Sympathy for the Devil
Chapter Four
"Without a Name"
The first thing she understood was white. There was no thought, no sound, and no taste. Then slowly sense returned to her. At first all she could hear was this high-pitched ringing that vibrated through her body and mind and seemed to shake her very bones. Then true sight returned in the form of a sickly dark pink light engulfing her vision.
That was when she realized that she couldn't move. Panic swept through her body, and then exploded outwards. Her white prison cracked, and then shattered. She hung in the air for a moment, and then dropped lightly to the ground.
Her mind gibbered like an idiot as she stood quickly, wishing desperately for someone to hit her upside the head. There was a shadow of someone in her mind, and the impression of a hand reaching for her cheek—
"KYAAA!!!" she shrieked, flailing at the air. "GET AWAAAAAAAY!"
The ghosts dissipated. Still slightly nervous, she sat herself down and slowed her breathing. Once she was sure she was in control of her emotions again, she stood back up.
First thing's first, she told herself. Where was she? She looked around herself slowly, turning in a complete circle. Her mind fished around for an explanation or two, and drew a complete blank. It appeared to be some sort of burial ground. She craned her head back to look up at where she had been.
Someone had carved a statue out of the… bone? Yes, she suddenly remembered. There had been something about… someone dying. Such a long time ago… she had felt an agonizing pain, and then she had fallen. Someone must have taken her here, and then placed her inside the statue. The statue was of a woman sitting and holding two stone girls on her lap. They were both looking up at her, laughing. The woman had her head thrown back, and she was laughing as well, responding to the children. The three were sitting on top of a white orb that was somehow suspended in mid-air. She had fallen out of the bottom of the sphere.
Shaking her head in utter confusion, she sighed and did a body check. What else, really, could she do? She hadn't the foggiest idea who she was, where she was, or what the hell she was doing there. Right. Body check, she reminded herself firmly before she decided to panic again.
She was wearing a nice little cloth skirt that was a dark red color. It was also, she noted with distaste, very old. Her upper body was bound with strips of white cloth that was actually like a bathing suit, she realized upon further inspection. Then she paused, and shook her head. What the hell was a bathing suit? Apparently she had known at one time, because that was damn well what her bindings looked like. She also had similar bindings on her lower arms and wrists. There was also a bit covering her hands, but luckily leaving her hands mobile. Her tiny feet were in strange, blocky sandals.
But, you know. Whatever.
A staff had fallen next to her, and she reached down to pick it up. Pausing suddenly, her head tilted slightly, listening. There was a loud, audible click, and the sound of something beginning to wind into play.
"Hello Hishima Usagi," a warm voice whispered in her mind. "I see you've woken up. If your sleep is anything like any of the other recorded sleeps in history, you won't remember anything when you wake up. That's why I thought I'd put a trigger in your mind. Once you woke up and got an appropriate bearing on your surroundings, you'd get my message. Memories will return to you eventually—I hope you don't have any regrets. Grief will be expected. You had a rough time before… before you fell asleep. I just really hope that you never regret meeting us, and I hope that eventually you'll be able to forgive yourself. But enough of cryptic sounding nonsense. You were sent to this time by the Lord of Demons, Lucifer. You want revenge for your untimely and unfair death. You want to kill Naraku. You'll be following the Shikon no Tama—that's what Naraku is after, and wherever there are pieces of that, he'll follow. I hope you have a nice rest of your life, and I hope you don't die… if you can, that is… oh dear, I'm losing sense of what I wanted to say. Well, at any rate, Suzuku and I love you a lot Hishi-chan, and we'll miss you. Love, Hina."
And then memories flooded back to her. Memories of Shiro. Memories of Hina and Suzuku. Memories of her children. More memories of Shiro. Eyes wide, she watched numbly as her life paraded before her eyes. Nothing was quite concrete yet, so she only had flashes of people, the barest of glimpses. But it was enough. It was enough to alert her to the fact that she did not want to know.
