Chapter 11:
The Elemental Demon
(Opening: One Day, One Dream)
It was a stormy day, and Naraku was moving around in search of a new hideout.
- "Inuyasha and his friends are turning out to be a true annoyance…" – said Naraku irritated – "They have managed to escape all the traps and schemes I've set to eliminate them, despite being so close to getting rid of them so many times…" –
- "Hmph, looks like someone's acting like a spoiled baby over having to run away with the tentacles between his legs" – muttered Kagura in a low voice.
- "Still haven't found a method to take back the shard they still have?" – said Hakudoushi.
- "Close your mouth, Hakudoushi" – said Naraku annoyed – "One more word, and I'll make sure you regret not being destroyed by that priest" –
- "*sigh*… Onee-san…" - muttered Kohaku in a low voice – 'With all the infighting they have, anyone would think they'd be much easier to defeat…' –
- "I feel something…" – said Kanna as she pointed to a tree in front of them as a lightning struck at the distance.
- "Hmm, interesting… I feel quite an amount of demonic energy coming from that place… maybe I'll find something interesting to absorb over there…" – said Naraku as he flew faster to the place, followed by the detachments and Kohaku.
- "It's truly powerful…" – said Kagura feeling overwhelmed from the large amount of energy, while Kohaku began feeling a headache.
- "Hmph, you both feel sick from this? How pathetic…" – said Hakudoushi in a scathing voice.
When Naraku got close enough to the place, he noticed it was a tree that had a round black mirror on one of its branches, while there was a small black shard similar to the Shikon shards on the ground.
- "Hmm? A shard of the Shikon Pearl?" – said Naraku as he telekinetically picked it up from the ground and examined it with an intrigued expression – "This shouldn't be possible… I have the entire Pearl on my hands… except for the shards that fool Kouga and Inuyasha's group have in their possession…" –
However, the black mirror began emitting a shadowy glow from the place where it was lying, while Naraku heard a dim but evil voice coming from it.
- "Give me back… my body…" – said the voice.
- "Body? Oh, you mean this shard?" – said Naraku. Using his telekinesis, he embedded the shard on the upper border of the mirror. Upon doing this, the mirror let out a blast of black energy, which Naraku withstood without even flinching. The next instant, the black silhouette of a dragon with evil bloody red eyes appeared on the surface of the mirror.
- "My consciousness is finally awake…" – said the dragon – "Are you the one who released the seal?" –
- "I am. My name is Naraku" – said Naraku smirking evilly – "So, who I have the pleasure of meeting?" –
- "I am Tenebross, holder of the power of the Nothingness, and Dragon of the Shadows" – said Tenebross closing his eyes briefly – "And what is this place? I'm not in Dragonia anymore?" –
- "I don't know that place you're talking about. However, you do seem to hold certain… qualities that could be useful to me" – said Naraku as he tried to gain Tenebross' trust.
- "Stupid. Do you really think I would agree to become a servant for such an insignificant life form as yourself?" – said Tenebross irate.
- "What? Do you think you are a God or something?" – laughed Naraku.
- "I AM a God, imbecile! The Nothingness is a Will that is on the same level as the Will of Kiockse, which means that I hold power over the entire universe as well! If I could, I would erase your existence itself right now for your insolence!" – said Tenebross letting another shadow blast come out from the mirror – "But alas… I'm sealed in this accursed mirror, and my body is scattered in crystal fragments like the one you just embedded on it…" –
- "In that case, shall we cooperate?" – said Naraku being very interested on Tenebross' supposed power – "I can help you search for the fragments of your body, but on the condition that you help me eliminate my enemies…" –
- "Hmph, I guess I have no other choice" – said Tenebross – "Very well. My monsters and myself will face your enemies and help you with their extermination, but make sure to be diligent and bring the fragments to me… otherwise, my patience may run out and I just may kill you for taking too long…" –
- "No problem…" – said Naraku. They both then began laughing demonically.
- "Hmm, how interesting…" – said Hakudoushi with an evil smile.
- "No… this can't be good…" – said Kagura as she gritted her teeth scared.
- "Onee-san… and I can't even go warn you about this…" – muttered Kohaku as he lowered his gaze.
And thus, several days passed…
- "Our first encounter was rather interesting, now I think about it" – said Naraku to Tenebross. They were at that moment in the hideout, watching through Kanna's mirror how Inuyasha's group was leaving the village after Kaede told them about how to restore Kagome's memory.
- "Don't change the topic to avoid your blame, Naraku...! You are an incompetent!" – shouted Tenebross enraged from within his mirror.
- "And what gives you the right to talk to Naraku-sama in such a way? As far as I'm aware, I have no boss…" – said Naraku with a mocking smile on his face.
- "I have all the right in this world or any other because all your schemes have failed one after other! We lost the girl, and they will be restoring her memories soon!" – shouted Tenebross.
- "If you just knew I have another plan prepared…" – said Naraku with an irritated face.
- "I'm fed up with your failures! This time, I'll take care of this!" – said Tenebross as he closed his eyes – "Ist Ikuak ChelkRe Phinambrea Ilg Ical, Oli Couma Cust Phaph FaleaRe Necla Ical!"
A group of shadows appeared and gathered in front of Tenebross, and shortly later a black monster similar to a minotaur, which wore a black armor and wielded a large axe, emerged from them.
