Chapter 22: Agony

Kagome was looking down at the well apprehensively, "You're sure it leads there?"

Kagura rolled her eye, "I already told you it did. If what Gajeel says is right, Sesshomaru should be there and he can remove those cuffs from you."

Kagome's jaw was tense as she looked at her two other friends. She knew Laxus was fighting and so was Inuyasha. She needed to help them, but she needed her powers back.

She put her legs over and after taking a deep breath, she jumped in, with Levy following alongside with her.

"I have to get her, I'm going in!" Shippo exclaimed with vigor. However as he closed his emerald eyes and waited to feel some sort of magic or anything, he landed in a pair of arms.

"Gotchu!"

His eyes welled up in tears, "Kagome!"

Miroku went to quickly throw over a rope so they could get out. He couldn't believe it worked, that it was another connection to her world. He noticed that she was pale and her shirt was torn. However his eyes went directly to the cuffs she had on her.

"Is Sesshomaru here?" she asked as she looked at the two exceeds and Miroku, "He's the only one that can remove these."

Just as she raised her wrists, Miroku turned quickly as he felt the demonic presence.

Carla was happy to see Wendy again, running to the girl and jumping into her arms, "You're okay!"

She wasn't looking well, but she was standing even with a limp, "I just need my rib to heal, she broke it."

Sesshomaru didn't say a word as he approached Kagome.

The miko that could stop everything.

The miko that offered herself to save Rin.

Rin.

Kagome barely had time to flinch, but the cuffs fell heavily on the floor with a clank. She could feel the energy returning to her. Her eyes connected with his, grateful for his help without her asking first. Levy went quickly to her and grabbed the small box from her pants.

"I can protect myself," she said as she stared at the box, "But the moment I open this and combine it with my own energy, Naraku is going to arrive. Be ready."

She removed the torn t-shirt, leaving her in just her sports bra and her blue cargo pants.

This was it.

Levy went back down the well to warn the others that at any given moment, Naraku was going to get there. Gajeel went back outside to tell Sango, and that's when he saw the states of both Inuyasha and Laxus. Both were already bloodied, and Naraku only seemed to have a few scratches on him.

He felt an incredible amount of energy behind him, and that told him that Kagome was going through with her plan.

Her goal was to also destroy this second connection to the modern world. There could only be one.

She opened the box and took a deep breath as the shard was now on her palm. She felt her heartbeat slow and steady and she closed her eyes.

Those that were there could only take a step back as the light around Kagome increased. She could feel also a warmth coming from her Fairytail guild mark.

Naraku was blocking some of Laxus' kicks when he felt it. The last shard.

Throwing a wave of demonic energy, he made Laxus and Inuyasha fly away as they were knocked away by the force. With incredible speed, Naraku was already at the basement and going through the well, completely ignoring the Iron Dragon Slayer and the rest.

Laxus cursed and Inuyasha sprinted. As both got to the basement, they halted as they could see an immense light coming from the well.

They got there just in time for Gajeel to yell at them, "Hop in now!"

Without hesitating, the two men jumped down following Gajeel and the group.

Kagome grunted as she could feel the evil demonic aura coming her way. She had a shield up and her hands put together in prayer. The demonic aura was so strong, it destroyed the entire room around her.

He came up the well, his spikes on his shoulders coming out first, and then she made eye contact with him.

"Kagome."

"Naraku."

Just as he raised a hand to attack her with a ball of energy, there was a crackling in the air.

He turned around and he cursed as he saw the lightning coming out of the well.

Sesshomaru appeared then, sword raised as he slashed at Naraku, making more distance between him and Kagome. As the two battled, from the well came everyone else.

As she made eye contact with Laxus, all she wanted to do was run to him and apologize. Not apologize for her actions of giving herself up, but at least she wanted to apologize for worrying him.

Gajeel, Sango, Kirara, Inuyasha, and Levy came out next. She looked at Inuyasha, "Destroy it. Please."