"Stop," she whispered, pleading.
The images kept marching grimly along. Shiro and Inu Yasha, grinning at each other. Hina giggling as Usagi tried to teach her how to make pancakes. Sesshomaru watching loftily as Usagi attempted to play with him. Suzuku laughing wickedly, arms around Shiro's middle. The first time she woke up next to the man she pledged herself to. The intoxicating scent of Shiro's blood as she bit into his lip. The smell of blood, and the terrible silence—
She threw her arms out. "NO!" she screamed. "STOP! I DON'T WANT TO KNOW!" She collapsed to the ground, shoulders shaking. "Please…" she begged, tears falling freely from her lashes.
"Ah, my poor youkai," someone breathed against her hair.
Lucifer. Usagi stiffened, and then pushed away from him. "You!" she shouted, pointing a finger at him. "YOU DID THIS TO ME! YOU GAVE ME EVERYTHING I EVER WANTED IN LIFE! CLOSE FRIENDS, A LOVING HUSBAND, AND TWO NEPHEWS! AND THEN YOU GIVE ME TWO CHILDREN! AND THEN YOU TOOK IT ALL AWAY, DAMN YOU! DAMN YOU!" she yelled, pounding a fist against his chest.
To her horror, she found that there was no strength left in her body. She was weak. Defenseless. Dying inside. Steadfast as Death approaching a cancer victim, Lucifer held her, keeping her from flying into the hundreds of shattered pieces that she felt like inside.
"How could you do this to me?" she asked in a small, broken voice. "How?"
"The better question is how I can get you to forgive me?" he murmured.
"Make it go away," she said instantly.
Lucifer started, and then drew away from her. Was it so easy, then? He clutched her shoulders and held her up so that he could see into her face. Her eyes were shadowed, and the fair face so often admired was unreadable. She yanked herself free of his hands and stood resolutely. She raised blue eyes to his, and Lucifer, the Great Lord of the Demons, found himself shaken to his soul.
"I wasn't always a genius, Lucifer. Waking up after having the universe pressed into your mind changes that. But while I maybe wasn't as smart as everyone else, I was just as wise. I knew what I wanted. I knew where my love lay. Just like it lies here," she said bitterly, gesturing at the silent gravesite. "I don't want to remember what I lost," she said, all at once sounding very tired.
No one should be able to see the raw emotion in those eyes and live. Feeling much like he had just gazed into the face of God, Lucifer sighed and raked a hand through his black hair in a feeble attempt to regain his cool. This was much more than he had--- Whatever my lady commands.
"I guess if that's what you really want," he muttered, keeping a tight reign on his emotions.
"I want to remember Shiro, Hina, Suzuku, and my nephews, but I don't want to remember—" Her voice failed her, and she glanced down. "Them. What happened to my…."
Her hands clenched her skirt. She couldn't say it. She couldn't say it. Saying it would be an affirmation. It would be like saying…. It'd be like saying that they were dead. That it actually happened. That her… her children had died.
Cool hands brushed against her forehead, and suddenly it was dark.
"GODDAMNIT!" she screeched, leaping back up, only to find that Lucifer had already gone.
Usagi took an inventory of herself furiously, damning herself for whatever deal she had struck with the man. So what if he was devastatingly handsome. So what if his manners were impeccable. So what if his hands struck a tightly wound cord within Usagi---
"AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!" she wailed. SHE WAS FANTASIZING ABOUT LUCIFER!
"AAAHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!" she continued in a state of complete and utter panic.
How was one supposed to wash the mind? HOW? HUH? SHE COULD NOT HANDLE THE FACT THAT SHE HAD JUST FANTASIZED ABOUT THE BIGGEST JERK THAT SHE HAD EVER MET! AAAAAAAAAAHHHHHH!!!! AAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHH!!!!!!
