After that "Happy Anniversary" thing, I left you with quite a bit of a sense of foreshadowing. Well, you haven't seen nothing yet! But that will come later. For now ... enjoy!
Edited for error: 10/25/2012
Also, I want to give a happy shout–out to my friend, Christina, who celebrated her birthday last week! Love ya, girl!
Tragedy Strikes! The Return of an Old Enemy
It took over an hour to get a hold of every teacher in the castle, but after a while everyone was sitting at the big table in the Teacher's Lounge.
"What is the meaning of this, Minerva?" Professor Sprout asked in earnest.
"Cancelling classes is unheard of here at Hogwarts," Madam Hooch added. "What could be going on?"
"An old enemy of the wizarding world has returned. It is unknown how it happened, but you all have a right to know the situation. Professor Springfield?"
"Yes, Professor," Negi said hastily. He turned to the magical projector beside him. "I must warn you before I show you this. Earlier today, a single assassin wiped out the Kansai Magic Association in Japan, slaughtering everyone in the main temple. There was only one piece of evidence: a single photo of the assailant. It's an enemy this school knows very well. I think … you should take a deep breath before I –"
"Oh just get it over with, already!" Koga pounded on the table, taking off a chunk of the corner. "Oops."
Negi took a deep breath. "Very well, then." He tapped the projector with his staff, and the image appeared on the wall.
There was a loud gasp as more than half of the teachers' breath caught in their throats. The crystal–clear image of Lord Voldemort was plastered on the far wall of the room.
Professor Sprout's hands went to her mouth and her eyes dilated.
Madam Pomfrey's eyes began to tear up.
Professor Slughorn coughed furiously and spoke the first words. "But that's impossible! He's been dead for six years!"
"BLIMEY!" Hagrid roared. "That ruddy bastard just won' stay dead! Never has stayed dead for long."
"What do you mean?" InuYasha stared down the table at him. "You mean the sonuvabitch was dead once already and came back?"
"Not … completely," McGonagall told him.
"What do you mean, 'not completely'?" Koga pressed. "Was he just half–dead or something?"
"It appears we don't know the full story behind his state of being during that interval of time," Takamichi admitted. "Negi, do we have anyone in the castle who can fully explain to us what happened to him?"
"Yes. Mr. Potter knows the full story," he told them. "He confided some of the details unto me. However, I can't fully explain it myself."
"Then our way is clear," McGonagall declared. "Miss Kagome, would you go and fetch Potter for us. He should be in the Great Hall as we speak."
"Sure," Kagome smiled from where she stood near InuYasha's chair. "I'll be right back." And then she was gone, before InuYasha could say anything. He still hadn't told her about the prophecy and he was worried for her safety.
She'll be alright, he thought to himself hopefully as the girl dashed out the door with a flip of her green mini–skirt.
"Now," McGonagall went on. "Professor Springfield?"
"Yes ma'am?"
"You hinted earlier that you had something to tell us. Perhaps you could enlighten us."
"Yes. You're right," Negi breathed deeply. "You all have a right to know. It's about Fate Averruncus." At hearing this, Professor Flitwick's eyebrows twitched. "The truth about it is … this one is not the only 'Fate' in existence anymore."
"Oh. But what'd you mean?" Flitwick exclaimed, completely confused.
"Recently, Tertium, the third Fate Averruncus, has been the main threat for a long time now. However, during our stay in the Magical World … three more Fate's were revealed to have been created by Tertium, simply identified as the Fate of Earth. All three new Fate's have the most potent of abilities pertaining to their abilities.
"The fourth is Quartum, the Fate of Fire, as the name suggests, a fire–using mage. Professor McGonagall, when we saw Chachamaru earlier, she was in the process of undergoing special operations to return her to 100% efficiency. During the rescue of my friends, he split Chachamaru in half with a single spell, melting at least half of her body. Fortunately, she's a robot, so she lived.
"Quintum, the Fate of Wind is a wind and lightning user, like me. During the same rescue operation, he struck down Nodoka with a bolt of lightning. It was a miracle she survived. Ever since, I've sworn to destroy that one personally."
"Well?" Hagrid pressed. "What about the last one?"
"The last is Sextum, the Fate of Water, a water user. This one confronted my group and I when we were recovering from a battle with one of Fate's generals. I was in a state of incapacitation. I still have trouble remembering how we escaped with our lives."
He would, Takamichi thought with a hidden smile.
