Insert Standard Disclaimer here
"Symbiosis"
Inuyasha wandered aimlessly around the courtyard, careful to keep his distance from the sutra-coated walls. He sensed no imminent danger towards either himself or Miatsu, but just could not quite get his mind – or his feet – to settle down. He'd given up on calling out to the monks within the walls long ago; they never answered.
His restless circling brought him past the door where the monks had taken Miatsu. It was the largest and most ornate door in the shrine, so he supposed it led to the inner sanctum. Inuyasha had tried to approach the door immediately after the monks' departure, but even at a distance of twenty feet, his hair began to stand on end; at ten feet, the very air seemed to hum with spiritual energy intent on keeping him out.
He stifled a yawn. His thoughts warred between his body's insistence that he get at least a little rest and his canine instincts warning him to stay on guard even though there seemed to be no threat. Maybe that's what's bothering me… it seems almost too safe and peaceful here. Not peaceful like Risa's manor, but almost… unblemished? The feeling of tranquility that filled the valley was all the more potent here in the serene courtyard.
His conflicted mind finally settled on a compromise, and he selected a tree he could lean against that would give him a view of both the entrance gate and the sanctum door. But he had only shut his eyes for a moment when he heard the soft whoosh of a sliding door; his eyes flew open. Suddenly wary, he hopped up into the tree and peered down through the sparse spring foliage. It should be enough to hide me from human eyes, at any rate.
"Oh, dear… what an awful mess he's gotten himself into. It's a good thing we were here, or else he would have been in a real fix!"
"But I thought that happened a few years from then… er, now?"
Inuyasha watched the speakers. He looks pretty young for a monk… and what a strange little girl! The short-haired teenage boy wore typical monk's clothes, but also had a small ponytail (not unlike Miatsu's), large, dark eyes, and a slightly pudgy face, but was otherwise rather ordinary. The girl, who was dressed in the garb of a shrine priestess despite looking only ten years old, had eyes of brilliant green. Her bright red hair was long and spiky; the color was quite similar that of Inuyasha's own fire-rat robe. The two of them had just exited the sanctum and were now idly conversing on the porch.
"It should have," the girl said to the boy. "Something must have altered the timeline somehow. In any case, it's no trouble! Thanks to me, we've got him stitched up at exactly the right place where it would be had it happened two years early."
"So, there's no permanent damage?"
Damn… the wind's blowing the wrong way. I can't get a good scent! He seems human enough, anyway. But I can't quite seem to draw a bead on her essence… it's like it keeps slipping away the more I try to latch onto it…
"Of course not! I am the greatest scientist in the universe, after all!" The lively redhead winked at the boy from behind a folding fan that popped out of nowhere. The boy gave a weak grin and rolled his eyes. "OH!" The girl abruptly shrieked, and the fan flew through the air.
The boy was at her side instantly. "What is it, Miss…"
"Wha- what are you doing here?" The girl stared up into the tree, straight into Inuyasha's golden eyes.
Crap! She can see me? No… she felt my presence. Inuyasha dropped to the ground in a cautious crouch. "Pretty good spiritual sense, little girl. Mind telling me just what's going on to my friend in there?" He flashed his claws for emphasis.
"Wa… Wa… is that him?"
"I'm afraid so. Something must have gone terribly wrong if Inuyasha is here and now."
"What do you mean by that? And how do you know my name?" Inuyasha's hand flew to the hilt of his sword. Was this part of a larger plot? Are they in league with Naraku?
The redhead smiled impishly and rolled up her sleeves. "Well, I…"
The boy panicked, and began waving his arms about madly. "No, no, you can't do that here!"
The girl slapped her forehead. "Right! Silly me… they've never seen a computer before! Hah hah hah hah!"
"Eh heh… heh heh…" her companion laughed along nervously.
"HEY!!" The pair stopped and looked over at Inuyasha. "Who the hell are you? What did you do to Miatsu? Are you in league with Naraku?"
