Entwining of Destinies ~ Dragonia - Chapter 6

Chapter 6:

Making Preparations for the Journey

(Opening: Grip!)

The two following days to Gerardo and Gabriela's return were a bit stressful, as while they finally obtained the powers they had dreamt with for so long, they had realized they couldn't make use of them until they went back to Inuyasha's world, as it could be very problematic if the people in their world learned about them.

As soon as they returned, they spent a while with their mother, as she had been very worried about them…

(BGM: Nukumori no Kioku – Card Captor Sakura)

- "Mother… Mom!" – screamed Gerardo as soon as they saw their mother upon getting back to their world, and they both ran to hug her.

- "Mommy…!" – said Gabriela.

- "Gerar, Gaby… my dears…" – said their mother shedding tears of happiness as she hugged them back.

- "Mommy, we missed you a lot… We wanted to be with you again…" – said Gabriela a she sobbed.

- "You don't how much we've missed you…" – said Gerardo as he cried.

- "I've been very worried about you two, but I'm so glad to see you're safe and sound…" – said their mother, and they continued crying, embracing each other.

Once they calmed down, both siblings began telling her about their adventures in the other world.

- "And so, I somehow used magic to defeat Sesshomaru and save Gaby" – said Gerardo excitedly.

- "Yup, and then I healed him because we didn't want to see him die" – said Gabriela joining her hands.

- "You had quite a hard time, right? However, I'm very proud that you protected Gaby so much, Gerar. However, I have to say that I don't really like that you two got involved in something so dangerous" – said Mrs. Gallucci with a worried face.

- "Well, it's not like it could be helped" – said Gerardo.

- "And at least everything ended well, right?" – said Gabriela with a smile, which made the three of them laugh.

They then had to deal with the fact that their father had returned from his work, which meant having to endure a good scolding for their sudden disappearance. He did the best he could to endure it, as well as explain their exchange with Kagome and Inuyasha had been only a trial project that only lasted a couple of days.

However, the true problems began the Sunday, as he had still to explain to their parents that they needed to go back to that world, and that it was a life or death matter so no one else could handle. Luckily, neither of them had to go to school since they had returned during the Friday afternoon.

- "Agh… no matter how much I think about, I can't find a good way to explain this to my parents" – said Gerardo irritated as he looked at the roof of his room as he lied on his bed. He was wearing a blue short-sleeved shirt and black pants.

- "Maybe I could help you with that" – said Kagome's voice seemingly from nowhere.

- "Kagome!?" – asked Gerardo as he sat up on the bed and began looking around in all directions – "How are you talking to me?" –

- "You should know it. Did you forget what we were given during the ceremony?" – asked Kagome with a teasing voice as she giggled.

Gerardo then looked at the Dragtemn he had on his wrist, which was lighting up intermittently, so he touched the screen, which showed he was receiving a holo-call from Kagome, and pushed the button to answer it. This made the intermittent lighting to stop and made a small holographic projection with Kagome's appearance appear over the crystal screen.

- "I'm feeling kinda stupid. We got told about the Dragtemns back then and I didn't even notice you were calling me" – said Gerardo smacking himself on the forehead.

- "Oh come on, don't be so harsh on yourself. Anyway, these devices are pretty handy!" – said Kagome with a smile.

- "Oh, have you figured out how they work in full?" – asked Gerardo impressed.

- "Yeah! I've been reading the manual they have in the menu, and I've learned about their communicator function, their teleporter and the best part, that you can store things in them! Now I won't have to carry my backpack all the time!" – said Kagome cheerfully.

- "I'm glad you've found it useful," – said Gerardo smiling, but his face then returned to a serious expression – "But do you really think they'll let me go just like that?" –

- "If you let me talk to them, I'm sure I can make them understand" – said Kagome – "Or is it that you don't trust me?" –

- "Well, I have no other choice if you put it that way" – said Gerardo with a smile – "Please help me with this, Kagome" –

He then left his room and walked the hallway that separated it from the master bedroom: it was time for his parents to know about the recent events and about his mission.

- "Dad, Mom!" – said Gerardo as he opened the door and went into the bedroom – "I have something important to tell you!" –

- "What is it, Gerardo?" – asked his father, who was lying on the bed alongside his wife watching TV.

As a way of replying, Gerardo showed him the Dragtemn with Kagome's holographic projection over it.

- "And what's this?" – asked his father as he looked at him confused.

- "Oh, nothing special. It's a friend from another dimension" – replied Gerardo as if it was as normal as talking through a cellphone.

- "My name is Higurashi Kagome," – said Kagome bowing slightly toward him – "Pleased to make your acquaintance" –

- "Is this some kind of new toy or recent technologic thingamajig?" – asked his father beginning to get annoyed about this, as he thought Gerardo was trying to play a prank on him, even though Gerardo never did that sort of things.

- "No," – replied Gerardo's mother as she looked at her husband – "That girl is real. I've met her while you were in your business trip and she's a very good friend of Gerardo. And while it sounds a bit strange, she is actually from another world" –

- "Wait a second… Kagome? Like the little girl that came here as an exchange student for our Gaby?" – asked Mr. Gallucci very weirded out about this, to which his wife replied by nodding her head. He then used to remote to shut down the TV and turned to face Gerardo again – "Well then, what is that important matter you need to discuss with us?" –

Gerardo then began explaining them, helped by Kagome, about everything that had taken place from the day they returned: about the dragon powers and about the mission he had to accomplish in the other world. When they finished, Mr. Gallucci had been left speechless and with the eyes the size of saucers.

- "Well, that's the gist of it… that's why I and Gaby must go to the other world as soon as we can…" – said Gerardo as he looked at the floor.

- "So you didn't go to Japan, but rather to another dimension…" – said Mr. Gallucci amazed. However, his expression went back to a serious one – "But what are you going to do about school?" –

- "Actually, I've got a solution for that" – said Kagome answering the question for Gerardo – "I can request at my school for them to let Gerardo study in it as an exchange student, and also do the same in the school where my little brother is for Gaby-chan. That way, they can continue studying while they're there" –

However, Kagome privately thought they wouldn't really have to worry about it because they were in the middle of the summer break over at her world.

- "And how will you help us with the chores here at home?" – asked his father.

- "I'll come back every now and then to talk with you both face to face and to help here. Besides, I'm going to be calling you every day through the Dragtemn" – said Gerardo extending the arm where he had the device so they knew what he was talking about – "As this watch has a communicator that can work through dimensions, and as if that wasn't enough, the gateway to the other world is located in the window of my room" –

- "I can't let you go there!" – said his father standing up from bed and going in front of his son – "It's too dangerous and you don't even have any weapon to defend yourself with! You have no experience in fighting or traveling either!" –

- "You'd be surprised if you knew that I've got a friend making me a sword in the world, that I'm not bad at all at fencing, and that this will help me a lot about the world too… and besides, I'm a Dragoon!" – said Gerardo very annoyed as he took out his Seirei Crystal from within his shirt. Before he had to obey the dispositions of his father, but now he had these powers, no one was going to get on the way of doing what he needed to do.

- "What's a Dragoon?" – asked her mother.

- "I used the term a little ago, while we were talking about everything that took place in the other world" – said Gerardo – "That's the name given to those that can use Seirei Magic and the power of the Dragon" –

- "If that's the case, I won't let you go until you show us these powers you're talking about" – said his father.

- "I'll comply with your wishes then…" – said Gerardo closing his eyes.

- "Gerardo…" – said Kagome a bit worried.

Gerardo then took out the Seirei Crystal from the holder around his neck and pressed a button on the Dragtemn that made its crystal screen open in half. He then placed the crystal inside of it, and then the elemental marks and dragon emblem appeared over him again…

- "What is this!?" – said Mr. Gallucci.

- "Ist Garsse OschmeRe Iadlast Kiabze Pawatz Zosph, Phaph Myya Ical Zosph Phiaphz... Iadlast Pawatz! Dragoon!" – said Gerardo. Upon saying this, his Dragtemn separated from his wrist as the magical circle appeared at his feet,which formed a blue bubble around him. After a few seconds, the bubble burst, revealing him wearing armor identical to the one he wore during the battle with Sesshomaru, though the decoration in the breastplate was missing and there was a hole in its place. The dragtemn then floated and inserted itself in the hole, which closed up with a metal plate. The plate then shone in blue and a water droplet appeared over it, completing the transformation.

- "Saf sieral omedaites hydrast ika iaraelia sos zyola..." – said him concentrated, which made a little flow of water come out from his body, which he could control as if it was part of himself. After moving it around for a few seconds, he returned it to his body, leaving his parents surprised.

- "Well, is this demonstration enough for you, dad?" – asked Gerardo with a smug face.

- "I guess so… You can use magic and speak in a language I've never heard before, so I don't have any reason to stop you. I just want you to be very careful out there" – said Mr. Gallucci as he looked at his son impressed.

- "Very well… Ist Alttyaok, Pawatz Nyulasst!" – said Gerardo, which made him flash with a blue light. When it dimmed again, Gerardo was again wearing his normal clothes and the Dragtemn had reappeared on his wrist.

- "Whoa! That was impressive!" – said Kagome from Gerardo's Dragtemn. He then looked at his parents straight on the eye and smiled at them.

- "And you won't have any problems with me bringing Gaby with me, right? She has similar powers to mine, and I'll be taking care of her regardless" –

- "We know, and while we don't like the idea, I'm sure you both will be fine out there"- said his mother saddened – "Please, do the best you can for this world to be safe" –

- "However, there is only one condition we have to you going: bring your travel companions here so we can meet then before you depart" – said his father.

- "No problem, I'll take care of that" – said Kagome as her holographic projection disappeared from Gerardo's Dragtemn.

- "Looks like she cut the call. But okay: you'll meet them when it's time for us to go" – said Gerardo.

So they spent the rest of the day making preparations for Gerardo and Gabriela's departure. Kagome sent Gerardo a message saying that everyone would come for them next morning so their parents could meet their friends.

And thus, the next morning came…

- "Okay, we're ready…" – said Gerardo as closed up his backpack and put it inside his Dragtemn. For the occasion he was wearing the blue kimono the Dragons Gods had given him, as well as a couple of black shoes, so it would be easy for anyone in the Warring States Era to mistake him for a noble.

- "These clothes look pretty good on you, Gerar" – said Mrs. Gallucci as she entered the room and looked at his son from up to down.

- "Thanks, mom" – said Gerardo blushing.

- "And I see you're ready to get going…" – said her mother very saddened.

- "Yup! We are!" – said Gabriela entering the room, who herself was wearing the miko-like white and silver kimono, and was wearing tabi and zori on her feet. She had also finished packing some things into her Dragtemn.

- "Okay, I hope everything goes well…" – said Mrs. Gallucci.

- "Same for us… Now, we only have to wait until the others arrive for you to meet them…" – said Gerardo as he and Gabriela began getting sad, but this was interrupted because the window lit up and the purple portal appeared over it – "Looks like they're here!" –

There was a flash of white light, and Inuyasha, Kagome, Miroku, Sango, Kirara and Shippou appeared on the room.

