Circumstances
Chapter 14 : The Mark
Hi everybody! (Wah! Are my readers still here? ) I have decided, yes decided, to come out of my self-imposed hiatus (or maybe writer's block, who knows?). I have finally able to have time to continue this baby of mine.
Hope you'll enjoy this continuation.
Disclaimer : I do not own any of the characters. Although, I would love to own them. :)
The scene opens into a foggy field. Tall and thick trees covered the enclosure.
Kagome wondered where she was. She vaguely remembered seeing Sesshoumaru before losing consciousness. It remains a mystery to her what caused the excruciating pain that she felt.
But, it still does not explain where she was. 'Am I dreaming?' Kagome wondered.
At first, Kagome found herself in the edge of the clearing, seeing nothing. Time seem to have stop. Or so it seems. Looking around, there seems to be no one in the area but her.
Kagome kept rooted in her spot. In this unfamiliar place, she opted to observe her surroundings first.
After a while, the fog seems to subside. The sun started to peek out from the clouds. Kagome started to notice that someone seems to be in the middle of the field. Kagome squint her eyes, but the remaining fog hindered her from confirming if there is a person in the area other than her.
A few more minutes passed, and there were no more traces of the fog. Birds and bees can be heard from a distance. Mild wind caressed the leaves and hair off her shoulders.
In the middle of the field, stood a woman. Kagome could only see the side of her profile.
Tall.
Sharp, beautiful features.
Elegant aura.
But what caught Kagome's eyes was the long, silver mane of the woman in the field. Three individuals in her life own hairs that sport the same beautiful hue.
Unconsciously, a whisper of question escaped Kagome's lips, "Who?"
-Next sequence—
"Papa, when is mama going to wake up?"
The Taisho family has gathered in Kagome's room. Two days have already passed since she fell into an unconscious state. Other the immediate family, Kagome's friends have also visited. In the span of a few days, Sesshoumaru has realized how many people care for Kagome.
In the months that they have been living under the same roof, Kagome has proven to have an interesting personality. She maintains a bright aura that attracts the people around her. Just like a moth attracted to afire. The perfect example is Rin. In a couple of days since their first meeting, they became like the ultimate mother and daughter. If one does not know the truth, you would mistake them as biological mother and child.
And due to the development of this bond, Rin has been crying her eyes out for the last two days. As Sesshoumaru never learned to comfort anyone, he has to call in his father. He wouldn't have done so if Rin would just stop crying. He wanted to avoid the little girl getting sick herself.
Naturally, as the child adored her grandparents, she was appeased. That is, for a while. Not even the promise of her favorite food would stop the tears that are falling from the child's eyes.
"Rin, the doctors will make sure that Kagome will wake up." Sesshoumaru stared at the little girl that is fiercely clutching his pants.
"Really? Do you promise?" Rin looked into Sesshoumaru with expectant eyes. To the innocent little girl, her father can do anything and everything. If he says so, she believed in him wholeheartedly.
Sesshoumaru contemplated on how to respond to her question. He prides himself on being honest. Telling Rin the fact that even the human doctors who have seen Kagome cannot explain what happened to her.
For the first day that she was unconscious, he brought Kagome to Tokyo Medical City. She underwent all the possible tests that are available. They even went as far as looking into her medical history. Fortunately, Kagome is not the type of person who is scared of going to the hospital. The medical team that was handling her case was able to obtain a complete (annual) set of her medical records. The lead doctor explained to him that the results of the tests, combined with her medical records, they found out that there nothing wrong with Kagome and they cannot specifically explain the reason behind what happened to her.
This lead Sesshoumaru to have Kagome moved back to the mansion. Inutashio suggested that they let Myoga, the family's doctor, look into Kagome's case. He looked into the girl's aura, blood, etc.
He cannot lie to the child. He refused to lie. Nonetheless, he doesn't know the words to say.
Fortunately, Sango stepped in. "Rin, come here." The child looked over to her aunt. Slowly letting go of her father's pants, she made her way to Sango. Sitting Rin on her lap, Sango said, "My love, do not worry. Your mom is just tired and she just needs to sleep more. I'm sure your dad will do his best to make everything alright. So, do not cry anymore , okay? You see when you cry, your mom will be sad. We can't have that right? She has to be happy so that she'll wake up. Understand?"
Rin nodded her head. "Yes Auntie Sango! I won't cry so that mama will wake up already!"
Once again, everyone is quiet in the room. Silence did not bother anyone. All they care is to be able to see the vibrant and lovely eyes of the woman on the bed.
-Next sequence—
"I'm afraid that we have delicate problem in our hands."
A few days after Myoga saw Kagome, he rounded up Sesshoumaru and Inutaisho to present his diagnosis.
"Explain. You had more than enough time Myoga. I'm expecting that you already know the reason behind Kagome's condition." Inutaisho exploded. He had been on edge since he learned of what happened to Kagome. She is a sweet and kind girl. She was able to worm her way to the hearts of the family members. You just know that she is genuine. Something that is considered a feat in the world of humans especially in the company of demons.
It did not help that to the eyes of Inutaisho, Sesshoumaru seemed to be unaffected by the situation. But then again, nothing could faze his son. Sesshoumaru has trained himself well to maintain a cold front. Inutaisho shooked his head.