- "Master, I await your orders…" – said the monster as he knelt in front of Tenebross' mirror.
- "Ankon, go and bring me back the Fragments of Shadows these idiot chosen have… also, bring me this girl…" – said Tenebross as his image faded into that of Kagome. His image returned to the mirror shortly later – "And if anyone dares to get on your way… Kill them…" –
- "Understood, master…" – said Ankon beforing dissolving into the shadows.
- "Hmm, I see you like sending others to fight in your stead rather than getting your hands dirty…" – said Naraku as he laughed in a sick way.
- "Shut it. You're worse than me on that front…" – snarled Tenebross.
- "Haha, how funny. They're meant for each other… And they might just announce their engagement any day now" – said Kagura between whispers from where she watched the whole event, and upon imagining that, she began laughing.
- "What are you laughing at, Kagura?" – asked Naraku as soon as he noticed where she was hiding. Luckily, he didn't hear what she was whispering.
- 'Eh… about the things awaiting Inuyasha's group…" – said Kagura continuing her laughter, though it was now feigned.
Meanwhile, Inuyasha's group continued traveling to Ryuusei Village. As they had already spent the entire day walking, they decided to rest up for a while near a river.
- "Phew, I didn't expect this trip to be so long" – said Gabriela wiping sweat off her forehead as she grabbed some water from the river with a bottle.
- "Indeed. Kaede wasn't joking when she said it was very far…" – said Gerardo as he continued practicing his water-manipulation skills by drawing a thread of water from the river and changing its shape.
- "Hmm, you seem to have improved a bit since last time" – said Sango watching how he continued moving the water thread around and turned into a snake, a sphere and a circle.
- "As long as he doesn't make it burst over me…" – said Inuyasha irritated.
- "Hehe, it'd be funny!" – said Kagome laughing, which made the others laugh and Inuyasha sigh.
- "Gerar… can I start practicing my light-manipulation skill too?" – asked Gabriela innocently, which made Gerardo trip and fall from the impression, which also broke his concentration and made the water mass fall over him, getting him completely drenched. This made everyone laugh again, while Inuyasha jeered at Gerardo.
- "Since when have you named your powers like that?" – asked him impressed.
- "Ever since I got them!" – said Gabriela with a silly smile.
- "Well, do it now. But please, don't interrupt me while I'm practicing myself…" – said he as he clapped his hands to then extract the water that was drenching him, drying himself instantly, and combined it with a little more water he drew from the river to then resume practicing. Gabriela took his words at face value and after clapping her hands; she drew some light from her surroundings and began playing with it. She formed a sphere from it and made it float near Kagome.
- "Whoa, how pretty!" – said her as she began chasing after the sphere.
- "Let's do it too! Looks like fun!" – said Shippou at Rin.
- "Yeah!" – replied her, and they both joined Kagome in chasing after the sphere as they laughed, which made all the others but Sesshomaru and Jaken smile. On the other hand, Kaede was amazed upon seeing this.
- "How is it you can do that?" – asked her after a while of seeing both siblings manipulating their respective elements, and of how Kagome, Rin and Shippou were playing with the light sphere. She herself wanted to play too, but the impression left her rooted to the ground and looked at them in amazement.
- "These are our special powers. We got them a little ago from some sacred dragons" – replied Gabriela while she used her free hand to gather another bit of light, rolled it into a spiral form, and then stretched it into a straight line.
- "And they're quite handy too" – said Gerardo as he placed the water mass in the ground in front of him and gave an arrow form to part of it. He then snapped his fingers, which instantly turned the water into ice.
- "Whoa, impressive!" – said Miroku.
- "That's amazing!" – said Sango.
All of the others also had similar reactions, except for Jaken and Sesshomaru. As for Kagome, Rin and Shippou, they stopped chasing the light sphere and ran off to look at the great frozen mass greatly surprised.
- "You can freeze the water?" – asked Gabriela as her concentration broke, making disappear the lights she had been manipulating.
- "I can also unfreeze it and turn it into steam. However, I can't do anything to ice aside of making it melt," – explained Gerardo. He then grabbed the arrow, pulled it out from the ice mass, and gave it to Kaede with a smile – "Consider this a gift. It could be useful if you ever run out of arrows, and don't worry: it won't melt no matter how hot it gets or how much time passes" -
- "Thanks" – said Kaede smiling as she looked at it. The arrow had a phrase written in minute katakana over its body – "イストシエルバクリェゼットイアドリカエイリカルザァフズイカル... Huh? But this doesn't have any meaning!" –
- "Just recite it when you shoot it" – said Gerardo with an enigmatic smile – "That will freeze dry any problems you might be facing" –
- "Oh, okay then!" – said Kaede as she stored it in her quiver – "It's a bit cold, but I'm sure it'll be useful" -
- "Okay, can we eat now?" – asked Shippou, and at that time, their stomachs began grumbling one after other.
- "Yeah. Looks like we're all hungry" – said Sango with a smile as she and Kaede began fixing lunch. After a while, they were all eating some roasted fishes, which Gerardo fished out from the river by enclosing them in bubbles and drawing them out.
