Disclaimer: I don't own Inuyasha, Cinderella, or the quotes I put before the start of the chapters.
A/N: OK, I totally got inspired to write more yesterday. Also, in this story, Kanna is not a little girl. She is older than Kagura because I heard somewhere that Kanna is the older of Naraku's children, she's just eternally young. Now I'd like to tell everyone that this is a Sess/Kag fic since not everyone figured that out. ^_^;; Bravo to Hikari and Windcleric and Firefly! *clap, clap, clap* Everyone applaud my new Beta reader and Editor, Icewings, who has made this story even better with her great descriptions and ideas! *cheer, clap, clap, clap* ^_^
*~Fairy~*~Tale~*~Dreams~*
By MysticMoon
Edited by Icewings
Chapter 1- The Stepfamily
"Hope, like the gleaming taper's light, adorns and cheers our way; and still, as darker grows the night, emits a brighter ray." -- Oliver Goldsmith
Kagome wakes up with a start to the early morning sunshine filtering through the old, worn draperies on the windows. The soft, golden light highlighted the tiny dust motes that were idly floating through the air.
She had dreamed the 'full moon' dream again.
It was an old dream, the one with the man who danced with her. The person who always had shadows concealing his face.
Ever since she first dreamed it, she had a feeling that concealed within the darkness, he would have one of the most handsome faces she would ever hope to see. Kagome felt her face grow warmer at the thought. The crimson blush stained her delicate cheeks and faded as it made its way to her hairline.
'Why am I thinking all these silly thoughts? He is not even real. He can't be.' Kagome thought to herself as she sat up slowly. Realizing her brother, Souta, wasn't in the bed beside hers, she figured out, 'He must have already gone outside to feed the chickens and start the chores. I should get up to make everyone's breakfast if I don't want to get into trouble.'
Kagome hurriedly got up off the bed and rubbed the small of her back with a slight wince of pain. It was the sad product of sleeping on an old, worn mattress. 'Oh mother,' she thought mournfully for the thousandth time, 'Life was so much better…and happier…when you were here. Why did you have to remarry a man like Douglas Naraku?' She stepped over to the windows and divided the ragged curtains, letting the warm sunshine fill the small room with its warm glow.
When she finally noticed that the area behind her eyes was starting to sting and her vision was getting terribly blurry, Kagome forced herself to snap out of it. It's been ten long years. Crying was not going to get her anywhere. She had to be strong, for Souta. And for what she will have to do soon.
Kagome took a deep, cleansing breath as she hurriedly made her bed. She tied a handkerchief over her long, dark brown hair, and made her way down the steep, narrow flight of stairs from their room in the attic.
By the time she made it to the kitchen, Kagome was in a more cheerful mood, her sapphire eyes filled with a determined glimmer. After she started the fire and put the kettle of water over the stove to boil, Kagome quietly hummed a sweet, haunting melody to herself. As she swept the stone floor, Kagome's light tune echoed in the room as it repeated a song she only heard in her dreams.
"Kagome, you're up!" someone exclaimed from behind her. Kagome turned to find that Souta had opened the bottom half of the backdoor of the kitchen. He was ducking his head as he made his way inside. "Good morning to you too, Souta." She said, smiling.
"I'm starving!" he said brightly, reaching for a piece of sausage with one hand and to the handle of the hot kettle with the other.
"Souta, be careful!" Kagome exclaimed, a second too late.
"YEEOOW!" Souta yelled, jerking back his hand. In his eagerness to get to the sausage, he had grabbed the spout of the kettle instead, resulting in burning the palm of his hand. "Owww, it really hurts!"
"Here, let me see it." Kagome ordered with an anxious look. Souta trustfully laid his stinging hand into hers. Relief washed over her face as she examined the burn "It's not that bad." She announced, reaching into a cabinet and poked around for something. "Here it is!" She called over her shoulder. She brought out a small jar of salve. 'Thank goodness the Kaede taught me all about healing and herbal medicines.' Kagome thought gratefully.
