Chapter 7 –
Kagome had been given a beautiful deep red silk kimono with black flames on the hedges. She had her hair styled and the necklace around her neck. She was ready for battle. She closed the door to the side room she had in her quarters. Her little surprise waiting in that small room. She was then let into the ball hall. The servant stopped at the doorway and the announcer tapped his staff to the ground
"Presenting Lady Kagome, Priestess in the West" She saw many turn to look at her. She descended the stairs calmly and slowly and went to Lady Mayako's side. She noticed she had her necklace on
'Good' She turned to see Sesshoumaru and Tashio and bowed, and they both bowed back
"You look absolutely beautiful Lady Kagome" Tashio said. Kagome smiled shy
"Absolutely" Sesshoumaru agreed. Kagome blushed
"You yourselves look handsome this evening Milord's" she answered, still blushing. Tashio chuckled.
"Ah Lady Kagome! What a vision before my eyes! Have an angel visited us upon this night?" Yuko took her hand and kissed it. Kagome blushed even deeper. Rai pushed Yuko out of the way
"You look exquisite this evening Milady" Rai said, also kissing her hand. Kagome's face redden as a tomato
"Thank you Milord's, it is an honor to see you both again" They smiled at her, before both leaning in, each at one of her ears
"We will watch you tonight…" Rai started
"… and make sure no harm comes to you Milady" Yuko finished. Kagome blushed even deeper, if possible. They stepped back when they heard a low growl from Sesshoumaru.
"Thank you Milord's. I will go and get something to drink" Kagome bowed and left them to find something to drink, but also to get a breather from all the attention. She had to calm her nerves. She was really nervous that something would happen tonight. All three Lord's had made sure to put extra protection in their palaces and nearby villages, just in case. When Kagome finally got a mug she turned to see Sura looking at her
"So, you came" she snorted. Kagome smiled and bowed
"Yes, thank you for the invitation. You have a beautiful home Lady Sura" She saw Sura smirk
"It was my father that invited you, not me" Kagome suppressed a smirk.
"After tonight Sesshoumaru will be mine" Sura said whispering when she took a step closer towards Kagome
"Oh, and how did you think you could accomplish that?" Sura smirked, and then Kagome could feel a small knife at her side. Kagome sighed mentally
'So, they went with either kidnapping me, or use me as black mail, or they are trying to get me separated from them…' Sura giggled evilly, stopping her from listing more possibilities in her head
"We should go somewhere else to talk, so follow me" Kagome rolled her eyes, but moved and walked with Sura. She was let into a small room and Sura locked the door laughing loudly and left. Kagome was looking around the room, but could not see anyone. She walked over to the door and tried to use her power to open it. But it reflected back at her. She fused bolts of energy into the door, only to have it bolt back at her. She could not get out! Kagome smirked she had seen this coming. It was good she had made preparations. Kagome concentrated to find the three Inu's auras. Tashio and Sesshoumaru were in the gardens, and Mayako in a different room than the room assigned to her or the ball room. Kagome concentrated on her elemental power and closed her eyes. She felt her body fell apart, and then she woke up in her assigned room. She had made a water clone, just in case they had tried anything with her. She quickly got up from the futon and stormed out from the small room in her quarters, and ran down towards her Lady. She found the room soon after and opened the door. Mayako stormed out hissing
"They trapped me in this room, which has a spell on it so I couldn't get out. They tried to knock me out, but it reflected back on the hitter" Kagome smirked
"They can't hurt you with the protection necklace I lent you. They trapped me too, and I prepared for it since I already had guessed it would happen" Mayako looked at her surprised
"They are about to blackmail Tashio and Sesshoumaru now as we speak, so how about we show them that we are unharmed?" Kagome asked. Mayako grinned and then they walked towards the gardens.
"Agree or Lady Mayako and Lady Kagome will be lost to both of you!" Kyo hissed, Sura giggled evilly behind him. A big group of soldiers stood behind the both of them, waiting for a command. Kagome smiled and made her entrance
"Do not underestimate me just because I was a human Lord Kyo" Kagome hissed. She saw Lord Kyo's angered face, and Sura's pale one. Sesshoumaru and Tashio were smirking.