- "These powers of yours are undoubtedly useful…" – said Sesshomaru as he looked at the others eating. Naturally, he wasn't eating at all – "That saves that fool Inuyasha the trouble of having to fail miserably at seeking food…" –
- "Don't call Inuyasha that!" – said Kagome enraged before Inuyasha could have replied. All the others were shocked that despite being such a young child, she was standing up to him like this. Jaken tried to go hit her, but he only got tackled and stepped on by Inuyasha.
- "I am his elder brother, so I can call him however I please…" – said Sesshomaru coldly.
- "But you should be kinder to him! These two are siblings too, and they're so different from you two!" – said Kagome as she pointed to Gerardo and Gabriela, which made the two alluded blush at once and look at the ground.
- "Err… you better not compare us to them… there's lots of difference between them and us…" – said Gerardo.
- "Agreed, but at least we get along better than them…" – said Gabriela shyly giving a smile to her brother.
- "He's Inuyasha's older brother?" – asked Kaede as she looked at Sesshomaru.
- "Half-brother, actually…" – said Sango at once.
- "And as you might have guessed, he's a full youkai. Inuyasha had a human mother, but it doesn't seem that was the case for Sesshomaru" – explained Miroku in a serious voice.
- "Hmm, that explains a lot of things, like they hating each other so much…" – said Kaede as she turned away her gaze from Sesshomaru a bit scared. No one else said anything else until they finished eating, disintegrated the remains of the food with Gabriela's light powers, and continued their journey to Ryuusei.
- "Hell, this journey is getting to be so boring…" – said Gerardo after a half-hour walking.
- "Agreed, Gerar…" – said Gabriela. The landscape had gotten pretty repetitive after they left the river: they were now walking through some plains with mountains far away in the back, and there wasn't anything that broke the repetition of the place. There were no other forests or other landmarks throughout the area.
- "My feet hurt… I'm tired…" – said Kagome as she began gasping and her eyes filled with tears. Shippou didn't have that problem because he was riding on Sango's shoulder, while Rin was riding on Ah-Un with Jaken.
- "Stop complaining already!" – said Inuyasha as he saddled up Kagome on her back.
- "Yay! Thanks Inuyasha-nii!" – said Kagome as she leaned and gave him a hug. Inuyasha blushed while the others laughed.
- 'It's natural for her to do this. She's just a little kid now… but I've gotta say these two are right… this damn plain's so much of a drag to walk through… and there isn't even anything to fight with!' - though Inuyasha.
- "Hehe, leaving aside our dear hanyou with his sort of-little sister, I have to say this situation is so strange…" – said Miroku thoughtfully.
- "She's not my little sister! She's more like… a little friend…" – said Inuyasha blushing with an irritated face, as he couldn't consider Kagome like that due to the feelings he had for her. Kagome just began giggling on his back.
- "Okay, you don't have to act like that!" – said Sango laughing. However, she then regained her more serious attitude – "But what do you mean, Houshi-sama?" –
- "It's just that I thought they would be taking advantage of us being in the middle of the wilderness to attack us and steal the Fragments of Shadows we have…" – said Miroku looking around.
- "Please, don't jinx it!" – said Shippou as his face paled.
- "Fragments of Shadows?" – asked Kaede disconcerted.
- "These…" – said Gerardo as he turned around and took out one of the fragments from the Satchel of Light to show it to her, using the Satchel's cloth itself as a cover to not get shocked by their energy discharges. Kaede was jumped backward upon feeling the evil that emanated from it – "These are the pieces of the essence from a very powerful demon called Tenebross…" -
- "And why do you seek them?" – asked Kaede covering her mouth with her hands, as if they were crazy for even thinking to do it.
- "To keep that thing from coming back to life…" – said Sesshomaru – "I heard in its entirety the lore you told them after you left that strange temple…" –
- "You were spying on us?" – asked Sango surprised.
- "I was watching you all the time after Gerardo defeated me on that battle…" – replied Sesshomaru coldly – "But I didn't want to come close until I could ascertain if he actually held some kind of power…" -
- "That was your reason for saving me when I was about to fall from that cliff?" – asked Gerardo frowning while he reminisced about the time he thought Sesshomaru saved him from dying there.
- "Indeed, as I felt the changes in your energy and in the odor of your blood, and I wanted to ascertain how stronger you had grown…" – replied Sesshomaru in a completely emotionless voice.
There was no response to that affirmation, and they continued their walk in silence.
Meanwhile…
- "I don't see Ankon doing anything, Tenebross…" – said Naraku as bored as the group during their trip through the plains.
- "Be patient. You should know better than anyone that you must wait for the right moment before striking…" – said Tenebross in a sinister voice as he narrowed his evil eyes.
- "It's true, but I don't take so long to order my creatures to attack my enemies!" – said Naraku as he laughed as a psychopath.
After another hour, Inuyasha's group had finally reached the end of the plains, and they had begun ascending through a narrow path through the mountains.
- "At long last! This is the kind of landscape I love the most!" – said Gerardo joyfully.
- "I see you love mountains!" – said Sango while she and the others, save Sesshomaru and Jaken, laughed upon seeing Gerardo summon his armor and begin flying between the mountains, drawing all sorts of shapes. After a few minutes doing this, which Gabriela joined into shortly later, both went back to the ground and dismissed their armors as they laughed and held their hands.