Sango came up to Kagome with Kiara transformed, Levy joining them as the three got on the demon and flew away. Kagura used her own powers to leave. Gajeel and Laxus soon followed to give Inuyasha room to perform the Wind Scar.

One connection less to the future.

Naraku cursed as he saw it being destroyed. He looked around as he fought Sesshomaru, noticing the damage of what was once his fortress.

However, there was a slight smirk on his face as he saw Bankotsu riding the winged demon and aiming for Inuyasha. Sesshomaru noticed the way the demonic red eye of Naraku's chest glowed, and he could only guess that is where Naraku had the jewel in.

Laxus finally joined alongside Gajeel. Now that there was no more city, no more civilians, they didn't have to worry about going all out.

Both dragon slayers let out a dragon roar, their magic mixing and creating a unison raid. Sesshomaru jumped out of the way as Naraku raised his spiked arms to brace himself against the attack.

Just as he was about to do an attack of his own, Laxus was right in front of him.

Laxus did a roundhouse kick followed by a fist engulfed in lightning. All Naraku could do was dodge the attacks. Sesshomaru attacked from the left and Gajeel attacked from the right. He was surrounded.

Back with Inuyasha, he was cursing anyone that allowed for Bankotsu to be reincarnated.

"Just die already!"

Bankotsu laughed as he knew he was toying with him, but what he was not expecting was a panther looking man with a giant sword joining Inuyasha.

Panther Lily had been a General after all.

Although Bankotsu was trying to not be overpowered, he couldn't help but realize he was indeed getting into dangerous grounds fighting the two of them simultaneously.

Although Wendy was almost out of magic, she knew Inuyasha needed to join the fight against Naraku. From her spot, she raised her hands and gave them support, enhancing their attacks.

Panther Lily was able to cut through Bankotsu's handle and just as the murderer was going to react, Inuyasha sliced his head.

Naraku saw and the anguish he felt was overwhelming. The red eye on his chest started to glow again, changing his appearance. There were more spikes, there were more tentacles. The wave of demonic energy sent the three of them flying harshly to the ground. Levy screamed Gajeel's name as she saw a sharp tentacle making its way to him, but it was cut off by Sango's boomerang. Sango swept down with Kirara and took a hold of Gajeel who was bleeding profusely from his head.

Sesshomaru was kneeling, using his sword to sustain him. He hated to admit it, but Naraku having an almost full jewel was going to be troublesome.

Just as Naraku started to laugh, he barely missed a purifying arrow aimed at him.

She was on top of Inuyasha as the half-demon was coming at him.

Sesshomaru finally got up, but various tentacles coming from Naraku were stopping him from getting closer.

Laxus came to, as being knocked down made him lose consciousness for a moment. He saw her on top of him, he knew he needed to join. He used his lightning to destroy as many of the tentacles that were coming at him.

The rest could only watch in awe as Laxus, Kagome, Inuyasha, and Sesshomaru were closing in on Naraku.

It was almost over.

Kagome wasn't sure how it all went wrong. She was on Inuyasha's back one moment, and the next she's rolling on the ground. She cried out in pain, as she could feel a massive cut on her leg. She used her forearms to bring herself up, trying to make out what was happening or what even happened in the first place.

The first pair of eyes she made contact with was with Laxus. She could see the bruises on his face, the blood on his fists as he'd been connecting against Naraku's spikes. He also had a gash on his temple that was actively bleeding still.

She looked around, trying to see where everyone was at, but it seemed whatever blast they got hit with, separated everyone at greater distances. Just a few yards from her, she could see the quiver of arrows and the bow.

Laxus was trying hard to get up, he needed to. He could see Inuyasha lying face down.

Naraku laughed, "You're a whole bunch of fools! You think you can defeat me? I have the jewel even if it's missing a shard! My power is immense compared to you foolish idiots! I will reign the present and the future!" The last part was said with a haunting snarl.

The sky darkened, taking more of a purple hue and the clouds came together, rumbling. Naraku's demonic aura engulfed him powerfully.

"I don't need Shinda to bring the dead souls."