"Fortunately, I was able to stop her from freezing my students. Almost before I realized it, I had destroyed her barrier and she was lying naked at my feet. After that ... some one else interfered with her and sent us to find Fate."
"B–b–but how?" Flitwick asked in a panic. "How in the name of Merlin could he create more Fate's? That would require power equivalent to that of the Mage of the Beginning!"
At his words, all eyes in the room turned to him.
"I … I don't think I ever mentioned the Mage of the Beginning," Negi tried to warn him.
"Oh!" he gasped, just realizing his outburst. "Well … you see … about –"
But before he could say anymore, they heard a commotion of sounds and voices.
"What could that be?" Professor Sprout wondered.
"Sounds like a crowd gathering by that huge hall," Koga said, rubbing his ears and straining to listen.
I've got a bad feeling about this, InuYasha thought and made for the door, but just as he opened it, he heard Shippo scurrying toward the lounge.
"INUYASHA! INUYASHAAA!" Shippo screamed as he leaped onto InuYasha's face. "It's terrible! It's just terrible!"
Sensing the trouble, the teachers began to get out of their seats, Negi among the first to reach them. "Shippo, calm down now," he tried to soothe the little fox. "Tell us what happ–"
"IT'S KAGOME!" Shippo wailed, burying his face in Negi's chest. "She – she –she – she fell down the stairs on her way to dinner."
At those words InuYasha's heart skipped several beats. He made a mad break for the door, nearly ripping it off its hinges as he began to leave.
"And – and – and – and … SHE'S NOT MOVING!" he screamed, tears pouring down his cheeks.
BA–DMP! InuYasha's heart leaped into his throat. No. No! NO! NOOOOO! He tore out of the room, headed straight for the Great Hall, looking the most fearful he'd ever looked in his life.
"Come on, we have to follow him! We can put this discussion on hold," Negi cried and they all ran out of the room, chasing after the distraught InuYasha.
"Hey," he said to Professor Flitwick as they ran. "Be careful. Especially if you don't want them to know about that! I'll tell you later about the new Fate's."
"Right," Flitwick nodded as he strained to keep with everyone else on his short legs. "I'll leave things to you."
As InuYasha reached the entrance hall, he leaped from the top of the staircase above everyone's heads, taking in everything in all at once as he flew. A huge crowd of black–clad kids gathering around a duo of figures whom he identified as Sango and Miroku, cradling the lifeless body of the young, black–haired girl he loved so much. "NO!" he couldn't stop himself from crying out as he hung in the air, his red cloak flapping in the wind.
At his word, Miroku and Sango looked up at him. He saw tears in their eyes.
"Look out below if you want to live!" The students scattered as he came down hard next to Kagome's body.
Not wasting a second, he grabbed his girlfriend by the shoulders and wrenched her out of Miroku's arms. "Kagome?! Speak to me, Kagome!" he tried to talk to her, but her eyes didn't open. Not even a twitch. "KAGOME! You better not die on me, you stupid … you stupid –" Tears began to flow freely down his cheeks like they never had before. "Damn it. DAAAAAAAAAAAMN IIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIT!" His distraught howl echoed throughout the whole of Hogwarts castle.
By now, all of the teachers had reached the scene of the disaster. Koga was rubbing his ears. "Damn you, mutt. Could you scream any louder?! My eardrums are –" That was when he opened his eyes and saw the state the girl he had chased after for so long was in. "Ka – Ka – Ka – Kagome? Kagome?! No! This can't be happening." He tried to take her in his arms but InuYasha wouldn't let him touch her.
"Hands off, you stupid wolf," he whispered to his former rival–in–love.
Koga was about to protest when he felt Ayame's gaze on his back and decided not to do anything more.
Weaving her way through the crowd, Madam Pomfrey crouched down beside Kagome and InuYasha. "Excuse me," she said politely as she ran her hand delicately over Kagome's face and upper body. "Assorted broken bones, internal bleeding, but it was her neck that killer her. Must have broken it on the way down. Probably died before she hit the bottom. Poor thing," she said shakily as she wiped a tear from her eye, turning to lead the wailing Shippo away from the scene. She didn't feel this was a place for a child to be.
"So," InuYasha whispered again. "You're sure?"
"Yes," she answered him sadly. "I'm so … so sorry."
"She was such a sweet girl," he heard her say as she walked away. "Could do no wrong …"
Sango's face was in her hands and Miroku had taken her by the shoulder and held her to his chest and hugged her gently. They couldn't believe the girl who had brought them all together was gone forever.
