Title: Don't Say The Words, Don't Think Them, Don't Touch Me While You Do
Summary: A wish was a painful burden.
IMPORTANT! If you haven't watched Season 2 then there are spoilers! I'm looking at you, Mizu -glares-
Personal (A little dark) Headcanon concerning the Jewel:
Rather than just the demon of the jewel manipulating Naraku, both Midoriko and the demon have orchestrated events since the creation of the jewel to create the ultimate war that would bring about two powerful foes, one miko (Kagome) and one demon (Naraku) so that they could replace them and they (Midoriko and the demon) would be free. In defeating them, they became imprisoned in Kagome's body but with a twist. With that power now mixed into her, during desperate situations, Kagome is able to hear the thoughts/wishes of those around her but it isn't unless someone touches her with a desperate wish in their heart, that she/they is forced to fulfill that wish.
Should they (the jewel) try and take extra liberties in granting the wishes, it fires back on Kagome's body.
THIS IS FOR YOU LADYMILKTEA and it may or may not have a second piece I am struggling on it so much ... (there may also be an angsty part to it I haven't told her about, eat your heart out sweet milk)
1 - I have no idea the backstory or how she got there. Not too beat up about it either lol I just really wanted a 'Kagome stops his death' scene. The basic idea was that
2 - There may be hints of shipping but idk how far I want to go into that yet so I shall leave that up to you guys~
3 - If it's not obvious or whatev, the beginning is all thoughts
ONWARDS, TO THE FIC!
First Scene
'Captain!' - 'No, don't!' - 'Somebody!' - 'Meliodas!' - 'He's not going to make it!' - 'If only there wasn't a time lag between teleportation.' - 'They can't seriously mean to—'
MeliodasMeliodasMeliodasMeliodas
Save!
Save!
Save!
Kagome stumbled back from the rest of the group and fell to her knees, clutching her head. All of them. They were all so loud. So desperate. Why couldn't they stop?!
All of their hearts were screaming, far louder than their minds.
They needed to stop!
She'd told them! She'd told them! A wish was a heavy weight to carry, and the mass of wishes their hearts were screaming buried her, sunk her low to the ground. She yanked at her hair, the strands twisting and tangling.
They stirred inside her and that little movement sat in the back of her mind like the reminder she didn't need. Dug in between her shoulder blades and itched.
Soft, fragile, kind hands curled around her own, freeing the painful grip she had on her hair. Her eyes dimmed. A gasp - so loud, so deep - stole away all her air.
'I wish—'
Elizabeth stood over her, tears splashing against Kagome's cheeks. In the far corners of her mind, where she was conscious but rapidly losing control, she ached knowing that Elizabeth had stepped away from watching Meliodas in his time of need to see if she was okay.
"Kagome-chan, Kagome-chan, please!" 'someone would—'
She tore away from the princess's grip, stumbling back against the crumbled wall of Liones Castle. But it was too late. Kagome could feel them. They were already awake.
"Miss Kagome!"
In those last few precious seconds of physical control she had left, Kagome met the desperate golden gaze of Elaine. 'I tried. I tried!' She managed to think.
'save Meliodas.'
A chilling laugh echoed in their mind.
"Wait!"
Meliodas trembled, breath heaving out of him.
"Five."
Estarossa hung the next dagger over him.
A great mass of power exploded into the clearing, sending Estarossa and Ban flying back, throwing Ban through a boulder.
Ban scrambled from the ground, desperate to get back to his friend. But wind pushed against him, forcing him back no matter how hard he dug his feet into the ground. "Dammit! What is this?!"
He turned at the sound of a grunt and made out that huge giant rising to his feet again. There were other faint images as well. Dammit! Dammit! Turning back to the mass of wind cycloning around Meliodas, he took a breath and stepped forward.
Debris picked up as he got closer but surprisingly the wind was no longer pushing against him. Ban narrowed his eyes.
He stopped, shoes dragging in the dirt, when he noticed someone.
"Oi, who are you?"
This was the power source that had appeared out of nowhere.
"Ka… gome?" Meliodas gasped, trying to breath through the pain of five liberion swords piercing his hearts. Kagome stood with her back to him, unmoving but for the wind that whipped around them. This was who he had felt? Looking at her now, he could barely feel the power that came with the explosion just seconds ago. It prickled against his skin, an unnatural heat to it that stung compared to how her power usually felt.
