The Scent of Despair
Written by Catrina Winner
Author's Note: Here's another chapter! I hope you like it. Plot twist number two, in effect. Please don't kill me! I know it's sad, tear jerking, whatever you want to call it, just remember; there is a happy ending. Just remember that, even when the story gets really sad! Oh, and, of course, please review this chapter, tell me if you like it or not, whatever, just review! Hope you like my attempt at angst. Read on!
On a more important note: I got e-mail the other day, asking me to update sooner. It probably helped me write about half this chapter. Really, a lot of you think me asking for reviews (when I already have so many) is selfish. However, I use reviews as a way to better my writing and give the fans more of what they want. If you want to make me write even FASTER, e-mail me with anything about my writing, what you like/don't like, what you want more of, whatever!
Oh, and if you like this, you'll love Shattered, my Escaflowne fanfiction. I've started working on it again, so I'm sure it will pick up and take off after the second chapter or so.
On with the story!
*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
Chapter Eighteen
Kagome walked slowly towards the well. Many things were weighing heavily on her mind. Her new "marriage" to Inuyasha. It was all so new to her… And so many things were going to be different from now on. No more studies to worry about, no more school to receive bad marks in. She would never have to go to high school, but could stay with Inuyasha for as long as she lived. What a wonderful concept, she thought. Now she had everything she wanted, save for the love of her family.
As she headed down the path that would lead her through the woods and to the well, Kagome passed the same shrine she had done the incantation at to purify the Shikon Jewel. Peering down at the Jewel around her neck, she noticed that it was a milky white. Always in her mind she had seen the purified form of the Shikon Jewel being clear, like a large marble. It would be transparent, and she would put it by her head when she slept, to remind her of Inuyasha.
Now, even that idea had changed. She was already his mate, and would not be allowed to return home, ever again. For just one moment she wished she could see her family again, tell them everything that had happened. She knew her mother would be happy for her, as would her grandfather. Sota would probably be beside himself with excitement. Kagome allowed herself a smile.
Off to the side of the shrine, purple flowers were growing. Kagome stopped to pick a few, intent on leaving them in the well. A way to say goodbye, she mused. Even before the thought ended, the Shikon Jewel glowed pink and engulfed her and the shrine. It vanished as quickly as it had appeared, leaving the Jewel a pinkish color and Kagome feeling dazed.
Clutching the flowers, she staggered to her feet and leaned against the wall of the shrine. What was that?! She remained against the wall, drawing support from it for several more moments before she felt she could stand on her own. The power that had flooded throughout her body had surprised her. Maybe I shouldn't go to the well after all. Or, at least, I should find someone to go with me. That decided; Kagome turned back the way she had come.
A short walk later, little Shippo bounded out from the bushes and landed on her shoulder. She quickly invited him to journey with her to the closed well. He agreed and went to find flowers he could give, too. Feeling much safer, Kagome resumed her trek into Inuyasha's forest, comforted with the fact that she could hear Shippo crashing through the underbrush next to her, his little voice rising in joy whenever he discovered another flower, however big or small.
When he emerged a few moments later, he clutched a bouquet that was almost as large as him. Kagome laughed and swept him up into his arms. Shippo patted her face with one of his paws, and added the purple flowers she held into his massive array of vegetation.
"Kagome, are you sad that you can't see you're parents anymore?" he asked suddenly. It was rare indeed that Shippo could be found parted from his own folks now; so close he had come to losing them once. He understands, Kagome thought, the same thing happened to him.
"Well, yes, Shippo. I'm going to miss my parents and my little brother very much. But… I think it will be okay. Because you can be my new little brother and Inuyasha will take care of me, now," she replied, smiling down at his upturned face.
"Oh," was all he responded.
The short conversation was all it took for them to reach the well. There was still a faint glow around it, but neither of the companions noticed that it had darkened slightly. Shippo handed Kagome all the flowers he had gathered and perched himself on a rough-hewn edge, peering into the darkness below.
