Glossary:
Anata no Kokoro to Tamashi - Japanese for Your Heart and Soul
Ubiquitous - Present, appearing, or found everywhere
Fleetly - Swift, rapid.
Insidious - Proceeding in a gradual, subtle way, but with harmful effects
Ningen - Human
Nani - Japanese for, What?
Callow - Lacking adult sophistication
Umbrage - Offense or annoyance
Fulgent - Shinning brightly
Dokkaso - (Toxic Flower Claw): Sesshomaru's deadly acidic poisonous claws which can melt flesh and virtual anything else veryquickly.
Meido - The dark underworld to which all the dead must journey. It is also the Japanese adaptation of the word maid. (In this story it is the underworld yay!)
Jigoku no Korekuta : Collector of the underworld, hades or hell.
Fulvous: Reddish yellow
Kagome continued to gawk at her reflection in the mirrored dresser. The young woman remained in utter disbelief that she was unable to take the pendant off her person. She momentarily cast her gaze down to her chest to further inspect and handle the item. It suddenly began to pulsate rapidly in her palm. Ebony lush lashes languidly fluttered. Azure irises casually drew up; quickly widening at the sight of the imposing frame of the ubiquitous demonic spirit which preyed upon and stalked her. Kagome instinctively backed away from the argent-haired being. The daiyokai agilely closed the distance between them, hastily ripping the necklace off the startled girl. The heart-shaped token re-appeared as fleetly as it was removed.
"It won't," Kagome panted while struggling to catch her breath, "come off."
The demon unanticipatedly snatched the necklace from around the young female's neck for a second time.
"Stop that!" Kagome rebuked the demon for rashly swinging his claws at her throat. "You're a psychotic asshole!"
The insidious pendant tauntingly nestled itself in the divide of the ningen's bosom.
The daiyokai tilted his head in bemusement. "Nani?" A scowl and what appeared to be a brief, almost pout formed upon his lips.
"Aww," Kagome inadvertently chortled in amusement. The girl abruptly broke into maniacal fits of giggles; partially from the sense of her sanity slipping and then the sullen expression plastered on her direful tormentor's face. "I told you it won't come off." She smugly prodded.
"This Sesshomaru refuses," the yokai snapped and snorted in disgust, "to be mated to an ill-mannered simpleton."
"You sneak into MY ROOM, yet I am the one without manners?" Kagome clasped her hands on her hips. "What makes you think you're such a great catch anyway? You're mean, always threatening to kill people and are a sicko! Whoa, wait... Did you just say mated?" The raven-haired maiden's arms fell limply at her sides. Her jaw went slack.
"Imbecile," was his only response.
The insult pulled Kagome out of the momentary state of shock. "Did you just call me an idiot?"
'"Hn," the demonic being acknowledged her inquiry with a curt nod.
"I don't understand why mama would want me to have anything to do with you." Kagome shook her head in disdain. "You're a rude, awful, sadistic and vile creature!"
A low ominous growl rumbled from within the walls of the silver-haired yokai's prodigious chest. "Mind your words human," he warned.
"Oh?" Kagome indignantly raised an inky eyebrow. She took umbrage at his remark. "Is that how this works? You get to haunt me, but I have to watch what I say to you?" The appalled girl continued her verbal onslaught. "There's no way in hell mama would want me to be with a filthy demon!"
The fiendish entity swept across the room. He clamped one massive clawed hand on the nape of the woman's neck. "Ignorant onna," he hissed while looming over her paralyzed fragile form. "You know nothing of hell." A contemptuous grin slowly spread upon the demon's immaculate features. "This Sesshomaru will expand your callow mind. You will learn what it is to burn."
The irate demon held the woman firmly in place, painfully squeezing the back of her neck. He covered the maiden's left breast with his free hand.
"Sick...fuck," Kagome spat out in both distress and repulsion.
"Your flesh reeks of insolence and mediocrity," he scoffed at the helpless female in his grasp. "You are no mate of mine. The time has come to collect what is owed - anata no kokoro to tamashi."
Kagome winced as jagged talons pierced her skin through the material of her knit blouse.
The woman's crimson life-force flowed, coating the tips of his nails and trickling down his forearm. A fulgent green discharge erupted form the girl's wounds. The acidic fluid scorched and began to dissolve the malignant yokai's limb; resulting in the immediate release of his captive. Kagome collapsed onto her side - her right hip taking the impact of the hardwood bamboo flooring. The girl clutched her chest in both pain and relief.
The stunned demon fell to a knee. The last words the dark priest of Meido spoke to him, plagued his psyche. "As long as the girl wears the pendant you've gifted the deceased; the slumbering savage within will recognize this female as your mate. It will fiercely protect her - even from yourself."
'Dokkaso', he mused while dismally staring at the rapidly disintegrating flesh of his injured hand and arm. 'The very poison which flows through these veins has forsaken me.'
