Entwining of Destinies ~ Dragonia - Chapter 18

 

Chapter 18:

The Mirror of Shades

 

(Opening: Grip!)

When they returned to the village, Yuuichi and Seina told everyone what happened, except for the parts about Miko and Yasha like they had promised. Thanks to this, the village chief received the group as heroes. They made a feast in their honor, as well as in celebration of the long-awaited engagement between Yuuichi and Seina, and while none of the heroes did really want to partake on this, they decided to still go to not be rude to their hosts.

However, there isn't much to say about it aside of what Miroku tried to do that night while the others dined to then begin having fun the Warring States era way. This leaving out Gerardo and Gabriela, as they decided just to watch while the others danced.

After dinner, and when they had gone to different rooms to sleep…

- "Ugh…" – moaned Gerardo as he removed the two upper layers of his kimono: the external blue part and the white inner one, and checked his abdomen on the point where Inka's javelin had struck him. He had been that whole day feeling an annoying pain and a burning sensation, but he didn't have the chance to check what happened until now. When he looked at it, he noticed what was causing him that annoyance: the javelin left him several second-degree burns covered in blisters, and also left a circular wound in the center of them. The wound had already closed and cicatrized thanks to Gabriela's Healing Light, but the burns still were there – "Damn fire demon… sneak attacking me when we were finishing him off…" –

- "Well, I don't think it could be helped" – said Kagome as she took out some moisturizing lotion from her backpack and gave it to Gerardo so he could apply it to his burns, after she did the same thing with Inuyasha's hands. Gerardo began hissing from the burning sensation this gave him – "Given the way you four did that attack, you didn't have a way of avoiding that javelin" -

- "But it's pretty weird that my Healing Light couldn't heal them…" – said Gabriela as she looked at her brother trying to use his Healing Water to accelerate the effects of the cream.

- "Keh, it comes with this line of work" – said Inuyasha from the other side of the room in his typical pose – "Ya know what kinda era we're in now, so ya better get used to it" -

- "Heh, I know" – smiled Gerardo in an ironic way – "Rather, I'd say that I'm lucky that it didn't cause me more severe burns, or that he tried to impale me from front to back with that…" -

- "Gerar!" – said Gabriela angry – "Don't tempt fate like that! We don't know what kind of enemies we'll be facing from now on!" -

- "Well, I can only say that I'll knock on wood for nothing worse than Tenebross or Naraku to appear before us" – replied Gerardo shrugging his shoulders while Kagome searched for some bandages and compresses in her backpack.

- "Though I've got the feeling we're getting close to our final battle…" – said Miko thoughtfully as she looked at Kagome soaking the compresses in the water Gerardo had condensed from the air – "There's only one elemental demon left, right?" -

- "Yeah," – confirmed Yasha as he began counting them: he opened his hand fully and began closing a finger per each name he said – "The Darkness one, Ankon; the Water one, Insui; the Wind one, Kazein; the Earth one, Douin; and now, the Fire one, Inka… we've only got the Light one left…" –

- "But I still say I don't wanna fight him…" – said Miko saddened – "I've got the impression… he's different from the other demons…" -

- "Why do you say that?" – asked Gabriela interested: like her brother, she felt greatly disgusted about the idea of these creatures using corrupted forms of their elements – "I know he didn't attack us or anything, but…" -

- "Besides, we can't be sure about his intentions if we've only seen him once" – said Gerardo while Kagome put on the compresses over the burns and fixed them with the bandages. Gerardo sissed a bit from the pain when they made contact with the blisters, but he then let out a sigh of relief – "We've got to meet him again and see what he's up to…" -

- "Keh, if yer gonna give chances to everyone that doesn't seem aggressive, yer only gonna get us killed" – snorted Inuyasha.

- "Well, taking in account how you and Kagome met, I don't know how you can say that" – said Gerardo laughing softly as he put on both layers of his kosode's upper part to then put inside the hakama all the parts that were overlapping over it.

- "What ya mean?" – asked Inuyasha irritated.

- "Hehe, I think he means that you almost killed me to take away the Shikon Pearl when we met for the first time" – said Kagome with a nostalgic smile as she reminisced about their first meeting – "I think we could say that it's thanks to the collar you've got around your neck that I'm still alive" -

- "Actually… I never had intentions to kill ya that day" – admitted Inuyasha – "All the attacks I threw ya were misaimed on purpose, as I just wanted to scare ya enough for ya to hand over the Pearl…" -

- "Nii-san, I'm surprised you could admit that!" – said Yasha laughing. Both Kagome and Inuyasha blushed.

- "Anyway, we better go to sleep, as tomorrow we've got to return to Kaede's village to plan our next move" – said Gerardo to put an end to the awkward silence that fell on the room after that conversation, thinking to himself he and Inuyasha were lucky to have not ended eating tatami that night after Kagome mentioned the collar.

The next morning, the village chief bid them farewell, and Yuuichi and Seina told them they were welcome and could come back whenever they wished.

- "At least we planted a seed of kindness in that village" – said Gerardo satisfied as they entered the forest so he and Gabriela could summon their armors again – "That's something an era as violent as this one really needs" -

- "True, and I'm sure Buddha will smile at them from now on" – said Miroku as the rings of his shakujou sounded like bells with every step he took – "Likewise, we could say their union is blessed" –

- "Though I hope nothing bad happens to them" – said Sango looking back worried – "Sometimes, being too kind could lead to your end, especially knowing that there're people that want to take advantage of that for their own goals" –

- "You should be more optimistic!" – said Gabriela as she smiled proudly – "Anyway, I'm sure these horrible wars will end someday and peace will come again!" –

- 'Not without a good bloodbath, unfortunately' – thought Gerardo saddened, knowing that after the Warring States Era the Edo Period, the Meiji Restoration and the Second World War would come to this land, each bringing their own massacres and casualties along.

- "Hehe Gabu, you're a really nice person!" – said Shippou – "That must be why you're a Light-elemental!" -

- "Hehe, thanks!" – said Gabriela as she smiled back.

- "Shippou, you better not be trying to flirt with her!" – laughed Miko above him.

- "Err… no Miko, I'm not doing that..." – said Shippou as he blushed and looked downward.

- "Okay, I think this place will be okay for you to transform" – said Yasha as he pointed to a glade they had right ahead – "Kagome-nee can get on Inuyasha-nii's back and the others can get on Kirara there too" -

- "Just hurry up. I don't wanna continue wasting time" – snorted Inuyasha – "The faster we go see Kaede, the better" -

- "Huh? You're not calling her baabaa, old hag or anything like that?" – asked Gerardo with a puzzled expression.

- "That's none of yer business…." – said Inuyasha as he turned around so he didn't see his embarrassed face.

Kirara transformed into her large form to then allow Sango, Shippou and Miroku to mount her, while Gerardo and Gabriela summoned their armors and took off again. Inuyasha continued running and jumping through the trees to follow them while carrying Kagome on his back.