- "So this is his Gerardo-kun's house?" – asked Sango as she looked around, surprised from all the things she had never seen before.

- "Yeah!" – said Kagome cheerfully – "We had been here before, but it feels better to come as a guest!" –

- "And it seems to be of around the same size as the house of a noble or village leader" – said Miroku as he looked around with interest.

- "Welcome to my humble abode" – said Gerardo as he stood in front of them and bowed.

- "Thank you, Gerardo-kun" – said Miroku as he softly hit the floor with his shakujou and made a gesture of thanks – "Oh, and who could this beautiful lady be?" –

Everyone present opened their eyes as much as they could from the shock, as they noticed Miroku was talking about Gerardo's mother. Inuyasha and Kagome also gasped when they heard him say that. Gerardo just stood in front of him and made the most threatening face he could.

- "She's my mother, and if you dare to do any of your perverted things here, there won't be any words to describe the suffering I'll deliver you" – said him in a voice that sounded like a roar.

Miroku just began laughing nervously, as Sango was also throwing him killer glares while the others were looking at him with displeased faces.

- "Okay, let's go to the living room, as we won't be able to go if I don't introduce you to my parents…" – said Gerardo as he led them out of the room.

After they finished the introductions in the living room…

- "So you're going to travel alongside a demon exterminator, a monk, a girl with powers and a boy with dog ears?" – asked his father with a serious face.

- "Yes, that's right…" – said Gerardo upon noticing the disapproval tone on his father's voice.

- "But well, they look like very nice and trustworthy people, so I hope you won't cause them much trouble" – said Mr. Gallucci.

- "Don't mind it. He isn't going to be a problem, rather, I'd say he's going to be a great help" – said Sango with a smile.

- "Okay, take care out there" – said his father hugging him – "And make sure to get yourself a girlfriend!" –

- "Hey, that last part wasn't necessary!" – said Gerardo blushing and dying from embarrassment. The others just laughed at this.

- "And you too, Gaby… Listen to your brother and be a good girl" – said Mrs. Gallucci to her daughter, who nodded with a smile.

- "Don't worry, we'll be okay" – said Gerardo as his eyes began filling with tears.

- "See you later, daddy, mommy…" – said Gabriela as she began sobbing. Everyone then went back to the room and raised their hands in direction to the window, which opened the portal. They crossed it, and as soon as they had arrived again at the clearing with the Bone Eater's Well in the Inuyasha world, the portal closed itself again. Both siblings wiped the tears off their eyes after all this.

- "If you wanna turn back, do it. We won't stop you" – said Inuyasha.

- "Forget it, we've already taken our decision, and we aren't changing it now!" – said Gerardo showing his determined face.

- "I guessed you'd say that… so here you go" – said Inuyasha as he gave to him a slender sword that was more or less Tenseiga's size sheathed in a scabbard that had several dragons drawn on it and had its name written on it in kanji (竜牙).

- "Is that… my sword?" – said Gerardo amazed as he unsheathed it. Everyone was amazed upon seeing it: its silver blade, which had the Elemental Seal engraved on its center, its gray ornamented hilt, which had a sapphire embedded on center, and ended in a dragon's head that held a sapphire sphere on its mouth.

- "Whoa, Totosai really outdid himself with this sword!" – said Gerardo impressed swinging it to check how it behaved on his hands: it felt light and resistant – "It even looks just like I imagined it'd be!" –

- "Totosai told me that when he put in the items the dragons gave you into the blade after he melted it, both the blade and the hilt began shining, and took that form" – said Inuyasha as he cautiously eyed it.

- "Well, I'd like to give it a test run alongside my powers in a battle… How about sparring a little?" – he asked Inuyasha.

- "Of course! I wanna check out your skills with that thing!" – said Inuyasha as they went a bit farther from the others.

- "Inuyasha's as excitable as ever, huh?" – said Kagome as she looked at them and smiled.

- "Hihi, but Gerar was also looking forward to that a lot too!" – said Gabriela giggling.

- "Let's just hope they won't be taking things too far" – said Sango as she looked at how they were taking battle stances.

- "Okay, I want you to come at me with everything you've got!" – said Gerardo as he pointed to Inuyasha with Ryuuga.

- "You asked for it!" – said Inuyasha unsheathing and transforming Tessaiga, to then take his battle stance. However, right before they began, Ryuuga's sheath began shining. Gerardo took it with his left hand, and it opened itself to the sides, taking the shape of a shield, which from down to up had the Elemental Seal, the Dragon Emblem and the Elemental Mark of Water drawn in gray over a blue background.

- "Hmm, Fuuinryuu wanted me to use it too…" – said Gerardo as he looked at the shield.

- "That's the name of that sheath… err, shield thingamajig?" – said Inuyasha a bit weirded out.

- "Yeah, but don't mind it. Anyway, I'm ready now. Let's begin!" – said Gerardo as he drew a circle with his sword and held it over his shoulder with both hands – "Watsa ya, dragyuu raga torowas tastsaks ika... Dragon Wave!" -

He then stabbed the center of the circle with the sword, launching several dragon head-shaped waves at Inuyasha.

- "Whoa!" – said Inuyasha as he jumped to the side to avoid the waves – "Not bad, but let's see you deal with this! Kaze no Kizu!" –

- "I'll show you! Watsa ya, hydrast xyaza cezet paewat ika, yst hakisa tastsaks ika..." – he moved the hand where he was carrying Fuuiryuu over his sword as if he was applying something to it, and he then swung it in a way contrary to how Inuyasha had done it to use the Kaze no Kizu – "…Water's Scar!" -

He launched an energy wave identical to the Kaze no Kizu, just that it was blue in color instead of gold. When both energies clashed, they coiled into each other and scattered into the wind, vanishing as if they had never existed.

- "Looks like they nulled each other out" – said Gerardo upon seeing this.

- "You can't be serious… you can also use the Kaze no Kizu with your sword?" – asked Inuyasha surprised.

- "Nope. Mine is the "Water's Scar" and it's created from the energy I focus into the blade of my sword" – explained Gerardo in a calm way – "On the other hand, your Kaze no Kizu is made when you cut the rift that gets created in the wind when your energy clashes with the opponent's, right?" -

- "Yeah, but they look so similar… anyway, let's continue fighting!" – said Inuyasha as he ran to Gerardo and tried to slash him, but Gerardo blocked him with his shield.

- "Now it's my turn!" – said him as he tried to slash Inuyasha, who avoided it. Both continued exchanging attacks for a while, until Inuyasha covered Tessaiga in diamond…

- "Kongosouha!" – he screamed as he sung his sword to launch a volley of diamonds.

- "Ochis meya, vacras sos aeria paf viartra… Quickslash!" – Gerardo ran as fast as he could, slashing the air with his sword. Before Inuyasha noticed, Gerardo was right behind him, and the diamonds he threw him were suspended into the air. A few seconds later, they trembled slightly and fell to the ground.

– "What did you do!?" – asked Inuyasha divided between surprise and irritation.

- "I just ran at a great speed and struck your diamond lances in the process with my sword…" – he said shrugging – "Well, we better finish this already… Ist Altyyaok, ah... Leiya Iadlast, Clyezet Pawatz Ical, Oli HalkeiZa Myallade Ical" -

- "What the hell are you doing?" – asked Inuyasha confused, as Gerardo had turned Fuuiryuu into a sheath again and put away Ryuuga – "Singing at a time like this?" -

As Gerardo continued singing, he raised his right hand, as if he was ordering something to rise up, which created a large water pillar in front of him. He moved his hands as if he was opening and closing something, creating a large wall of water. He then made a movement that seemed as if he was pushing the wall, which formed a great wave that was about to crash into Inuyasha.

- "I'll admit you surprised me with that song, but you made a large mistake!" – said Inuyasha with a mocking expression on his face as he raised his sword – "Bakuryuuha!" –

The wave coiled itself into a hurricane and went back to Gerardo. He was a bit shocked from this, but immediately he stuck Ryuuga still in its sheath into the ground as he made a gesture with his hand.

- "Ochis meya... oh, lay paewat dat dragyuu... ah, lay rillal dea dragyuu, Fuuiryuu... protasec sos biosat, yst biosat dat sos felanso pears ika. Dragon Barrier!" -

This created a circular blue barrier around Gerardo that had the Dragon Emblem drawn in gray over it, which the Bakuryuuha couldn't pierce through.

- "No way… was that Ryuura's Jiryuu Fuuin!?" – said Inuyasha with his mouth left open in surprise.

- "You're wrong. This is the Dragon Barrier, and while it isn't as strong as Ryuura's skill, at the least it lets me survive attacks of the Bakuryuuha's level…" – said Gerardo sighing in relief, but when he saw how his barrier was, he added: - "And it was a good thing that your attack didn't last longer or was more powerful, as my barrier wouldn't have been able to withstand it…" –

It couldn't be any less accurate, as the barrier now had a large crack in the place where the Bakuryuuha struck it, and it extended through the rest of the translucent dome.

- "Well, I think it's enough…" – said Gerardo gasping as he dismissed the barrier and put his sheathed sword into his obi.

- "Yeah, you're right" – said Inuyasha as he returned Tessaiga to its katana form and sheathed it – "This was tiring…" –

- "Well, I hope I was a decent opponent to you. At the least I think I could give you some workout if we fought for real" – said Gerardo as they walked back to the others.

- "Yeah, you weren't bad at all…" – said Inuyasha smiling – "I never thought you'd have abilities like these" –

- "I guess that means we're friends now, huh?" – said Gerardo.

- "Well, I think so…" – said Inuyasha crossing his arms.

- "Come on, that isn't bad for us at all, now that we're gonna be traveling together a lot… But I wonder… what were the others doing while we trained?" –

When they went back, they saw Gabriela manipulating a line of light with her hands, but upon noticing they had returned, she let it vanish and ran to them.

- "Hey, welcome back!" – said her with a smile.

- "Oh, Gaby. What were you going? Practicing your Seirei magic?" – asked Gerardo a bit surprised.

- "Yup, I wanted to try 'em out!" – said Gabriela cheerfully – "Though I didn't get to transform…" -

- "I also took the time to practice a bit of archery," – said Kagome pointing to a nearby tree: it had a few arrows stuck on it, though some of them seemed to be made of white wood - "Hehe, as you see, Gaby-chan also tried practicing with me" –

- "I see. So how well did it go?" – asked Gerardo with interest on how well they were handling their bows.

- "Well, I managed to get most of them stuck on the tree,"- said Kagome – "On the other hand, Gaby-chan got around half of her own arrows in it, while the others…" –

She pointed to the sides of the tree, and on closer look, they noticed there were several white arrows lying around on the ground.

- "Yeah, I need more practice" – said Gabriela as she patted the bow she had on her back.