"Sigh… so many questions!" The girl angled her head to one side. "I'm very sorry, but we cannot tell you who we are. I helped the monks to heal your friend's hand. And as for Naraku… wait, you've already met him?" Her eyes widened incredulously.
"So you do know him! That's all I needed to know!" Inuyasha swiftly drew Tetsusaiga and marched toward them, blade at the ready.
"Stay your sword, Inuyasha!" the girl entreated. "We know of him, that is all! We can neither assist nor oppose you in that matter, in any case."
Dammit… His tightly gripped hands shook with pent-up rage. "If you know something, you'd better tell me, or I swear I'll kill you where you stand, human or not!"
The girl shook her head sadly. "Anything I could have told you would be meaningless now… and helping you might only prove to be your undoing."
"See, we… we're visitors to this land," the boy interjected. "Just travelers, that's all… heh heh… we've only heard rumors about him. Honest!"
This boy is either a shoddy liar, or a truthful, bumbling fool… "You have yet to give me even one reason to trust you."
"Sigh… fine." The girl closed her eyes, and the slight tingling sensation to which Inuyasha had grown accustomed utterly vanished.
"You broke the sutra barrier?"
"No, I just altered it to ignore you, specifically; it now registers you as 'friend' instead of 'foe'. You're free to look in on Miatsu now, but don't enter or call out to him. He's not ready to be awake just yet; the pain would be too great for even him to endure."
"All right." Inuyasha flipped the Tetsusaiga over his shoulder, and dashed to the door. He slid the portal open a hair and peered inside: Miatsu rested on a futon, surrounded by a few meditating monks; his chest gently rose and fell, indicating slow but sure breathing. Thank god he's alive! But what's that purple wrap around his right hand? I see fingers, so they didn't amputate… He slid the door shut again and shuddered with relief. I wasn't looking forward to telling the women he wasn't coming back.
"Are you satisfied, Inuyasha?" the girl called.
By way of reply, Inuyasha slipped his father's fang back into its scabbard. He returned to the girl, his arms folded. "I believe you said you healed Miatsu's hand? Does that mean that… thing… is gone?"
"I'm afraid it's a bit complicated…" the boy began.
"Well, I'm glad you asked!" the girl interrupted him, practically shrieking with delight. She produced a gigantic parchment, brush, and ink and began painting furiously.
Oh boy, here she goes again… The boy sat down, and indicated Inuyasha to do the same.
Resting on his haunches, Inuyasha examined the shape taking form. It looks vaguely like a human body… but kind of like a… rabbit? Weird.
The girl finished her drawing and began pointing out various parts with her folded-up fan. "Well, you see, the anomaly in his hand is caused by the symbiotic life-form with which he was recently infected. Normally, he would be dead by now, but he had two things in his favor: one, the genetic structure and enzymes of this organism suggests that it would normally infect – and ultimately kill – demons; and two, his unconscious spiritual power – and that sutra he used at the last minute – helped to stave off its spread. He was lucky he was only hit in the hand; a hit in the chest would have ensured his death long before now."
"Umm…"
The girl smacked Inuyasha's raised hand and grinned pleasantly. "Please save all questions until the end of the lecture! Now, then, the organism had already spread throughout most of his body, but I was able to re-confine it to the point of initial infection – his right hand. Unfortunately, the symbiote alters the host's DNA the first chance it gets – so it can reproduce itself, you see. I attempted to reverse the damage, but it had permanently modified the subject's Y-chromosome, and so it will be passed on to all his male offspring. Although I could have simply duplicated the X-chromosome and completely removed the Y… but I don't think he – she? – would have liked that very much."
"Er…" I don't get it… Inuyasha began to raise his hand again, but thought better of it as the girl flashed him the evil eye and resumed speaking.
"After extensive research into the nature of the organism, I discovered that it was vulnerable to no force native to this universe except strong magnetic fields. So, I constructed a magnetic apparatus to restrain the infection from spreading again. However, the symbiote has an enormous appetite, and so it will try to feed as much as it possibly can whenever the magnet is removed. Obviously, he should try to keep it on all the time."
