AN: Hee hee, how long did that take? Actually, this is like my average update time, practically (although I've been a bit faster with Reclaiming Life.) Uh…don't know what to say, except…oh, to that person who left the review saying they didn't like the idea of two merman after Sango and Kagome, I have to say I agree with you completely. I wrote it so fast I hadn't realized what I'd done, and that was the major reason why I wanted to rewrite the entire story. So sorry about that…^^. Thanks for your reviews, even though I all but abandoned this fic. And hey Ashley, thanks for leaving those emails, your last one really got me off my butt and working on it. ^_^ So, enjoy the chapter.

In the Abyss

            It was kind of weird, looking at a replica of Kagome and knowing that the real Kagome was somewhere behind him. But also in many ways the princess looked just like Kagome, she wasn't like Kagome. For one thing, her hair was longer. Her skin was also whiter, and she gave off a languid air, unlike Kagome's warmth. As for who was more beautiful (even if they almost looked the same, they had different defining features)—well, if he asked Miroku he would probably say the princess, but Inu-Yasha wasn't so sure he'd say the same thing.

            Finally, Kikyo's burning eyes left him and traveled to her almost-twin. "Hello, Kagome, it's been awhile since we've met," she said pleasantly, like she was talking to an acquaintance.

            Inu-Yasha could practically feel Kagome's back stiffen. "Yeah, it's been awhile," she repeated.

            "Are you still searching for your father?"

            "Yes," Kagome snapped, maybe a little too quickly. The king cleared his throat. Kagome frowned. "But not all the time. I believe in moving on," she muttered, looking down.

            Kikyo smiled. "I see. And how is Auntie doing?"

            "Fine," Kagome forced out. "Look, I'm sure you're interested in Inu-Yasha and Miroku, so why don't me and Sango leave, and you and His Majesty can ask them whatever you like?" She sent an apologetic look at Inu-Yasha. He didn't exactly want Kikyo interrogating him, but it looked like Kagome was in more hot water than he was.

            This time when Kikyo smiled, she showed a line of white teeth. "That's right. So are you Miroku?" she directed towards Inu-Yasha.

            He shook his head. "No, I'm Inu-Yasha. He's Miroku," he said, gesturing with his thumb at his friend. "And like he said before, really great city."

            The king nodded. "Well, you can stay as long as you like. We only ask two things in return—" he held up two fingers. "One—you tell no one about the mercity. A lot of drowning sailors think they were saved by seals and whatnot, and we'd like to keep it that way. If you tell, we'll know, and there are fatal consequences for that." He withdrew a finger, made a slashing motion with the one remaining finger, then held it up again. "Two—don't fall in love. It sounds silly, but we've had problems with it before, and we don't want it recurring."

            Inu-Yasha looked at Kikyo. She looked like she wanted to make that rule difficult for him. He chanced a peek at Kagome. She was glaring determinedly at the floor.

            "Other than that, feel free to do whatever you like—you know, except for the murders and robberies and all that stuff." From Kagome's direction came an impatient sigh. "But I am curious about the mortal world, so I have a favor to ask—would you mind if I asked some questions about the mortal world? Such as…I don't know, how loyal a father is to his family?"

            Inu-Yasha and Miroku exchanged glances. "Sure, if you want," Inu-Yasha finally said with a shrug.

            Kikyo butted in, "Oh, Father, not here. It's too uncomfortable." Turning her beautiful face towards her audience again, she asked, "Would you stay for dinner? The castle chefs make the finest food, and we would be honored to have your company."

            Then, almost as an afterthought, she added, "Oh, Kagome, you and your friend could come as well, I suppose. You are family, after all." Both Kagome and Sango bristled.

"She's a bitch," Sango hissed in Kagome's ear.

"That's why I never tell anyone about my family," Kagome whispered back. Inu-Yasha heard her.

