Hey all! So, here's the second half of Kikyō's return, and Coraline's kidnapping.
Sorry it took so long, but I was caught up in other affairs, including a bad sunburn I got yesterday (ouch)...But hey, doesn't mean I'll stop writing; just means it'll be a bit slower for a while (lol).
Anyway, on with the story!
Update (May 2020): Chapter edited and lengthened!
Chapter 15: The Ascension of Two Dueling Souls
We return to the action from where we last left off, zooming in on Inuyasha as he continues his trajectory down the chasm. If we'll recall, he was previously staving off an army of clay soldiers with Coraline, created by the ogre witch Urasue whom made off with the ashes of the once great priestess Kikyō only two days ago...And while she may have succeeded in regenerating the miko's body, steps still have to be taken to fully resurrect her...
Anyway, the half-demon jumps off a tree growing out of one side of the gorge, and then lands down below in a pile of clay soldier pieces. His torso bursts out of the rubble, and he looks left and right for any signs of his companions.
"Where are Coraline and the others?"
...He suddenly looks up, and sees a large projectile heading his way...It lands on top of him, and it's revealed to be a giant leaf with Kaede and Shippō riding it.
"I sure hope Inuyasha is alright..."
"An individual such as he would not easily be slain."
Said half-demon pops his head out from underneath the giant piece of green with an irritated expression.
"Do ya mind gettin' off me?"
"Ah, well, speak of the devil..."
The fox demon dismisses the leaf, and as everyone stands up straight, it's revealed that some of the clay soldiers were not in fact destroyed!
"Huh, haven't had your fill of me, I see."
Inuyasha growls, before tapping out the hilt of sword.
(Ting...)
"Tessaiga!"
(SLASH)
Wouldn't take more than a few seconds before he destroyed the rest of the soldiers with a few swings of his blade...With that taken care of, Shippō informs the half-dog demon of the other redhead's whereabouts based on what he caught a glimpse of as they all fell...
"The old witch has kidnapped Coraline?!"
"Yeah, she pulled her off the bridge as we were falling!"
"Well, at least Coraline didn't fall to her death..."
Kaede moves forward to examine the remains of the clay soldiers...just as several silver-blue orbs of light began floating out of them.
"Uh!...Their souls are ascending..."
"Kaede!"
Inuyasha and Shippō rush over to her side, the former asking,
"What are these strange orbs of light?"
"Urasue must have imprisoned human souls to animate these clay soldiers...I fear it gets worse."
She leans down to the head of one soldier to grab a handful of its contents.
"Human bones are baked in with the clay."
"Human bones?"
The aging priestess stands up and remarks grimly,
"It is worse than I thought. Urasue's magic is fiendish...She's using souls and bones of the dead, but now she possesses my sister's remains, and holds Coraline in confinement..."
Piecing together the ogress's intentions, Kaede becomes all the more determined to put a stop to the enemy's plans...Unfortunately, she's forced to pause her own steps when she feels her injuries acting up...
"You're wounded, old woman. You wait here while I go recover Kikyō's remains."
"I worry that time is not on our side."
She turns to face Inuyasha and says bluntly,
"We may soon find ourselves face-to-face, with my sister."
"What?! But, Kikyō's dead!"
"Urasue has all that she needs to revive her, and if she succeeds, we shall be facing a formidable foe. We must find some way to stop this."
...
...
"Y' damn witch! You won' get away with this!"
Catching up with the ogress and her new captive at the former's lair, we find Coraline bound by her wrists and placed in a stone basin while Urasue pours in more of a strange herbal mixture.
"You are an insolent one, are you not?...There, that should do it."
Wrinkling her nose at the strong scent of herbs, the redhead demands,
"Grave-robber! What have yeu done with Kikyō's remains?"
...Suddenly, the body of said miko came walking out, wearing a new set of the occupational robes that mirror the ones she often dawned back when she was among the living...
"Oh god, don't tell me that's...!"
Urasue turns to address the empty shell.
"So, you are dressed? The attire of a priestess is most suited and flatters your good looks. I have done well to reshape your body with human bones and graveyard soil...Now all that you require is a human soul."
"A human soul?...Dare I ask wha' that entails for me?"
"My magic herbal potion will soon suck the soul from your living body. Kikyō shall have her soul, and you shall be among the living dead."
