"Enough delay! Time to meet your own unfortunate demise!" Hiten throws his arms back with the spear readied in his grip. He lurches forward for Inuyasha, thunder rumbling all around us as his spear makes contact with the ground below. Inuyasha leaps out of the way, turning just enough to block another incoming attack from Hiten's spear. "Enjoy your last moments of life!" The lightning demon continues to pest.
"Hiten! Give him a sendoff that is unrivaled! I'll lend my assistance!" Manten opens his largemouth as he speaks, a golden light sparks from all sides of his lips, the sound of electricity itches at my ears.
"That's cheating." I exclaim, earning a slight glance from him but it doesn't stop his starting attack. I get to my feet, my legs wobbling unsteadily under me from this oddly shaped grey cloud, but I ignore this. If I fall, I fall but I can't let this duo take out Inuyasha just because they can't play fair. I kick at Manten's back and he rolls on forward off the cloud. He lands stomach first on the ground below, a cloud of dark dust rises around his shape.
The cloud shivers and shakes below my feet, a popping noise follows and suddenly I am midair with nothing beneath my weight. "Shit," I hiss as I plummet towards the ground. Preparing for impact, I close my eyes tight and hold my breath to keep from screaming, a ball of lead rolls in my stomach as wind catches my every angle.
"Keara!" Inuyasha yells from beyond.
"A true warrior never puts a woman before a battle!" Hiten replies.
My ass lands first on something soft and rubber, my body bounces off and officially land on the dirt ground below. The only pain I feel is in my lower back but it isn't terrible. Behind me Manten groans. He must have broken my fall, turning slightly towards him I see his tiny irises glance at me and a growl roll from his throat.
"You little wench," Manten growls out, standing up he towers over me with his dark, large shadow. His eyes slant with rage and his posture shouts that he's about to lunge for me. A flash of orange and blues catches in my peripherals from behind him, whatever it was, was fast and heading in Manten's direction. Unexpectedly, upon the top of the demon's ground head a toy top spins. The little green top goes faster and faster, appearing larger the swifter it goes until it takes over majority of the demons balding scalp. The weight of the now gigantic toy top forces the demon to fall forward between my legs neck first.
"Get away while you can, Keara!" Shippo yells from the embankment above.
I scamper to my feet which lead me up a raised slope edge near Shippo, my fingers dig at the wall when my feet can't get any further and climb to the top, pulling myself over the wall of dirt. Myoga and Shippo stare up at me as I approach; Myoga stands on Shippo's shoulder, eyes wide and buggy per usual. "It's far too early for celebration. Shippo's fox magic is all about illusion!" The flea informs. Nervous sweat drips down the balding of his head, he's trembling in fear much like Shippo.
I squint back down at Manten. Upon his head the toy top starts to shrink right before our eyes, once back to its original size it tumbles off the demon's head along with the only hairs that were atop of his head. The little thin strands pass by his large eyes, and he helplessly watches as they land on the dirt ground like feathers. He feels along his head, fingers catching nothing but fatty skin. Absolute dread takes over his face, tears well up in his eyes.
"My beautiful hair! It's all gone!" He wails, much like a baby losing its mother. He throws his head back towards the sky and yowls so loud that a burst of golden light streams from his mouth and up into the black clouds above. Thunder rumbles the ground like an earthquake. Shippo and I drop to the ground, pathetically crawling away from the now overwhelmingly powerful demon. Heat touches the back of my neck and sparks of lightning twist by us at every angle, barely missing us but still fringing our clothes and hair. The blast is out of control with his emotions and we're caught in it.
"You plucked my last strands of hair!" He screams through the stream of lightning.
Fuck! Getting to my feet, I swoop to my side to snatch Shippo's tiny flailing hand. I throw the both of us over an upcoming boulder and immediately press against the cold stone with Shippo burring into my chest. Behind me, the stone starts to heat up as lightning races on by us, crackling itches my ears and throat. Shippo's eyes are seal shut with tears streaming down his ashen cheeks, his entire body shivers in fear in my arms. Unlike him, I feel no fear…I know I should, this should be scary. I feel nothing. Did the shards forget to add fear in me?