Just as Kagome was trying to comprehend what was happening, she heard Levy scream.

Levy could feel a decaying hand getting a hold of her ankle, she tried kicking it away, but it gripped her tighter. She finally did a hard tug, but the decayed hand came apart from the body, still gripping her ankle.

Sango rolled over as she avoided hands coming from the ground, "No, this can't be."

Miroku used his staff to get up, "He's bringing back demons that died centuries ago!"

Wendy had a hold of Kagura as well as Carla. Her magic was still almost at nothing after dragon force, she could only use her body as a shield. Kagura cursed, thinking that by defeating Shinda there wouldn't be any more surprises.

Shippo was holding on to Miroku, but he jumped up at one of the bodies that finally emerged from the ground, "Fox Fire!"

Gajeel made his way to Levy, "Get behind me!"

She couldn't bring herself to not do anything, so she followed along with Shippo.

"Script Magic: Fire!"

Laxus was holding on to his shoulder as he saw more and more bodies emerging from the ground. There were dozens, and soon, there'd be hundreds of them. There was no way they could defeat an army that size and deal with Naraku at the same time.

He could see Kagome firing arrows, trying to make a dent. But where those dead demons would fall, they would soon come out of the ground again. Sesshomaru wasn't far from him, so he heard the dog demon saying something like Sounga.

Naraku was manic by this point, "Sounga cannot compare to my power now. I will rule everything!"

Laxus could see in the distance Gajeel fighting, but he knew soon the slayer would reach his limit. He could see Wendy trying her best, limping from one of her legs and having blood on her. He could not imagine what kind of fight she got into for her to look like that and not be able to use much of her magic. Levy was good, but she wasn't a combative mage.

At the rate they were going, they would lose.

Levy defeated another demon when she felt the wind stop. Her eyes quickly searched for him, until she found him. Gajeel also disposed of a demon and could only stare.

They saw his stance, firm with both legs apart. His hands were as if they were holding a ball. His magical energy was dancing around him and surely enough, they started to see a small golden light starting to form. Levy could feel her heart beating in her throat as she shouted, "Cover him! We have to cover Laxus!"

Kagome's head turned quickly at the direction he was at and she could see what they were seeing. She grabbed a katana from the floor that one of the demons dropped and channeled her spiritual power to it, like that day during their final training day.

The golden light coming from Laxus kept growing immensely. Naraku tried to attack him, but both Inuyasha and Sesshomaru intercepted it.

"What is he doing?" Miroku asked as he fought his way over to them, "I have not felt such power from him!"

Levy was shaking as she knew what this meant, "He can save us."

Laxus started to pour almost all of his magic into this as he shut his eyes. Maybe he could defeat Naraku, or weaken him enough. He needed to protect her. He needed to protect her friends. He could only do this once, and if he failed then that was it.

Out of nowhere, he felt his own magic increase. His eyes snapped open and he made eye contact with Wendy. Levy, Gajeel, Carla, and Panther Lily were all touching Wendy channeling their own magic to her.

"Power of the stout arms that tears heaven... ARMS!"

Laxus started to let out a powerful scream as the golden symbol of FairyTail started to appear underneath him, "It's over Naraku!"

He clapped both of his hands together as the incantation was finally complete, "FAIRY LAW!"

The sky above them opened up, and Naraku could only stare at the sky as a strange golden symbol appeared and came down on everything in the area. The light was absolutely blinding. Everyone needed to close their eyes as it was burning.

They could all hear the screeches of agony and terror as every dead soul that was arising from the ground that Laxus portrayed as an enemy were destroyed.

Mixed in with the screeches and screams of terror, they heard Naraku as well.

It felt like an eternity, but the light finally deemed and they could all slowly open their eyes again.

"He did it," Inuyasha said as he panted, "He destroyed them."

Sesshomaru could only stare at Laxus, never once thinking the dragon slayer could possess an unimaginable amount of power to defeat an army of dead demons at that extent.

