Categories > Anime/Manga > Inuyasha > The Hidden Evil Design
Chapter 9: Strange Things Get Stranger
0 reviewsInuyasha and his friends have eluded Naraku's grip time and time again... but this time, the tides may turn on our group... in the form of a strange game... what is it? What exactly is that demon ...
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Note: I understand that the last chapter was totally random on my part, but believe me... you haven't yet seen the extent of my psychoticness! (is that even a word...?)
Anyway, I hope you are all enjoying my fic so far!
So, without further ado, let the story continue!
Chapter 9 - Strange Things Get Stranger
"What did you say?" Sango asked, openmouthed, to the demon in front of her. Although, from all of her experiences as a demon slayer, she felt no youki (demonic aura) within him, so it was clearly a puppet.
Naraku laughed softly from behind the mask. As usual, just the lower half of his face was shown.
"Interesting... Sango, you are surprisingly dull."
Her body shook with fury; in one motion, she had reached down and picked up the katana from the floor, where it glimmered, catching the light of the candles shining on the walls.
"What do you mean, 'surprisingly dull?' I am cleverer than you imagine I am... not to mention all of my friends! Do you think what you are planning has had any effect on any of us? Because it hasn't..."
She trailed off. Both of them were silent for a few seconds, until...
"Sango... I'm sorry to say to you that you are sadly mistaken. I highly doubt any of you are immune to my spell... especially that Inuyasha..."
This time, he trailed off.
For just a moment, Sango flashed back to the vision she had of Inuyasha, slumped on the floor, the back of his head blasted open, and his brain showing through...
No! she scolded herself. That won't happen to him, as long as I'm around! She set her mind straight, and stared down her enemy.
"Go on," Sango urged, knowing even now that he would not continue. She could not help but grin a little, however. Naraku's pride was nearly always his weakness; because he was so certain that Sango and her friends were beyond help's reach, he had almost let slip something about Inuyasha.
"What about Inuyasha? Tell me, or I will destroy your pathetic kugutsu (puppet)!"
She saw his mouth curve upward in a smile.
"Oh? You are certain that I am just a lowly demon puppet, are you? Do not forget where you are, Sango. Anything can occur here."
As a matter of fact, Sango did not know where she was.
"How did I get here?" she asked, more to herself than to Naraku. He laughed again.
"This proves it. You are dull," he remarked. "Not even knowing where you stand is pretty amusing, I'd say... hold it."
Sango had just been about to swing the katana in his direction. Her eyes were overlarge and shining with anger. Now more than ever, she wanted him dead. Putting her and probably all of the rest of her friends through this trap of his, and then practically mocking her right now was more than she could stand. She hurried forward, sword flashing.
"I'm sick of you! I want you dead!" she screamed.
When she was mere inches away from him, he vanished, just like that, in a wisp of miasma.
"What...?" she cried, brandishing the katana at the very last second, so that she careened into a wall, bouncing backward, landing hard on her side and hearing her weapon clang to the stone floor once again.
She winced in pain, rubbing her thigh and waist, where she had landed, strangely on both at once. Behind her, next to the opposite wall, she heard Naraku reappear; the returning miasma lingering near her signified that as well.
"I see, Sango. Since you are angered to the point of murder, then I guess I will explain at least where you are... but first... would you like your weapon returned to you?"
_-_-_
"Kagome-sama? Are you all right?" Miroku asked suddenly of the young miko; she started and turned around, her back to the stream.
"Oh, yes... I am all right, Miroku-sama... I was just dazed, that's all." As she said it, her eyes grew heavy, almost closed, and she nearly fell to the ground, if Miroku's quick actions had not spared her.
"Kagome-sama..." he started, but her eyes snapped fully open again, and she gently pushed him away, getting to her feet once again.
"Really, Miroku-sama... I'm okay."
But something in the way she said that did not make the monk feel so sure.
"You need to lie down," he urged her, anxious that she do so in order to regain all of her strength, which he knew she did not have right at the moment.
