Otherworld - 23



Chapter 23 - Naraku

It seemed like Naraku was everywhere. First, he was seen to the west of Kaede's Village, and both Kouga and Hiten went in search of him. Then he was sighted to the North and InuYasha and Hiei went to check that sighting out. Then he was seen in the Western Lands which prompted Sesshomaru to rush to his own lands taking Tasuki with him. Around the outskirts of the Castle itself, the poisonous insects had been seen and Kurama went after them, using huge insect-eating plants to trap them. Bakura was kept busy reinforcing the barriers around Otherworld and the wards around the portals. The problem was that no one knew what Naraku looked like except for InuYasha. He always wore a heavy robe and mask which covered his body and face completely. InuYasha had caught just a glimpse of him when he had used the Tetsusaiga on him several weeks ago. Obviously, the Demon had healed and was now seeking vengeance.

	Early the next morning Lord Shido appeared once more at the Castle gate, this time with an unconscious man in his arms. The Princess showed him to a room and Shido placed the man on the bed. "We found him in a hidden room in the Fortress," he explained, "He is very badly injured. We have no idea who is he or why Yomi had him."

The Princess looked at the young man. He was extremely handsome -- almost a perfect opposite of Sesshomaru -- with long black hair instead of white. But he was as fair of face as the Dog Lord. The Princess called for Kaiba and while she was waiting for the healer, she asked about Shido's family. He told her that his mate and daughter were doing well and that his clan had adapted to living in the Fortress better than he had thought they would. Shido was turning out to be an excellent choice for the Southern Lands ruler. Kaiba arrived and checked out the man. Although unconscious, he was in a lot of pain, moaning whenever Kaiba touched him. The wounds were huge gashes and burns. He was a Hanyou, or half-Demon, which was the only reason he was still alive. Kaiba began the healing process. When Shido realized that none of her males were in the castle with the Princess, he insisted on staying until one of them returned. The Princess stayed with the young man, not wanting him to wake up alone, while Shido went to a guest room to rest from his long trip.

	About an hour later, the young man woke up, crying out in fear. What had Yomi done to him? The Princess gently comforted him, and he looked into her eyes. He recognized her and wrapped his arms tight around her. "Thank you, Princess Aara! Thank you for saving me from that horrible Demon!!"

As she held him, she felt his emotions. He was drowning in fear and pain. She held him tightly, murmuring to him, trying to reassure him. "You are safe now. No one will hurt you." Finally, his weakened state got the better of him and he fell asleep once more. What had Yomi done to this poor creature? The wounds were terrible. Had he been tortured? She was very glad that Yomi was no longer a threat and grateful for Shido's kindness in bringing him here. He woke up again in the middle of the afternoon and she again comforted him. She had hot soup brought to him but when he tried to eat it, he starting sobbing. "I'm sorry," he explained, "It's been so long since anyone has been kind to me." The Princess went to him, taking the bowl from him and setting aside. She held him, letting him sob quietly on her shoulder. She stroked his long hair, then kissed him on the forehead, "It's alright. You are safe." After awhile, he quieted down and brushed away his own tears. He looked up at her. Even after all those tears, he was still beautiful. His eyes were large and liquid brown. He reached up and kissed her gently. "Please make me yours," he whispered. "What? I'm sorry if I gave you the wrong impression, but that's not what I meant. I only wanted to comfort you." she said gently. "But I want to be yours. My Demon half is a mage and I would be a powerful addition to your family," he begged as he began kissing her cheek, throat, and neck, while wrapping his arms tightly around her. She never knew anyone that had asked to be bound before. It was always her or her sisters' choice. This turn of events surprised her and she wasn't quite sure what to do. She didn't want to hurt him more by rejecting him, but she also had no interest in binding him - even as beautiful as he was. She had just bound Sesshomaru as her sixth male and that was all she wanted. She could barely handle them and have time for herself. If she bound more than six males, she would end up a slave to them, just going from one bed to another.

	She gently pushed him away and started to rise. He gripped her arms tightly, suddenly extremely strong. She struggled to break free but couldn't. But after Bankotsu, she was hesitant to use her power. He glanced at her and she saw that his eyes were no longer brown, but deep red. What had happened? Had his Demon half taken over?

