A/N: Before I start this chapter, I would like to thank you all for your patience. Trust me, I didn't forget about it. It was just a long chain of time consuming events and bad luck that kept me away from this fic for a while. For those of you that still read my fic, once again thank you for your patience and I hope you enjoy this long awaited chapter.
Through the Rain
Chapter 4
Death and Deceit
By ShimmerSweet
After Inuyasha had taken his mother into hiding with Kagome he set off to retrieve Tetsuaiga. He entered his bedroom and went straight to the left wall where the concealed Tetsuaiga was hanging from the wall. He smirked at it.
"Long time no see? Huh, old buddy…"
It was no lie that he hadn't needed Tetsuaiga for a while so therefore he saw no need to bring it with him where ever he went, which was much to his father's dismay. For some reason his father had seen it as the most important thing for him to carry Tetsuaiga, but he had always carried it before… Why did he just suddenly stop carrying it with him… He couldn't remember… So Inuyasha just dismissed the thought from his mind and carried on to his original intentions, he didn't have time to waste on thinking about irrelevant things. Inuyasha reached out and grasped the sword but a splitting pain shot from his chest to his head.
"What the hell…?"
His head felt as if it were hit with a sludge hammer 50 times and it felt as if everyone of his ribs were broken. He quickly dropped the Tetsuaiga and stared at it as it clattered on the floor as he held his head with his hands to try and ease the pain. But before he knew it the pain disappeared. Still gasping for air Inuyasha knelt beside his sword, an expression of bewilderment, confusion, and question on his face all at once.
"What happened…"
He extended a finger and touched it pulling back his finger quickly, but nothing happened. No surge of any kind of energy came from the sword. Just to be safe he tapped it again and nothing happened once again.
"That was strange… maybe that's why I haven't been carrying it with me everywhere I go."
With those last words he dismissed the thought of the haywire Tetsuaiga. He grabbed it and dashed towards the main entrance to the castle where his father and troops were preparing for the upcoming battle. He would try to persuade his father into hiding with Kagome and his mother because he was just too old to be fighting. His young days were over but he was too stubborn to see that. Once he arrived to the gathering he was pleased to see that most of the men were suited and already marching to the borders of the kingdom, and the women's medical stations were ready and standing by just in case they were needed. Hopefully his father didn't leave already, he had to find him. So he quickly pulled aside the captain of the guard to ask if he knew of his father's whereabouts.
"Where is my father at, Accius?"
"Your father has already headed to the border with the first set of troops that were prepared."
Inuyasha growled at him and tightened his grip on the captain's arm.
"You know damn well that he is too old to be out there! Why did you let him leave! You should be out there, not him!"
Captain Accius quickly withdrew his arm from Inuyasha's grip before it snapped in half. Then looked back towards Inuyasha with just as much anger in his eyes and voice as Inuyasha had.
"I told him he shouldn't go, but he said if I tried to stop him he would kill me! What was I supposed to do? Besides, someone had to get to the borders because the enemy is less than 20 minutes away! Even though we are demons, it's hard to defeat the Sengoku Jidai troops that happen to be quickly approaching because they have mikos in their army and—"
Inuyasha's eyes widened at what he just heard. He didn't want to believe it. Why was Kagome's kingdom attacking them? He was in disbelief so he cut off Captain Accuis's sentence in deep disbelief of what he was hearing.
"Did you say the Sengoku Jidai troops? Why would they want to fight us?"
"Yes sir, it's the Jidai troops, we had a scout go out earlier to see who we were up against, and so far they have about 100 more troops than we do. But sir, we still do not know of their motives for attacking us and—"
Inuyasha had heard enough, he had to get to the borders to retrieve his father for his mother and his own sake. He quickly charged out of the front entrance and headed towards the border, armed only with his sword—Tetsuaiga. Even though the borders were far away from the castle he reached them in less than 5 minutes with his extraordinary speed. But when he got there the battle had already begun. Instantly he spotted his father on the white stallion but couldn't get to him. The volume of troops fighting was just to great, and his father was too far away for him to get to him in one bound so he took his only option—he had to fight his way through.
~
"That's it men! You can take down this demon filth! They're nothing!"
