Chapter 17:
A Fiery Walk
Everyone in the group continued following the dark trace the Fragment of Shadows was leaving as it fell through the sky like a shooting star. Gerardo and Gabriela were continuously reopening the maps of the area in the Dragtemns to make sure they were in the right direction, while Kagome and Miko did the same thing through their spiritual powers.
However, they knew they would have to stop for the day soon, as they had left Gerardo's house pretty late, and two hours later, it was beginning to get dark.
- "We're going well?" – asked Inuyasha as they stopped for a moment to check the route.
- "Yep, so far we've followed the track well" – said Gerardo as he indicated the point where they guessed the fragment had fallen – "Do you think it's time to go a bit faster?" –
- "Yes, as otherwise we'll lose the track completely" – said Sango as Kirara growled in response.
- "Got it!" – said Gerardo as he turned to look at Gabriela, and after she nodded in response, them and Kirara began flying faster, while Inuyasha also ran and jumped faster.
- "In any case, let's try to conserve some strength, as I'm sure Tenebross is planning to send another of the two elemental demons he has left" – said Gerardo in a serious voice. He and Gabriela were gliding by taking advantage of the wind that was blowing during that dusk to not spend too much energy.
- "So Tenebross only had six demons as his servants?" – asked Miroku.
- "He actually had an army in Dragonia, but he only has six generals: one for each of the six main elements" – confirmed Gabriela.
- "Yeah: Anknon was Darkness, Insui was Water (*yuck*)" – said Gerardo as he made a face of repugnance while he counted with the hand the monsters they had already defeated – "Kazein was Wind and Douin was Earth" -
- "That means the ones left for us to beat're that weird Light demon that attacked us the other day…" – said Inuyasha as he twisted his claws while he jumped to the next tree.
- "And the Fire demon, which is still an unknown for us" – said Miroku as he made his thoughtful stance.
- "The Light one could be great trouble for us, just from looking at what he did to Kagome and the fact that Gabriela hasn't developed her powers well yet" – said Sango as she turned to look at Kagome and Miko, the second in her ghost form. Both girls gave her back a reassuring smile, but at the other side, Gabriela just looked downward over the remark Sango said.
- "But the Fire one should be a piece of cake" – said Gerardo with a confident smile – "Remember: Fire is weak against Water, and I don't intend to lower my guard anymore, as I plan to use my abilities in full in my next battles" -
- "I see you're learning from your mistakes" – said Miroku in a pleased tone.
- "I just hope ya won't screw up things anymore" – said Inuyasha angry.
- "And Inuyasha's in a quarreling mood again…" – said Shippou.
- "Hmm… tell me… who used the healing song that saved both our lives?" – said Gerardo making a rather malicious smile. Shippou got off the hook just because Gerardo talked before Inuyasha had reacted.
- "You…" – said Inuyasha reluctantly – "But that isn't enough to make up for not fighting well when we were up against Douin! And let's not forget about the whole Time Compression disaster!" -
- "You know Kazein was the one behind that! You don't have to rub that on his face every single time!" – said Gabriela angry.
- "It's okay, Gaby…" – said Gerardo raising a hand to stop her.
- "But Gerar…!" – said Gabriela indignant.
- "Calm down, I know" – said Gerardo as he turned to look at Inuyasha with a serious gaze – "I know that I committed that mistake: I've already promised I wouldn't bring about another problem like that one, even if I wasn't myself when I did it… and I also promise to not get overconfident in any battle from now on" -
- "That's what I wanna hear" – said Inuyasha as he smiled unpleasantly.
- "Nii-san… I think you went too far…" – said Yasha scared as he floated at his side.
- "Keh, I don't think so" – replied Inuyasha – "Besides, there's lotsa stuff on fights he's gotta learn" –
Meanwhile, Kagome and Miko were still talking about the elemental demons.
- "Onee-san… actually… I don't want fight the Light demon…" – said her as she twiddled her fingers nervously.
- "Huh? But why?" – asked Kagome puzzled – "Wasn't that experience very painful for you?" –
- "Yeah, and a lot… especially when I learned I was just a part of your soul… but also… that's what allowed us to be together like we're right now, and it's what also allowed me to finally meet my true family… I'd actually want to thank him for that… and that's also why I don't wanna fight him…" – said Miko as she looked at Kagome with a sad smile.
- "Now I think about it, he was the least aggressive of the demons" – said Gerardo, who like the others, had been following their conversation attentively. He then turned around and began flying backwards to face the others – "He didn't even try attacking us: he just possessed Kagome and went away like nothing had happened" -
- "It's true, but the very act of possessing her wasn't good in the slightest!" – said Miroku in the tone a present-day moral guardian would use to talk – "No man should ever treat a woman like that!" –
- "The pot calling the kettle black…" – said Shippou as he looked at him with disgust.
- "This conversation slid to the perverted side when you got in it, Houshi-sama…" – said Sango as she looked at him with irritation.
- "Miroku has no remedy…" – said Yasha sighing and shrugging. Everyone but Sango and Miroku began laughing at the next moment, though their laughter came to an end when they saw how Gerardo and Gabriela stopped flying and were instead floating in the air, looking with a serious face to a village they had far below…
- "The fragment fell there?" – asked Inuyasha as he stopped on the top of a tree near them.
- "Yeah. According to the Shadow elemental energy detected by our Dragtemns, this is the place" – said Gerardo as he looked at him.
- "But wasn't this the village where…?" – asked Miko covering her mouth with her hands.
- "Yes, this is the village near the cave where we found the medallions" – confirmed Sango nodding.
- "And what's so special about it?" – asked Inuyasha in a bored voice – "It isn't like this is the first time you've seen these fragments, huh?" –
- "That isn't the reason… the fragment that just fell isn't the only one here" – said Gerardo as he opened up the map and focused on the mountains next to the village – "There are four fragments in total in this zone, including the one that just fell" -
- "Four fragments!?" – asked Kagome recoiling back in surprise, especially after she and Miko began detecting the evil aura they radiated despite the distance – "It's true… but how is that possible?" -
- "Apparently, one of the fragments is some sort of 'tuner' that can call the other fragments that are close to it" – explained Gerardo – "To explain it briefly, they are Fragments of Shadows larger and more powerful than the normal ones. The difference is such they even have a special term for them in Dragonia: they are called Ityapinamsa" -
- "Then it's even more important that we get to them first" – said Miroku as a serious expression appeared on his face and the others.
- "Right. We better hurry!" – said Inuyasha.
- "Ah!" – jumped Miko – "I just remembered this… wasn't there a crystal or something like that in the temple next to the medallion cave?" -
- "No way… you think that the large fragment could be the lucky crystal the old man told us about?" – asked Kagome.
- "It's very probable, now I think about it" – said Miroku as his expression stiffened further – "That would explain why so many youkai were gathered in that place" -
- "In that case, less talking and more searching" – said Gerardo as he and Gabriela descended to the ground to dismiss their armors, so they wouldn't draw attention to themselves when they reached the village. The others followed them.
- "Well, at least we didn't end up so far from the village that we'd get exhausted from walking to it" – said Gerardo as they walked the rest of the road.
- "It's getting dark though, so we should search for a good place to set up camp" – said Sango as she saw how the little remaining daylight began to dim away.
- "Say, would you like for me to carry out an exorcism on the mansion of this village's chief?" – suggested Miroku.
- "You're still conning people…" – said Inuyasha annoyed.
- "It's just an idea for us to have a comfortable place to spend the night in" – said Miroku as he shrugged with an ironic smile on the face – "Besides, I haven't done one in quite some time, and I think I may need some practice" -
The others just sighed, but decided to accept the idea. So they went to the hut that was located in the highest part of the village, right where the mountain trail leading to the temple started, and Miroku knocked on the door.
- "Good evening" – greeted Miroku.
- "Good evening, houshi-sama" – said the house's owner. He was a middle-aged man with black hair tied in a top-knot that wore a green kosode with dark green lines and a brown hakama – "What business might you have here?" –
- "I'm afraid there are evil auras polluting this home, and it will be necessary to carry out an exorcism to dispel them!" – said Miroku waving his shakujou around in a theatrical way. This caused the house's owner to jump back while grabbing his chest with a hand.
- "Are you serious!? Then please, come right in!" – said he as he walked backwards and made gestures telling Miroku to come in.
- "However, I have to add that the exorcism needs a night to be prepared, so I will need you to accommodate me and my companions until the next morning" – said Miroku as the rest of the group entered with him.