"I will not allow this!" Lord Kyo screamed hysterically and in a very quick move he had stabbed Tashio in the stomach with a knife
"Go down dog!" he hissed
"Tashio!" Mayako screamed. Kagome gasped in pain, and tasted blood in her mouth
'Of course he has to stab the only one who isn't properly protected' Her blood protection spell had protected Tashio instead, and it was Kagome that suffered from the stab. Whatever damage that would happen to the protected, would instead happen to the one wearing the protection capsule with the blood in it. But she kept herself standing, pretending that nothing had happened. Before Lord Kyo could get to stab Tashio one more time, Sesshoumaru had pulled Lord Kyo away violently. Tashio looked down and saw to his surprise no wound. While Tashio looked confused, Sesshoumaru was fighting Lord Kyo. Mayako was running towards Tashio crying. Sura then screamed hysterical
"This is all the damn Inu's fault! You could just have given me Sesshoumaru, and everything would have been fine!" she screamed. In a second she had formed her poison whip and lashed it at Tashio. Kagome felt the hit on her shoulder
'Does Tashio want to get injured?' he had yet to defend himself that damned dog! It had hurt like hell. Kagome turned and looked at the pond. She would have to do something… And just in that thought, Lord Kyo's warriors started attacking. Kagome hurried to the pond and dived in. She closed her eyes under the water and concentrated. She designed pictures and figures in her head, and felt herself being forced up. She opened her eyes, and saw that she was standig on a sphere of water. She then lifted her hands over her head, even though it was painful with the wound in her stomach and shoulder, still dripping with blood. She could feel the poison in the wound, so they had to put a stop to it fast. She might be youkai, but she was not invincible! Kagome pushed her hands forward, and water flew through the air and collided into some of the warriors with a hard force. Kagome looked towards Sesshoumaru; he seemed to do well, as well as Tashio
'Finally'. Mayako was fighting Sura, but the only thing that kept Mayako from being chopped to pieces was Kagome's protection spell, Mayako seemed more focused on her two men, than her own fight. Kagome took a step forward, a new sphere forming under her foot for every step. Kagome stopped at the edge of the pond and made a bow and arrow of her miko energy. She aimed the arrow at the unknowing Sura, and shot. It hit Sura in the chest, and she screamed before she was completely purified. Kagome once again gasped in pain, and went to her knees. She then hissed in pain again. She looked up to see Lord Kyo had wounded Tashio and Sesshoumaru in one great blow
'See! He was stronger than you both believed him to be!' she hissed mentally. She had suffered a burning blow the same place as the stab wound, and she felt a small wound on her cheek as well. She gasped for air. It hurt like hell with the poison. She turned to see few warriors to her left running towards her, since their Lord fought against the two male Inu's. Mayako went to Kagome's side
"How did you get…" Kagome stopped her
"I will tell you later" Kagome gestured for Mayako to help her up. When she got up she concentrated on her power again, remembering one of the pages she had read. She felt energy forming in her hands. She looked to see one hand infused with purification energy and the other with fire
"Get behind me" Kagome whispered. Mayako got behind her. Kagome then slammed, with all her strength, her hands as fists down into the ground, and infused the energy into it. She knew Tashio, Mayako and Sesshoumaru would stay untouched thanks to her protection. The ground slightly glowed purple and the warriors screamed in pain before melting away. She fell to her knees. Mayako supported her, making sure she was stable. Now all they could do was observe the fight between the three Lords. Kagome looked at them. It must have been a surprise for the two male Inu's to find Lord Kyo strong enough to hold them both of. But in their defense, they did not have the great swords yet. Kagome saw Lord Kyo smirk
"So, you have protection spells on you? Well, I know a thing or two about them, and I know how to break one" She saw Sesshoumaru and Tashio's surprised faces, and they looked at Kagome quickly before returning their concentration back on Lord Kyo.
"It is you" Mayako whispered. Kagome nodded. She then saw Lord Kyo take a pouch out from his sleeve and threw the powder over both Inu's. Kagome paled. She could sense the magical protection from the sash disappear. Lord Kyo then threw a smoke bomb, making it impossible to see his movements. Mayako suddenly screamed, and Kagome felt the air left her chest. In the fading smoke, Lord Kyo had stabbed Sesshoumaru with his long sword through his chest. Tashio swung his sword and in one swing decapitated Lord Kyo. Kagome fell to the ground, gasping in pain, tasting blood in her mouth
'Well, at least I saved them from any deadly injuries' Kagome thought. She was not dying, but it hurt like hell anyway, and it would definitely take a while recovering from her wounds. Tashio, Sesshoumaru and Mayako were at her side in a flash
"What in the world?" Tashio said, looking at her wounds.