Her eyes narrowed.
"Miroku-sama... I told you... I'm okay." Her tone of voice suggested the subject was now closed, but the lecher had not seen this type of behavior from his friend before, and he was worried about it.
"Kagome-sama... what is wrong with you? You never refuse help when it is given to you..." His voice trailed off as quick as the eyes can blink; he knew what was going on... why didn't he see it before?
"You're not Kagome-sama!" he yelled, shoving the imposter away as hard as he could manage, with the last of his waning strength.
The girl gave a startled cry and toppled to the earth yet again; this time, she did not move.
Breathing hard and fast, Miroku cautiously walked over to the fallen girl, and inspected her closely. At first glance, she appeared to be totally normal, apart from the strange way she had been behaving a few seconds ago. But upon closer inspection, he noticed that, on the nape of her neck, almost hidden underneath the collar of her uniform, there was a weirdly-shaped cut, almost like an X. It looked like she had been branded with something... what was going on here? Everything was fine from the moment they were all together in that little forest clearing, sitting back against the trees, relaxing, until Kagome-sama had sensed the feeling of the Sacred Jewel, and Sango had thought it was her brother, Kohaku... then all hell broke loose after that.
What happened between Sango and Naraku inside that barrier, anyway? Whatever else was done, he knew he had to make sure, at least of that, what had happened.
_-_-_
"Naraku!" Sango yelled, filled with frustration. "What in the hell are you saying?" All of his riddles and the events that had been laid at her and her friends' feet up until this moment was all too much; the purple barrier, her and Naraku within it, conversing strange things, Inuyasha, Houshi-sama, Kagome-chan arriving with Shippou, the strange thing that had happened to Kagome-chan, and then the blacking out of all her thoughts, so that only the weird, compelling voice had remained, urging her every move, almost killing Inuyasha, and nearly doing away with herself. What in the world was going on?
Naraku laughed softly.
"Sango, you still do not seem to understand your situation, here... and if I am not mistaken once again, you are in the utmost of depression and confusion... am I not correct?" The demon slayer was silent. Without waiting for her to respond, Naraku, seized the mask on his baboon pelt, and pulled it free, revealing his face... the red eyes, not to mention the light-blue eyeliner (ugh!). He then continued. And this time, Sango could see whether he was really smiling or not... mostly.
"I figure, Sango, if we are to make any connection at all, and have a nice, pleasant conversation, we must know what the other looks like, correct?" His words were twisted, like always... he knew full well she knew what he looked like.
"All you are doing is speaking in riddles, demon," Sango finally said, speaking the words carefully, choosing them with caution; she did not want anything out of the ordinary to happen further (like she could ever avoid having that happen, anyway!). "If you are going to talk to me, and get anywhere with this whole business, you'd better talk straight to me, or else I really will do you in!" Sango bent and quickly snatched up her katana, which was still on the floor from when she had attacked Naraku earlier; or so she thought she had snatched it up. She blinked in surprise, wondering where it was. She got her answer the moment he spoke again, and she looked up.
"Your senses are failing you badly, it seems," he said, tossing her weapon from one hand to the other, as if taunting her with it. How had he gotten it off of the floor so quickly like that? Especially when she had her eyes on him the whole time he had been talking, and the sword was on the floor. "Usually, you detect anything I am about to do... wait a minute, though... could it be you cannot focus because you don't have your weapon?" He grinned devilishly, red eyes glinting. Sango stared at him, openmouthed. Could that really be the reason she had felt so strange recently... so depressed, misled and altogether violent? It was true that the demon slayer had her true fighting spirit when her weapon was in her possession, but events like this never happened as a direct result... so, why now? She suddenly realized something, and it was something she should have realized a long time ago.
"Where in the hell am I?" she asked. She looked around her more carefully, but saw nothing other than what she had glimpsed before; the long hallway that seemed to go on straight ahead forever, the wooden doors, the candles glimmering on sconces every few feet or so, the absence of any windows... wait a second... there weren't any doors before, were there?