- "Of course, Houshi-sama! Feel free to ask for anything you might need!" – said the village elder. He immediately called the inhabitants and servants of the house, and told them to serve the guests.
They were brought to the main room and were served the dinner that the people had made for that night: a stew made from greens. They then began eating as they talked about their journey with the people, though they kept their true goals hidden, and likewise, Miko and Yasha had to keep themselves hidden the entire time.
However, something caught their attention: the older son of the chief and a girl he had at his side didn't seem like they wanted to talk to each other. They were about Kagome's and Inuyasha's ages: the boy wore a dark green kosode and had his black hair tied into a ponytail, while the girl had short black hair and wore a pink kosode decorated with red flowers tied with a red and yellow obi.
- "By the way, sir… I don't want to meddle myself in your affairs, but…" – said Gerardo as he talked to the village chief – "What might be the matter with these two?" –
- "Ah well… my son Yuuichi is engaged to that girl, Seina" – said the chief shaking his head – "It's a pact her father and me made long ago to ensure the well-being and prosperity of both our villages" -
- "Though they seem like they hate each other…" – said Kagome, seeing how they both were looking in opposite directions with angry faces and having their arms crossed.
- 'They actually look a lot like Inuyasha and Kagome when they don't wanna talk to each other' – thought Sango as she ate.
- "Yes… they certainly don't hold much affection toward each other… and they have been like this ever since they were children… it's a quite the problem for us that they don't get along…" – said the chief in a disappointed voice before letting a large sigh out.
After they finished dining and reached the room where they were going to sleep…
- "Well, at least all those lies about evil auras have some truth to them" – said Gerardo as they began setting down the futons – "Though it's pretty unusual to find something like this" –
- "What?" – asked Inuyasha – "The two kids hatin' each other?" –
- "Yeah, that's it" – said Gabriela nodding.
- "I don't get how they could have gotten engaged if they got along so badly since they were kids…" – said Kagome thoughtfully.
- "Agreed" – said Gerardo as he brought his futon closer to the one Gabriela would be sleeping in – "I heard arranged marriages were pretty common in this era, but I never thought there'd be one where both parts hated the other's guts" -
- "In any case, we can't do anything for them, and it isn't a place for us to poke our noses into" – said Miroku closing his eyes a bit irritated – "We better go to sleep at once" –
- "Hehe, that's gotta be because Miroku didn't find anyone to flirt with!" – said Shippou between fits of laughter.
- "Well, I guess it's a little improvement" – said Gerardo as he showed a sarcastic smile.
- "Yeah, it's a miracle he didn't try flirtin' with anyone" – said Inuyasha grinning.
Miroku didn't reply back and went to his room. Sango followed suit right after.
- "I think you made them angry" – said Kagome blinking a couple times.
- "Keh, as if that were a lie" – scoffed Inuyasha closing his eyes.
- "Sorry, I couldn't help myself" – said Gerardo putting a hand behind his head.
- "Oh, Gerar…" – said Gabriela sighing and shaking her head – "Looks like you are still making mistakes" -
- "And since when joking around constitutes a mistake?" – asked he narrowing his eyes.
- "'Coz you provoked Inuyasha, and you made Sango and Miroku angry!" – said Gabriela scowling – "You've gotta stop joking around like that!" -
- "Maybe you've got a point there… but anyway, we better cut the chatter and go to sleep" – said Gerardo as he inched more closely to his sister – "But first…" –
- "Why're you getting so close?" – asked Gabriela raising an eyebrow.
- "It's tickling time!" – said Gerardo laughing as he began tickling her on the neck and belly. Gabriela began rolling around in laughter right away.
- "Hahahaha! Enough…! Stop…! It…! Now...!" – said her as she laughed loudly. Kagome, Miko, Yasha and Shippou laughed too, as Gabriela had quite the contagious laughter, while Inuyasha just snorted and went to sleep.
- "Hehe… it's been too long since I last did this!" – said Gerardo laughing himself after he had left her alone.
- "Urgh! Sit down!" – said Gabriela angry. Instantly, Gerardo fell to the wooden floor, while a "Dammit!" and the sound of a body slamming against the floor was heard in a neighboring room.
- "At least it was worth it…" – said he in a pained voice. He stood up again after a few minutes, and he and Gabriela went to their own room to sleep.
- "They're a bit weird, huh?" – asked Shippou as he kept looking at the sliding door they used to leave the room.
- "A bit. But the journey gets more fun when they are with us, and their abilities have been helping us a lot since we first met" – said Kagome as she began getting ready to sleep.
And thus, another night went by without any incidents. The next morning, Miroku carried out his little false exorcism after breakfast and they left for the mountains.
- "It feels pretty weird to go through this trail again in this form" – said Miko smiling as she floated at Kagome's side.
- "Though didn't you go through weirder things already?" – asked Gabriela with a smile. They were halfway through in the trail to the temple, which was where they guessed the fragment had fallen.
- "Anyway, let's hope nothing weird in extreme appears around here" – said Gerardo with a sigh.
- "Especially because this place was inhabited by very powerful youkai, and as Miko and Yasha didn't know how to fight well back then, we had a lot of trouble" – said Miroku as he placed his hand on his chin.
- "Now you mention it, I've never seen Miko and Yasha fighting…" – said Gerardo as he turned to look at them.
- "I haven't either..." – said Gabriela a bit sad.
- "Eh… it's because we're almost all the time in ghost form now… not to mention all the time we were sealed in Kagome-nee's and Inuyasha-nii's minds…" – said Yasha crossing his arms and legs as he floated before them – "I'd actually like to have a chance to fight again..." –
- "Me too..." – said Miko with a downcast gaze.
- "Then, why don't you fight all together?" – asked Sango smiling at them – "I don't think Inuyasha's and Kagome's skills will diminish with their ages if they use the medallions" –
- "That'd be pretty fun!" – said Gabriela clapping her hands once.
- "Yeah!" – said Shippou jumping up and down.
- "But we should refrain from experimenting in serious battles" – said Gerardo with a serious face – "Maybe we should test that out with weaker youkai to see how you do" –
- "That's true" – said Kagome. The next instant, she seemed to have gotten an idea, as she smiled brightly and clapped her hands – "And maybe we could make up new combined techniques like this!" –
- "Certainly, I think that the Hallowed Saber Gerardo used in the fight against Insui could be possible if we have Miko and Kagome split up" – said Miroku smiling as he looked at them both – "It would be a great help for us to have techniques of such power at our disposal" –
At that moment, a large number of youkai, all of different kinds, appeared before them.
- "Well then, what do you say about giving it a test run here?" – asked Gerardo with a smile as he drew Ryuuga and transformed Fuuinryuu into its shield form.
- "Yeah! I wanna see how much we can increase our powers!" – said Inuyasha clenching his teeth in a confident smile as he drew Tessaiga. He then turned to look at Kagome – "Kagome!"
- "Okay!" – said Kagome as they both changed their medallions to the Separation position, and the next instant, in the middle of a flash of light, Miko, Yasha, Kagome and Inuyasha all appeared holding their respective weapons, with the latter two in their child forms.
- "A second Tessaiga!?" – said Inuyasha blinking multiple times when he saw Yasha appearing with an exact copy of his sword and sheath on his hands.
- "Looks like it...!" – said Miko with her eyes the size of saucers, as were everyone else's – "Looks like they've got double power now!" -
- "Well, what a nice surprise" – said Miroku as he looked at the sword with the same surprised face as the others. They then turned to face the youkai.
- "Okay, let's get started! And try to not get rid of them too fast!" – said Gerardo trying to get over the surprise. They then ran to the youkai.
- 'I feel… like I knew what nii-san's gonna do…' – thought Yasha a few moments later, and an instant later, while Inuyasha launched a Kaze no Kizu… - "Kaze no Kizu!" -
Yasha launched another one in the same direction Inuyasha did, and both attacks coiled together and fused into one, increasing the power and the reach of the energy wave, and destroying all the youkai it came across.
- "How didja know I was gonna do that?" – asked Inuyasha as they continued fighting.
- "I don't know… I just felt it!" – replied Yasha as he slashed a couple of youkai he had in front of him.