Finally settling for submerging her head in a large bucket of water, she allowed herself to calm down. She was cleansed. Meditation would have done just as well, but…. She frowned. Whatever happened to her youkai discipline? Shiro would have been disappointed to see her in the state she was. But then again, maybe he wouldn't. He had fallen in love with her—
She felt the sadness brush its fingers across the span of her heart, and swore. Moping over an old flame— love -- wouldn't do her any good. She'd have to go out and find Naraku, kill him, and then go back home and marry Mamoru and live happily ever after.
Usagi nodded decisively to herself, got up, turned around, and screamed loud enough to wake the dead.
Standing before her was most likely one of the most handsome men she had ever met. An amused smile graced his lips (NICE lips, her mind interjected), and he bowed slightly.
"Lady Hishima, it seems that you have awakened from your long sleep at last. I'd heard rumors, of course, but still, I find myself amazed."
Ah, she thought dazedly. THERE was the iron will she had been digging for. And right in time, too. Summoning an indifferent expression to her face, she arched an arrogant eyebrow. Yes, even her eyebrows were arrogant. And they had a DAMN RIGHT TO BE. They were fine eyebrows.
"And who do you think you are? A lowly half-demon such as yourself should know your place," she said frostily.
His eyes glinted, and he chuckled. "I know my place better than you think, Lady. At least I myself am in my own place… in time, I mean."
And if that wasn't a large red banner pronouncing him evil, Usagi didn't know what was. She was on her guard immediately. When she spoke again, more ice crept into her voice than was normal.
"What brings you here, half breed?"
That smile of his widened, and she felt her knees beginning to weaken. DAMN! What the HELL was wrong with her? It was that moment that Usagi remembered something rather important…. She was rather… insistent on being in love, or at least involved in or around something that somewhat resembled it. That in and of itself was not a bad thing per se, but it got her into some rather interesting situations during one of her breakups with Mamoru. She had gotten used to the idea of love, and it was now proving to be her weakness.
And what a lovely weakness….
THAT WASN'T THE POINT! The point was, quite obviously, that the man was beautiful. Ten bucks says his babies would be gorgeous too, she snickered somewhere in the expanse of her mind.
Alas, those thoughts were never the right ones, she reprimanded herself. The correct thought that she ought to be having was that there was a strange, evil man before her, and she couldn't do anything except contrive to fall madly in love (or lust) with him.
She wanted to claw her eyes out. And then feed them to the man in front of her. Mmm.
NO!
But he would care…
NO! IT WAS TIME TO NOT BE DISTRACTED BY HIM! She would NEVER let herself be so easily defeated by another creature. A half-breed no less. Relieved that her body was once again under control, she grinned victoriously.
I will not fall victim to some stupid half-breed's good looks, she crowed inwardly.
"I wasn't aware that I was having such a profound affect on you, Hishima-sama," he said with mocking concern as he began walking closer to her.
"Stay away or I'll seriously hurt you," she threatened unconvincingly. Then, seeing as how he was approaching at an alarming speed (a speed resembling that of a snail, but that was INCONSEQUENTIAL), she threw her hands up, ran into his chest, and was dismayed to find that his skin was very, very warm, and that she could feel it through the silk in his blue garb.
She was fucked. At this thought, approximately 51% of her grinned in anticipation. The other percentage screamed loudly, horrified beyond all belief. Majority, however, rules. But then again, there was still the minority vote. So as a small civil war raged within her, Usagi was rendered helpless as the nameless man backed her up against the wall. Seeing nothing much to do, she glared furiously at him.
"I see now that I was remiss in calling in that favor," he murmured, sending shivers up and down her spine.
Huh? Favor? "What fav—"
And then his mouth was on hers and much to her annoyance she found herself quite readily cooperating. DAMN THE MAN! DAMN HER WEAKNESS FOR BEAUTIFUL MEN! Beautiful men…. Beautiful men with soft lips…. Beautiful men with a strange, earthy scent…. Beautiful men with a warm, inviting mouth…. Beautiful men with… with…. What? ROVING HANDS, THAT'S WHAT!