- "And I've just noticed we've all got something peculiar, huh?" – said Miko as they continued their road to Kaede's village – "I don't think we can even say our names are pretty common, huh?" -

- "Though to be honest, Miko…" – began Kagome after sighing briefly – "Yours is pretty common… and I'm a bit envious of it…" –

- "Huh?" – said Miko as she put her closed hands in front of her chest – "But your name's so pretty too, Onee-san…" -

- "Honestly, I've never really liked my name…" – said Kagome shaking her head – "Ever since I was in kindergarten, my classmates were always making fun of me because my name is part of that song and game" –

- "In other words, they always were telling you "Kagome kagome Kago no naka no tori wa"?" – asked Gerardo thinking about how annoying that must have been for her while he flew near to Inuyasha to talk to her.

- "Yeah," – confirmed her after a long sigh – "And since I've never seen it written in kanji, I don't really know what it means… Cage Girl, Bamboo Pattern, Lost One… I don't really like any of these meanings…" -

- "Though I remember mom saying it's also the name of a formation similar to a star" – said Miko with a smile – "And that she gave it to you 'coz she saw a flash of light when you were born" -

- "In other words, we could say Kagome-sama owes her name to the Pearl," – said Miroku with a know-it-all expression on his face and a hand on his chin – "It sounds strangely proper" –

- "Besides, onee-san, I can't say I'm completely fine with my name either…" – said Miko lowering her arms as she lowered her gaze – "I've never seen it written in kanji either, so it could mean anything, from Priestess or Beautiful Girl, to Goddess or Lake of Truth…" -

- "That was my fault…" – said Sango lowering her gaze.

- "I wouldn't blame you for that," – said Miroku as he placed a hand on her shoulder – "It was a desperate situation when we named her, and we didn't have any idea that any of this was going to happen…" –

- "And besides, it might be a mere coincidence," – said Gerardo remembering something – "But your two names make up an ancient Dragonian word" -

- "And what word is that?" – asked Kagome interested.

- "First, look at this" – said Gerardo pointing to the beautiful embroidered patterns his clothes and Gabriela's had, which were still visible below their armors because they weren't in their fully closed modes – "Can you see the patterns and designs in our clothes?" –

- "Yeah, and they're pretty" – said Miko a bit confused about what Gerardo was doing – "But what do they have to do with this?" –

- "A lot," – said Gerardo with a smile – "As these patterns are called "Kagmi" in Dragonia, and all people over there have them in their clothes" –

- "In other words…" – said Kagome smiling in realization of what Gerardo was getting at – "Our joint names have a really beautiful meaning…" –

- "That's right," – nodded Gabriela as she flied near her – "So you shouldn't worry so much about your names now" -

- "And about that," – began Yasha – "Do your names have any special meanings?" –

- "Well, in our part of the world, mine means brave spear" – said Gerardo putting a curved finger in front of his mouth and nose – "But in Dragonian, it comes from joining the words "Jeralt" and "Arldou", which mean River and Wisdom" -

- "And mine's the name of an angel" – said Gabriela enthusiastically – "And my brother told me that in Dragonia, it comes from the words Gabri and Ela, which mean Flower Petal and Shining" –

- "Though the second one's also a common girl name suffix there, like ko is over here" – added Gerardo laughing a little.

- "And mine's just the name of a demon kind from the mainland, the yaksha…." – said Yasha bitterly – "I know I chose it myself, but I didn't have many more options either…" –

His older form fixed his eyes on him after they jumped to another tree.

- "Keh, that's not important" – snorted he – "Anyway, a name's no more than a tag for others to call you" –

- "I disagree," – said Gerardo shaking his head – "A name is part of your very essence, and forms an irreplaceable part of you are" -

- "Well, I don't think we can say that's false" – said Gabriela as she pressed a couple buttons in her Dragtemn, which was now lodged in the circular plate in the center of her armor's breastplate. This made appear a small holographic screen filled with text in front of her – "And besides, here it says that a yaksha can be either an evil spirit or a being similar to fairies" -

- "Hehe, in other words, Inuyasha's a dog fairy!" – laughed Shippou as he imagined Inuyasha with an appearance similar to that of the fairies that appeared in the coloring books Kagome always brought him.

- "What didja say, Shippou!?" – shouted both Inuyasha and Yasha at the same time with enraged faces.

- "He screwed up again" – sighed Miko shaking her head.

- "Come on, don't get so angry over that" – said Kagome, though she thought to herself that it wouldn't have been funny for her or Miko to have been mocked over their names, as they had discussed a moment ago.

- "And continuing with the topic," – said Sango before things got uglier – "I remember that we slayers all had our names based on those of minerals and rocks…" –

- "Hmm, so that's why Kohaku's named after the amber, Kirara after the mica, and you after corals, Sango" – said Miroku nodding to himself – "I thought it was because your face has the same beautiful tone of the corals in the sea at dawn" -

- "Houshi-sama…" – said Sango blushing upon hearing that, and she then embraced him. Miroku finally controlled his perverted impulses and just hugged her back.

- "It was about time for him to not ruin such a moment!" – commented Gerardo to his sister.

- "Yeah! He had to learn at some point, huh?" – said her rolling her eyes.

- "By the way, why did you choose Kirara's name for your alias, Gaby-chan? – asked Kagome with a smile. Sango and Miroku stopped embracing and looked at her, expecting her answer.

- "It's 'coz I like crystals, and Gerar told me that Kirara also meant crystal, aside of mica" – replied Gabriela with a small smile.

- "Hmm, I get it. You chose it with different kanji" – commented Sango as she nodded – "Though I have to say you left us all confused when you said it for the first time" –

- "Hihihi, that wasn't my intention though!" – said Gabriela as she laughed mischievously.

- "And I guess Miroku got named after the future Buddha because he had a lot of spiritual power ever since he was born" – said Gerardo with a respectful tone in his voice.

- "Yes, something to that effect" – admitted Miroku with some pride. He then closed his eyes in humility - "However, I have to admit I'm still very far from reaching that level" –

- "Especially because he hasn't even been able to release himself from his earthly attachments" – said Shippou as he looked at Miroku evilly.

- "Shippou, please remain silent when no one has asked for your opinion" - said Miroku sitting up right and closing his eyes in annoyance.

- "But Shippou's name is the one that confuses me the most…" – said Miko as she looked at him with her head tilted – "Seven Treasures?" -

- "Yeah, though almost everyone confuses it with Tail" – said Shippou crossing his arms and looking downward with a scowl – "I really don't know what my parents were thinking about when they gave it to me" -

The others laughed due to his irritated face, and simply continued flying until they reached the village. Upon getting there, they went directly to Kaede's hut to check how she was, as they didn't know how well she would have reacted to the age change.

- "Hi, Kaede-obaasan!" – said Kagome as they entered the hut – "How have you been since we last came here?" –

- "Good afternoon everyone" – said Kaede while waving her hand. She was back to her old age self and wearing her priestess clothes, though she now had both eyes intact – "I have to say it's been somewhat annoying to get used to being old again, but it's not like it could be helped" -

- "That includes ya having both eyes again?" – asked Inuyasha in a mocking voice and clenching his fangs in a sneer.

- "What are you saying, Inuyasha?" – asked Kaede as she blinked – "I've always had both eyes in their place" –

- "Whaaat!?" – shouted everyone at the same time.