Captain 'Dojan' yelled to the Jidai troops to boost their morale. But out of the corner of his eye he spotted the prince—Inuyasha, and he was quickly making his way through the battle, he was headed towards his father, King Inu Mamoru. The prince was not going to ruin his plans now, not after all the years of constructive planning. There was no way Naraku was going to let his revenge crumble to pieces now. Naraku quickly ordered 2 of his strongest troops to take charge on the king and another 2 to take care of the prince, or at least keep them busy until he could deal with them personally. While they set forward to their task Naraku took cover behind a tree where no one could see him. His face that resembled Captain Dojan quickly melted away and the face of Prince Inuyasha took its place. He peeked around the trunk of the tree to see if Inuyasha was distracted by the soldiers, and to his liking he was, therefore Inuyasha couldn't get to the king, who was at that point being attacked by Jidai soldiers, and slowly being overcome. This was the perfect chance for Naraku to step in the situation and do his task. Naraku appeared at the king's side, still wearing the mask of Inuyasha. Then spoke to the king in 'desperation' with the voice of Inuyasha.
"Father! Come with me, you are injured and must come into hiding quickly!" He said while fending off the Jidai troops.
King Inu Mamoru quickly agreed and Naraku fought off the soldiers who were attacking him and the king. Then without any further delay they ran off towards the castle. So far Naraku's plan was running smoothly except for the fact that the real Inuyasha had seen the two run off back towards the castle.
Inuyasha halted in his fighting and quickly followed his father and 'himself' back towards the castle in silence.
~
Queen Eriko and I had been in hiding underground for less than an hour and I was starting to get restless. I couldn't just sit back and relax when I knew that Inuyasha and King Mamoru were out there fighting… I was a nervous wreck, I kept pacing back and forth in the room that the queen and I would be sharing for the time being. My hair was coming undone and I was breaking into a light sweat, so I rolled up my sleeves and picked up a hand fan to cool myself. It still didn't help though, so I decided to continue pacing back and forth to keep my mind off of things. Queen Eriko looked at me and smiled as she let out a small laugh. She stood up and walked over to me.
"Child, calm yourself, they can take care of themselves. My husband has been in 2 wars and countless battles since he has been head of this kingdom. And for the 60 years he has been the king he has won every one of them."
I looked up at her and smiled back.
"I have no doubt that they won't win this battle, but I just can't help but be worried, I just can't stand the thought of Inuyasha out there fighting for his kingdom and his life. I feel as if I should do something to help. I feel useless… I have to do something…"
Queen Eriko took me into an embrace.
"Dearest Kagome, I was exactly like you when Mamoru and I were first married and there was an attack similar to this one… So, that's why I had this room decorated and filled with things to occupy me so I wouldn't have to think about Mamoru out there on the battle field."
Queen Eriko walked to the bookcase in the back of the room and pulled out a green covered book. The bookcase opened like a door and led to another room. Queen Eriko motioned for me to follow her as she walked into the hidden room. Once we entered, the bookshelf slammed behind us. The room was filled with books and didn't have bare walls or a gloomy atmosphere like the previous room. She had racks of more clothes, shelves stocked with food and water, and what looked like mixtures and potions. The walls were decorated with dim and bright burning torches and candles. There were extravagant pictures and armory on the walls, such as swords, shields, bows and arrows, and other lethal weapons. I was amazed particularly by the golden arrow and cherry wood bow. When I was younger I always had a knack for that particular weapon, and therefore was trained with it in my self defense lessons that my mother made sure I took. I went up to the bow and ran my finger down the arc, it was incredible how smoothly cut it was, and how glossy looking it was. The arrow was just as attention catching just for the reason of it being gold. I just had to touch it out of curiosity, and the tip of the arrow was the sharpest and most lethal looking arrow I have ever seen.
"Do you like the bow and arrow?"
I turned to my right and Queen Eriko was standing there smiling slightly at me. I nodded and went back to observing the arrow. Well aware that she was still standing at my side I asked a question.
"Why do you have so many weapons?"
Queen Eriko was leaning against the wall when I turned to look at her again. She seemed to be staring into space. Her eyes were glazed with no emotion but a silent tear slid down her cheek. I was concerned for the older woman. Why would she cry for no apparent reason? So in an effort to comfort her I put an assuring hand on her shoulder. And whispered to her, so I wouldn't startle her.