Naraku observed the events unfold from the mirror of truth. "It appears the jigoku no korekuta," the overlord sneered then turned to face the dark priest, "has realized he cannot collect the one condemned soul which stands between he and his father Yuudai's freedom."
"It would be a pity," Miroku's upper lip curled into a cavalier smile of his own, "if my lord should somehow lose his personal hellhound to the daughter of Sesshomaru-sama's slain mate." The accursed monk jeered his master.
"Ah yes, speaking of mates - How is Sango these days, priest? Shall I pay her a visit?"
"That will not be necessary m'lord." Miroku's snide tone of voice immediately took on a steely timbre at the mention of his wife's name. "We have an agreement," the monk affirmed.
"I recall that fateful winter's night well." Naraku let out a melodramatic sigh before continuing. "There was an algid texture in the air. How fitting? Do you remember it priest?" The overload challenged the ill-fated monk. "Three miscarriages and a still born were simply far too much for the woman to bear. She'd slit her own throat while in despair. You found your beloved Sango bathed in her own blood, her body sprawled across the kitchen floor. Do you remember the tantalizing aroma of metal the way I do?" Naraku inhaled deeply. The demon lord whipped his head back. His jet-black tresses whirled wildly as he feigned being lost in the throes of passion.
"Oh... how you summoned me with your screams as she took in the last few breaths left in her useless, lifeless form." The vermillion eyed lord's gaze remained fixed on the defiant underling. "How does your memory serve you now?"
"My life in trade for hers. My memory serves me well," Miroku responded through a clenched jaw. "Sango was spared in exchange for my abilities. I am at your service."
"Should you forget your place again dark priest of Meido..." The overlord of jigoku trailed off.
"Forgive this lowly priest for his impertinence, Naraku-sama."
"Now that we've come to an understanding," Naraku coolly brushed away a few unruly ebony strands from his eyes, "let us return to watching the human girl and that foolish hound of mine."
'Go to him,' murmured a nearly inaudible voice from off in the distance.
Kagome shut her eyes tightly and shook her head in defiance. "I will not," the disheveled girl inhaled sharply in between sobs, "go to that monster!" The young woman pressed her right palm firmly against the still bleeding lacerations across her left breast. 'I'm hearing things. I'm dying,' she solemnly mused.
'You must go to him,' instructed the voice, now becoming clearer as it drew near.
The temperature in the bedroom fluctuated as the presence kneeled before the injured girl. A comforting yet familiar sensation of both chill and warmth in the atmosphere enveloped Kagome's slight frame.
"Look at me, my child. I am no voice in your head," commanded the entity in a stern yet feminine tone.
"Ta-ka-ra!" The fallen demon lord cried out in anguish at the spectral sight of his beloved's kneeling form. He attempted to crawl to her, but was immediately halted by a mere wave of the woman's wraithlike hand.
"Be still," she commanded gently.
Takara turned her attention to the lambent beams of light radiating from the object dangling in the middle of her daughter's chest. "Cup it and hold it against your heart my dear."
Kagome grasped the glowing moonstone and did as advised by the apparition of her mother. Memories flooded her mind's eye upon contact with her skin and blood. A series of recollections from past centuries unraveled in her subconscious. Events that were never hers to recall told a grim tale of a bitter feud between brothers, the heart wrenching sacrifice of a father, a love that went unspoken and the harrowing existence that befell the daiyokai.
Kagome's cyan irises traveled to the demon drenched in his own blood and back to her mother. "Mama, you dated that psycho and Toga?" The young woman paused as she gathered her thoughts. "So, he is Toga's brother and they are both demons. This means Inuyasha is also a..." The young woman gasped in astonishment. "This pendant you gave me was a gift to you from him all those years ago. Is that why... is it why it won't come off?"
"My dearest daughter," Takara smiled at Kagome thoughtfully. "You've finally seen all and understand your connection to Toga, Inuyasha and why Sesshomaru hunts you. This pendant binds you to my past and to him in many ways. The most important being that he cannot harm you without harming himself, however you cannot recover from wounds he's inflicted without healing him."
"Why?!" Sesshomaru demanded of his former mate. "I have traveled through hellfire for you!"
Takara's head quickly snapped to the to the left, facing the yokai. Lengthy ebony strands framed her translucent, delicate features. Sapphire orbs bore through pained fulvous discs. The phantasmic being effortlessly glided in the demon lord's direction. "Yes you have and at what cost? I will not allow you to devour my daughter's heart and condemn her soul to fulfill a bargain. Consider this a second chance, use it wisely."
Takara's outline began to slowly fade as she gracefully approached her daughter. "Heal one another."
"But mama..."
"Go now," Takara urged softly.
'Forgive me my daughter, binding him to you was the only way to stop him from taking your life.'
A/N: Please forgive my 9 month absence. I did not anticipate having as many medical complications and another two surgeries. The recovering process had me out of commission. May this humble chapter be to your liking and find you well. :)