- "Come on, what did happen to you all?" – asked Kaede in an amused voice while she smiled – "Don't tell me you got in a fight with an illusion-based youkai or something" -

- "Hmm… it's true, it must be we got hit in the head or something, Kaede-sama" – said Miroku as he laughed nervously. The others looked at him weirded out, but when they noticed that was giving them a hard glare, they decided to stay silent.

- "Well, leaving that aside…" – said Gerardo to change the conversation topic – "There haven't been news about any weird happenings, or black lights appearing on the area?" -

- "I'm afraid not," – sighed Kaede with some bitterness in her voice as she shook her head – "I haven't received any news on strange events around this place, neither have I seen signs of Naraku or Tenebross…" -

- "I see…" – said Miko with an evident disappointment in her voice.

- "By the way, Miko, have you both been okay?" – asked Kaede while she looked at her concerned – "I've been worried about you and Yasha ever since you came back here and told me about what happened after you and Kagome separated for the first time" -

- "Yeah, we've been okay!" – replied Yasha nodding his head as he laughed and jumped up and down – "But it'd be good for Inuyasha-nii and Kagome-nee to behave a bit better… maybe we should seal their memories for a couple of days to see if they improve!" -

- "What!?" – said Inuyasha as he tried to hit his younger counterpart on the head. But since Yasha was still in his ghost form, the only thing he got was phasing through him and falling down to the floor – "Shit!" –

- "That's what you get for being so aggressive!" – said Kagome in an admonishing tone. Miko and the others just laughed at this.

- "Okay then, do you wanna see something interesting?" – asked Gabriela with a wide smile on her face.

- "What is it?" – asked Kagome as she got her attention away from Inuyasha.

- "Well, I've checked my Dragtemn a lot since a few days ago," – said Gabriela as she pressed a button combination on it – "And this morning, I found this!" -

When she finished, the hologram of a crystal appeared before her, which turned transparent to then solidify itself partially. A bit later, a percentage appeared at the side: 85%.

- "Wait a moment… is that what I think it is?" – asked Gerardo as he looked at the hologram with saucer-sized eyes, while the others except Kagome and Miko looked at the image with a disconcerted expression.

- "Yup, it is" – confirmed Gabriela cheerfully – "This lets us know how much of the Crystal of Shadows we've got in our power now!" –

- ""In other words, we're really close to finishing our search!"- said Miko clapping her hands and smiling.

- "Yeah!"- said Kagome as she turned to the others – "That means we're close to getting the entire crystal!" -

- "In that case, the fragments we're still missing must be the ones these two cretins have" – growled Inuyasha.

- "Or better said, the Light-elemental demon has one," – corrected Yasha raising a finger while he smiled with closed eyes – "While the Bastardic Duo has the others" -

The others laughed upon hearing the name he gave to Naraku and Tenebross.

- "In that case, we should be looking for them to defeat them and get the fragments" – said Kagome as she clapped her hands once.

- "But I don't think it's going to be so easy to make them come out of their hideout" – said Sango as she closed her eyes – "They're more elusive than rats" –

- "Well, since we don't have any set destination for now, I was thinking to ask you something" – said Gerardo as he stood up – "Can we go to the place where you found the Water of Restart?" -

- "The Water of Restart?" – repeated Shippou without understanding what he meant.

- "Yeah, the springs were you found both water types" – explained Gerardo – "Remember that's the name the Dragon Gods and the inscriptions we found in the medallion cave gave to it" -

- "Now you mention it, there were also inscriptions engraved above the springs" – remembered Sango – "Do you think they're written in Dragonian?" –

- "That's exactly what I'm thinking, in fact" – confirmed Gerardo as he nodded. He then narrowed his eyes slightly – "Besides, there's something I want to check" -

- "You mean that Naraku could have been making use of that water for his schemes?" – asked Miroku, having a feeling of what he was going to say.

- "Very perceptive, Miroku" – said Gerardo with a smile. However, he changed it to a serious expression the next instant – "That's right. Ever since he put these curses on Kagome and on the village, I've been thinking that maybe he has been drawing and polluting that water…" -

- "What a repulsive being…" – said Miko with a disgusted face – "I'm sure that water has a special meaning, and he's using for his horrible tricks…" -

- "In that case, we better hurry and go check it out" – said Yasha – "Nii-san, are we going?" –

- "Yeah, I don't think we've got any other leads" – said Inuyasha unwillingly upon seeing they really didn't have any other choice – "Besides, the sooner we find and tear apart these bastards, the better" -

So they stood up, bid farewell to Kaede and departed for the enigmatic valley where the spring cave was located. However, when they had gone far away enough from the village so no one could listen on them…

- "Miroku, why ya made us look like fools in front of Kaede!?" – asked Inuyasha irate.

- "Don't tell me you haven't realized it" – said Miroku as he stopped walking and turned to look at them with a serious gaze – "Remember what happened during the Time Compression?" -

The others began remembering what happened at that time, and then they remembered the day the village was attacked…

- "Ah!" – jumped Miko – "Now I remember, hadn't Kaede gotten caught in an explosion that time?" –

- "Yeah, or at least that was what was supposed to happen" – said Gerardo as he looked at the ground with a frown as he remembered what happened then – "Ah, and then I stood in front of her and involuntarily brought up a barrier to protect her!" -

- "That's right" – said Miroku as he saw how the others began to get what had happened – "As we changed the past, Kaede never lost her right eye, and that's why she was so confused when Inuyasha asked her about it" -

- "Though she had regained her eyes after she was affected by Naraku's curse…" – said Yasha as he thought over the whole thing carefully.

- "Yeah, but since she never lost that eye because of what we did, to her it was as if she always had it in the first place" – said Kagome as she looked at the sky a bit confused. She tapped the side of her face with her index finger – "These time-travel things are really confusing…" –

- "And we should be grateful for not having made anything that nullified our presence here…" – said Gerardo as he sighed – "Considering the time period in which we ended up, we could have caused even larger disasters" -

- "Even so, we have to go forth and finish this at once" – said Sango, who had already changed into her battle clothes before they had left the village.

- "And about that," – said Gerardo crossing his arms as they continued walking – "Remind me to smash a certain mirror if we meet that pest duet again" -

Meanwhile…

Naraku tried punching Kanna after Gerardo said that last phrase, but he failed by a few centimeters.

- "These pests…" – snarled he – "It's absurd to think they are so ahead of us gathering these fragments, and that they've gotten away from all the traps we've set them so far!" -

- "I have to say the same thing" – said Tenebross as he closed his evil red eyes – "However, the total that brat showed them doesn't have all the Fragments of Shadows registered, as there are several that aren't scattered throughout this world, but throughout Dragonia…" –

- "But you can't get back there yet, huh?" – said Naraku in a mocking tone.

- "No, but that group of idiots has already exhausted my patience, so it's time to use my ultimate trap against them" – replied Tenebross as he made appear a small black circular mirror at his side. It was identical to the one containing his soul.

- "And what is this mirror for?" – said Naraku as he looked at it with suspicion – "Are you going to tell me it serves to snatch souls away like Kanna's does?" –

- "Not at all," – snickered Tenebross – "This mirror is known as the Mirror of Shades, and once it absorbs someone, it traps them into their worst nightmares and fears forever, with no possibility of escape" -

- "Hmph, it doesn't sound any different from my Death Illusion" – said Naraku with an annoying superiority air.