- "Anyway, you got off to a good start" – said Kagome smiling at her – "As you both know, I wasn't really good with the bow when I first began traveling with Inuyasha" –

- "Yeah, but you've improved a lot" – said Inuyasha with a smile – "Otherwise, you'd continue being a burden in battle"-

Kagome sighed: - "I know it's true, but it hurts a little…" –

- "Anyway, let's get going. We should make some progress traveling before it gets late" – said Sango as she walked to them. The others nodded in response and began walking.

After a few hours, in which Gerardo and Gabriela were delighted with the sights of the countryside and the purer air, the sun began setting, and they decided it was time to set up camp and rest for the night, which they need near the shore of a lake surrounded by trees. Once they finished getting everything ready and were sitting around a bonfire…

- "This is the first time I've slept outdoors" – said Gerardo as he looked up at the sky filled with stars – "I really like the forests and mountains, as well as looking at a starry sky, and since I live in a city, I don't get many chances to do so" –

- "Are stars so hard to see where you live, Gerardo-kun?" – asked Miroku with curiosity.

- "Yes, and it's the same in my era" – said Kagome – "There are so many sources of light in the cities where we live that they eclipse out the stars. The sight we have right now is only possible in our time in places that are too far away from the cities" –

- "I see… I know you've got a very advanced technology in your time from the things we saw at your house and the ones Kagome brings every now and then" – said Sango – "But it feels pretty sad to not be able to see the stars like we can…" –

- "We know. The sky's so pretty like this" – said Gabriela in a dreamy tone.

- "Oh by the way, Gaby… I'd like to give you this…" – said Shippou as he handed to her a flower crown.

- "Shippou's at it again?" – whispered Sango at Miroku.

- "It seems he's always waiting for a good chance to do it" – he replied back.

- "Hehe, calm down…" – told Kagome to Gerardo upon seeing the murderous aura that was seeping out from him.

- "I'm sorry, Shippou. It really makes me happy, but you're not my type, so I can't accept your proposal" – said Gabriela giggling, which made Gerardo sigh in relief.

- "Whaaa!? I've failed agaiiiin!" – cried Shippou as he ran to Kagome's side.

- "Hahaha, looks like she got you before you even made the first move!" – said Sango laughing.

- "Keh, no girl would ever fall for that if they knew what Shippou's like" – said Inuyasha with an evil smile.

- "Come on, don't be so mean to him" – said Kagome as she tried to calm the crying Shippou.

- "Waaah! Kagome'd really love me if she was little again!" – screamed Shippou.

- "Looks like he completely forgot about how badly she shot him down…" – said Miroku with an incredulous face.

- "Yeah. And in fact, part of me is still angry at how he treated Inuyasha, but I can't continue dwelling on that all the time. So sorry Shippou, I guess I can only be like a big sister to you" – said Kagome with a smile. This made Shippou fall silent from the shock.

- "Hehe, that's the most epic way to get rejected I've ever seen!" – said Gerardo laughing.

- "Yeah, and not only once, but twice in a row!" – said Inuyasha laughing.

- "Shippou will have to learn to better understand the girls. Otherwise, his failures will continue piling up one over other" – said Miroku amused at this.

- "Then you should strive to be a better role model for him, don't you think, Houshi-sama?" – said Sango eyeing him with suspicion.

- "Though I feel a bit sorry for him…" – said Kagome as she patted Shippou on the head, who was still as if he was petrified.

After the laughter died down and Shippou had recovered, they began preparing dinner.

- "What do you say about relaxing a bit while we wait for dinner to be ready?" – said him as he pushed a couple of buttons in his Dragtemn, and then, a song began playing from it.

- "That song is…!" – said Kagome recognizing its melody, which also caught the attention of all the others

- "Isn't that one of the songs that were heard in the other world when Kagome appeared on that box?" – asked Inuyasha.

- "Yes, you both recognized it from the episodes you watched, I see. It's titled Toki wo Koete – Kagome, and as you can guess, it's your theme song" – said Gerardo with a smile. They then continued listening to the song until it ended.

- "I couldn't really listen to it well when we watched the tapes, but I really liked it. It's so beautiful…" – said Kagome a bit embarrassed.

- "It really fits you, Kagome" – said Sango with a smile - "Though I also wonder if we also have songs with our names, and how they sound like" –

- "The music is so peculiar though… I've never heard such rhythms or instruments before…" – said Miroku thoughtfully.

- "It's making me sleepy…" – said Shippou drowsily.

- "We better hurry up with dinner then" – said Gerardo – "So what are you making?" –

- "We prepared some roasted fish, so if you like, go ahead" – said Sango as she gave them a stick with a roasted fish on its end.

After a while, they had finished eating and were getting ready to sleep, but none noticed that a strange figure was observing at them.

- "Well, I'm getting out one more song before we go to sleep…" – said Gerardo yawning as he made the Dragtemn play it.

- "Ah, that song is…!" – said Gabriela excitedly.

- "Hmm, I don't recognize it… maybe it wasn't in any of the episodes we watched…" – said Kagome deep in thought.

- "But I wonder… is it a theme song for anyone?" – asked Sango.

- "Yes, it is. However… err… it's titled Hiun no Miko…" – said Gerardo a bit lost for words when it came to explaining who it was for.

- "It's Kikyou's theme!" – said Gabriela with a smile, which made Gerardo's face go from a normal color to a deathly pale in question of seconds.

- "Kikyou's?" – asked Inuyasha surprised to then look at the ground saddened – "I see…"'

- "Inuyasha…" – said Kagome saddened too.

- "Ugh, Gaby… why you had to say it?" – said Gerardo a bit scared – "I was still trying to find a way to break it out to them. Now we're gonna have them fighting…" –

- "Well, it's your fault for choosing it" – said Gabriela pouting.

- "I chose it because it's relaxing, despite its sadness…" – said him grinding his teeth.

- "Anyway, we better go to sleep. We'll have a long day tomorrow…" – said Sango, which Gerardo was greatly thankful to her for.

Gerardo and Gabriela began going to their sleeping bag while Kagome did the same thing with her own, but before they all had finished getting ready to sleep, Gabriela felt a partially human presence, but it was filled with sadness and hatred. This made her begin shivering.

- "Everyone… there's someone here!" – said her at the border of tears as she got out her bow and readied an arrow. The others prepared their weapons at the direction Gabriela was aiming. However, the next moment the owner of the presence entered everyone's vision range, and they saw it was…

- "Kikyou! What are you doing in this place!?" – asked Gerardo as he pointed at her with his sword.

- "Who are you? How do you know my name?" – asked Kikyou in a distrustful tone as she aimed at him with an arrow she had in her bow.

- "Kikyou... It's a surprise to see you here…" – said Inuyasha with a very soft voice, while Kagome looked away from them.

- "Inuyasha… I see you've made new friends…" – said Kikyou with an inexpressive voice.

- "Kikyou-sama… why are you here…?" – asked Gabriela to the dead miko, which caught her attention.

- "Hmm, both this child and that boy have very strange presences…" – said Kikyou as she put away her weapons, which the others also did. She then focused her attention on the siblings and the rest of the group – "And everyone in your group is now wearing some strange artifacts…" –

They immediately understood Kikyou was talking about the powers Gerardo and Gabriela could use, as well as the Dragtemns they all were carrying.

- "Kikyou, please answer her question. Why are you here right now?" – asked Inuyasha.

- "I've come to warn you that Naraku has a new scheme in preparation… he has found a new form to increase his powers…" – said Kikyou while she looked through the corner of her eyes to the rest of Inuyasha's group, all of which were paying close attention to each of her words.

- "What do you mean by that?" – asked Miroku.

- "That he learned about an accursed jewel that can increase his powers beyond the limits of the Shikon Pearl, and that can't be purified…" – said Kikyou, but when Gerardo heard these words, his face paled instantly. The others also tensed from this.

- "No…! Naraku must have learned about the Crystal of Shadows!" – said Gerardo grabbing his head while Gabriela held on him scared.

- "So that is the name of that jewel? However, that isn't important right now… I've also found out that he is planning to use Kagome: using her powers in a certain way, he can darken that accursed jewel, and he in turn can use it to stain the Shikon Pearl with even more evil… if he manages to do so… nothing in this world will be able to stop him…" – said Kikyou as she looked at Inuyasha and the others with horror.

- "But how!? Kagome's role is purifying the Pearl, and she will never yield to Naraku's will!" – said Sango.

- "And anyway, why aren't you being targeted? You and Kagome have the same powers, Kikyou, so I would think they would be after you too" – said Miroku with suspicion.

- "They haven't targeted me because my soul is now stained, so my purification powers can't be distorted in the way Kagome's can, as well as Naraku still fearing and being unable to kill me. However, I don't know the specifics of how they will plan to use Kagome's powers for this, but don't lower your guard under any circumstances…" – said Kikyou as she turned away – "Inuyasha… that song I heard a while ago was quite beautiful… but nothing has any meaning to me now…" –

She then disappeared deep into the trees.

- "Why do you think she came to warn us about all this?" – said Gerardo while he walked with Gabriela to their sleeping bag and both settled inside it, as the others also prepared to sleep. The relaxed environment that had been reigning while they were dining and listening to the music had been replaced by an atmosphere of anxiety and anguish: their faces were all filled with worry and fear.

- "I don't know… I can only say that now that Naraku has learned about the Crystal of Shadows, things are going to get much harder… that is quite a disturbing thought" – said Miroku as he leaned against a tree.

- "Not to mention what she said about Naraku wanting to use me to darken the Crystal and stain the Pearl even further…" – said Kagome from her sleeping back.

- "But I won't let him get close to you! I'll die before that happens!" – said Inuyasha determined as he rolled a hand into a fist and he sat beside Kagome to sleep.

They continued being worried by a while, but in the end sleep won them over and they fell asleep.

(End of Chapter)

(Ending: No More Words - Ayumi Hamasaki)

Entwining of Destinies ~ Dragonia - Chapter 5

Chapter 5:

The New Chosen Ones

(Opening: Natsu Kikyuu)

(BGM: Ryuu no Hokora)

As soon as they stepped inside of the temple, they all were even more surprised upon seeing its interior: the entrance hallway was lined with dragon statues, its floor was covered in checkered black and white tiles, and after they walked for a bit, they began seeing precious stones shining in six colors: blue, red, green, yellow, white and blac; embedded in a few of the walls and columns, which decorated the white marble with their shine.

- "This temple is even more marvelous than I thought..." – said Miroku with a voice that pretty much stated he was about to faint from the impression.

- "It's beautiful…" – said Kagome as she took Inuyasha's hand, making him blush.

- "Kagome…" – he began looking around so no one else would notice it.

- "Gerar…" – said Gabriela – "Is this place what I think it is?" –

- "I think so, Gaby" – replied Gerardo.