The burn of a Goddess Ark was the closest he could liken it to.
He glanced blearily around him.
This cyclone was definitely her doing though.
"Kagome? As in our Kagome?"
"Can't-can't you tell, Ban?"
"I can't see shit, Captain. Should a guessed you'd be holding up though."
"Aa." Meliodas wheezed, the closest he could get to a laugh in this condition.
"Another of those friends of yours, Meliodas?" That was Estarossa. So whatever he'd been hit with hadn't kept him down for too long.
It was strange, how easy it was to hear everyone over the wind.
"Are they causing this strange wind, too?"
Strange didn't come close.
Meliodas could see Kagome clearly but not Ban. Just feel and hear him.
Ban could only see the dust and Kagome.
Even the Commandments were hindered, unable to see past the Sin that took down Melascula.
Zeldris walked forward while Gloxinia rose into the sky.
"Hmm…"
Nothing changed.
"Anything up there, Drole?"
"No, my magical eye can not penetrate this 'Kagome'."
"Is that woman one of the Sins, Fraudrin?" Zeldris turned.
"No, I don't ever remember meeting her while in Hendrickson either. They must have met only recently or she was elsewhere during our last battle."
Estarossa stood with the others, a burn bubbling and hissing on his chest. "Whoever and whatever she is, she was able to overcome or work around my Commandment."
Kagome giggled. An eerie thing that didn't just carry, it lingered and slowly faded off only after it seemed to overpower any other thought in their mind.
The cyclone died down, rubble cracking as it hit the ground, until it was a simple breeze that tousled everyone's hair and clothes. They all took her in.
Small. Unarmored. Unarmed.
She sighed, tilting her face up towards the sky, and it echoed over the clearing. Easily able to hear.
Another giggle escaped her, a twisted smile turning her lips and she swayed side to side slowly. She brought her left arm up and they all saw the burns scorched into her skin.
Ban and Meliodas grew weary. Kagome didn't act like this. The way she was moving was all wrong, almost… inhuman.
The uninjured hand rose, splayed wide, towards Meliodas.
A wretched scream tore from Meliodas when all five swords were ripped out of him.
"Captain!"
Ban stopped short when the blades shot forward, forming a straight line in front of Kagome. He tsked.
Any words he might have spoken, any thoughts that anyone in the clearing might have had, disappeared when she looked down.
Strange, pink energy had overtaken the entirety of Kagome's eyes and spread over her skin in intricate patterns. They pulsed and a faintly visible steam came from them.
"Those… are not demon markings." Grayhead noted as they continued to grow over the human's body. Their glow lit her clothes up from within.
"No, they're not."
"Mmm… look at what lovely toys we get to play with." 'Kagome' giggled, an unnatural resonance to her voice. Overlapping, alternating, intermingling. High, low, deep; so deep it seemed to rumble. It all mixed into an echo that lingered and sunk under their skins.
No one could deny the unsettling fear sitting in the pits of their stomachs.
"What. the. fuck?"
Her head turned to Ban, tilting as she seemed to take him in. "Oh? You're an interesting one." She smiled cruelly. "We like you."
"Yeah? Well, whatever the hell you have going on, Kagome, it aint funny."
"Ah…"
He couldn't even instinctively move back when she appeared right in front of him, hands reaching up to wrap around his shoulders and pull him down. Her lips dragged over his cheek, warm breath fanning against his ear. He gripped her sides, ready to push her away when she spoke.
"It's so cute that you think Kagome is still here." One hand came up to grip him by the hair and dragged him forward, quickly letting go when he swung out. Ducked under his next and side stepped around with a spin so that she once again had Meliodas at her back. "You missed us~"
"You little—"
"Ban! Stop!" Meliodas gasped, finally managing to sit up. "That's still Kagome, regardless-"
Those pupiless pink eyes turned to him. Burrowing under his skin, sinking past the easy nonchalance he usually hid behind. Then she was straddling him, cupping his face and he hissed at the heat that was coming off her.
"Now, that is a curse, demon child."
His eyes shot open, pulse skyrocketing. How had she-?