- "Heh, your Death Illusion is no more than child's play compared to what this mirror can do," – said Tenebross as he made it float to Naraku's hands – "So do me a favor and tell your servant Kagura to place it in a location these idiots can find easily. I'm sure this will finish them off" -

- "We'll see how this plan goes" – laughed Naraku as he called Kagura to his presence – "Go and leave this mirror in place where they can feel it. That way, they will come like moths attracted to a flame" -

Kagura just nodded with a neutral expression and flew away in her feather while she cursed both villains in silence. However, she didn't notice a white light sphere was following her…

- "Impossible… this can't be… Is Lord Tenebross really planning to use that...?" -

Inuyasha and the others had returned to the valley where the cave was located: the place didn't change at all from the last time they were there, and excepting the fact that there were no youkai or demons anymore, like Goukira, the gigantic turtle demon that originally protected the cave or Naraku and his entourage, it was like always.

- "Hmm, this valley doesn't seem to have anything particular to it" – said Gerardo as he looked at the surroundings with disappointment.

- "Yeah. It's because the only interesting part about it is the cave," – said Sango smiling at him as they walked to it – "Just wait a bit longer" –

Gerardo just nodded and followed the others to the entrance. Once inside, both he and Gabriela were surprised to see how the stone walls shone in a beautiful blue color. A few instants later, they saw the stone bowls that contained the water coming from both springs: pink and blue.

However, the pink water bowl had a strange root coming out from it, which upon following it, they noticed it reached the valley and disappeared among the trees at the border of the forest.

- "Looks like you were right, Gerardo-kun" – said Kagome as she looked at the root: more than part of a tree, it seemed more to be a hose that was sucking out the water from the spring – "This must be Naraku's work" -

- "Keh, then let's cut this problem from the root!" – said Inuyasha as he took out Tessaiga – "Now, cover behind something!" -

All the others hid behind a nearby rock wall while Inuyasha raised Tessaiga and used it to cut off the root, to then run off to where the others were hiding. The place where he cut it began spreading reddish water throughout the cave floor, which fortunately didn't reach them thanks to the place they were using as their cover. When it stopped shooting water, the root shriveled and turned into dust as the red water evaporated.

- "And with this, Naraku won't be able to continue using the Water of Restart for his curses" – said Miroku decidedly to then look at Gerardo – "Now, Gerardo-kun, if you could do us the honor" –

- "Gladly," – smiled Gerardo as he walked to the place where the glyphs were engraved and started examining them – "Yes, it's in fact Ceremonial Dragonian. Give me a moment to translate it, as it's a bit long" –

Next, he began reciting everything that was written on the wall:

- "Lyacchi Lisf Iadlast Dea Viadfafse, Nakei Omsela CebaliKa Byoleka Zimelle Iadlast Il Yut, Fyer Phior Cazel Likarom Agatunecla Phaph ZuekliZil. Fils CiaZil ShiyutNal Zuekle, Cia Agatu Viadfafse Cia Biousakatse Nicaelsi Zia Ical, Fyer Simalea Kiabze CiaAael DiracalZa Lyacchi Iadlast Phaph Ytuigh CiaAael Fis Estael Ical Oli Waspiarl CiaAael Demorie Yut, Phaph Kiabze CiaAael Yiules Zilnak Oli Kiabze CiaAael Sorlee Jiale Ical Phaph Shefi CiaAael Ical. FisAael Wudia DiracalKa Lyacchi Iadlast RefalerRa Altia Coulze, Fyer Il CiaAael Altia CoulbaRa 2 Sodia: 1 Zubloe Myallade Demorie Oli Alidlac, Fyer Yall NidlispZa, Ual Kalia Clyezet Yiules Yastolia, Oli Clyezet Shiude Sodia. Ei Atiang Ytuigh Shillea Demorie CiaAael, Yiules Altia Sodia XaNal Feletei FisAael Demorie Wudia Nidlisp Sodia Zubloe Zhoi, Oli Yilnecl Alidlac. Si, IzelleKa Dorkale Il, Lisf MaltialAael EathRa Shillea 2 Altia Sodia, Si PhiorNal Cazel Yall Lisfelt SilarZil Dea Mimapalia Yut…" –

- "This translates to: This is the Water of Restart, composed of a mineral called Byoleka dissolved into water, which must be used only as capital punishment against criminals. When a person commits an unforgivable crime, they will be condemned to restart their lives from infancy, which is done through making them drink a cup of this water to return them to that stage and erase their memories, to then give them a new identity and make an adoptive family take care of them. Those that have drunk this water will suffer a soul split in which their souls will be divided in two parts: one that will keep their memories and personality in full, which will be put to sleep forever, while the other one will be a blank slate that will become the dominant part. If anyone tries making a person who drunk this water regain their memories, the blank-slate part of the soul will be unable to associate these memories with the ones that are in the sleeping part, which will cause them to go insane. However, hidden in another place, there are medallions that are used to connect together again both parts of the soul, but they must never be used by anyone except by those chosen by the Prophecy…" -

- "On the other hand, this one says: Lyacchi Lisf Iadlast Dea Nyarrclye, Nakei Omsela CebaliKa Naselleka Zimelle Iadlast Il Yut, Fyer Phior Cazel Phaph Nulaph Iadlast Dea Viadfafse. Nyarr Il, NyulZil Diracal Lyacchi Iadlakar Zia, Lisfelt FisAael Wudia Yafalia DiracalKa Dea Iadlast Dea Viadfafse, Oli NulaphNal Altia Coulze RefalerKa Fis Iadlast Yut Ical. That translates to: This is the Water of Normalization, composed of a mineral known as Naselleka dissolved into water, which is used to nullify the effects of the Water of Restart. Normally, no one is allowed to drink from this spring, except those that have drunk the Water of Restart accidentally, and it does not nullify the soul split said water causes" – said Gerardo as he sighed and then breathed deeply to recover from his long recital – "Well, there's not much more to say about it. It's some kind of usage manual for both types of water" –

- "Hmm, though it's interesting to see the method they use to deal with the criminals in Dragonia" – said Miroku with a hand on his chin as he eyed the springs – "In a way, it might better for society to keep them from going to prison and instead, making them restart their lives to keep them from falling in the same vices and mistakes that made them evil in the first place" –

- "Though it's still a bit odd" – said Sango in a serious voice – "After all, they treat it as if it were an execution" –

- "It isn't so odd, Sango-chan" – said Kagome as she looked with interest at the Dragonian glyphs Gerardo had just translated for them – "After all, when I "turned" into Miko, you had to treat me and Inuyasha as if we were completely new people" -

- "Hehe, it's a very weird way of being born, now I think about it!" – laughed Miko above her.