- "That's Synchronicity for you" – explained Gerardo, who himself was absorbed blocking blows with his shield, and trying to balance between slashing with his sword and firing off water beams – "That's the capacity we all have to feel the minds of the people the closest to us, and of course, since you both have natural maximum Synchronicity due to being parts of the same soul, you can combine your attacks with the best efficiency possible" -
- "Keh, that's something we can take advantage of!" – said Inuyasha smiling as he used the Kaze no Kizu again and swept another youkai group with it.
- "Yeah! And even better, I guess this means we don't have to plan when to use them, right?" – said Yasha as he did the same thing.
Kagome and Miko themselves continued firing Sacred Arrows at the youkai they had around. At one point, they looked at each other straight in the eyes and… - "Fire!" –
Both shot off Sacred Arrows at the same time and in the same direction, which similarly to the Kaze no Kizu from a moment ago fused into one, their combined aura eliminating the youkai it touched.
- "And we've got that same Synchronicity ourselves!" – said Kagome jumping joyfully while Miko was tightly grabbing her bow and smiling.
- "And what do you say about combining attacks between us all?" – asked Gabriela after she got rid of a couple of youkai using her Brilliant Ray.
- "It's a good idea. I wonder how strong they'd be if we combine our attacks with their spells and techniques" – said Sango as she catched her Hiraikotsu on its flight back from mincing another youkai group.
- "Okay, but we won't use the transformations here, as we need to save energies in case something appears" – said Gerardo as he put his Dragon Barrier in place to have some breathing room – "Inuyasha, Yasha! Fire a Kongousouha in my direction!" –
- "I guess it's for a new combined technique" – said Miroku as he threw ofudas to get rid of the youkai he had around and began hitting them with his shakujou.
- "Okay!" – said Yasha in an excited voice.
- "But we're not responsible if ya end up dead!" – said Inuyasha in a mocking voice.
- "KONGOUSOUHA!" – shouted both at the same time.
- 'Perfect' – thought Gerardo as he smirked.
At that point, he dissolved the barrier, threw himself into the ground so the spears didn't hit him, and the next moment, when the spears were about to reach the youkai, he stood up as he clapped his hands and then elevated them to the skies. This raised a water pillar that caught the spears and the youkai in, and then, he made circular gestures with his hands to make it spin gradually faster until it turned into a violent typhoon.
A few moments later, nothing was left of the youkai and the typhoon had turned red. Gerardo evaporated the entire red mass, and next, he returned the water to the ground he drew it from.
- "It was really powerful" – said Sango as she looked at the result with an expression halfway through between awe and disgust.
- "Though it's a pretty sadistic technique…" – said Gabriela scared as she grabbed her crystal with one hand and gripped it hard.
- "Agreed. I think we should forget about using it against sentient enemies..." – said Gerardo as he looked at what they had done with some regret in his eyes – ""I like strong attacks, but I don't like eliminating my opponents in such a cruel way..." –
- "So what're ya naming it?" – asked Inuyasha crossing his arms.
- "Crystalline Hydromincer" – said Gerardo as he drew again his sword and shield – "It's literally a water and crystal mill" -
- "That's true, but I don't think this is a good moment to stop and chat!" – said Sango as she threw her Hiraikotsu to the youkai again.
- "Yeah, we should finish this already!" – said Yasha launching another Kongousouha as Inuyasha also did.
- "Okay, let's try this" – said Gerardo as he went to Gabriela and both joined hands – "Gaby, ready for a new technique?" -
- "Yeah!" – replied her with a smile.
- "Okay!" – he then turned to Inuyasha and Kagome - "When we fire off this beam, I want you to use the Kaze no Kizu and a Purifying Arrow" –
- "What for?" – asked Inuyasha raising an eyebrow.
- "I guess it's for making them combine with their attack, though it's strange he asked for our most basic techniques" – said Kagome as she readied her bow.
- "Ready?" – asked Gerardo.
- "Ready!"- said both at the same time. They had to avoid youkai for a while to get into a good position. Miroku, Sango and the others guarded them as they prepared the technique. Then, Gerardo and Gabriela began chanting.
- "Ikuyu poak, lay lusya iarae sos, yst pitzneal kyussaks ika ~ Hydralight Beam!" -
- "Ikuyu poak, sirla telh dat hydrast, yst noarle kyussaks ika ~ Hydralight Beam!" –
From the point where their joined hands were located, a shining light blue beam was shot, which enlarged after a few seconds and ran off in the youkai's direction. The others stepped out from the beam's range so they didn't get hit by it. At that moment, Kagome and Inuyasha knew what they had to do.
- "Go!" –
- "Kaze no Kizu!" -
The arrow was absorbed by the beam, turning cyan in color, while the Kaze no Kizu coiled around it, so in the end the youkai were blasted by a cyan beam surrounded by yellow energy waves. When the smoke cleared, everyone saw not even traces remained of the large number of creatures that were there a few moments ago.
- "Expiatory Blast… huh?" – said Miko to give it a name after they had stayed silent for a good while, though everyone in the group was shocked from how powerful it turned out to be.
- "Quite powerful and destructive..." – said Miroku as he looked at the point where the youkai were seconds ago – "Good thing we got away while we could, or we'd have died too" -
- "Yeah, sorry about that" – said Gerardo looking at the scene with eyes the size of saucers – "I really didn't expect that combination to be so powerful..." -
- "But these quadruple techniques will really be a great help, given the great power they have" – said Sango smiling in a reassuring way.
- "Though I'd have liked to be the one to have done it" – said Miko looking downward.
- "Me too" – said Yasha frowning.
- "You'll have your chance at some point" – said Gabriela skipping to them and smiling to cheer them up – "After all, you and them have the same techniques" –
- "That's true, so please don't get so sad" – said Gerardo with a smile as he returned Fuuinryu to its sheath form and put away his sword. He then turned to face the road they had before them – "Well, we better continue our way" –
Miko and Yasha returned to their ghost forms as Inuyasha and Kagome regained their normal ages, and they continued their walk through the mountain. However, they heard some footsteps behind themselves a while later, so they drew their weapons again.
- "Who is there?" – asked Miroku as he wielded his shakujou while holding several ofudas on his hand.
- "If you attack me, I'll have to kill you" – said the owner of the footsteps, who came into their range of vision shortly later.
- "Yuuichi-san?" – asked Gerardo puzzled as he sheathed his sword again, and he noticed there was a girl behind him – "And Seina-san too?" –
- "What're ya two doing here?" – asked Inuyasha with a suspicion-filled face.
- "Seina, I told you to not follow me!" – said Yuuichi in an angry voice.
- "I'm not following you!" – replied Seina with her hands rolled into fists and extending them in full to her sides – "I just came here because I wanted to!" –
- "Don't lie! I know you're following me!" – said Yuuichi gritting his teeth
- "Oh my…" – said Gerardo in a sarcastic tone – "Yet another problematic couple" –
- "We're not a couple!" – said both at the same time. Everyone sweatdropped from their reaction.
- "In any case, why did you come here? Don't you know this place is dangerous?" – asked Sango in a severe voice.
- "My father ordered me to check the temple at the end of this road, given what the bonzo said 'bout the negative energies and that there've been lotsa youkai in the area lately" – said Yuuichi bored.
- "I'm just going to the waterfall to draw water" – said Seina sheepishly while flaunting a wooden bucket she was carrying on her hand.
- "Idiot, then why you don't go to the river next to the village!?" – said Yuuichi irritated.
- "Because the waterfall has a purer water!" – replied Seina as angry as him.
- "Again with that pathetic excuse!?" – said Yuuichi scowling at her.
- "Does this look familiar to anyone?" – said Gerardo as he sighed and shook his head side to side. Apparently, the two were so absorbed in their quarrel that they weren't paying any attention to the others anymore.
- "Yeah, but their quarrels're a lot worse than Kagome's and Inuyasha's" – said Shippou laughing.
- "Though it's scary to think I get like that when I'm angry…" – said Kagome blinking at them and blushing.
- "Keh, at least that guy's lucky to not have anyone telling him THAT phrase" – said Inuyasha sighing.
- "Hihihi, but they look more like they like each other!" – said Gabriela laughing.
- "But it is still is a great problem for Yuuichi-kun's father" – said Miroku rubbing his chin with a hand.
- "And shouldn't we go on?" – asked Sango as she looked at the road they still had to walk through – "We don't have time to waste here" -
- "You're right" – said Kagome nodding – "At this rate, the demons will end up getting the fragments before we can get to them" –
- "But what're we doing 'bout them?" – asked Shippou tilting his head as he looked how Yuuichi and Seina continued arguing.
