Chapter Twenty-Five: Salvation

Happiness is something final and complete in itself, as being the aim and end of all practical activities whatever ... Happiness then we define as the active exercise of the mind in conformity with perfect goodness or virtue.

-Aristotle

"What on earth..." Miroku blinked slowly, frowning as he pulled Rin back from her position. "I thought they wouldn't be here...at least so many of them...why are they here?"

"I dunno." Rin answered after sending him a scowl at pulling her down. "We probably won't do too well if we attack them now though."

"They're over here! They want to attack the gates!" The call made both Miroku and Rin blink in surprise at one of their other priests giving them away. Miroku recovered faster though and knocked the man from his feet with a sweep of his staff.

"Why would you..." Rin frowned at the priest that had betrayed them, getting off a couple of good shots before they were overrun by others from the nihilistic group of opponents. Weapons forcefully removed before they were tied.

"What do you want with us?" Miroku demanded, wincing as one of them pushed him back onto the sand.

"The girl...she knows Sesshomaru..." Nendin, the working in command of the group commented with a shrug, one of very few in the area without great injuries. "...he'll be interested to know her soul is damned to hell for eternity because of the soul reapers. We've agreed to trade her in return for his blood. Then we can craft the Hōgyoku and Tama combination. With the world's barrier's already dropping we can reach our goal."

"Wait..." Miroku blinked slowly.

"Yes. Kaede let you come here on purpose." Nendin replied with a smirk. "She was working with us by keeping those that would stand against us distracted with thoughts of a ceasefire. Once you finally decided to get involved then she was to send you here with one of our other moles in your camp. Do you really think there are many of us so foolish to keep faith when the gods have abandoned us?"

"You are a fool." Rin broke in with the insult. "Lord Sesshomaru will stop all of you."

"Doubtful." Nendin answered, pulling up her arm as he picked up a vial with a electric green liquid that seemed to glow gently. There was barely any of the liquid inside but more than enough of the Shinten that if injected it would leave her unconscious for likely days. "We only agreed to hand you over, never that you'd be conscious at the time. We'll blame the soul society of course you see...that's why we need the blood in the first place. Keshizu isn't the only one capable of deception, and with him missing, things must continue, I refuse to live like this any longer."

"No..." Rin squirmed but they held her fast as he pushed the needle into her arm. "...Lord Sesshomaru..."

She didn't have a chance to say anything else before she was out cold. Miroku narrowing his gaze on Nendin dangerously, if he didn't have all the people with him he'd be suffering for that.

"How far have you fallen? All of you...do you really think this will help? You should all have some amount of logic left, think about what the jewel does to those that wish ill with it!" He tried to appeal to the other priests/priestess' but was knocked roughly in the head making his speech pause short.

"Take him and toss him in the prison." Nendin commented with a shrug. "We need to open the gate to the real world...with things going awry we should be able to get through now. Let's go get the last ingredient for the Tama."

ooooo ooooo ooooo ooooo ooooo ooooo ooooo

The battle was intense, she could tell there were priests everywhere, but their powers didn't manage to stand up against the limitless number of hollows around them. Each moment another fell to wounds, and it felt as if every death was ripping another layer of her humanity away, incredible agony swept through her but she wasn't allowed a break, a moment to recover from the constant assault. Her entire body ached for release, it was difficult to think of anything but blood, death, murder, the wish for release.

The carnage was everywhere, it enveloped everything around her, she couldn't manage to find any emotions to credit to the torment anymore. If she moved, it was like she never actually made progress, the battle was constant everywhere and after a long period of finding absolutely nothing but more pointless battle she curled up on herself on the sands of Hueco Mundo and shivered lightly.

"What's happening?"Kagome asked herself aloud, but even her own voice was muffled and distant. Barely discernable above the din of battle; the screams of enemies and ally alike as they were cut or destroyed only to be reborn and start again. "Why am I here again? Did I die?"

She pressed her eyes closed, tears falling down from her cheeks to the gray sands, her fingers digging into her palms as teeth gnashed into her shoulder and calf, hollows had jumped on her moment of weakness and she was going to be eaten alive...but somehow it just didn't matter, it'd happened several times before, one more horrific death would barely add to the thousands of others that were flooding into her mind. The history of all of the priests and priestess' tearing wickedly at her mind and heart as everything they'd experienced curled into her.

Broken thoughts haunted her and she wasn't sure if they were someone elses or her own. "What did I do to deserve this? Why am I being tormented in this way? The gods, everyone, the world should burn for abandoning me here. I want nothing more than for everything to end with my pain."