- "The really weird part is findin' these things here though" – said Inuyasha crossing his arms – "And how did 'em come from another world to this one?" -

- "Maybe the answer to that's the same to how we came here…" – said Gabriela as she focused her eyes on the springs and their soft shine – "But it's still so weird… we were called here, while the medallions, springs and such… is it all a coincidence?" -

- "I doubt it… as they say, coincidence doesn't exist in any world. What exists is causality" – said Gerardo – "And honestly, I'm beginning to think Tenebross is what actually caused all this…" -

- "And at the end they also mention a prophecy…" – said Kagome as she looked at the glyphs again despite not being able to read them – "Do you think there's some legend or tale about some heroes that'd need the medallions at Dragonia?" –

- "It's a possibility" – nodded Gerardo as he crossed his arms and closed his eyes - "But as we don't have access to any of Dragonia's historical and folkloric material, we don't have any way of knowing it…" -

- "Anyway, we won't learn anything if we just stay here thinking" – said Yasha with the same serious face as his adult counterpart and crossing his arms – "For now, we should go back to the village and come up with other plan" -

No one objected to that suggestion, so they began backtracking to the village. However, when they were reaching the valley's exit, Inuyasha stopped dead on his tracks, sniffed his surroundings, and began growling at the sky…

- "It's Naraku's scent!" – he shouted.

- "What!? But that chicken never bothers appearing to fight!" – said Yasha surprised.

- "Are you sure it's him?" – asked Kagome worried while the others looked around apprehensively.

- "No, it isn't him, but now I'm detecting well the scent… It's Kagura!" – said he as he began running to follow the scent. The others saw Kagura flying a few meters above them: she just stayed immobile for a few instants before flying away.

- "Wait! It could be a trap!" – shouted Sango. Inuyasha didn't hear her, so the others had to follow him. After a few minutes, they reached an old ruined temple. They entered it with caution in case there were any traps prepared in there, but they didn't find anyone or anything. However, there was a black mirror placed at the far part of the room, which was letting out an unsettling dark shine.

- "What is that?" – asked Gabriela as she recoiled back while looking at it with apprehension.

- "I don't know, but it looks a lot like the mirror where Tenebross was sealed in…" – said Miroku narrowing his eyes.

- "This is giving me a really bad feeling…" – said Miko as she placed her hands over her mouth and gazed at the darkness that was coiling inside the mirror's surface. A moment after she turned away from it, a reflection of Kagome appeared on it.

- "Huh? Why is Kagome's reflection in there?" – said Gerardo recoiling as his eyes widened, but the reflection faded away the next instant. Kagome got closer to the mirror to look at it, but then turned to look at Gerardo disconcerted.

- "Are you sure there was a reflection of me in it? I only see a whirl of darkness…" – said Kagome with an eyebrow raised.

- "Of course I'm sure, otherwise why I'd…?" – began Gerardo with an annoyed face at her not believing him, but he couldn't finish his reply because the reflection had appeared behind Kagome again, and that wasn't the end of it: the reflection had the eyes completely in white and looked at her original with a wicked smile – "Kagome, watch out!" -

- "What!?" – said Kagome as she turned around again, while the others ran off to her side when they heard Gerardo's shout, but it was for naught: the evil reflection came out from the mirror, grabbed Kagome by her hips, and began pulling her into the mirror – "No!" –

At that point, the marker in her Medallion of Link spun by itself to the Separation position, turning Kagome into her child form and giving Miko physical form. She and the others grabbed Kagome's hands and tried to keep the evil reflection from taking Kagome into the mirror, but in the end, the shadow or whatever it was pulled so hard that it made them lose grip of Kagome's hands and sucked her into the shadows coiling in the mirror. Miko and the others fell hard backwards on the floor from the inertia.

- "No, onee-san!" – shouted Miko as she got up, ran to the mirror and began hitting it with her hands – "Give her back! Give onee-san back!" -

- "Let Kagome go, ya junk!" – shouted Inuyasha as he also hit it.

- "Miko, calm down!" – said Gerardo as he put his hands around Miko's shoulders while Sango went and got Inuyasha away from the mirror so he wouldn't end up breaking it – "We just have to find a way to get her outta there!" -

- "But.. but…" - said Miko looking sad. Apparently, she had felt something from the mirror she couldn't put into words, and that was leaving her at the verge of crying – "I'm getting an awful feeling from it… as if something horrible was waiting for us in that mirror…" –

- "Whatever it is, we'll face it!" – said Gabriela winking an eye to her – "We just gotta be strong!" –

- "Let's go already!" – shouted Inuyasha: seeing Miko like this was giving him the same feeling as seeing Kagome cry. Besides, they couldn't stand to lose more time, as no one knew what could be happening to her while she was trapped there… – "Let's just enter the mirror and search for her!"

- "Very well, I'll try something to open up a way for us" – said Miroku as he took out a couple ofudas and threw them to the mirror. The mirror instantly reacted to them and opened a black and purple vortex in front of itself.

- "Well, we can go in now" – said Sango as she unsheathed her wakizashi while Gerardo and Gabriela summoned their armors – "But let's go together and let's try to not get separated, as we don't know what could be awaiting us in these shadows…." -

- "Then, I'll wait for you here and…" – began Shippou as he laughed nervously, but at that point, Yasha came out by itself like Miko had done a moment ago, and grabbed him by the tail.

- "None of that! You're coming with us too!" – said Yasha annoyed.

- "Hehe, I'm so brave…" – said Shippou as he tried to not cry from the fear. Inuyasha just sighed in irritation before the prospect of having to enter that place with his age reduced.

So they all jumped into the vortex and fell through a long black tunnel. However, when they touched with their feet what seemed to be solid ground again, they noticed the others weren't anywhere around… they all had been separated from each other… and were now completely alone…

- "And we got separated too…" – said Gerardo gritting his teeth as he looked around at the blackness surrounding him. He tried using the communicator and radar functions of the Dragtemn to search for the others but it was a failure, as both functions gave him network and location errors – "Dammit… from the looks of it, we fell straight into a trap…" -

At that moment, his sister Gabriela appeared right before him.

- "Gerar!" – shouted her when she saw him – "I was so worried about you!" –

- "Gaby, is that really you?" – asked Gerardo with some suspicion.

- "Yeah, it's me! But you look very tired… wanna get healed?" – asked Gabriela in a sweet voice as she smiled.

- "Thanks, but I'll be fine. I'm not wounded, and I can just heal myself with my Healing Water if that happens. You don't have to waste your Healing Light on me" – replied Gerardo with a smile in a tone that was half-relieved, half-amused.

- "No… It's okay…" – said Gabriela as her gaze turned strangely dim – "Come… drink from me and regain your strength…" –

And the next instant, she dissolved into water, keeping a sad smile on her face, until even that disappeared and only a puddle of crystal-clear water remained in her place…

- "No… no… it can't be… GABRIELA!" - screamed Gerardo as he tried to grab that water and keep it between his fingers, and shed tears over the puddle.

A moment later, his parents appeared, both with a gentle and sweet expression in their faces.

- "Dad… mom… Gaby's… she's… she…" – said Gerardo as he looked at his hands, which were still soaked from the water his sister had turned into.

- "We know son, and that's why we're here" – said his mother gently – "We've come to help you" –

- "Right, and you seem to be very cold right now" – said his father – "We'll warm you up now" -

- "Wait, what are you gonna…?" – said Gerardo as he looked at them horrified.

At that moment, a large purple energy beam fell over them, and burned them until not even ashes remained. Only one of his mother's arms remained, which burned up and disappeared between flames shortly later…

- "No… why is this happening…?" – said Gerardo shocked. He heard then a horrible noise behind, as if someone was being tortured, and when he turned around, he saw a grisly sight: all of his friends and other relatives were lying there dead… over a large puddle made of their own blood, with empty and open eyes, and bloody threads coming out from every orifice of their bodies…

- "No… please… no… I don't want to see more… NO!" – screamed Gerardo broken down from horror and sadness.