Coraline cringes, meeting eyes with the regenerated miko as she deduces,
...Son of a bitch...Then this really is Kikyō!
Leaving the redhead to her growing dread, we now find Inuyasha leaping up the cliff of the gorge while carrying Kaede, Shippō following close behind...Landing on another ledge, the aging shrine maiden cringes from her injuries again, causing the fox demon to yell angrily but worriedly,
"Show some mercy! Can't you see that granny Kaede's in a lot of pain?"
Inuyasha looks over his shoulder and grumbles,
"Faster, slower; will somebody make up their mind?"
Swallowing her pain, Kaede pleads,
"I beg of ye to proceed quickly. Fly like the devil's at your heels!"
The half-demon follows her command, and pausing a moment to watch them go, Shippō comments,
"If we don't hurry, Coraline's soul will be stolen...Kaede's right; there's no time to lose!"
With that, he hops after them...Unfortunately, the three may already be arriving too late, for back at Urasue's place, we discover that her potion was starting to activate, causing internal strain on her captive.
"Agh!...D-Damn, sleev'n witch...Y-You're, playin' with forces, not m-mean', to be tampered with...!"
The ogress drags away a twin set of tall pottery pots, glancing back to see Coraline trying to fight back against the power of her concoction.
"This young lass differs somehow. Most of my victims will have fallen faint by this point..."
...Suddenly, a circular dome of light begins to emanate from Coraline's chest, slowly growing as she squirms in pain...Urasue rushes over to see:
"That light!...The girl possesses a fragment of the Shikon-no-Tama! How very fortuitous for me."
But when she went to go and pilfer the large shard from the redhead...
(Pow)
"Aaagh!"
She's forced to retreat back when the energy done enlarges dramatically fast, turning into a grand barrier of light blocking anyone from even reaching the basin!
"Does this light shine from the jewel itself?!...Aagh!"
The witch backs up a bit more as the glow strengthens, before realizing what's really going on.
"The soul appears to be angry. Kikyō's soul flashes with an inexplicably violent and angry light...!"
"Ag-gh, m...me body's, burning up! Gyh-aah!"
(Ba-bump...)
The spiritual glow brightens all the more...before it flashes from amaranth pink, to ice blue, then back to the silvery white.
"The soul is seeking revenge. I suspect she must have experienced a tremendous betrayal in her former life...As for that change in colour...though I have never seen it occur before, it is a sign of a merged soul...Is it possible then that this young lass, was not originally Kikyō's reincarnation?"
...The mystery festers silently in the background as the troublesome potion persists, just as Inuyasha and the other two arrive on scene. They see numerous orbs of light bouncing within the barrier, and Kaede mutters in shock,
"Kikyō is there..."
Coraline calls out in a strain,
"In-Inuyasha, please-hh...h-help...!"
Shippō whispers his fellow redhead's name with growing worry, while Urasue is surprised by their arrival, having assumed the three had perished in the gorge.
"You survived the fall?"
...And as for the half-demon, though he was concerned by the feverish hues of colour the barrier was emitting, as soon as his hazel-gold irises lock onto the slumped form that's Kikyō's body, time seemed to stop.
"Uh-h...!"
...It is her...!
Within the barrier enclosing the basin, a disembodied voice cries out,
"Do not call out for me...Do not call out my name!"
...But Inuyasha was too shocked by what's before his vision, to fully realize the consequences in what he utters next.
"...Ki-Kikyō..."
(Ba-BUMP)
Coraline's eyes dilate out of focus as her heart jolts to a halt, and her soul erupts from her flesh!
"The soul is emerging!"
"C...Coraline!?"
"The instant you called her name, her heart missed a beat, and Kikyō's soul sprang forth!"
Orbs of light containing the building blocks of the girl's soul - shining a strange mutation of amaranth pink and ice blue to nearly form a mauve purple - fly away from their previous shell on a straight course for Kikyō's body! Each bounce of light against the regenerated shell would cause the priestess to float higher and higher into the air...before the body shone an ethereal glow as she floating back down...and her hands reach towards her face...
"Coraline's spirit has entered Kikyō's body!"
Upon that exclaim from the older and truly alive shrine maiden, Shippō rushes over to the basin where the other girl lays, her eyes shut...and with no signs of breath being drawn.
"Coraline, don't leave us! Wake up, Coraline!"
