Thanks to all who have supported this story since its first chapter. I hope that the new chapters will continue to entertain you and make this story a unique one in the realm of the Sesshoumaru/Kagome pairing. One can definitely hope, right? And now on with it!
~ Bern (Feb 2004).
Chapter 13: The Dark Shikon - Magatsushi
Deep within the forests that bordered the territories of the Four Lands, a shrine stood hidden by the heavy mists. Its dark wooden walls and wide roof effectively blocked out what little sunlight that bravely trickled in through the thick foliage of the trees soaring overhead. Within these walls, a pale figure knelt before an altar seemingly in deep prayer. However, a strange sickly purple glow emanated from between cupped palms as the silent form continued its dark meditations. Finally, a sharp burst of light shone briefly through and she sighed in relief. Hopefully, this would be the last time that she would have to perform such a complex and spiritually draining ritual.
As if aware of its completion, two other figures stepped out of the shadows. A tall, thin man that held a strong resemblance to a snake gave the woman an evil smile that bared his sharp teeth. His companion appeared as that of a human male, cultured in his bearing. Only an anxious look belied his tension for the upcoming moment. It had taken them the better part of fifty years to formulate and refine the process all the while escaping detection by any of the Four Lords of the Lands. If they had known what was being done, the three conspirators would have been slain immediately for their treachery.
The woman held her cupped hands towards the other two and they crowded around it to gaze in wonder at the softly glowing ball within. Its radiance shone out, almost caressing each face in an unspoken temptation. Even as they stared at it, they could feel the power it radiated, drugging their senses. Finally, the woman managed to find herself and quickly shielded it from her companions' sight. The snake-like man almost hissed at her in anger while the other rubbed his eyes and tried to refocus his thoughts.
"Why do you hide it from my sight, Kuromiko?" demanded Orochidayuu as his eyes narrowed fiercely. "The Magatsushi is not yours alone, but ours too."
"You were beginning to lose reason, Orochidayuu," Kuromiko Tsubaki replied coldly. "A moment longer and we three would have killed the others to possess it. I simply prevented that from happening by shielding it from sight."
"It is indeed worthy as the Shikon no Tama's successor," Izumo murmured. "The power it exudes almost seduces one, does it not?"
The three glanced at the closed palms of the dark priestess and noted the pale glow that still slipped through. Even shielded, its power hummed with promise and the three shivered in anticipation of the future. For Kuromiko, it was the labour of a lifetime after her descent down the path of the forbidden occult. For Orochidayuu, it was the promise of a glorious future with him in control of the Four Lands and its former Lords humbled at his feet. And for Izumo, it held the answer to his cursed existence of being neither human nor youkai but hanyou. With this, he could retain his humanity yet usurp the power within that was youkai.
And now that it was complete, the Magatsushi awaited in fulfilling its sinister purpose.
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Naraku's Palace
Kagura made her way down the damp stone steps into the secret chamber where Naraku dwelt. Each day, he made it a point to retire to his sanctuary in order to recharge and contain the raw youkai energy within him. Ever since that day when he had made a deal with the youkai swarm to exchange his humanity for their powers, he constantly faced a tiring job of keeping them in line. However, as time passed, he became more and more proficient in controlling them that it was now an almost pleasurable activity. Like a bather would relax in a hot spring at the end of a busy day, Naraku saw each session as a means of exerting his will upon the swarm he held within.
"Naraku," Kagura's voice echoed throughout the chamber and he frowned in annoyance at her unwelcome presence. "I've brought news of your latest obsession."
"Well?" came the curt reply.
"It has been completed and apparently, this is the real thing," Kagura replied pointedly. "At least, as close to it as they can get it."
Naraku's ears pricked up at the information. "Indeed? How interesting," came the almost gleeful reply. "And after so long, I'd thought that they'd either given up or died trying to accomplish it. Good work, Kagura, you may leave. Send Kanna down here, I wish to see it with my own eyes."
Turning on her heels and walking off, Kagura allowed a frown to creep over her features. This was not good. If the Magatsushi were everything Naraku believed it to be, she would be forever bound to him, if not reabsorbed into his accursed body. Unfortunately, Kagura was unable to think of a way to sabotage or at least hinder Naraku's plans at the moment. As much as she had hoped that Sesshoumaru and his powerful blade would split the bastard down the middle, the youkai lord had returned to the affairs of governing the Western Lands. As for the mysterious girl that had accompanied him, she seemed to have vanished off the face of the earth.
'So much for lords in shining armour,' she muttered inwardly. Passing by the pale girl on her way out, she nodded towards her to meet with Naraku downstairs. Ignoring the silent girl as she disappeared down the stairs, Kagura headed out into the garden. Suddenly wishing to escape the stifling atmosphere of Naraku's palatial home, she removed the feather from her hair and flicked it out with a quick snap of her wrist. The feather boat appeared and soon the wind-controlling youkai was a speck in the distance winging her way westwards.
