Kaya's Story (An InuYasha Fanfic)

Chapter 103: The Demon Vortex

Koga had decided to travel on his own and we were back to square one. Not to mention, InuYasha was, we'll say distracted, in regards to why Tetsusaiga had burned him. Before Master Totosai showed up, I knew what he was going to say. Tetsusaiga wasn't the problem, InuYasha simply wasn't strong enough because he is a half-demon. A lesson I've had to learn while working with Tenkari and its ability to absorb demonic energy. The origin of the sword normally had more to do with its capacity to contain demonic energy, but maybe there was something about Tetsusaiga I didn't know. What I did know is that Master Totosai was right about it being InuYasha's fault he was in this mess in the first place, again something I would never say to his face. The mention of the holy demon spirit brought me out of my thoughts. Supposedly, the holy demon spirit was a hermit, but he was also spiritual in a way. I don't know why that description bothered me so much because not too long ago I fit into that category. When InuYasha agreed to train under the holy demon spirit, Master Totosai sent his cow, Mo-Mo, with us as a guide. It wasn't a very long journey, but it allowed me to talk to Kagome about Tetsusaiga and its very apparent connection to InuYasha. Apparently, Tetsusaiga had been broken before and Master Totosai repaired it using a fang from InuYasha. That explains why Tetsusaiga now has a limit on how much demonic power it can absorb.

By nightfall, we had reached the home of the holy demon spirit and heard someone yelling for help from inside. We all ran in to find the inside of this apparent demon hermit's home to be quite beautiful. We also found the holy demon spirit hanging from a large flower like a piece of laundry. When we got him down and got him inside, he told InuYasha that he couldn't train him and told us to leave. InuYasha didn't react well to that, so it earned InuYasha and I a trip to the dirt, while Kagome asked the hermit why he couldn't train InuYasha. The demon hermit then explained that a demon had stolen his internal organs the night before. Kagome then offered our assistance, but apparently to the hermit a couple of half-demons and a group of humans aren't capable of that kind of task. Shortly after our conversation, Kirara began hissing at something outside, so we went to investigate. The village that was once full of humans had been replaced with demons. That explained the huge demonic aura that had spontaneously appeared. InuYasha, of course, went to attack but landed us both in the dirt, again. According to the holy one, the aura was caused by a spell the demon who had stolen his organs had cast. If that were true, then humans would have been demons when we had shown up earlier in the day. Plus, unless their memories have been altered, they would've begun to panic when they changed. Something didn't feel right. That feeling got worse when the holy one put chains around Tetsusaiga so InuYasha wouldn't accidentally harm any of the villagers. The problem with that was, there were real demons mixed in with the villagers so even if InuYasha 'attacked' them more chains appeared. Plus, if he 'attacked' too many, Tetsusaiga would disappear. This was explained after we had gotten surrounded by the villagers with their weapons drawn. Anyway, as the villagers chased us through the village, a human boy appeared and helped us hide. He explained that he had left to get medicine for his ailing mother and when he returned, everyone had been turned into demons. When we followed him inside his home, we found his mother had been transformed too. At this time, the holy one explained that the demon's aura was that of the demon that had stolen his organs. We opened the doors to the room where the demon was and InuYasha tried to draw his sword once the demon showed its true form: a demonic serpent with hair. However, he couldn't draw Tetsusaiga because of the chains causing the demon to attack. InuYasha jumped out of the way then Sango and Miroku volunteered to take care of the demon. Right after that, a strong demonic wind swept the two away. I then moved to stand in front of Kagome, so if that happened again, it would get me and not her. After they were out of sight, InuYasha tried to draw Tetsusaiga under the holy one's advice, but this time the sword burned him. Tenkari had begun pulsing and trembling, just like it had before when InuYasha had summoned the Dragon-scaled Tetsusaiga. I put my hand on the hilt but didn't draw because I knew what was going on. Master Totosai and his fellow old demons have a similar code to training. Just then, InuYasha slashed at the demon with his claws and we watched as the demon healed immediately. The holy one told InuYasha to find the demon vortex, whatever that meant. The serpent then sent Shippo, Kirara, and the holy one flying, leaving just InuYasha, Kagome, and me in the room. The demon attacked and once again InuYasha slashed with his claws only for the demon to heal immediately, again. The serpent attacked again, using a breathe attack that was pure demonic energy. A scent and aura that distracted both of us, causing him to get caught in the demon's coils. The serpent began to secrete venom through her scales, trying to dissolve InuYasha. Kagome and I drew our bows in an attempt to free him only for Kagome to get captured from behind. I turned to see it was the boy who helped us, his name was Genosuke, I think, but he had transformed as well. I went to go help Kagome, as InuYasha tried to struggle out of the demon's grip. I jumped up and held the demon holding Kagome out of range, while InuYasha fought the demon serpent. It was several seconds before both demons vanished, but their scents remained.

We found a broken incense pot where the serpent had just been. We went outside and found nothing had changed, so we knew the demon was still around. We tracked him to the entrance to the holy one's home, only to find it shrouded in a dark aura. 'Dishrag' as InuYasha had been calling him, was blown to our feet by the wind. A second later the demon we were chasing appeared and explained that he was after Tetsusaiga because of its new ability and killed the holy one and stole his internal organs to do so. InuYasha then vowed to avenge the holy one's death and as he drew his sword, the chains shattered. When Tetsusaiga was drawn, the dragon scales appeared, as well. This ox demon mentioned that InuYasha could see his demon vortex, again I had no clue what that meant. InuYasha attacked, slashing something a couple of feet in front of the ox demon, but he was forced back by a powerful surge of demonic energy. He slashed the ox demon itself, only to be forced back again by a wave of poison and demonic energy. Whatever InuYasha was thinking about was distracting him, because he barely missed getting hit by a powerful liquid demonic energy attack. He could only dodge the attacks because if he attacked the demon again it could be the end of him and Tetsusaiga. He finally figured out something because he told Kagome to move and put down the holy one. She didn't, though, so when InuYasha got closer I picked her and moved her out the way after she dropped the holy one. InuYasha once again cut through something invisible to me and the ox demon exploded. The home of the holy one returned to normal and Miroku, Sango, Shippo, and Kirara walked through the door. Everyone was alright, including the holy one, it would seem. The only thing that changed when he became "alive" again was that he was less flat, and his voice became deeper. The good thing to come out of today was that InuYasha now knew how to use the Dragon-scaled Tetsusaiga, properly. This meant InuYasha was strong enough to destroy Moryomaru and maybe even Naraku. The end was near for Naraku, I could feel it.