Again she tried to pull away and they both fell to the floor, with him on top of her. He roughly tore her bodice open and then tried to tear the rest of her dress off. When they fell, his blanket fell away and she could see that he was fully erect! He was trying to rape her! Just as she was going to lash out with her own power, he was pulled off of her.

	Shido slammed him down on the bed, then sunk his fangs into the man's swollen penis. The man screamed once and then grew quiet as the Blood Demon fed. The Princess sat there in shock. She wasn't what she was more shocked at: the fact that this Hanyou had tried to rape her or that fact that Shido had just bitten into the man's penis.

After a few minutes of feeding, the man fainted from blood loss and Shido picked the Princess up and carried her to her room. "Thank you, Shido. Ah -- you didn't have to bite him there just to avenge me." she told him, still embarrassed by the whole scene. "Actually, that is where we usually feed from. The blood is near the surface, it is very fresh, and throbbing -- alive. It is not sexual to us but it is to them and therefore their enslavement is stronger," he glanced at her, then continued, "It is not as bad as it looks. The blood vessels are very near the surface so we only bite enough to pierce them, our saliva has properties in it which stops all pain and also heals. In a few more minutes, he will not have a mark on him." She blushed again, now embarrassed that his power more like hers than she wanted to admit. Her power also used sex to bind. He sat next to her on the bed, "But there was something very strange about him. When I fed, I felt more than one Demon being enslaved. There was a human soul, but there were also dozens of Demons. I'm sure I didn't enslave them all but I will bind more with each feeding until they are all enslaved." "We need to figure out who is he. He is obviously not just a Hanyou, but something else." she suddenly got a far-away look in her eyes, "My males are coming. They felt my emotions and are hurrying back to the Castle." InuYasha and Hiei would arrive first, in a couple of hours. Shido left her side, to stay with the man and feed each time he came to, in an effort to bind all the Demons that were inside of that one body. Later that night, InuYasha and Hiei arrived, immediately coming to their Princess who was sitting in her bed, trying in vain to read a book. They both bounded onto the bed and hugged her. She explained what had happened and what Shido was doing. InuYasha rushed off to see the man and came back with Shido in tow. "That is Naraku!" InuYasha said in a shocked voice, and then continued with the Demon's background. Naraku had been once been a human thief, but he betrayed his own men and paid a terrible price. They attacked him and set him on fire. His body was almost totally burned, yet he clung to life. As he laid there in agony, voices whispered to him. "Let us join you and you will be invincible. There will be no more pain." After days of suffering and their constant whispering, he relented. And they joined with his soul and took possession of his body. Nearly a hundred Demons lived inside that one man. It was the reason he was so powerful and so evil.

	The next time Naraku woke, they all went to interrogate him through Shido. Naraku's eyes were were glazed and he never took them off of Shido, but every once in a while, a flicker of hatred passed through them. Not all the Demons had been enslaved yet. It would take many feedings to enslave that many Demons. Shido asked him what the plan had been. They realized that Yomi had not imprisoned Naraku, but that they had been working together. And the wounds were not done by Yomi's torture, but InuYasha's Tetsusaiga.

As the Demon began to talk, an insidious plot revealed itself. It definitely sounded like something Yomi would have thought of. Naraku had fled Otherworld after InuYasha had almost killed him and took refuge in Yomi's Fortress. There they put their minds together and came up with a plan. First, the Princess had to bind Naraku -- he would use his beauty to entice her -- and without knowing it, she would only bind the human soul and one of the Demons. The others, almost a hundred more Demons, would be free and unbound. As one of her males, Naraku would have the freedom to manipulate, which what he was best at. But the main plot involved Hiei. Once Naraku was one of them, he and Yomi would ensorcel the Fire Demon. Under their control, Hiei would kill Raizen and Sesshomaru, leaving the Western Lands and the Northern Lands of Demon World leaderless. Yomi would step in and seize control of three quarters of the Demon World. The Blood Demon lands which was on the border between the Southern Lands and the Eastern Lands were vital, because the Eastern Lands of Mukuro would be the only free lands left in Demon World. Yomi would mount an attack from those borders and soon all of Demon World would be under his control. Meanwhile, Naraku would destroy the wards on the portals and Demons would have free run of Otherworld and the three portals to the Human World. It had been but by chance that the plan failed. It had never occurred to them that Shido would ask the Princess for help. And that one miscalculation has destroyed the entire plan. "But I knew what you looked like…" InuYasha began. "I didn't know that. I never knew that you had seen my true face."

