UnBound Memories

Disclaimer: Don't own, don't profit

A/N: Thank you to all of my reviewers. I'm going to dispatch with Naraku fairly quickly, so don't yell at me about it. He's a cool villain, but this story is Sesshomaru's. I was glad the lime got positive feedback last chapter.

Chapter 8

Real Demonic Power

Miroku opened his eyes hearing loud shouts coming from the courtyard. He was on a bed somewhere, and as his eyes opened, he watched as a dark-haired figure, presumably Sango, ran from the room. He was curled on his side in sleep, thankfully, hiding the bulge in his robe. Trying to wrap his mind around Sesshomaru’s words in his dream, rather than his actions, Miroku used deep breathing to settle his mind and his member as quickly as he could.

As he ran outside, feeling that enough of the remnants of his dream had faded, and watched as Sesshomaru dodged attacks from Inuyasha. He really was stealing the shikon shard, but to what end?

“If what he said could be trusted…” Miroku said aloud as he ran after the dark blur that had already fled.

“It can be, monk.”

“What?”

“I said you can trust what I told you. Now, I need you to come and explain to the rest of them what is going on before they all try to kill me.”

Miroku watched as Sesshomaru took off in the form of a ball of light, which blazed in the darkened sky. “Stop!” he shouted again. There was still no response. For less than a second, he hesitated pulling the prayer beads off of his hand, reminding himself of Sesshomaru’s words, “It is passed down from generation to generation. You have no children, so you cannot yet be consumed by the kazaana with no further generations to pass it on.” Before InuYasha or Kouga could take off after the inuyoukai, Miroku pointed his hand straight above him in the air and pulled the beads off of it. As the wind tunnel began pulling his friends around, providing more than enough of a distraction for the demon lord, Miroku closed his hand into a fist and found himself faced with a very mad, very ruffled InuYasha.

“What the hell do you think you were doing, monk?” InuYasha yelled, looking as though he might claw Miroku if he could get his hands on him.

“Getting your attention,” Miroku said as he rewrapped his hand. “It worked.” He looked down at the hand, and just as in the dream, the claw marks were gone.

“Why did you stop us?” Kouga said, re-adjusting his fur. Miroku knew he had to speak fast, and so relayed what Sesshomaru had told him as quickly as he could to keep the others from leaving, believing Sesshomaru to be the enemy. Never in his life had he ever spoken so rapidly, but he understood the importance of getting the inuyoukai’s message across. When he finished, Sango said nothing, but had suddenly changed into her demon slaying garb without anyone noticing, an ability she had always mysteriously possessed.

It was Kouga who spoke up first. “You said you’re connected to him?”

Miroku nodded as he helped Rin and Shippo on top of Ah-Un. “Is that strange?”

“No,” Kouga said, “just rare.”

The group took off, Miroku sitting behind Rin on Ah-Un, Jaken reluctantly riding behind him. The two demons were running on the ground, and the girls were on Kirara. Though he told her of Sesshomaru’s plans, it was obvious that Sango had no intention of staying behind and not facing off against Naraku. Miroku knew that she would not be satisfied merely fighting the demon hoards. Her anger was too fresh, the darkness still in possession of her heart, demanding revenge. Though he wanted revenge, as she did, he trusted Sesshomaru and knew that at least one of their group was going to have to protect the rest.

"I am unsure if this works both ways," Miroku thought, "but Sango is going to fight Naraku whether you order her to or not."

"Very well," a reply came, "but if she becomes a problem, I will remove her myself. That also means there will be one fewer person protecting Rin."

"I will take care of her, but you must promise me that you will make Naraku hurt. Put a hole in him somewhere for me."

"I would rather enjoy it." There was a pause. "I am here. There is no barrier, but that may not stop him from putting one up the moment I cross into the village."
The strange army was moving forward, following Sesshomaru’s trail, which was simple to track, just as he had said it would be.

It was growing very difficult for Miroku to concentrate on his own reality as his thoughts became so focused on Sesshomaru’s.

He stepped over the bodies of slaughtered humans to find himself in the center, where Naraku stood just in front of the village’s well.

“Are you certain you want to forget?” Naraku asked. “It isn’t like the Lord of the West to be frightened of something as intangible as memories.”

“I am here, am I not?”

“Yes, you are, and you have the final shard?” Sesshomaru raised his hand, grasping the piece between his index finger and thumb. Naraku took a few steps forward. “If you wish to forget, I will make you forget.”

Sesshomaru once again found himself tangled amidst Naraku’s tentacles. “We had an agreement.”

“I know, but I think I would rather give you something else to forget before I completely wipe your memory.” Naraku took the jewel shard from Sesshomaru’s restrained hand and pulled it into himself. “I am afraid you have two choices, either be absorbed, or serve under the most powerful demon in the world.” Naraku pulled Sesshomaru closer, trying to intimidate the inuyoukai by evoking memories to Sesshomaru’s mind that might make him submit. This wasn’t about desire. It was about submission. Naraku even dared to press his lips to the inu's, eyes narrowing in anger when he received no response of any sort from his actions. He attempted to get a tongue through the inuyoukai's clamped mouth, but seemed to read the expression on his face that told him if he did it, he would lose that tongue. Instead, a tentacle caressed the side of the pale face and attempted to pull at Sesshomaru‘s haori. “Perhaps you could have the pleasure of being the concubine of such a demon.”

