For so long, Zero waited for their arrival any minute as she sat on the throne. She couldn't help but smirk evilly. Her plan is working when she sensed Inuyumi has taken the half-breed child away from its mother. She got up and walked toward the window where she stared at the Great Mountain.
"Everything is going completely according to my plan," Zero said, knowing soon she will wake her brother Kirinmaru. "Soon the child of Lord Sesshomaru will give Naraku and Kikyo her demonic and spiritual powers, then my brother will be awake from his slumber." It was knowing soon that Naraku and Kikyo will be possessed by Ayane's power to have their power back before Kirinmaru was awake.
"My Lady, I have returned," Inuyumi said as she and the Band of Seven arrived back at the castle, especially for Kagura and Kanna who arrived as well.
"Well?" Zero asked with a look. "Have you brought the child and Kikyo's and Naraku's ashes?"
"Yes!" Inuyumi shouted out as she brought Ayane into her sleep towards her. She felt embarrassed about doing this. "Here's the child that you want it!"
Zero smirked smoothly, walking towards Inuyumi and Ayane. "Perfect, Yumi," she replied. She turned her head at Bankotsu, "How about you, boys? Did you find Naraku's ashes near the abandoned castle?"
Bankotsu smirked. "Yes, we do, My Lady. Mission accomplished!"
"Ah, yes. Perfect," Zero said before she looked over at Ayane in her sleeping form and took the two ashes from the Band of Seven. "Now, the child's demonic and spiritual powers will awaken Naraku and Kikyo. When it was done, they will have no choice but to help my brother."
Then all of a sudden, Inuyumi felt movement in her arms so she looked down at the four-year-old child who unlucky was stirring. They knew Ayane was awakened. Her eyelids were gracefully lifting. Inuyumi sweatdropped in panic.
"Oh, crap! She's awake!" Inuyumi panicked. "What should I do!?"
Zero narrowed her green eyes. "Then that's your responsibility. I shall go meet up with Tsubaki and Riku when the time was done," she said before she left the throne room, leaving Inuyumi and the Band of Seven all alone with Ayane.
Her eyes were now open and looked around for her mother and father only gasp in alarm. She was carried by a strange woman with white hair like her father's whom she had never seen before and who didn't smell friendly. She sniffed her surroundings, desperately hoping for a family scent but much to her horror she was in an area completely unknown to her. She began to panic but cried out for her parents.
"Mommy! Daddy! Where are you!? I want my mommy and daddy!" Ayane cried loudly as Inuyumi tried to calm her down. Some little kids have tantrums when they cry and scream about.
Bankotsu had noticed that she was fully conscious so he decided to help Inuyumi out to try and win her trust by lying. Inuyumi began to pass Ayane to Bankotsu gently then he began to calm her down.
"Hey there, little lady," Bankotsu cooed gently in the friendliest voice he could put on, "you don't need to cry. Your whole village was on fire so your parents told us to take you far away until it was safe."
Ayane was confused, she didn't remember at home being on fire and she didn't remember smelling any smoke. She looked up at him, unconvinced, and let out a low small from the back of her neck.
"What's wrong, kiddo? I know you probably miss your parents but you'll see them in a little while, don't worry," Bankotsu lied, giving her a smirk that Ayane didn't like.
After a few seconds Ayane realized he was right, she did miss her parents. In fact, she missed them terribly! Newborn babies and toddlers weren't supposed to leave their parents this early and her instincts were slowly beginning to kick in as she let off a bloodcurdling snarl.
Inuyumi knew Bankotsu was a terrible parent. She always knew Ayane would never trust him or any others.
"You're lying! You kidnapped me and I want my mommy and daddy back!" Ayane yelled in a tantrum voice, hitting him in the strong chest with two fists. Bankotsu sighed with a sweatdrop. And are his brothers.
"Should we meet up with Tsubaki and Lady Zero?" Jakotsu suggested curiously as he hoped this wasn't a bad idea.