"Where the fuck do you think you're going?" she demanded, shoving him away.
Usagi had the momentary satisfaction of seeing him look quite similar to some of the less subtle high schoolers she had witnessed in action. Said satisfaction was quickly extinguished, however, when fury filled his face. Ah, that belated fury always caught her by surprise. He grabbed her by the neck and lifted her up high.
"What did you do to me?" he asked in a low and deadly voice.
Her legs kicked uselessly, and she found herself wishing that she had at least SOME of her powers back! SOME OF THEM, PLEASE! After a brief pause she concluded that power was not responding after long sleep. Deciding that the Gods hated her, she turned her attention back to the somewhat pressing matter at hand. Namely that the great kisser had her by the throat, and that he looked pissed.
"What the hell's wrong with you?" she demanded. "I didn't do a damn thing to you! I know damn well that I'm not that bad of a kisser! There's no possible way that you could have found it that revolting. YOU started it, after all!" (Oh good Usagi, that made lots of sense. Get defensive about your kissing skills. Moron.)
"YOU KISS TOO DAMN WELL!" he roared.
She blinked, and then scowled furiously. "Oh, so now you're calling me a WHORE? Oh sure, lets get pissed off at the poor youkai who just MIGHT have some experience in kissing not ONLY because she's been around for a while but ALSO because she's GORGEOUS. LET ME GO, DAMN YOU!" she hollered, kicking out in hopes of connecting with something.
Her foot failed in its quest, but Usagi was relieved of the pressure on her neck so suddenly that she forgot what was going on and tumbled unceremoniously to the ground. She heaved herself up and scowled blackly up at the man, who was now looking down at her with a thoughtful expression.
"I know that you're here to kill me," he murmured to himself, so quietly that even a youkai wouldn't be able to hear. LUCKY FOR HER SHE HAD HANDY DANDY SUPER EARS! "But you intrigue me," he said more loudly.
She rolled her eyes, not knowing what the appropriate response was. "Yeah, okay, whatever. You tell me that you know I'm from the future, you kiss me, then try to strangle me, and then tell me that I'M intriguing? Christ—"
"I've decided," he said suddenly. "You will be mine once I obtain all the shards."
Her ears twitched and tried to dislodge themselves from their hair sticks. Of doom. Hair sticks of doom. But he had said shards. Shards. Shards as in Shikon no Tama. Usagi's mind began to fit the pieces together. The favor he had spoken of. The girl smiling, standing on the street as she watched her march to her death. His comment about her being from the future. His muttering about her killing him.
A red hate began to work its way through her mind.
"Naraku," Usagi hissed.
He smirked. "So the ningen youkai finally figures it out. You mean to kill me now, don't you? Except," he asked, kneeling down so suddenly that she had no time to react, "you are powerless against my kiss, aren't you?"
"I-- Kiss— Idiot — NOT!" she finally bellowed, frustrated to the point of incoherence.
"Allow me to demonstrate," he murmured before pressing his lips against hers in a hard and demanding kiss.
It took nearly everything she had not to just surrender. Usagi was floating in a sea of bliss. So what if this guy killed her? He still was the best kisser she had ever met in her entire life. Ever. He surpassed even Shiro, she was sad to realize.
Shiro.
Naraku knew the second that she was gone. She shoved him hard, stood up and carefully wiped her mouth off. Naraku studied her curiously. Her entire demeanor had changed. The woman had been torn— he could feel it in every fiber of her body. During their brief contact he could almost hear her body's conflict.
Give in and forget the pain, or hold on? Forget for just a night, or… remember. Him.
A pained look crossed the blonde youkai's face, and she suddenly looked disgusted with herself. Something yanked at him. She was repulsed. By his kiss? No, he suddenly realized. She was repulsed because she enjoyed it. She was repulsed because he had kissed her here in the very burial site of her love.
But he didn't care.