Urasue jeers at the fox demon,
"You waste your time speaking to a soulless lump of flesh, but I have no qualms about having her later for dinner..."
Kaede calls out to the ogress in anger,
"You fiend, Urasue! How dare ye desecrate my sister's grave and steal her remains!"
"My creation is wondrous, is it not? I used her remains and grave site soul and created her as living flesh and blood! As such, I am her creator, nay, her birth mother, and as proof of her allegiance to me, she shall follow my every command. Now come, and use your powers to rid us of-..."
Urasue pauses when Kikyō's wobbly steps stop in front of her, and the latter kneels downward while placing her hands on the demon's shoulders...before-
(BZZZT)
"Haauuuhhh!"
The revived priestess uses her powers against Urasue, causing the demon witch to self-combust into blue flames, before falling to the ground in a burned husk...!
"...Huh?"
The half-demon had felt most of his initial shock leave him by this time, but was still fairly surprised that the ogress's necromancy magic hadn't influenced the miko into a blind puppet...He looks Kikyō's way, she bending her head down before emitting her first words in over half a century.
"Inuyasha...why are you still alive? I bound you to a tree with a sacred arrow."
Momentarily taken aback, he recovers with a grim smirk and replies,
"Yeah, you sure did, and I stayed there for fifty years. But as you can see, I'm alive and ready to take you on again!"
...The young woman looks up, and we see raging tears threatening to fall from her chestnut brown irises as she growls angrily.
"You vile beast...! (Stand) I despise you, you loathsome half-man."
She began to walk forward, but pauses with a wince of pain as her shoulder suddenly glows a deep red. Inuyasha asks her with some sarcasm,
"Got a problem, Kikyō?"
Getting a closer look, it's revealed that by returning her soul to her restored body, an old injury would re-manifest...One glance at the blood in her palm from covering her shoulder was all it took, to return the anguish that Kikyō had felt that fateful day she received it.
"G-Gh!...Why did you betray me, Inuyasha?!"
Said half-demon was confused by the crimson stain.
"What's going on? Where's all that blood coming from?"
"Look closer, Inuyasha. Is that not the fatal wound ye inflicted on Kikyō?"
He replies to Kaede incredulously,
"I inflicted?! What are you saying?! That I was the one who killed Kikyō?!"
"Yes. It was your wounds that sealed her fate, and ensured her demise."
"T-There must be a mistake of some kind! I didn't kill her; I don't even remember wounding her!"
"Can ye be certain? These wounds did not come from your hand? Think hard, try to remember!"
Seeing the honest bewilderment on Inuyasha's face, the older miko in the area began to have second thoughts about certain details of the past.
"If, if not you, then who slew my sister?"
Kikyō cuts in with a raw edge in her tone.
"You are even more vile than I thought, inventing such feeble excuses. Please, it is most unflattering, Inuyasha. Stop it!"
She sighs, cringing a bit from her wound again, before addressing the young man before her with a most bitter smile.
"Inuyasha, do you not remember when you told me that you wished to become human?"
Kaede protests,
"Impossible! He wishes to become a demon!"
But her revived sister continues her case.
"You said you would become human...I believed your words. That day, I carried the Shikon-no-Tama, and went to you..."
(Flash)
We wind back the clock by fifty years, back before before both half-demon and miko met their unfortunate fates...Kikyō is seen walking up the small incline before the forest behind her village, going to meet Inuyasha with the completed Shikon-no-Tama...
She stops, looking around to spot him...which was a grave error of judgment.
(...SLASH)
"UH!"
For she left herself vulnerable to being attacked from behind by a clawed hand!...She falls to the ground with blood soaking her robes from her right shoulder, but her eyes were on the jewel she dropped...
"Fool."
Kikyō looks up, and is shocked to see her assailant, is Inuyasha!
"I have no desire whatsoever to become human."
He picks up the gem and adds,
"But I shall take the Shikon-no-Tama nonetheless. Thanks. This jewel's about to absorb a great deal of pain and suffering, when I use it to slaughter the villagers."
He then walks away without another word...The wounded miko watches him go, her body shaking with pain and rage.
"You, traitor...TRAITOR!"
(Flash)
Though she senses nothing which suggest her own kin was lying, Kaede isn't convinced that Inuyasha's character would drop so low.
"But Kikyō, I can't believe that Inuyasha could have committed such a heinous crime!"
