Disclaimer: I own neither Inuyasha nor the Dark-Hunters Series and make no money from these writings.
Tears From the Moon
Chapter Two
Walking down the sidewalk, Kagome glanced to her mirror for an indication of the next landmark she needed to look for. She'd arrived in New Orleans less than an hour ago, but she'd already checked into the hotel she'd be staying at and was on her way to find the bar called Sanctuary and the woman called Psyche.
Once her bag was packed and her reservations were made, Kagome had popped down to Earth for her indefinite stay. And as much as Tsukuyomi rejected modern amenities, she was glad that she'd finally caught up to what she would always consider "her time." Trying to explain to Tsukuyomi the concept of a credit card and why she needed one for her errands to Earth had been difficult, but he'd finally given in. She still wasn't sure that he completely understood it, though. But for the most part, he'd come around to giving her anything she asked for. The only rules were that all things modern were restricted to her room alone, and traditions were to be upheld everywhere else in his palace. And if it meant she could have wi-fi, a computer, and a limitless credit card, Kagome really didn't mind putting on the layers of kimono when she wandered around the palace.
As a small group of people passed her on the sidewalk, Kagome stopped and turned to watch them. They were talking and laughing about something that she couldn't hear. They were loud. Earth was loud. 'How long has it been?' She thought to herself before continuing on her way. When was the last time that she'd actually gone to Earth for more than a moment? If she ordered something online, she had it shipped to Susanoo's home on Earth and would pop in to pick it up. Other than that, she really didn't go to Earth that often. What was the point?
When she'd first been taken as Tsukuyomi's servant, there were a few things that she'd misunderstood. For one, she thought her second life would be of standard human length. That hadn't been the case. It turned out that Tsukuyomi intended to keep her for much longer than that and she her aging had stalled out at twenty, what the moon god had considered a more "acceptable" age. Another thing she'd come to discover was when he'd told her that she couldn't see her friends anymore, he meant it literally. Well, sort of. When he'd left her on Earth to live her life until he needed her, she'd tried to go back to Inuyasha's village. She'd convinced herself that she just wanted to let them know that she was okay. She could see them. She tried to talk to them. But they weren't able to see or hear her. No one in the village was.
It had been a hard blow, but after some wandering, she'd found a small village to call home. Tsukuyomi didn't call on her for years. She wondered if he ever would or if he'd forgotten about her completely. She didn't notice any changes in herself, so she thought maybe he just meant that most of her duties would be as a priestess for him. That notion had gone out the window literally overnight. On what she assumed was on or near her twentieth birthday - since she could really only guess by the season without a calendar - everything changed drastically. Tsukuyomi had decided that she was finally of a more suitable and mature age to serve him and had given her his, the moon's, influence. That night, every hair on her head, her eyebrows, her eyelashes, turned snowy white.
As startling as it had been for her, it was even more-so for the villagers where she lived. She couldn't even hide it. When she was outside in the moonlight, she actually glowed. When the morning came and her hair turned black again, the relief was immense though short-lived. Word of her transformation had spread through the village quickly and there was speculation on whether she was a god or a demon. Some avoided her while others revered her and gave offerings. No matter how many times she tried to explain that she was human, it never worked. Night after night, her hair would change and word of the goddess come to Earth only spread.
The followers she gained eventually became so persistent for her attention and blessing that it was overwhelming. She'd broken down and called out for Tsukuyomi, hoping he would hear her, to come get her and let her live in the heavens with him. She didn't want to live with humans if she wasn't able to be one of them. She wanted friends and family, not offerings and reverence.
And so the moon god had become her only company for the better part of five hundred years. She'd met a few other gods here and there and traveled to Earth a handful of times, but usually it was just her and Tsukuyomi.
Checking her mirror again, she saw that she was apparently drawing close and started looking for the building being shown to her in the glass's surface. It wasn't terribly hard to spot once it came into view. It seemed fairly normal for a biker bar on the outside, but she'd been told to expect plenty of non-humans inside.
Kagome stepped inside and wasn't surprised to only see a few people here and there. It was the middle of the day, and she could guess that a lot of the bar's frequenters were probably a little more nocturnal. With the distinct feeling of being watched, she turned to look in the direction of the bar and found two sets of eyes on her. "Hello," she greeted with a short bow.
Dev lifted a brow as the very petite newcomer bowed towards him Cher. "Hey there," he responded as she straightened up. "Don't think I've seen you around here before. New in town?" From the look of her and the accent on even her one-word greeting, it was easy to tell that she wasn't local.
