Disclaimer I don't own much. Of course this means Inuyasha and his crew.
Of Fates Unknown
Chapter Twenty Six
Kagome returned to her work at the surgery two days later. She had begged off playing at the tavern for a time, however. The Sheppards, who had visited her twice since the fire, were very understanding, saying that her health and the work in the surgery was much more important.
They also told her that all over the city, people were singing her praises. Everyone knew by now what she had done and people she had treated at the surgery now openly admitted to having gone to her and receiving help.
Kagome was pleased to hear that, but wondered what the priests had to say about it. Inuyasha seemed to dismiss them, but she worried that she might unwittingly contribute to the unrest as those who supported her clashed with those loyal to the priests.
Then there was also the situation with Souta. Inuyasha had begun to teach him about the basics of fighting and defense. She continued to stress the belief that fighting should not be condoned for any reason, except as a last resort.
Shippou on the other hand wanted nothing to do with the learning of that skill. Instead, he had started to take lessons from the older fox youkai that Kagome had talked to earlier about fox youkai behavior. He told her that he preferred the more tricky methods of getting into and out of situations when called for. Although he loved to learn about medicine and the art of healing, he also admitted that spying was also an interesting idea to think about, for when he got older.
Kagome was busy in the surgery all day with Shippou, since it was not a school day. By mid-afternoon, however, only a few people remained and Tadiz left the two and his assistant to deal with them as he went to check on the progress of those injured in the fire, who were recuperating at several sites scattered around the city.
The last patient had just gone when a young woman carrying a baby appeared at the door, accompanied by a guard who explained that he'd let her in because she'd said she wasn't a patient, but just wanted to speak to Kagome.
With Shippou on her shoulder she nodded, and the guard left. The young woman looked familiar, but a few seconds passed before Kagome realized that the other time she'd seen her had been beyond a wall of fire. She was the one who had shouted that Kagome was Ceadda and would save them.
She smiled at the woman, glad to see that both mother and child were well. The woman began to babble excitedly in an accent so think that Kagome could barely understand her, but it was clear that she'd just come to thank her fore saving them.
Kagome lifted the baby into her harms and began to unwrap it to make certain it was well, and as soon as she was relieved of her burden, the young woman flung herself at Kagome's feet and clutched at her skirts as she continued to thank her. Embarrassed, Kagome tried to raise the woman to her feet again, and just as she bet to her, Inuyasha strode into the room.
When the woman saw him, she curtsied quickly, then took her baby and hurried away. Still embarrassed over the woman's display, Kagome hastened to explain to Inuyasha who she was. He merely nodded, then stated rather formally that he wished to speak to her.
Kagome would of liked to put him off, but at that moment, Tadiz returned, and since there were no more patients, she was bereft of an excuse. Reluctantly, she followed him into the keep, and as they passed the children of the keep playing in the courtyard, she let Shippou scurry off with them. Once she found herself in the room where he had taken her before, she had to fight down memories of that encounter.
After he had closed the door behind them, he politely offered her some wine. She accepted, and then waited for the tirade that must be coming. Determined to be civil as long as possible, she affixed a polite expression to her face.
Unfortunately, she was unable to prevent the voice that echoed through her mind: Inuyasha's voice, growling thick with passion, telling her that he wanted her. It was almost as though that voice had remained in the room, echoing endlessly, awaiting her return to remind her what she had denied herself.
Although her body language gave nothing away, his sense of smell was telling him otherwise, but he chose to ignore it for the moment. "Can you control what you do?" he asked, shattering the silence between them.
"I'm not sure what you mean," she replied, although she was.
Snorting he crossed his hands over his chest and leaned back in his chair. "Was it you who decided to rescue those people- or were you forced to do it?"
The question made her very uncomfortable, and she guessed that he knew that. It was true that she'd reached some sort of acceptance of her newly emerged talents, but his question only pointed out how little she really knew. And it revealed her greatest fear as well: the fear that she was no longer in control of her own life, which she was being swept along by forces beyond her understanding.