Kaede was the local herb-witch who lived next door. Kagome and Souta went to visit her whenever they had some time to spare. She taught them many things, which included reading and writing. She also trained Kagome to shoot a bow with deadly accuracy and heal all types of wounds.
She carefully applied some of the special liniment onto Souta's open hand and then wrapped a band of cloth around it. "Feel better?"
"Yeah, thanks Kagome." He said, smiling as he sat down to eat his breakfast.
"Do you know where Shippou is? I should give him his breakfast before he gets too hungry or before Lucifer wakes up and sees him. That lazy cat's is getting pretty suspicious of us."
"Well, I think Lucifer's outside trying to scare the chickens, who are getting kinda tired of him." Souta said, an impish grin on face. Lucifer's loud, screamed "Meow" of surprise and pain confirmed the fact that indeed; the chickens had become fed up with the annoying cat.
Souta laughed as stood up to get something from the cupboard, and almost jumped three feet into the air when something small and furry hurriedly bumped into his leg and made its way past him into Kagome's waiting arms.
"Shippou! You shouldn't scare Souta like that, you know." Kagome said to the reddish orange fox as she looked at her brother's shocked face, barely able to hold back her giggles. The young fox they had found a few months ago had a sly look on his face as he settled himself on Kagome's shoulder.
"He didn't scare me!" Souta said, mildly offended, "He just startled me, that's all." As soon as he looked at his sister's not-so-hidden smile, he gave up. "Never mind, I'm going to start scrubbing the staircase now." he sighed, grumbling about sneaky foxes as he left the kitchen.
Once he left, Kagome started humming again as she filled a bowl of milk and set aside a small portion of sausage for Shippou. "Now you hurry up and eat your breakfast, Shippou. If my stepfather ever finds out that we're keeping you here…" she frowned slightly as she felt a shiver make it's way up and down her spine.
"KAGOME! WHERE IS MY BREAKFAST?!?" Kagome abruptly looked up as the voice of her stepfather rang through the house.
"Oh my. Go back outside into the hiding place once you're done, Shippou." Kagome said with a strained voice. She hurriedly took the now screaming kettle off the burner and put the elements of her stepfamily's breakfast on a silver tray. It appeared that Shippou understood when, after he was done eating, the little fox scampered out into the bright morning sunshine.
Kagome prepared the trays and carefully used her back to open the door leading to the rest of the large house. As she made her way up the marble stairs, she saw Souta scrubbing them clean and, with a word of advice said, "You'd better hurry up…he doesn't sound very happy." She only nodded, the thought 'When is he ever happy?' running through her mind.
As she reached the large double doors of the master's room, she knocked, rather timidly as she balanced the stack of trays in her other hand.
"Come in." said a deep and irritated voice.
She opened to door and stepped into the dark room. "I'm sorry I took so long, stepfather. I woke up later than usual." Kagome said apologetically even though, inside, all she could think of was getting out of this room as soon as possible.
When he didn't say anything, she placed his tray on the table beside the bed, put the other two on the floor, and went over to the large, heavy draperies of the big window. She pushed them apart slightly, but not too much. She knew how he didn't like too much brightness to fill the gloomy bedroom.
"Don't let it happen again," her stepfather said, almost in a hiss. Kagome looked back to him and saw him petting his cat, Lucifer. The cat's green eyes were leering at her in a slightly menacing way. "Go tend to the needs of my daughters now, my dear, and tell them to get dressed soon, we will be going out to the market today. There is word going out that the king will be hosting an elaborate ball in a few months time for all the noble daughters of the kingdom to attend. We must have them well dressed…just in case the princes decide to take a good look at them."
Kagome nodded her head and hurriedly took the other trays and walked back to the doors, bowing her head down as she closed the doors with one hand. As she went to her stepsisters' rooms, Kagome sighed and rubbed a hand up and down her arm, clad in the thin sleeves of her patched, gray dress, which was getting too small for her. It was one of her stepsister's castoffs.