- "Sorry, sorry! I couldn't help it!" – said Gerardo a bit embarrassed as they continued walking up – "It's because I had a long time without going to a mountainous region…" –
- "Hehe, and since it looked so fun, I couldn't help myself either!" – said Gabriela giggling, while the other girls began laughing.
- "I can't understand ya… at times ya look like Mr. Seriousness, while others ya look like a clown…" – said Inuyasha bitterly.
- "A person's personality has multiple faces… you should know that already, Inu-chan" – said Gerardo with a smile as he wagged his index finger in front of himself.
- "And yer even daring to call me that now!?" – shouted Inuyasha enraged.
- "Have you looked in a mirror lately?" – said Gabriela giggling, which made everyone laugh again. This also reminded Inuyasha that he was still in child form.
- "Okay, I've had enough of this! I'm gonna go back to my true form, and no one's gonna stop me!" – shouted he as he stomped toward Gerardo to make him bring Kagome's backpack out from his Dragtemn, but Gerardo avoided him.
- "You better calm down. Or are you intending to scare Kagome?" – asked Gerardo placing his hands on his hips and frowning.
- "He's right! Kagome-chan could get scared from your true form!" – said Rin extending her hands to her sides. Inuyasha finally realized the five year-old Kagome had never seen him in his true age, and given this could scare her or shatter her trust on him, he decided against doing it.
- "Keh, whatever!" – said he irritated as he crossed his arms. However, he pressed mistakenly the shortcut button for storing items of his Dragtemn, which made the device absorb his Tessaiga – "My sword! What did this thing do to my Tessaiga!?" –
- "How pathetic. You have now lost your most prized possession to a strange artifact…" – said Sesshomaru as his lips curved up to form an evil smile.
- "Shut it, Sesshomaru! Weird thing, gimme back my sword or I'll destroy you!" – said Inuyasha as he prepared to use his Sankontessou
- "Sit down!" – shouted Kagome, making Gerardo and Inuyasha fall to the ground, though this also surprised everyone else.
- "Kagome... Did you do that?" - asked Miroku with his eyes the size of saucers.
- "Oopsie… sorry! It came out by itself!" – said Kagome embarrassed, but Gabriela patted her head.
- "Well done!" – said her with a smile.
- "Hehe, thanks!" – said Kagome giggling. Both boys then stood up again and dusted off their clothes.
- "As long as she doesn't end up abusing it… By the way, Inuyasha… to take out Tessaiga from the Dragtemn, you just have to do this…" – said Gerardo as he navigated him through the Dragtemn's menus and showed him the procedure. Once he finished a few seconds later, Tessaiga reappeared out from the Dragtemn and affixed itself back to its owner's hip.
- "Great! Now I taught that thing who's the boss!" – said Inuyasha laughing, prompting the others to look and sweatdrop at him as if he was going insane.
- "'Kay then… can we go?" – asked Kagome yawning – "It's getting late…"
Dusk was beginning to set in, but they decided to continue for a little longer, as it would be dangerous to set up camp in such a narrow part of the mountain path.
- "Damn, this day's been so tiring…" – said Inuyasha gasping for breath after they continued climbing the mountain for a while.
- "Huh… first time I've ever seen you… so exhausted…" – said Gerardo, who himself was gasping in exhaustion. All the others except for Sesshomaru were also gasping or sitting in the ground to get some air back: the long walk had taken a lot out of them.
- "I think it'll be okay if we set up camp here: the road is wide enough for that" – said Miroku as he pointed to the segment of the road where they would sleep that night: it was a rather wide plateau with some trees.
- "Agreed, it's better than walking around in this place at night" – said Sango as she pointed to the sky: the little remaining daylight was dimming and night was finishing setting in.
- "Right, we better spend the night here" – nodded Gerardo as he took out everything they'd need to camp that night.
Shortly later, the camp was ready and they were all dining a few things Gerardo had brought from his house through his Dragtemn.
- "I supposed it was my turn to make the food, so here I've brought some customary food from my country!" – he said as he took out two kinds of flatbreads: one fried and shaped after crescent moons, and the other baked and round – "There are called "empanadas" and "arepas". My mother helped Gaby and me to make them, and they are still as fresh and warm as if they were just made because the Dragtemn's storage system keeps them in a void-like environment!" –
- "Hmm, they have a pretty good taste!" – said Miroku as he tried one of the empanadas – "What are they made from?" –
- "Empanadas are made with fried corn flour dough and filled with meat or cheese, while the arepas are mostly the same except for being baked instead of fried" – explained him as he ate one of the empanadas, which had meat filling.
- "Corn flour?" – asked Sango puzzled.
- "Ah sorry, I forgot that plant doesn't exist anywhere outside of our continent in this era" – said Gerardo as he showed them a hologram of a corn plant through his Dragtemn – "That's corn. The aboriginal people from my continent used to make most of their foods out from it, and it's currently used even to make some types of snacks around the world" –
- "Hmm, I think Kagome told me the popcorns she used to bring me are made from that stuff!" – said Shippou nodding with a smile.
- "Hehe, I like candied popcorn a lot, but I don't remember telling you that, Shippou" – said Kagome as she giggled.
- "Anyway, this stuff's pretty weird, but it tastes great!" – said Inuyasha as he gobbled down two empanadas.
- "Hey, you won't enjoy their taste if you eat them like that!" – said Kagome with a serious face, but she then began laughing upon seeing how comical Inuyasha looked – "That's what mom always told me!" –
But right after, her face filled with sadness and she began crying.
