InuYasha Fan Fiction ❯ The Journey of the Half-Immortal ❯ Chapter 23 ( Chapter 23 )

[ T - Teen: Not suitable for readers under 13 ]

Chapter Twenty-Three

“It is time.”

Aniu looked at Sesshoumaru on her left and Kouga on her right. Further in the valley around the ruins of Mount Hakurai were Inuyasha and Kagome. Sango, Miroku and Kirara were flying above the mountain. Kikyo was on the other side of the ruins, or so Aniu sensed. Just beneath those ruins the groups could feel the seething anger of Naraku. He knew it was the end but refused to believe it. With good reason, because he would die.

The land surged, as if being pushed underneath by an unknown force. Inuyasha's gang was yelling to each other and shouting questions. The groups held their ground and soon they had their answer.

Demons soared out of the ground and into the sky like a vortex out of hell. The demons screamed their delight and went flying to every individual group.

Sesshoumaru drew his Tokijin; Kouga readied his claws; Inuyasha released his Tetsusaiga; Kagome drew her bow as well as Kikyo; Sango moved her Hiraikotsu into place; Miroku readied his staff and sutras; Aniu spoke a few words and a bow appeared in her hands, drawn tight, and a sword appeared at her waist. Now was the time. This started the beginning.

Arrows were released from the half-immortal and the two priestesses. A shimmering purple light emanated from two and a golden glow came from the other. Demons screamed as the arrows swirled together through the main mass of them. Enraged now, they flew with greater speed.

Sango and Miroku dodged on Kirara's back as demons flew at them. A spark caught Sango's eye. She turned to look.

“Sango!” Miroku screamed as a demon nearly took her head.

The demon slayer ignored him and swallowed hard as she looked at the figure below.

“Kohaku!”

The boy looked up. His eyes were devoid of anything and everything as he his Kusarigami flew at his sister. It was easily dodged and they slowly descended. Sango leaped off the fire cat and ran to her brother, blocking every attack he threw at her. Tears glittered in her eyes and her only focus was Kohaku. Miroku guarded Sango's back as she ran crazily toward her brother. Sango fought Kohaku and Miroku and Kirara protected both of them.

Inuyasha and Kagome were combining their attacks to diminish their enemies faster. The attacks seemed to be draining them faster than killing their enemies. Kagome was down on one knee now, just to keep standing up and Inuyasha had shed his haori so that he could cool down a little. The battle seemed to be at a standstill from their point of view.

Kikyo felt the strain against her fake body but kept her fight strong. Her stance never wavered and her arrows never lost their power. The priestess searched with her miko powers for an end in these monsters but to no avail.

Kouga's muscles ached from overuse. He staggered every once in a while when a cramp hit him. The wolf wasn't getting very far with his claws and teeth so he started to use his sword. Things were bad if the wolf had to use his sword. With a roar the wolf cut off the head of a very large ogre demon. He panted and only saw more of these demons. This had to end soon.

Sesshoumaru was faring well even though he felt a slight strain. Tokijin was working out just fine for these bastards. His powers had not wavered and his strength stayed strong. At the corners of his eyes, Sesshoumaru saw red. He hoped it was just blood but had a feeling that it wasn't. A surge of bloodlust hit the taiyoukai, forcing him to fight harder. Definitely something worse.

Aniu's strength seemed as if it was endless. Arrow's were flying off her bow so fast and with so much power that the other groups looked to her for strength. She was already giving them her power. The triumvirates pulled at her power, opposite of what was supposed to be happening. They were supposed to be giving her strength, but she had reversed the effects, so that the power left to destroy Naraku. But it was so many people.

The girl was half demon, half immortal, so her power was immense, but not unlimited. She felt the pull on her strength and her barriers started to crumble under the weakness. She felt the emotions of the past months flood her body. Guilt, sorrow, rage, pain and pleasure overwhelmed her senses.