He wasn't any more convinced than she was.
"Are you suggesting that I was the one who betrayed you?!"
"You know that it's true. That is why I summoned the last vestiges of my strength and bound you to the tree with my sacred arrow."
The half-demon growls, and Kikyō walks over to him.
"Inuyasha..."
"Kikyō..."
She embraces him and says sadly,
"You and I were never fated to meet again..."
...The miko then shifts to a hateful glare, before grasping his upper sleeves and using her power on him!
(BZZZT)
"Aaaarrgh!"
Luckily, he isn't destroyed like Urasue was (likely due to his Fire Rat Robes), and is only thrown backwards by the force of energy...Nevertheless, Kaede steps froward and tries to reason with her sister and protect Inuyasha.
"Stop this assault, Kikyō!"
"Who are you?"
"I am your younger sister, Kaede. My looks have altered because fifty years have passed since your demise."
"Then explain why you would speak on Inuyasha's behalf."
Kikyō then takes the older shrine maiden's bow and quiver.
"Give me this!"
Kaede is then pushed away, and the revived blackette aims an arrow at the half-demon.
(...Twok)
Inuyasha manages to jump out of the way in time, leaving the spiritually-charged ammunition to blast a crater within the hard mountain ground. Shippō - whom has since dragged Coraline out of the basin - flinches from the sound of the impact, and Kikyō turns to address her sister once again.
"Kaede!"
The aging priestess steps back from her and says insistently,
"You must stop this madness! Inuyasha is not your enemy!"
Kikyō sends a hard glares hard at her kin.
"Open your eyes! You too have been taken in by this deceitful monster!"
"You're mistaken!"
"Hand me your arrows!"
"I'll do no such thing!"
"Kaede! Show loyalty to your flesh and blood, not to some devious, lying half-breed! Now, hear the demand of your elder sister and give me those arrows!"
She takes the quiver, and Kaede tries to stop her, only to be shoved away again...Kikyō focuses back on Inuyasha:
"You told me you wished to become human!"
She drops the quiver as she aims another arrow.
"You told me you wished to be with me..."
The half-demon in red could only growl on the defense, while Shippō takes this moment to ask Kaede about a certain redhead's condition.
"Wh-What, happened to Coraline?"
The miko explains to the emotional fox demon with a heavy heart,
"...Kikyō's soul will not find any manner of peace, as long as she harbors this hatred of Inuyasha. And unless Kikyō's soul returns to Coraline's flesh...Coraline is doomed."
"Awaaah! No!"
Inuyasha tries in vain to reason with the revived woman.
"Wait, Kikyō! I meant every word!"
"Liar! I was a fool beyond compare to believe your far-fetched tales and wishing to live together with you! I despise you with my last breath. My spirit will not forget that all-consuming hatred...So long as you live, my spirit cannot be freed."
Nearly shivering from the venom in her sister's proclamation, Kaede - now holding Coraline to her - grimly tells the teenage boy,
"Inuyasha, you must destroy my sister's body at once. This rebirth is nothing but a deceit of magic. Destroy the body, and release the soul within."
Kikyō retorts,
"It's futile. I shall not return to that body until I've carried out my revenge on the traitorous beast!...Inuyasha, you are the one that shall die!"
(Twok)
The arrow flies, wrapping itself in a ribbon of purification magic, and Inuyasha quickly brandishes Tessaiga to block it.
(Ta-aa-aa-aang)
He struggles to keep it at bay...but the arrow's power prevails, forcing the demon fang katana transform to revert back into it's dormant form!
"It has overcome the Tessaiga! Run, Inuyasha!"
The warning comes late as the arrowhead pierces through Inuyasha's robes, causing an immense amount of pain to erupt!
"AAAAAAGGGGGHHHHH!"
...The echo of his scream would act for as another's trigger.
(...Ba-bump...ba-bump...)
Suddenly, Coraline's body begins to pulsate with an unearthly energy...before she rises on her own from Kaede's lap!
"Uh!"
...The redhead then begins to slowly walk for the middle of Inuyasha and Kikyō, head bowed and her entire being ringed by an ice blue glow...
"Granny Kaede, what's going on?!"
At first, the shrine maiden couldn't answer the young fox...but then, she senses something amiss within the teenage girl.
"Hh!...Impossible!...Her body, still carries the energy of a soul!"