- "By the way, now I think so… our countries speak completely different languages, right?" – said Kagome – "Then how can we understand each other like this, with no problems?" –

- "Maybe it's some kind of magic" – said Gerardo shrugging his shoulders – "Otherwise, I don't think we could understand what we're both saying" -

They continued their walk through the hallway until they reached the main room of the temple: it was a large and beautiful circular room, with a dome-shaped roof that was so high it was hard to see it. It also had several doors leading to other rooms, each of which had a symbol above: a blue droplet, a red flame, a yellow cracked rock, a green whirlwind, a white sphere, a black sphere, a purple thunder, a green leaf, a light blue crystal, an orange sun, a silver crescent moon and a golden four-pointed star. There also were other statues near the walls, but these had the shape of men and women wearing armors similar to the one Gerardo had during his fight against Sesshomaru: they looked like typical knight armors, but with dragon head-shaped helmets and wings. All of the statues had solemn expressions and were carrying different weapons in their hands: swords, spears, naginatas, bows, javelins, bos, staves, shields; among others. In the very center of the room there were two sets of stairs that led to a large altar that had the shape of the hexagonal emblem that they saw carved in the temple's entrance, which was suspended above a pool of crystal-clear water. There were also several hexagon emblems with a dragon taking off and roaring inside being drawn at several parts of the room. The whole place was illuminated by the light pouring from above due to the dome being transparent, as well as there being several lamps that seemed to be made from crystal emitting a white light.

They continued standing still at the entrance of the room, admiring its beauty and magnificence, until…

(BGM: Garden of the Gods)

- "And well… have you finished admiring the place?" – asked a voice.

Everyone was startled from this, and when they looked at the direction they came from, they noticed a shining dragon was flying towards then, but it was green instead of blue this time.

- "Hmm, we have four people here with a great potential, though we still have to check if they are worthy of it…" – said the dragon.

- "Okay, enough already!" – said Inuyasha impatiently – "Who the heck are you and what is this place!?" –

- "Inuyasha!" – said everyone.

- "Time for questions, is it?" – said the dragon letting out a roar that sounded more like a laughter – "I am the Dragon God of Wind, Kiols, and you are right now inside of the Temple of the Dragon" -

- "Dragon God of Wind?" – asked Kagome – "Who was the dragon that greeted us outside then?" –

- "Oh, that? That was Iadlast, the Dragon God of Water" – said Kiols closing its eyes.

- "Kiols-sama… then, what reason did you have to call us to this place?" – asked Miroku.

- "To see if you worthy of being bearers of the holy power" – said Kiols.

- "You said the holy power?" – asked Kagome.

- "Yes, young one. The holy power fueled by the emotions and the heart: the Seirei Magic and the Power of the Dragon" – said another dragon that appeared at Kiols' side, but this one had a more serious and solemn appearance to it, and was of a white color – "Please excuse my intromission. I am Illyusea, and my role is being of Dragon God of Light" -

- "Ah! I recognize its voice, Gerar! That's the voice I heard when I began singing that song!" – said Gabriela jumping up and down excitedly.

- "Really!?" – said Gerardo about to faint from excitement – "This is amazing… I've been waiting so long for this to happen…" –

- "Oh, but are you worthy of it?" – asked other dragon that was flying above them. This had a rather irritated and fiery appearance to it, was of a bright red color – "Oh yes. I am Pyrazsyec, the Dragon God of Fire" -

- "Wow, amazing… the element I like the least questioning my abilities now…" – said Gerardo in a sarcastic tone as he crossed his arms.

- "Gerar!" – said Gabriela in a reproaching tone.

- "Well…" – said another dragon of bright yellow color as it emerged from the floor, though it had something of a sleepy feeling to it – "The only way to know for sure is carrying out the ceremony right. And if I am allowed to introduce myself, I am the Dragon God of Earth: Tiarrashe" -

- "Agreed. Otherwise, it shall always remain a mystery" – said one last dragon emerging from the few parts of the room that weren't reached by the light. It was of a black color, though its scales shone when the light reached them beautifully and had eyes like pearls: it seemed very mysterious, yet gentle – "I am the Dragon God of Darkness, Phinambrea" -

- "So, what does this ceremony entail?" – asked Kagome as she began feeling nervous.

- "It's nothing dangerous or complex: just climb the stairs to the altar and stand on its center" – said Iadlast as it came out from the pool below the altar – "I apologize for my lack of manners, but I had no time to introduce myself when we met outside. I am Iadlast, Dragon God of Water" –

- "Well then, what will you do?" – asked Illyusea as he looked at Inuyasha, Kagome, Gabriela and Gerardo – "Will you carry out the ceremony, or would you rather leave without even trying it?" -

- "Of course we're doing it!" – said Inuyasha angry.

- "And won't that be dangerous?" – asked Kagome as her face filled with worry.

- "Hmm, I don't think so" – said Sango looking around – "This place doesn't seem dangerous at all, and the ceremony doesn't sound like anything life-threatening from the explanation they gave us" –

- "Okay! Let's do it already!" – said Inuyasha excitedly.

- "But who'll be going through it?" – asked Shippou.

- "The siblings, the miko and the hanyou…" – replied Tiarrashe.

Acknowledging Tiarrashe's words, Inuyasha, Kagome, Gabriela and Gerardo aligned themselves in a line in front of one of the stairs leading to the altar. Inuyasha was the first to step into it.

- "So? What I've gotta do now?" – asked Inuyasha impatiently.

- "You just have to grab the crystal floating in front of you" – said Illyusea as it made a small shining object appear in front of him.

- "This one?" – said Inuyasha as he looked at the object: it was a small gray sphere of glass, which had a very realistic depiction of a dragon's eye on its inside.

- "Yes. If you are worthy, that Seirei Crystal will accept you, but otherwise, you will expelled from the temple…" – said Phinambrea in a warning tone.

- "Meh, how easy!" – said Inuyasha as he extended a hand to grab the crystal.

When he did so, the hexagonal mark drawn in the altar began shining in the points of the hexagon that corresponded to the elements of Fire and Wind, making pillars of green and red light rise from them. The crystal in Inuyasha's hand took a red color while the pupil of the eye inside became green.

- "Looks like I'm worthy!" – exclaimed Inuyasha, however, both the crystal and the magical circle with the hexagon mark stopped shining the next instant, and then the entire altar was filled with an energy that expelled Inuyasha from it. However, his fall was slow and he landed on his feet next to Kagome as if nothing had happened.

- "What the hell was that!?" – asked Inuyasha angry.

- "Are you okay, Inuyasha?" – asked Kagome worried.

- "Yeah, I'm fine, but…" – said Inuyasha turning to look at her briefly, but he then turned back in the direction where the dragons were.

- "Apparently, the powers accepted and rejected you at the same time" – said Phinambrea in a severe tone.

- "What!?" – asked Inuyasha weirded out upon hearing this, which also confused all the others.

- "What does that mean? How could the power reject him if it had accepted Inuyasha in the first place?" – asked Miroku.

- "It is because he has a pure heart and that should allow him to handle it. However, given the special nature of his blood and heritage, it rejected him" – explained Iadlast as it shook his head to the sides.

- "This means that even if you have a pure heart, you won't be able to wield these powers if you're hanyou…" – said Gerardo with his hand in front of his mouth, deep in thought, as he looked at Inuyasha.

- "Keh! I'm strong enough as I'm right now anyway…" – scoffed Inuyasha.

- "Then you'll continue trying to become a full youkai?" – asked Kagome with bright eyes while she took Inuyasha of the hands.

- "Of course not, you fool!" – said Inuyasha as his face turned race and he violently pulled his hands away. Kagome just sighed in exasperation, and knowing this wasn't a good occasion for sitting down anyone, she walked up the stairs to the altar.

- "Grab the crystal now" – said Kiols annoyed. The crystal Inuyasha tried to grab had been replaced with another one.

- "Okay, I'll do it" – said Kagome as she closed her hand around the small glass sphere. Similarly to Inuyasha, the Elemental Seal began shining, this time with the points corresponding to the elements of Light and Water, making pillars of blue and white light rise from it, while the crystal took on a white color and the eyes turned blue.

However, a pink and blue light came out from Kagome's body, making her let go of the crystal as if it had burned her hands, and this in turn caused the seal to stop shining.

- "W-what happened?" - asked Kagome scared. She checked her hands to see if she had gotten burned, but they hadn't even gotten red: the burst of light didn't do anything to her.

- "Looks like the powers you hold are incompatible with the ones we are trying to bestow upon you…" – said Illyusea in a sad voice.

- "My miko powers don't allow me to receive these powers?" – asked Kagome disappointed.

- "Looks like that is the cause…" – said Iadlast closing his eyes.

- "Just great: neither hanyous nor mikos can handle these powers… will we even be able to do it?" – said Gerardo worried.

- "Oh well, I better step down and let the next one try it…" – said Kagome feeling dejected as she walked the stairs down while Gabriela went in the opposite direction.

- "And what's gonna happen now? The brat will get to use these powers?" – asked Inuyasha

- "While I don't like how you said it, I've got to agree here. She's too young to handle that burden" – said Gerardo as he looked at his sister in a mocking manner.

- "SIT DOWN!" – said Kagome and Gabriela at the same time, making both crash into the floor with double the strength. They couldn't stand hearing these words, and adding to that Kagome's irritation for Inuyasha's attitude, they decided to disregard formalities. All the other people present here, including the Dragon Gods, sweatdropped from seeing this.

- "WHY DID YOU DO THAT!?" – screamed both when they managed to get back on their feet.

- "For your cruel comments! Inuyasha, you should treat children better! And you Gerardo, you should have more trust in your sister!" – said Kagome feeling slighted. Inuyasha just crossed his arms and turned away his head, while Gerardo just apologized. However, they instantly turned around to look at the altar when they noticed a flash of light coming from it.

Gabriela had taken the crystal, and to the surprise of everyone present, the circles that lit up this time around in the Elemental Seal was the one corresponding to the light, and also, one of the points of the triangle located in the center of the emblem: these corresponded to the Attributes, the strongest elements. The point that lit up was the one representing the element of the Moon, making the seal release pillars of white and silver light, while the crystal had turned white with the eye colored silver.

- "Either she's gonna get thrown out from the circle or getting rejected by the power" – said Inuyasha with a mocking smile.

But unlike him and Kagome, a string appeared alongside a metal holder around the crystal, and it floated to Gabriela and tied itself around her neck. Then, a smaller copy of the Elemental Seal appeared at Gabriela's feet while the cry of a dragon was heard throughout the room. In her forehead appeared other copy of the seal, while a Dragon Emblem appeared over her chest, right in the spot of her heart. Finally, a white circle with the emblem of the Light appeared on her right hand, while a silver one appeared on the left with the emblem of the Moon, while cut-in-half versions of both them superimposed appeared in her palms.

- "Ist Alttyaok Zosph, Gabriela, Fyatusepth Lyacchi Pawatz cChia Gyalaz Zosph" – said Gabriela as if she was in a trance, and at the next instant, her body shone intensely in a white and silver light.

- "Welcome, Gabriela! New bearer of the Seirei Magic and the Power of the Dragon, chosen by the essences of the Light and the Moon!" – exclaimed Illyusea – "Now, please choose your weapon" –

Illyusea then summoned a group of floating weapons so Gabriela could choose whichever she wanted.

