint where his wing met his shoulder and back.
"Come find me, weakling!" Shuran laughed as he called into the space between them, and when he found himself suddenly near the door, paused, and sniffed, and smiled. "He must think I'm deep inside by now," the Thunder Cat chuckled as he stepped outside, seeing the others now.
"Shuran!" Touran greeted her youngest sibling and little brother with a great cat grin, "now this should be interesting!"
"Interesting indeed! I smelled water on that bird and I zapped him good," Shuran laughed, "he'll be looking for me in there for a long time."
"You always did like to get all the attention," Touran giggled at him.
%-Younger siblings are like that,% Sesshoumaru agreed with his own light tone.
"Where are the rest of us?" Shuran asked.
"Still finding their own paths," Koryuu answered, but with a smile, "but I don't think it will take too much longer now."
.
Shunran narrowed her eyes at the budding flower, wondering just how she was supposed to...
Wait.
"I don't have to dispel the illusion," she said slowly, "I have to grow it."
So she focused, and the flower went from budding, to blooming, and when it was full and fresh, she reached out and touched it, and it began to wilt; this was not her doing, and she gasped as she caught scent of Kagura now, and turned to see her in the doorway.
"Kagura, you found me?"
"Uh, no, I think you found me," Kagura blinked, then slowly closed her fan and moved forward carefully, "and until you showed up, I wasn't able to get any closer to this," she added, finally stopping just under arm's reach from the flower.
"I'm not sure what this is," Shunran admitted.
"Neither am I."
"What purpose does it serve? And why are only the two of us here right now?"
"I don't know."
"Those were rhetorical questions."
"Well That, I knew."
"Just making sure."
"Mmm-hmm."
They paused for a long moment, and Shunran finally spoke.
"Kagura, I want to ask you a question," she began softly.
"What's that?"
"Well, you have to understand, my older sister Touran, she used to...well, I think she probably still does have a crush on Sesshoumaru. And I just wanted to know, because well of course we all know all the story by now of how he saved you, and my sister, she had to move on of course, and she did, you know? But I was curious anyways...what made you two fall in love to begin with?"
"I..." Kagura paused, reflecting on that for a while, then admitted, "I'm not sure I can even say for sure. I used to be under Naraku's control, incarnated in flesh he crafted with a soul he snatched and a body he designed. My heart was not my own, and at first I didn't even realize that freedom was, well, something I could want. When I first met Lord Sesshoumaru, he was actually just another man I was supposed to see as a potential tool for Naraku, possibly a threat, possibly an ally. And when I saw his power, and began to desire my own freedom from the vile abomination that was Naraku...well at first I just, I wanted to use his power to attain my freedom. But somewhere in there, I got to thinking that...if any man were to hold my heart, I would like for it to be Him, not Naraku. At some point," Kagura said with a soft and gentle smile on her lips, reminiscing, "I had less thoughts of holding my own heart, than giving it to him. I would imagine him defeating Naraku with his might, and at the last second, snatching my heart from that spider's spindly web and holding it in his own hand, and telling me that he would keep it safe and hold it close to his own. When he brought me back from the Nether...in truth I had no idea he could have ever felt the same way about me. You know how he always used to pretend he didn't feel anything. I can't tell you how he fell for me. I'm as uncertain as you are, honest," she finished.
"That," Shunran smiled, "is a beautiful story."
"What shall we do with this wilted flower now, Shunran?" Kagura asked, and Shunran paused to look at it, then smiled.
"You saw it first as wilted. I saw it first as budding. This is the resentment my sister had for Sesshoumaru's lack of interest in her, the one reservation I held in my own heart about this whole thing, but didn't want to say anything about. I started to realize that while you were telling me your story. I didn't know...I wasn't sure if my sister would be okay," she whispered, "seeing you two reunite after all of this. Isn't that so silly of me? The whole world could be in danger, and here I'm worried about whether or not my sister will be okay when she sees you two together. I feel like a fool."
"You're a Sister," Kagura shook her head, then with a faint touch of an old memory, "I had a sister once too. Her name was Kanna."
"Is she...?"
"She was also created from Naraku, and died a long time ago."
"Then we will put a flower just like this at her grave, or cast it to where she would want to go," Shunran said, plucking the flower from the ground, and as she did so, both of them felt a gentle breeze they both knew wasn't their powers, and turned, and saw that they were at the doorway again, and exited after exchanging brief smiles and nods.
"Shunran!" Shuran exclaimed brightly.
%-Kagura!%
Kagura smiled a happy-sad smile, unable to touch him right now, but glad he could still offer a cheerful voice to ease her angst.
"It looks like we're almost all back," Shunran smiled.
"Just waiting for Karan and Inuyasha with Tetsusaiga," Touran agreed.
.