- "We better leave them behind and go by ourselves" – said Inuyasha hiding his hands in his sleeves and scowling at the quarrelling couple – " We don't need any burdens following us" -
- "And what about the youkai around?" – asked Gabriela as she widened her eyes.
- "I'm divided here" – said Gerardo as he crossed his arms and closed his eyes – "We can't let them follow us because they'd be a burden if we encountered Tenebross' demons, but if we leave them alone, they could get attacked by the youkai… damn…" -
- "Are you saying you're gonna leave us behind!?" – shouted Yuuichi turning at the party – "Didn't I say I hafta go and check the temple!?" -
- "And I don't think Seina's gonna stay put either" – said Kagome as she saw how the girl was walking toward them.
- "We have no choice but to bring them along with us" – said Miroku sighing in defeat and walking to them – "Oh well, as they say, the more the merrier" –
- "Houshi-sama… can I ask what're you trying to do?" – said Sango scowling as she saw how Miroku was walking to Seina.
- "I was just making sure Seina-san was all right" – said Miroku with a nervous smile as he walked away from her, much to Seina's confusion. However, it was clear he had other intentions.
- "Okay, ya'll come with us, but don't even think about gettin' in our fights" – said Inuyasha looking at them with a displeased face.
- "And why?" – asked Yuuichi in an arrogant voice while imitating the face Inuyasha had made.
- "Ya wanna die, idiot?" – asked Inuyasha in a low growl before shouting at him – "Ya and yer fiancée'd have no chance against the youkai and demons we're up against!" -
Yuuichi had no other choice than to shut his mouth and accept the conditions they were giving him. With this clear, everyone continued their ascent through the mountain. A half hour later, they reached the temple, which was radiating a powerful dark aura.
- "...Is this the place...?" – asked Gerardo as he recoiled from the intensity of the energy. He then grabbed the crystal around his neck and pulled it slightly downward.
- "Yeah, this is the temple..." – said Sango as she moved her head to look at the temple – "But this is strange… the last time we were here, it didn't have that aura" -
- "There's a lot of evil energy here..." – said Kagome as she placed a hand over her Dragtemn and gripped it tightly.
-"And it seems like it was swallowing all the light around it..." - said Gabriela gripping her bow hard and seeing how the light around seemed to be spiraling into the dark aura to finally vanish.
- "We better be careful. We don't know what things we might find inside" – said Miroku with a serious face.
Yuuichi and Seina were terrified as they saw the vortex of shadowy energy that emanated from the temple, as they had never seen and felt something so terrible.
- "How… how did something like this happen?" – said Seina trembling.
- "It's terrible… I feel something horrendous coming from it…" – said Yuuichi as he looked at the temple in fear.
- "They can also feel these energies?" – asked Kagome as she looked at them astonished.
- "Onee-san…" – said Miko's voice. She was trembling, and her voice seemed about to crack at any moment – "It's horrible… the amount of evil energy coming from it is even larger than Naraku's..." -
- "Damn… how many fragments of that bastard're gathered in there?" – scoffed Inuyasha.
- "We won't know if we just stay here..." – said Gerardo gulping down as he drew Ryuuga and turned Fuuinyuu into its shield form – "We better go in and start investigating at once" –
They walked to the temple and opened the door just enough to check the situation. The shadow energy began coming out from it like black mist, and they could see the shining and evil eyes of countless youkai looking back at them from the inside. At the other side, there was a large black crystal, which shone with a malevolent dark aura: apparently, it had increased its size greatly by attracting and absorbing all the other Fragments of Shadow that fell in the nearby areas.
They then kicked the door open and entered the temple with their weapons ready. Yuuichi and Seina ended up waiting outside.
- "Let's get started! Kaze no Kizu!" – said Inuyasha launching a blast with his sword as soon as they went in. Gerardo followed him using his Water's Scar while Gabriela and Kagome fired off their arrows, Sango launched her Hiraikotsu and Miroku threw ofudas around. However, while they eliminated several youkai with this, many others began coming out.
- "They're too many!" – said Gabriela as she fired off another arrow – "Gerar, you really think we'll be able to defeat 'em all?" –
- "We don't have other choice!" – said Gerardo as he tried to avoid the attacks from two youkai to then slash them back – "If we can't win against them, we won't have any chance against Tenebross!" –
- "I know, but with that large shadow crystal here, things'll only get harder…" – she then put away her bow for a moment as she began chanting – "Ochis meya, lusya, wiras sos, en cezet lay ulkiarea ika! Shining Whirl!"
This formed a white light disc around her hand, which she threw to the youkai. The disc then went around tearing the youkai it touched to pieces.
- "We're in a hard situation" – said Sango as she cut another youkai using her wakizashi – "We're gonna run out of energy if we don't finish them off soon…" –
- "In that case, maybe you should consider using a combined technique!" – said Miroku as he whacked a youkai using his shakujou.
- "Though that'd also take out a lot of energy from us!" – said Gerardo as he began cutting several youkai, one by one, with his sword.
- "Let's just do it!" – said Inuyasha angry after he launched a Kongousouha at a group of youkai – "We're gonna end up worse if we continue like this!" -
The youkai stopped attacking them for a moment, and they could all see they were now covered in scratches and bruises. Gerardo noticed Inuyasha was right, so he decided to ask them to prepare a new technique.
- "Kaze no Kizu, Tsunami, Shining Whirl and Purifying Arrow" – he told the others. Inuyasha, Kagome and Gabriela just nodded and executed the techniques he said.
First, Inuyasha launched a Kaze no Kizu while Gabriela prepared a larger light disc, changed its position to make it look more like a ring, and left it floating in front of them. When the Kaze no Kizu struck it, it coiled inside and continued spinning within it. Gerardo then launched the Tsunami, which upon clashing into the light ring it got absorbed by it and transformed into a large light-blue bubble.
The youkai began realizing something was up and tried to rush them, but it was too late: Kagome had already fired her Purifying Arrow.
- "Spreading Purification!" - shouted Gerardo and Gabriela as the arrow struck the bubble, making it burst and release a large amount of luminous energy. All of the youkai disintegrated upon getting caught in it. Yuuichi and Seina came in shortly after the presence of all the youkai couldn't be felt anymore and only the evil aura of the crystal remained.
- "These guys are amazing…" – said Yuuichi as he looked with his mouth agape at the impressive power of the party and that not even a single youkai remained.
- "I'd never thought there'd be people strong enough to face these horrible things…" – said Seina with her eyes widened in admiration.
- "Hehe, and you haven't seen anything yet!" – said Miko as she appeared in front of them and laughed mischievously.
- "Agh!" – screamed they both jumping away from her, but they got even more scared when Yasha appeared at Miko's side – "Ghosts!" –
- "They aren't ghosts!" – shouted an indignant Kagome upon seeing how their younger counterparts had gotten sad – "They're part of us!" –
- "Right" – said Miroku with his know-it-all face – "They are like the younger siblings of Kagome-sama and Inuyasha, so make sure to treat them respectfully" -
- "O-Okay" – said Yuuichi weirded out from what Miroku said. He saw how Seina had the same confused expression on her face, and they merely limited themselves to watch how Miko and Yasha went to their older counterparts and floated at their side.
- "Leaving that aside," – said Gerardo relaxing himself a bit – "I think we've finished cleaning up this place. We just have to take away the crystal now" –
- "Okay, but…" – said Sango as she looked at the crystal: it was too large to carry it off, and it was impossible for it to fit into a Satchel of Light – "How do you plan to carry something as large as this?" –
- "I think we're gonna have to break it" – said Inuyasha preparing his sword and narrowing his eyes in the crystal's direction. The others looked at him as if he had gone insane, but Gerardo nodded.
- "He's right. Besides, the Crystal of Shadows has different properties from the Shikon Pearl, so breaking it won't cause any grave consequences. However, it won't be as easy as it seems" –
- "What do you mean?" – asked Kagme tilting her head.