InuYasha held Kagome's body close and pressed her against his chest. "Mi – Miroku … will you … perform a memorial service for her?" he asked his friend at last, in a shaky voice.
"Of course I will, InuYasha," the young monk responded, wiping away his tears with his right hand, stroking Sango's hair with his left as he cradled her to his chest. "We'll give her the finest sending off I can arrange."
As the teachers dispersed the students, Professor McGonagall put her hand on InuYasha's shoulder. "We should take care of her body. This is not the place for something like this."
"SHUT THE FUCK UP!" he shouted at her at the top of his lungs, tears still glistening in his eyes and on his cheeks. "Just … leave us alone." With an almost dead expression on his face, he picked up Kagome and carried her out of the castle, heading toward the forest.
"What's he doing, going into the forest at this time of night?" Professor Sprout asked in concern.
"Doesn't he know the werewolves come out at night?" Hagrid added.
"Will he be alright?" Slughorn wondered.
"I'm more worried about the werewolves than the mutt," Koga said quite unworriedly, his arms crossed over his chest. "I've never seen him like this. If anyone talks to him anytime soon, he'd probably slit their throats without a moment's hesitation."
"I second that," Negi agreed with him, coming up from behind them. "I'd be ready to kill the first thing to make eye contact with me if one of my students had just been killed."
"What? Killed?!" Koga spat, taken aback at the very idea. "You mean this wasn't an accident?!"
"Are you insinuating that a murder was just committed within Hogwarts' walls?" McGonagall asked in shock.
"Well I'm not quite sure just yet, but it would fit with what happened the other day."
"You're speaking of the incident last night?" Sango interrupted, walking over alongside Miroku.
"What's all the yelling about?"
Everyone turned around to see Kakashi and Naruto return from evening guard duty. "Yeah, what's all the commotion for?" Naruto repeated his sensei's words. "Did something happen?"
"You're damn right something happened!" Koga yelled. "Kagome's just been –"
But Negi clamped his hand over his mouth before he could say anymore.
"Don't worry," he said. "I'll explain everything, but now we need to take care of matters. Kakashi–Sensei, I'll need to speak with you immediately. It is of the utmost importance. I'll meet you in the teachers' lounge."
"Very well," Kakashi answered him. "I'll just wait for you there." Then he walked away to the lounge, leaving a flustered Naruto standing there in confusion.
"This isn't good," Negi said, shaking his head, watching InuYasha as he disappeared into the darkness of the trees and bushes. "This isn't good at all!"
"Wait. What do you mean?" Naruto asked, looking back and forth from InuYasha to Negi. "Come on, tell me."
"The look on his face," Negi said, his eyes filled with worry. "Didn't you see that dead look on his face?
"Come to think of it, yeah. He was completely out of it. So what gives?"
"His girlfriend just died," McGonagall told him bluntly.
"WHAT?!"
"Do you remember what he said before? He said, 'Leave us alone. It must be denial, the first stage of grief," Negi went on despite Naruto's confusion. "When he carried her away, he had that empty expression that gave the impression that he hasn't accepted the reality of the situation."
"I see," Naruto said, his head down, as if in mourning.
"You seem to understand," McGonagall looked at him with her piercing gaze. "You knew someone who died."
"Yeah," Naruto said, turning around. "More than one." He walked into the castle and into the Great Hall to get his dinner.
Miroku and Sango joined them. "What we going to do?" Miroku ventured.
"About InuYasha?" Negi guessed. "He should come out of the grieving cycle in a few days. Professor, we'll be needed to do a little damage control in the forest within the next 48 hours."
"What for?"
"The second stage of grief: anger. He'll probably level more than half the forest with his level of power."
"No, I was referring to Kagome," Miroku corrected the boy. "We need to take proper care of Kagome's body for … the funeral."
Then, to everyone's surprise, they heard an otherworldly voice break the silence. "A ha ha!" the voice laughed, as though someone had just told a joke. "Maybe there won't have to be one! The funeral, I mean! Heh heh."
For all those who hate me now because you love Kagome, you have all the reason to. Personally, I hate myself for doing it. But don't stop reading just yet! This voice everyone has just heard will reveal something that will change the outlook of this whole situation.
Feel free to review! Maybe some encouragement from you all will help me get over my self–hate and do something about the current state of affairs. You know, move things along before the depression over losing Kagome has a chance to set in.