Kagome's body writhing into the sand, if she managed to bury herself perhaps she'd find a few moments of piece before the hollows attacked her again. Her wounds were worsened by putting the sand into them, but for a mere second's worth of interruption it was worth the longer pain of a barely healed wound.

"Would you end it all if you could? If everything would be wiped clean, but your pain would end, would you do it?" The voice was incredibly calm, gentle, a freeze breeze in a stale existence that made her open her eyes.

The battle still raged around her but it was difficult to make out in the distance. There it was nearby, the jewel of four souls, if she made a simple wish on it, she might be able to escape...but...

She hesitated after starting to reach for it, it was difficult to consider consequences through the bladed curtains that had been dragged over her being but memories of her life, of better times and people that deserved happiness made her pause.

An arrow struck her, friendly fire from the battle raging around her. The voices and screams of her comrades, echoing through the ages, suddenly more clear. Should those she cares about here in this unforgiving world suffer for all eternity so others, that could never appreciate the sacrifice that had been made, could find joy?

She began to reach for it again but the wind blew a scarf across her hand, it was tattered and horribly stained in several spots with crimson but the silvery-green color showed enough that it made her pause again, wrapping her fingers into the small portion of the fabric that was still silky and impossibly smooth and gentle for how sharp and cruel everything else here was...

She caressed the cloth and the memory of a man giving it to her as a Christmas present, the usual cool expression on his face she recognized and it warmed her heart. She pulled her hand away from the jewel as if she'd been about to put the limb into a fire.

"No...no...I can't." She refused, pushing herself away from the sparkling gem as if it would plague her. "My friends, my family...Byakuya..."

She shook her head negatively as more tears fell, her scramble stopping as she felt herself being lifted from the ground, blinking in disbelief at Byakuya next to her. She pulled herself into his chest with a sob.

"It's okay Kagome...it's just an illusion." He whispered to her, holding her close and mostly ignoring the din of battle around them. "It's not real..."

"But...the pain..." She barely managed to gasp the words between somewhat relieved sobs. Her body was still in incredibly agony, even though Byakuya holding her seemed to make it unimportant. "...the horrible pain...everyone...all the time..."

He nuzzled into her hair, kissing her forehead before sitting with her and pulling her face up to look at him. "Kagome...listen to me...all of this...it's not real. You have to let go of it before it consumes you."

"They've all suffered so much...I...can't." She shook her head, continuing to cry uncontrollably.

He shook his head with a sigh, cleaning off her face with his own scarf, leaning down to kiss her despite the shaking, the soft embrace making her body calm, her mind relaxing just long enough to do what he'd told her without even realizing it.

Being in his arms, she felt rescued somehow and then they weren't there anymore. She was standing in the pillar of light where Sestran had cast her into that hellish torment, not even certain how long she'd actually been there, but Byakuya's grasp around her wrist was reassuring in a way she'd never realized was possible. She met his eyes and managed a small smile as the pillar faded from around them, though the illumination coming from his brilliant wings barely made the lighting in the room change.

Sestran had turned and was about to speak when he'd been slammed back into the wall, Byakuya had Kagome in one arm and his free hand was grasped around the Prince's neck, the flesh of his hand sizzling with the with the effort of standing against the royal. Charcoal eyes were narrowed hatefully, ignoring the pain as his fingers grasped a little tighter.

The Prince managed to widen his own gaze at the unexpected quickness of the attack, and finding that he should work a bit harder on his physical prowess as his own hands didn't budge the captain's. He couldn't hit him with lightning without also hitting Kagome.

"Byakuya no." Kagome put a hand on his arm with her soft-spoken protest. "He...it wasn't right but I think I understand...the priestess' and priests, it should be fine now..."

Byakuya hestitated only at Kagome's interruption, "Understand you live by Kagome's grace." He pushed the Princes head back into the wall as he released him, ignoring the burns along his palm and fingers without breaking the glare, seemingly ready to take on the new king if the slightest bad move was made.

"Thank you Kagome." The Prince managed as he rubbed at his neck where Byakuya had been choking him. Then his head bounced off the wall again as Kagome punched him as hard as she could muster in the eye.

"How dare you, you are such a jerk. You could have told me what was going to happen!" Kagome yelled at him in her own frustration, slapping him the moment he'd seemed to slightly recover again. "I really really don't like you at all!"

"I didn't know what would happen." He frowned a bit, holding his neck with one hand and his cheek with the other. "Could you both stop for a moment? Things aren't completely resolved..."