"The human girl…" Myoga started.
"Kagome." Myoga stopped dead in his words. He almost forgot that Sesshoumaru was in the room. He had been standing by the window and looking into the landscape in the garden below.
"Wh..wha..what?" Myoga stuttered. "I'm sorry?"
"Her name is Kagome. And..she is my wife. She is the lady of the whole of western land. Address her as her position demands." Sesshoumaru's face is calm, but the other two men could see that his eyes hold storm. Despite Myoga's internal opinion on the matter, he will not dare cross Sesshoumaru right now. He still loves his neck.
"I apologize my Lord. Going back, although it took me days to research and analyze the situation at hand, especially since this is an unprecedented situation, I believe that I have the solution. If we look into the sequence of events, Saisomaru is Lady Kagome's first mate. I believe that he had marked her. Looking into demon mates, should one of them dies, and the surviving one takes in another mate, they may mark their new mate without repercussions. On the other hand, should the surviving demon, did not take in another mate, there should not be any problems. In regards to Lady Kagome, I noticed that her mating mark is almost non-existent. This stroked me as odd as this does not happen to a demon to demon mating. This led me to the conclusion that the main reason for this reaction is the Lady's humanity. Ofcourse, this is not intended as an insult." Myoga threw in the last statement to appease Sesshoumaru. Just in case.
"What do you mean Myoga? What does Kagome's humanity has to do with this? When she was marked by Sai, it had already extended her lifespan…..but…" Realization dawned on Inutaisho. "Don't tell me."
"I am afraid so. The concept of demon mating is that each demon will inject their "essence" to the other person. This bonds their souls and life spans together. Since Lady Kagome is formerly a human, with a limited life span, the absence of Saisomaru's "soul" in this world to mingle with her own created a deadline to Lady Kagome's life. Also, as both of you know, the Lady is an untrained miko. Even though she is not using her powers actively, it seems that her miko powers are currently rejecting the remaining "essence" that Saisomaru has left in her body. Thus, the fading of the mating mark. This is the reason why the human doctors did not find anything wrong with her. Her physical body is healthy. I have reasons to believe that, since the demon who had injected his essence in her is already dead, it will not be long before the Lady's life may be extinguished."
"Are you sure about this Myoga?" Inutaisho asked. He cannot believe what he was hearing. The girl had already experienced too muh heartache from his family. And now, she might die. She still has a bright future ahead of her. He will find a way.
"Ofcourse, I am not 100 percent sure about this. As there had been no case such as this before, this is the most plausible conclusion that I have come up with. One thing is for sure, this is an imminent danger to the Lady if we do not take action."
"What do you propose that we must do?" Inutaisho asked.
"I must mark her." Sesshoumaru, who had been quiet throughout Myoga's explanation situated himself in the chair adjacent to his father.
Myoga nodded. "This is also the conclusion that I have reached. If left alone, Lady Kagome will die. BUT, if Lord Sesshoumaru will mark her, she will share his life span. And since they are already married, this will not pose as a problem to anyone."
Sesshoumaru bored his eyes into Myoga's, "How long?"
"Considering that the previous mating mark is almost gone, I would be only a few days my Lord."
-Next sequence—
Kagome found herself in a conversation with the beautiful woman. When she asked the woman's name, she was told to call her "Mother". Although odd, Kagome complied. After all, everything is just a dream.
"Mother, where are we?"
The woman who was busy gathering flowers around her, stopped in her tracks. "Where do you think are we?"
"I think this is a dream." Kagome replied. "Well…it feels like it is a dream."
Mother laughed. Picking up the last flower, she made her way back to Kagome. "Is that so? Would you believe if me if I say that it is not a dream?"
Kagome gave her a puzzled look. Since it is a dream, Kagome decided to go along with what the woman was saying.
"If this is not a dream, then where am I? and why are you here?"
Mother started making a flower garland. She did not speak for a while. It almost seems like forever. But, Kagome is no where near to waking up. She waited.
"This is a place where memories and time are preserved. It is a dimension where you decide."
"Decide about what, Mother?"
"Whether you want to live or you want to die."
-Next sequence—
"What do you plan to do now, Sesshoumaru?"
After some time since Myoga left, the father and son sat quietly in the room. Both absorbed by their thoughts.
"Izayoi has not marked you?" The question shocked Inutaisho. Never had his son asked him such personal question. Especially a question related to Izayoi.
Although, he can never be too sure, he quietly believed that his son hates him for getting a new mate and siring a hanyou. In the eyes of his son, he was a failure. It is not that he has not made any efforts to get closer to his son. But, his son closed his heart. He had lost so much in his young life that his heart grew cold.
"No. I did not." Inutaisho lowered his head in exhaustion. 'What does this have to do with Kagome?'
"Why?" Inutaisho could feel his son's intense stare.
"Because until now…..I do love your mother. It is out of respect to her and her family that I chose to not to be marked by Izayoi."
"She will die." It was an ending that was always hanging around their heads. Marking Izayoi did not extend her years beyond the normal, but it will be at the same length as Taisho's. The two of them have already accepted this fact.
"I know."
"Kagome…that woman…I am not sure if she still wants to live."
For a long time, the men sat in silence.