Kagome was just making her way to Laxus as he was barely sustaining himself with one knee bent. She could see he was sweating and panting heavily.

But it all happened too quickly.

Someone saw it coming and they screamed. Laxus braced himself as he could not move. He heard Kagome screaming at him to get out of the way.

The hit never came. He felt something wet landing on his face, and as he opened his eyes, he saw Inuyasha in front of him as a shield, with a sharp tentacle piercing his chest.

Inuyasha coughed, his eyes wide in shock, blood coming out of his mouth. He dropped Tetsusaiga as he gripped the tentacle with his clawed hands, trying to pull it out. By then Kagome reached him and with her katana she sliced the tentacle.

She dropped it as she caught Inuyasha with her arms, "No no no no!"

She was covered in his blood immediately. She was holding his head up as she tried to put pressure on his chest, as the tentacle dissolved when she cut it.

"Inuyasha, please stay with me! Keep your eyes open!"

Wendy limped over to them to try to help, but after the last spell to boost Laxus, she was officially out of magic. Levy ran to them and so did Gajeel with Lily behind him. Sango, Miroku, and Shippo were also making their way over.

Sango could feel a ball forming in the back of her throat. He already seemed pale.

Laxus snapped out of his shock finally, "Why the fuck would you do that?!" he looked over at Wendy, "Heal him!"

Wendy was shaking as her hands were also on the wound, "I'm out of magic, I can't."

Kagome was starting to hyperventilate, "I can do it, I can heal him, I can-"

She was stopped by Inuyasha. He gripped her wrist and weakly said, "No, just finish him off…"

Her chest was moving up and down as the tears started to fall and she looked ahead. Sesshomaru was out in the field battling Naraku. As soon as Kagome cut the tentacle, Sesshomaru jumped in to avenge his brother.

He could not do it on his own even if Naraku had been weakened by Laxus.

Laxus could see the way Kagome was in shock and held back her cry that wanted to escape her body, "Let me help you Inuyasha!"

Levy put a hand on her shoulder, "We'll watch him. Go!"

Kagome's face was red as she carefully passed him to Levy so he could lay his head on her lap. Miroku took off the top part of his robe to use it as a bandage to stop the bleeding. Gajeel grabbed the bow that was on the ground and three arrows left.

A lone tear fell down her face as he gave them to her, "Make 'em count."

She nodded, trying to hold in the despair she felt. She's seen him injured before, but not like this. Her eyes went quickly to his father's sword that now laid on the dirt. With a shaky breath, she took off in a sprint towards it.

Laxus couldn't snap out of his shock that Inuyasha of all people saved his life. The half-demon had it out for him since the moment they met. Always bickering, always glaring at each other.

That blow would have killed him, but Inuyasha took the hit.

And that's when it dawned on Laxus that Inuyasha did love Kagome. However, Kagome loves him now. Inuyasha couldn't bring himself to see Kagome in despair if Laxus was dead. So he jumped in to protect him.

Inuyasha sacrificed himself for Kagome's happiness.

There was a scream from Kagome and something in the back of his head snapped. There was a pulsating sensation coming from him as the sense of revenge was overwhelming. The sense of protecting her took over.

Gajeel saw the way the scales started to appear on Laxus' arms and his neck. He's seen the scales before, the first time they fought during Fantasia, but this was different. The slit of his eyes resembled the one of a dragon.

Wendy was looking at him wide eyed because she understood exactly what was happening to Laxus.

Inuyasha barely lifted his hand and gripped Laxus' forearm, "Protect…her…"

Laxus gripped his hand tightly and nodded. He stood up and they all could see the lightning around him was different.

It was red.

Kagome barely evaded a spiked tentacle, but Sesshomaru came to her aid and from a distance with a poison whip, destroyed it before it could reach her. She channeled her energy and fired one arrow.

It made contact with Naraku's shoulder and he screamed.

She tried putting up a shield when she saw a wave of dark energy, but she was swept up by Kirara.

Just where she stood, the wave of dark energy met lightning.

Red lightning.