            If Kikyo hadn't sounded like inviting Kagome was a formality, then maybe Inu-Yasha would've accepted. But Kagome had done so much for him, and here she was being cast away. He opened his mouth to say thanks but no thanks, but Kagome interrupted, "They'd love to stay. But I have to help Mother, and take care of Rin. She's another mortal we found. Thanks for your invitation, though." The tone at the end of her voice showed she didn't care much about eating at the castle.

            "That works out fine," Kikyo said, clapping her graceful hands together.

            Inu-Yasha turned and gaped at Kagome. "We can't stay here alone—"

            "Yes you can," Kagome said evenly. "It's not as bad as it sounds. I'm sure Kikyo will be very nice to you. There's so many good things about the princess, after all." She smiled, though it didn't reach her eyes. "She can even give you the permanent breath of life, so you don't have to rely on me all the time."

            As she and Sango swam away, she called over her shoulder, "Take care of the mortals, Kikyo! They have delicate digestive systems. See you, Your Majesty!" They disappeared, leaving the mortals staring helplessly after them.

            The king sighed. "Why won't she ever call me 'Uncle?'"

*          *          *

            Inu-Yasha was yawning by the time he swam into Kagome's house. Miroku was already half-asleep, and Inu-Yasha had the thankless job of trying to drag him back to the house. It was already late. As he neared the house, he recalled the events that had happened.

            Kikyo had been right in saying the food was great—he and Miroku practically cleaned the entire table of food. The royal family didn't eat much anyway—the king nibbled on the same piece of lobster the whole night, and Kikyo didn't even touch her food. Inu-Yasha noticed that there was a person missing. He wondered where the queen was, but he knew it wasn't in his place to ask. Instead he just concentrated on eating, because mermaid servants were bringing in new courses faster than he could devour them.

            Of course, it was kinda hard to eat. Kikyo kept asking questions about his life on land, questions identical to the ones Kagome had asked one week ago. Inu-Yasha knew she was interested in him—she didn't exactly make an effort to hide it. Kikyo was ignoring her father's warning glances and laying out all her charm.

            It might've worked too, but every time Inu-Yasha looked at Kikyo's porcelain face, he thought of Kagome's face, pink with happiness. Kikyo hadn't saved his life. He'd never felt her lips on his, or wondered if he'd ever feel her lips on his simply for the pleasure of it—

            He jolted himself from these thoughts and shuddered. Eww, I'm getting too mushy for my own good. He'd never thought much about love or attraction, since he never paid attention to girls in Houshi (except for his favorite gal—the old hang who ran Ramen restaurant.) It was scary to think that a girl—not even a real girl, a half-human—could change that.

            Inu-Yasha suddenly spoke up, interrupting Kikyo, and made a feeble excuse about it being late. "We should probably go." Kagome must be worried, he added mentally, knowing Kikyo wouldn't care about that information.

            The princess stood up at the same time. "Oh, but it's been more than an hour since the last breath of life." Throughout the afternoon and dinner, courtesans had been coming in and giving them the mermaid's breath, something that Miroku had enjoyed much more than the food. "But please, allow me to do it for this time."

            He hesitated. Miroku looked at him, confused. Kikyo noticed and smiled reassuringly. "I do have the gift of bestowing the permanent breath of life, but I don't have to use it, and I certainly won't, if that's what you're worrying about." Inu-Yasha's shoulders visibly relaxed.

            Kikyo swam gracefully towards them. She placed her hands on Miroku's arms and drew him close, pressing her lips lightly against his. Inu-Yasha saw the shocked expression on Miroku's face and could immediately read his mind—That's one fine mermaid. Kikyo went over to him and took his face in her hands. She brought it down and kissed him. Really kissed him. Before he could move away, she breathed life into him, then released him, grinning. Whoa, she's a real sneak…her lips had been cool.

             Inu-Yasha suddenly stopped swimming. Miroku, who'd been peacefully drifting, bumped into him. "Ouch…hey, why'd you stop? What's going on?"

            Inu-Yasha brought a hand up to his lips. "I'm just wondering if maybe Kikyo did give me the permanent breath of life…my lips still feel cold."

