The Demon's Love

XVII

Mating season had ended, much to Jaken's relief. All his s****l frustration had vanished and his lord and lady's nightly activities had decreased. He was grateful for that since he didn't think his poor old ears could take it any more. Now that things were nearly back to normal, they could finally concentrate on finding and destroying Naraku. But why did the despicable half-demon have such good hiding places.

"Milady, are you certain you don't know where Naraku is?" he asked for the thousandth time.

Naevia made an angry noise. "I told you I don't know! Now stop asking me that!"

Jaken winced. "I'm sorry, milady. I was merely curious."

"And I already told that I have no idea where he's hiding! Asking me a thousand times won't change that."

"I too tire of hearing the same question." Kael told his servant. "If you grow tired of this journey, then return to my castle."

Jaken looked terrified at the thought of being separated from his lord. "No, no, milord! I'm simply frustrated at Naraku's hiding. He's such a coward."

"Naraku is not a coward." Said Lucretia. "He just has lots of patience. The reason he hardly ever gets his hands dirty is because he enjoys using others. And the reason he's still in hiding is because he's scheming."

Naevia nodded in agreement. "Most likely, he's trying to find a way to protect what's left of his heart. Because once Hakudōshi dies, Naraku will be as mortal as us. He won't come out of hiding unless he has a flawless plan or unless he completes the Shikon Jewel and becomes full demon."

That didn't sound too bad to Jaken. "Then let him complete the jewel and bring him out of hiding. Even as a full-fledged demon, Naraku is no match for Lord Kael."

"Don't be so sure." Said Lucretia. "I mean no disrespect to Kael, but as long as Naraku holds the jewel shard, he is most likely the strongest of all beings. Remember, a single shard will at least double a demon's strength. Naraku has all but three shards. That's why he's so powerful."

Kael didn't take offense to what Lucretia said. He knew the boy wasn't insulting his strength. He was merely stating the facts. Naturally, Kael was much stronger than Naraku, but as long as the despicable half-demon held the Shikon Jewel, his powers drastically increased.

'A pitiful way to gain power.' He thought. Using the Shikon Jewel was a disgrace to demons in Kael's opinion. The way he saw it, any demon that used a sacred jewel shard was too weak to be able to gain strength on their own. They did not become powerful, they were merely using something that granted them strength. That was not true power, which was why Kael hadn't accepted the jewel shards that Naevia had offered him in the past.

"Jewel or no jewel, half-breed or full-breed, I will destroy Naraku." Kael insisted.

Rin cheered for the demon lord. "Yay, Lord Kael can do anything!"

As the group continued forward, they were unaware of the floating eyeball following them. It began rising in the air, vanishing inside the clouds as it returned to its owner.

Byakuya smirked. "So, Kael can do anything." he said with a sneer. "I'll just have to put him to the test. You've done a good job at hiding from me, but now that I've found you, you're finished."

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Kael sensed it before it happened. The slight sensation of someone using demonic power. A moment after he sensed it, he could have sworn he saw a flash of light for a brief moment. Just to be sure, he turned to his companions.

"Jaken, did you…"

He trailed off as he noticed the others were gone. But how? He knew for a fact that they had been there a second ago. Right before the flash of light to be exact.

'So it was not my imagination.' He thought.

There was another flash of light and the environment began changing. The colors changed and objects began… mutating. It wasn't just that. There were different sounds and smells, and there was a strange feeling in the air. He wasn't sure what had happened, but he was definitely in a different place then he was in before.

The sound of something moving caught his attention. Kael sniffed the air to see if there were any demons nearby. There weren't, but there was definitely something. And that something was coming after him.

Normally Kael would calmly wait for whatever would dare to attack him, but he had no idea what was coming after him. He unsheathed Toukijin and prepared to attack. Kael may have been arrogant, but he was never stupid. He knew never to let an unknown enemy get a chance to attack.

But what finally did reveal itself was not what he expected. What appeared to be giant mutant plants were approaching. They weren't demons, but they appeared to be alive.

"Interesting." Said Kael. "What manner of beast are you?"

None of the plants, if that was indeed what they were, said anything. Unless attacking counted as an answer. One of the plants lashed out with a tentacle. Kael easily dodged it.

"I see." He said. "So there is no talking to you creatures." Toukijin began glowing with demonic power. "Then I have no reason to hold back."

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"Lord Kael!" Rin cried. "Lord Kael!"

She continued to pound on the strange orb of light that had suddenly wrapped around the demon lord. It had happened so suddenly. They were just walking along when Kael was engulfed in this orb of light.