But how can that be?...Unless...could this girl...?
The redhead stops, and turns to face an equally stunned Kikyō...before lifting her head, revealing that her eyes have clouded over from the same energy ringing her body! Shippō exclaims such an observation:
"Coraline's eyes are glowing!"
...
...Stranger still, Coraline very slowly raises a palm in the resurrected miko's direction as it too emits an ice blue light...
(SHEEN, ssshhwoooooooooooo...)
And before she could prepare herself, Kikyō is then seized by a suction power, feeling her soul being ripped out of her body!
"Oh no!"
Kaede realizes what's going on:
"It is Coraline!...She is trying to call back the soul into her body!"
The revived shrine maiden could only wail as she watches the orbs fly out of her 'flesh' to dive back into the unflinching redhead.
"Nooo! Not yet! This cannot be! My revenge!"
...This girl...Is she my-?!
As all of Kikyō's soul returns to Coraline, the power of the arrow would be cancelled out, resulting in Inuyasha landing on the ground with only moderate damage to his own being.
"Rgh! Rrrrrh-hh...h-huh?"
He gingerly lifts his head, and felt his eyes widen when they lock onto his fellow teen's form, her body still glowing softly from the strange power pulsing within, her eyes clouded by the shine of ice blue.
"C...Coraline...?"
She then grits her teeth, her strength greatly exhausted, and collapses face-down into the hard mountain dirt...
"Coraline...W-Wait! Where is she?"
By she, Inuyasha meant Kikyō, whom we see despite having her soul sucked out of her, is somehow limping away from the area around the corner of the mountain peak...
"Kikyō!...Some part of the soul must remain inside."
Urasue - still barely hanging on to her own existence within her ashen body - jeers,
"That which keeps Kikyō moving is no more than her deep hatred. It seems that about half of the soul has returned to the girl that once it came...Though based on what was just witnessed, it's clear that she would not have needed it, for she carried a merged soul of two, now one and a half. In any case, Kikyō's hatred of you and her need for revenge must have absorbed into her bones and the grave site soil itself. The once pure maiden is now a monster...a monster feeding off its hatred of you. Lovely image, is it not?"
With that, the ogress witch is no more, blowing into a stream of ash on a short gust of wind...Inuyasha then takes off after Kikyō, oblivious to Kaede trying to call him back.
"Inuyasha!"
...Suddenly, there is a stir from Coraline, and she lifts her head in a half-awake state to watch the half-demon leave...Her eyes glow in a more translucent manner than the earlier opaque, and she mutters unknowingly,
"...She only has half..."
...
...
Catching up with Kikyō, we see her struggling to trudge through a patch of forest as far away from the area as possible, both aware yet unaware of the redhead's connection to her.
"I must, distance myself from the girl with the strange power, or she will steal back the remainder of my soul...I must move away."
...Suddenly, she slips downhill, and almost plummets off the side of a cliff before a familiar clawed hand grabs hers.
"Uuh..."
Kikyō looks up, and gasps at seeing,
"Inuyasha...!"
"Kikyō...you can't go on like this any longer. You must return to Coraline's body."
"...You are saying you wish me to die, is that it?"
The half-demon is shocked by her accusation, and the miko explains a bit sadly,
"For if the rest of my soul were to return to the girl, the entirety will permanently merge with hers and I will cease to exist forever. You must know that...Is that what you desire, Inuyasha?"
...No answer could leave the young man's throat, and the woman in his grip shifts to a cold but determined expression.
"I refuse to die."
She then grasps Inuaysha's wrist with both hands, and sends a shock-wave of her purification power through his veins, causing him to cry out in pain while she adds with acidity,
"My spirit cannot rest in peace, until I see you dead!"
"Don't, do this!"
Inuyasha then slips and barely steals back his grip onto the rocky cliff-side.
"Kikyō!"
...But before either of them knew it, Kikyō's hand slips out of his!
"Kikyōōōōōōōōōōō!"
"Aaaaaaahhhhhhh!"
The revived miko falls into the misty fog, her fate left unknown...
Inuyasha could only stare downward in disbelief, before uttering with raw emotional pain,
"...Why...Why did it have to come to this?!"
He clenches his fist as his mind dwells back to before these dual stories of betrayal erupted.
Flashback
"...Kikyō had used her spiritual powers to protect the Shikon-no-Tama from demons."
