-Chapter 20-

Kira stepped out of the darkness and into the light. Her eyes were glazed over, almost as if she was hypnotized. She kept walking, past the two stunned dog demons, and into more darkness.

It was right then that Inuyasha heard it; there was a mysterious music playing. After listening to one second of it, he no longer had control over his own body. His eyes, too, glazed over. He walked in the same direction Kira was walking. He completely ignored Sesshomaru's presence.

Sesshomaru was hearing the exact same sound, but to him it did nothing. He sat down; Inuyasha had not held up his end of the bargain. To pay for his mistake, Kagome would be attacked. This would rile him up enough to finally fight face to face with him.

Inuyasha kept walking. He was soon caught up to Kira in a cavern. The rocky hole lay buried deep inside a mountain. He didn't hear any other noises except the music that kept telling him to find the Twin Dragon of Darkness and Light.

Kira heard nothing except the music that was telling her to find the Feathered Dragon of the Sky and the Venom Dragon of the Mountains.

When the melody was through playing, both characters exited the cavern. Neither halfdemon paid any attention to the other, they just kept walking without so much as acknowledging each others' presence. Both their eyes were still glazed over. They had a new mission and a master to serve.

Eventually they broke apart, with Inuyasha heading in an opposing direction to Kira's path. He was going to get the Twin Dragon at any cost. Kira would get her dragons at any cost.

"Oh! Kira, thank goodness you're okay! I was worried sick!" Kagome squealed.

Kira nodded, but didn't otherwise respond.

"Sweetie, are you alright? Did something happen?" Kagome asked in a motherly tone.

Inuyasha appeared moments after Kira. Though he'd taken a slightly different path, he needed a place to crash for the night.

"Oh. Hi, Inuyasha. Welcome back." she said.

He nodded, like Kira, but didn't respond beyond that.

"Why are you two so quiet? What happened?" she asked suspiciously.

"..." No one answered. The melody never told them to talk.

And then everyone heard it. The same melody played again.

"Everyone cover your ears!" Sango yelled over the elegant, flute-like music.

"Why?" Miroku asked, covering his ears as he did so.

"That music can hypnotize you into doing whatever it is the user wants you to do!" she answered.

The music stopped abruptly. Everyone was free to uncover their ears.

Inuyasha and Kira went into the forest again.

"Kira!" Kagome yelled. She started to run after her daughter, but was stopped suddenly by Sango. Kilala purred.

"Kagome, it's too late." she said over Kagome's struggling. These words naturally made her stop struggling. Sango continued, "Kira and Inuyasha have both been bewitched by the demon who plays that song."

"But, why?" she whispered. "Kira can't be of any help..."

"That's not for me to decide. That kind of music belongs only to a very rare and usually shy demon called a Ransurai. Ransurai use different tones in their voices to tell their pawns what they want them to do. But they never hurt those which they bewitch." she said.

"But what does a Ransurai want with Inuyasha and Kira?" Miroku asked.

"It probably wants them to find something it's lost, by the sound of things." Myoga explained.

"Will Kira be okay?" Shippo sniffled.

"Yes, Shippo. Kira will be fine. Once she's done with her assigned job, she'll be released from the grasp of the demon." Sango replied.

"By the way, Sango, what does a Ransurai look like?" Kagome asked.