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Counsel Room of the Western Fortress,
Late afternoon
Sesshoumaru inwardly groaned as the Lord of the Eastern Lands, Honouryuu, once again demanded a final confirmation of their plans. Ever since rumours of a strange power like that of the Shikon no Tama had surfaced, the Eastern Lord had been jittery and at times paranoid about it. To a certain extent, Sesshoumaru could understand his concerns; after all, his brother had been consumed by it when he and several other taiyoukai had challenged the legendary miko Midorika centuries before. Still, Lord Honouryuu's excessive demands on fine-tuning their assault plans on the suspected individuals in possession of the 'fake' Shikon was grating on all the other Lords' nerves.
"Lord Honouryuu," pleaded Lord Akira of the Southern Lands, "we have done all we can in preparing the battle plans. As much as we can plan for it from here, we must also concede that once in the field, some things may have to be adapted or improvised." The copper-gold kitsune held out his hands in supplication to the huffing dragon lord.
"Lord Akira is correct," growled Lord Daikuma of the Northern Lands. "Our strategies are as sound as we can make it in the meeting room. It is only on the battlefield that we can test it." The towering black bear rested a huge clawed paw on the edge of the table, a silent hint as to the discussion's end. He, too, was starting to get irritated with the red fire dragon's incessant whining about re-designing the strategies several times over for a clear victory.
Sesshoumaru made use of the two lords' hints to end the meeting promptly and have his guests shown to their quarters. Lord Daikuma was generally an impatient individual while Lord Akira was similar to Sesshoumaru in patience. Unlike the colder Lord of the Western Lands, the kitsune was warm and friendly; a born diplomat with a sincere personality and generous spirit. Sesshoumaru favoured him among the other lords, although he rarely, if ever extended the same generosity. In some way, Lord Akira reminded Sesshoumaru of his late father before the deaths of his mates.
After the Lords had left for their rooms, Sesshoumaru made his way to his private study. After that trying session, he needed a temporary reprieve from the overwhelming demands of his position. Even though he had accepted his role, Sesshoumaru still craved something more but a stubborn part of him refused to allow him to explore that want. It did not help matters that since his meeting with the strange girl from the well who had come barrelling into his ordered life and left him just as suddenly. Well, as suddenly as he had tossed her into the well from which she had appeared several months before.
Making his way to the balcony overlooking the forest below, Sesshoumaru allowed a small sigh to escape. He had firmly believed that once the mysterious girl Kagome left, his life would once more return to the calmness he had always enjoyed. But that calmness now eluded him and more than once he would find himself passing her room where traces of her scent barely lingered. Denying his more than passing interest in her was a lie and he knew it. Now, it would seem that the saying of absence making the heart grow fonder was not so much a cliché. Sesshoumaru's hands tightened over the railing, his head lowered to allow the silver fringe to cover his eyes; he missed her more than he thought it was possible.
The soft knocking snapped him to the present and Jaken's voice announced his presence. Frowning at the retainer's higher than normal pitch, he ordered the youkai to enter.
"Sesshoumaru-sama," came the slightly out of breath words. "There is a messenger from Lord Daikuma's lands bringing an urgent message. The lords are meeting in the Counsel Room at this moment to hear it."
Without a word, Sesshoumaru moved swiftly towards the meeting room. Something was wrong, he could feel his senses tingling at the unknown threat that the message no doubt brought. Only Lord Daikuma's messengers were stealthy enough to track the followers of Kuromiko Tsubaki. As he approached the Counsel Room, Lord Akira joined him and they could both hear the highly agitated voice of Lord Honouryuu trying to override the deeper baritone of Lord Daikuma. At the entrance of the two lords, Lord Daikuma's heavy-set features relaxed slightly. Standing by his side was his messenger, a young-looking tanuki wearing his lord's colours and insignia.
At Sesshoumaru's slight nod, Lord Daikuma gestured for the tanuki to present his message. It was short but startling in its clarity. For a moment, the four lords stared at one another in shock before Lord Honouryuu released a great groan of dismay. Lord Akira frowned and shook his head while Lord Daikuma rumbled low in his chest. Only Sesshoumaru retained his silence, his narrowed eyes the only sign of the worry within him. It seemed that events were starting to overtake him before he could prepare a suitable counter-measure. It looked like the only solution was a full-scale assault - the Four Lands were headed for war.