She was not sure how he still had any magic left. She wasn't sure if it was what happened to Inuyasha or because this was the end, but she couldn't be prouder of his strength and battle resilience.

She swallowed as she looked for an opportunity. Her side was burning as Naraku did manage to cut her, right where she already had a scar. She could feel the blood trailing down.

Sesshomaru was a splendid fighter and he was fast. Once Laxus joined in with his own moves, Naraku could see that he was essentially trapped.

He tried getting rid of Kagome who was flying above him, but the dragon kept getting in the way.

He was hopeful that after stabbing Inuyasha in the chest that they would all lose hope. There was no way he could survive that.

But Sesshomaru, Lord of the West, Lord of the Inuyoukai House, first son of General Inutaisho, was the first one to attack him. He could see the flickering of red in his amber eyes, even through the neutral expression he possessed. However if anyone looked close enough, they could see the rage.

Naraku landed a hard kick to Sesshomaru that sent him back several yards.

"Sesshomaru!"

He looked up and he was surprised to see that Kagome had Tetsusaiga and flung it at him. There was a slight whistling sound from the wind as the sword came at him, and with a swift movement, he caught it.

He was expecting for the sword to reject him, as it did many times in the past. He was waiting for his hand to burn.

The moment he took a hold of the fang, it transformed to its full potential.

Laxus took advantage of Naraku being distracted so that he called out anything he had left. He knew he was in dragon force, but his energy was already dangerously low because of Fairy Law. He had one shot with his newfound magic and he needed it to make it count.

For Inuyasha.

For Kagome.

"Dragon Slayer Secret Art: Roaring Thunder!"

Naraku's eyes widened as Laxus came at full speed, his fist engulfed in red lightning making contact with his abdomen. He gasped as the pain was overwhelming, the lightning being different than before. He couldn't hold it in, as a scream escaped his lips as his limbs were immensely electrocuted and he was thrown back several yards away. He could feel his insides burning away. He stood up quickly, but several of his tentacles, spikes, and an arm were missing. He coughed and blood came out of his mouth.

"This is not over!"

He then felt the shift of the wind and his eyes widened when he saw a powerful Wind Scar making his way at him. He's seen the Wind Scar before, it was impressive when Inuyasha would use the attack.

But Tetsusaiga was being held by a pure fledged demon.

He couldn't dodge it. He couldn't teleport away. Kagome's arrow combined with the red lightning weakened him. His eyes went over to Kagura.

If I eat her I can regain my strength!

But a dragon roar got in his way. It wasn't as strong as Laxus', but it was enough to keep him in place.

Just before the Wind Scar could reach him, his red eyes went wide in alarm and panic as he saw a spiritual arrow being combined with the demonic energy of the Wind Scar.

NO!

Laxus could feel the magic leaving him, but he did one last inhale to push Kagome's arrow.

"Lightning Dragon Roar!"

The explosion that followed was absolutely destructive. Wendy, Sango, and Miroku used their bodies to shield Inuyasha while Shippo covered his head. Gajeel used his body to quickly cover Levy.

Kagome hopped off Kirara and stood next to Sesshomaru with Laxus slowly joining them. Kagome and Laxus were panting heavily.

Sesshomaru narrowed his eyes, "He's not dead. The jewel is giving him life support."

Kagome reached for her pocket, and in her hand was the last shard. With a string she kept it with, she wrapped the string with the shard on the tip of her arrow.

"It can grant one wish," she said as she got the arrow ready, "And I have my wish."

She took a shuddering breath as the tears started to come. She inhaled deeply and closed her eyes as she channeled everything to her arrow, as she ensured her final wish was heard so the monstrosity of what was once Onigumo could disappear off the face of the earth. She could feel the warmth coming from her FairyTail mark.

For all the dead demons and humans alike.

For Sango and her family.

For Miroku and his curse.

For Kikyo's suffering.

For Inuyasha.

She let the arrow go and opened her eyes as it came in contact with Naraku's chest, where the rest of the jewel resided.

I wish for the jewel to vanish.