On the other hand, Miko was wandering around scared through another part of that strange space, and then she saw Kagome, back to her normal age…

- "Onee-san?" – asked Miko as a smile appeared on her face, and began running to her – "Onee-san!" –

- "Oh, look who's here!" – said Kagome in a sarcastic voice – "So you were here, Miko-chan!" –

- "Onee-san, we gotta hurry!" – said Miko as her smile changed to a serious face. She ran to her and extended her hand to Kagome – "We have to find the others and get outta here!" -

But when she touched Kagome's hand, she slapped Miko's hand away. Then, part of her face was covered in shadows, so her eyes weren't visible any more…

- "Me, go with you?" – laughed Kagome – "Please, don't make me laugh… A dirty peasant kid from the Warring States Era like you? And what's more, one that doesn't even actually exist, as you're no more than a piece of my soul I'll reabsorb someday?" -

- "Onee-san… how… how can you say that…?" – asked Miko as her eyes widened and her mouth was left gaping in a saddened expression.

- "But that's reality!" – said Kagome in a mocking tone – "Or being "born" in that retarded era made you a mental retard too, as you can't even understand what I'm saying? Besides, ask MY family! They don't want to have anything to do with you either!" -

- "What!?" – shouted Miko as she began shedding tears – "But they… they…" –

- "All that was mere courtesy!" – said Kagome as she laughed evilly, to then turn to look behind her – "Oh, look! They just came to say what they think about you!" -

At that moment, Souta, Mrs. Higurashi and their grandfather appeared, all with the same shadowed face Kagome had.

- "I'd never want to have a daughter like you" – said Mrs. Higurashi with a disparaging voice – "So dirty, ragged and stupid, and besides, you wouldn't be anything but an additional burden to our broken family…" -

Miko then felt something strange, and upon trying to check herself, she noticed the kosode Kaede had given her and which she had so diligently taken care of was covered in dirt, tattered in some places and patched up in others, which only made her feel even worse. Her tabi and zori had disappeared too.

- "You're no better than the demons I exorcise every day, kiddo" – said the grandfather as he showed all his teeth in a horrible smile – "It'd have been better that I had exorcised you that day you came to our house for the first time…" –

- "I'd never wish for a sister like you" – said Souta as he laughed – "You'd be annoying, and I'd rather have more homework than taking care of you…" -

Miko fell to her knees and began crying uncontrollably…

- "No… after everything you told me… all these warm and gentle words were only lies?" – sobbed Miko as she raised her head to look at her family, which were only sneering and laughing at her.

- "THIS is reality, stupid" – laughed Kagome loudly – "We've never wanted you to be part of our family, and we'll never want that either!"

- "No… NO!" – shouted Miko as she grabbed her head and started shaking it…

Miroku was walking through another dark passage, when he saw a familiar scene in front of himself.

- "Father!" – shouted the voice of a boy in front of him.

- 'That voice… it can't be… impossible!' – he thought to himself as he ran to the place where the voice was coming from.

Once there, he saw himself as he was when he was a child along his teacher, monk Mushin, and at their side, what seemed to be a violent black tornado.

- "Miroku, stand back! Don't get any closer!" – shouted Mushin as he tried to keep him away from the tornado.

- "But… my father's gonna…!" – shouted young Miroku as he looked at the tornado with his eyes filled with tears.

- "We can't do anything for him... It's too late…" – said Mushin with a grieving voice as he closed his eyes. The next instant, the scene disappeared and Miroku found himself surrounded by an impenetrable darkness.

- "A scene from my past…" – said Miroku to himself a bit scared as he looked again at the place where the scene had appeared and disappeared – "What could it mean?" -

- "Houshi-sama…" – said Sango's voice out of nowhere – "I've been looking for you everywhere…" –

- "Sango!?" – said Miroku surprised as he turned to see her – "At long last I found you! Let us hurry, we have to find the others and leave this place!" -

- "Houshi-sama, that can wait" – said Sango as she hugged him – "I still haven't got the chance to express my feelings properly to you…" -

- "Sango, what are you doing?" – asked Miroku nervously, but he then felt a strong air current at his side – "No… is this…!?" –

- "Houshi-sama? Did anything happen?" – asked Sango, but then Miroku pushed her away.

- "Run away, Sango!" – shouted Miroku as he ran to put some distance between himself and her – "You mustn't get close to me!" -

At that moment, he saw that aside of Sango, his other friends were running in his direction. He tried to get farther away from them, but he couldn't continue because the beads of the rosary surrounding his cursed hand exploded, and it began absorbing air with great force. The others were surrounding him with worried faces at that moment…

- "No, please! Go away! Get away from me! I don't want you to die with me! NO!" – screamed Miroku as he felt himself getting sucked in. He then blacked out…

In another place, Yasha was running around completely alone, trying in vain to find a trace of the others.

- "Argh! Where could have they gone?" – growled he in a tone that was half-fear and half-exasperation – "I can't even find Inuyasha-nii…" -

His senses then caught hold of a familiar aroma, and a figure that had it appeared in front of him…

- "Huh? Who's that?" – said as he ran to the figure – "Kagome-nee!?" –

However, he was left agape when he was close enough to the figure to recognize who it was: she was a beautiful woman that had black-long hair, brown eyes, and wore a magnificent and elegant juuni hitotoe. It was Izayoi: Inuyasha's mother…

- "Hello, dear" – greeted Izayoi – "Did you spend a nice day?" –

- "Mo…mom?" – said Yasha as tears began coming out from his eyes – "It can't be… you… you were…" -

- "Inuyasha, calm down. I'm at your side now…" – said Izayoi as she lovingly hugged him.

- "Mom, I wanna always be with you… but I've gotta search for my friends…" – said as he separated from her and wiped off his tears – "Besides, my name's Yasha…" –

- "Don't be foolish, dear" – said Izayoi as she laughed – "You'll always be fine as long as you're with me. Now, let's go home" –

However, when Yasha took her hand, his mother coughed blood and fell unconscious to the ground.

- "Mom!" – screamed Yasha as he went to check her. He noticed through his nose that something was wrong, and in fact, when he tried checking for a pulse, he noticed she didn't have one, and he couldn't hear her heartbeats either – "No, mom! Not again! Don't leave me again, please!" –

He began crying, until his mother's body disappeared and his friends appeared around.

- "Shut up, nuisance" – growled Inuyasha evilly behind him – "Mom's dead, and there's nuthin' ya can do to fix that" -

- "Inuyasha…nii?" – said Yasha confused when he saw them. He ran to them, expecting both Miko and Gabriela's support, having Kagome console him, seeking Gerardo's advice, or diminish the pain by talking to the person he considered his older brother. But when he was about to reach them, Inuyasha kicked him away from them all. It was then Yasha noticed they were laughing at him – "What… what's so funny!?" -

- "Poor idiot hanyou" – said Miko laughing – "You really thought we could be friends?" –

- "What…!? What are you saying!?" – said Yasha feeling like his stomach had gotten filled with lead.