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Higurashi Shrine, modern day Tokyo
A few days later
Kagome paused as she felt a strange feeling flow through her. Blinking in surprise, she instinctively reached down her left side where the pulse felt the strongest. But as suddenly as she had felt it, the sensation passed. Frowning slightly, she rubbed the area tenderly as though wondering if there was something there. Ever since her sudden return home, after being rudely dropped into the same well she had climbed out of in the Sengoku Jidai, Kagome had developed a healthy respect for the supernatural and other extraordinary things. It seemed that the stories her grandfather enjoyed boring them with had more than a grain of truth as she had discovered firsthand. After all, what human male could compare to a silver-haired inu youkai lord from the past?
Smacking her forehead lightly for even thinking of Sesshoumaru, Kagome forced herself to remember the less than polite treatment he had shown her just before she magically appeared inside the well shed where she had been previously spirited away. It was not that she had been all that hesitant to jump in; it was the possibility of something lurking at the bottom that caused her pause for thought. Instead of reassuring her, he had simply picked her up and let go over the opening. Gritting her teeth at the unpleasant recollection, Kagome gripped the broom handle and roughly swept the yard as the autumn leaves scattered about her from Goshinboku's branches.
'That youkai can rot for all I care, the JERK!' she fumed. 'How dare he toss me down the well without a care especially after I helped get that sword and after kiss--' Kagome shook her head violently as that memory came back to haunt her. For the past few months that she had been home, the memory of his kiss still caused her to wake up occasionally at night with very, very embarrassing dreams.
Even now, she could feel the heat across her cheeks and she scrubbed at them hoping to erase the flush. It had not helped matters that her mother had gushed after hearing of her daughter's first kiss despite the fact that he had been a taiyoukai lord. '"A guy is a guy,"' she had put it simply. Kagome's eyebrow still twitched at that.
Her thoughts came to an abrupt end when another wave of that same feeling rocked through her body. Gasping lightly, she sank to her knees with her hands clutching her side. Looking up, Kagome realised that something was very strange, for the power seemed to be coming from within her. It appeared to be protesting about something but the girl had no idea as to what it might be.
Her eyes refocused and she found herself staring at the well shed that her grandfather had sealed after her return. She didn't want to but something deep within called her to it. It was a weird feeling; one part of it seemed to be unhappy about something but another part of it was summoning her to the sealed well. Unfortunately for Kagome, she was currently alone at home with nobody to seek help from. She had to decide on her own which to follow.
Drawing in a steadying breath, Kagome allowed herself to calm down and focus on the feelings within. After all that she had been through, she had started a form of meditation to control if not tame the power within her. But it was only today, since her return that she had felt such an overwhelming sensation. Allowing herself to immerse within it, she could feel its intentions. Opening her eyes, she got to her feet and made her way hesitantly to the well shed.
Easily breaking the fragile paper seals, she was stood by the well's lip. There was a strange swirling mist that had appeared within its depths but unlike before, it was not threatening. On the contrary, it seemed to invite her in. Kagome, however, was not brave (or stupid) enough to jump in. A minute later, it faded and she peered tentatively over its edge. It was dark but her eyes soon adjusted to it. Something tugged at her senses once more and she frowned, suddenly wary. Swallowing, she stared hard into the well and saw a pale figure lying at the bottom. In the next moment, a low groan echoed in the space and her heart rate skyrocketed in fear prompting her to bolt from the well.
Tripping over her feet, she fell on her rear and hastily scooted backwards. Frantically scrambling to escape, she turned to run as she felt the being's presence stir. Before she took more than half a dozen steps, she sensed before feeling, a hand grabbing her shoulder. Screaming loud enough to scare the birds outside, she was quickly gagged by the other. She struggled as she was pulled against its body when a familiar masculine voice grumbled in her ear - a voice that haunted her dreams ever since her return through the well.
"And hello to you too, Kagome…"
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Author's Notes:
So how many can guess where I got my inspiration from for this pretty set-up? Inuyasha fillers are quite interesting even if they are not considered canon in the strictest sense of the word. But after watching the Magatsushi episodes, I just could not help but to wonder about the possibility of a Shikon no Tama rival. And so given my ever 'creative' laziness, I decided to incorporate it in. But the trick would be in presenting the rest of the story without ripping off too much from the anime [like I'm all that innocent of it]. I hope you'll bear with me on this.
So Sess is in Kag's world… Doesn't seem too perturbed about it but then again, she's the first person he meets after crossing over [whoa, sounds like he kicked the bucket or something, eh?] So what's a youkai lord to do in a world where humans rule? Well, you'd have to wait for future chapters in my somewhat meandering tale… *laughs* And what is happening? Why is everything so scattered in sequence? Well, things will be unfolded in the following chapters. I just wanted to leave things on a cliffhanger of sorts.
So till then, let me know how you like the way things are progressing. Ja mata ne!