- "I want this!" – said Gabriela grabbing a bow, which upon turned white and its bowstring silver when she touched it. The bow itself had the Elemental Seal embedded near the nocks, while the arrow rest was shaped after the open mouth of a dragon and was made of silver.

- "You can go down now" – said Phinambrea in a tone of satisfaction – "There is still one more we must test" –

Gabriela bowed in response, and began walking down the stairs to allow her brother to go into the altar. Once up, another crystal had been brought in and was waiting for him.

- "Go ahead" – said Tiarrashe.

- "Very well" – said Gerardo as he closed his hands around the small crystal, feeling excitement, joy, anxiety and fear at the same time.

The crystal began shining, as also did the Elemental Seal, but unlike all the others, the only point of the hexagon that was shining was the one corresponding to water, creating a pillar of blue light, while the rest of the emblem shone in gray. The crystal also took on a blue color while the eye turned gray.

Then, like with Gabriela, a dragon's cry was heard throughout the room, and the same emblems that appeared over his sister: the Elemental Seal on the floor and on his forehead, and the Dragon Emblem over his heart, appeared on him, though with a different color. The Elemental Marks also appeared over his hands as also did their cut-in-half forms in his palms, but while the one that appeared on his right hand was the emblem for Water, in his left appeared something no one was expecting to see: a gray circle enclosing a strange symbol (?).

- "Ist Alttyaok Zosph, Gerardo, Fyatusepth Lyacchi Pawatz Chia Gyalaz Zosph" – said he in the same tone of voice as his sister when she received her powers while his body shone in blue and gray. After the light faded away, he looked at the marks that appeared on his hands.

- "What does this mean?" – he asked confused at Illyusea while he showed it his left hand.

- "Unknown, huh? It means that it was impossible to determine your second element" – replied the dragon – "Most likely, it will be revealed later on, so you will have to continue like this until that happens. Therefore, we won't be able to provide you with a weapon, but at the least we will supply you with the necessary items for creating one. So, what kind of weapon do you want?" -

- "A sword" – said Gerardo as he stopped looking at his left hand and fixed his eyes on Illyusea.

- "Very well" – said Illyusea as it made appear a small brown sack and made it levitate to his hands – "This sack contains one of Iadlast's fangs and some of his scales and claws, as well as some elemental crystal dust" –

- "But what about the blade itself?" – asked Gerardo.

- "You can use the decorative sword you have in your house" – said Illyusea.

- "How did you know about it?" – said Gerardo surprised.

- "Remember we are the Dragon Gods: the Wills that created Dragonia and maintain its existence. You shouldn't be surprised for something as simple as that" – said Illyusea as it laughed at Gerardo's surprise.

Gerardo just smiled at how he didn't think about it, and walked down the steps to reunite with the others. The marks that appeared on him and Gabriela then disappeared.

- "Now, we will explain the reason we had to summon you here" – said Pyrazsyec impatiently as he looked at Gerardo and Gabriela – "Are you both familiar with the legend of the Crystal of Shadows?" –

- "Perfectly, in fact" – nodded Gerardo.

- "Very well, that speeds up things and allows us to skip the boring exposition" – said Pyrazsyec – "Well then, the fragments of that crystal have arrived to this world, and we need your help to keep Tenebross from coming back to life" –

- "And why…" – began Inuyasha, but Gerardo raise a him to make him shut up as he shook his head side to side and muttered in a very low voice: – "I'll explain everything later" -

- "Understood. We'll do everything we can to prevent its resurrection" – said Gerardo with a soft but very determined voice.

- "I am glad to hear that. Now, before you depart, we must give you some items that will surely be of help to you in your quest" – said Iadlast with pride as some lights flew from behind it and fixed to the wrists of everyone. After a few instant, they took on the shape of circular wristwatches that had a circular crystal screen with six risen parts on the rim around it – "These devices are called Dragtemns, and they serve as a communication network you all can use to talk to each other regardless of how far you are from each other, and they take their colors from your elements. Additionally, the bearers of the Power of the Dragon will require them to even be able to use their powers, so make sure to take good care of them" –

Gerardo's wristwatch had a blue screen with a gray rim, Gabriela's was white and silver, Kagome's was white and blue, Inuyasha's was red and green, Sango's was yellow and red, Mirou's was green and black, and Shippou's was green and light green.

"But how is it that we have elements if we didn't take part in the ceremony or receive the test?" – asked Miroku disconcerted.

- "Because you have been in contact with those that were tested. While they are worthy of this honor, unfortunately our powers couldn't become one with them due to unforeseen circumstances"- said Phinambrea in an enigmatic tone – "And you have also become friends with the two that did become chosen ones" –

- "And that reminds me… Gerardo and Gabriela, please take this" – said Tiarrashe making two kimonos appears out from the thin air – "You will need these clothes, as I am afraid the people of this place and time doesn't take kindly those that have an appearance outside of what they consider normal" –

- "Tiarrashe-sama's right about that…" – said Kagome saddened.

Gerardo was given a blue kimono that was very similar to Inuyasha's, with the difference that the sleeves of its haori were a bit longer and also had characters in a strange language sewn into its sleeves and collar. On the other hand, Gabriela's kimono was very similar to the traditional outfit of the miko, but with the hakama in a silver color instead of red and that the entire outfit was decorated with white spheres and crescent moons; and similarly to Gerardo, it had characters sewn on its sleeves and collar. When they touched them, the screens of their respective Dragtemns shone and absorbed them, while a notification saying "Item Stored!" appeared on their screens.

- "Whoa, it can also store items!?" – said Gabriela surprised.

- "That sure is gonna come handy!" – said Shippou surprised. However, Gerardo looked at Gabriela, and both knew what they had to do now.

- "Thank you very much for everything" – said Gerardo and Gabriela as they knelt down before the Dragon Gods in the same way a medieval knight would in front of their lord.

- "Now you should get going" – said Illyusea – "The temple will disappear once you have left it, so we won't be able to see each other for some time. However, we will always be watching over you all" –

They all left the temple in silence. As soon as they did, the temple disappeared as if it never had existed in the first place. They then sat down in the grass, expecting Gerardo's explanation.

- "Okay, kid" – said Inuyasha impatiently – "Now spit it: what's that Crystal of Shadows and who is that Tenebross whatever?" –

- "It's funny you call me like that when I'm your senior physically speaking," – said Gerardo in a resigned tone, making Inuyasha scoff and the others laugh – "But oh well. I'll explain things with this legend: long ago, only the Chaos and Nothingness existed, but at some point, six essences rose out from the Chaos, took the shape of dragons and they became the Dragon Gods. They created the elemental crystals, and thanks to that, the world of Dragonia was born. It was a peaceful and beautiful world, but then, an evil being was born from the Nothingness, and taking the shape of a shadowy dragon, it began causing destruction and havoc everywhere it went. The name of this evil shadow is… Tenebross" –

- "And what happened then?" – asked Kagome a bit scared but interested in hearing the rest, like all the others.

- "The Dragon Gods challenged it to a battle at the peak of the highest mountain of Dragonia, but as they were unable to defeat it, even uniting their powers, they decided to seal it away. They weakened it using their strongest spells and attacks, and then used magic to imprison it into a crystal, which they called the Crystal of Shadows. Then, to make sure it wouldn't return, they broke the crystal into hundreds of fragments and scattered them throughout Dragonia. However, Tenebross used the evil influence it still had to create monsters to search for these fragments, so it could be revived and become able to destroy the world" – ended Gerardo with a sigh. He was out of breath.

- "It sounds similar to the story of the Shikon Pearl" – said Sango surprised.

- "I guess so. However, none of the monsters in search of the Shikon Pearl compare to Tenebross: that evil creature is capable of annihilating entire dimensions, so if it comes back, it'll be the end of all worlds…" – said Gerardo with a terrified face.

- "I see… our searches are very similar in several aspects, but they also have a great difference" – said Kagome thoughtfully.

- "If Naraku learns about this, things could get ugly…" – said Shippoy scared.

- "Yeah. That goddamned bastard would like to use the evil energies from that crystal to increase his powers beyond what he intends to do with the Shikon Pearl" – said Inuyasha as an irritated expression appeared on his face and he flexed his claws.

- "I think the reason why we were called to this world was because we have a very strong emotional connection to it" – said Gerardo thoughtfully.

- "But how do you know these things about Dragonia?" – asked Sango – "You aren't from that world, right?" –

- "Nope! Gerar knows all these things because he had dreams about it lots of time, and I also did!" – replied Gabriela cheerfully.

- "Hmm, it does make sense then. I have to say that it's quite surprising to hear that something from a dream became real in such a way, though" – said Miroku amazed – "Well then, what are we going to do now?" –

(BGM: Pietro Skip)

- "First we've got to return home to get ready for this journey" – said Gerardo excitedly.

- "Okay, then I'll do the same and begin getting ready!" – said Kagome cheerfully.

- "Go ahead, I've gotta talk something with old man Totosai" – said Inuyasha bitterly.

- "Huh? For what?" – said Gerardo surprised, as Tessaiga didn't seem like it needed reforging or repairs.

- "So he can make you a sword, stupid" – said Inuyasha as he took out another sword aside of Tessaiga: it seemed to be just a decorative katana which had eastern-styled dragons carved in the guard and drawn on the scabbard.

- "Where did you keep that hidden?" – asked Gabriela surprised.

- "Didn't you notice I had it on the belt when I was wearing the uniform, or that I had it behind Tessaiga?" – said Inuyasha with a mocking smile.

- "Looks like I need to watch out better for details, as I didn't notice it even while we were changing…" – said Gerardo a bit dejected.

- "Anyway, I took it from your house before we returned here, and you better give me the things that dragon gave you" – said Inuyasha at Gerardo.

- "Okay, here you go" – said Gerardo giving to him the bag containing the fang, claws, scales and crystal dust, which he had on his hands all this time – "Just tell Totosai that if he doesn't make a good sword with it, or if he ruins its decorations, I'm gonna beat him up as badly or even worse than you do… Oh, and by the way… I've decided that my sword will be called Ryuuga!" –

- "Hmm, not too shabby for a name!" – said Inuyasha surprised.

- "Yeah. It wasn't easy deciding on a name for it, but I settled down on it" – said Gerardo with a smile – "Well, I just hope you bring me back that sword in one piece" -

- "By the way… why do you have a sword?" – asked Kagome confused.

- "Because they are the only weapons I really like, and I had to save up a lot of allowance to buy it" – said Gerardo proudly.

After a while, they were ready to go: Gerardo was holding Gabriela by the hand next to the portal which Kagome made appear again with the Shikon shard she had, Kagome herself was carrying her backpack preparing to set off with Miroku, Sango and Shippou, and Inuyasha was at Kirara's side, which had transformed into her larger form.

- "Okay, see you in two days!" – said Gerardo crossing the portal with his sister.

- "Bye-bye!" – said Gabriela waving with her hand as she went in.

- "See you! Take care!" – said the others.

- "Okay, time to go home" – said Kagome as she began walking away with the others – "See you later!" –

- "Okay!" – said Inuyasha.