Naraku smiled, reading her mind, knowing what it was she now knew.
This girl progresses quickly, he thought. She may be the only one that will get out of this alive, compared to those others... they may well die after all this time. He was satisfied, if even one were to die; it would make his quest for the remaining jewel shards all that easier. He sighed; it couldn't hurt to let the foolish girl know where she at least was; he didn't know his curse had been that effective; maybe he was lucky, for once.
"Well, Sango, since your eyes reveal that you indeed have no idea where you stand, I will tell you... then, I must be on my way..." His words trailed away; the demon slayer was pointing her katana at him, a truly threatening look in her eyes, one that made even him, Naraku, shocked for even a second. He scolded himself for being even one second afraid of this girl, but he passed it away just the same.
"You are not leaving until you hand me my weapon, Hiraikotsu, return Kirara to me, show me where Inuyasha, houshi-sama, Kagome-chan and Shippou-chan are. Only then will I let you leave... you bastard," she added, almost as an afterthought; the statement made Naraku grin wider. She truly was a fool if she thought she could threaten him like this; he, after all, held her brother's heart in his hands (though maybe not as literally as Kagura's heart). Either way, it served him well.
"My, my, dear Sango... you seem to have become much more impolite since our last encounter... inside that barrier. Perhaps some events that have since come and gone have unhinged you just a little?" He made it more a statement of fact, rather than a question, and that only served to infuriate Sango more.
"Bastard! Just do as I tell you!" She was almost in tears, though she did not really know why. Everything and everyone she cared about was crumbling into pieces around her, and she was powerless to stop any of it from happening. Her enemy only continued to smile.
I guess I will let her have what she wants, he thought, knowing that what he was about to do may very well crack the barrier around Sango's sanity further, and that she may rush him again; if she did, she would regret it, this time.
The taijiya was still pointing her sword at Naraku, but as she looked at him, he appeared to fade away from her sight; it was as if he were merely a projection, cast by a light that contained a person or thing meant to deceive; he seemed blurred around the edges. Sango squinted, yet could not seem to find what the matter with her vision was; was it her vision?
When she next blinked, and looked again, Naraku had gone.
Anyway, I hope you are all enjoying my fic so far!
So, without further ado, let the story continue!
Chapter 9 - Strange Things Get Stranger
"What did you say?" Sango asked, openmouthed, to the demon in front of her. Although, from all of her experiences as a demon slayer, she felt no youki (demonic aura) within him, so it was clearly a puppet.
Naraku laughed softly from behind the mask. As usual, just the lower half of his face was shown.
"Interesting... Sango, you are surprisingly dull."
Her body shook with fury; in one motion, she had reached down and picked up the katana from the floor, where it glimmered, catching the light of the candles shining on the walls.
"What do you mean, 'surprisingly dull?' I am cleverer than you imagine I am... not to mention all of my friends! Do you think what you are planning has had any effect on any of us? Because it hasn't..."
She trailed off. Both of them were silent for a few seconds, until...
"Sango... I'm sorry to say to you that you are sadly mistaken. I highly doubt any of you are immune to my spell... especially that Inuyasha..."
This time, he trailed off.
For just a moment, Sango flashed back to the vision she had of Inuyasha, slumped on the floor, the back of his head blasted open, and his brain showing through...
No! she scolded herself. That won't happen to him, as long as I'm around! She set her mind straight, and stared down her enemy.
"Go on," Sango urged, knowing even now that he would not continue. She could not help but grin a little, however. Naraku's pride was nearly always his weakness; because he was so certain that Sango and her friends were beyond help's reach, he had almost let slip something about Inuyasha.
"What about Inuyasha? Tell me, or I will destroy your pathetic kugutsu (puppet)!"
She saw his mouth curve upward in a smile.
"Oh? You are certain that I am just a lowly demon puppet, are you? Do not forget where you are, Sango. Anything can occur here."