            Miroku pursed his lips. "Yeah? Mine too. But she wouldn't give that to me, she doesn't like me. Too bad. We all saw her fawning over you." He yawned widely. "It's nighttime, and unlike fish we can't control our body temperature in the water. Of course your lips would be cold."

            "Yeah…I guess." Inu-Yasha was cold, but he had the feeling that it was really Kikyo. He'd felt no warmth from her lips. They were as cool and elegant as her manner. After realizing he'd just spend the last few minutes thinking about Kikyo's lips, he started banging his forehead against the wall of the house, as if trying to force the evil demons out of his head.

            "Hey, stop! What are you doing? If you want to get in, all you have to do is swim inside," Miroku said, laying a hand on his friend's arm. Inu-Yasha reluctantly pulled away and swam inside, Miroku following.

            There was still light in the house, but the lights were dimmed. They swam up to where'd they'd been sleeping the nights before. Sango was there, reading a book she'd borrowed from the mermaid library. Kagome was lying on Inu-Yasha's bed, fast asleep. Inu-Yasha remembered her saying mermaids didn't have to sleep, but they could if they wanted to.

            "Hey," Sango said in a soft voice. "How was it?"

            Miroku swam over and flung his arms around Sango dramatically. "Oh, it was terrible! I mean, the food was great, but the princess didn't once look at me!" Sango glared at Inu-Yasha over Miroku's shoulder, as if he had launched Miroku on her. Inu-Yasha just shrugged. Sango's eyes suddenly widened as Miroku's hand found a place long since groped. She moved back and slapped him hard.

            His scream of pain made Kagome's stir. Her eyes fluttered, then slowly opened. "What's happening?" she murmured. Her eyes fell on Inu-Yasha. "Oh, hi. Did you have fun?" Though she sounded so sleepy he wasn't sure, but he thought he heard a trace of cynicism.

            "It was OK," Inu-Yasha said nonchalantly. "They just asked us about humans and stuff." He sent a sideways glare at Miroku not to say anything. Miroku grinned, a huge handprint on his cheek.

            "Hmm." Kagome sat up and stretched. "Did they give you the breath already?"

            Inu-Yasha looked at her. "No," he lied. Miroku raised his eyebrow, but heeded Inu-Yasha's warning and didn't say anything. He needed to feel warmth on his lips again. He needed to know if mermaid's lips were always chilly at night, or if it was just Kikyo.

            Kagome went over to him. Tilting her face up, she let Inu-Yasha come down to her. Her lips were warm.

            I knew it. Inu-Yasha waited until she was finished, then stood straight again. It's not because it's cold outside or anything. Now that his lips were warm, he didn't have this topic bugging him anymore. He yawned widely suddenly. Miroku did the same. "I guess I'll just go to sleep now," he mumbled afterwards.

            Kagome moved away, and he swam over to his bed. Within seconds he zonked out, sprawled across the coral. Maybe sleep would make him go back to his normal self, where he wouldn't be thinking these weird mushy thoughts about lips, where girls with fish tails were freaky, not beautiful, where immortal princesses did not stare at him like he was raw octopus on a platter…

*          *          *

            "Have fun!" Kagome shouted, waving at Rin and smiling. Rin waved back, her other hand firmly in the grip of a little mermaid her age. Rin was quick to make friends, perky child she was, and her new friends would help keep her mind off her father, whom she missed.

            She didn't really know how it was going to work out. Miroku had to stay for a month, to keep Sango safe (which was one of the most romantic things Kagome had ever seen…too bad he was a pervert though). Rin had to go home, and there was a price on her head. The most obvious answer would be for Inu-Yasha to go to shore and return Rin, then wait till Miroku got back. But would they really separate? From what he'd told her, they rarely did anything apart. And if she and Sango returned Rin on their own, the boys wouldn't get the reward money. And she didn't like the idea of Inu-Yasha sleeping on the streets. She knew the streets on land were cold and hard, and only for people who had no home.

            Kagome stopped at a fork in the road. The left way led to her home, but the right led outside the city to the ocean beyond. She decided to take a long swim out of the city, towards southwest, a direction she'd never gone before.