Before he could even gain the air to respond, one hand let go to twist around and grab the wrist coming down on them. He blankly gazed at Zeldris over her shoulder.
In the silence that followed, Estarossa's five blades clattered to the ground.
"Piety, hmm?"
Kagome let go of Meliodas completely, sliding her other hand over the bare skin before her. She tilted her head, smiling slowly when he didn't even budge from her trying to pull him closer. "Let's not take the chance."
That same power from before appeared instantaneously, blasting Zeldris away, then receding.
"Now, where were we?" Rock ground together as she turned back to him.
"Killing you."
A barrier appeared around them, pink and translucent, blocking the blade Estarossa had aimed at them. Kagome slid her hands up his arms to grab Meliodas by the shoulders, gripping him hard enough to make him flinch, and leaned back, to stare up at the man.
"Of everyone, We expected some manners of you, Benevolence."
"You are thinking of the wrong Commandment."
"Are we now?" She stood, dropping the barrier and moving to touch him. He grabbed her wrists, squeezing them until they broke. She didn't even flinch. He didn't let go. "We see now."
"Do you?" Estarossa cocked his head at her.
"Yes."
No one expected the strange pink markings to turn black, going jagged and thick, all the way back up to her eyes. Demonic energy poured from her, sinister and putrid in its intent.
"Remember this, Benevolence." That rumble from before dominated the voices coming from Kagome, bones cracking loudly, singed skin smoking, as they healed and expanded in his grip. "Love and hate sit together on a very thin string."
'At this point,' They thought, watching the interactions of these Commandments and the two Sins, 'they really should have expected this.'
Power so strong, so thick, but without a hint of expected malevolence, once again beat back Estarossa. A darkness seeped through the air, snuffing out the light of the stars and the moon and taking away their sight.
Kagome darted forward before it could brighten, grabbing the timeless one by the loops of his belt and throwing him down next to the cursed one. His blade and arm was thrown between them.
Then they bent down, hands curling around the energy chains that looped back to the multi-headed Commandment that demanded Pacifism. 'Had we the time, this curse would be tested on you, dear guardian.' The chains snapped under their power.
The three of them were gone by the time the world lit up with color again.
Ban was on her before he even realized they'd been taken somewhere else, using his size to overwhelm her until she was pressed back against a wall. Pressed his forearm against her throat, dug in and watched her face turn red and her breath go ragged. But still they did not look away from him.
"Ban, wait!"
Red eyes bore back into hers, rage and desperation and so many other things that whispered to them, lay in the depths. She grinned toothily at him. "You can't be serious, Cap—"
"Look, Ban!"
"At wha—" He snapped, jaw dropping when he looked around to see that they were in some abandoned, broken down house. The far wall had been reduced to rubble, furniture crushed, and weeds had grown through all the cracks. "Where in the—"
In his distraction, he let up on her throat, leaving them coughing.
They cleared their throat and said, "Your help, as little as it really was, Sin, is no longer needed."
Ban could only double take before he was gone.
"Where-"
"Back to your friends," The red that had dominated her complexion rapidly began to dim. "The current ones, not the former. Are you comfortable?"
Meliodas relaxed back against the dilapidated bed with a relieved sigh. "So, hey, whoever you are, you gonna let Kagome back out?" He watched quietly as the jagged black markings began to lighten and shrink, leaving just glowing pink to brighten the blue eyes he knew so well. "Yo!"
When she spoke next, there was a slight echo, just enough to make it seem disconcerting in a crumbling house. "This is the best they can do right now. I'm glad you're… mostly okay."
He snickered. "This is nothing. Aren't you going to come over? Don't you want to cuddle and tell me all about… this?" A broad gesture was made at all of her.
Kagome pursed her lips but climbed onto the bed, careful not to jostle it too much. When she reached out to touch his prone form, he grabbed one of her hands and smiled wide when she looked up at him. He only tensed a little when the other settled on his stomach.
"What brought them out? Them, right? They kept referencing you as plural."
She hesitantly nodded, not fighting the semi-tight grip he had on her. "There are two of them and they only come out when certain conditions are met."
"Like?"
Here, Kagome had to look away, had to stare past the broken wall and into the overgrown yard. Ashamed. Hesitant. Expectant. "I told all of you a wish was a heavy burden to carry."