Bankotsu nodded in agreement. "Sure, let's see about that."
They then entered the room when Ayane struggled to break free from Bankotsu's arms, but his arms are too strong to hold her. They closed the door, leaving the throne room that has gone silent. As for Ayane, whining and shrieking as loudly as she could.
***
"How did it go, Riku?" Zero asked as she entered the cave and found him who was still restoring its ashes had placed the two stone pots containing the two's ashes, side by side on the temple altar. They were surrounded by hordes of souls, human limbs, internal organs, and various demon body parts.
"Going well, My Lady, I just have to merge them together with my psychic abilities and it should go smoothly from there," Riku said with a smirk.
"Yes, perfect. Get on with it then, Riku," Zero said as she stared down at the pots containing the vital ashes.
Riku closed his eyes for a belief moment before reopening them, when he did they were a luminous gold. At first, he was using the chant. Suddenly, the pots began to shake as the lids flew off, spilling the ashes. The remains hovered in mid-air, emitting lots of spiritual and demonic energy. They turn morphed into many different shapes before becoming completely covered in internal organs and human flesh. The skin stretched and shaped as it became smooth and creamy, and two bodies slowly started to take shape.
Zero smiled, laughing. "At last! It's working!"
When she kept laughing with an excited look, Kagura, except Kanna, was in shock at seeing two bodies being restored. Kagura knew this is going to happen when Naraku will have her heart and become his servant again. She does not like that. She thought Naraku will never be alive again. All she ever wanted was freedom.
Hair was growing from the figures and facial details were emerging on the smooth faces. Nails grew on their fingertips and toes, and their belly buttons also sunk inwards. A few seconds later, Zero, Tsubaki, and Riku were standing before the shell of a very beautiful woman and the shell of a handsome man. They gasped in amazement as the vessels were finally complete.
"Now after it was done, My Lady, Naraku, and Kikyo didn't have their souls yet, so we needed the demonic and spiritual souls from the child," Riku said with a smirk, crossing his arms across his chest.
"Great options, Riku!" Zero exclaimed excitedly as she spun around and stared into Tsubaki's face. "Now, tell me, Tsubaki, since you and Kikyo are rivals, what will you do to her after we drift the child's soul?"
Tsubaki smirked evilly. "I'll give her some advice, My Lady. Since she failed to kill Kagome, I'm sure I'll restore her memories."
"Good."
All they needed to do now was to bring Ayane and give them their demonic and spiritual powerful souls.
***
Sesshomaru, Kagome, and the others were on their way to rescue Ayane. They hoped it was not too late to save the day. Sango had changed her clothes into a demon slayer suit before they had to go on a rescue mission. As for Ayame before she would able to help them save the day, she told the children to stay in Kaede's hut until it was over so they do what she said.
With a long mission to find Inuyumi who was a traitor to their kind, Sesshomaru would never forget the day she had served for Naraku. Of course, Inuyumi was nothing but a coward.
Sesshomaru narrowed his golden eyes as the scent of graveyard soil and strange energy waves drifted through his nose, he hadn't smelled something like this the since he had Inuyasha's previous woman, Kikyo, the undead one. But there was something different about this scent, it smelled stronger and more vibrant.
"What is it, Sesshomaru?" Kagome asked, worryingly.
"I don't know, but I can smell the familiar smell coming from the Great Mountain," Sesshomaru said as he pointed toward the Great Mountain. She looked over at Inuyasha and Ayame. "Do you two smell the scent, too?"
"Yes, I did," Inuyasha said with a frown.
"I did smell something out there," Ayame said.
"This scent is getting stronger. I can feel it," Inuyasha said with wide eyes.
Sesshomaru frowned as flew faster he could also sense great demonic power coming from up ahead. "Maybe it was them that I sensed it," he muttered. "But if Inuyumi was with them, it didn't explain the strange scent of soil and bellflowers."