By gods, what had this woman done to him? His intent had been to just be there when she woke up and maybe taunt her some in classic bad guy style. But then her blue eyes had caught him hook, line, and sinker. Before he knew it his mouth was on hers and he knew nothing else.
And it was then that he knew that she could belong to no one but him.
Hishima Usagi, Princess Serenity, Usagi Tsukino, Sailor Moon-- It didn't matter how many forms she had. She would always belong to him. It didn't matter how long she raged, how far she ran, or how deep she buried herself in another's scent.
He would find her.
"How could you?" she hissed angrily.
A derisive grin spread across his face. "How could I? I think the better question is… how could you? Here, in the very place your love was laid to rest. No respect for the dead, I see," he said mockingly.
The anger rose and pushed away the horror that had been lingering in her eyes. "You bastard," she gasped.
He smiled. His woman's expression worsened, and she took a step forwards, small hands balling up into fists. How amusing. The broken youkai thought she could fight him. He snickered, and then let out a full laugh. Then, still laughing, he vanished.
Usagi stared at the spot he had most recently vacated in utter shock. It wasn't long, though, before she got mad. She screamed and yelled and cried and threw rocks around, but nothing seemed to release her anger well enough.
"I HATE YOU!" she screamed, gathering her strength and rocketing out of the gravesite.
She was going to find him and kill him.
Hopefully.
Unless he killed her first.
Death by seduction, because as much as she hated it, she had enjoyed every second of their contact.
Wonderful, she thought sarcastically. As if her day couldn't get any worse.
Unbeknownst to her, the bones she had left ached slightly at her departure. Her silent company had been enough those fifty years. It had been enough that she was simply… there. And now she had left. Sadly, silently, the bones sighed in anticipation of the long, lonely years ahead of them.
It was later that night, when she had collapsed on unfamiliar ground, that she remembered something Lucifer had whispered to her amidst the chaos of her memories as the spiraled away towards the back of her mind….
"The one who rides with the hanyou… Kagome. She knows where Shiro is. She is the only one who can take you to him…. Through her is the only way you can see him again. Find her, Hishima. You don't deserve this misery…."
Kagome. A girl who rode with a hanyou, and, according to Lucifer, Kikyo's reincarnation. She was a guardian, a lovesick idiot, a mother, a daughter, a sister, and the one thing standing between her and Shiro.
Yes, she would find Kagome. What she did then, however…. Time would tell.
The earth sighed as another piece of the puzzle fell into place.
Author's Note: Ummm yes. Blame my keyboard. I had nothing to do with Naraku kissing her. And… just to tell you, it took several months for her to totally wake up. The presence of the shards only began the process. Does anyone like… have a timeline of Inu Yasha? Because I'd like to know how much time passes between this scene and the general Kikyo-ness of things. OH YEAH! And count on lots of people being out of character. Yes, indeed. Anyways. VOTE ON COUPLINGS! As it stands, she could be with anyone except… well. Gah. Vote, damn you!
PS: She is NOT related to Inu Yasha and Sesshomaru by blood, in case anyone was terrified of such a thing. So far Kouga's in the lead. That'd be adorable. I already have some scenes written! *hugs Kouga-plushie* So cute…. And to warn you folks… don't expect a happy ending. I have two possible outcomes planned out. One is the typical happily ever after. The other…. Well, let's just say that no one gets the girl. Or the girl doesn't get anyone. Something to that effect. Or… maybe someone gets the girl but then they all die!!! And unlike most of my other stories *cough*Good Riddance*cough* I plan on taking this very seriously. I'm NOT going to hold back on making life resemble hell for the characters. It won't be a very bad hell though. Lots of little bunnies, because I can't write things sad. Creepy, yes… *thinks of Godforsaken and shudders*… but not like… you know. AH, SCREW IT.
PPS: I LIED! I've already written MORE and it's AWFUL! I think so, anyways. Have fun! I'll do reviewers next chapter. Gilmore Girls is in fifteen minutes and I have to crank this out….