- "The crystal is protected by a powerful Shadow aura, and we'll need to dissipate it before we can even scratch it" – explained Gerardo before turning to look at his sister and Kagome – "So… Gaby, Kagome, we'll need your help with this" –
- "Okay" – said Gabriela as she prepared an arrow in her bow and infused it with her Light and Moon energies – "Ist cielba zublia zosph pawatz kouju ical, oli ryupa myalla phinamcou!" –
The arrow and her bow instantly covered in a silver glimmer. Similarly, Kagome got out an arrow from her quiver, which began shining in purple as she prepared to shoot it – "I'm ready!" -
- "Okay," – said Gerardo smiling. He then he turned to look at Inuyasha with a serious gaze – "When I say "Now!", Gabriela and Kagome will shoot their arrows, and immediately after they make contact with the crystal, I'll need you to strike the crystal at the same time I do. Otherwise, the shadow aura will regenerate itself and we won't achieve anything, as I'm not powerful enough to break it by myself" -
- "Keh, okay" – growled Inuyasha as they both got ready. Then, Gerardo went to the others, got out three Satchels of Light and gave one to each of them.
- "As for you all, I'll need you to pick up the crystal fragments immediately after we've broken it, as I've got the feeling that Tenebross has already noticed it and will want to take advantage of this chance to increase his powers" – said he in a serious tone.
- "Okay" – said Miroku.
- "Got it" – said Sango.
- "I'm always ready!" – said Shippou jumping up and down.
- "Are we ready?" – asked Gerardo as he walked and prepared himself at Inuyasha's side while he held his sword aloft.
The others nodded in response, so Gerardo faced the crystal again, and then…
- "NOW!" - he shouted.
The sound of the arrows being fired echoed throughout the temple, which was shortly later replaced by a strong burst of light. This eliminated completely the shadow aura around the evil artifact. Immediately after, Gerardo and Inuyasha jumped to the crystal and struck it with their respective swords.
Initially, nothing seemed to have happened, but a few instants later, the crystal began to slowly crack and break. After a few seconds, it had turned into a bunch of fragments that were left suspended in the air right where their whole form had been. Miroku, Sango and Shippou ran off immediately and grabbed some of them, but when the others tried to get close to help with the gathering, a flame burst came out from around the fragments and repelled them all.
- "GET AWAY FROM THESE FRAGMENTS!" – shouted a voice from inside the flames. When they looked closer, they saw the cause for them inside: it was a monster similar to a dragon man whose skin was covered in thick dark red scales and wore an armor of that same color. He also carried a large sword in his right hand – "I won't let trash like you to touch Lord Tenebross' crystal!" -
- "That must be the Fire elemental demon!"- exclaimed Kagome as she prepared another Sacred Arrow in her bow. The others got ready to attack.
- "Don't let him get away!" – shouted Inuyasha as he launched a Kaze no Kizu and everyone else also launched an attack: Gerardo tried to shoot a Water Beam, Gabriela a Light Arrow, Miroku a bunch of ofudas and Sango her Hiraikotsu.
- "Sorry retards, but I've got no time to play with you!" – said the demon, and just when the attacks were about to hit him, he released another flame burst and repelled them. When the flames went out, the crystal fragments were gone, as also was the demon.
- "Damn it! He escaped!" – said Inuyasha driving his sword into the floor enraged.
- "Calm down, Inuyasha!" – said Miroku holding his hand in front of him – "It's possible we can still recover them!" -
- "How can you say that so confidently, Houshi-sama?" – asked Sango surprised.
- "It must be because of that!" – said Kagome as she pointed to the floor: a strange curved line of ash ran throughout the entire place and went up to the exit.
- "Looks like this demon isn't exactly smart" – said Gabriela as she saw the trace with a curious gaze.
- "In any case, we better hurry and follow him" – said Gerardo as he put away his Ryuuga on its sheath, while the others put away their weapons.
Upon getting out of the temple, they noticed the ash traces continued snaking through the rocky ground of the mountain and led them to the cave behind.
- "Well, he's definitively an idiot" – said Gerardo as they continued following the traces and entered the cave with him at the front – "He's practically telling us with this [Hey, look! I'm over here!]" -
- "I'm partially in agreement with you, but we should be careful" – said Miroku as he looked cautiously at the rocky walls of the cave – "As this could be a trap" -
- "But Houshi-sama," – said Sango – "You've been in this cave before" –
- "Yes, but I never got to explore it in full" – replied Miroku as he made sure they all were following the same road – "I just limited myself to finding the medallions and coming right back" -
- "And talking about that," – began Shippou as he looked at Yuuichi and Seina annoyed, who had been following them all this time – "How longer are you two gonna follow us?" –
- "We already told you" – replied Yuuichi in a bitter voice – "It's my duty as the village chief's son to make sure these evil beings aren't around anymore" –
- "And I've gotta be at Yuuichi's side to make sure nothing bad happens to him" – replied Seina with a smile.
- "And why are you so interested in following me? Didn't you hate me?" – asked Yuuichi a tilting his head in her direction.
- "Well… it's because… I…" – began Seina as she started blushing. Kagome and Miko got close to her from behind to whisper to her…
- "Come. If you've got feelings for him, this is the time to say it" – advised Kagome with a smile.
- "Don't miss this chance!" – said Miko placing her hands before herself and smiling.
- "Well… Yuuichi, it's because I've realized…" – said Seina as she looked downward – "I feel something for you…" -
- "T-That's true, Seina?" – said Yuuichi as he got nervous – "W-well… I'm also… feeling something for you…" –
Everyone else was standing still as they looked at them.
- "Really?" – asked her as her eyes started sparkling.
- "Yeah… but... but…" – began Yuuichi, but unfortunately his nervousness got to him – "You're too stubborn to get them!" –
- "And you're no more than a dirty pervert that goes to peek on me whenever I'm bathing!" – shouted Seina as she got angry.
Everyone else could do no more than sigh exasperated or place their palms on their faces when this made both lovebirds argue once again. Therefore, they decided to leave them alone until they had calmed a bit, and that's why neither Yuuichi nor Seina noticed they were being left behind for a while, so they had to ran to reach them again.
- "How strange" – commented Miroku a bit later. They had reached a large gallery that had three possible exits – "The trace doesn't go to the place where I found the medallions" –
- "And maybe it's foolishness that I ask for this," – said Gerardo with a finger curved over his mouth and nose – "But could you lead us to where you found them, Miroku? There's something that's been intriguing me ever since I first saw the medallions" -
- "Why're ya asking about that right now?" - asked Inuyasha as he crossed his arms.
- "Simply because I'm beginning to think it's no mere coincidence that we're here" – said Gerardo as he looked at his sister, Yasha and Miko, who were also intrigued about this – "And I don't think it was chance either that made you find these springs" -
Miroku nodded, put himself at the front of the group, and showed them the way. After a couple minutes, they reached a gallery that had no more entrances than the way they used to come to it. However, they noticed there was a large altar in the wall at the far side of the room, above which there were a couple depressions, which was the place where the medallions were originally. Similarly, there was an inscription engraved in the rock wall that no one in the group could read. Of course, excepting…
- "This writing…" – said Gerardo as he got close to examine it – "I can't believe this… this writing is Ceremonial Dragonian!" -
- "Ceremonial Dragonian?" – asked everyone at the same time.
- "What's that?" – asked Shippou puzzled.
- "It's the ancient form of the Dragonian Language, which is the one Gabriela and I use to activate our powers and cast our songs and spells" – explained Gerardo as he traced the shape of the symbols with his index finger – "You've all heard us pronouncing it, but so far we didn't see it written, except for the collar and sleeves of our kimonos" -
- "And can you read it?" – asked Miroku interested. The others were also showing curiosity about this discovery.
- "Yeah, I think I can" – said Gerardo with a smile. He breathed in, and began reciting what was written in the wall as he followed it with his pointer finger – "RyealZil Ical, Lyacchi MaltialAael Lisf Phaph Yilar Demorie, Oli Phior Kaser Fa Wudia DiracalKa Iadlast Dea Viadfafse. Yastoila Oli Celilla, Visalria Dea Demorie Refical, Oli Dragonia Lisf Hilla, LyachhiAael Visalria CebaliRa Shillea Biousakatse Yaoulma Dea Mountyoudour Illcal 6 Ist Sieshu Jila… That's everything it said" –
He turned around to see the others, but everyone but Gabriela just looked at him confused.
- "Ehh… I guess I read but didn't translate it, I'm sorry" – he said as he put on a foolish smile. The others just facefaulted falling to the ground in response – "Okay, okay. Here you have the translation: To the reader, these medallions are for restoring memories, and must be only worn by those that have drunk the Water of Restart. Golden and Silver, essences of memory restoration, and when Dragonia is sealed, these essences will be called back to the Eternal Cycle of Life of that world by the Six Great Voices…" –
The others then began pondering about the meaning of these mysterious words.