Kagome widened her icy blue eyes. "I just hope Ayane is okay!"
***
Back with Zero and all the fellows, Inuyumi carried Ayane, who struggled to break free from her arms, all the way in the Great Mountain towards the temple altar. Ayane pleaded with her to let her go, but she refused her command. Zero and Tsubaki watched her placing Ayane in the cult towards Naraku and Kikyo who were completely silent without souls. Inuyumi had tied her up around her wrists and ankles with the ropes.
"Riku is it time for you to chant it," Tsubaki demanded him.
"Yes, Priestess Tsubaki," Riku obeyed as he stepped towards the newly created bodies and closely examined them. They were perfect. He summoned his magic before raising his hands and sending a fraction of Ayane's demonic and spiritual power to Naraku and Kikyo's vessels.
Ayane yelled out for her parents so badly, struggling to break free and trying to escape until something was glowing within her body. She closed her icy blue eyes tight as she felt the sudden pain strike her.
***
The others had made it to the Great Mountain until they found Ayane tied up in the cult and the two familiar people who both sat on the temple altar naked. Everyone was shocked, and couldn't believe what they saw.
Kagome heard Ayane crying out for help. "Ayane, hang out! I'll save you!"
Inuyasha froze, staring at Naraku and Kikyo who finally meet them again. "It's them... It's..."
As Kagome untied her and was about to pick her up from the cult, Inuyasha couldn't help but call out their names.
"Naraku and Kikyo..."
They heard a big heartbeat from Ayane's chest. Kagome gasped as she knew what will happen. She saw her eyes gone wide with dead eyes, no longer a very bright light within her eyes. The two souls drifted out of her body as they sped toward Naraku and Kikyo.
"Ayane!" Kagome yelled out her name.
The two souls; demonic and spiritual, were placed in shell chests, they were slowly absorbed into the bodies and glowed underneath the skin for a belief second before the two lights disappeared. Zero smiled to herself.
Kikyo and Naraku's eyes shot open. Everyone was shocked. Kagura who was hidden behind the wall was shocked, too.
"N-no...!" Kagome stuttered in surprise, holding close to Ayane.
Zero laughed excitedly. "Now all of you are too late to save this child's life. The Tenseiga won't save the child because her whole soul was gone. Her soul shall never return to her own body. There is nothing you can do about it."
Sesshomaru widened his eyes. He let go of the sword and it fell to the ground. How? She can't be dead! The Tenseiga sword can save someone's life, but it didn't work when her whole soul was gone!
Kagome gasped in a shaken gasp. She fell to her knees and stared at the lifeless child. Tears flowed down her face. Her whole body trembles in fear. The tears dripped down her face.
"No... it can't be... Tell me you're lying!" She cried, embracing her body tightly.
Zero scoffed. "Do I look like I'm lying to you, Priestess?" she questioned her. "My whole plan is now completed. Now Naraku and Kikyo will help my brother to destroy all of you!"
"You bitch!" Inuyasha yelled furiously, pulling out his Tesseiga sword. "You killed her!" When he ran towards her, she managed to dodge his attack and then kicked him in the stomach.
"Inuyasha!" Ayame yelled out his name as she ran towards him. She knelt and hold on to him.
When Inuyasha was knocked out, Kikyo appeared from the temple altar and saw her former lover being attacked by Riku who protected her. She doesn't know where she was and why she was naked outside, but she remembered how she had used enchantment on Inuyasha to kill Kagome then take the half of her soul.
"Inu... yasha...?" Kikyo called out his name softly and quietly. She took a step forward the stairs and looked over Inuyasha and the others. Everyone noticed Kikyo was fully alive again.
Zero smirked. "Kikyo." She walked towards the other priestess as she brought the clothing priestess robe from Tsubaki. "How lovely to see you! Here are your clothes. You needed it, so everyone won't see you naked again."