"What's wrong Queen Eriko?"
She looked at me with a saddened expression on her face. She turned to the wall of armory and folded her arms as if she were trying to keep warm.
"Mamoru had every one of these weapons put down here to protect me. He even taught me how to use them all just incase I ever needed to defend myself when he wasn't around. But the funny thing is…."
Queen Eriko took a deep breath as I watched her anxiously.
"…Is that I never thought I would really need to know of such things because I thought he would always protect me, always keep me safe, he even promised, and I believed him and I still do."
Queen Eriko turned to face me.
"But Kagome dear, he can't do that anymore, for he is about to suffer a fate that I had not predicted and neither of us have thought of before."
Another tear trailed down the queen's face and she closed her eyes to summon the strength to continue. I took a deep breath and took the queen's hands in mine to reassure her that everything would be okay. And she opened her eyes and stared at me with heavy grief laid upon her eyes.
"For Kagome, today is m-my husband's last day on this earth. He will die, and there's nothing either of us can do for him. Naraku will receive his revenge today."
I was taken aback by her words. All the air from my chest escaped me and it felt as if my heart stopped for a minute. What was she talking about? Had the stress gotten to her or had she gone mad? Once I had composed myself I found that Queen Eriko had her knees pulled to her chest and her arms tightly wrapped around her legs. Her face was hidden in her chest and her body was shaking violently as she cried silent tears. I got on my knees beside her and pulled her into a tight embrace at which she accepted and hugged me back. She was still crying so I gently stroked her hair and rubbed her back to try and soothe her.
"Don't worry, Queen Eriko. You don't know this for sure, it's probably just your nerves. It's okay, everyone will be fine and this will be over before—"
She leaned back and looked at me and shook her head, and hiccupped as she explained herself.
"Kagome, I wish you were right but you're not. My husband will die today because I saw it in a vision. And my visions have never been wrong. I just wish that this one had come earlier… Th-then I might have b-been able to warn him of this event."
~
Naraku led the King into the castle and straight to the medical facilities. But King Mamoru refused and insisted that Inuyasha take him to the drawing room. King Mamoru stumbled into the room and took a seat by the window. He motioned for his son to come and take a seat next to him.
"Son, this battle doesn't look like it will turn out well. We've never fought an army with Mikos before…"
Naraku got closer to the king acting as if he cared but was eager to here what he had to say.
"Inuyasha, I need you to take care of your mother for me if I don't make it. You will be the king and will have to be strong for the kingdom, but if you need any guidance always ask counselors and I have also left some helpful notes in that drawer over there in that desk." He pointed towards the top right drawer then made an effort to stand and hobbled over towards the door. "I must go help the soldiers now."
Naraku ran towards the king and stood before him. "But father, if you don't come back, what will happen to the Shikon Jewel? I will need to know of its whereabouts in order to protect it from all evil…. Father what may I ask is wrong?"
King Mamoru's face turned to an expression of curiosity and bewilderment. "I have never told you of the Shikon Jewel, how is it that you know of it?"
"Mother told me." Naraku replied, just a little too quickly.
King Mamoru looked into Inuyasha's eyes and for just an instant he saw them flicker from amber to a shade of dark brown. He stepped away from his son and withdrew his sword, pointing it straight towards his son's chest. "Who are you? You're not my son. He knows nothing of the Jewel and his mother knew not to tell him of it. Now show your self!"
Naraku laughed and slowly let the form of Inuyasha melt away and the form of a young prince with long dark hair appear instead. This was the form of which the king knew as Naraku. "I can't pull anything over on you though, can I? It must have been the color change in my eye. It's hard to hold a form sometimes… but I was hoping you didn't notice it."
King Mamoru was overwhelmed with shock. What were the odds of his formidable foe to get this close to him unnoticed? "What do you want? How did you get here? How did you survive?"
Naraku shook his head in disapproval. "Tsk, tsk, tsk, you know that you should always expect the unexpected. But I guess you just figured because I was gone for so many years there were no chances of my survival. Now did you? But that's your mistake and my accomplishment. It's quite ironic that the tables have turned, now isn't it?"