As a matter of fact, Sango did not know where she was.
"How did I get here?" she asked, more to herself than to Naraku. He laughed again.
"This proves it. You are dull," he remarked. "Not even knowing where you stand is pretty amusing, I'd say... hold it."
Sango had just been about to swing the katana in his direction. Her eyes were overlarge and shining with anger. Now more than ever, she wanted him dead. Putting her and probably all of the rest of her friends through this trap of his, and then practically mocking her right now was more than she could stand. She hurried forward, sword flashing.
"I'm sick of you! I want you dead!" she screamed.
When she was mere inches away from him, he vanished, just like that, in a wisp of miasma.
"What...?" she cried, brandishing the katana at the very last second, so that she careened into a wall, bouncing backward, landing hard on her side and hearing her weapon clang to the stone floor once again.
She winced in pain, rubbing her thigh and waist, where she had landed, strangely on both at once. Behind her, next to the opposite wall, she heard Naraku reappear; the returning miasma lingering near her signified that as well.
"I see, Sango. Since you are angered to the point of murder, then I guess I will explain at least where you are... but first... would you like your weapon returned to you?"
_-_-_
"Kagome-sama? Are you all right?" Miroku asked suddenly of the young miko; she started and turned around, her back to the stream.
"Oh, yes... I am all right, Miroku-sama... I was just dazed, that's all." As she said it, her eyes grew heavy, almost closed, and she nearly fell to the ground, if Miroku's quick actions had not spared her.
"Kagome-sama..." he started, but her eyes snapped fully open again, and she gently pushed him away, getting to her feet once again.
"Really, Miroku-sama... I'm okay."
But something in the way she said that did not make the monk feel so sure.
"You need to lie down," he urged her, anxious that she do so in order to regain all of her strength, which he knew she did not have right at the moment.
Her eyes narrowed.
"Miroku-sama... I told you... I'm okay." Her tone of voice suggested the subject was now closed, but the lecher had not seen this type of behavior from his friend before, and he was worried about it.
"Kagome-sama... what is wrong with you? You never refuse help when it is given to you..." His voice trailed off as quick as the eyes can blink; he knew what was going on... why didn't he see it before?
"You're not Kagome-sama!" he yelled, shoving the imposter away as hard as he could manage, with the last of his waning strength.
The girl gave a startled cry and toppled to the earth yet again; this time, she did not move.
Breathing hard and fast, Miroku cautiously walked over to the fallen girl, and inspected her closely. At first glance, she appeared to be totally normal, apart from the strange way she had been behaving a few seconds ago. But upon closer inspection, he noticed that, on the nape of her neck, almost hidden underneath the collar of her uniform, there was a weirdly-shaped cut, almost like an X. It looked like she had been branded with something... what was going on here? Everything was fine from the moment they were all together in that little forest clearing, sitting back against the trees, relaxing, until Kagome-sama had sensed the feeling of the Sacred Jewel, and Sango had thought it was her brother, Kohaku... then all hell broke loose after that.
What happened between Sango and Naraku inside that barrier, anyway? Whatever else was done, he knew he had to make sure, at least of that, what had happened.
_-_-_
"Naraku!" Sango yelled, filled with frustration. "What in the hell are you saying?" All of his riddles and the events that had been laid at her and her friends' feet up until this moment was all too much; the purple barrier, her and Naraku within it, conversing strange things, Inuyasha, Houshi-sama, Kagome-chan arriving with Shippou, the strange thing that had happened to Kagome-chan, and then the blacking out of all her thoughts, so that only the weird, compelling voice had remained, urging her every move, almost killing Inuyasha, and nearly doing away with herself. What in the world was going on?
Naraku laughed softly.
"Sango, you still do not seem to understand your situation, here... and if I am not mistaken once again, you are in the utmost of depression and confusion... am I not correct?" The demon slayer was silent. Without waiting for her to respond, Naraku, seized the mask on his baboon pelt, and pulled it free, revealing his face... the red eyes, not to mention the light-blue eyeliner (ugh!). He then continued. And this time, Sango could see whether he was really smiling or not... mostly.