Kikyo blinked in confusion, staring down at her clothes. She put it on, changing it in front of the others. Inuyasha grunted, getting up as Ayame took care of him until he gazed at the half-naked Kikyo. He widened his eyes in surprise.
"Kikyo?"
She heard Inuyasha call out, she turned her head and Inuyasha sat in front of his mate Ayame who knelt beside him.
"Inuyasha...?"
Everyone was silent. Except for Kagome who sobbed while holding Ayane close. Sesshomaru was there beside her. He tried to use the Tenseiga sword to save her, but it refused. Her whole soul was gone. Kikyo looked over at Sesshomaru and Kagome grieving their daughter's death. She noticed it. It was terrible.
"Kagome... Sesshomaru..." Kikyo murmured, softening her honey-brown eyes.
"Riku! Did Naraku awaken the demonic soul?" Zero asked.
Riku nodded, bowing down to her. "Yes, he is awakened, My Lady."
Everyone noticed Naraku was the last respond as he looked around the room in confusion and then down at himself. He was completely naked. He moved his fingers and arms, then legs and head before grinning widely. He knew he was alive. Fully alive! Everyone refused of seeing Naraku alive! He chuckled darkly, not only that he was alive again. Today sure had been a good day for him.
"Hello, Naraku," Riku greeted him with a smirk, bringing the dark purple kimono to him. "My name is Riku and I am bringing you to Lady Zero of the Eastern Land. I expect you would like to wear your old outfits, My Lord."
"Aw. Do I have to wear them, Riku? I'm actually rather comfortable without clothing and the view here is quite exquisite," Naraku replied with an evil smirk.
"Well, I hate to break it to you, Naraku, but Inuyasha, Sesshomaru, and Kagome are here right now, the ones who defeated you almost five years ago," Riku said with a sweatdrop, smiling.
Sesshomaru? Inuyasha? And Kagome? Why are they all here? Naraku sighed in disappointment as he put on the clothes provided for him. After this, Riku leads Naraku downstairs and then meets up with Lady Zero.
Naraku noticed everyone are there. Kikyo was here, too. He thought Kikyo was dead forever, but she's been revived by Zero and Riku. He looked over and saw Tsubaki standing beside Zero with an evil smirk. Everyone glared at their enemy, except Kagome and Sesshomaru who still grieved Ayane's death. He didn't know why Kagome sobbed too much, but he detested her with her crybaby looks. But he saw her holding a dead little girl. Who is this child? But who cares about this dramatic family moment?
When the two men walked towards Zero, she began to speak to them with a dark smirk. "Hello, Naraku," she greeted him. "I am Lady Zero and I am the one who revived you and Kikyo."
Naraku narrowed his crimson eyes. "What do you mean?"
Kikyo frowned. She did not trust this woman who had revived them both. She stared at them, backing away from them.
"Well, Naraku, I thought it would be nice for you and Kikyo to be alive again, and you see, I also kind of need a little favor from you both," Lady Zero said.
Kikyo couldn't help but interrupt their talk. "And what favor do you want from us?" she asked in a voice tone, walking towards them.
"Why, you two are the only ones strong enough with demonic and spiritual powers to help my brother named Kirinmaru, also I want you both to help him open the Rift," Zero told them.
"The Rift? Whatever is that?" Naraku asked.
"It's a passage in time that allows you to travel anywhere in the past and the future," she explained to them Inuyasha's eyes gone widened.
Kikyo widened her eyes in surprise. "What can you gain from doing such a thing?"
"That's a secret," Riku winked his eye with a bare-teeth smile.
"I'll help on one condition," Naraku smirked.
"And what would that be, my dear?" Zero asked with a curious look.
He grinned evilly. "You would work with me."
Zero widened her emerald green eyes in a sweatdrop. Riku was shocked, chuckling nervously. And everyone was shocked as well. Was Naraku trying to make Zero his servant? Was he really that dumb or something?