            She'd been thinking about Inu-Yasha ever since he saved her from Kouga. Kagome knew quite well a mermaid-human relationship was forbidden, but it wasn't like she was madly in love with him or anything. It was more like a crush. It wasn't hard to have a crush on Inu-Yasha. First, he was cute. Those golden eyes were always unsettled, and Kagome always got lost in them whenever she looked into his eyes, leaving her looking like a dork with her mouth slightly open, staring in rapture. When he was concerned about her on the second day, asking her to eat, then saving her from Kouga and kicking his ass at the same, that added to his attractiveness.

            Crushes were little things. She'd had tons of them on mermen. But she'd never felt that tight feeling in her chest whenever someone else looked at them. Or felt like her day had just gotten ten times better when she saw them. Crushes were usually just physical attraction. So was this a crush?

            Kagome looked down at her tail. It would have to be. She and Inu-Yasha couldn't make anything of it anyway. He would return to land and they'd never see each other again. Best for her if she put it out of her head and just continued living on without him. He was only just a man, anyway, and her mother had said several times over that no one should depend on a man. She would know.

            She suddenly burst into speed, furiously swimming away from the city as fast as she could. She needed to clear her mind, concentrate only on going faster, feel the currents whiz past her face.

            Suddenly the ground disappeared and she stopped, her heart pounding. The ground had given way to a huge cliff…more like an underwater canyon. Quickly she swam back to where she could see the sand beneath her, and went low so she could actually touch it. Lying on her stomach on the sand, she put her fingers over the edge and peered over the abyss.

            It was a deep trench, so deep she couldn't see the bottom. Freaky, she thought, shivering. Wonder if anyone's been here before…Something shiny caught her eye, just a few feet below her, perhaps caught on a rock. Kagome bravely swallowed and dove down. Thoughts of big sea monsters and a green hand pulling her down to the bottom almost scared the wits out of her. Her hands closed around something hard and cold. She grabbed it in a tight grip and swam up as fast as she could. Even that short distance into the trench was scary.

            Heart pounding, she threw the object on the sand. It looked like half a plaque of metal, perhaps steel, etched with words. Bits of grime or dirt covered the words. Kagome cleaned the plague with sand. When she read the words, or what was left of them, her jaw dropped.

Certificate of registration of Olymp—

Never a finer ship had been crafte—

May she journey well through the waters of—

            She could hardly believe it.

            "Oh my gosh. This is Inu-Yasha's ship."

*          *          *

            "Inu-Yasha!"

            He looked up from his attempts to annoy a sea urchin near the gates of the city. "Hey, Kagome—ouch!" Looks like he succeeded. Inu-Yasha stood up and brushed his hands on his pants. "What are you holding?"

            Kagome wheezed as she swam towards him, carrying a shiny looking thing. "Read…this…" she forced out. After she thrust it in his hands, she arched her back and just floated in the water. "Agh, I'm dead beat. I didn't know I swam that far, and that thing's quite heavy too."

            Inu-Yasha read it and he looked like he'd been slapped with a flounder. "Kagome, this is Olympia's. I just know it. I can feel it, right there, in my very marrow, traveling through my veins—"

            "Yeah, and it says right there, too, you dope. And it can't be in your marrow and traveling through your veins at the same time."

            "Well, it only says Olym. It could've been the Olympus ship, you know. Or Olympo."

            She waved her hand impatiently. "No energy for useless arguments. Just tell me if I'm right. Is it your dad's ship?"

            "This is the plaque, yes…" Almost tenderly Inu-Yasha brushed the surface with his palm. "Where'd you find it?"

            "Hanging off a jagged rock at a deep trench I found…" her voice trailed off when she realized what she'd said.

Inu-Yasha's expression didn't change. It seemed he'd already known the news was going to be bad. "Did you see the ship?"

