Sesshomaru was walking inside Naraku's spider form. The place reeked of Naraku's stench but he could still sense his son and Rin. Suddenly, an evil chuckling surrounded him and he stopped walking.

"Ah, Sesshomaru," Naraku's voice echoed around the chamber. "I'm surprised you made it out of my fabricated world. But you're too late. Your son's demonic power has already provided me with the strength I required."

"Enough of your insignificant declarations," Sesshomaru spoke, having heard enough. "It's time for you to die."

Naraku chuckled again. "Good luck with that. You and I both know that you won't kill me unless you find your son. By then it will be too late. I will have absorbed him into my flesh."

Sesshomaru knew that Naraku was simply trying to get on his nerves and so chose to ignore him. He continued walking, following Mikazuki's scent as well as he could.

Soon, he came across Kagome. However, she was unconscious and lying on the ground. There was a wound on her right arm and it seemed that she had been attacked. Lower level demons were closing in on her and so he slayed them with his claws. He would have to keep her from harm until she regained consciousness. In an ideal world he would have left her since she wasn't his responsibility but he knew that Lyra would have gotten angry at him if she found out.

Thankfully, it wasn't long before Kagome woke up. Looking over her shoulder as she sat up, she was shocked to see Sesshomaru protecting her.

"Sesshomaru?"

He glanced back at her before continuing to slay the demons.

"You've been driving away these demons all this time?" she asked in surprise.

"That wound," he said. "Is it Inuyasha's doing?"

Her hesitance was her answer.

He figured it out. "Being a mere half demon, I presume Naraku's darkness overcame him."

Kagome recalled when Inuyasha had pushed her down after his demon side took over. But she refused to believe that he was trying to hurt her.

"No, that's not it," she defended.

However, Sesshomaru was already walking away. She called out to him to wait and ran after him. She had a better chance at survival if she stuck with him. It was awkwardly silent for a long time as she trailed behind him. To break the silence, she began asking questions.

"So, is Lyra okay?"

"Yes," he replied simply, not really in the mood for a conversation.

Still, Kagome continued. "Where is she?"

"In the village with Jaken, the old lady and the fox demon child."

"Where were you guys?"

Sesshomaru had to restrain himself from rolling his eyes. "In a fake world. Lyra can explain it to you," he said, hoping that would put an end to it.

"Sesshomaru," she continued. "Your nose is as sharp as Inuyasha's, isn't it? Aren't you able to locate Rin and Mikazuki?"

He didn't answer her and remained silent, which made Kagome feel awkward and left wondering if she should have even mentioned Inuyasha in the first place. However, Sesshomaru's thoughts were on something else entirely.

'Naraku's body is much larger on the inside than it appears on the outside.'

Then, Kagome's gasp made him glance over. She was looking at what appeared to be Rin sitting upon the flesh.

"Look! Rin's right up there!"

Sesshomaru continued walking. "That is only an illusion. Pathetic. Is Naraku trying to mock me? All the same, it's clear I can't use Bakuseiga carelessly."

***

Down in the village, Jaken had given Lyra the lowdown on what had happened during their disappearance. According to him, everyone was on the search for Mikazuki but Naraku had grown so powerful that he was able to conceal himself. And it was all because Sesshomaru wasn't there. Obviously being unprotected, Rin was easily captured as well. Apparently they thought Sesshomaru and Lyra had been killed until Naraku had boasted about what he had done, all to showcase his power.

The cloud was growing larger but soon they were all able to witness the demon within it. It looked like a giant spider in the sky and it was truly frightening. All the villagers were out, all fearing what was to come.

"Lady Kaede, could that be him?" one man asked.

She nodded. "Yes. It must be Naraku's new transformation. Quite ominous, isn't it? Like a giant Shikon jewel that has been completely defiled."

Lyra's heart felt heavy and she just wished she could have gone with Sesshomaru. 'My baby's in there... God knows what he's done to you, Mikazuki. But stay strong. Your father's coming to save you. I know you're in there. Just please stay strong.'

The more she thought about him, the more anxious she became. She knew Sesshomaru told her that she had to stay in the village but her heart was yearning to see her son. She wanted to go to him.

"Sesshomaru's gonna be so mad..."

She left the village in search of Jaken and Shippo. It wasn't long before she could hear the two arguing and she followed their noise until she found them almost attacking each other.

"Hey, hey, hey!" she shouted as she pushed them away from each other. "Guys, stop it!"

They both huffed and glared at each other.

She sighed. "Shippo, I need your help."

He looked up at her. "With what?"

"I need you to fly me up to that," she said as she pointed up to Naraku.

Jaken's eyes widened. "No!" he screamed. "Lord Sesshomaru will kill me if you go up there! He specifically told you to stay in the village!"

She clasped her hands together pleadingly. "Jaken, I need to go to Mikazuki. I can't just sit here twiddling my thumbs."