Two of many attempts by these demonic entities to claim the said jewel are stopped with only a few sacred arrows...
"I too needed the jewel so that I could become a full-fledged demon..."
Yes, Inuyasha had tried several times to sneak into the shrine house where the jewel resided, but every excursion seemed to end the same: getting himself pinned to a tree with several arrows by the priestess...Yet for some reason, unlike other demons she's eliminated without any real empathy, Kikyō chooses not kill him, and merely walks away after immobilizing the boy...
One time too many would finally prompt Inuyasha to blurt out,
"Will you stop it?! Why do you never finish me off?!"
"Stop coming after the jewel. I have no wish to waste any more arrows."
"...I merely wanted the jewel for myself. I had no intention of killing Kikyō. It became clear to me that Kikyō did not intend to kill me either..."
The curious half-demon would find himself drawn to observing the priestess during a few daily routines, including a purification ceremony by the waterfall...
The scene shifts to Kikyō sitting on a grassy hill up away from the village, deciding to make the initiative in starting a less hostile interaction.
"Inuyasha. I know you're watching me. Please, come join me."
...He emerges from behind a bush, and hesitantly props himself down on the ground near the miko...
"This the first time we have spoken like this."
"...What's your point?"
"Inuyasha, what do you think of me? Do you see me as ordinary?"
"Huh? Where are you goin' with this?"
"...I must never reveal my weaknesses to anyone. I must never waver. If I did, a demon would get the better of me...Inside, I am an ordinary woman, yet, I cannot reveal myself as such. In many ways, we are similar: both outsiders...That is why I was unable to kill you."
Though a little surprised by how open the miko was being towards him, the half-demon nevertheless rises from the ground with a scowl on his face.
"Tuh, quit whining. We've all got got our cross to bear."
Kikyō was taken aback by such a reply, but then shifts into a sad smile.
"...You're right. I shouldn't complain."
"When I saw Kikyō's sad and lonely expression...I felt, guilty, for the very first time in my life...After that, I couldn't get her out of my mind...She was always by my side...and I, by hers..."
One evening, they're seen talking over by the riverside during dusk, having become comfortable enough with eachother's company that the priestess could make the following proposal...
"Me? Become a human?"
"It's possible. It is true that you are half-demon, but you are also half-human...If the Sacred Jewel of Four Souls were to fall into the hands of a demon, their powers would undoubtedly increase...However, if it were used to turn you human, it would be purified. The Jewel of the Four Souls would probably cease to exist."
"...And then what? What would happen to you?"
"My duty is to protect the jewel...Without it, I could live the life of an ordinary woman."
The two are seen sailing back to shore in a riverboat...and when Kikyō goes to get out of the boat, she trips, landing against Inuyasha's chest...She looks up at him, and they stare at one another for a moment, before embracing one another...
"I had no second thoughts. I knew that I could live with Kikyō, as a human. I longed for such a life...But the day she was to bring me the jewel..."
A triple set of arrows is suddenly shot at Inuyasha during the morning in question, and whirling around, he sees his assailant is a glaring Kikyō!
"Die, Inuyasha!"
"She betrayed me! Kikyō betrayed me! As soon as I let down my guard, she tried to slay me!...I managed to dodge the arrows, and I went to the village to steal the jewel for myself...And that's when she bound me to the tree."
...
...
But then he recalls the newly revived Kikyō when she recovers her injury on her shoulder, and the anguished expression in her glare as she cries out,
"Why did you betray me, Inuyasha?!"
End of Flashback
Inuyasha begins to slowly make his way back to the area of Urasue's hideout, his mind still appalled by the past that which continues to control his and the miko's fates.
...How did it come to this?!
He then cries out in pain, before falling face-down on the ground...Yet such a movement hardly deters the emotions in his heart, and he rolls himself the other way, muttering with a angry and slightly shaken tone,
"How did it go so wrong? It wasn't, suppose to be like this...!"
He then rolls onto his back, and calls out,
"Ki-kyō...!"
Coraline's POV
...Inuyasha...
I had watched him leave for Kikyō, and there was no mistaking the pain each of them felt in their hearts...I slowly rising to rest on one knee, rubbing my head a bit from...what I was forced to do.
"Rrh..."
I almost feel bad fo' her...but then, she wasn' suppose to come back, was she?
"Coraline, are you okay?"