            "No, the trench was really deep, I couldn't see anything below," Kagome winced. If the ship had sunk, it had fallen so deep no mermaid would have seen it. She wasn't going to admit to Inu-Yasha she thought his ship was most likely a pile of dust and debris now, but it looked like he knew.

That didn't stop him from being determined, though. "I want to see."

            Go down in that deep trench? Was he serious? "Okay," Kagome said, smiling brightly. "Good luck." She started to inch away, but Inu-Yasha grabbed her arm.

            "What do you mean good luck? You're coming with me. I can't go alone." He's scared too, Kagome thought, half touched and half glad. She asked, "Well, what about Miroku?"

            "Oh yeah…Miroku…this is as important to him as it is to me. But he's in the library, fixing up a row of bookshelves Sango knocked over because he was flirting around. The librarians won't let him go." Inu-Yasha paced around, thinking. "I can't wait that long for him. We have to go now. We can check it out for him, then he can come and see for himself." He tugged on Kagome's arm. "Lead the way, mermaid."

            "I'm tired," she wheedled, but then Inu-Yasha looked at her with teasing eyes. "If you're tired, you can always rest. Just give me directions and I'll ask the princess if she would help me, you know, like give me an escort or something."

            She punched him. "You're evil, you know that? Fine. Let go of my arm. I'll take you there." Swimming ahead of Inu-Yasha, she led him out of the mermaid city towards the trench, perhaps toward the end of Inu-Yasha's search.

*          *          *

            "That's…pretty deep," Inu-Yasha commented intelligently.

            "Uh huh." Kagome pointed down at the jagged rock a few feet below. "That's where the plaque was. If it was nailed to the side of the ship as you say, then the ship must have scraped the rock on the way down."

            Inu-Yasha leaned down and dropped the long coils of a glowing rope onto the ground. Before leaving the city, Kagome had asked for special lights that the explorers used for excursions. The rope would help them find their way around, give them light, and lead them back up when they were finished. They had an elastic quality so they could circle the mercity ten times and still work. "So, where do I put this?"

            Kagome took one end, which had a large metal hook attached to it, and forced it into the edge of the trench. Inu-Yasha kicked it in. "You ready?" Kagome asked Inu-Yasha. He nodded. She considered zooming out of there, but she had to admit, she was getting kind of curious. Still scared, but curious.

            Inu-Yasha located the end of the rope and gave a few meters to Kagome for her to tie around her waist. He then tied it around him beside her. "Let's go," he said.

            Kagome swallowed. Slowly they swam away from the ground and downwards, into the big gaping void with the ruin that was Inu-Yasha's only connection to the past. And if she weren't terrified at the moment, she would slap herself for being that cheesy.

            "Are you cold?" Inu-Yasha muttered in a low voice. It echoed around the walls, sounding eerie and hollow.

            If she said no, then it would be obvious that she was scared. And she lived in water, she shouldn't be the scared one. But then she couldn't say it was cold, because like fish, mermaids' body temperatures altered slightly to suit the water. It would take icy waters in the polar caps to make her feel the tinge. "No," she sighed.     

            Inu-Yasha smirked. "Scared of the dark?"

            "Hey! It's creepy down there—here—okay?" she shot back defensively. "And look at that, your fingers are trembling."

            "Feh. I'm human—I'm cold," he explained.

            "Liar—I can feel your knees knocking."

            "That's because I'm swimming, genius."

            "I can hear your teeth chattering."

            "That would be because I'm cold."

            Kagome shook her head. "Gosh, you're such a whiner," she said, imitating his smirk. Inu-Yasha realized what he'd said and started to protest, but Kagome giggled.

            The good thing about them arguing was that it took Kagome's mind off sinking down to the very bottom of the ocean—at least for a little while.

            It was a good thing the breath of life transferred more than just breath to the person—Inu-Yasha had also received some of the merpeoples' abilities and wasn't affected by water pressure, so his head wouldn't explode in the water.

            "See the bottom yet?" he asked.

            Kagome squinted. "Nope." They'd been swimming for quite a while now. How deep did this damn trench go?