They four began walking away while Kirara took off with Inuyasha on her back, carring him to Totosai's lair.

(Ending: Sakura Mioka - Local Bus)

Entwining of Destinies ~ Dragonia - Chapter 4

Chapter 4:

The Return of Two Old Friends

(Opening: Change the World)

When Inuyasha and Kagome reached the other side of the gateway, it closed behind them, but they both were met with the pleasant surprise that they had appeared at the same place where everyone was eating. Miroku, Sango and Shippou went to welcome them back at once, but Gerardo and Gabriela kept themselves a little away from them, even though they tried to get a look of them. Naturally, their eyes were the size of saucers from the clothes Inuyasha and Kagome were wearing, as well as Kagome's childish appearance.

- "Inuyasha! Kagome!" – screamed Shippou running to them alongside Miroku and Sango, but they stopped in their tracks, astonished from their weird clothes and Kagome being a little girl again.

- "Kagome, what happened to you?" – asked Sango – "And why are you wearing these weird clothes?" -

- "It's a long story…" – said Kagome, but Inuyasha cut her off.

- "And who are these two?" – said him as he walked in Gerardo and Gabriela's direction, but he got enraged immediately due to Gerardo wearing his outfit and having his precious sword – "What ya think yer doin' with my clothes and sword, kid!?" -

- "Hey, I was wearing this when we appeared in this world!" – said Gerardo – "And anyway, I was thinking about giving it back to you, but… Why are you wearing my school uniform?" -

- "'Coz I had to go that school of yers, and yer friends tried to do something really unpleasant to me in there!" – shouted Inuyasha.

Gerardo just sighed in irritation and disappointment:

- "Great… I wanted to meet you and the others so much, and it turns out to be that you're far more unpleasant in person. And before you say anything, no, it isn't about you being a hanyou" – he added upon seeing the face Inuyasha was making and how he was opening his mouth to reply back - "I'm talking about your bad temper" -

- "Inuyasha… SIT DOWN!" – screamed Kagome enraged at his rudeness, but that ended getting the wrong target because Gerardo was the one that crashed into the ground, shocking her – "W-what happened here?" -

- "It's because I'm the one wearing the rosary now, and my sister has been abusing of that phrase…" – said Gerardo annoyed as he stood up again and dusted himself off.

- "Sorry… I forgot Inuyasha wasn't wearing it anymore" – said Kagome a bit saddened.

- "No, don't worry about it" – said Gerardo smiling at her, and then he turned to face Inuyasha – "Inuyasha, shall we go for a second somewhere else to exchange our clothes? I'll also use the chance to give Tessaiga back to you" –

- "Keh! As ya want!" – said him as they both walked over to some nearby bushes.

After a few minutes, they both came back, now with Inuyasha wearing again his red kimono and with Tessaiga tied to his hip, while Gerardo wore his school uniform. However, Gerardo still had the rosary on, and no matter how much he pulled, his attempts to take it off from himself were in vain.

- "This is just wonderful: I'm stuck with this thing now and I'll suffer the consequences if either Kagome or Gaby say 'Sit down'" – he said with irritation when they went back to the others.

- "Hmm, I can try to get it off from you then" – said Kagome.

- "Please do! I really don't want to keep wearing it!" – said Gerardo, which made Inuyasha laugh.

- "And don't think you're going to be running around without it for much longer, Inuyasha" – said Kagome with an unimpressed face, which instantly put an end to his laughter and made him terrified. She then went to Gerardo, who leaned forward to let Kagome reach his neck, but as soon as Kagome's hands touched the rosary, it began shining and released several lights, which moved to around Inuyasha's neck and transformed into a second rosary.

- "No, damn!" – said Gerardo trying to get it off himself, but the rosary still had its power, and from how things looked, Inuyasha was in the same predicament: the other rosary also had the same powers and it didn't come off from his neck no matter what he did – "Hell… and to make matters worse, I'm sure it still works…" -

- "Sit down!" – shouted Gabriela, which made Inuyasha and Gerardo crash into the ground.

- "WHY DID YOU DO THAT!?" – screamed both in fury at the same time.

- "It's just that I wanted to see if Gerar was right…" – said Gabriela with a face it showed she was about to begin crying.

- "Come now, don't yell at her" – said Kagome severely – "But this is weird… I'm not the only one that can make the rosary work now… but does it still work with me?" -

- "Please, don't try it!" – said Gerardo in a tragic tone, but it was to no avail.

- "Sit down!" – said Kagome, which made both fall to the ground again – "Uh… sorry, looks like they still respond to me…" -

- "Well, at least there's someone else here that knows what I suffer" – said Inuyasha looking at Gerardo with a rather unpleasant smile as they both stood up again.

- "Yeah… and someone who also managed to defeat Sesshomaru without any help…" – muttered Gerardo in a very low voice as he gave him an icy glare, but Inuyasha's hypersensitive ears still caught what he said.

- "Ya couldn't have defeated Sesshomaru! Ya liar!" – said Inuyasha as he walked to him and grabbed him by the shirt.

- "Inuyasha, it's true…" – said Sango as she went and tried to calm him down.

- "What!?" – said Inuyasha shocked as he released his grip on Gerardo and looked at Sango.

- "Sango is right" – said Miroku – "Gerardo fought against Sesshomaru to protect his sister: he used some strange powers we had never seen before, and aside of defeating Sesshomaru, he was pretty close to killing him" –

- "Sesshomaru's dead…?" – asked Kagome worried.

- "No," – said Shippou – "After he defeated him, Gerardo pitied him, and his sister used a weird but very pretty song to fully heal him" –

- "What didja say!?" – screamed Inuyasha as he turned to Gerardo – "Ya idiot! Why didn't ya let him die!? Why didn't ya stop her from healing him!? Did ya forget he tried to kill you both!?" -

- "I know it… very well…" – said Gerardo looking straight at Inuyasha's eyes, showing a great determination – "But I didn't kill him because I don't like unnecessary deaths, because you still had that score to settle with him… and because I felt sorry for Rin, as I don't want to think what would happen to her if Sesshomaru died" –

All of this made Inuyasha shut up, and he turned around as he scoffed like a spoiled child.

- "Err…" – said Kagome – "I think we haven't been introduced, right?" –

- "Uh, right… sorry for my lack of manners…" – said Gerardo embarrassed as he walked to Gabriela's side – "I'm Gerardo, and she's my sister, Gabriela" -

They then bowed towards her.

- "Hehe, you're pretty cute!" – said Kagome as she looked at Gabriela, which made her blush and smile – "I think I'd have liked to have a little sister like you" –

- "Hihi, thanks, but it feels pretty weird to have someone that looks my same age acting like a big sis!" – said Gabriela giggling – "And shouldn't we go change clothes too? I'm kinda getting tired of going 'round without shoes…" –

- "Ah okay, I know how you feel. Let's go to the bushes then" – replied Kagome, but before continuing, she turned toward the others – "And don't try peeking in!" -

- "I have no problems with that, but make sure to take good care of her" – said Gerardo to Kagome as she took out one of her uniforms and a bottle filled with a blue liquid. She then went alongside Gabriela into the bushes where Gerardo and Inuyasha had gone into a few minutes ago.

All the others sat down looking at the place they went to, and nothing worthy of mention happened aside of a little thing: Miroku tried going to the bushes under the excuse of "checking if everything was okay", but some killer glares from Gerardo, Sango and Inuyasha made him give up on the idea. Finally, they saw a flash of white light, and a few minutes later, Gabriela and Kagome returned to their side, both wearing their respective uniforms and with Kagome back to her true age.

- "So you're Mrs. Gallucci's children?" – asked Kagome when she and Gabriela had gone back to the others and sat down.

- "Do you know our mother?" – asked Gerardo as he and Gabriela put on surprised faces.

- "Yeah, she was who offered to lodge us in your house" – replied Kagome with a smile – "She's a great person" –

- "And my father didn't say anything about it?" – asked Gerardo surprised, given how strict his father was about receiving strangers in the house.

- "Well… we had quite a hard time about it…" – said Kagome as she tried to explain herself, but Inuyasha decided to interrupt her and continue the explanation himself.

- "Some weird letters appeared out of nowhere that made us "exchange students" in yer world, and while yer dad had quite a good while screaming because ya were gone without telling him anything, he accepted it in the end" – said Inuyasha.

- "Wait a moment… exchange students? So you were at my school!?" – asked Gerardo spooked – "Were there any exams that day? How did you deal with my classmates? And my friends?" -

- "Whoa, simmer down there!" – said Inuyasha dumbfounded at the flood of questions – "There were none of these tests, I had to bear with yer classmates, and while your friends learned about who I was, nothing terrible happened" –

- "*sigh*… That's a relief" – said Gerardo as he closed his eyes with a smile.

- "You worry a lot about your grades?" – asked Kagome with interest.

- "Yeah, but not so much as in previous years: I'm in my final high school year, and in my country, grades at that point have no impact on the chances of going to college" – said Gerardo.

- "Keh! I don't get why ya worry so much about it" – said Inuyasha, which got him irritated gazes from both.

- "Rather, my main problem is that I have a lot of difficulty socializing because, ever since I moved from my hometown to the place where I live now, I've always gotten bullied in the schools where I was…" – said Gerardo with sadness.

- "B-but… for what reason?" – asked Kagome.

- "For my tastes and the fact I came from another city" – said Gerardo looking at the ground.

- "Discriminated for being different, huh?" – said Kagome thoughtfully – "I've also seen some of that in my own school… as well as also being the same thing that happened to Inuyasha…"

- "Bah! I don't think he actually understands that kinda sufferin'!" – said Inuyasha acidly.

- "While I don't understand it on the same level as you for not having experienced your life, I've went through something similar, so I do feel that pain. That's why I identified with your struggles when I learned of your past" – said Gerardo – "However, as I said, my suffering is nothing in comparison to yours" –

- "And that reminds me… It was quite a surprise to find out that we're characters from an anime series over at your world" – said Kagome smiling to change the conversation topic to something less depressing.

- "Err… yeah…" – said Gerardo blushing – "I guess you saw all of the things I have related to it, right?" –

- "Yeah. Our adventures are very interesting to you, I see" – said Kagome as she closed her eyes.

- "And it's not only me: a lot of people also love your series as well" – replied Gerardo.

- "Yup, with the romances, and fights, and comedy parts" – said Gabriela, making both couples-in-progress blush as the mention of the first bit – "I really like it too!" -

- "And by the way… what country are you both from?" – asked Kagome – "Our worlds seem to be almost the same, so…" –

- "We come from a country in South America called Venezuela" – said Gerardo.

- "Ah, right, like it was written in the letters! Now I get why your customs are so different from ours" – replied Kagome excitedly as she clapped her hands – "Actually, I've always wanted to try traveling overseas…" –

- "And I've always dreamed with traveling to Japan" – said Gerardo with a smile – "Looks like we both got what we wanted, though in a very unusual way…" –

- "By the way, Kagome, how was my school for you?" - asked Gabriela with a smile - "Since you're so much bigger than me and so many years ahead, I'm thinking it could've been boring" -

- "You're not wrong in that, Gabriela" - said Kagome with a smile.