- "I want my mommy!" – she sobbed, and immediately Inuyasha stopped eating and hugged her to comfort her.
- "Don't worry. Mom knows you're sound and safe, and you'll see her again soon…" – he said as he stroked her face. Kagome began sobbing with less loudly and hugged back Inuyasha, who blushed like a tomato.
- "Huh, doesn't that remind you of someone?" – asked Miroku to Sango.
- "Yeah, and a lot, Houshi-sama" – replied Sango as she and Miroku were looking at Gerardo and Gabriela while they were eliminating the waste from the food and were storing everything else.
- "What're you talking about?" – asked Kaede with a curious look.
- "Nothing special. It's just Inuyasha looks like an older brother now…" – replied Sango.
- "Well, you're right. He's really taking care of Kagome now" – said Gerardo as he noticed how Kagome had stopped crying and was asking Inuyasha to play with her.
- "Hehe, he reminds me of you, Gerar" – said Gabriela smiling, which made Gerardo blush.
- "You didn't have to say that…" – said he in an embarrassed voice.
- "And it's quite curious that the fates brought us together here…" – said a known voice behind them.
- "Onee-sama? – asked Kaede surprised.
- "Kikyou!?" – said everyone at the same time, except for Kagome, Sesshomaru and Jaken.
Kikyou entered the area illuminated by the bonfire, and they noticed it was in fact her, accompanied by her Shikigamis Kochou and Asuka.
- "Good evening, Kikyou. I see you've brought company tonight…" – said Gerardo in a serious tone.
- "This is quite curious, now we have three pairs of siblings gathered in the same place" – said Miroku with an ironic voice.
- "Kikyou-sama…" – said Gabriela, who was now speechless.
- "I'm sorry for not having paid you more attention the last time we met. It seems you have quite a bit of respect for me, right? Little one?" – asked Kikyou with a smile as she put her face at the same height as Gabriela's. She then extended her palms and closed her eyes for a couple of instants, and opened them up again – "Hmm, I can also feel you have a great quantity of power within yourself… holy power, to be exact…" -
- "Holy power!?" – asked everyone except for Gerardo and Sesshomaru, though the second one made an impressed face that was next to imperceptible.
- "Well, yeah. It's because Gaby is a Light-elemental, and Light is the purest of all the six main elements used in Dragonia. On the other hand, Darkness is the less pure of them, though it also accomplishes an integral role in the preservation of the world" – said he as he showed the group the Elemental Seal through a Dragtemn hologram, with the points of the elements he was talking about shining in their respective colors – "Likewise, each of the other four elements are aligned with Light and the Darkness: Water and Wind are aligned with the Light, while the Fire and Earth are aligned with the Darkness. By the way, as you might be guessing, Gaby does have a greater potential power than me due to Light having more innate power than Water, but she can't control it well yet due to being so young…" –
- "Hmm, your explanation does seem to match my guesses of you being less powerful than her, as you also have holy power, though in a lesser quantity than your little sister…" – said Kikyou as she examined their auras – "However, this type of energy isn't something I've ever seen before…" –
- "This lady's giving me a bad feeling…" – muttered Kagome with a slightly angry face.
- "Kagome, calm down please…" – said Inuyasha as he tried to keep her from feeling jealous despite her having no memories about Kikyou.
- "Are you serious, onee-sama?" – asked Kaede amazed.
- "Impossible… is that you, Kaede?" – asked Kikyou blinking as she looked at her. She then looked at Inuyasha, and upon noticing the little girl that was next to him was Kagome, her eyes grew wider.
- "Yes, onee-sama… why do you ask? Are you okay?" – asked Kaede puzzled by her reaction.
- "No, it's nothing… I'm sorry to worry you…" – said Kikyou as she smiled at her, and she then looked at the others – "Can anyone here explain to me what has happened lately?" –
- "Anyone of us could, but I don't know who'd be the best one for that…" – said Gerardo as he looked at the ground.
- "I'll do it…" – said Inuyasha as he stood up.
- "And what about Kagome? Are you thinking about leaving her like this?" – said Miroku in a cold tone as he looked at Inuyasha worried.
- "Feh! I won't be away for long! Besides, y'all can take perfectly take care of her while I'm away!" – said Inuyasha irritated.
- "But she trusts in you the most…" – said Sango, but Inuyasha had gone away from the light with Kikyou before she could finish the phrase.
- "Talking about stubborn, that's why he always ends up getting sat down…" – sighed Gerardo.
- "When's Inuyasha-nii coming back?" – asked Kagome nervous as her eyes began filling with tears.
- "He'll come back soon. Wanna play with a coloring book meanwhile?" – asked Gabriela with a smile.
- "Yay! Yeah!" – said Kagome wiping her eyes and showing an ear-to-ear smile, so Gabriela went to her backpack, took out a coloring book and some crayons, and both began coloring the drawings, to which Rin and Shippou joined in shortly later.
After a while, Inuyasha, Kikyou and both of her Shikigamis came back to the rest of the group.
- "I understand your current situation, and I'll accompany you for now…" – said Kikyou to then sit near the bonfire. This made everyone react in surprise, Gabriela was ecstatic and Gerardo had his jaw drop to the ground.
