Celestial Chances
Chapter Five: Neferteri Returns
RavenSparrow or RavenCrow16
Author's Notes: Sorry about the long wait for the update. It's been crazy with work and school. But here I go…..
The small group had to go through the forest to get wherever they were going. Inuyasha's nose led the way to get back Kikyo's ashes. Kaede trusted the hanyou to find Urasuway even if he didn't really want to find what remained of the woman who pinned him to the tree. Kagome noticed Inuyasha would allow his thoughts to drift away.
'Probably to Kikyo', she frowned to herself. It was amazing that after all that had happened it appeared the half demon still felt something, even if he wouldn't admit it.
They decided to camp for the night. Inuyasha knew what the witch was planning to do. He didn't want to have to deal with nasty memories so soon. He watched Kagome roll out her sleeping bag as Kaede built the fire. It was haunting how much the young girl reminded him of his former love. The look, the actions, but their personalities were different. Kikyo was more dark natured than Kagome. The girl from the future had a light about her as if she were of the sun itself. Kikyo had a sorrowful demeanor.
During his thoughts, the hanyou fell asleep. It was not long before he was dreaming. He was running through the forest when something sharp pierced his left shoulder. When Inuyasha looked down, he saw that it was an arrow. He was pinned to the tree again! A cold stare caught his attention. At first he thought it was Kagome, but soon he realized that those eyes were hollow. They were filled with no emotion, only the image of him pinned to the tree.
The hanyou awoke with a start. He was relieved to learn it was only a nightmare. He looked down from his spot in the tree above Kagome. She was asleep with the kit curled up next to her. Without knowing why, Inuyasha jumped down and moved so that he was over her.
He frowned at the face that was almost identical to his enemy, beautiful and innocent. He tensed when she began to stir. Her eyes were halfway open. In a flash she was up and Inuyasha was on the other side of the campfire. A red handprint remained from when Kagome slapped him. There was a chuckle in the dark from a certain red-eyed demon, which was tracking the group with his older brother. Yet neither the girl nor the now angry hanyou heard it. They were too busy talking.
"What are you doing up? Anybody else hot here? You wanna talk about something?" Kagome questioned at a million miles an hour. Inuyasha sat up and pointed to his face.
"Oops. Did I slap you?" the girl smiled nervously, "Sorry about that."
"I was wrong. You don't look like her", Inuyasha growled.
"Look like who?" Kagome was still half asleep. The comment didn't even register.
"You're not even remotely similar!" the hanyou shouted as he pointed to her.
"Remotely similar to WHO?" the girl raised her voice. She was tired of getting yelled at.
The fight was interrupted by a strange and eerie wind. The witch was passing overhead, and Kikyo's ashes were tucked beneath her arm. Inuyasha recognized the scent. After everything calmed down Kagome fell asleep and Inuyasha returned to his post in the tree. He never sensed the two beings in the tree next to him.
Early in the morning they traveled on. Kagome was fully awake and aware of whom Inuyasha was talking about the night before. It was hard to tell the hanyou was distracted by the ease he used to jump from cliff to cliff. They had entered the mountains. It seemed like hours before they finally stopped for short break. They ate a small mean and allowed Shippo to wash his face before they were off again.
Kaede rode ahead of Kagome's bike on her horse. Inuyasha stood on the hindquarters with Kagome looking at him. He was complaining about having to hunt down buried remains when they should have been scattered in the river. He didn't understand why men had graves.
"A grave is more than just a place to bury a body or ashes. It is a place of refuge, shelter to those loved ones left behind", Kagome interrupted, "In Ancient Egypt, tombs were sacred and if they were desecrated then the ones who ruined it were put to death."
Kagome was a bit shocked by what she herself had said. How did she know that about Egypt? It was almost a century away it seemed. She noticed the looks she got from her fellow companions.
Hiten was bewildered. How could Kagome know that? She lived in modern Japan; even these Feudal times were foreign to her. Maybe Aset and Isis were right. Maybe this human girl was Neferteri reincarnated.
"Why so surprised, little brother?" Sesshomaru smiled, "Did you not truly believe what Grandmother had said?"
"This is still new to me, okay?" Hiten glared, "I'm still swallowing being a demigod and now she's my wife."