Her knees collapsed beneath her and her arms began to shake. Her bow shook and her aim was off. She lowered the bow as she felt tears fill her eyes. A sense of failure raged through her body. That wasn't right. It wasn't her feelings being projected into her mind; it was someone else's.

Aniu searched the battlefield, but all she could see was corpses and more demons. She searched with her power and felt it strike a barrier in the midst of all the demons. Taking deep breaths, she clamed her shaking limbs and, from her knees, she shot off an arrow that used the last of her strength.

The arrow let off a substantial amount of power that destroyed every demon in a quarter mile radius. The arrow kept going until it hit a barrier. A shining light blinded all parties and made them look up. Aniu saw Naraku standing in the golden after haze before a pain shot her belly, blurring her vision with red and black, finally causing her to pass out from the pain.

Naraku smirked as he looked down on the pitiful beings that thought they were going to destroy him. But it had not gone unnoticed that that damn half-immortal had destroyed all his demons and his barrier. No matter, he still couldn't be destroyed so easily.

The dark hanyou felt the eyes of all the groups on his descending from. A dark chuckle escaped his lips as he landed. He landed over and wrapped his hand over a fleshy neck. Eyelids fluttered over dark green orbs as he lifted the slight weight to his face. He waited until the eyes fluttered open and fear filled their green depths.

“Not so strong now, are you?” Naraku chuckled menacingly.

Aniu couldn't talk; she was choking under the pressure of Naraku's fingers. Where were Sesshoumaru and Kouga? Where was every body? Aniu reached out with her mind and felt Kouga digging through the mountain; Inuyasha, Kagome, and Kikyo were helping Kouga; Sango and Miroku both fighting Kohaku; Sesshoumaru turning to see Aniu in Naraku's grasp, coming to her.

Naraku dug his fingers into her neck and she felt blood seep down the column of her throat. Her eyes snapped back to Naraku's face as he smirked down at her.

“I have a present for you, sweetheart,” he growled.

Before, Aniu could react to his menacing growl, a knife sliced deep into her back. Her skin sizzled and her blood burned; the knife was bronze.

Naraku pulled the knife down from her left should to her right hop, jerking the blade from her body at the end. Aniu screamed and Naraku smiled. He crashed his lips against hers, swallowing her screams as he dug his fingers into her wound.

The half-immortal felt Naraku's miasma course through her veins. No! He was killing her. Tears sprang in her eyes and Naraku released her mouth. The hanyou moved his hand from her neck to her hair. He licked the wounds he had inflicted upon her throat, pushing more of his putrid miasma into her body.

Aniu's blood scent filled Sesshoumaru's sensitive nose as he neared her. Naraku's miasma was also present. The taiyoukai howled as he saw what was happening on that hill. He could fell the miasma surge through his veins. He was poisoning her.

Naraku had heard Sesshoumaru's howl of rage and blocked the blow aimed at his head with ease. The dark hanyou dropped the golden girl into a crumpled heap at his feet. Blood seeped in a pool under the girl, the wound in her back not healing with its normal speed. From the healing speed, the taiyoukai could tell that a bronze blade had been used to create the wound.

Rage seethed over the sides of Sesshoumaru's barriers and his eyes turned red. A tornado swarmed around Sesshoumaru's human figure as his inner youkai emerged in a flood of rage.

A large dog appeared in front of Naraku. This dog was huge; three or four stories high at least. In his true form, the taiyoukai was not easily defeated.

The dark hanyou swallowed hard enough that the great beast heard it. Naraku kicked the girl hard enough so Sesshoumaru could see the body jerk, making a deep growl emanate from the beast's throat. Perfect, thought Naraku.

The dog lashed out with one of his big paws. Naraku dodged it and was on top of Sesshoumaru before the dog could catch the movement. Rolling over sent the dark hanyou flying and the dog went bounding right behind him. Naraku's robes were snagged on the big creature's claws. He struggled as the dog brought him up by his clothes to the dog's face. A growl emanated from the demon's throat, his pearly whites shown in a snarl.