"How…?" Sesshoumaru started, but Mayako ripped the blood-heart necklace of Kagome's neck and inspected it
"If I had known, I would not have agreed to it" Mayako said bitterly. Sesshoumaru and Tashio looked at her confused. Kagome coughed
"I made protection spells and precautions for the night" Kagome said lowly.
"I could only make two single protections, so I gave one to Mayako and one to Sesshoumaru. But to make sure you were all protected, even if the others broke, I had to make a strong one of blood…" Kagome coughed more blood up before continuing
"The vessel to carry it, would take the damage the protected would have gotten… It was an unexpected side effect I had not counted on being put through" Sesshoumaru took her in his arms, gently to make sure it was not too painful
"…stupid…" she heard Sesshoumaru mumble in her hair
"Excuse me for trying to protect the people I love. And my plan went well. They acted like I had predicted, and I fooled everyone" She felt their confused gazes
"It was not even me in the ball room. It was a clone of water. I was in my bed, with my conscience in the water clone, so if I got trapped, I could just destroy the clone and wake up" Kagome sat up, feeling her wounds starting to slowly heal
"Why did you not tell us?" Mayako asked. Kagome smiled at her
"Yeah, tell you battle plans in the house of the enemy, where he probably had ears everywhere? And besides, none of you would have agreed with the protection spell anyway" Kagome explained. They all nodded. Sesshoumaru helped her up
"Well, I guess you should go in and explain what happened to the host. I think I will go lay down" Tashio smiled and placed a hand on her uninjured shoulder
"Yes, you do that. You surely deserve it" Mayako and Tashio then went inside.
Sesshoumaru helped Kagome up in her room and placed her gently on the bed.
"Promise me you will not do anything like that again" Sesshoumaru said. Kagome smiled gently at him
"I promise I will not do anything like that again, unless I feel it is the last resort" Sesshoumaru narrowed his eyes at her
"The best I can do, live with it" she snorted. Sesshoumaru looked at her sad. She placed a hand on his cheek, stroking it gently
"I love you" Sesshoumaru smiled weakly and leaned into her touch
"I love you to Kagome" he then leaned in and kissed her.
Kagome had only been sleeping for a while, when she heard someone in her room. She tried to sit up, only to gasp in pain because of her wounds. She opened her eyes, looking around, but seeing none
"Someone here?" she asked, feeling kind of stupid for asking when she knew the Inu's were at the ball. Just in case, she searched her room with her energy. And bingo! In the corner, at the balcony door she felt a big aura. Kagome, with a lot of pain and effort tried to get to her feet
"I know you are there" she stated, trying not to fall over now when she finally got up on her feet
"You path here is over miko" the unidentified source said. Kagome froze
'No' she knew that voice. That freaking voice that had told her of her path… The Bat Taiyoukai! She started to back away from the balcony door
"No… Please not yet" Kagome got out in one breath; she turned on her feel, forgetting all about her pain and ran for the door. She needed to say goodbye first… she needed…
'No it is too early! I need to say goodbye!' she had almost reached the doorknob when she felt herself being grabbed from behind
"Your time here is over" the Bat Taiyoukai whispered into her ear, and with her claws she trapped Kagome in her arms and started to fly out through the balcony door
"NO! Sesshoumaru! SESSHOUMARU!" Kagome screamed with all her might. The Bat Taiyoukai flew up in the air, setting the course towards the well. A roar was heard from the palace, and Kagome turned to see a big white dog running in the air towards them.
"Sesshoumaru!" she continued screaming, in hopes he would safe her. The well was coming in closer and closer. She saw Sesshoumaru coming closer, and she could almost hear his desperate cry to get to her
"Don't worry; you will see each other again soon" the Bat Taiyoukai said before releasing the grip she had on Kagome, when she was just under the well.
When Kagome felt the grip on her loosen, everything was going in slow-motion. The wind in her hair, flowing around her like a carpet would, caught in the wind. She turned to look in the direction she knew Sesshoumaru was. Before she reached the well, her eyes locked on with Sesshoumaru's.
"I love you" she whispered before everything around her became lid up with different, but familiar colors, which meant, she was travelling through time. She didn't get to see which era she had ended up in when she finally landed at the bottom of the well, because of her wounds and blood loss, she became unconscious.