"Alexander was born long after Neferteri's death. He was not an Egyptian but fathered the dynasty that would produce Cleopatra. She brought the world to Egypt's door. We became powerful again. For that the gods were grateful. Our grandmother prophesied the return of Egypt's greatest patrons", the demon explained, "Alexander modernized and reinvented Egypt so that it would not be forgotten even by the sands of time."
"Hence why I am to put Egypt back into the world's view, by modernizing it", the demigod thought he understood, "And destroy Set for good."
"You are to become king in order to save our family from being completely forgotten. It is by honor that you were brought back. And yes to destroy Set for good", Sesshomaru was glad this little brother was quick to learn why things were they way they were unlike the other who simply did not try. Inuyasha compared to Hiten was like comparing prey to its hunter. Hiten would destroy Inuyasha faster than the hanyou could think with the moves and techniques he had shown him.
"What did Neferteri do?" Hiten was curious why that of all the queens and Egyptians, Neferteri was allowed to return from the Underworld.
"She was the backbone of Egypt for many years with her husband. They began to worship only one god, Amun Ra. She radically changed Egypt through her rule and brought it to its knees, she was the true version of Cleopatra and fulfilled a prophesy about a woman coming to power and ruling the world. Egypt was prosperous during her reign", the demon lord smiled. He could hardly believe that this wondrous queen he spoke of was only a few feet away from him.
Kagome desperately clutched the old bridge that the group had to cross. Heights were her greatest fear, and snakes, and almost everything. Yet heights she would gladly show her fear whereas with everything else she sucked it up.
"Freak me out!" she shouted aloud. Kaede was behind her with Shippo encouraging her on.
"Stay here if you're that scared", Inuyasha said annoyed with her, "I'll go on my own and get the remains back, okay?"
"Yeah as if! I'll just stand here a few hundred feet in the air blowing in the wind!" Kagome growled. He wasn't helping her situation.
"Come then if you want, but quit being a baby", he huffed. It was then he noticed the soldiers on the bridge in front of them coming up from behind too. He was amazed at how they shattered when he hit them with his claws.
Urasuway was upset with her creation. She had restored Kikyo's body back to its original form, but the soul did not return. She couldn't concentrate over the racket from outside her cave on the other side of the bridge in the mountaintop. Frustrated she went to investigate and was pleased to sense Kikyo's soul nearby. It was in Kagome's body. Swiftly she charged at Inuyasha and with her reaper, cut the bridge in half sending the hanyou, the priestess, and the kit tumbling. The witch caught the young girl with ease and flew back to her cave.
Meanwhile, Inuyasha tumbled down the side of the mountain trying to regain control from the unexpected fall he took. He landed roughly in the debris of clay soldiers and what was left of the bridge.
"Where are Kagome and the others?" the half demon questioned aloud. Suddenly he saw a leaf that became bigger and bigger as it floated awkwardly towards him. When it landed on top of him, there was no doubt who they were.
"I sure hope Inuyasha is all right", Shippo was worried as he and Kaede continued to sit unknowingly on their companion.
"An individual such as he, would not be easily slain", Kaede assured the kit.
"Would you mind getting off of me?" the hanyou huffed as he tried to crawl out from underneath.
"Speak of the devil" the priestess teased. More clay soldiers appeared and some had amazingly survived the fall.
"Haven't had your fill of me I see", Inuyasha grinned as he quickly got up. Within a few seconds and a few strokes of his sword, the half demon made easy targets of the lifeless soldiers. After his deed was done was he told what happened to the missing member of their party.
"The witch kidnapped Kagome?" he questioned the younger demon.
"Yeah, she pulled her off the bridge when we were falling", Shippo eagerly explained.
"Well at least Kagome didn't fall to her death", the half demon tried to be enthusiastic.
"These soldiers were animated with human souls", Kaede interrupted as she examined the remains.
"That explains the orbs of light ascending", the kit spoke to himself as if answering his own question.
"Aye, and I fear it gets worse. Human bones are baked in with the clay. Urasuway's magic is fiendish. And now she must have some plan in place for my sister's remains and Kagome", the priestess began to walk towards the direction the witch flew off in. She groaned as the pain from the witch's previous attack at the village began to throb.
"You're wounded, old woman. Stay here and I'll go recover Kikyo's remains", Inuyasha assured.
"I fear time is not on our side. I also fear we may come face to face with my sister when we find Urasuway", Kaede gravely turned to the hanyou.
