Four Souls
The First Soul: Kagome
An Inuyasha Fanfiction
By Azurite
sailor_andromida@yahoo.com
http://www.geocities.com/azurite_moon
PG
REVISED 12.16.2001 – Reformatted in HTML so that you can
see italics, bold, etc. The spacing between lines should be okay too. Up to
this point, I've read the origins of the Shikon no Tama chapter, so I might end
up fitting the story in here somehow… I don't know… ^^;;
REVISED 11.15.2001 - I
fixed the spelling of "Urasue" and reformatted the fic nicely.
Wai-wai! As for the Sango-origins-of-the-Shikon-no-Tama. okay, I guess this is
an AU fic. I've only read up to manga 8, and plan to buy all the Japanese ones
and read-along-with-my-book on the Net. So far, there's 22 manga, so I need to
save up some $$ !
Disclaimer
Right, IY and Kagome, and Kikyou and all them belong to the richest woman in
all of Japan-Rumiko Takahashi I-wish-she-were-my-mom-sama. ^^;; I'm just
borrowing them for my own malicious purposes. ^^ This involves a bit of
romance, some action, some gore, and some angst. You know. ME.
Total length: 4 pages
Legend
"Spoken"
* Thought *
Remembered
=Whispered=
Emphasis
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
The truth behind the Shikon
no Tama -the Jewel of the Four Souls- is shrouded in mystery. Even the revered
priestess of ages past does not know its true secret, its power. No one alive
still does. For when they find out, their very soul is stolen from them.
Kagome needed only to look into his eyes. Amber colored, rare and mysterious,
but with the same kind of fog, the same desperate isolation that Kagome saw
only before in her own previous incarnation. It wasn't enough to have the
legends shoved in her face; brutal words and reminders of a past she didn't
remember; of a soul that wasn't rightfully hers.
* Are you happy now, Kikyou? You live because of hatred for your beloved, but
he is as good as dead himself! And I am. I don't know what I am anymore. * Kagome
heaved a sigh and adjusted her overweight pack on her back.
There was no escape to this life of searching for the Shikon no Tama shards.
After all, it had been her fault the damned thing was splintered in the first
place. But who had created the foolish thing-given it life, and power? Who had
told the world about it, such so that hundreds upon thousands of mercenary
warriors, rounin, bloodthirsty demons, and even the pure-hearted would seek it?
Why?
* I suppose I understand Kikyou now, in a way. * Kagome blinked at her own
thoughts, and shook her head; unaware of the glances she was getting from the
odd monk Miroku, and the half-demon Inuyasha. * But I'm not her. I never was
her... right? *
Doubting oneself was the most horrible pain one could feel. Kagome pinched her
eyes shut as her subconscious brought back uncomfortable memories of a time not
too long ago.
There was no lie in my kiss, Inuyasha.
Kikyou. A foolish demon witch had brought the undead priestess, without a soul,
back to life. Thinking the priestess would lead her to the Shikon no Tama; she
ordered the shell of Kikyou to do her bidding. But without a soul, that was all
Kikyou was- a doll. Until, that is, the witch, Urasue figured out just who
Kikyou's soul had been reborn into.
Kagome Higurashi: an unwilling participant in a magical battle of strength,
ingenuity, and power-- and in some extreme cases, luck. In a Feudal Japan of
demons, magical jewels, and lost souls, Kagome was, what she considered an
ordinary Japanese school girl, forced to help out a demon and what were most
likely her ancestors because of a total accident. It was like something out of
a manga.
* I know he really loved-- loves her. Every time she appears, even if
she threatens to kill him, drag him to hell. He would go willingly, because he
trusts her. Me.* A tear escaped Kagome's brown eyes, * I'm just a wench. *
Kagome suddenly stopped walking with the rest of the group, her thoughts having
taken a disturbing turn. After about three yards, the group looked backwards at
her.