No one really ever understood how dangerous callously saying a wish was. It was a joke, a half-thought phrase. There were nuances to words that people didn't usually think of. She gasped when he tugged her hand, catching herself on him. He carded his fingers through her hair. "Mel-iodas?"
"What wish was made?"
A wry smirk curled her lips. "I'm sure you've already guessed it." She fell to her elbows over him, fingers playing with his hair while she got comfortable, hair falling around them in a curtain.
"Mm!" He agreed, smiling softly as she lightly pressed their foreheads together. "Then why are they still out?"
"The wish was to save you, Meliodas," Kagome tried her best to ignore the warnings from the other two souls, "and the amount of desperation behind it required more than simply getting you away from them." She settled on one elbow to press against one of his bleeding hearts. "You are saved but you are not safe."
"And now what?"
His smile disappeared the instant the pink took over again.
"So tense, demon child." They crooned. "Do not worry. We are here to finish the job."
As the power built up again, Meliodas noted that there was a different feel to it now. So he laid there and watched as they sat up in Kagome's body, her hands glowing dimly. He couldn't hold back his grunt when a sharp pain hit him but a second glance down showed all his wounds healing, even his arm. They grabbed it from where it lay, lining it back up, the cut quickly mending and he immediately flexed it.
No pain, just a small twinge from the abused muscles and even that was rapidly fading.
Meliodas coughed up some blood, thick and congealed and spit it up.
"One last thing before we go, little plaything," They murmured, cupping his face and seemingly gazing at something deep inside him before their 'eyes' closed as they smiled. "should any harm come to our Kagome," The pink that decorated their skin gradually darkened again, once smoothly curved lines going jagged. "and we will be sure that not only will you come to realize the Commandments are child's play compared to us but we will keep every one of you alive forever so that you may see the havoc we sow."
He laughed, licking away some residual blood. "Like she would let you."
Now safe and sound, they could do nothing but withdraw with a parting frown thrown at Meliodas. Exasperated blue eyes stared down at him.
"Always gotta get be smart with people."
"Like you're any different, Kagome."
A pretty flush spread over her cheeks but she just shook her head and helped him sit up. His sword she laid in her lap, smacking his hands away when he tried to grab it.
She took a look at their surroundings. "I should go see exactly where we are and figure out a way to get us some new clothes and somewhere to stay for the night. You need the rest, even if your absence is going to freak ev-everyone out."
'Shit.' Kagome knew the jewel had pushed it back in that clearing, shrugging off so many of the Commandment's curses but she'd been hoping the toll wouldn't be so high. Already, tremors had started in her legs which meant there would be no walking done today. Not by her, at least.
"You okay?"
"Yeah, I just-"
His hand, as light as the touch was, hurt when he grasped her arm. Her sight swam and she collapsed against the broken bed, gasping when the pain spread everywhere.
"Shit."
She wheezed and strained to say, "Th-that bad, huh?"
He pulled her back between his legs, arms going tight around her when her arms and legs started to spasm.
"It's-! It's a side ef-effect," Her body locked up, throat straining as she staved off the scream sitting in her chest. "S-side effect when they try-y! to take too m-many liberties while granting the-the wish."
"What do I do?"
"H-hold, hold!" She forced out. "Just hold, h-ho, hold, hold—"
"Okay, okay."
Kagome didn't know how but he somehow got her twisted around and them laid out on their sides, legs and arms trapping her close to him.
"There are bruises appearing all over you, shit!"
She managed some choked off, mangled laugh into his chest. "Mm, g-gonna pass, dark… mngh- supposed" Her throat worked, struggling to swallow, "help, care-you, suppo-"
"Sssshh, you did. No matter how it happened, you did. You took great care of me, just don't talk, okay?"
"Mm… mmm!" She agreed, unable to stop the tears or the exhaustion that hit.
"Sleep if it'll help. Don't force yourself."
"Mngh-ias … s… bd… iz"
Her eyes fluttered shut, thoughts slipping away.
Note: Don't judge me. I do have the next chapter of Play done! I just had to get it set up on AO3 as well cuz it is a bit steamy o3o
Note II: I might have missed some grammatical errors! Let me know what you thought!