- "Great! Kikyou-sama's coming with us!" – said Gabriela dancing around joyfully.
- "I just hope she won't betray us like how she did to Kagome that time…" – said Gerardo crossing his arms after he recovered from the surprise, remembering how she stole the Shikon shard Kagome had when they fell in Naraku's Death Illusion trap.
- "It's great! But what do you mean with that?" – said Kaede as her face filled with anger.
- "I can only say that I had reason for what I did that time. However, I can't tell you why, as Naraku might be spying on us right now…" - said Kikyou seriously.
- "So… you did…?" – asked Kaede as she fell her insides go empty.
- "I'll explain it later, Kaede. Please, trust me for now" – said Kikyou to her sister in a sharp voice.
- "Okay… I'll trust you, onee-sama" – said Kaede with a smile, although this didn't completely erase her misgivings.
- "Well then, anyone in the mood for some music before going to sleep?" – said Gerardo noticing how Kikyou had gotten herself out of that pinch. The others, excepting for Kikyou and Sesshomaru, just nodded with a smile in response.
- "Okay then, I'll begin playing it now" – said Gerardo as he put his Dragtemn to play an ocarina-based melody, which later on also included mandolin, harp and strings.
- "How… do you manage to get such music out from that little device…?" – asked Kikyou as she looked at the Dragtemns with suspicion.
- "Yeah, we've never seen something like that before…" – said Kaede blinking at him.
- "Oh, it's just that the era we're from, as well as the world the devices are from, have a much more advanced technology. We can record musical performances and play them back whenever we wish" – said Gerardo with a smile.
- "Hehe, and I'm wanting to be violoncellist and singer when I grow up" – said Gabriela with a smile.
- "The violoncello, or cello, is an instrument from another part of the world. Don't mind it" – said Gerardo before they could ask.
- "Anyhow, you have a nice dream, wanting to be a musician" – said Miroku nodding with a smile.
- "I don't know yet what I wanna be… a teacher… or a nurse…" – said Kagome a bit sad.
- "Just give it time, ya'll know what you wanna do before you realize it" – said Inuyasha.
- "Anyway, it was a nice performance. Does that melody have a name?" – asked Kikyou intrigued.
- "Yes. It's called "Memories of Mother", and I just wanted to hear it. I feel my mother close to me whenever I hear it, and I guess Gaby and Kagome felt similarly when they heard" – said Gerardo.
- "Hehe, I miss mommy, but at least I don't feel so sad about it now. Thanks, Gerardo-nii!" – said Kagome smiling.
- "I think their mom must be a pretty and gentle woman" – said Rin before yawning.
- "She is. We already had the chance to meet her" – said Sango with a smile.
- "So, shall we go to sleep?" – suggested Miroku smiling before stretching himself – "We've had a pretty long and tiring day, and tomorrow we'll have to keep walking the mountain up, so we have to regain our energies" –
There were no objections, so Sango tucked Shippou and Kagome in one of the sleeping bags while Gerardo and Gabriela got into another one. Inuyasha lied down on a tree branch, at whose foot Miroku leaned against, Sesshomaru enclosed himself on a sphere of light while Rin and Jaken fell asleep over Ah-Un, and Kikyou remained seated where she was, with Kaede asleep over her knees and with her Shikigami watching over them in silence.
- "I never imagined I'd see my sister like this ever again…" – said Kikyou as she stroked Kaede's hair softly with a melancholic smile on her face a while after everyone went to sleep.
- "Life is filled with surprises for all of us every single day… miko-sama…" – said Gerardo from his sleeping bag as he stood up and went to where she was. He smiled briefly at Kaede before centering his attention on Kikyou.
- "I see you're still awake…" – said Kikyou raising her gaze.
- "Yes, sometimes I have difficulties falling asleep because I can't empty my head from all the thoughts I have in it…" – said Gerardo looking at the sky in a dreamy way before looking at Kikyou with a suspicion filled gaze.
- "I see you are a thinker… but why do you suspect of me so much?" – asked Kikyou with a mocking smile.
- "I still can't fully understand you… you stole these Shikon shards from Inuyasha's group to defeat Naraku? Do you have a plan for that?" – asked Gerardo crossing his arms.
- "I do have one. However, I can't tell you how or when I'm going to carry it out" – said Kikyou looking around – "Naraku must be spying us, and I don't want him to find out about this" -
- "As you wish. However, you should be more trusting in others… or have you been unable to overcome that wound you carry in your heart ever since Naraku laid that trap upon you two?" – asked Gerardo narrowing his eyes.
- "That's none of your business… living ones can never understand my feelings!" – said Kikyou irritated, before changing her face into a mocking smile – "And as far as I see, I'm not the only one keeping secrets here, am I?" –
- "That excuse of not being able to understand your feelings is as old as dust itself" – said Gerardo with a piercing gaze before turning to look at the others – "And if you mean our Seirei and Dragon powers with that last comment, everyone here is already aware of them" –
- "How curious. And anyway, what are these powers supposed to be?" – asked Kikyou intrigued.
- "You'll find out tomorrow… if you still decide to continue being with us… now if you excuse me, I wish you good night…" – said Gerardo as he returned to his sleeping bag, tucked in beside his sister, and fell asleep. Kikyou continued watching over Kaede for a while longer until sleep claimed her as well.