Naraku's lips twitched with insane amusement. This was a stupid way to destroy his body for about the hundredth time. Fear rolled through him and he wondered what the hell was going on. He looked away from the beast's face and looked at the remnants of Mount Hakurai. There he saw Kanna and Kagura surrounded by Inuyasha, Kagome, Kikyo and…Hakudoshi. Naraku snarled at the betrayal of his own flesh. Perish, he thought to the boy. Hakudoshi screamed.

“NO!” Screamed Aniu from beneath them.

“There is nothing you can do half-breed,” Naraku growled at her.

The dark hanyou felt power build from below him and he knew that the girl was going to use as much of her strength as she could to save that backstabbing kid. But why? Naraku could feel his connection with Hakudoshi grow weaker. He will die if she keeps this up. A voice whispered inside his head, Not if he has me. He howled with anger and Sesshoumaru took this chance to carve up his body.

The group surrounding Kagura and Kanna saw the bundle in the white girl's hands begin to pulse. Kagome readied her arrow; Inuyasha readied Tetsusaiga; Sesshoumaru transformed back into his humanoid form and readied his Tokijin; Kikyo readied her bow as well. From the hill where she was lying, Aniu slowly rose to her feet and chanted a few words. A large willow-carved bow appeared in her hands and a silver dagger hung at her hip. Using her bow, Aniu limped toward the group. She stood in the gap between Kikyo and Inuyasha when she brought the bow up into position. All the arrows and swords began to glow with a faint green luminescence. With an unseen signal the arrows and sword powers went flying to the figures in the middle. With ear piercing screams, Kanna and Kagura were disintegrated.

The dust and power subsided and the group in the circle around relaxed. It was over. Aniu hobbled into the circle, a grim look on her face.

“Aniu,” Inuyasha whispered, “it's over. He's dead.”

The golden half-immortal didn't answer him but continued forward. She was standing over the ground where the two demon girls had been standing but moments before. Her bow vanished and she collapsed to her knees. The men of the group surged forward, as if to help her but she held up a hand and they halted. Aniu dug through the soft, charred earth until her fingers touched soft cloth. Aniu dug around the cloth and found a baby's face looking up at her. With a look she caught Hakudoshi's frightened gaze. She could feel his pulse in the back of her head and she could taste his fear on the back of her throat. She whispered calm thoughts to him.

The baby looked up at her with innocent eyes but there was a knowledge behind them that told her this baby was not as innocent as he seemed. With shaky hands, Aniu unsheathed the silver dagger that glinted in the sun as she brought it up toward the baby's heart. The baby reached out with its tiny hand and Aniu couldn't resist the urge to give the baby her finger. As soon as her finger touched the baby's hand she felt pain lash through her body and that her soul was laid bare to this baby. Tears flowed from her eyes and she raised her knife up, where it sparked in the early sun setting rays, and brought it down through the baby's heart. From the little finger clutching her finger, she could feel the pain of both the baby and Naraku. If she had a choice she would try to save him but he was Naraku's incarnation and she couldn't save him; not and live. Besides, she had already helped one incarnation, and she didn't think she had enough strength to help even this little baby.

The baby neither screamed nor cried, just died with a frown on his face. Through the connection of the baby, she could feel Naraku screaming, wherever he was, as his body started a slow meltdown and his soul sank to hell and the baby's finger fell away from her hand..

Hakudoshi stared at Aniu with amazement then looked over his whole body. He wasn't melting and he wasn't dying a slow, painful death. He was living and breathing, he even felt a heart in his chest. His own heart. He took a deep breath and knew that the half-immortal had used a lot of her strength to save him. What could he do to settle this debt? Answer: Be her servant for as long as he could and when his debt was repaid he could go on. The young ward went to the young woman that had saved him. Green eyes pierced through his soul as she gazed up at him. Mine, he heard from a voice in his mind. Her gold covered eyelids fluttered and Aniu began to fall to the ground. Hakudoshi was there to catch her. He grabbed her upper body, his hand losing its hold on her back when his hand touched something slick. Once he had her upper body safely in his lap did he look at his left hand. Blood covered his hand and in instantly turned Aniu over to look at her back.