Calmly, Sesshomaru looked into the blood-red eyes, a lingering fear and loathing hidden behind the placid surface. “Are you suggesting that I make love to myself?” He tilted his still unrestrained head to the side, taking an audible sniff worthy of InuYasha. “After all, Shikon Jewel or not, you are still a hanyou.”

Sesshomaru smiled, not pleasantly as he had learned to over the last few days, but malevolently enough that even Jaken had not seen so much hidden in his expression.

“Your puny tentacles and mangled demonic pieces are not enough to hold me,” Sesshomaru said with a sneer, his form shifting, his left limb, for the first time since he'd lost it, growing painfully. “Artificial power is nothing compared to real demonic power.”

********

When Inuyasha and the others reached the compound they saw an enormous dog, at least as large as any depiction of the Inu no Taisho, batting around Naraku like some doll. Despite gradually absorbing essence of the jewel of four souls, Naraku’s power was no match for the inu, whose paw alone was the size of the village center.

InuYasha saw Miroku smiling at the sight of Sesshomaru piercing through Naraku’s body with one of those giant claws. The inu hanyou almost questioned if their presence was necessary, as Sesshomaru seemed to be more than holding his own.

“He is playing with him,” Miroku said as he saw Naraku pull away, protecting his body with a barrier. The demon opened his shirt and began to release something from his body. Miroku closed his eyes, apparently receiving some kind of message from Sesshomaru. “That is Onigumo’s heart. Sesshomaru has taunted and tormented him enough to release it.”

“Now, he will be invincible,” Kagome said as Miroku jumped off of Ah-Un onto the pulling Rin down beside him, as he was surrounded Kouga’s tribe. Naraku’s demons were coming. The spider demon was calling to them, and dense as InuYasha was, he could see the determination in Miroku's face. It seemed the monk had no intention of letting the inuyoukai lord down.

“But now the jewel can be purified. Go!”

The four left Miroku commanding the wolf pack and a reluctant Jaken against the demons, while Rin clung tightly to his back and he reached behind and put a reassuring hand on her shoulder.

As the others ran into the woods, where a majority of the fight between Naraku and Sesshomaru was taking place, InuYasha could little help but be impressed with Sesshomaru. He felt quite sure that the fight they had almost six years ago within the skeleton of Lord Touga could never have happened. Nor did he think that Tesseiga would have been any help against the inu before him. Somehow, InuYasha had the suspicion that the only member of the group that was really necessary was Kagome to purify the jewel, as Sesshomaru looked more than capable of taking care of Naraku on his own. Standing, Tesseiga at the ready, InuYasha appreciated the older demon’s intentions, sensing that InuYasha and the rest were being “allowed” to fight their common enemy. Of the lot, Miroku and Kagome were probably serving far more useful purposes.

InuYasha watched the rest, Kouga waiting for his change to attack, Kagome flying above. Of the four, Sango moved first; she must have wanted something to attack immediately, something to destroy, and went for the pulsing, discarded piece of flesh on the ground. She removed her katana from its sheath and with both hands speared it.

The piece of flesh was showing no sign of fighting back, so InuYasha left her to it, turning his attention back to Naraku and used his adamant barrage to break Naraku’s new barrier while Sesshomaru knocked the now-full demon to the ground, giving Kouga the chance to pummel Naraku. From above, Kagome was taking aim, but finding a moving target difficult to hit.

Sesshomaru’s blood-red eyes saw Kagome’s struggle, and he pinned Naraku to the ground with his massive paw. Taking the signal, InuYasha and Kouga backed off and Kagome took her shot just as Sango was running over to take her own swing at the demon. Sesshomaru batted her away with his tail, earning a series of curses from the demon slayer that none present had ever heard escape her lips.

From below, InuYasha had to shield his eyes from the blinding light of the arrow striking its target, hitting the full jewel directly, purifying it.

With that, Naraku’s body began to dissolve as Sesshomaru reverted back to his human form. The left limb once again disappeared as the right reached into the muck of Naraku's dissolved body for the jewel. As his hand reached the small orb, he felt Tenseiga vibrating and reacting in a way he had never seen before. Without warning, the blade activated the full Meidou Zangetsuha. The portal to the underworld opened, throwing a body out into the mess that was once Naraku. Within, a hand grasped onto Sesshomaru’s for support.

As Miroku, Rin and the rest approached, the demons destroyed, those surrounding the inuyoukai held their weapons ready to attack the thing rising from the disintegrating innards. It was a man, completely naked, with long curly hair, brown almond eyes, bearing an almost exact resemblance to Naraku.

“Release the jewel,” Sesshomaru ordered. The man quickly released the orb, and the daiyoukai clasped it tightly in his hand, running then flying while InuYasha and Kouga chased after him, yelling, cursing themselves and one another for being duped.

Miroku, who was still reeling from being connected to Sesshomaru in battle, watched as the man looked at Sango with a kind smile. “Demon slayer. You seem to have recovered well.”

“Who are you?”

The man looked at Sango so warmly that Miroku had no doubt this man was no part of Naraku, though the way which he looked at Sango made him uncomfortable.

“Lord Hitomi Kagewaki. Though, as Naraku destroyed everything I own, the title of lord does not much suit me.”

Miroku removed the purple portion of his robe and threw it at Hitomi. “Cover yourself up.” He walked to Sango, realizing that now, she must be thinking about her brother. After all, the adreneline was gone, the fight over, and she had all the time in the world to think about everything she had lost. He tried to put his arm around her, but she tensed and pulled away. “Sango,” he said, looking down at his intended, “I think you should know why Lord Sesshomaru left.”