Meanwhile…
- "How funny… I've been seeking Kikyou for so long to wipe her off from this world, and she ends up coming to me out of her own free will!" – said Naraku laughing.
- "Then we can kill three birds with a single stone: we eliminate that Kikyou, we snatch away the Fragments of Shadow they have, and we can also capture the girl with the purification powers" – said Tenebross in an evil tone – "Ankon! Go and eliminate them now!" -
- "It was about time…" – said Naraku impatiently.
The group was still sleeping peacefully in the camp, still waiting for the faraway coming of dawn, when they heard a strong rumbling ahead of them. This instantly awakened them.
- "What the hell's happening here!?" – shouted Inuyasha as he jumped down from the tree and hugged Kagome, who was crying from the fear.
- "We don't know, but we can feel a great amount of demonic energy in front of us!" – shouted Miroku standing up and looking in the direction of the rumbling.
- "It must be a very powerful youkai!" – said Sango as she got ready to fight.
- "Or maybe it's one of Tenebross' demons! Kagome, what…!?" – said Gerardo, but upon seeing in Kagome's direction and remembering she was just a crying little girl that couldn't use her powers at the moment, he stopped mid-phrase and turned to Kikyou – "It can't be helped… Kikyou, does that youkai have any weirdly colored auras, or any kind of shine?" –
- "Why do you want to know that?" – asked Kikyou coldly.
- "To know what we're up against!" – replied Gerardo annoyed.
- "If you wish to know so badly… its aura has a black color, and it emits a dark black shine" – said Kikyou in an antipathy-filled tone – "Does that mean anything?" –
- "It does: the monster is Dark-elemental, and it's carrying a Fragment of Shadows!" – said Gerardo as he drew his sword and shield.
- "Then it's time to fight!" – said Inuyasha as he ran off.
- "Sango, I need you to stay here to take care of Gaby and Kagome" – said Gerardo worried – "While in normal conditions they'd be a great help against that kind of monster, Kagome can't use her powers and Gaby's powers are weakened with so much darkness around, so they'd only be easy prey for that thing" –
- "But I wanna help you too, Gerar!" – said Gabriela as she got out from the sleeping bag with her bow in her hands, but Gerardo stopped her.
- "I'm sorry Gaby, but I won't put you in risk unnecessarily. Please, trust us and wait here" – said Gerardo upon seeing how she pouted, and then he turned to Sango – "Can I entrust them to you?" -
- "Of course! I'll make sure nothing happens to them!" – nodded Sango with a hand over her Hiraikotsu.
- "Kaede, you must also wait for us here" – said Kikyou gently.
- "But… why, onee-sama…?" – asked Kaede saddened.
- "Because you could get hurt in the battle, so please, wait for me here…" – said Kikyou with a sad face: she didn't want to have Kaede lose an eye because of her again.
- "Okay, onee-sama…" – said Kaede nodding, but looking at her with sadness.
- "Rin, you and Jaken must stay here…" – said Sesshomaru – "And if anything happens to Rin… I'm sure you know the consequences, Jaken…" –
- "Ugh… yes, Sesshomaru-sama… I'll make sure nothing happens to her!" – said Jaken as he gulped down.
- "Good luck, Sesshomaru-sama!" – exclaimed Rin as Sesshomaru walked away from them.
- "Let's go already!" – said Inuyasha as he ran to the place the demonic energy was coming from.
- "Full speed ahead!" – shouted Gerardo running after him.
After they walked around a corner of the mountain road, they saw their enemy: it was a minotaur-like demon that wielded a great axe and wore a black armor.
- "And who're ya supposed to be, ugly freak?" – asked Inuyasha upon seeing it and pointing his sword against him.
- "Big words for a hanyou brat! I am named Ankon, and I have been sent here by Lord Tenebross to get rid of you all!" – shouted the monster.
- "We'll see who gets rid of whom!" – screamed Gerardo – "Ist Wasriats Oschmere Iadlast Kiabze Pawatz Zosph, Phaph Myya Zosph Phiaphz Ical! Iadlast Pawatz! Dragoon!" –
- "So a bearer of the Dragonian powers! This is going to be fun!" – said Ankon as he brandished his axe after Gerardo had finished his transformation.
- "Inuyasha, let's pull off our joint technique!" – said Gerardo as he flew above him as he began chanting the Dragonian spell for his Water's Scar – "Watsa ya..." –
- "On it!" – said Inuyasha as he began executing his Kaze no Kizu – "Destruction…" –
- "Vortex!" – shouted both at the same time, mixing up their respective energy waves to create a light green whirlwind that crashed into the monster, severely wounding it.
- "Ugh… not bad for a mere breeze…" – said Ankon in a mocking tone despite the wounds they inflicted on him – "Alt tok yallal pinambrea hilsec sos... Dark Cure!" -
A dark flow emerged from their surroundings and entered him, instantly healing all the damage it had received.
- "Dammit! All that for nothing!?" – screamed Inuyasha gritting his teeth – "We'll show ya, damn horned freak!" –
He began attacking it with slashes from his Tessaiga, supported by Kikyou's arrows, Miroku's ofudas, Sesshomaru's claw slashes and Gerardo's barrage of water beams from the air, but Ankon undid all their attacks by healing himself.
