Peeping out from beneath the stationary body of the nearest sentry, Myoga stared as the demon carried Kagome and Shippo awa. Watching them struggle, he felt an odd sensation of guilt. But what could I do? he wondered? I'm just a blood sucking flea demon. You should be with them, an inner voice told him. They're your friends...
"Oh, shut up," Myoga said in disgust to his inner voice. "They should have known better...." But even as he trailed off, he thought about what Kagome had said....
Sure, I'm a coward, he thought. But that doesn't mean I care any less about my lord's or Saia's safety. I just care more about my own. But that didn't sound right to him. Inu-Yasha would kill me if he knew that I had let Kagome and Shippo get captured, he thought. I need to rescue them. But how? Myoga frowned, all of his concentration on the task in front of him. Then, he found a solution. Of course, he thought. I'll go find Saia.
~~~~~~~~~
"This way, my lady," Madge whispered as they walked through a narrow corridor. "The dungeon is down here."
Saia nodded, and slowed her steps to match the old woman's. She wished they could go faster, but Madge was as slow as a turtle, and it was probably the fastest way for her to get to Inu-Yasha. With all of these twists and turns, she thought, I'd get lost.
"My lady," Madge said hesitantly as she opened the door to yet another hallway filled with doors, that were filled with corridors leading to ther doors and more corridors.
"Yes?" Saia asked. It felt strange to be called "lady", but she could get used to it.
"My lady, how long are you going to stay? The master - "
"Madge, I care not about your master. I am only going to rescue his brother, then I'm leaving."
"But you only just arrived!" the old woman protested. "And I was going to prepare your old room, and - "
"I'm not staying," Saia said. "Because I don't belong here. The person you're hoping for died quite a long time ago. I'm not the old Saia."
"No," Madge agreed. "You're not." This answer surprised Saia so much that she stopped and stared at the old woman.
"What do you mean?" saia demanded. "Why am I not like her?"
"For one thing," said Madge. "She was always kind and generous."
"You don't know me well enough to see if I'm kind or generous," Saia snapped.
"Well, she loved everything and always tried to find the good in people."
"Who says I don't?"
"She had plenty of love, to give and what she had been given."
"Well, good for her," Saia said sarcastically. "But, then again, she's dead now, isn't she?"
The barb struck home and Madge stood in stunned silence as Saia also stood, too proud to take back her words said in anger.
"She never would have said something like that, never," the old woman said in a choked up voice. "That's why my master loved her so. You were right,"she continued, her voice stronger, angrier. "You're nothing like the wonderful person who once lived here. In fact, you're a disgrace to her. That someone like you could be her reincarnation...it's a crime." She turned around, and, surprisingly fast, ran away.
Saia started after her, then decided against it. What did she expect? she wondered bitterly. Did she really think that I enjoy being compared to some person who was practically perfect? That I like being told that I'm not as good as someone else was? The old Saia never got mad, never showed her feelings, just took everything thrown at her and made the best of it. I know I'm not like that, Saia thought. But maybe that's a good thing.
Turning down a hallway, she heard voices. Oh, well, she thought. Won't hurt to try. She took a deep breath and opened the nearest door.