Chapter Nine: The Way
Once upon a time, a duck fell into a well...
The old shrine-keeper said it was a gateway to the past, that he had seen this happen before. Fakir tried to take his example from the old man's nonchalance.
It was simple to imagine the place where she had ended up: it was the same place where he sat now, only several hundred years in the past. He could envision the huge Goshinboku tree, somewhat smaller than it was today, and the Bone-Eater's Well, perhaps without the protective building around it. And once he could see it in his mind's eye, he let his power loose.
Ink scrawled across a page, letters made sloppy by haste. Day slipped away into soft night while he wrote. With each word power rose in his blood, his ancestor's power, harmonizing with the Shrine's subtle voices. He felt suddenly certain that this could save Duck from whatever had befallen her and bring her back to safety, to him.
He stopped his frantic writing, looked up, and waited for several long minutes.
But Duck did not appear.
If there was one thing Fakir had learned over the years, it was that gifts such as his did not always work as intended. He was a fool to have thought Duck would return to him so easily.
A stab of fear pierced his heart. If even Drosselmeyer's power had failed to bring her back to him...
It was unacceptable. Fakir abandoned his writing and forced himself to his feet. First tottering, then running, he made his way to the well house and threw the door open. There was no sign of Duck.
And yet... something had changed.
In the dark before him the Well pulsed, beckoning.
The way was open.
Note: This chapter is based on fanfic_bakeoff's June 2011 Secret Ingredient: Tutorial (lesson). Additionally, I would like to extend my thanks to everyone who voted for this story at the InuYasha Fan Guild! Thanks to your support, this story placed second in the Best Crossover category!