- "She's right" – laughed Kagome - "A hanyou like yourself has no place in this world. You're no more than trash for society" -

- "Exactly" – laughed Gerardo as his glasses showed an unpleasant white glimmer – "A being like you is no more than an aberration to the natural order" –

- "I'd never want to play with something like you" – said Gabriela as she laughed loudly.

- "And for a youkai of my caliber, being at your side's no more than a shame" – said Shippou as he laughed.

- "What!? Then how can Inuyasha-nii be with you!? He's a hanyou too!" – shouted Yasha enraged, seeing as a horrible injustice and hypocrisy that they were saying these things.

- "Yer wrong. Sniff and look at me well, stupid brat" – said Inuyasha as he raised his face so Yasha could look well at it: he had two purple streaks at both sides, and his eyes were purple with the sclera of a bloody red. It was then Yasha noticed his claws had turned so long and sharp they seemed like hooks now…

- "No way… you decided to become a full youkai, even though you made that promise to Kagome-nee?" – said Yasha falling to his knees horrified.

- "Keh, I don't care 'bout what anyone thinks" – said Inuyasha without paying any attention to Yasha's reaction – "I have all the power I need now, but I still need something…" –

- "And what's… that…?" – said Yasha as he gulped down, guessing scared what was going to happen to next.

- "Getting rid o' ya for my power to reach its max…" – replied Inuyasha as he jumped and prepared to attack him – "Prepare yerself, brat! I won't have any mercy!" -

- "No… nii-san… no!" – screeched Yasha as he began running away as he cried.

Meanwhile, Sango was walking too through another dark place, unaware of the horrors her friends were going through, and of the ones that awaited her...

- "That figure... Could it be…?" – said Sango as she saw a person in front of her, and began running at full speed to the place where she saw it.

- "Onee-san…" – said Kohaku's voice from right before her – "Please, come for me…" -

- "Kohaku, I'm coming!" – said Sango as she ran to the place she heard the voice from. When she finally reached it, she noticed Kohaku was there, dressed in his battle gear.

- "Onee-san!" – said Kohaku glad to see her – "You're finally here! You made me wait for so long!" -

- "Kohaku…? But how did you get here? What happened with…?" – asked Sango completely confused about having found Kohaku safe and sound in this place.

- "Heheh, that was nothing, and I also wanted to show what I've done" – said as he turned around to show her something. However, Sango was completely horrified…

There were all her friends, doubtlessly dead and with marks that showed they had been killed by a scythe… and besides, there were also a large number of corpses around, all of which seemed to be of the slayers and their families of the village where they both had been born… including their father…

- "Kohaku… How… how could you do something like this…?" – said her as she fell to her knees and cried.

- "Are you happy for me, onee-san?" – asked Kohaku as he smiled like a madman.

- "No! How could you kill them all!? Why did you do that!?" – shouted Sango enraged.

- "That's because…" – said Kohaku as he took on a monstrous shape: he looked like a large snail that only kept his face from his former human form, affixed to his upper part as if it was a mask – "I'm now a youkai, thanks to Naraku-sama! And now I'll carry out my greatest achievement: slaying you!" -

- "No, Kohaku… No!" – screamed Sango as she collapsed on the floor, overwhelmed by horror and sadness…

Shippou was crying in another isolated dark space, as he ran around desperately to try and find the others.

- "Kagome! Miroku! Sango! Miko! Inuyasha! Yasha! Gerardo! Gabu! Where are you all!?" – shrieked he scared.

A second later, he saw at the distance what seemed to be the silhouettes of the others…

- "Ah, there you are!" – said Shippou as his face lit up and began running to them – "Wait, don't leave me behind!" -

However, the others did as if they didn't hear anything and continued walking.

- "Hey! Can't ya hear me!?" – shouted Shippou thinking they were ignoring him. However, when he managed to catch up to them, there was no trace of anyone: it seemed they had disappeared into thin air.

- "What…? What's happening here?" – asked Shippou horrified, and then he screeched in horror: in front of him, there were the Thunder Brothers, Naraku, Kagura, Kanna and Tenebross; and they were looking at him with creepy smiles.

- "Poor little kitsune…" – said the elder Thunder Brother, Hiten – "Did you get lost?" –

- "Hehe bro, looks like we've found just what I needed…" – said the younger Thunder Brother, Manten – "With this midget, I can finally make me a wig to complement my fox skin belt!" -

- "No! Inuyasha killed you both a long time ago!" – said Shippou scared.

- "Mwahaha… I brought them back to life so they could deal with you, kitsune…" – laughed Tenebross evilly.

- "Now all the other fools have been annihilated, you're the only one left, and it's time for you to disappear like your friends…" – laughed Naraku, and then they all leaped in his direction.

- "NO! SOMEONE, HELP ME!" – screamed Shippou as he ran and cried.

Gabriela was running and looking around, scared from being separated of her friends and brother, and completely alone in the darkness she feared so much, which she couldn't pierce even using her light powers at maximum intensity…

- "Where's everyone?" – said her as she stopped for a moment to regain her breath – "How did I end up here?" -

Then, she saw a familiar figure up ahead…

- "Who's that?" – said her as she prepared her bow to defend herself from any potential enemy and walked fearfully to the figure. When she got close enough, she could see she was a girl about her same age and height, with light hazel hair, brown eyes and wearing glasses, who was wearing clothes similar to Gabriela's, though they were red and orange instead of white and silver – "No way… Tiffany!? How did you get here!? And why are you dressed like that!?" -

The girl, who was Gabriela's best friend in her world, turned around and looked at her with an expression that was half mock, half hatred.

- "Well well, here's who I thought was my best friend" – said she with a voice filled with rage – "Why didn't you tell me anything about this?" –

- "It's because I couldn't, as I…" – said Gabriela, but Tiffany cut her off by raising a hand.

- "I was an idiot for thinking I could trust you," – said her as she turned around - "Best friend… yeah, of course… you're the worst girl I've ever met, and I don't wanna see you ever again!"-

- "No… Tiff, wait!" – said Gabriela as she tried running to her, but that moment, a blue figure put itself between them and made her fall backwards when she crashed into it.

- "Ugh… Gerar!?" – asked Gabriela as she looked at the figure that had made her fall to the ground: it was her brother, who immediately grabbed her by the arm – "But what're you doing!? I need to talk to Tiffany now!" –

- "Shut it, annoyance!" – growled Gerardo as he dragged her into the darkness – "You won't have to talk to anyone now, and I'll make sure you don't!" –

- "What… what're you saying, Gear?" – said Gabriela shocked to see the change in her brother's attitude.

- "I'm saying we're all sick of you… you're all the time only complaining and crying about every damn thing" – replied Gerardo with a voice filled with hatred – "So our parents and I have decided to give you in adoption, so you won't bother us anymore!" -

- "No… how can you do that!?" – shouted Gabriela realizing the situation as tears began coming out from her eyes.

- "It's simple: we don't want you with us anymore," – laughed Gerardo as his shadowed eyes shone evilly – "We don't love you. Rather, we think that you being here right now is no more than a grave mistake we're all paying for now!" -

- "No… NOOO!" – screamed Gabriela as she fell to the ground and began crying.