"Well, a Ransurai is a kind of bird demon found only in the most dangerous of places. They prefer not to fight by themselves, even though they are among the most powerful of demons, so they use their melodies to put their victims in a trance until they are no longer needed. Then the victim is simply set free. They make hidden nests in safe, secluded places, such as an underground tunnel or an abandoned shack. A Ransurai has jet-black feathers so it can camouflage itself in foggy or dark places, like forests or caves. In fact, there's even a legend about a Ransurai. A long time ago, ages actually, a huge black demon bird fell in love with a human man. The two had a great time together, until the female demon got impregnated by the human man. Knowing her offspring would be a halfdemon, she fled, fearing what her partner would think of her. With no way to reverse or undo the pregnancy, she built a nest and laid three slightly premature eggs. She kept them nice and warm until they hatched. As expected, her offspring were halfdemon. She brooded and fed her chicks. But two of her three chicks didn't have the digestive system for the food she gave them. Eventually they died. The first chick to hatch, and therefore the most premature, had obtained her mother's digestive system, and could hold down even the most poisonous of insect demons. Unfortunately, it's said this particular chick was the ugliest of the three, and that her mother always made fun of her looks. When the chick was finally a fledgling and old enough to fly, her mother took her on her first hunt. The first hunt was unsuccessful, and the mother ended up having to battle her way out of an angry swarm of Sinyoshou. However, her wing was poisoned in the battle. The mother grew furious, until she snapped. She already hated her dirty-blooded daughter. She used her melody to attract a demon called a Traigukon. Traigukon are normally harmless demons that have the power to seal both body and soul inside an object. Her mother instructed the Traigukon to seal her own daughter inside any object it wanted. But, a shy and peaceful creature by nature, the Traigukon chose to seal the poor halfdemon fledgling in a protective bubble. However, once something is sealed by a Traigukon, it can't be undone unless three creatures with unknown powers come together and free it. The creatures themselves are unknown to anyone. No one has seen the halfdemon since the sealing curse was put on her." Sango explained.

"The poor little thing... That had to be so traumatic; I can't imagine what I would do if my mother did that to me." Kagome sobbed.

Inuyasha was standing right in front of Sesshomaru. He glanced, then walked right past him.

"Little brother, what are you doing? To what may I owe this most unwelcome visit?" he asked.

Surprisingly enough, Inuyasha had reverted back into his halfdemon form from the melody. He reached for Ah-Un's reins.

Sesshomaru slapped his hand away. Now he had some serious questions. "You came for my twin-headed dragon, Ah-Un. Am I correct?"

Inuyasha nodded and said calmly, "You will try to stop me?"

Sesshomaru didn't answer, but waited for his explanation.

"You expect an explanation, I suppose?"

Again he didn't answer, but kept waiting.

"Very well. I must bring the Twin Dragon of Darkness and Light to my new master. That is your explanation." he said.

Finally, Sesshomaru nodded. He was positive he knew what this was about. The melody that played back in the woods was no idle human doing. It was the work of a Ransurai. But to need a dragon such as this one? Sesshomaru was sure he knew which one it was. He stepped back to allow Inuyasha's passage. "I see. Ah is light, and Un is darkness."

Inuyasha grabbed the reins and hopped up on Ah-Un. He then rode on his back until he was at the cavern.

Ah-Un was led into a dark place. For awhile they kept walking until a blueish glow came from inside a larger cavern, not the tunnel they'd been walking in. The blueish glow was emitted by a glowing blue oval. It was sealed with immense power. A hazy figure was locked inside, waiting to be set free. This was Inuyasha's and Kira's master, the one they would obey until no longer needed, and then discarded. Hours later, Kira came in with two muzzled dragons, the Feathered Dragon of the Sky and the Venom Dragon of the Mountains.

The Feathered Dragon of the Sky was a white color, with gray wing feathers and bronze tail feathers. It's eyes were a light blue color, and its mouth was almost beak-like. It had only one leg that had four claws on it, one in the back and three in the front. The claws were so it could grasp cliffs and ledges.

The Venom Dragon of the Mountains was a lavender color. It had a long, snakelike tail that made up probably half its body length. It was scaly and reptilian. Its eyes were a pitch-black color with yellow pupils. The eyes lay on each side of the head. Its back was always kept in a slight arch. Spines were sticking out of its back, and it had fangs that secreted poison. It had no wings. In fact, it didn't even look like a dragon. It looked more like a giant, poisonous lizard.