- "Hehe, call me Gaby or Gabu, or how you prefer" - said Gabriela giggling - "It's just I don't like others calling me by my full name... It makes me think I'm gonna get scolded..." -

- "Yeah, it's because that's what my parents and I do when we need her to behave..." - said Gerardo looking downward.

- "Okay, Gaby-chan" - said Kagome, to which Gabriela smiled - "Yeah, it was pretty boring, as getting thrown seven years backward in school isn't anything fun when you know all they're teaching" -

- "My teacher didn't say anything 'bout it?" - asked Gabriela raising an eyebrow.

- "Nope. I had to feign not knowing the stuff the teacher was teaching to not draw more attention to myself though" - said Kagome - "But I did have some surprises and fun in recess with your friends, playing make-believe of our adventures" -

- "Eheh, I guess Maria was the one who called you to play with them!" - said Gabriela giggling.

- "It must have been an experience to play at being yourself" - said Gerardo laughing about how weird it sounded.

- "You said it, Gerardo-kun" - nodded Kagome before talking to Gabriela again - "That said, does... Kikyou happen to be your favorite character?" -

- "Yeah, she is!" - said Gabriela smiling while Inuyasha blinked at her answer and the other three were livid at this - "I really admire her being a miko, how calm and collected she is, and... and..." -

- "I see. I guess that's why Maria-chan asked me if I wanted her role" - said Kagome with a saddened smile.

- "I'm sorry Gaby prefers her, Kagome" - said Gerardo sighing a bit saddened.

- "Don't mind it. Everybody has their own preferences, don't they?" - said Kagome perking up a bit.

- "Still, you're a pretty cool protagonist too! But..." - started Gabriela.

However, their conversation was interrupted at that point due to something: a strong light flashed in front of them, blinding them for a few seconds; and when they could see again, they noticed that a large building was appearing right before them. It had a hexagonal shape, was built completely in white marble, with a colored stone in each of the points of the hexagon, and it had two large dragon statues flanking both sides of the entrance, which was a large square opening with double doors. Above the entrance and on the doors, there was a symbol engraved: a hexagon surrounded by two circles, which had all of its six points colored and interconnected, had a triangle formed by three points placed between the two outer circles and had three more colored points forming a triangle near its center.

The group was marveled and continued looking at the magnificent structure.

- "Incredible! I have never seen such a building!" – said Miroku.

- "It's true, it's very beautiful!" – said Sango.

- "Amazing! We don't have buildings like this one in my era either!" – said Kagome.

- "I wonder what it's for…" – said Shippou.

- "Hmm, what a weird building…" – said Inuyasha.

- "It's so pretty!" – said Gabriela.

- "It's truly a beautiful structure… however, I have a feeling I know what it is…" – said Gerardo with a strange smile.

- "Are ya serious?" – asked Inuyasha surprised, while all the others turned to look at him.

- "Yes, but I'm not completely sure about it…" – said him crossing his arms.

A blue sphere of light came out from the building and headed in their direction. When it was close enough to them, it took the form of a bright blue dragon, which had a calm and wise appearance to it.

- "Welcome" – said the dragon – "Now please, go inside the temple" -

- "Are you inviting us?" – asked Kagome.

- "Yes. Please, go in, all of you" – said the dragon before disappearing into the air.

- "We should do what it says" – said Gabriela.

- "Do you think we can trust that thing?" – said Inuyasha in a cautious tone, and he even had his hand over Tessaiga's hilt.

- "Yeah, I've got a good feeling about this place" – said Gerardo smiling – "And besides, I'm pretty sure that the voice that told me what I had to do to use these powers belonged to that dragon…" –

- "Is that true!?" – asked Miroku. Gerardo only nodded to them all.

They then entered the temple.

(End of Chapter)

(Ending: Fukai Mori)

Entwining of Destinies ~ Dragonia - Chapter 3

Chapter 3:

A Hard Battle

(Opening: Owaranai Yume)

The stranger was no other than Sesshomaru.

- "Ugh, great! Just what we needed!" – shouted Gerardo irritated – "Having Lord Fluffy come right to our current location!" -

Everyone was confused about who he was talking about, but Gabriela did understand it right away and fell to the ground as she grabbed her belly, laughing loudly.

- "Who's Fluffy?" – asked Shippou.

- "That's the nickname a lot of people gave to Sesshomaru in my world. Let's just say he has quite a following, particularly among girls" – said Gerardo as the shade of a laughter began appearing on his face. With this, the others began laughing as well, knowing now why he said that. However, their fun came to an end when Sesshomaru went up to them, which got them all tense, while Gabriela and Shippou ran behind the others to hide.

- 'Damn it' – thought Sesshomaru as he looked at the fluffy part he had over his shoulder, and then he spoke to Gerardo – "How did you just call me, human? And why are you carrying Tessaiga and wearing the clothes of that useless fool Inuyasha?" -

- "That's none of your business!" – said Gerardo with more courage than he actually felt: he began trembling because he knew perfectly that Sesshomaru could kill them all easily if he wanted – "And anyway, why do you still want Tessaiga if you can't even hold it? Don't you have enough with Tokijin!?" -

- "These are matters that don't concern you, human… now hand over that sword!" – said Sesshomaru.

- "You'll have to take it away by force!" – said Gerardo, which was a grave mistake.

- "I shall comply with your wishes. You are every bit as idiotic as Inuyasha…" – said as he ran to him, enshrouded by a black aura, which made everyone around gasp in shock.

Gerardo unsheathed Tessaiga and drove it into the ground as he gripped it as hard as he could.

- "Come, please! If you won't transform, at least pull out a barrier or something!" – he thought scared.

A few seconds later, Sesshomaru was repelled by a transparent barrier that had been formed just an instant ago.

- "Hmph, so you're using the sword's barrier to protect yourself… very astute, yet that won't be enough to save you!" – said Sesshomaru as he began attacking the barrier with his sword.

- 'Shit! The barrier isn't going to last long like this… What I'm supposed to do now!?' – he thought desperate, and with the next strike of Sesshomaru's sword, the barrier was shattered.

- "This is your end" – said Sesshomaru as he used his claws to send a stream of green poison at Gerardo while he put his arms in front of himself. However, while this killed and dried away all the plants around him to the point of reducing them to ashes, it didn't have any effect on Gerardo.

- "I'm pretty lucky…" – said he breathing fast, looking at how the clothes he was wearing merely wafted a bit of poison but without any visible damage to them – "If it wasn't for the fabric of these clothes, I'd be dead by now" -

- "If my claws and poison won't be able to finish you off" – said Sesshomaru as he unsheathed Tokijin – "Then my sword shall be that which eliminates you!" -

He then began attacking him. Gerardo took Tessaiga again and began using it to parry the attacks, though he could barely block Sesshomaru's attacks, as between Tessaiga being stuck on its rusty form and the speed at which the attacks were coming, he couldn't do anything else. Finally, Sesshomaru struck Gerardo on the hand he was holding Tessaiga in, disarming him as Tessaiga flew off from his hands and drove itself into the ground behind him. He then punched Gerardo in the face, making him fall on his back at the side of where the sword was now stuck in the ground.

- "If you don't hand that sword over now" – said Sesshomaru as he came closer to the rest of the group –"I'll kill everyone here" -

- "You wouldn't dare!" – shouted Gerardo as he began sweating.

- "See it by yourself" – said Sesshomaru as he pointed to Gabriela, who had gotten paralyzed by fear.

- 'I don't care if that brat is like Rin. I just have the feeling that if I don't kill her now, I'll greatly regret it later. Besides, Rin won't have any reason to fear me since she isn't here right now' – thought Sesshomaru to then look at Gerardo with an evil smile – "I believe that girl means a lot to you..."

- "Don't even dare to touch her!" – said Sango as her Miroku, and Shippou put themselves between him and Gabriela.

- "You're insane! How can you think of killing her!?" – screamed Shippou.

- "Have you lost your mind, Sesshomaru!?" – said Miroku gripping his shakujou with both hands.

- "Don't interfere…" – said Sesshomaru. He then moved so fast that it seemed as if he had teleported around, and punched them in a way that caused them to lose consciousness. He then began walking steadily to Gabriela, as if he wanted to savor every single second of the atrocity he was about to commit.

- "No! Sango! Shippou! Miroku!" – screamed Gerardo shocked – "Sesshomaru, leave my little sister out of this!" -

- "Oh, so she is your sister?" – said Sesshomaru as he turned his head to look at Gerardo with repulsion – "This makes it even better. It'll be even more satisfactory for me to kill her then…" -

- "Damn it!" – said Gerardo lowering as he grabbed his head with his hands, desperate – "I can't do anything… I can't make Tessaiga transform… and I don't have any powers I can use to save her…" -

He punched the ground. He tried placing one of his hands over to sword to see if anything happened, but it had absolutely no effect. However, after he did so, Gerardo heard a strange voice resounding in his head…

- "I have finally found you…" -

- "What…?" – he replied to the voice – "Who are you…?" –

- "You are one of the Chosen… use it…" –

- "Chosen? What am I supposed to use?" –

- "Do it now… or she will die, as will you…" – said the voice. At that point, Gerardo felt as if something was entering his mind and as if he was in a trance, he stood up again, placed his hands over chest, closed his eyes, and began pronouncing words in a language he never had spoken or even heard before.

-"Khalt Zattyac Ochsmere Iadlast Kiabze Pawatz Zosph, Phaph Myya Zosph Phiaphz Ical!"-

(Music: The Power of the Dragon – Popolocrois Anime)

His body then began shining in a bright blue, and when the shine disappeared, he found himself wearing bright blue metallic knight armor with gray borders, whose helmet was shaped after a dragon's head and had a pair of wings sprouting from the back. The breastplate had a circular plate on its center that had a blue water droplet on it. Additionally, an iron sword and an iron shield also appeared on his hands.

- "I… I can't… believe this…" – said Gerardo as he looked down at himself.

- "Hmph, apparently you possess some abilities that I was unaware of, yet that won't change the final outcome of this" – said Sesshomaru as he turned away from Gabriela and ran up to Gerardo a full speed to slash him with Tokijin. Gerardo blocked it with his shield to then respond in kind, which made Sesshomaru evade him. They continued like this for a good while: both slashing at the opponent and avoiding the attacks of the other while they waited for a chance to attack themselves. Finally, Gerardo used the shield to block two of Sesshomaru's slashes, but it was a feint…

- "You have given a worthy fight for a simple human, but it's time to put an end to this…" – said Sesshomaru appearing behind him as he launched him an energy beam with Tokijin, striking him on the back. Gerardo screamed from the pain and placed his hand over the place where he had gotten hit.