Lucretia slashed at the orb with his sickle. This accomplished absolutely nothing. It was as if this orb had a barrier. No, more like it was a barrier. "What is this thing?"

Jaken continued to unleash fire on the orb. "I don't know, but we must get Lord Kael out."

"Stand back." Said Naevia, raising her fan. "Dance of Blades!"

The orb of light reflected Naevia's attack, remaining perfectly intact.

"It didn't work." Said Rin, stating the obvious.

"I'll try again." Naevia replied. "Dance of the Dragon!"

The orb of light was engulfed by Naevia's tornado. She continued the attack until she realized that nothing was happening. With a frustrated sigh, she let the attack drop.

"Damn it." She seethed. "Nothing works."

"Nothing you do will." came a familiar voice.

The group turned around and saw Byakuya flying down on his paper crane.

"You." Naevia hissed.

Byakuya waved at her. "Me. It's been a while, sis."

"What did you do to Lord Kael?" Jaken demanded.

Byakuya smirked. "I simply used my…" He trailed off as he sensed something different about his sister. He also noticed a change in her scent. "What's this? Naevia, you smell different. And you…"

His eyes widened as he realized what was different. He closed his eyes and sniffed the air. Giving the orb of light that Kael was trapped in a disbelieving look, he began laughing.

"You have got to be kidding me!" he cried, laughing the whole time. "You," he pointed to Naevia, "and him," he pointed to the orb of light containing Kael, "are mates! That's the greatest!"

Naevia glared at him. "I don't see what's so funny about this?"

Byakuya wiped a tear of laughter from his eye. "Sorry, sis. I'm just shocked."

"You're not the only one." Jaken muttered.

Byakuya struggled to stop himself from falling into another fit of laughter. "Wait until Naraku hears about this. His own daughter is mated to the brother of his biggest enemy." He covered his mouth to stop himself from laughing.

"Stop laughing and tell us what you did to Lord Kael!" Rin cried.

Byakuya cleared his throat. "I simply trapped him in an alternate dimension of illusions. He won't be joining us for this battle. Once you're dead, I'll deal with him."

Naevia raised her fan. "Did you forget that I can fight too?" Naevia asked.

"So can I." said Lucretia. "And I won't die easily."

Byakuya just laughed. "Yes, you can fight. And you do have me outnumbered." An evil smile crept up his face. "But… I brought some friends with me."

He snapped his fingers and the demons possessed by his paper soldiers flew down from the sky. Their eyes glowed red and had a blank look in them, indicating that they were being controlled by something, namely Byakuya.

"Weren't expecting this, were you, sis?" Byakuya mocked. "They're all under my control. They may be lesser demons, but I think that they'll be enough to make things… interesting." He pointed at them. "Kill them all!"

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Kael wandered aimlessly through the strange dimension. After quickly disposing of the strange plant-like creatures, he started searching for a way out. But there didn't seem to be one; in fact, he couldn't even find out how he got in this place in the first place. This world was very strange, and he wanted out.

He paused when he came across what appeared to be a river flowing with pink liquid. He gently probed it with Toukijin. The pink substance was more like a jelly than a liquid.

'This is not my world.' he told himself. 'What realm have I slipped into?'

Before he could think on this further, the mating mark on his shoulder tingled. His mate was calling out to him. It appeared that whoever had sent him here was now after her. It didn't take him long to figure out who it was.

"Byakuya." He growled.

How dare that miserable demon attack his mate? He would tear that miserable bastard to pieces. But first he had to get out of here. Now the question was, how?

"This Kael will find a way." He vowed.

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Lucretia made sure to keep Rin out of harm's way. He was shielding her with his body as he threw his sickle at any demons that dared to approach. Rin was curled up in a ball behind him, covering her ears and closing her eyes so she wouldn't have to see or hear the fighting.

Poor Jaken was the worst off. All he could do was run for his miserable life and wave his staff around wildly whenever a demon approached. How he wished that his lord were here to help him. Kael would have made quick work of these pathetic demons.

Naevia was dealing with the demons rather easily. They all fell prey to her Dance of Blades and Dance of the Dragon. It wasn't long before the few remaining possessed demons dropped dead.

"Dance of Blades!" Naevia cried, slicing off the head of the last demon. When she was finished, she gave Byakuya a mocking smirk. "Any more useless minions?"

Byakuya shook his head. "Sorry, no. But I didn't expect them to beat you anyway. It was fun watching you kill them though."