Thud. "Urgh…"
The boy stared at Inuyasha as he fell over sideways, eyes glazed over and brain overly taxed. I definitely recognize that look… "I think you've lost him, Miss Wa-"
"Oh, right! Ha ha ha! Hmm… how can I explain it to someone from this era? How about a curse? That's a perfectly rational explanation that even he should understand." She pulled Inuyasha up off the ground and tapped his face (none-too-gently) to revive him. As she dusted off his robe with her fan, she tried an alternative explanation. "Inuyasha, your friend Miatsu has been placed under a terrible curse. The void in his hand will never go away again, and it will be passed down to any sons he will happen to have. Do you understand so far?"
Inuyasha nodded slowly, still somewhat dizzy. "So he's been put under a generational curse? Is there a name for it?"
"There will be."
"Huh?"
"Miatsu himself will name it."
"O… k…"
"Anyhow, the… void… that is now within his hand can be sealed away by using the special sutra beads I have given him. When the sutra beads are not in place, the void will devour anything it can; it will never be filled. The void will continue to grow in both size and strength as the years pass, until it becomes larger than his hand. At that point, it will spill over and utterly consume him. I can't say exactly how long that will take – I'd say at least twenty years, at this point – but if the edges of the void are ever injured, it will progress faster unless the damage is healed quickly and properly. It is a specialized skill, but a few of the monks here are able to do it. They are quite skillful, despite their lack of true scientific understanding."
I still don't quite understand some of the things she says… but it seems to makes sense. Damn that Naraku! "So, can it be cured?"
The girl tilted her head inquisitively. "Possibly; I honestly don't know. This symbiote… curse… is unlike anything I've ever seen before. It may be that destroying the source – whatever that might be – might stop the curse."
"So, all I gotta do is kill Naraku, huh?"
"If he is anything like what we've heard, he would not willingly hand over the cure, assuming one exists. Killing him may or may not stop it, but yes, it is your best chance."
"Well, that's fine. I plan to do just that anyway." Inuyasha grinned maliciously and cracked his knuckles. "Have you told Miatsu all of this, Miss…?"
She giggled behind her fan mischievously. "I told you, we can't tell you who we are! But no, I haven't; he's been sedated ever since before we started to operate. He's fine, though, as you could tell… he should wake up in a few hours. You'll have to tell him all of this then. Be especially sure to tell him not to remove the magnets… the prayer beads… at all for the next seven days: at this time, releasing it for even a few seconds could shorten his life by a year or more!"
"I understand." Inuyasha shuffled his feet awkwardly. I'm not used to having people help me like this. It's strange, but… "Um… thank you for your help, I guess."
The young woman beamed with pleasure. "Oh, Miatsu was no trouble at all!" Her smiling face quickly tensed into the gravest expression Inuyasha had ever seen. "You, on the other hand..." Should I tell him?
Inuyasha felt an unfamiliar shock run through his body. What is this sudden sensation? Am I actually afraid? "What about me? Did Naraku infect me, too?"
"Oh, no, it's nothing at all like that! It's just that… well… Inuyasha, you're not supposed to be here!"
A/N: I did say there would be cameos! Can anyone identify Miatsu's mysterious savior and her befuddled-and-slightly-embarrassed companion? Don't worry if you can't identify them; they hail from an older, but not that much older, anime. Also, don't worry that this story will become a crossover; it won't, I assure you. I do plan to someday tell this same story from the other characters' perspective… but not until after "A Twist in Time" is finished!
This chapter's title is fairly self-explanatory, but it carries a second meaning in the sense that Miatsu is going to have to learn to "live with" this curse.
In the meantime, keep reading and reviewing! Also, I haven't noticed any postings on my forum lately about whether or not I should include a character like Shippo… it's just about to the point where I'll have to make my decision, so submit your ideas now!