I glance to my right and see Shippō staring at me with a worried expression, Kaede having a similar expression but with seriousness laced in her eyes.
...Kaede...do you now know?
"Don't, worry, Shippō...I'm, fine."
I move to get up on my feet again...
(Ba-bump)
"Uh!"
But my body would protest such an action, and I sway a little as I struggle to stay standing by placing one hand on my knee, while the other held my head from a pounding throb beginning to resonate.
"Coraline!"
"Are ye alright, child?"
I grit my teeth from the pain, unable to answer the worried souls...before an old memory that I haven't recalled for a long time resurfaces.
(Flash)
A black space...Then, a figure approaches; blurry...No, wait...a young girl...
She had black hair and brown eyes...
She holds out her hands...a bright, pink orb manifests...
It's coming closer...closer...
(Sheen...Flash)
"Uh-h!"
I open my eyes, and the pounding in my head is gone...Shock starts to flood my veins as the gears in my brain begin to click.
...That, dream...I haven' seen flashes of tha' for years...
But now...I feel like, there's somethin', more to it...more than jus' an imagining...
"Could it, be...tha' dream was never a dream after all?"
I move to sit on the edge of the basin, my mind running rapid with realization...and fear...I hear footsteps approaching, before a hand rests on my shoulder, belonging to Kaede who has a questioning look on her face.
"Coraline, I sense ye are troubled by something...What has ye ailing?"
...I stay quiet, unable to form a straight answer, for it was not just my 'dream' that I was thinking about, but a secret that I've been keeping...One I hoped to never reveal in this world...
That's when I feel a familiar body of energy approaching from afar, and I turn to the right, my eyes flashing blue for a moment before I note in a monotone,
"...Inuyasha is coming."
Shippō and Kaede look at me in surprise, before focusing on where I was looking...Inuyasha emerges from the mist, looking a bit worse for wear both physically...and emotionally.
"Inuyasha!"
Shippō starts bounding his way, and Kaede and I both stand up, each of us having our own thoughts on why he looked so dejected.
"...I do not see my sister with him."
"Hm...I don't imagine they parted on a good note if he's lookin' like that."
"Aye."
I watch as he continues walking this way with his head down, glancing at his fellow demon's approaching form, before facing the ground again. Shippō must've sensed that he was not in the mood to speak, for he slows down and only walks beside Inuyasha, a worried expression on his face...
Once they reach Kaede and I, Inuyasha lifts his head, and the expression on his face made my heart crack.
Oh god...He looks so heartbroken...
Swallowing a lump in my throat, I step over to carefully wrap my arms around him, pulling him into a hug with his head on my shoulder. I gently squeeze him and whisper,
"Inuyasha...I'm so sorry...fo' both you, and for Kikyō..."
I feel him flinch a bit, likely from either the mentioning of the said priestess, or surprise from my apology...But, he didn't pull away, and only buries his face into my shoulder, like he saw me as an escape from the world...I then hear an almost inaudible whisper of,
"...Thank you..."
We stay like this for a few more minutes until I decide he was okay, and I slowly unwrap my arms so we'd separate from eachother. He seemed a bit better, but still looks like he went through Hell...
"Coraline."
I turn to Kaede, and she asks me,
"What we ye speaking of when you whispered, 'She only has half'? And how did ye immediately know when Inuyasha was returning?...There is something you haven't been telling us, isn't there?"
...I suppose there's no use tryin' to cover i' up anymore.
Hah...it was only matter of time after all.
I breathe another sigh aloud and wander a small distance away from the others, though not before noticing Inuyasha's change of expression from devastated to confusion as I went...When I reach near the edge of the cliff, I reply in a monotone,
"...Yes, there is, Kaede...I have been keepin' something secret from you all...Something that only a scarce few in my world know about. Something, I hoped to never reveal in this world."
I hear Inuyasha ask me,
"...What do you mean, Coraline? What secret?"
I turn around to face them, a neutral expression on my face...before letting my power show once again.
(Sheen)
All three of them gasp as my eyes once again glow that translucent ice blue, before going back to normal a few seconds after...I take a deep breath, and confess my secret.
"...I'm an Aura Reader."
Oooooo, Plot Twist!
What will Inuyasha and company make of this new information about Coraline?
Why was she keeping it a secret?
And what's all this talk about a merged soul?!
Find out in the next chapter to come!