"No bones!" he announced. Kagome smiled. She hated leaping into the well when there were remains from demons there. Even though she had already been through the experience several times, it never got any easier to realize you were standing amidst a dead thing.
With a large grin, Kagome handed Shippo a dandelion, asking him to hold it for her, and leapt into the well. A tiny flash of light surged upward and the well's aura vanished. Shippo blinked the spots from his sensitive eyes, and gazed into the never-ending depths of the opening. Kagome was nowhere to be found. There was dirt, plenty of dirt, but nothing remained of the young girl who had just leapt in. With a cry, the little kitsune jumped into the well after his missing friend, but nothing happened. A pink glow was clinging to the dirt, evidence that something had happened, but no Kagome. No even a scuff from a shoe. Shippo couldn't understand what had happened, couldn't accept anything, until he saw the huge pile of flowers, scattered in the corner. Letting out an ear-shattering wail, the small demon bounced up and down on the dirt, throwing up a tiny cloud of dust in all his rage.
Somewhere off in the distance, Miroku was laughing at Inuyasha's blush when they heard the little scream.
*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
Kagome whimpered as she landed, scraping her elbow on the cold ground. The dirt beneath her was wet and felt like ice against her previously warm skin. She opened her eyes slowly, chanting no, no, no. Nothing could stop the truth, however, and she saw the roof over her head, and heard the rain pattering atop it. Somehow the well had reopened.
Pushing herself up and turning over Kagome clutched the Shikon Jewel tightly in her hand and jumped up. She landed with a thud against the dirt of her own time.
"NO!" she screamed, "Take me BACK! Take me HOME!!" She fell to her knees and began pounding on the soil, screaming her mantra, no, no, no! continuously. The sides of her hands bruised and began to bleed, but she took no notice and shoved them deep into the soft earth, digging like a woman possessed, throwing the muck behind her as she strove to return to the Sengoku Jidai.
Finally, the pain in her hands was too much for her. They burned, and she stared at them. They didn't look anything like the pretty hands that had just been there a moment before. Blood dripped sluggishly from a hundred tiny cuts, dirt and pebbles clinging to every sore. She pounded both hands on the ground again, screaming her fury to the empty air. She soon couldn't breath, but nothing stopped her anguish, until she collapsed on the ground, closed her eyes, and slipped into a welcoming darkness.
*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
The shrieks frightened out the only remaining occupant of Kagome's family shrine, and little Sota, with Buyo clutched in his arms, inched towards the well house doors. He put the fat cat onto the boards and peered inside, tiptoeing closer to the yawning opening. He was unprepared to see his sister, lying prone on the earth; dirt sticking to her tearstained cheeks and bloodied hands. One did not have to be terribly intelligent to know what had happened.
Sota, rubbing at his own red eyes, puckered from crying, pulled up a loose board and dropped it carefully into the well, leaning it up against its side. He climbed in next to his sister, and commenced in the difficult task of dragging her up the length of wood and out of the well.
It took him a long time before Kagome was lying next to the cursed well and atop another, smaller board. She still had not awoken, and Sota ached from the strain of lifting someone thrice his size. The pain in his body did not halt him, though. He solidly gripped either side of the board, and slowing began dragging it out of the well house.
Rain pattered on his red, sweating face as he towed her towards the house. Both he and Kagome were soaked to the skin by the time he reached their back door, and it was all he could do to pull his sister off the board and into the kitchen. Hardly able to lift a feather, the devoted boy drug out two heavy blankets and draped them over Kagome. He curled under them with her, hoping it was enough to ward off any cold the rain might try to instill in them.
Closing his young eyes, he prayed that neither of them would ever wake up again and avoid the never-ending pain that awaited them.
*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
Okay, there's the chapter! I hope you liked it. Plot twist number three, coming right along in the next chapter (or was it the one after that? I can't remember.) Sorry this has been so short, but I've just gone through finals, finally got my permit, and have to put my dog down soon. I've had a lot on my plate, so to speak. Anyway, please review (as we all know how much I love getting reviews) and I'll try to be a little faster with the next update.