- "This… is… absurd!" – shouted Inuyasha exasperated and tired after a vain series of slashes that Ankon had regenerated from – "No matter how much damage we cause him, he heals himself!" -
- "Then we'll have to kill it as quickly as possible to not give it a chance to heal!" – said Miroku as he began undoing the rosary on his cursed hand.
- "Don't even think about using the Kazaana, Miroku!" – shouted Gerardo from above – "That thing has so much demonic energy that he'd destroy you if you tried absorbing him!" –
- "What should we do then?" – asked Miroku retying the rosary around his hand while he felt useless.
- "Under our current conditions, we can't do much" – said Gerardo shaking his head while Sesshomaru and Kikyou continued attacking Ankon – "Darkness-elemental beings receive a tremendous boost in power during night…" -
- "What'cha mean?" – asked Inuyasha as a drop of sweat ran down his face.
- "The more darkness in the environment, the more the power of the Darkness-elementals increases…" – said Gerardo as he narrowed his eyes – "The best thing we could do would be retreating and trying to find a light source we can use to our favor!" -
- "I'm not gonna chicken out like that!" – shouted Inuyasha – "I'm gonna stay and fight to the end!" –
- "Don't be stupid!" – said Gerardo irritated – "We can't always win through mere brute force!" –
- "Hoh, so the Seirei-fool does have a capacity for strategic thinking! Anyway, if the hanyou is going to be so much of an idiot, I'll grant his death wish first!" – shouted Ankon mockingly – "Watsa ya koulltam hydlakea dat tastssaks ika, yst mitsuceah koulltam betrem tastssaks ika! Curse of Darkness!" -
A black energy sphere came out from Ankon's hands and struck Inuyasha, who didn't have time to avoid it.
- "Uhh… who…? What…? Where…? How…?" – said Inuyasha moving as if he was dizzy and with a zombied out expression on his face, and he then began attacking his allies. Ankon burst in laughter upon seeing it.
- "Inuyasha, what happened to you? Don't you remember we're in your side?" – asked Kikyou saddened as she stepped aside to avoid one of his attacks.
- "He's confused!" – said Gerardo seeing Inuyasha's expression, but as he became the target for his next attack, he had to deflect his blows with his shield and the wings of his armor - "He can't distinguish foes and allies like this!" -
- "Being confused like that means he has no brain…" – said Sesshomaru ignoring him and continuing with his attempts of attacking Ankon, who went back to healing his wounds.
- "And what can we do to make him snap out of this?" – asked Miroku avoiding another blow.
- "Strike him on the head!" – said Gerardo as he tried to fly into the air again. However, his transformation cancelled itself and he fell to the ground from the little height he was at, landing on all fours – "Damn! I'm so tired I couldn't continue keeping the transformation active!" –
- "Inuyasha, snap out of that!" – said Miroku as he struck him on the head with his staff.
- "Eh…? What happened to me? Where I am?" – asked Inuyasha disconcerted.
- "I see you've regained your senses, but your luck has run out…" – said Ankon as he took on a strange stance: he sat down, crossed his legs, closed his eyes, and concentrated. A great amount of dark energy began gathering around him...
- "No…!" – said Gerardo as he saw how darkness began coiling around the monster – "We've gotta withdraw! He's trying to self-destruct and take us down with him!" –
- "Okay, time to retreat!" – said Miroku as he carried Inuyasha, who still hadn't gotten fully aware of the situation, and all the fighters retreated back to the camp.
- "What happened!?" – asked Sango scared when she saw them running.
- "We've gotta flee at once!" – said Gerardo alarmed – "That demon is trying to destroy itself along with this whole place!" -
- "Hop on Kirara! Gabriela, transform into dragoon form so we can get away from this place!" – said Sango as she called her small companion, which transformed into her larger form. Inuyasha, Kagome, Shippou, Miroku and Sango hopped on her, Gabriela and Gerardo transformed and took Kaede and Kikyou by the hands, and Sesshomaru enclosed himself into a sphere of light while Rin and Jaken rode Ah-Un, and got away from the place as quickly as they could.
- "Alt tok hakaisa sos, yst hakaisa milla dat tastssaks! Dark Explosion!" – screamed Ankon, and all the darkness he had gathered exploded along his body, releasing a large shockwave. The explosion left a large crater and caused a rock slide. Fortunately, the entire group was far away in the air, so neither of these managed to reach them.
- "That idiot self-destructed for nothing…" – snorted Inuyasha. He had fully recovered from the effects of the confusion.
- "That's why I said we had to retreat. Look how the explosion reached even the place where he had our camp" – said Gerardo pointing to the crater.
- "Grrrauurgh!" – roared Kirara. She was very tired from carrying so much weight.
- "We better land… Kirara's too tired…" – said Sango as she patted her head and they landed in a slightly higher part of the mountain. The others followed them shortly later.
- "That was a close call. A little more and we'd be dead now…" – said Sango as she looked at the children, who fell asleep after they landed – "I wonder if we'll attacked again…" -
- "I don't think so. And we better try to get some rest. While the Ryuusei Village could be pretty close to us, I don't think it's prudent for us to try and keep going this late at night…" – said Miroku leaning on a nearby tree.
- "Agreed…" – said Gerardo as he yawned. They all positioned themselves like they were before Ankon's appearance, and fell into an uneasy slumber.
(End of Chapter)
(Ending: Come)
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