The song played again, the tunes telling them to unmask the dragons.

Inuyasha took off Ah-Un's reins and muzzle, which actually was two muzzles linked together by a tether. Ah-Un was also freed from his saddle. Instinctively, he opened his mouths. Oh, it felt good to stretch after such a long imprisonment.

A new melody played, and the unmuzzled dragons each shot a beam of differing color out of their mouths. Ah-Un shot out a black beam from one head, and white electricity from the other. The Venom Dragon, called Vorsi, shot a purple beam. The Feathered Dragon, called Okari, unleashed a light blue beam from his mouth. The impact of the three strongest dragons in the world created enough energy to overload the barrier put around the oval, egg-like container. All dragons stopped simultaneously. They were not ordered to break the blue orb, just to shoot their powers at it. The melody told them they were done, and could be free. A single, high-pitched note played just once, and all three dragons walked out of the cavern, the spell broken.

Inuyasha and Kira were not free; they awaited their next command. There was none.

Inside the blue oval, the hazy figure stirred. It started spinning round and round, faster and faster. Eventually a vortex was created. The figure began moving and slamming itself against the walls of its confinement. Then, finally, the pressure on the inside caused the oval to shatter. The demon that had bewitched Kira and Inuyasha dashed past them and disappeared into the darkness of the one-way tunnel.

Another note was played. It was high-pitched and eloquent, but it was the note that would set the twosome free.

The pair that consisted of a halfdemon and a quarter demon blinked a couple of times, their brains trying to register how they'd gotten here and what they were doing. It was Inuyasha that realized they'd been under a spell. He hadn't gotten enough time to pull himself entirely together, but he dashed out the cave, instantly spying the now-flying sillhouette of...something...flying across the moon. Then it disappeared, only reappearing again in the light of the night stars.

"Hey! Get back here!" the roudy halfbreed yelled at it. But it was too high up to hear anymore.

"Mommy says it's not nice to yell," Kira pointed out.

The older halfdemon merely glared at the little quarter one. Dangit, when was she going to realize this wasn't her home, and he wasn't her mom? "Okay, listen, you came from the other side of the well. I'm tolerating you only because Kagome wants me to. But this? This is is my world. My time. And in this time, there's wars being set off all over the place. Yelling is a perfectly normal thing to do here. And if I want to yell, I'm going to," he explained.

As the older demon bounded off after the sillhouette, Kira followed. She hadn't understood what he'd said. What were wars? Why wasn't she informed about them? Were they bad? Surely they must be if you had to yell about them. On top of not understanding what he'd said, she didn't understand him. He would pitch such angry fits over the smallest things, instead of thinking them through like her mother did. Who was this guy, and why did her mother put up with him? All she wanted was to be his friend! But with these raging spells, he was clearly mental.

It didn't take forever to catch up to the demon, but it did take awhile. Thing was fast...

Inuyasha leapt, with little effort, into the skies and managed to kick the flying creature. This powerful, halfbreed kick sent it hurling to its left. But it quickly regained balance and thrust itself forward, directly toward...past him? It did. It flew straight past him! He brushed it off and continued following after it.

Kira could easily keep up with her father. Though she wasn't a full demon, nor even half, she had undoubtedly inherited his great powers. And, apparently, stamina.

"Why'd you cast a spell on us?" the raging halfbreed yelled. "Who do you think you are?"

Kira sped past him, stunning the halfdemon into a faltering run. Her lithe yet powerful body rocketed through the air and she climbed aboard the demon's back, only to discover it was not feathers, but a kimono it was wearing.

The beast didn't seemed to be intimidated, but it didn't look like it could hold her weight. It twisted and was soon flying on its back, which it could manage only for a short period of time before it had to turn over again.

In the pale light of the moon, the creature was clearly tiring. It struggled to move forward, let alone keep its current altitude. And eventually, airspace was being lost along with distance. Kira had done it; she'd brought this thing down.