King Mamoru's stare towards Naraku was like ice. "How did you—"
"Get here," Naraku rolled his eyes and frowned at Mamoru. "Yes, you already asked that question. Well, I might as well tell you since you're going to die today. Now that I think of it, I did all this due to one of your countless mistakes. You see, since your son, Inuyasha, never knew of the Jewel, he must have never known of me either, for you never told him of me. So I took a chance, I watched him, and I noticed that he didn't carry Tetsuaiga with him constantly, which was much to your dismay. So one day while he was outside I embraced the chance to take over his mind, of which I did successfully. My magic would cause him pain every time he would touch Tetsuaiga. You see, the sword would reflect my magic, causing your son to feel that pain. So with him leaving the sword behind my mind control grew stronger, except for when he was near you and the castle. I still had control but he had some free will."
Mamoru's face dropped as he was told Naraku's plot. Now that he thought of it, his son's behavior wasn't exactly of the norm.
Naraku smirked. "Shocking, isn't it? That all this could happen, right under your nose? Well as you know, I had control over your son and decided to use him to charm the princess of the Sengoku Jidai Kingdom. And to my pleasure she fell head over heels for him. With much more plotting on my hands I figured a way to get her here to your castle. But I had the whole situation set up to look like the princess was abducted by Inu soldiers. Knowing how much Queen Higurashi despises demons it wasn't hard to get her to send her army of soldiers and Mikos over to your kingdom, so they could retrieve her precious daughter. As you know Inu demons or any demons rather, have a hard time fending off Mikos. So as they are fighting outside as a distraction I brought you up here out of the fighting and away from your shoulders. You are weakened; you have no chance against me. So let's just avoid all the mayhem. Just show me where the Shikon Jewel is and I promise you and your wife a quick gruesome death, instead of the long gruesome one I was planning."
Mamoru's anger flared and he rushed towards Naraku, swinging his fierce, formidable, blade. Naraku dodged with ease as Mamoru swung with blinded rage and anguish. With another strong swing Mamoru left his back open accidentally as he missed his target. Naraku took the advantage and elbowed him in the back, sending the old king to his knees on the floor, gasping for air.
Naraku kicked the king's blade away and proceeded to kick him until he was laid on his back. Mamoru's ribs were broken, making it hard to breathe and his face was scratched up pretty bad. Naraku stomped his heel into the king's chest and twisted it in hopes to hear the king scream in agony, but not a sound came.
Naraku frowned at the king under his foot. "Still as stubborn as ever I see. So stubborn as to not even scream? Now tell me where the Jewel is!"
"I'll never give you what you want!" The king said as he closed his eyes in pain.
At that moment Inuyasha kicked the door in and his eyes widened in horror. He withdrew Tetsuaiga from its sheath and growled in anger. "Back away from my father."
Naraku slowly backed away from the king and smirked at Inuyasha. "I see your courage to defend your kingdom and save your father has given you the strength to over power my mind control while I wasn't watching but I can fix that."
King Mamoru sat up and reached for his son quickly. "Run son! He has control on your mind!"
Inuyasha's face was puzzled. "What?"
"Leave, now!" His father yelled.
But Inuyasha refused, he wanted to help his father, but that didn't happen. Once he ran to his father's side Naraku waved a hand and Inuyasha stopped in his tracks. He was frozen to the spot. He could still move his mouth and eyes though.
"Who are you and what do you want!"
Naraku smirked, "Such a temper, just like your father. My apologies, but I can't let you help your father. You see though, you can help me with a favor. Since your father is so uncooperative and won't tell me of the whereabouts of the Shikon Jewel, I'll just have to kill him. So, you can kill him for me, that's much more pleasing in my eyes."
"Never!" Inuyasha yelled but then his eyes glazed over with no emotion and he withdrew Tetsuaiga from its sheath.
King Mamoru's eyes widened with shock and horror. "Inuyasha! No!"
Naraku snapped his fingers and nodded towards the king. "Put him out of his misery, now! Drive your sword into his chest!"
Without any hesitation Inuyasha pulled back his sword and thrust it in his father's chest, leaving him limp on the floor and Naraku quite pleased.
A/N: @_@ I can't believe I just wrote that… But don't worry, the story will turn around… I hope ^_^
So until next time, please leave your reviews. I would appreciate it.
~ShimmerSweet