In another part of this dark torture chamber, Inuyasha was walking around, and like Yasha, he was trying to locate the others through his nose and ears. A bit later…

- "Inuyasha…" – said Kikyou's voice from the distance.

- "Kikyou!?" – shouted Inuyasha shocked – "No… I can't let myself get drawn in by that… Kagome and the others need me…" –

- "Inuyasha… Give me back the Pearl at once!" – shouted the voice, and at that moment, an arrow covered in a gray aura was shot from the darkness, which didn't strike him in the chest by a few centimeters.

- "A Sealing Arrow!?" – shouted Inuyasha spooked before the sight of the same arrow that condemned him to fifty long years of sleep. And when he looked down, he gasped upon noticing he was wearing the Shikon Pearl, shining and complete, around his neck – "The Shikon Pearl!? But this can't be! That bastard Naraku had almost all of it!" -

Then Kikyou appeared with her bow ready to shoot another Sealing Arrow at him.

- "Kiykou, stop!" – shouted Inuyasha raising a hand to dissuade her from shooting – "I wasn't who did this! It was Naraku!" -

- "I know, Inuyasha" – said Kikyou as she threw her bow and arrows to the floor and ran to embrace him, despite the notorious difference in heights – "I know, but I needed to make sure…" –

- "Kikyou…" – whispered Inuyasha as he let himself go by the embrace.

- "At least… I can die happy now…" – said Kikyou as her body and clothes began turning red and liquid…

-"Kikyou… what's happening to you!?" – shouted Inuyasha upon noticing the horrendous change and feeling the scent of blood with his nose.

- "This is my end…" – said Kikyou with the little strength she had – "At least… I'm glad… I'll be able to disappear… in your arms…" –

At that point, she dissolved completely and only a puddle of blood remained of her.

- "Kikyou!" – screamed Inuyasha painfully. But that wasn't all, as then he heard a girl screaming, and ran off in her direction. When he reached, he saw Kagome and Miko lying above another blood puddle, dead; and above their corpses, there was himself as an adult but in his youkai form – "No… it can't be real… Tessaiga…" –

However, when he drew Tessaiga to try attacking his youkai form and to check that the seal the sword put on his youkai part was intact, he saw the sword was broken in half. He then also noticed that aside of Kagome and Miko, Yasha and all his other friends were also in that pile of death his youkai form had made.

- "No… no… this can't be… I can't be who killed them… no…" – said he as he thrust his claws on the palms of his hands to the point they began bleeding, as he began crying from the despair, horror and grief he was feeling – "NOOO!" -

Despite this all, and the horrors and nightmares they were all trapped in, Kagome was the one who was having the worst time out of everyone… As soon as the shadow, reflection or whatever it was released her and left her alone to disappear into the darkness, she was assaulted by a memory she hoped to never have to remember: her father's death.

At that moment, she saw herself when she was seven years old, as her father was lying on a hospital bed, with her mother pregnant with Souta at his side taking him by the hands, and the grandfather sitting in a corner, offering prayers for his son to be able to overcome this. However, it was no use: the cardiac rhythm indicator flatlined, and no matter what the doctors and nurses tried, it was in vain: her father was gone, and would never come back from the eternal slumber.

Kagome fell to the ground crying as the memories of her mother explaining to her what happened to her father came up, to then be replaced by those of his funeral and burial.

After they dissolved into the darkness, Inuyasha appeared…

- "Inuyasha…" – said Kagome in a weak voice. Her eyes had turned red from how much she cried, and her voice was cracked from all the sobs she let out from watching these painful memories. She stood up and tried to run to embrace him, but he ignored her and continued running to where another person was: Kikyou.

- "No… Inuyasha… and the promise we made to each other...?" – said Kagome as the memories of when she and Inuyasha kissed under the stars at the shore of that lake came up. Then, Miko and Yasha appeared, laughing and taken by the hands, and like Inuyasha, they ignored her – "It's true… we weren't the ones who made that promise… it was them… so it doesn't count…" –

She turned around to not see them or Kikyou and Inuyasha, who seemed to be about to passionately kiss each other.

However, when she raised her gaze again, she noticed the darkness had been replaced by the inside of her house, though it was far too quiet. Miko appeared before her once again, but when Kagome tried getting close to her…

- "Get away!" – shouted Miko – "I don't want you anywhere near me!" –

- "Miko, but…" – said Kagome weakly. She was already feeling terrible over everything she had seen, and it was easy to see it because she was at the brink of breaking down in tears again – "Why? What have I done to you?" –

- "What do you think about having created me as an extension of your soul just to play around with Inuyasha-nii!?" – shouted Miko with a hatred-filled voice – "What do you think about wanting only to absorb me so I stop existing and go back to being our mother's only daughter!?" -

- "Miko, I've never wanted to do anything like that…" – said Kagome – "I just… just…" –

- "Shut up!" – shouted Miko scowling at her – "I'll go to a place where I don't have to see you anymore! You're no onee-san, but a monster! The worst and most horrible person I've ever known!" -

She then ran out of the house.

- "Miko, wait!" – shouted Kagome as she followed her to try to reason with her. However, as soon as she got outside, she met with a horrible sight: everything was covered in Naraku's miasma, and the sky was covered in shadows darker than even night itself.

Under this black mantle, she noticed all the inhabitants of the city had been killed by the miasma, and among them were her family, friends, Miko, and all her travel companions; all of which had open and empty eyes… and above them all, in the center of the black sky, there were Naraku and Tenebross, holding the Pearl and the Crystal of Shadows in their complete forms as they laughed triumphantly and evilly…

- "No… please, this can't be real… this has to be a nightmare… no… NO!" – screamed Kagome as she curled up on the ground and began crying.

Meanwhile, outside of all these shadows, the white light that had been following Kagura stopped in front of the mirror and took again its true form: a creature similar to an angel that had torn and black wings. He wore a white kimono similar to Gerardo's and wore a samurai armor over it, red eyes and had his silver hair made into multiple golden braids. It was Kouin.

He touched the mirror's surface, and it reflected what was happening to everyone that was trapped inside: Gerardo was on his knees looking at the nothingness, Miko was lying on the ground crying, Miroku was looking fixedly at his cursed hand, Yasha was running from a nonexistent enemy, Sango was kneeling as she covered her face with her hands, Gabriela was crying as she lied on her back in the ground, Shippou was running like Yasha, Inuyasha was standing immobile looking at his hands, and Kagome was crying curled up in fetal position, all of them with their eyes completely open and clouded, without blinking even once…

Kouin gritted his teeth bitterly. Some strange red marks appeared over the delicate features of his face while his eyes shone in a greenish white, and he hit the floor with sadness and disappointment – "Lord Tenebross… you have gone too far… we swore we would never use this…" -

He then transformed again into a light sphere, entered the mirror, and began looking for each of the party members. He found them right away, and enshrouding them with his shine, he got them all out, leaving them lying over the wooden ground of the abandoned shrine.

- "I better take care of them as quickly as I can" – said Kouin upon taking again his normal form. He covered his hands in a white light, and began moving them in front of each of the party members' eyes, who were still as they were inside the mirror: like zombies. As for the Mirror of Shades, it cracked and broke into shards as soon as they got out, losing thus its evil magic.

(End of Chapter)

 

(Ending: Come)