- "Well, I guess it makes sense, as they explain what the medallions do" – said Kagome thoughtfully – "But I don't get what the last part means…" -
- "Where it says about the essences being called back?" – asked Sango puzzled, to which Kagome nodded – "We're the same. It sounds so strange…" –
- "However, I can't deny that phrase gives me a bad feeling" – commented Miroku with a serious face.
- "Does that mean…?" – said Miko as she covered her mouth with her hands. She seemed horrified of the conclusion she had reached.
- "I don't think so" – said Gerardo as he took off his eyes from the writing and turned to see her, as if he knew what she was thinking – "The Dragonian Language has a lot of metaphoric shades on its expressions, so it's not exactly sure that it means that… and besides, I don't think I'm qualified to say what it means…" -
However, both Gerardo and Gabriela looked at each other seriously, as they both understood perfectly what that particular metaphor meant: being called back by Dragonia's Eternal Cycle of Life is a euphemism either for dying or for being sent back to Dragonia if one is in another world.
- 'But how could this affect them?' – wondered Gerardo in his mind as he crossed his arms – 'Miko and Yasha are both essences born in this world, and it strikes me as absurd that anything could happen to them' –
Gabriela was thinking something similar, so Miko and Yasha floated to them.
- "Gerar-nii, Gaby-nee…" – asked Miko cautiously – "Are you okay?" –
- "Did anything happen?" – asked Yasha worriedly.
- "Huh?" – Gerardo was taken back to reality with their words – "Ah, don't worry! It's nothing!" -
- "Yeah, we were just thinking it was so weird to find something from Dragonia here" – said Gabriela smiling.
- "In any case, we better retrace our steps and go back to the last place where we saw the ash traces" – suggested Miroku – "As I don't think that demon could have gotten too far from us" –
So they went back to the place where the road split into three again. Once there, they continued following the trace, however, they were dismayed when they noticed it led them to a wall: it was a dead end.
- "It can't have gotten away just like that!" – said Inuyasha stomping a foot on the ground.
- "Calm down," – said Miroku sighing – "We can still feel his presence in this place, though weakly" -
- "Do you think it's possible for this cave to continue even further?" – asked Kagome as she looked at the point where the trace ended. She then noticed something on the wall right above them – "Wait… aren't these letters similar to the ones we saw in the medallion altar?" –
- "Whoa, you're right! And that must mean this cave has a secret passageway or something like that" – said Gerardo as he went to check to letters, which were written in ash over the rock wall.
- "Ah, then it's just like Souta's videogames!" – said Yasha excitedly.
- "These are good news for us" – said Sango – "So, Gerardo-kun, could you tell us what it's written in there?"
- "Gladly. It's modern Dragonian, so it's easy" – said Gerardo as he began reading them in silence, but he only ended up laughing as he covered his face with a hand.
- "And what's so funny now?" – asked Inuyasha in a bad mood, while the others looked at Gerardo as if he had gone mad.
- "Hehe…" – said Gerardo as he stopped laughing and breathed in – "It's just… I never guessed that monster would end up being so much of an imbecile… these letters explain the way to open the passage. It says Lusya sonlyad, which means it can only be opened by someone that can use the Light element" –
At that point, the others got why he was laughing: the demon had actually committed a great stupidity not only by leaving that trace, but also leaving instructions on how to follow it.
- "Okay then, leave it to me!" – said Gabriela as she winked mischievously to the others. She went up to the wall, raised her hands, and concentrated – "Saf sieral sos, eiral'uk dat lusya, omedai tast ika apreio…" –
Instantly, a seal made of light appeared from the wall followed by several light lines similar to a lock. The lines then began spinning and inserting into each other as if it was some sort of combination mechanism for a safe, and when it finished, the seal broke as if it were made of glass. Then, the wall and the letters it had written disappeared.
- "Now we can proceed!" – said Miroku with a smile.
- "Wait! This place is…!" – began Inuyasha when his nose caught hold of an unpleasant smell: a strong mix of sulfide and burnt smell… though he couldn't do much to stop them as they entered.
However, as soon as they crossed the wall, they were met with an unpleasant surprise: the inside of the place was a volcano filled with boiling magma, which was flowing several hundred meters below them. Instantly, the heat began assaulting them, making them sweat a lot. Similarly, several vapors with horrible smells, soot and ash filled the entire area, making it into a lethal trap to anyone who dared to come in without the appropriate precautions. This was what Inuyasha tried to warn them against.
- "Dammit…" – said Gerardo as he wiped off his forehead with his kimono's sleeves and took off his glasses for a moment to wipe his eyes, as they were tearing up from the soot and ashes – "I didn't expect this place to be a volcano..." –
- "I tried to warn ya! This place plays against us!" – said Inuyasha crossing his arms. The heat didn't affect him much thanks to the special fabric of his clothes, while the gases didn't do much due to his resistance to poison. However, the others were sweating a lot, and if they went on like this for long, they either would faint from dehydration or even worse, would die suffocated.
- "We can't remain here for long" – said Miroku evaluating the situation as he raised a little the collar of his clothes, which shot off a small stream of steam. He then raised it to cover his nose and mouth, as also did the others, while Sango put on her protective mask – "We have to find that creature and abandon this place as soon as possible" -
- "I think I can help a little with it" – said Gerardo as he raised his hands - "Saf sieral baprou hydrast, protasec sossaks, yst hilsec sossaks biosat ika…" –
Instantly, a blue and watery-looking barrier formed around the group. With this they stopped feeling the heat, could breathe normally again and move more easily.
- "My water barrier can protect us from that horrendous heat and the other dangers from this place" – said Gerardo as he kept his hands aloft to maintain the barrier – "However, we have to hurry, as I don't know for how long I'll be able to keep it up" -
The others nodded, and they all then began running through the volcano's caverns, so they could finish this task as quickly as possible. However, when they had crossed two galleries, the volcano began trembling and shooting off smoke.
- "What's that!?" – asked Miko scared.
- "Looks like the volcano's about to erupt!" – said Kagome as she saw how the place shook and the level of the lava they had below began slowly ascending.
- "That bastard must be behind this…" – growled Inuyasha as he tried to draw Tessaiga.
- "Wait, Inuyasha" – said Miroku in a severe tone – "Don't rush in, or you could get us all in danger" –
However, Yuuichi and Seina were angry and furious, and ran off leaving the barrier's protection.
- "If this volcano erupts, the village will be destroyed, and all its people will die!" – screamed Yuuichi – "I can't let that happen!" –
- "I'll go with you!" – exclaimed Seina – "I won't let that happen either!" –
- "Wait!" – exclaimed Sango as she saw them both running – "Let's follow them! They won't be able to survive outside the barrier for long!" -
The entire group stepped up the pace, not only to keep the volcano from erupting, but also to save them both. A little later, they found that a small stone bridge crossing over a lava moat several meters below apparently had collapsed shortly after Yuuichi and Seina had crossed it, so Inuyasha and Miroku had to break a stalactite and use it as a replacement bridge to go on.
After they crossed the moat, they reached a large circular gallery located several meters above a much larger lava moat, over which there was a large hole that allowed them to see the blue sky: it was the volcano's crater. And at the center, they found the fire demon: he was apparently concentrating to force the volcano into an eruption.
- "Oh… I see you cretins have finally found me…" – said the monster when he noticed their presence.
- "I order you to stop this eruption at once!" – screamed Yuuichi enraged.
- "We won't let you destroy the village!" – said Seina. However, both began coughing due to the soot and ashes they had breathed in the road to this place, and as if that wasn't enough, the heat was beginning to cause them a heat stroke.
- "Bwehehe… and who'll force me, the great Inka, to do that?" – said Inka to mock them upon hearing their demands and seeing how weak they were – "You and what army!?" -
- "We!" – shouted Kagome as the group entered the gallery with Inuyasha in the lead. Gerardo hurried to the place where Yuuichi and Seina were to cover them with the barrier, so they could breathe again. However, the heat had already done a number on them: their clothes had parts burned, their hairs had gotten puffy, and they had several burns on their faces, arms and legs.
- "Idiots!" – shouted Inuyasha – "How could ya think 'bout running off from the barrier he put for ya!? Do ya wanna die!?" –
- 'Nii-san's right, that was really stupid!" – said Yasha scowling at them – "If it weren't for us coming here, you'd probably have burned to death!" -
Both coughed and were left kneeling down in the cave's ground, under the protection that Gerardo's barrier offered. Apparently, they didn't have any energies left to even reply back.