"What? But Kikyo's dead", the half demon was almost speechless at the thought of his nightmare from before coming true. The same woman who haunted his dreams every night since the incident and even more so since Kagome awoke him. He would not become pinned ever again.
"She has all she needs. We may be facing a formidable foe", the words felt foreign to Kaede. She would have to think of her sister as an enemy.
Hiten looked on helplessly as the witch tied up the ningen known as Kagome. He and Sesshomaru followed the witch after she caught Kagome before they could. Hiten sensed that his future bride was in danger and for unknown reasons he wanted to mercilessly slaughter the demoness for even touching the girl. A strange urge to protect her overcame him.
"Wait. Something isn't right", the elder brother ordered the attention of his younger sibling, "There are two souls within that girl."
Why had he not sensed it before? There were two souls secretly battling within her body.
"Two souls?" Hiten was confused, "How can that be?"
"Ever heard of possessions, dear brother? Only the most powerful demon or spirit can do it, but it can be done", the demon lord was amazed. Even his mother had not run across such a case, but even the gods could have detected it. So why didn't they?
"Stop! What do you think you're doing here?" Kagome demanded. She was tied up and laid in a two full of smelly liquid.
"You are an insolent one are you not?" the witch was annoyed as she poured in more liquid, "That should do it, good."
"What's in this water? It smells disgusting", the girl complained as she earned a chuckle from Hiten. Even faced with her soul being stolen she complained about something trivial compared to her well being.
It was then that Kagome's breathe caught in her throat. Kikyo's body came wandering out of the cave. She stared blankly at the younger girl.
"Who is that?" Kagome began to understand what was going on and started to panic.
"So you are dressed in your regular attire? Good, the robes of a priestess are most flattering for your good looks. Now all you need is your soul back", the witch looked from Kikyo to Kagome.
"What are you talking about?" the young girl was still in denial.
"My magic herbal potion will suck the soul right out of your body. Kikyo will have her soul and you'll be among the living dead", Urasuway cackled. Yet her statement brought one name to Kagome's mind: Anubis.
The potion began to glow an evil green. It seemed to paralyze Kagome's body and her breathing began to labor.
"This young girl differs somehow. Most of my victims would have fallen faint by now", the witch spoke herself.
An orb of light engulfed Kagome. The witch noticed she had a shard of the Shikon Jewel. Yet when she went to get it, the soul fended her off.
"The soul appears to be angry. The soul is seeking revenge, but against who?" the witch noticed the dormant soul still hovered over the girl, "Two souls?"
Just then Inuyasha and the rest of his rescue party appeared in the distance.
"Inuyasha", Hiten growled. He would have jumped out of the tree then and killed the half demon except that Sesshomaru held him firmly.
"He will die by Kikyo's hands remember?" the demon lord comforted his young brother, "We get to see him pay for all of his doings."
"Kikyo", Inuyasha whispered as he got nearer and saw the priestess's body.
With the name said, the two souls split violently apart. Kikyo's soul dispersed upwards as the other defiantly returned to Kagome's body.
"Her heart missed a beat and Kikyo's soul sprang forth", the witch explained what was happening. The soul immediately flew into the lifeless body that was Kikyo's. Silently the figure walked over to the witch, fell to its knees, and used its power to set the creature on fire.
"Inuyasha, why are you still alive?" the woman's voice was laced with hate and sorrow, "I bound you to a tree with a sacred arrow."
"Yes you did, but as you see I'm alive and willing to take you on again", Inuyasha jumped back with a smirk on his face. He noticed the tears filling up in her eyes.
"You vile beast. I despise you, you loathsome half man", she growled as she walked towards him. Suddenly, she stopped and grabbed her shoulder as a red light streaked across the top of her right shoulder from behind to the front. Blood began to flow freely into a massive puddle at her feet. She removed her hand from where she had immediately placed it to ease the pain. It was covered in blood.
"Why did you betray me, Inuyasha?" she screamed.
"What's going on? Where's that blood coming from?" Inuyasha was utterly confused.
"Look closer, Inuyasha, is that not the fatal wound you inflicted on Kikyo?" Kaede was beginning to become confused.
"Inflicted? I would never harm her! What are you saying? That I was the one who killed Kikyo?" he was actually offended.