"I can smell your fear! I'll hunt you down and use one for my hair potion and the other for a new pelt!" Manten threatens. The lightning dies down leaving the area in flames and debris of ash and crust. Nothing is alive here but us…The ground cracks under Manten's heavy footsteps reminding me of the crunching sound of snow beneath boots. Each step is louder than the last and my heart beats along with each one. Faster and faster it goes until the world around me starts to blur and redden again.
Why does this keep happening? Every time I am in danger…Every time a demon threatens me, every time I need to defend myself…
"Keara!" Inuyasha yells from beyond the boulder. The sounds of metal, grunts and groans mix with the loud sound of thunder. His voice sounds different – worried. My eyes shift to Shippo who clutches at me like a helpless child. He may be a demon…but he is a child first. He's scared and grief stricken; how'd he expect to fight these two monsters that stole the one thing that could have changed his life for the better?
"Do it." It is the woman who whispers in my mind as I sleep, the woman who guided me in defeating the frog demon. "You must, it is in your blood."
My blood…
Every night this woman fights in my dream against hordes of demons. She never flinches in fear; she never backs down. She is fearless. I am fearless.
The footsteps are now just around the corner, a dark round shadow crosses over the boulder casting us in a chilly darkness. Gently, I lift Shippo from my chest, his eyes meet mine and are wide and teary. In their reflection I see myself, a cast of a girl with a ghost of a figure covering me much like I saw in the frog demon's eyes. A woman. A woman with long wavy hair and certain eyes. Fearless eyes. I plop him down to my right – take a deep breath, and roll to my left where I am face to face with Manten.
My palms itch and pulse, a glowing purple light traces along my fingers, without wasting another second for him to respond I lift my left hand to the demon's under chin. The purple light beams up so fast and powerful that the moment it touches his flesh his entire head rips off his fatty white neck and flies through the air swirling dark blood everywhere. His body falls back pouring blood from its open neck gape while the head lands in the distance with a thump. Everything silences.
No metal clashes, no grunts or groans. No thunder…no wind. My eyes trail from the decapitated body up to Hiten. His staff stays lifted above his head, frozen in time that was once a battle, his eyes are wide and full of shock and horror. His lips tremble, body shaking violently.
"M…Manten…."
"Keara! Run! Get out of here!" Inuyasha yells.
I should listen. But instead I glance down at Manten's rolling head. The shards glow brighter and brighter, calling for me without using words. Behind me I can hear Shippo's tiny feet padding to my side, he begins to ascend my white haori reaching my shoulder to peer over the landscape from the safety of my back. Little does he know, I don't plan on being safe in the next few seconds and I don't have the time to pry him off. Taking another deep breath, I lunge towards the rolling head, entering under Hiten's deadly gaze. If I am fast enough I can get the shards and protect the both of us.
Hopefully.
Above me Inuyasha yells, "No you don't!"
I keep from looking, now feeling the heat of rage from Hiten. All I can hear is the throbbing of my heart and the patting of my feet, all I can see is that fucking head. Feet away, I skid along the ground until I am next to it. The ground around me cools as a dark shadow closes in around us. My hands tear at the forehead and my fingers claw the shards out, they fall into my palm.
In my grip, the shards glow so brilliantly I have to look way, in doing so my eyes meet Hiten. He's closing in, almost feet away. The red drains from my vision and is replaced by a light that envelopes me just as it did in the river the day the jewel shattered. A loud vacuuming rip surrounds me, everywhere around us the ground tears. Lightning bolts spit from cracks along the surface of the world, mixing with the light that comes from the shards and I. My hair lifts from my back and floats above like a black river. Shippo's hands clench tight into my gown as he's being pulled up: rocks, dirt and chunks of land start to hover towards the sky but my body stays still, unaffected except for my hair.