Naevia sneered at him. "Well, you've demonstrated your ability to possess others. Now it's time to show you mine." She waved her fan. "And I think you'll find my way a little more affective. Dance of the Dead!"

The magical breeze she created gently blew over the bodies of the dead demons. They twitched slightly before slowly getting up. They moved as if they were alive, regardless of their mutilated bodies, but there was no life in their eyes.

Naevia waved her fan. "Now, dance. Do my dance of the dead."

The demons, even the ones that couldn't fly, flew at Byakuya. He just smirked and raised his hands. Vines shot up from out of the ground, the ends impaling the demons.

"Yeah, that was really affective." He remarked sarcastically.

Naevia snickered. "It's not over yet, brother."

She waved her fan again and the demons tore themselves free from the vines, much to Byakuya's surprise.

"How?"

"They're not alive." Naevia explained. "I'm controlling them. So go ahead, strike them down, cut them to pieces, whatever you want; they'll just keep coming."

Byakuya growled. "They will, will they?" He said, putting up a barrier. The demons all dog-piled on top of him, held back by the barrier. "What if there is nothing left to come after me?"

Naevia couldn't see what he was doing since the pile of dead demons were covering him, but a moment later, a tornado of fire swirled around the pile of them, completely reducing them to ash. Byakuya stood there with a confident smirk on his face as he blew away the trail of smoke emitting from his lotus flower.

"Lets see you control them now, sister."

Naevia didn't reply. She couldn't control ashes, but she could still fight. "Jaken, you keep Rin and Lucretia safe while I deal with this freak."

Jaken gulped. "Y-Yes, milady."

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Kael continued to roam the strange realm he was in. He was actually struggling to maintain his calm exterior. He could sense that his mate was in danger, but he couldn't detect her anywhere. He had to get out of here, and when he did, he was going to tear Byakuya to pieces.

Closing his eyes, he tried to see if he could sense Byakuya. If it was indeed him that had sent him here, then there must be some connection between him and this place. He just had to find that connection and sever it.

It took a couple of minutes, but he eventually realized that Byakuya's demonic aura was completely surrounding him. It was this aura that was keeping him here. That meant that all he had to do was overpower it.

Kael's eyes turned red as his inner demon surfaced.

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Byakuya sighed. "You know, Naevia, I'm getting rather tired of this game of cat and mouse. It's time to finish this. No more running away, it's time to end this."

And for the first time, he unsheathed his sword, preparing to actually use it in battle. Naevia knew that Byakuya's sword, like her fan, was forged from Naraku's bones, and therefore was no ordinary weapon. She would have to be careful.

Byakuya charged at her, swinging his sword. Naevia blocked it with her closed fan. Only the fact that her fan was not an ordinary one prevented Byakuya from slicing through it.

"Careful, sister." Byukuya mocked. "You wouldn't want to break your fan now, would you? How will you control the wind then?"

Naevia glared at him. "I don't need my fan to control the wind, it just makes it easier. Like this!"

She jumped back and waved her fan, unleashing powerful blades of wind that sliced through everything in its path. Including Byakuya.

Naevia smirked, thinking she had won, but Byakuya's severed limbs reattached themselves to him.

"You look surprised." He said. "Did you forget that I can detach and reattach my body parts? Go ahead, cut me up all you want. Here, I'll give you a free shot."

Growling, Naevia decided to take him up on his offer. "Fine! This time I'll cut off that little thing between your legs."

She unleashed her Dance of Blades. Byakuya decided not give her the free shot he had offered her after the threat she made. He may be able to reattach any limbs he might lose, but that didn't mean that it still didn't hurt, especially there.

Naevia smirked. "Got cold feet?"

"Shut up!" Byakuya cried, no longer fooling around.

He swung his sword, unleashing a blast of demonic energy. Naevia dodged the attack, which left a large crater in the ground where she had just been standing.

"Can your wind attacks do that?" he asked, sounding smug.

"Can your sword do this? Dance of the Dragon!"

Byakuya put up his barrier as a tornado formed around him. The wind sliced against his barrier, but it remained intact.

"You can't beat me, sister. I am Naraku's strongest incarnation. I have powers you can't even imagine."

"I don't give a damn!" Naevia shouted. "I'm going to kill you and then watch as Kael kills Naraku."

Byakuya laughed. "Fool. He can't defeat our father. Naraku has a plan that will make him truly invincible. Your mate can't defeat him. And you can't defeat me."