- "Hmph… the idiots I stole the fragments of Lord Tenebross from" – said Inka as he snorted at them – "You're even more idiotic than I thought, coming to fight me in my territory" –
- "Now we'll judge who the true idiot is!" – said Gerardo as he unsheathed Ryuuga – "You'll pay for trying to steal these fragments and destroy the village!" -
- "Something as low and vile as that can't be forgiven!" – said Kagome glaring at Inka furious. She raised her bow and aimed an arrow at him.
- "You'll see what we're gonna do you for your evil, idiot!" – said Gabriela scowling as she prepared an arrow in her bow and imbued it with light energy. The others prepared themselves to fight as well.
- "Heheh… and you really think you have a chance against me?" – said Inka with an evil smile – "Then I'll leave it to the volcano to eliminate you!" -
He tried slamming himself against the barrier Gerardo was maintaining. However, Inuyasha was faster and struck him with Tessaiga in the abdomen.
- "Damn hanyou!" – screamed Inka as he grabbed himself where he had gotten slashed – "How in hell can you be fine in this inferno I brought you all to!?" –
He then noticed his clothes:
- "Damn… clothes made from Fire-Rat Wool, which give him full immunity to heat..." -
- "Didn't ya notice yet who ya were facing against, stupid?" – said Inuyasha as he smiled in a mocking way.
- "How dare you, piece of shit!?" – roared Inka as he tried tackling him. However, a water beam struck him from the right. Inka screamed in pain as he saw how some steam came out from the place where he was hit.
- "Who's trash now?" – said Gerardo triumphantly. He had fired off the beam with the hand he was using to hold Ryuuga, while he kept the barrier active with the hand in which he held Fuuinryuu, which he had taken out and turned into its shield form.
- "You… a Water-elemental!?" – asked Inka horrified. At that moment, he received in the face a couple of arrows fired by Kagome and Gabriela, which made him howl in pain.
- "You never bother analyzing your enemies before a fight, huh?" – said Miroku with a smile as he threw him a bunch of ofudas. However, they didn't serve of much, as they were burned off by the heat as soon as they left the barrier.
- "And you don't seem to be analyzing the environment well either, pervert!" – said Gabriela as she looked at him enraged. Miroku couldn't do more than laugh nervously.
- "Hiraikotsu!" – shouted Sango as she launched her boomerang. However, Inka avoided it by sidestepping.
- "Bah… you're a failure, slayer" – said he shaking his head to mock Sango. However, he noticed she was smiling triumphantly. A second later…
- "Kaze no Kizu!" –
Inka received the brunt of the Kaze no Kizu's impact and fell to the ground.
- "It doesn't seem like so great a monster" – commented Shippou as he looked at the battle – "That demon is too cocky and stupid" –
- "But we can't get confident ourselves anyway" – said Miko in a serious tone.
- "Damn you all… you'll pay… YOU'LL PAY FOR THIS!" – shouted Inka as he jumped from the border of the gallery to the lava moat they had below.
- "What did that idiot do now?" – asked Inuyasha as he looked at the apparent suicide attempt. However, they noticed what was happening about half a minute later: Inka jumped out from the lava and back to the platform, and he didn't just get healed from the wounds they inflicted him, but was also shining in an unsettling red color.
- "Mwehehe… let's see now if you have a chance against me…" – said Inka, and then, he began breathing a shower of flames over Inuyasha, who tried blocking them with Tessaiga.
- "Damn!" – shouted Inuyasha as he saw how Tessaiga was beginning to turn bright red – "I can't continue holding it like this!" -
He had to drop it to not get his hands burned. However, this only made things worse, as the heat from the volcano didn't allow it to get cold, and he couldn't grab it again.
- "Bwahaha… now let's see if you can withstand THIS!" – he then raised his hands aloft – "Ikuyu poak kumma piralya haleiei yst hakisa myalla sos eols ika! Cursed Flame!" –
As soon as he finished pronouncing these words, he aimed to where Gerardo and the others were covered by the water barrier, and several large black fireballs rose from his body and launched toward them, exploding when they made contact. When the smoke dissipated, they noticed the barrier was covered in cracks.
- "Bwahaha… looks like it wasn't enough" – said Inka laughing evilly – "However, even a simple breeze could break that barrier now, so I'll finish it off now!" -
- "Not so fast!" – shouted Inuyasha as he leaped to him – "Sankontessou!" –
He managed to hit him in the face, nullifying any possibility of him using any other spells temporarily. However, this also cost him a nice burn, as Inka's skin was always as hot as boiling water.
- "Bastard!" – shouted Inka as he tried to put his jaw back in place after the blow Inuyasha gave him, aside of the deep gashes his claws left on his face – "It's time for you to die!" -
He then began charging energy on his mouth: apparently he was planning to fry him with a heat beam of a temperature far higher than what Inuyasha's clothes could resist.
- "Inuyasha!" – shouted Kagome.
- "Inuyasha-nii!" – shouted Miko and Yasha at the same time.
- "Enough already!" – shouted Gerardo as he took out his Seirei Crystal and inserted it in his Dragtemn, to then pronounce the transformation spell as fast as he could – "Zyacc Garsse Ochmere Ialast Kabze Pwatz Zosph, Phaph Myya Zosph Phiaphz Ical! Iadlast Pawatz! Dragoon!" –
He rushed flying from his transformation bubble toward Inka.
- "Watsa ya lay hydrast, baprou, gaivz tast pawatz sos ulkirea ika! Water Saber!" – when he finished pronouncing the spell, his sword was enshrouded in a blue aura, which he used to strike Inka. The demon began howling in pain as steam began coming out from the places where he was slashed.
- "Graaaagh!" –
Gerardo immediately went back to his original position, as the barrier had begun flickering and would disappear if he didn't continue maintaining it.
- "Damn it…" – said Gerardo to himself as he looked at the current situation: at this rate, the barrier would end up breaking, and he couldn't fight at full power because he had to keep everyone safe… However, when he looked at the others and saw the steam that formed when he struck Inka with his water attacks, he got an idea – "Gaby! Transform! I've got a plan!" -
- "But, what about the others!?" – asked his sister worried, knowing what would happen if he lowered the barrier.
- "Just trust me!" – said Gerardo to then turn to look at Kagome and Miroku – "Kagome, I need you and Miko to split off for now, and you both to join your powers with Miroku to make a barrier! Even if it isn't as effective against this environment, it should be enough to protect you while we finish off that nuisance!" –
Kagome nodded, so she used her medallion for her and Miko to separate, and then, both joined their hands to form a barrier with their spiritual powers. Miroku joined them immediately after, forming a small veil of silver light around themselves, Seina, Yuuichi, Sango, Shippou and Kirara. Even though it didn't provide the same refreshing sensation as Gerardo's barrier, at the least it diminished the heat enough for them to not get cooked up.
Upon seeing this, Gabriela took out her Seirei Crystal and did the same as her brother:
- "Ist Wasriats, Oschmere Illyusea Kiabze Pawatz Zosph, Phaph Myya Zosph Phiaphz Ical! Illyusea Pawatz! Dragoon!"
After she did this, Gerardo closed off his armor completely to protect himself from the heat, the gases and the soot, while Gabriela did the same. Then, Gerardo dissolved the water barrier, formed a water whip around his hand and used it to grab Tessaiga. However, as soon as it made contact, the water began evaporating, so he hurried back to the veil and left the sword in the ground inside it.
- 'Great… with this it can cool off enough for Inuyasha to hold it again' – thought he with satisfaction as he released the whip and let it evaporate in the air to then turn to look at Sango – "Sango, tell Kirara to leave the veil to help Inuyasha!" –
- "Got it!" – said Sango as she turned to look at her little companion – "Kirara!" -
Kirara transformed into her large form and flew off to Inuyasha's side.
- "Keh, looks like things're 'bout to get interestin'" – said Inuyasha with a satisfied smile on his face as he mounted Kirara.
And as they did all of that, Inka had been trying to discharge all his rage on Inuyasha, trying to strike him with his sword, punches and kicks. However, as he was still enraged from how much they had struck him, his aim was atrocious and didn't manage to touch him even once.
As soon as the three were in the air, Gerardo shot a water stream at the rocks near Inka. This made a large steam cloud around the monster.