What is this?
My eyes dart to Inuyasha; his eyes are on me as well and between Hiten and he, Tetsaiga flies for Hiten's back. The demon is faster, as he nears so does the lightning, it battles against the beam of light around us like to powers trying to take control. Out from behind me a golden light wraps around the two of us. Unlike the other two lights, this one embraces us in a warmth, and somehow, Shippo's body slowly falls back against my back.
"Daddy…?" Shippo cries. I glimpse away from the incoming demon to see a fox demon's head to my right, his eyes are on me, bright bluish green. They look comforting…but long for something; just staring into them I can sense what he's trying to say.
"Protect my son…"
With everything I got…
The red returns to my vision, darting up I glare back to Hiten. Tetsaiga will not make it to us in time – not without an extra boost. Swiftly, I lift up my hand towards Hiten, taking a deep breath I try to focus on Tetsaiga. Closing my eyes, I remember how it felt when the sword protected me from Sesshomaru's attack, how its beating soul danced with my heart. The cold metal of blade, I can practically feel it along my fingers, the sound of metal singing as it rings fills my ears.
I imagine clutching the swords handle, and pull my arm back as if pulling the blade towards me, I whisper, "Come to me…."
There is no explaining why I am doing this…it feels right. It feels like what I need to do.
A squishing sound starts and something hot and wet splatters onto my face. Opening my eyes, inches away, is Hiten. His eyes red, lips curled back around his fangs in anger….and Tetsaiga plunged through his chest. His spear is still raised above his head, his fingers clenched so tight around the wood that they are white and bloody.
On his forehead, the three shards glow just as brilliant as the ones on his brother's did. He grunts at me, wanting to speak but he can't. Blood seeps between his clenched teeth and drip down his quivering lips. I lift back up my hand, palm out.
"Give them to me." I demand. The words are sharp, sharper than I meant to let out and this has his eyes widen. I wonder if he knew the entire time…that I planned on killing him. But it wasn't me. It was both Inuyasha and I. He threw the sword…I just guided it. Hiten's face twitches; now I realize. The only thing keeping him alive are those shards. They give him just enough extra strength to still breathe. "Give …. them…. now." The words come out in a hiss.
The little shards flicker and vibrate in his skin. His eyes try to look up at his own forehead, but there is nothing he can do now. They pop out on their own and fall onto my open palm. I watch them as they collide with the other two that I took from his brother, and as I look back up at him, his eyes meet mine. The light that envelopes me shoots out. It throws the lightning off, all that is around us blasts away, and it sends Hiten's body flinging off into the distance until he explodes into ash with a loud scream of agony.
The Tetsaiga lands blade first into the dirt ground where Hiten's body would have landed if it had not been destroyed. Inuyasha lands next to it, the blade transforms to its regular rested form. He takes the blade and places it back into its sheathe. The light around us sinks back into my skin, disappearing altogether in mere seconds.
Slowly, I start to stand but my legs are weak and give out under me, I fall back to the ground just barely catching myself. The moment I land Inuyasha is at my side, his hands gentle on my shoulders. Looking up at him I see that warmth that is so rare. He helps me up, using most of his strength until my wobbling legs finally lock into place.
"At least you didn't pass out." He mutters.
"Yeah…." I respond.
But we still don't know what any of this means. I never had these abilities in the present day; they never came when I was threatened or harmed in my foster families' homes. So why now? Why is it me being here in the past that is unlocking all these things?
"Hey," Inuyasha grabs my attention, I shake off the thoughts and focus back to now. "Everything will be okay." He promises.
Nodding, I try to smile and use his arm to keep myself standing. Shippo climbs down at my side and looks up at the sky. We both follow his gaze to see a golden light – the same one that embraced Shippo and I – and watch as it dances up to the sky. The clouds disperse out of its way, and the sun starts to shine right through.
"Bye…Father." Shippo whispers.