He swung his sword outside of his barrier. It cut through Naevia's tornado, causing it to disperse. Giving her a mocking grin, he vanished into thin air, reappearing in a different position, just a little closer. He did this repeatedly, slowly closing the distance between the two of them.

'Those damn illusions!' Naevia thought angrily.

Byakuya suddenly appeared right in front of her. Naevia had been prepared for this and she waved her fan, unleashing her Dance of Blades. What she had not been expecting was for this Byakuya to be an illusion and for the real one to be behind her.

The real Byakuya swung his sword. The blade cut Naevia's back, leaving a deep wound. The wind-demon cried out, falling to the ground. The back of her kimono was cut open, revealing a gash down her back, across the spider mark.

"That's gotta hurt." Said Byakuya. "Good thing you're a demon or else it would scar." He glanced at Lucretia, smirking. "Of course, you would know how a blade can scar a human, having struck down your own sister."

Lucretia gasped. How dare that miserable bastard bring up the time Naraku had made him strike Sango with his sickle. He knew that Byakuya said this deliberately to upset him, and it worked.

"You… you…"

"Stay back." Naevia moaned, not wanting Lucretia to get hurt.

Byakuya looked down at her. "Oh, you're awake? I had thought you had lost conscious."

"Don't hurt her!" Rin cried.

Byakuya grinned evilly. "Oh, she's fine. Look."

He kicked her in the side, sending her flying over to the others. Rin immediately began fussing over the wind-demon's wound as Lucretia moved to defend them.

"Oh, Lady Naevia, you're bleeding!" Rin wept.

Through the pain, Naevia gave her a forced smile. "Don't worry about me. This will be healed in a day the most."

Byakuya smirked. "You won't live that long. I'm going to kill all of you right now."

Lucretia got into an attack position. "Not while I'm here."

Byakuya just laughed. "Foolish boy. I'll cut you in half."

He charged at him, sword raised. But then something happened that made him skid to a halt. The orb of light that Kael was trapped in flashed brightly as sparks began crackling around it. Even though it was made of light, cracks began appearing over it.

"What the?" Byakuya whispered. "No way."

"Lord Kael?" Rin whispered hopefully.

Byakuya was looking at the orb in disbelief. "It can't be…"

But it was. The orb of light shattered and Kael emerged. But he was now in his demon form, towering over all of them. It took him a second to balance on his three legs, since his forth was still missing, though much had grown back.

"Lord Kael!" Rin cried happily.

"That's Kael?" Lucretia exclaimed, having never seen the demon lord in this form.

"Of course it is!" Jaken snapped. "Behold, Lord Kael in his demon form. His power can be measured by no one."

Kael spared his companions a glance. His eyes widened when he saw Naevia injured. He settled his angry gaze on Byakuya, who was just getting over his surprise, and growled.

"So, you escaped." Said Byakuya. "Impressive. You manage to overpower my demonic aura and free yourself from my dimension of illusions."

Kael began to shrink as he turned back into his humanoid form. He turned away from Byakuya and went to inspect his mate's injuries.

"Naevia?" he said soothingly.

Naevia opened her eyes. She saw Kael standing over her and smiled. "Kael…" she whispered, reaching out for him. "My mate, my love. I knew he couldn't hold you."

Kael knelt down, taking the hand that was reaching for him and gently held it. "Lay still. Do not make your injury worse."

Naevia forced herself to smile. "I'll be fine. I've suffered worse injuries than this from Naraku."

Kael's expression didn't change. "Naevia, never shall I allow you to be harmed again."

Byakuya, who was watching the scene impatiently, was tapping his sword in his open palm as he waited for them to finish with their 'lovey dovey' moment. "Can we get on with this? I don't have all day. You two will have plenty of time for this in the other world."

Kael ignored him. He released Naevia's hand and caressed her cheek. "Stay here. This Kael will deal with this."

Naevia closed her eyes and smiled. "I have faith in you."

The ghost of a smile appeared over Kael's face before it turned into an angry frown. He stood up and turned to Byakuya, his eyes turning red with anger. Kael was the type of person that rarely showed emotion, but he was showing it now. And he was showing cold fury. He had a scowl on his face, his red eyes narrowed, and fangs bared.

Byakuya raised an eyebrow. "So, I finally got an emotional response out of you. I was wondering what would trigger it. Apparently it's my sister in pain."

Kael growled as he unsheathed Toukijin. "I will make you suffer the pain you have caused her tenfold!" he snarled.

Byakuya held up his sword. "Sounds fun."