The cut that Naraku inflicted was seeping blood and not healing anytime soon. Hakudoshi also knew that Naraku had wanted to send his putrid miasma into her blood during this fight. What could he do? What could he do? Aniu groaned and her hand grabbed his blood slicked one. He felt his energy being sucked. Energy! Hands grabbed him and pulled him away from Aniu. A knife was pointed at his throat and he was told not to move or speak.

Aniu made a desperate cry when she felt her source of energy being pulled out of her hands. Hands grabbed her arms and hands and then energy returned. But it seemed to be all going into her and disappearing.

“Shift, Aniu,” said a voice in her ear.

She gave an inarticulate sound.

“Change form, sweetheart,” said a different voice.

Change form. It sounded so easy but Aniu was mind blank and she didn't know what to do. Images flashed through her mind and she remembered what would happen if she changed form and how to do it.

Gathering what strength she could she slipped her human skin and turned into the simplest form she knew of; a golden puppy. Why a puppy? Because of the whole baby thing still riding her mind. If she wouldn't have had that accident before, she would have been having a pup. Not a child, a pup.

The little puppy shivered, it's back bearing a large cut. It curled into a ball and then began to shimmer. Aniu reappeared from the flowing fur. The cut on her back stopped bleeding and was almost scared over but it wasn't gone, nor would it ever be. She would bear this mark for the rest of her life. The miasma you ask? Aniu gasped as she felt the poison of the miasma still course through her veins. One problem after another. Was life ever normal?

“What do we do? The miasma is still coursing through her blood,” asked a voice that Aniu finally realized was Sesshoumaru.

“I could help,” came Hakudoshi's voice through the fog in Aniu's mind.

“Shut up, pipsqueak,” came Inuyasha's tone.

Aniu growled at the hanyou. “Inuyasha, leave him alone.”

“Aniu…He is bad news…He should be dead…He—“

“I kept him alive,” her voice ended in a whimper. “Leave him alone and let him approach, baka.”

“But—“

Aniu was fed up. She was sore and in pain. “Inuyasha! Just do it!”

The hanyou flinched at her tone and took his sword away from the incarnation's neck. Hakudoshi walked up to his new master and everyone moved out of his way. Aniu looked up at him with eyes dulled by pain. Hakudoshi felt the same pain run through his veins. The incarnation realized that he had a stronger connection with her than the others because she had saved him and was the only thing making his heart beat and blood flow through his veins. If she died then so would he.

Hakudoshi touched her head and received a growl from Sesshoumaru. But Aniu saved him by growling back at the big taiyoukai. Sesshoumaru looked down at her in surprise but her eyes were closed. She was too busy focusing energy to look at him.

The young boy felt the miasma congregating around her major organs and began to pull it into himself. He was a creature of miasma and so he could take it into himself and it wouldn't harm him. Aniu began to glow beneath his fingers and he noticed that he was starting to glow as well. In order to get the miasma out of her blood Hakudoshi had to kneel behind her and put his hands on her healing scar. Miasma began to pour out of the wound in a water fall and he soaked up every last drop of it. He noticed though that the miasma had a different color as it entered his body. It was gold. Not purple or black but gold. He wondered at the different color. It is different because you are my ward now and everything you touch turns into my signature colors, despite your background, he heard Aniu say in his mind.

Aniu took a shuddery breath and Hakudoshi put a hand on her arm, Sesshoumaru put his hand back on her head.

“It's over,” Aniu heard someone say.

It's not over, Aniu thought to herself. So long as she carried this scar, it wasn't over. There would always be a reminder of Naraku hanging about in this world. Nothing they could do would take away that away. She would suffer the rest of her life with Naraku hanging all over her back. Not over. Not yet.

*****