"Something like that," Kagome confirmed as she walked closer to the man seated at the bar in front of who she assumed was the bartender. "I was told that this was the most likely place for me to find a woman named Psyche."
That caught both bears' attention. This girl was human enough, but she if she was asking for someone like Psyche by name, she likely had at least some knowledge of the supernatural world. But at the same time, they wanted to avoid trouble, especially so early in the day. With a sigh and a shrug, Dev said, "She's upstairs playing cards." When Kagome moved towards the stairs, he halted her as he added, "And since you're new here, just a couple of house rules. No weapons. No fighting. Breaking either and we'll be showing you the door, got it?"
Kagome was honestly taken aback. It had been so long since anyone had really seen or treated her like she posed any sort of threat that it was jarring to hear such a warning. "I understand," she agreed with a slight nod. "I'm not here for a fight. My...employer has a request for her. I'm just the messenger." When the large man seemed to accept her reasons, she continued towards the stairs and ascended to the second floor.
There was only one small group on this floor and they all sat around a table playing cards. Stepping closer, Kagome realized that it was poker. She only made it a few steps towards the table before the players paused in their game to look at her. 'Is everyone here this sharp?' She thought. Bowing again, this time deeper, Kagome stood straight again before speaking, "I'm looking for Psyche."
There was a pause as Kagome was sized up, but eventually a slender redhead raised the hand not holding her cards and said, "That'd be me."
Quickly closing the distance between them, Kagome stood beside the woman she'd come to see. "I'm very sorry for interrupting your game," she began with an apology. She then pulled the scroll that she'd been given from the bag resting against her hip and offered it to the soul goddess. "My lord has asked that I deliver this to you and await your answer to his proposal."
"Proposal?" The blond man on the other side of Psyche asked with a frown. "What proposal? Who's your master?"
Kagome watched Psyche break the seal on the scroll and unroll it some before she answered, "I don't know the details. I'm only here as a go-between. And my master is the Shinto moon god, Tsukuyomi-no-Mikoto."
Patting her husband's arm with a smile, Psyche placated the love god as she said, "Calm down, Eros. It isn't that kind of proposal." Reading over the neat print, Psyche glanced up to the young woman beside her. The message specifically requested that his servant not learn of its content, and it looked like this Tsukuyomi wanted to know more about souls. It was an interesting request, to be sure. Psyche herself wasn't completely sure if there was a way to outright convert a human's soul into a god's, but she might be able to do some checking around. Before she could give her answer, Kagome began to speak again.
"Oh, and Lord Tsukuyomi also sent this as an offering," she said as she slid both hands into her bag and pulled out a small, ornate chest. Placing it on the table, careful of the cards and chips, she opened it to reveal a variety of gold coins and precious stones and jewels.
Eros whistled lowly, "Not a bad offering." Nudging his wife, he told her, "Accept the deal."
Turning a skeptical eye in his direction, Psyche asked, "Why do you suddenly want me to accept?"
"Because I'm borrowing a few of these," Eros responded as he reached over and gathered up a few gold coins in his hand before stacking them on the table next to his few remaining poker chips. "You kinda have to accept now."
Psyche rolled her eyes at the love of her life before rolling the scroll back up and turning towards Kagome. "Tell your god that I'll accept. I'm not sure how long it'll take to get the information that he wants, though."
"Thank you," Kagome said with another bow. "And time isn't an issue. I was told to wait in this city until you're ready to send back your findings. Actually," she paused while fishing around in her bag for a small notepad and pen. Jotting down some information, Kagome continued, "I'll be at this hotel while I'm here. I've also written down my room number and my cell phone number. Please contact me at any time if there's anything that I can do to help you."
"Okay," Psyche agreed as she took the slip of paper while looking Kagome over. "I'll keep in touch."
"Then I'll be going for today. Thank you, again."
When she turned and left, the occupants of the poker table watched where she'd disappeared down the stairs for several quiet moments. "Was is just me," Psyche started, "or was she...strange for a human?"
Eros hummed as he thought about it and agreed. "She was much more formal than what I usually see. And a human directly serving and having contact with a god? That's not done very often anymore. What do you think that's about?"
"Maybe they do things different over in Japan," Aimee mused from where she was looking through her cards again. When her poker-mates turned to stare at her, she defended, "What? She said he's a Shinto god. Shinto is Japan, isn't it?"
It was true that the Shinto gods largely kept to themselves, but it still seemed strange. Why was a moon god keeping a human as a pet? It made his request about turning a human into a god bear a little more weight and raised more than a few questions.