- "Damn you!" – shouted Inka enraged – "Where are you!? Come out so I can finish you off!" –
At that moment, a group of lights began shining within the steam, and Inka, thinking it was his enemies, began following them.
- "GOTCHA!" – he roared triumphantly. Unfortunately for him, it was just a decoy left by Gabriela: right after he got to them, the lights disappeared and he got struck by a Light Arrow on the chest.
- "Perfect!" – said Gabriela pumping her left hand as she saw how Inka fell back to the platform. Gerardo and Inuyasha came out from the cloud immediately later, and returned briefly to the barrier so Inuyasha could grab Tessaiga again. The sword was still a bit hot, but at least it had cooled enough for him to hold it.
- "Time to finish this bastard off" – said Inuyasha as he looked at Inka with annoyance, who had risen and was now levitating in the air. Apparently, he was so angry that he couldn't even decide who he was going to attack first.
- "Agreed" – said Gerardo as he flew to his side – "This idiot has caused more problems than he should have already" -
He then took out the key from his elemental medallion, inserted it on its behind, and spun it once to the right: - "Zyacc Cielba, ah... Leiya Jewiz Iadlast, Vaplu, SatplSa Bieccelle Zosph Uira Pawatz Oli KiabzeSa Zosph Pawatz Dea Draggyach! Iadlast Pawatz! Half-dragon!" –
Like
in the previous occasion, his legs, waist and arms had been replaced by
those of a water dragon when he came out from his transformation bubble.
Similarly, he had again a tail and horns.
Inuyasha separated from
Yasha at that time, and both began preparing two different techniques:
the Kaze no Kizu and Kongousouha. Gabriela also began getting ready to
fire off a supercharged light beam.
- "WWatsa ya hydrast, baprou cezet gorba ika, yst gyellia tast paewat phaf protasec sos fiassessaks ika…" – said Gerardo as he drew the circles that served for this spell. And as he finished doing so…
- "Kongousouha!" -
- "Kaze no Kizu!" –
- "Photon Blast!" –
- "What the hell are you doing, bastards!?" – shouted Inka as he rushed Gerardo.
- "Iadlas!" – shouted Gerardo as he fired off a water jet at max pressure.
Inka committed the great mistake of placing himself right at point-blank of where the spell went off, so he received the full impact from it. However, he still managed to throw Gerardo a fire javelin which he couldn't avoid due to being immobilized firing off the jet. So the javelin ended striking him on the stomach, on one of the few points where his armor and dragon scales didn't cover him.
- "Aghh!" – shouted Gerardo.
Shortly later, the attacks Gabriela, Yasha and Inuyasha had launched struck him, being bombarded in succession by a powerful light beam, a diamond shower, and the Kaze no Kizu's energy, all of which exploded in the end. Inka couldn't resist anymore and began falling to the ground: - "Damn you… at the least… I'll take you down with me…" –
He positioned himself in a way that ensured that he would fall right over the ones that were covered by the barrier, so Miko, Kagome and Miroku had to dissolve it and get away to another place to then recast it. As soon as Inka fell to the ground, all the platform over which they had been fighting trembled, and Inka was consumed by black flames, leaving only a group of Fragments of Shadows behind. However, the tremor made Seina lose her balance, and as she was near one of the platform's borders, she slipped and fell off from it.
- "Aaaahh!" –
- "Seina!" – screamed Yuuichi as he ran and tried to grab her. He managed to grab one of her hands. However, he didn't have enough strength to raise her by himself, and if things continued like this, they would both fall to their death.
- "Yuuichi!" – said Seina as she looked at him as if it were the first time she was actually looking at him as her zori slid from her feet and fell to the lava – "Please, let me go! Otherwise, we'll both die!" –
- "Never, don't be stupid!" – screamed Yuuichi as he gathered all the strength he had to keep both Seina and himself from falling – "I'll never let you go, even if that costs me my life!" -
- "But, why!?" – asked Seina puzzled – "No that you didn't love me? No that I'd never be able to understand your feelings?" –
- "All that was a lie…" – began Yuuichi – "Actually… I love you Seina… but I was never able to reveal you my true feelings!" –
- "Yuuichi!" – said Seina as she smiled with here eyes closed – "It's okay… now I know it…" –
- "Seina!?" – said Yuuichi spooked – "What're you planning!?" –
- "Now I know that, I have no more regrets" – said Seina as joyful tears began running through her face – "Now I can leave this world in peace…" –
- "No, you won't!" – said Sango as she ran and grabbed their hands – "Do you know how much pain you'd cause him if you died!?" -
- "She's right!" – said Miroku as he ran to Yuuichi and helped him to raise Seina, abandoning his position as maker of the barrier along Miko and Kagome – "You must never let your love end like this!" –
- "Don't be idiots, and continue living now you both know how the other feels about you!" – said Gerardo as he came out from the air and went back to his Dragoon form. He then lowered himself to Seina's level and began pulling her upwards with Yuuichi.
- "Stop being idiots, and have a happy family!" – screeched Shippou as he helped Miroku, pulling on his clothes.
- "Keh, talking 'bout troublesome guys!" – growled Inuyasha as he signaled Kirara to go their side to help.
- "But nii-san" – said Yasha sarcastically – "I've gotta say you have some liking for them, or you wouldn't bother helping them" –
- "I've gotta do it, or Kagome'll kill me" – said Inuyasha proudly as they reached the ground and dismounted Kirara, to then run and help Sango. Yasha giggled a bit and grabbed Inuyasha from behind.
- "When I say "Now!", we'll all pull them up at the same time!" – said Inuyasha as the others showed their agreement with the plan – "Now!" -
In a single pull, the entire group managed to get both lovebirds back to the platform. They ended up in the area that was protected by the barrier Miko and Kagome were keeping up with so much effort, so Gerardo went back to his normal form and casted again the water barrier to get that burden of their shoulders while Inuyasha went to pick up the Fragment of Shadows Inka had left after his death, as well as those he stole from them in the temple.
Then, Kagome and he used their medallions to go back to their normal forms, and both Miko and Yasha returned to their ghost forms. Yuuichi and Seina then embraced each other passionately as they cried in happiness, not only due to being alive, but also for having finally admitted their feelings for each other. Then, everyone decided to go back to the village.
- "But, what are we gonna do about the volcano?" – asked Yuuichi worried.
- "Look down there" – said Kagome with a smile: the level of the lava was lowering and the small tremors that dominated the area until a moment ago were ceasing. Apparently, Inka's death returned the volcano to its dormant state – "I think the village's going to be fine now" -
- "Kagome-sama, Inuyasha-san" – said Seina as she walked to them – "Can I ask you something?" –
- "What is it?" – inquired Kagome.
- "What are these sorts of spirits accompanying you?" – asked her as she looked with interest at Miko and Yasha – "I've heard about Shikigamis, but I'm not sure they are that…" -
- "Like I said before, they're part of us, as they are parts from our souls that took form in this world" – said Kagome showing her the medallion she had around her neck – "Thanks to these medallions, we can exchange our place with them, or make them take physical form in exchange for losing part of our ages" -
- "Kagome, I don't think it's a good idea to tell 'em that" – growled Inuyasha.
- "Don't mind it so much" – said Kagome with smile. But when she looked at Seina again, she narrowed her eyes and curved her lips upwards – "However, I'd like to ask you and Yuuichi-kun to keep this a secret from everyone in the village. I fear they could misunderstand it and think we're evil beings" -
- "Okay" – promised Yuuichi – "As future village chief, I swear we won't tell anyone about this for as long as we live" -
- "Well, now that the matter has been settled" – said Miroku getting close to them as he pointed to the blue watery barrier they had overhead – "Are you okay with us getting out from this inferno? I don't think Gerardo-kun likes much that we're here conversing so leisurely while he's spending his strength in the maintenance of this barrier after that battle" -
He was right: Gerardo was looking at them with an enraged face while Gabriela was doing everything she could to keep him on his feet with her Healing Light. The others just laughed while they both sighed exasperated.
They left the crater and the cave and walked back to the village, cheered up by their great victory, and because they managed to find a clue to a large mystery: Why did the Dragon Gods choose precisely Gerardo and Gabriela? Why did they make them come to the Inuyasha world before appearing in front of them, instead of sending them to Dragonia? And why there are places and items belonging to Dragonia in this world?
However, they weren't still close enough to finding the answers to these questions…
(Ending: Fukai Mori)