Karan scowled and looked around furtively, walking this way and that through a labyrinth of passages, certain she was lost, having cast a small ball of flame to follow her like a torch so she could see into the darkness around each corner.
Finally, she came upon a small room, with one chair and one small table. She drew closer to examine it warily, mindful that it could be some kind of a trap, though she smelled nothing here at all.
"Damn," she hissed, "if only there was a way I could stop feeling so Useless! I know I'm no weakling but against a Phoenix, a Fire Elemental, I'm practically dead weight. Why the hell am I even here anyway? What am I gonna do to that bird?" she sighed, "ugh, whhhyyy?!"
"Karan, is that you? Karan!" Inuyasha called, and jumping up to snag the edge of the wall and haul himself partially over, propping himself with his elbows to peer down at her, he perked up both ears and called again, "Hey, whatcha doin' in this maze? You can just jump over it, y'know," he chuckled at her.
"Ugh! Why didn't I think of that?!" Karan sighed, aggravated with herself, and leaped up to the top of the wall, perching there flicking her tail for a moment before sighing again at him, then dropped to the other side as he chuckled and let go.
"S'ok, I've done that more times than I wanna admit," Inuyasha chuckled, "mind tricks, you know? Although maybe I was supposed to join you in the maze instead...now there's a real mind trick," he murmured thoughtfully as he glanced back at the wall behind him...
"I guess not," Karan said as she looked back as well, and there was emptiness where the wall of the maze had just been.
"The Nether," Inuyasha snorted, rolling his eyes, "well, anyways, Karan," he glanced at her casually, "I don't think I'm so sure what we're supposed to do now. You got any clues?"
"Not really. I can't smell any of the others, or that bird. Inuyasha," she said quietly, "if we come across him alone, I'll be useless in a fight with a Phoenix. He's immune to my fire."
"Well, doesn't that make you immune to his fire too?" Inuyasha smirked at her, "That's not so useless, is it?"
"I mean, I guess you have a point in that I'm immune to his fire," Karan agreed thoughtfully, "but, he could still kill me with his claws or something. And we don't know what other powers he might have now, if he's got the Box and he's looking for the Key."
"Well, then what you're telling me is that he wouldn't be immune to your claws either, right?"
"I guess not. But that hardly seems like a weapon against these kinds of odds," Karan huffed.
"Nah, you're right about that, but I don't think you're focusing on the important part. You're immune to his fire, and you use magic. I have this Fire-Rat Kimono," Inuyasha lifted his arm to wave his sleeve, "but it's not like I have any natural immunity myself, like you. And I'm no mage," he chuckled, "and I think that counts for something in your favor, right?"
"But you have a weapon that can actually do some damage to him," she pointed out, "all I have is the fact that he can't burn me."
"That's still a lot, isn't it?"
Karan paused as she thought that over.
"Yeah, I guess it is, actually. Thanks, Inuyasha," she smiled at him, "I mean, I still don't know how exactly I'm gonna be able to hurt him really, but you know, you do have a way of making people feel better."
"Don't focus on how you'll hurt him, that's the wrong thing to worry about. Focus on keeping yourself and everyone else alive, Karan. That's more important, isn't it? I mean, I don't wanna have to come back here all the time, you know."
"That's very true," she agreed, and her mind settled much more, and they walked on in silence for just a little while before Inuyasha smiled and approached an area which was lit by a single beam of light that appeared to emanate from an infinite darkness out of nowhere.
"Look, Karan...what is that?"
"I see...fire," Karan frowned.
"Fire?"
"I hear an echo..." she turned to look about, and felt something strongly near the now-distant doorway...
"What is it?" Inuyasha whispered after a long minute, his own ears standing up straight, straining to hear.
"It's the fire," she realized, "the fire itself speaking to me. Inuyasha...I can hear His Flames whispering."
"Fire talks?"
"It does if you're a skilled fire mage," Karan smiled, and narrowing her cat eyes, she saw another flash of flame, and with a chuckle, she knew now what her special power truly was... "Inuyasha, there's no way he can hide from me, even with all the powerful illusions here. But he's under this enchantment too, right near the door. I think most of the others have already made it out...what do we do now?"
"Well, let's make sure he doesn't get through this place to find his Key then, right?" Inuyasha smirked, and she smiled back, and a fireball began to form on her hand as the Tetsusaiga pulsed with the Foxfire Meidou, and she threw her fire, and the Foxfire from the Meidou swirled with it, and like a targeting beacon, Karan's flame dragged the Foxfire Meidou straight to Zusaku, and Karan crowed in victory as she felt the flames react to being swallowed in the portal.
"It's taking him outside, let's go!" Karan laughed, and they both leaped outside, meeting their friends, who had of course seen the Meidou covered in fire and foxfire come rocketing out just over their heads, and already turned to face it...
.
.