Shippo felt bad for her. "It's okay, Lyra. I'll take you."

Jaken growled. "No! No! No! Lady Lyra stays here! There's only room for one and I'm going instead! Lord Sesshomaru will be furious!"

Lyra sighed. "Jaken-"

"Excuse me."

They all looked over and saw Kohaku. He was holding A-Un's leash and Lyra's face lit up. That was her way up. Despite Jaken's attempts at trying to stop her, she mounted A-Un and Kohaku got on behind her. Knowing that he wasn't going to win, Jaken climbed on followed by Shippo.

They flew up towards the ominous cloud. The closer they approached Naraku's form, the more they realised how large it was. It still looked big from the ground but it was only then that they truly witnessed the sheer size of it. Once they were close enough, the jaws opened and they saw nothing but a black pit. Before they went in, Lyra glanced back at the others.

"If anyone is having second thoughts or is scared, now's the time to turn back," she said. "I'm talking to you, Jaken."

He frowned at her. "What are you implying?! I'm going in!"

She smiled. "Okay then."

There was no turning back. They flew down and entered Naraku's body. Instantly, Lyra was able to sense Magatsuhi's evil. It was the same aura from the time Sesshomaru fought him just before he obtained Bakusaiga.

'I'm coming...'

***

Sesshomaru and Kagome were still walking. But he suddenly stopped and frowned deeply.

"Lyra..."

"Lyra?" she repeated in confusion. "Is she here?"

"I told her to stay in the village." He growled. 'Lyra, will you never listen to me..?'

Kagome didn't know what to say. But then Sesshomaru could sense something else.

"Rin's close by," he told her.

She gasped, "What?"

His eyes narrowed. "We have to fly."

Without wasting any time, he began to fly off and Kagome quickly grabbed hold onto the tail end of his mokomoko.

"You know where she is?"

"Inuyasha is there with her," he informed.

"Inuyasha too?"

"However, he remains in demon form."

Kagome became worried for the young girl and hoped that Inuyasha didn't hurt her. Sesshomaru flew as fast as he could and it wasn't long before he found her. Beyond her was Inuyasha. Unfortunately, his body had been taken over by Magatsuhi.

"Lord Sesshomaru!" Rin gasped happily upon seeing him but her body was slowly being swallowed into the flesh. "I can't move!" she cried.

Sesshomaru tried to get to her just as she was completely taken. But then Inuyasha stood in front of him so he couldn't even attempt to get her out. A fight broke out between them and Magatsuhi continuously taunted Sesshomaru. He was trying to get him to kill Inuyasha. However, Sesshomaru had no desire to kill him since he meant nothing to him.

Soon after though, Kagome was in trouble and Inuyasha slowly regained control. Once Magatsuhi became trapped by Inuyasha's Dragon Scale Tetsaiga, Sesshomaru cut through him with the Tenseiga, thus destroying him.

***

As they flew in deeper, Lyra suddenly felt Magatsuhi's darkness disappear. It was as if he had finally been defeated and a little hint of light had risen. Unfortunately, the hope didn't last long as a harsh shaking rumbled around them.

Jaken looked back. "What's going on?"

"You think Naraku's realised we're here yet?" Shippo whimpered.

"What is that?" Kohaku asked.

"I'm not sure..." Lyra said with worry in her tone.

Suddenly, sharp black tendrils began shooting at them. Jaken was attacked first and went flying off, followed by Shippo.

"Jaken! Shippo!" Lyra yelled.

But then she screamed as a tendril shot at her and pushed her off A-Un. Kohaku called for her but she had been dragged away. Luckily, the sharp point didn't stab her and she was able to grab hold of it. She was quickly separated from the others but she knew that if Naraku was going to kill her, he would have done so already. He was simply trying to separate them from one another. She didn't know where it was going to take her but she tried to search for an escape.

"Damn..." she cursed under her breath. "Naraku, you bastard."

His laugh suddenly echoed around her. "My, my. It's a shame that Hokori never managed to kill you, Lyra. I never thought your old lover would come to save the day."

She gritted her teeth. "Where is my son, Naraku?"

He laughed again. "He's with me. He is no longer your son but a puppet in my plans for the future."

It took everything for Lyra to keep herself together. She couldn't break down and show her weakness. However, she had a plan that she hoped would work.

"You're a coward, Naraku. You're scared that I'll save him."

"Coward? You're going to save him? The woman who always needs Sesshomaru or Kanda to save the day?" He chuckled lowly. "Well, since you managed to survive, I might as well give you one last chance to see him," he said. "You can say your final goodbyes."

Her eyes widened. She couldn't believe he was going to allow her to see him. In fact, the tendril she was still holding onto had moved direction. Naraku was so sure that he was going to win and therefore wanted to prove his power. He wanted to perform his power as if to show her that he had all control over her. But at that moment, Lyra needed to pretend to play into his hand.

Naraku was leading her straight to Mikazuki.