"Work with you? Of course not, Naraku! I shall never be your servant! You and I shall work together by force! When you and Kikyo helped my brother to open the Rift with your powers, you and I shall be working together instead of being your servant," she snapped with a glaring look, pointing at the Great Mountain.
Inuyasha couldn't help but glare at them both. He walked towards them, pulling out the Tesseiga sword. "Alright, I've had enough of you both! I don't care what you wanted Kirinmaru to open the Rift, but why do you want to work with him!?"
Zero glared at him with a hateful look in her eyes. "Is it absolutely? Do you want to know why I wanted to work with Naraku? Well, here is a thing..." She walked towards the half-demon dog before she shouted in his face. "YOU AND ONE OF YOUR KIND MURDERED MY NIECE!"
"What?" Inuyasha blinked.
"You and your half-breed kind took my niece away, so now we will have our revenge on those who were half-breeds and humans! Not only I wouldn't forget about how your mother ruined my life by falling for your father! However, this is all your fault for their deaths!"
Everyone gasped. Sesshomaru started to interrupt them with a frown look on his face. "It doesn't matter, Zero. It wasn't their fault they died," he told Zero, glaring at her sharply.
She snarled at the Lord of the Western. "And you are the reason who betrayed us!" she snapped in anger. "Now you must pay!"
"You won't defeat me, Zero. There is no way you can," Sesshomaru muttered.
When the two demons glared at each other, Kikyo interrupted again as she slowly walked toward them. Everyone watched her. They didn't know what she was doing.
"Excuse me. Forgive me for interrupting, but I believe I shall open the Rift to bring your niece back," Kikyo suggested with a smile.
"Really?" Zero asked happily.
The priestess nodded. "Yes."
"Kikyo, no! You can't do that!" Inuyasha pleaded with her, trying to stop her from helping Zero.
Kikyo glanced into her eyes with a nod response, making him believe he can trust her. They didn't know what she was playing at, but they don't trust her since she had put an enchantment on Inuyasha. Ayame hoped Inuyasha didn't fall for her again.
"Stand and observe," Kikyo ordered, gliding towards the Great Mountain gracefully. She summoned her spiritual energy and gathered it ready to release. Everyone realized what she was going to do.
She released the energy. Everything was in chaos as tables flipped. Everyone is surprised of seeing Kikyo was doing. The flames circled Kikyo. Zero and Riku fell back in shock. She had betrayed her!
"Kikyo, what are you doing!?" Zero shouted at her in anger. "How dare you tricked me!?"
Kikyo glared at her her eyes burning more intensely than the flam red themselves. "I will not be a pawn in your game of chess! Your evil intentions shall not be fulfilled!" She boomed over the blazing inferno and the howling of the wind. Everything was on fire. The whole place, the forest was on fire!
"Everyone, run quickly!" Ayame shouted as she and the others ran away, except Kagome who refused to leave Ayane alone.
Sesshomaru ran towards his mate and tucked her shoulder. "Kagome! We have to go now!"
"B-but... I can't leave Ayane behind! I can't even find the place to bury her...!" Kagome sobbed, holding the four-year-old half-breed child close to her.
Kagura appeared out of nowhere and stood in front of them. "Don't worry, you guys. I'll take your daughter's body somewhere place, so her body won't be burned."
It was the first time of seeing Kagura being so pitiful, but to show them her softness kind. She watched Kagome pick Ayane's corpse up and then passed it to her slowly. This is the last time of seeing her.
Kagome sobbed, giving her a kiss on her forehead. "Goodbye, Ayane," she said as she leaned close to Sesshomaru. She took a ride on his back then they took off flying away from Kagura.
Kagura pulled out a small feather and then transformed it into a giant feather before she took off flying in the sky away from the fire. After for a while to get away from the fire, she disposed of her somewhere in the forest and headed back to the Eastern Land.