Otherworld 3: Tala
Chapter 6 - Kome and Ayala
All eyes turned to Kaiba and Kome jumped to his feet. The mage blushed under the stares. He was feeling bad enough and this was making it worse!
"What did you do to Ayala? Where is she?" Kome demanded.
"She is getting dressed." Kome started growling again and Kaiba shrank away from the Wolf Demon. Kouga pulled his son away from the mage. "I'm sorry, Kome. I didn't want to do this. I feel terrible."
"Kaiba, please tell us what the problem is." Kurama said, trying to get everyone back on track.
"Ayala is pregnant."
Just as the words came out of Kaiba's mouth, Ayala appeared on the stairs above. "Pregnant? I'm pregnant?"
She looked into her mate's eyes. What should have been a time of celebration and joy was now a time of fear and mistrust. This child would be the next generation of Naraku's line - the line that Tala had tried to erase by sacrificing her own future. Tears filled Ayala's eyes and she whispered, "What shall I do?"
Kome ran up the stairs and took his petite mate in his arms. But he had no answers to her question.
"I found nothing different about her, but then there didn't seem to be anything different about Tala either. I really don't know what I am looking for." Kaiba said, his voice sad.
"This should be a time of joy, not sorrow. We cannot condemn an innocent child without giving it a chance." Aara stated.
"And we cannot take a chance until we know what to look for. There has got to be something that is different about Tala that you've overlooked." Kurama spoke, not wanting to be the bad guy, but feeling like he had no choice. He was the head of the Protectors and it was his job to protect Otherworld. Everyone else was using their hearts rather than their heads.
"What do you suggest?" Aara asked her first male.
"Ayala should stay here in the Castle until the baby is born. Then maybe we will learn how to tell if Naraku's imprint is on it."
"My mate is to be held prisoner in the Castle?" Kome asked, getting angry again.
The Princess used her power, something she rarely did with a group like this, but tempers were getting frayed. Comfort and peace blanketed the room and everyone began to settle down. "I think it would be for the best, Kome." Aara said, her voice gentle and calm, "We want to protect Ayala. You heard what happened to Tala. You wouldn't want Ayala to be hurt by a duplicate instead of giving birth to a child. And you are more than welcome to live here with her. It will only be until we can be sure about the child."
Kome nodded and Aara had a suite of rooms prepared for them. After hearing what had happened, Tala came down to say how responsible she felt for what was happening.
"You are not to blame for what your father has done to you. And without your help, we would still be ignorant of your duplicates. We owe you a debt of gratitude." Aara told her sincerely.
At that moment, several guards walked into the room on their way outside for the changing of the guard and Tala suddenly cried out. "That's him! I can sense him!"
"Him? You mean your duplicate? Where?" They looked around the room but didn't see a male Tala anywhere.
"The guard! He is one of the guards." Tala pointed the guards that had just come into the room.
None of the guards looked like Tala at all. What was the girl talking about? She ran down the stairs and walked up to the guards.
"That one!" She indicated one of the guards that stood at the back. "I can sense him. He is my brother."
The guard didn't look anything like her. He was tall and swarthy. InuYasha took hold of him and brought him forward. "Are you sure?"
"Yes, I am positive. I can sense him." Tala said.
"He must be able to change his shape. Could Naraku do that?"
"Not that I know of." Kurama replied. "But we never knew the full extent of his powers."
With terrible timing, the front door opened right behind the guards and Hiei and his niece, Hiya, walked into the room. The guard suddenly pulled free of InuYasha, taking the Dog Demon by surprise. For a split second, the male counterpart to Tala appeared and then literally jumped into Hiya. He disappeared. The duplicates had the power to merge into other people!
Hiya/Tala snarled, "Stay back!"
"What is happening?" Hiei asked in alarm, not understanding what had happened.
"He has the power to hide inside of another person, just like he did with Tala! We can't let him escape!" Aara called out.
Hiya/Tala drew her sword and then began to ice up the room. The guards' feet froze to the floor and the others were slipping on the treacherous ice. Hiya/Tala backed towards the door, and the others gave passage, but kept close. They had to do something - but what? They couldn't attack her; they didn't want to hurt the real Hiya who was an innocent host. Hiei drew his sword, angry over his inability to make a move. His beloved niece was captive by whatever thing had just jumped inside of her. Soon Hiya/Tala was out the front door and slowly walking backward to the gate, icing up the area as she went. Once outside the gate, she could vanish into the surrounding hills and forests.
Unaware of the danger, Kiri was coming to the gate on his way to visit the Castle. Hiya/Tala saw him, making his decision in an instant. A strong, young male body was much better than a petite female. Again Tala emerged from its host, with Hiya crumbing to the ground, and jumped into Kiri.
"No!!" screamed the Princess. Not the Unicorn!
Kiri stood there motionless for a few minutes and everyone stood their ground. Then a golden circle of light began to form in the center of his forehead and his body shimmered. Brilliant light blinded them for few seconds and then subsided, leaving a unicorn in place of a man. And in front of him was the duplicate; he had been thrown out of Kiri's body.
With only a moment's hesitation and too quickly for anyone to react, the duplicate ran into the trees and disappeared.
"He picked the wrong creature to merge into. Kiri's magic was stronger than his and he could not control the body." Kurama mused.
Hiei rushed to his niece, who was beginning to come to, unsure of what had happened to her. Kurama quickly filled them in and Kaiba went to examine her.
Guards and Protectors searched the hills and woods surrounding the Castle, but the duplicate had disappeared. InuYasha tracked its scent until it merged with a group of humans and then the scent disappeared. The duplicate had merged into one of the humans and had gone into hiding again.
Aara sent out messengers to the Demon World rulers, to Suzaku and to Kaede's Village, warning them of the male Tala's, Naraku's sons, and their ability to merge into another's body. There were four male Tala's roaming the worlds and they might look like anyone!
That night Kome lay in bed wrapped around his mate, his beloved Ayala. He already missed his own bed and his own home. And he could hear Ayala softly weeping and that broke his heart. How much more pain would Naraku cause? The demon was dead and still wrecking havoc! The young wolf kissed the top of his mate's head and held her even closer. "We will get through this, Ayala. And our baby will be fine."
Ayala looked up at him, "This should be the happiest day of our life and it is one of the worst!"
"No, Ayala, the happiest day of my life was when I met you." Kome told her and he meant every word. "I love you. And no matter what happens, I will never stop loving you."