	Hiei was extremely distraught. They were going to use him to start a war. "That's why Yomi had your tear gem. He would use the gem, which had emotional ties to you, to put a spell on you."

Kurama had arrived and was listening to the story. He had always know that his former partner in crime was greedy, but had never realized how greedy he was! Now he felt no remorse at all for his death. He asked Shido if the enslavement would work on all the Demons living inside of Naraku. They could not take a chance with that Demon. It might be safer just to eliminate him. The Princess did not want to do that -- in spite of all he had done, she had felt that the human soul inside of Naraku was not completely evil, only frightened and hurt. Shido assured them that he could enslave all of the Demons and that he had most of them enslaved already. And once he was home, he would have two of his men also enslave Naraku, in case anything happened to one of them, there would two others who would be his masters. He would never be free again. They searched Naraku and found his numerous crystal shards: two dozen in all! The Princess gave Shido ten of them, for himself and his men. She felt that they were a small gift considering all she owed him. Two days later, Shido left the Castle, with Naraku following meekly. InuYasha could not believe that everything had resolved itself so easily. Of course, the insects were still around but since they were no longer taking orders from Naraku, they flew aimlessly around Otherworld. InuYasha felt that they must have a hive somewhere and would ask Kouga to put his wolves on looking for it. Kouga, having suffered their poisonous stings, was glad to help. And all the sightings had been part of the plan to distract them from the real Naraku, put in place by Yomi before his death.

Three Months Later
	It was a hot, miserable night. Kaoru looked over at Kenshin. He was asleep but his hair was damp from sweat. He had thrown off even the light sheet. She got up and flung wide open the sliding walls. She didn't care if everyone saw her husband laying there stark naked. He was hot and miserable and so was she. Her night kimono was so hot and she decided to take a chance on something Kagome had brought her from the Human World called a nightgown. It was flimsy and nearly see through and she had been embarrassed to wear it, even in front of her husband. But it was so much cooler! She looked across the garden and saw Sanosuke and Katsu sleeping outside on their porch. She quickly slipped into bed next to her husband, accidentally waking him up. His violet eyes appraised the nightgown she was wearing. "Hmmm, wear that when it's not so hot." he said with a smile. She blushed, but secretly she was very pleased at his words.
Across the road, Hiten and Serafin were not letting the heat stop them from their nightly routine. Ginta, who was trying to sleep near their house, groaned to Hakkaku. "Not again!! I thought that Kouga was bad but these two never stop!!!" Both Wolf Demons got up to find a quieter place to sleep. At Kouga's house, the sliding walls were already thrown wide open, in vain attempt to find a cool breeze. Kouga was miserable. He wanted to sleep wrapped around Kagome as usual, but it was just too hot. His mate was asleep but she was restlessly tossing and turning. He got up and walked quietly to the kitchen and filled a bowl with cool water. He grabbed a small towel and took them to the bedroom. Gently he washed down Kagome's arms and legs with cool water, trying to make her feel comfortable. Kagome woke during the last of it, feeling much cooler and amazed by her mate's thoughtfulness. He had such a gentle nature inside of his rough wolf exterior. The last three months had passed uneventfully. The girls were beginning to show their pregnancies and had all bonded with each other. Kagome and Serafin were going to have boy half-Demons while Kaoru and Sango were going to have human girls. A lot of pre-birth matchmaking was bandied about concerning the two pairs of children. Gales of laughter met their ideas for the perfect mate for their respective children. During the day, the girls sat in the cool gardens of the dojo under the large cherry tree planning for the births. Kagome and Serafin were both expecting half-Demons, probably with fangs! Kaoru and Sango were expecting human children and all were very excited about the upcoming births. Serafin taught them how to knit and they all started with an easy project: booties. Keiko was the only one not expecting a child, but she loved their company, so she hung around with the rest of the girls. But she began to think of going to the Human World for a while with Yusuke to try to get pregnant. Kouga happened to walk by and saw what they were doing. He picked up a tiny bootie and looked at it. "This might be okay for the human children. But not for half-Demons. They will outgrow this in about a week."