"Kagome? What's wrong?" Shippou asked, jumping off Miroku's shoulder
to look up at her with his large and young eyes. Kagome stared down at the kit
blankly. He was young and innocent, but a demon nonetheless. He had seen war,
and felt pain. But he concealed it well. For Kagome, it was different. She had
no underlying strength or blood heritage to fall back on. The word ordinary was
meaningless in a world such as this.
* If only Urasue had succeeded in transferring my -no, Kikyou's- soul back to
her. *
It was a profound thought, one almost striking enough to be called an epiphany.
She blinked back a tear she hadn't know was in her eye and stared down at
Shippou, the little kit's tail swishing in wonderment at Kagome's sudden lack
of emotion. She managed a weak and false smile.
"I'm fine. Nothing's wrong. Come on," Kagome plastered on an entirely
fake smile on her face and skipped ahead, doing her best to avoid the piercing
amber gaze of Inuyasha. Once, Kagome would have thought of those eyes as warm--
amber was a warm, if not rare color, to be cherished. But it was a demonic
color now, one that could have coldness and depthlessness to it. One that held
no warmth for her.
*******************************************************************************
Later that night, when the foursome of shard-hunters slept, Kagome tossed. The
fire crackling, the soft inhalations and whispers of Miroku and Shippou… the
entirely false sleep of Inuyasha. Kagome sat up suddenly, and felt that same
cold, piercing gaze as from before. If she didn't speak, perhaps he wouldn't
either. Drawing herself from her sleeping bag, and without chancing a second
glance towards Inuyasha, Kagome ran into the woods.
She barely heard the echo of Inuyasha's cry at her dash into woods. But she couldn't
go back. The briars of the bushes tore at her, and the cold feeling that she
got when in this word-the alert of a demon presence, and an unkind one at
that-swept through her. But Kagome kept running. She had to keep running if
only to avoid her own fears.
* I don't know if I should even be sorry, Inuyasha. Not for you. You love her,
not me… and it's my fault for believing anything otherwise. *
Almost fifteen minutes later, Kagome flung herself down on the cool, soft
ground of a clearing. It had a mystical sort of energy about it, the kind that
demons avoided. It was perfect. Heaving for breath and red-faced, Kagome lay
without movement on the soil. Inuyasha was fast, and would pick up her scent up
soon enough.
"Kikyou." Kagome stood up on shaky legs and
stared into the inky blackness surrounding her. She was here. She had to be.
Then, in a glimmer of light, the former priestess stood before her, that cold
stare, blank and soulless stabbing Kagome.
"After all I have done –or attempted to do— to you, you still summon
me." Kikyou stated with some amusement. Kagome clicked her tongue a little
bit and turned her head to the side, back to the direction where she'd come.
"Why not? I have what you want."
"Che. You have nothing I want." Kikyou glared at her reincarnation
with distaste. While doing so, her eyes shifted a bit up and down. Her
reincarnation had been running from something --or someone. She was barely
clothed, so that could only mean one thing.
"You are his lover, then?" Kikyou's words, had they been liquid,
would have been a searing, burning acid. Kagome blinked, in a state of shock,
and then shook her head with a whispered chuckle.
"Anything but." She responded, avoiding the images her mind sent to
her --of Inuyasha.
"What then?" Kikyou asked, daring to move a step closer. Her
counterpart was unarmed, but had obviously built of some experience in this
time and place. She knew this place was a magical center of convergence, where
no demon could enter. Not even a half-demon such as Inuyasha. At least, not
while a soul and a shell were at the same time.
Kagome placed a hand on her own breast, thumping her heart lightly. She stared
deeply into Kikyou's eyes, meeting them with a sense of confidence. The fear
had left her. This was her decision, her choice. It had to be done, for the
good of this time, for her friends. If they really were that.
"Our soul."
*******************************************************************************
Kwhaha. There shall be another part, of course. What will happen to Kagome and
Kikyou? When will Inuyasha show up, and if he does, will he be able to do
anything, trapped outside the Circle of Mystical Convergence?
Stay tuned for Part 2: Soul Switch