Inuyasha: The Story Continues

Chapter 25: Showdown: Izayoi vs. Inuyasha

Izayoi's POV

I looked at Papa and then at Naraku. What's going on here? I thought to myself. 

Naraku laughed as I held closer to Papa. Papa didn't respond at all to anything that was going on. "I'm surprised that you fell for this trap so easily Izayoi." Naraku told me. 

"What are you talking about?" I asked. 

"Has it not become clear girl?" Naraku asked. "That may be your Father right there but he's under my control." 

"What do you mean 'your control'?" I asked as I held tighter to Papa's fire rat kimono. 

Naraku snapped his fingers and then I felt myself get smacked in the back, causing me to fall to the ground. I turned to see that Papa was in a fighting stance with claws ready to slice at me. "Papa?" I asked. "Why did you attack me?" 

Papa growled and then ran towards me to attack me. I put up my guard as Papa charged at me but he still pushed me back. As I got a closer look, I saw that Papa's eyes were soulless. "Papa." I spoke. 

Naraku laughed once again. "Don't you understand?" Naraku questioned. "Your Father is under my control, meaning he will not listen to you. He shall do what I say without hesitation." 

"Papa," I said with tears in my eyes. "You're stronger than Naraku. Fight his control!" 

At first, Papa didn't move. Then he reached for his sword and pulled it out so that it was in a fang. He swung it and yelled "Wind Scar!" 

I used my spiritual powers to put up a barrier, helping block the attack. It still hurt me a little but not it could've been a whole lot worse. Blood trickled down my arms. 

Naraku watched the whole scene with a smirk on his face as Papa kept charging at me. I unsheathed Tensoga and blocked Tesseiga. Each attack that came messed up my stamina but I still fought hard. 

3rd Person's POV 

Ayuma, Kayuma, Mochigo, and Shippo went all out on the barrier with all their strength. "Fox magic, Smashing Top!" Shippo yelled as a giant top went straight for the barrier. It looked like the barrier would break but then it put itself back off. 

"This is bad," Ayuma said. "Naraku must be behind this." 

"Stand back," Mochigo told everyone. He went to the barrier and placed sacred sutras on it. "Now hit it hard with everything you've got guys. It should cause the barrier to fall but we must be quick." 

"That won't be enough," a female voice from behind said. Everyone turned to see that Arrosa was there. "The barrier won't fall that easily. Naraku is stronger than that." 

"Who are you?" Kayuma asked. 

"That is not important right now," Arrosa told them. "What is important is that we break down the barrier as soon as possible." With that, the young priestess grabbed her arrows and fired at the spot where the sacred sutras were at. When the arrows hit the sutras, the barrier vanished. 

"How did you do that?" Shippo asked. 

"That's not important," Arrosa said. "We need to help your friend. She's in danger." 

"You mean Izayoi?" Ayuma asked. 

Arrosa nodded and then ran ahead of the others and headed towards Iziyaoi. 

Izayoi's POV 

I was getting thrashed around like crazy. Papa was throwing me around like a rag doll and giving me bruises and cuts everywhere. Soon I was coughing up blood from all the pain I was in. "Papa," I began to cry. "Please stop." 

I heard Papa walking towards me and then he grabbed me by the back of my shirt. He lifted me off of the ground and held me out in front of his body. "Papa." I whispered. I had tears running down my cheeks but Papa didn't care. 

"Well done Inuyasha," Naraku said. "Now kill Izayoi." 

"Papa," I said. "Please don't do it." 

I could feel Papa struggling. He seemed to be trying to fight the control that Naraku had him under. He was still in there. "Papa, you're in there," I spoke. "Fight Naraku's control!"

"I said kill her." Naraku ordered with aggravation. 

I looked into Papa's eyes and saw his eyes were going from soulless to full of life. "Izayoi," Papa struggled to say. "Run." He dropped me to the ground and then held his head in pain as he sank to his knees. 

"Papa?" I asked, trying to sit up.

"I said, run Izayoi." Papa struggled to tell me. 

He's still in there, I thought. Papa's still in there. He must be.

Before I could do anything, Papa's eyes became soulless and he began to growl at me. I tried to back away as Papa approached. Before I could react though, arrows came out of nowhere and pinned Papa to a tree by his fire rat kimono. 

I turned to see a young priestess was there, with a bow in hand and a look of determination on her face. "Naraku," she said. "You certainly are a slippery one. I've been trying to find you for a while now." 

Naraku smirked. "I see you have Arrosa," he said. "But this is not your fight." 

"It is now." Arrosa told Naraku as she fired an arrow right at Naraku, causing his body to go into pieces. 

"Darn you!" Naraku growled as he placed a barrier around his body and floated into the air. 

As he did that, I noticed Papa was placed inside a barrier and floated into the air along with Naraku. I got myself off of the ground and looked up at Papa. "Papa!" I yelled as he floated away. 

Papa only looked down at me with his soulless eyes before disappearing with Naraku. Tears ran down my cheeks as I thought about my Papa. That's when I felt Arrosa's hand being placed on my shoulder. I looked at her and saw that she was staring at me. "It'll be okay Izayoi." Arrosa told me.

"How did you know my name?" I asked. 

"It's a long story," Arrosa told me. "But allow me to introduce myself." Arrosa helped me to my feet and held me steady as I regained my balance.  "I'm Arrosa." 

"Oh. Well you already know me, somehow. Hey wait, you're the traveling priestess I've heard about." 

Arrosa nodded. "That's correct." 

That's when the others showed up. "Are you okay Izayoi?" Ayuma asked. 

"Hey guys." I said with somewhat of a smile. 

"Where's Inuyasha?" Mochigo asked. 

I looked at the ground. "Papa....." 

"Naraku has him under a spell," Arrosa told them. "It's the same spell that Naraku placed Kohaku under." 

"Wait? How did you know about Kohaku?" Kayuma asked. 

Arrosa didn't answer. She turned her back towards us and began walking away. "Izayoi," she spoke above a whisper. "Do not give up hope. Naraku has yet to win this war. Even if he has your Father captive, Naraku has yet to get what he wishes." 

"What does he want?" Ayuma asked. 

The priestess turned to look at us and then said, "Naraku wishes to have the sacred jewel." 

The sacred jewel is mentioned yet again. How will Naraku do that? And what will Iziyaoi do now that her Father is under mind control?