	They immediately pressed him for more information. He found himself inundated by questions and regretted stopping. He would not make that mistake again!! "Demons and even Hanyou's, half-Demons, will crawl at two months, walk at six months and run at nine months. They remember everything you say to them from birth. They will have fangs and might have claws. At nine months they will be the size of a human two-year old."

"So what do your clan women do about clothes?" asked Serafin. "We just let them go naked until they are around three years old." "Well, my child is not going around naked!" Kagome exclaimed. "I will put something on him and it is not going to be fur!!" Obviously she and Kouga had already had that conversation. "I will just make larger sizes! And he will wear these booties -- even if it is just for one day!!" While the girls knitted, they also discussed the matter of names. Kagome already had her son's name: Kome. Hiten decided he did not want to name his son after his brother, but to use the name of a younger sister who had died in infancy instead: Souten. Serafin liked the sound of it, so Souten it was. Kenshin and Kaoru had trouble deciding and finally tried the Otherworld tradition of combining their names and came up with Kenru. Sango and Miroku had decided on Mirago for their daughter, for she was their miracle. While the girls at Kaede's Village planned for the impending births, the Princess's routine was the same as usual. Early each morning, often before dawn, she would walk from room to room, right to left, checking on her sleeping males. First room down from hers to the right: Kurama. He was usually sleeping peacefully, his long red hair spread across the pillows. Across from his on the left: Hiei. As always, curled into a tight ball, the covers tangled and twisted.

	One room down on the right: InuYasha, sleeping soundly, with his long white hair spread across the sheets, his ears twitching in a dream. Across from him, on the left: Bankotsu. Sleeping sprawled across the bed, covers thrown off. To the right, one room down: Tasuki. Sprawled nearly sideways on the bed, but on his stomach, with one foot hanging off. Covers partially draped on him, but the foot was bare. And finally, to the left: Sesshomaru. Sleeping quietly in the exact center of his bed. She smiled. Only Sesshomaru would even sleep elegantly!

After she checked them, she went to her bedroom to curl up in bed until it was time to get up. She was not an early riser but then she didn't sleep much during the night. When she finally did get up, she usually took a light breakfast on her balcony, and her males would come to keep her company. Often Kaiba or Bakura would come by also. It was the time to discuss the happenings of Otherworld. They also discussed Rin. They were beginning to feel that Rin would be better with one of the families in Kaede's Village and Hiten had been given the task of feeling them out. Sesshomaru spent so much time with the Princess or traveling to his lands that he hardly even saw Rin anymore. The Dog Demon was capable of incredibly rapid flight so watching over his lands was not a problem for him, but it left the little girl lonely in the large Castle. The Princess felt no bond to her and didn't really try. Yukina liked the girl but her part of the Castle was too cold for Rin to stay any length of time. A couple of days passed and Hiten returned. He had told the families about Rin, and Miroku and Sango had immediately asked for the little girl. Miroku loved children and he and Sango were more than happy to offer her a home. So the next day, Hiten flew Rin to Kaede's Village. They already had made her a room, and filled it with toys from Kagome's era. Rin was hesitant at first, but soon began to bond with Miroku, then Sango, and settled contentedly into her new home.

The Portal "Damn portal!" thought Bakura. The temporary portal which he had created for Lord Shido turned out to be far from temporary. It would not close. It drifted in space and time, returning every so often, bringing some poor creature to their gate. Usually the creatures died instantly, this environment so different from their own. He never had trouble closing a portal he had created before, but he could not get this one closed. It was like it had a mind of its own. His greatest fear was that one day something terrible would come out of it and be at their very doorstep. Since he had created it, Bakura could sense the portal returning one more time and came down from his tower to warn them. Bankotsu and Hiten ran to the portal, but it had already disappeared when they got there. But it had left another gift: a man on the ground, lying in a pool of blood.