- "Hmph, it seems that your strange armor doesn't offer much protection" – said Sesshomaru in a mocking tone as he raised his sword for the final blow, but then…

-"Nyarr Nyulase IphalRe Zosph Uira Ical Pawatz Zhoi, Oli Kialrazz Zosph Eoulss Ical! Water Cannon!"- shouted Gerardo spreading the wings of his armor to take flight, distracting Sesshomaru briefly with the wind blast he made by doing so. He then stuck his sword in the middle of the back of his shield. Both began absorbing energy, and a few seconds later, he was launching at Sesshomaru a blue energy beam shaped after a dragon's head.

Sesshomaru received some damage from that attack, but the worst part for him was that Gerardo came up to him following the energy beam's trajectory, and taking advantage he was distracted from its luminosity, he disarmed Sesshomaru by striking his hand and stabbed him with his own sword on the abdomen: apparently the sword was still charged with energy and thanks to that it could pierce his armor rather easily. Sesshomaru fell to the ground on his back, now without the black aura, and then Gerardo drew the sword back, flew a bit away from him, stepped on the ground again and fell to his knees.

- "Looks like… I won..." – he said as he gasped from exhaustion and looked at what he had done. Gabriela came walking to him looking a bit scared.

- "Gaby, are you okay?" – asked Gerardo to his sister.

- "Yeah, Gerar, but… you were amazing!" – said Gabriela smiling excitedly.

At that point, the others began waking up, and when they saw the current situation: Gabriela safe and sound, Sesshomaru unconscious with a large bleeding wound, and Gerardo wearing the dragon armor, they all could only hang their mouths open in amazement.

- "Are you all okay?" – asked Gerardo.

- "Yeah, but… how did you do this?" – asked Miroku, who still couldn't believe what he saw.

- "I really don't know" – said Gerardo. The next instant, the sword and shield began cracking, much to everyone's surprise, and shattered as if they were made from glass. The next instant, the entire armor he was wearing also cracked and shattered, and all of their shards disappeared as if they never had existed in the first place. However, this also made the wound and bruises Sesshomaru inflicted him disappear: apparently this whole event had healed them.

- "Whatever you did, it didn't last long" – said Shippo as he looked at Gerardo with curiosity.

- "Looks like you have some kind of power hidden within yourself" – said Sango as she looked at him – "Though it's very strange…" -

- "I know, and looks like I did it speaking in a language I don't even know, as I don't remember what I said when I summoned that armor and used an energy attack against him" – said Gerardo as he sat on the ground to rest a bit – "I just know I heard a voice in my head telling me to say these words…" -

- "Anyway, it doesn't look like we're going to learn more about it for now. And what should we do about him?" – interrupted Miroku as he examined Sesshomaru.

- "I think we should help him" – said Gerardo with a pitying look – "If we don't do something, he'll die…" -

- "But he's a youkai, and he also tried to kill us!" – protested Sango.

- "And many times, if I remember correctly… anyway, I've never liked seeing anyone die, no matter their species. Besides, I'm sure this would be terrible for Rin…" – said Gerardo with a sad face as he got up and walked to Sesshomaru – "Hmm… but I wonder what we can do… I'm not Tenseiga's owner, and we don't have a way of healing someone on the verge of death…" -

- "Gerar…" – said Gabriela getting closer to them – "I wanna… I ought to sing…" –

- "How can you think of doing something like that at a moment like this?" – said Gerardo in a tone that remarked this wasn't time for singing.

However, Gabriela clasped her hands in front of her heart, closed her eyes, and opened her mouth…

-"Ist Atok ShuxuaraRa Illyusea Phaph Zyoskz Atok, ShuxuaraRa Phaph Kluceia Biousakatse... Healing Light…" – as she sang, Gabriela's clothes were replaced by a very beautiful white and silver outfit similar to a kimono, filled with silver embroidery in the collar and sleeves, and white slipper-style shoes appeared in her feet, as well as white tights on her legs. A soft white light began radiating from her and spread throughout Sesshomaru's body, healing his wounds. When Gabriela finished singing, the light and the clothes vanished, leaving her dressed again in the kosode Kaede had given her, as well as her returning to being barefoot due to the tights and shoes disappearing.

When they saw that Sesshomaru was waking up, they turned their backs and began going away.

- "Wait a moment, human…" – said Sesshomaru after he stood up again and had picked up and sheathed Tokijin.

- "What do you want now?" – asked Gerardo, copying Sesshomaru's manner of speech and gaze.

- "What reason did you have to spare me?" – asked Sesshomaru unflinchingly.

- "My only reason is that I don't like unnecessary deaths" – said Gerardo.

- "I see… I can only say that I am indebted to you now" – said Sesshomaru turning around – "Maybe we shall meet again another day… but before we part ways, tell me your name…" -

- "I am Gerardo" – said him.

- "Very well… I shall remember it" – said Sesshomaru as he began walking away from them.

A while later, the group was sitting down on the grass and preparing to have lunch.

- "Well, I can't say that I'm unimpressed" – said Sango after Gerardo and Gabriela told them about his battle against Sesshomaru, as they wanted to know everything that had taken place there – "You never had any kind of training, but you still managed to defeat Sesshomaru!" –

- "Actually, I did take some karate classes long ago" – said Gerardo blushing – "And besides, it was mere luck… If it weren't for those strange powers…" –

- "Maybe, but you still showed enough cunning to take him by surprise" – said Miroku smiling – "Inuyasha could learn one or two things about battle strategies from you" –

- "Come on, it isn't such a big deal" – said Gerardo with a face as red as a ripe tomato – "So, what're we going to eat?" -

- "Well, I have some food around here…" – said Miroku as he got some food out from a bag – "I hope you like it" –

- 'And I've already got a guess where you got it from…" – thought Gerardo rolling his eyes.

Miroku got out five bowls filled with rice and a pair of hashi for each of them.

- "I don't really dislike rice, but…" – said Gerardo as he tried using the ohashi for eating, but he couldn't even grab a single grain. He sighed in exasperation – "As you can see, I'm so-so at handling a sword, but I'm a failure when it comes to using ohashi to eat" -

- "Ah, I guess you don't use them much on the west, right? Okay, let me give you a hand" – said Sango as she went to his side and began teaching him how to use them. She also did the same thing for Gabriela, who managed to learn much faster than her brother, so while it took quite a while before there were able to eat, they finally could.

- "By the way, what was all that with Sesshomaru?" – asked Miroku a bit dumbfounded.

- "Hmm, what exactly?" – asked Gerardo as he put a bit of rice in his mouth.

- "That he didn't want to continue fighting after Gabriela saved him" – said Miroku.

- "I think that he didn't want to dishonor himself by trying to kill the ones who saved his life" – said Gerardo calmly, as if he didn't mind it in the slightest.

- "But talking about a complex personality" – said Sango – "At times you were acting like Inuyasha in battle, but when you were talking to Sesshomaru, you were acting just like him" -

- "Hehe, well, I've been told that my personality has traits from both of them" – said Gerardo laughing a bit as he took another bit of rice to his mouth.

- "Oh, I see. Yet you have several other traits neither of them have" – said Miroku.

- "Well, isn't that supposed to be expected from each person?" – said Gerardo with a mysterious smile.

- "Well, you're pretty gentle and kind too" – said Sango – "Are you always like this?"

- "Honestly speaking, yeah. I'm always giving everyone a second chance…" – said Gerardo as he looked at them with a smile, but then his gaze soured up – "The only ones that won't get anything like that are traitors… to give you an example, if we were fighting youkai and I had the chance to strike the finishing blow, I could just spare its life and walk away. But if they try to attack me while I have my back turned, I'll just finish them off without any mercy" -

- "In other words, you can spare anyone or anything, but if they betray your trust, you'll annihilate them. Is that right?" – said Miroku as he continued eating.

- "Yup" – said Gabriela with a saddened face – "My bro doesn't stand that kind of things, as a few people that acted like they were his friends ended up betraying him" -

- "I see that hurt you quite a bit" – said Sango, to which Gerardo nodded in response – "No wonder you have such an attitude" -

- "But it's quite weird to find someone like you in such a violent era…" – said Shippou looking at him with his eyes of the size of platters.

- "By the way, Gaby's also quite kind and compassionate, like Kagome, but don't flatter her too much: you've already seen how spoiled she can get, and I don't want her to become more presumptuous and arrogant than she is. And as ironic as it might sound, she admires Kikyou more than Kagome" – said Gerardo as he looked at his sister in a bitter way. He ended paying a high price for saying that…

- "Sit down!" – shouted Gabriela, making his brother crash to the ground.

- "I know I deserve it, but it was still the truth!" – said Gerardo from the ground, rising a hand with the index finger extended. This made everyone laugh, excepting for Gabriela who was still pouting and enraged.

- "I just hope Kagome never learns of that if she ever gets to meet you!" – said Sango laughing.

- "By the way, going back to the topic of the powers…" – began Miroku once they stopped laughing – "Don't you find surprising that little Gabriela here could heal someone that was on the border of death the way she did?" -

- "Now you mention it, Houshi-sama," – said Sango – "That kind of healing can't be compared to anything I've seen before, not even to the youkai types that have a great regeneration ability" -

- "Well, it really left me impressed" – said Gerardo sitting up again and looking at his sister, who had finally calmed down and was now blushing – "Though it was pretty strange too… the way she used it was similar to the way I summoned that armor…" –

They then continued eating without saying anything else about these mysterious events.

Meanwhile, in the other world, Kagome and Inuyasha had spent the rest of the afternoon watching the taped episodes, which brought to them both tears from the more emotional scenes, as well as laughter and some embarrassment from the more comical ones. Mrs. Gallucci was out of the house at the moment at her job, as also was Mr. Gallucci.

- "It really wasn't bad at all. I see now why we're so popular in this world" – said Kagome smiling as she used the remote to put the VHS player in stop and shut down the TV.

- "It's true, but I'd really like trying to go back to our world" – said Inuyasha snorting – "Any ideas?" -

- "Well, let's see what we can do with the Shikon shard we have…" – said Kagome as she got it out from the flask.

They began trying all sorts of things with the fragments, such as holding it aloft, praying to it, and even using some of Kagome's own spiritual powers on it, but nothing happened.

- "Damn it, we can't go back!" – said Inuyasha desperate after seeing how all their attempts had failed.

- "But… mom, Souta, grandpa… and all our friends…" – said Kagome as she began shedding tears. She covered her eyes with her hands and began crying.

- "Kagome…" – said Inuyasha as he embraced her – "Don't worry… I'm sure we'll manage to get back somehow…" -

At that moment, the fragment began shining, and it created a sort of tunnel made of purple light in the room's window.

- "It's a gateway like that of the well!" – said Inuyasha excited – "Great! Let's get outta here!" –

- "Yeah! We can finally go back home!" – said Kagome joyfully as she wiped the tears from her eyes – "But… I think we should leave a letter to Mrs. Gallucci to explain everything to her. We can't just disappear after she took care of us" –

- "Whatever you say…" – said Inuyasha annoyed.

After Kagome wrote the letter and left it over the dining room's table, both took their belongings… or better said only belonging: Kagome's backpack, and jumped into the gateway to return to their world.

(End of Chapter)

(Ending: My Will)