"Stop it. Stop lying, Inuyasha! Inuyasha, do you not remember telling me that you wish to become human? You said you would become human. I believed your words. I carried the Shikon jewel and went to you", she recalled the day. He came up from behind and ripped her shoulder to shreds. With the last of her strength she bound him to the tree. Slowly she walked up to him and grabbed his shoulders. Violently she stunned him with her miko powers. The elder priestess rushed over to her sister and begged for the hanyou's life. She was hurt by her sister's reaction by not recognizing her. Kikyo pushed her sister out of the way and snatched the bow and arrow from her. She released the arrow and it exploded where it hit. Again she turned to Kaede who refused and when she did, Kikyo simply took the arrows.
"You said you wished to become human. You said you wished to be with me", she aimed again.
"Wait, Kikyo! I meant every word", Inuyasha tried to reason.
"Liar! I was a fool beyond compare for believing your farfetched lies of living together. Inuyasha you are the one who shall die today!" Kikyo released another arrow. This one was far more powerful than the first. It even overcame Tetsuaiga, Inuyasha's demon sword. The arrow began to tear into Inuyasha's chest. His screams opened Kagome's closed eyes. The other soul seeped into the body. It called to the other to depart the flesh of Kikyo. The soul began to ascend as the arrow dissipated. Quickly, Kikyo crawled away before anymore of her soul was pulled out. Without thought Inuyasha rushed after the dead priestess. Weakened, the priestess tumbled down the side of a hill and then rolled over the edge of a cliff but stopped. A hand had caught her wrist.
"Kikyo, you must return to Kagome's body", Inuyasha whispered, "You can't go on like this."
"So you wish for me to die is that it? I refuse to die. I possessed the girl's body and battled with her true soul", the priestess's other hand grasped Inuyasha's wrist, "My spirit will not rest until I see you dead!"
A strong charge surged through the hanyou's body. It felt as though she were burning him alive. Yet he would not let her go, he would not abandon her again.
"Don't do this!" he begged her, as he began to slip, "Kikyo!"
Her hand slipped from his, but quickly she grabbed his ankle. With both her hands again the priestess continued her assault with her miko powers. The charge was increasing to the point of being paralyzed. Inuyasha desperately clung to the edge of the cliff. His strength wavered and finally he gave in. The pair fell into the mists of the waterfall below and out of sight. They would pass into the next world, in each other's arms. They would later be buried side by side.
When Kagome awoke a couple of days later, she seemed different. She acted as though she did not truly know where she was.
"What happened?" she quietly asked Kaede.
"Your soul was released along with Kikyo's from your body. Yet it has returned thanks to Inuyasha and now my sister can finally rest in peace", Kaede closed her eyes. She should not have mentioned the hanyou.
"Where is Inuyasha?" Kagome wsa afraid to know the answer.
"I am afraid he is dead, milady", a familiar voice caught the attention of all that were present in the hut.
"Hiten! But you're dead!" Kagome scrambled away in horror of seeing the demon who tried to kill her and Shippo.
"No. He is alive and well as you can see", Sesshomaru answered, "My condolences for your loss, Neferteri."
"Sesshomaru?" Kagome was in a daze. This was all a nightmare. Two demons who had made it a point to end her life, now stood before her. Then it hit her. Inuyasha was most likely dead. Tears began to well up in her eyes.
"Why are you crying?" the younger demon sounded demanding although he did not mean to be. He was not use to seeing people, especially women, crying.
"Because everything is so confusing! First off I had two souls within my body! Secondly, Inuyasha is dead, and finally why are the two of you here? Have you forgotten that you both tried to kill me at one time or another?" the girl screamed, "And I keep having dreams about Egypt!"
"And you don't know why?" the young demon knew this cold be the only chance to get her to come peacefully. Carefully he chose his words.
"What if I were to tell you that I could explain what was happening to you?" Hiten hinted.
"Why should I believe you?" Kagome glared, "You are only going to tell me that I'm crazy and that you'll end my insanity by killing me!"
"We don't have time to explain everything right now", Sesshomaru sensed danger. With a wave of his hand, Kagome, Shippo, and Kaede were asleep.
"Take the girl", he commanded his younger brother.
"What about the kit?" Hiten knew Kagome would throw a fit without the young kitsune there.
"I'll bring him when I come. Go back to our mother's palace and she will help explain to the girl", the demon lord walked to the door of the hut, "Go now!"
Hiten obeyed and when he and Kagome were safely aboard a cloud he had called, he looked back. His brother had transformed into his demonic form and was battling a giant asp.