"I figure, Sango, if we are to make any connection at all, and have a nice, pleasant conversation, we must know what the other looks like, correct?" His words were twisted, like always... he knew full well she knew what he looked like.
"All you are doing is speaking in riddles, demon," Sango finally said, speaking the words carefully, choosing them with caution; she did not want anything out of the ordinary to happen further (like she could ever avoid having that happen, anyway!). "If you are going to talk to me, and get anywhere with this whole business, you'd better talk straight to me, or else I really will do you in!" Sango bent and quickly snatched up her katana, which was still on the floor from when she had attacked Naraku earlier; or so she thought she had snatched it up. She blinked in surprise, wondering where it was. She got her answer the moment he spoke again, and she looked up.
"Your senses are failing you badly, it seems," he said, tossing her weapon from one hand to the other, as if taunting her with it. How had he gotten it off of the floor so quickly like that? Especially when she had her eyes on him the whole time he had been talking, and the sword was on the floor. "Usually, you detect anything I am about to do... wait a minute, though... could it be you cannot focus because you don't have your weapon?" He grinned devilishly, red eyes glinting. Sango stared at him, openmouthed. Could that really be the reason she had felt so strange recently... so depressed, misled and altogether violent? It was true that the demon slayer had her true fighting spirit when her weapon was in her possession, but events like this never happened as a direct result... so, why now? She suddenly realized something, and it was something she should have realized a long time ago.
"Where in the hell am I?" she asked. She looked around her more carefully, but saw nothing other than what she had glimpsed before; the long hallway that seemed to go on straight ahead forever, the wooden doors, the candles glimmering on sconces every few feet or so, the absence of any windows... wait a second... there weren't any doors before, were there?
Naraku smiled, reading her mind, knowing what it was she now knew.
This girl progresses quickly, he thought. She may be the only one that will get out of this alive, compared to those others... they may well die after all this time. He was satisfied, if even one were to die; it would make his quest for the remaining jewel shards all that easier. He sighed; it couldn't hurt to let the foolish girl know where she at least was; he didn't know his curse had been that effective; maybe he was lucky, for once.
"Well, Sango, since your eyes reveal that you indeed have no idea where you stand, I will tell you... then, I must be on my way..." His words trailed away; the demon slayer was pointing her katana at him, a truly threatening look in her eyes, one that made even him, Naraku, shocked for even a second. He scolded himself for being even one second afraid of this girl, but he passed it away just the same.
"You are not leaving until you hand me my weapon, Hiraikotsu, return Kirara to me, show me where Inuyasha, houshi-sama, Kagome-chan and Shippou-chan are. Only then will I let you leave... you bastard," she added, almost as an afterthought; the statement made Naraku grin wider. She truly was a fool if she thought she could threaten him like this; he, after all, held her brother's heart in his hands (though maybe not as literally as Kagura's heart). Either way, it served him well.
"My, my, dear Sango... you seem to have become much more impolite since our last encounter... inside that barrier. Perhaps some events that have since come and gone have unhinged you just a little?" He made it more a statement of fact, rather than a question, and that only served to infuriate Sango more.
"Bastard! Just do as I tell you!" She was almost in tears, though she did not really know why. Everything and everyone she cared about was crumbling into pieces around her, and she was powerless to stop any of it from happening. Her enemy only continued to smile.
I guess I will let her have what she wants, he thought, knowing that what he was about to do may very well crack the barrier around Sango's sanity further, and that she may rush him again; if she did, she would regret it, this time.
The taijiya was still pointing her sword at Naraku, but as she looked at him, he appeared to fade away from her sight; it was as if he were merely a projection, cast by a light that contained a person or thing meant to deceive; he seemed blurred around the edges. Sango squinted, yet could not seem to find what the matter with her vision was; was it her vision?
When she next blinked, and looked again, Naraku had gone.
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