While expertly balancing the two trays in one hand, Kagome suppressed a shiver. Was it her, or was it really cold in that room?
In Kagura's room, Kagome opened the windows and found Kagura still to be asleep, as usual. She put down the breakfast tray and took out a dress for her from the heavy wardrobe. Shaking Kagura's shoulder, Kagome tried to wake her up. "Kagura…" she called.
"Get your hands off me, stupid, I'm up already." Kagura said scathingly as she opened her dark eyes.
"Your father said we will be going to the market today, so you should hurry and get dressed." Kagome informed, ignoring the insult..
"Whatever." Kagura said, sitting up to eat greedily from her breakfast as Kagome quietly left the room.
"What took you so long, you insolent girl?" was the first thing she heard when she opened the door of Kanna's room. The older girl's pretty face was set in an irritated scowl as she looked at the younger girl with true spite in her eyes.
As Kagome opened her mouth to grit out an apology, Kanna just waved her off and continued to look into her mirror as she brushed her long, white hair. "Just go tidy up my bed and bring a nice dress out for me to wear today." As an afterthought, she added, "And try not to smudge it with your grimy hands." Kagome nodded, even as she felt a seething tide of rage at Kanna's attitude. She put the breakfast tray down and did as she was told. She knew from countless experience that arguing with her stepsisters would only lead to trouble and even more chores from her stepfather. So, she suppressed her rage and got herself under control.
When Kagome told Kanna about going to the market, she replied mockingly, "Whatever for? Why do you need the presence the better members of this household?" Kagome bitterly held on to her control, all the while defiantly thinking 'If I did, Shippou and Souta would be my only company.'
"He said something about the king having a ball…"
"A ball, you say? Then why didn't you tell me that before, idiot girl? Get out so I may dress." Came Kanna's haughty reply.
~*~*~*~The Market~*~*~*~
As Naraku and his daughters went off to the more expensive shops of the town square to buy fine-looking ball gowns, Kagome and Souta went shopping for food and any other supplies the house might need.
"Hmm…those loaves of bread in the bakery smell so good, Kagome. Can I buy some for supper tonight?" Souta asked.
"All right, Souta. I'll be over there." Kagome said, pointing and giving her younger brother a some of what little money Naraku had been willing to give before they separated.
As Kagome looked around at the different wares for sale, she heard people talking in a dark alley as she passed by. She wanted to brush it off, but something about one of the voices prompted her to listen. She pressed herself against the wall, listening around the wall and trying to be as inconspicuous as possible.
"Just a hundred more, that's all." Pleaded an all too familiar voice.
"If I remember correctly, Sir Naraku, you already owe me the same as a king's ransom." a deep voice warned dangerously. Kagome almost gasped aloud when she heard the name.
"You will be paid back soon enough, my friend." Naraku said, his smirking clearly evident in his voice. "Let's just say…my stepdaughter is one of my greatest investments, and she and her brother will be parting this earth, leaving all of her inheritance in about three months time. There was a pause, and then came the words
"You better be telling the truth, or it will go badly for you."
Then, there was the sound of swiftly retreating boots on the cobblestones.
Kagome left her place as quickly as possible, her eyes wide and her heart beating rapidly. She had heard enough. 'Oh NO; he is planning to kill us. I knew he was a horrible man, but I never thought he was a murderer. Three months from now is my eighteenth birthday. The day I will finally be able to use the money my mother left me. If I happen to die, the money would go to them. But is it really such an amount to kill over?'
An even more important thought went through her mind. 'What will I do now?' Possible answers flew through her mind. 'Run away. But to where?'
Kagome looked up when someone almost knocked into her. And there it was. The solution to her terrible problem was tacked onto the door of a local tavern. It was a poster that simply read: SERVANTS NEEDED AT CASTLE
A/N: Review if you want the next chapter! ^_^