            "Hmm…I didn't think it would be so deep." Inu-Yasha said, staring down into nothing. "I wonder if maybe they had time to escape before it sank…"

            Kagome put one of her hands over his. He hadn't been lying, his fingers were icy. "If they were sailors, I'm sure they escaped," she said, though inside she wasn't so sure.

            "If they did, they'd have found us by now," he muttered. "I just can't think…while me and Miroku were up there on the streets, our dads were this far down…and we had no idea."

            "Stop making it so depressing," Kagome said, not knowing what else to say. "You don't know yet, you have no idea." You won't know until we see bones, she almost added, but decided to keep it to herself. It probably wasn't the best thing to say. She squeezed the hand she was holding, and they swam the rest of the way in silence.

            They were about ten meters from the ground when they actually saw it, thanks to the light. Inu-Yasha stood on the ground while Kagome hovered beside him. "Right…now what?" he asked, surveying the area around them. Pure sandy ground stretched out to the darkness.

            "Well…we swim forwards, I guess," Kagome said. So that's what they did.

            It wasn't long before strips of rotted wood began littering the ground, eventually growing bigger in size, and more debris of rusted metal and all sorts of things covered the ground. While Kagome was still examining a badly rusted candlestick on the ground, Inu-Yasha tore his eye away from a door on the ground and looked up.

            "Oh my God."

            Kagome looked up as well. "Oh," she breathed softly.

            In front of them was a huge, rotting mass of wood, roughly shaped like a large ship. Huge chunks of it were ripped away, and all that remained was a broken skeleton.

            Inu-Yasha swam closer to it, and since Kagome was tied to the same rope, she had to follow. He went up to the front of the ship, where a decayed figure was proudly attached. "Sakai, the mermaid figurehead," he said quietly. "Miroku's dad insisted it should be a big, busty mermaid. Like father, like son. My dad got to name her, though. He named her after my mother. She died when I was really small. But I'm babbling, I suppose."

            "I'm sorry," Kagome whispered. Inu-Yasha's hand was still on the decayed mermaid's tail. Inu-Yasha's face was white—maybe even whiter than it actually was, since the greenish glow made everyone's face look sickly. But even Inu-Yasha's expression was twisted.

            He shrugged. "Doesn't really matter, I guess. None of this stuff really matters. I mean, I've already accepted that everything—'cept Miroku, of course—is dead to me. I wasn't holding on to anything, really."

            He was lying through his teeth. Kagome didn't want to confront him, though. Instead she took his hand again. "Come on," she said softly. "Let's look inside."

            They swam through the holes until they were inside the ship. Inu-Yasha looked around, guided only by the glow of the rope. "This is definitely Olympia. I think I know where we are." He touched a wall—or what was left of it. "This is the captain's room. And right behind—just over there—was the kitchen. Miroku used to nearly burn the ship down whenever it was his night to cook," he smiled slightly at the memory. "Which is probably why I love ramen so much."

            Kagome was only half listening. A shadow had just flickered over on the opposite wall, as if something had just swum by. But it couldn't have been anything…it was probably just her tail or Inu-Yasha's arm as he gestured around.

            "…And right near here was the mop closet…they all used to lock me in here for hours at end…"

            Something flickered again. This time, Kagome could feel the water currents change. They came unevenly, as if something was swimming through them. She was beginning to feel a tingling in her fingers. Her heart was pounding. "Um…Inu-Yasha…" quivering fingers reached out to tap her arm.

            "What?" Inu-Yasha turned to look at her. "Oh hey, what's this?" he spotted something on the ground a meter away and began to swim toward it.

            Kagome frantically grabbed at his sleeve. "Inu-Yasha don't move!" she hissed frantically. Her heart was pounding in her ears now. The light flickered again, and this time a great looming shadow covered the opposite wall.

            Inu-Yasha, his back to it, was staring at her curiously. "Kagome, what is it?" he asked, worry creeping into his tone. "Kagome?"

            Kagome didn't answer, because she was staring eye-to-eye with the biggest great white shark she'd ever seen.