Kagome kicked him in the shin for good measure, then glanced at Byakuya as he paused her assault, frowning but settling down. "Fine, what's wrong?"

Sestran took a few steps away from the pair, to avoid any further lashes, his pride was more injured than his person, though his neck still ached. He'd have to reconsider irritating Byakuya so greatly in the future. "The priests are still up to something...a hell butterfly arrived while you were both in stasis...apparently the demon creature called Sesshomaru has declared war on the soul society."

"Sesshomaru?" Kagome blinked in surprise at that name. "He, why would he?"

"Apparently for vengeance." Sestran shrugged, still staying away from the couple. "The message was short...though it shouldn't be too incredibly dangerous, with this the barriers between worlds should become mostly impassable again."

"What about the holy men and women?" Kagome asked curiously, following with Byakuya as Sestran began to lead them out of the place again. "What will happen to them?"

"They'll be judged as any other soul upon their next death." Sestran stated neutrally, not going into the possibilities of what it meant. He didn't wish to explain to her that he expected many of them to end up in Hell for their actions...

Byakuya seemed to realize though, but kept his thoughts quiet as well, having seen Kagome nearly ready to give in herself. He still had the desire to stab the now King but with other duties taking over he would have to give up on that particular vengeance.

They left the area and before long were back at the gateway to return to soul society. Kagome glanced over Byakuya and took his hand, following Sestran back through the pathway. It was cleaner than before, the feeling of something being wrong had been wiped away and there had been a holy ambience returned to it. It made her feel as if she'd actually accomplished something.

His wings began to fade out on the path back, making her glance at him curiously a few times and by the time they'd existed into soul society they were gone again. She traced her hand over his back just cause it was such a strange transformation. Still curious why he'd possessed them in the first place.

"Renji..." Byakuya had returned to business mode, making Kagome grin to herself, she thought it was cute when he got all serious. "What is happening here?"

Abarai's zanpaktou was impressive in it's Bankai state, immense in size, curled around them several times like an immense snake, with a strange skull like head with red fluff around it. Kagome glanced over and stopped feeling up Byakuya's back as it probably didn't help his serious image, instead curious to see another soul reaper's Bankai.

"Captain." Renji took the time to bow. "The enemy has been attacking and trying to reach the gateway. I believe they were trying to destroy it."

"The other captain's are battling." Byakuya observed, looking around at the smoking buildings of soul society in the distance. "Did they begin breaking off in the last quarter hour?"

"How did you know captain?" Renji blinked a little, he'd only noticed himself the last few minutes the attacks were becoming much more infrequent.

"We have other issues we need to resolve." Sestran commented, watching the exchange. "Unless we contact the demon creature more issues will arise from..."

His words were interrupted as all of them frowned, in the distance an explosion of fire came from the earth. Renji's eyes widened, as did Kagome's, the amount of spiritual pressure even at the great distance was incredible.

"Yamamoto." Sestran commented, looking toward the fires reaching into the sky. "I forgot about him...I suppose I should deal with him. Kagome, Byakuya, can you speak to the demon creature?"

"Sure..." Kagome answered, she hadn't really pictured it going well if Sesshomaru spoke with Sestran anyway...she'd rather Karakura town not get destroyed between their two egos.

Byakuya nodded to the Prince, speaking to his subordinate. "Handle things here Renji."

"Yes Captain." Renji nodded, though he hadn't been attacked in a while he curled Zambimaru closer so he was prepared for it.

Byakuya picked up Kagome and vanished, heading toward the gateway to the mortal world. It was a quick and effortless passage, though the energy that passed them by once they got to the other side electrified them both and Kagome was left surprised that Byakuya had moved her so quickly after arriving on the mortal world. There was a very unpleased Sesshomaru nearby...

End Chapter

I think it's funny the Prince was all 'oh Yamamoto, I forgot about him'. I enjoyed Byakuya saving Kagome too, I found it something very enjoyable to work on.

-Aura

To my reviewers:

Teldra - Yes I can't write that fast!

Evil RULZ - Glad you enjoy it.

pclark - Hehehe, poor Sestran, always getting punched...or choked in this case.

Sugar0o - She told Byakuya about it but Sestran and most of the rest aren't aware of it. Byakuya's not really willing to tell people her story, only in part cause he doesn't talk much. Thanks so much for the compliments :)

Neo-Crystal - Mmm Cookies. While Sestran going Miroku mode would be funny it's unlikely. And well, gods don't really communicate so easily most of the time when I write them.

tohru78 - Heh cliffy's are good, keep you interested. This chapter is much less cliffy imo.