Dark power.
She could feel it.
Could taste it.
It caressed her.
Called to her.
A shudder went through her body as red eyes scanned the piss hole the damnable humans called a city. What terrible things the scurrying rodents had done to this once beautiful land! Their tall metal structures raised towards the heavens the lights acting as pseudo stars in the absents of real ones, their smog making machines polluted the air, burning her nose and her throat with each intake of air, screaming loudly as their drivers grew impatient with one another.
Her lips tugged up in a smile though lacking in kindness couldn't hide her glee.
She would change that!
And just as Urasue had dreamt the pests would be bowing before their betters just as they had in times long since past. An army of souls bound in clay, obedient only to her. And where Urasue had failed she would not, after all the tradition of holy men and women had died out with the threat of demons. And she certainly wasn't stupid enough to attempt to conjure a holy beings soul back to this plane.
She snorted at the thought.
Her eyes slid closed and she spread her soul out seeking the she one she had felt. It didn't take long and she was more than pleased to find how close he was.
Another doll to the collection, a golem, a slave, hers to command.
Yugi blew his blonde bangs from his face as he locked the door to the Kame Game shop he tended to in the absence of his grandfather. Said elder was enjoying his much deserved reprieve exploring the ancient land of Egypt.
Egypt.
So much had begun and ended there. So many strange things and wondrous things tied to one place. His heart ached terribly at such thoughts and it was at times like this when he missed Yami the most. In his head he knew the ancient pharaoh had gotten what he'd deserved, passage to the afterlife finally free of the dark past that had plagued him. But his heart… how often did the heart think and feel logically?
The click of heels on pavement tore through his thoughts, and in the dim light he could see a female figure of average height walking towards him. Swaying hips and bountiful curves had his face warming in an instant. And the look on her face…
Yugi gulped, and licked his suddenly dried lips, and froze. Something in her eyes stopped him, it had been only a quick flash but he was sure there had been some cold violent emotion buried in her vibrant ruby gaze.
His face was still red and heated when she stopped in front of him her sultry smile widening. " I- I'm sorry but we're closed for the night." He hated the way his voice stumbled even now as an adult.
"That's quite alright; I wouldn't want any interruptions any way." Her smile was downright predatory and vicious now.
"I- interruptions? Interrupting what?"
She was walking again, past him this time, but that didn't stop him from hearing what she said. "Follow me and find out." It was hardly a breathy whisper but somehow it carried.
Her voice wasn't the only thing that carried, a strange scent wafted from her and before he realized what he was doing he turned on the balls of his feet and stepped after her, forgetting that he was too meet Téa Joey and Tristan that evening.
"Yes mama. No, "A sigh escaped her lips. "No, I promise… okay… I'll call you in the morning… I love you too mama, send my love to gramps and Sōta. I'll see you next in a few days. Good night mama." Clicking end on her phone the pale skinned woman couldn't help but make a face at the phone as she stored it in her sweat pants and resumed haphazardly stuffing a multitude of clothing she hoped would match when the time came to wear them. Her hands paused over a red and white bundle; heart twisting momentarily before she shook off the strong emotion lazing through her. Then with more force then was necessary she stuffed them into the yellow bag before flinging the pack over her shoulders and trudging her way to the balcony door to close it.
The night wind brushed past her and into the apartment sending her wavy raven black hair dancing behind her, she closed her eyes and stepped into the breeze; and froze.
The wind had brought with it more than just the chill of early autumn. She could feel their screams as they crawled across her skin. Their faces etched in the back of her mind as fear and pain twisted them in equal measures. Their terror a putrid scent that tainted the air she gasped in.
She let a shaky breath escape before closing the door stopping the petrified souls from calling out to her. She stood there trembling for but an instant before she turned to her hallway closet pushing and reorganizing a few things until her hands clasped the smooth wood of her bow and then the quiver of long since used arrows. Grabbing a sweater from the back of the couch she draped it over her arm concealing the weapon that would have pegged her as crazy.
And maybe she was crazy after all the last time she had taken on an ogre sorceress Urasue had taken from her the very thing that made Kagome, Kagome.
Ah but what is life if you don't open a cans of worms every once in a while?
With that thought she left her apartment locking her door before jogging down several fights of steps and exiting the building. Back outside and fully at the mercy of the wind it was worse, louder, stronger, she hurried to her junker of a car, sending a prayer to whatever gods might be listening to let it start this time. She sent thanks when it did.
The souls were pulling at her now whispering, warning.
She had another victim.
The strong scent of herbs permeated the air around him, they were soothing, comforting and kept him still in the lapping water.
The voice of the red eyed beauty murmured around him, each high and low thrumming through him as though she were plucking guitar strings.
Then she stopped plucking and started pulling and he wanted to scream.
Domino city traffic was terrible despite the time of day.
Or maybe that was in spite of the time of day. She scowled as yet another over priced hunk of metal on wheels cut her off, "Because obviously driving a car worth five time what the average person makes, makes you the freaking king of the road!" Kagome had to resist the urge to lay on her horn, knowing that, even if it had worked, it have done nothing but irritate the man in front of her. "Maybe I should invest in siren, that way anytime I'm on call for demon attacks I could flip it on and part the sea."
Not that demon attacks where a daily, or even weekly, occurrence, in fact most demons worked extra hard just to fit in.
But not this one. Kagome had been feeling the ogre off and on for several weeks, collecting and gathering souls. The fact that she could feel them lead her to believe the ogre was reaching her limit for how many souls she could chain to herself which allowed the souls to collectively reach out and call for help.
Or it was a trap.
And with my track record a trap is definitely topping the list of possibilities.
The pain stopped so abruptly Yugi would have let out a whoop of air if he could. But he knew this space, knew there was little reason other than habit to breath, he was chained and trapped in his mind his body at the mercy of someone else.
He looked down at himself and realized that chained in this case wasn't just a metaphor, chains around his wrists and ankles shot out in different directions harsh tugs and pulls on the chains suggested someone was acting the puppet master. Another chain looped around his body, and around something, or someone, behind him, constricting him as he fought and struggled.
Behind him he felt that someone take a deep heaving breath. "Yugi," A voice an octave lower than his own sounded exasperated. "Pray what sort of trouble have you gotten us into now partner?" There was a vague sense of amusement from the voice Yugi knew nearly as well as his own.