"I don't know," she said true truthfully, then hurriedly foolishly to deny that ignorance, more for her own sake than for his.
"I was frightened of the smoke and fire. But then the woman you saw in the surgery recognized me and shouted that I would save them- and I did."
"I don't like this!" he said, growling harshly, crashing his fist on the desk.
Kagome was shocked, although she tried not to let it show. She was seeing a side of him that she hadn't seen before, and she went back to her earlier thoughts about his possible jealousy of her.
"It was a mistake for me to have brought you here," he said in somewhat more normal voice. "At the time, I had thought-"
Leveling her gaze at him she finished, "That you could use Ceadda power to gain the throne." Her eyes narrowing further with each word.
She expected him to deny it, but instead, after a moment, he nodded unapologetically.
"I will not help you win wars- even if I could," she stated succinctly.
He regarded her for a long moment, his ears twitching from time to time. "How can you be so sure, when you admit that you may not be controlling your powers?"
She stared at him, aghast, and then quickly began to marshal her protests. "I've used them only for good purposes: to save lives. I haven't used them to kill."
"But you don't know that you can't, do you?" he challenged. "Your ancestors certainly did."
"You're lying Inuyasha. If they did kill, it was only to defend themselves- against people like your father."
"How much do you know of that battle?"
Rubbing her temples as she tried to relieve the pressure that was building she answered. "Only that Inutashio attacked and killed all but the small group that managed to escape."
"The Ceadda ruled the lands of Rhea for many centuries because they conquered every enemy in their path. When Inutashio tried to free the people from their sorcery, they drove him away. And even as he was retreating beyond the borders of the Rhea lands, they pursued him. That's when their powers abandoned them. There were never many of them and they had no weaponry because they hadn't needed any- so they were easy to defeat once their sorcery no longer worked."
"I don't believe that," she replied angrily. "You're only repeating your father's self-serving words."
"Think about it, Kagome. You know at least something of Ceadda power by now. How could he have defeated them if their power hadn't abandoned them? There were still Ceadda in this keep when he returned to Domna after defeating them. But the light had gone from the tower and so had their powers."
Growing slightly he waved an impatient arm in the direction of the tower.
"Whatever it is that's up there abandoned them. It abandoned them because they became to arrogant, because they pursued an already defeated army."
Kagome stared at the tiny carved warriors on the shelf behind him. She knew that Inutashio would certainly have told a tale that suited his purposes, but Inuyasha was right about one thing: the Ceadda could not have been defeated unless their power abandoned them.
Furthermore, Inutashio's story would explain the question that had nagged at her ever since she'd found out about Ceadda sorcery. Why had her people not only forsworn their magic, but also even denied its existence?
She thought about that time when her grand father had hinted at Ceadda magic and her mothers had vehemently denied it. So perhaps they had known about it, but had conspired to keep their knowledge from succeeding generations.
"You are right that Inutashio might have tailored the story to suit his own purposes. By all accounts about him at the time, he was a driven youkai that the higher powers had given him a vision, ordering him to rid the land of the Ceadda. But his story still has the ring of truth."
"The story in my family is that my brother's mother had died after crying out that the light in the tower had returned. It hadn't, of course, but since then my father had checked the tower regularly, fearing that it would return. He told me about that the first time he took me up there."
"Unlike them, I have never feared the return of that light. None of them felt what I've felt up there."
"And what have you felt, Inuyasha?" she asked, half contemptuously and half in simple curiosity. He wasn't Ceadda; he couldn't have felt anything.
"I don't know- except that I never felt fear. The first time I went up there alone, I vowed that I would one day rule the entire Rhea. I think I made that vow up there deliberately- almost as a challenge to whatever power lay hidden in the obelisk."
He stopped, but she had the feeling that he had intended to say more, then thought better of it. Then he went on to say that he'd gone up to the tower each time he planned to lead his people into war.
"I always felt that whatever is up there approved of what I was doing."
She thought- but did not say- that he believed what he wanted to believe. What held her back was her growing confusion about the power of the obelisk. She had been seeing it as merely an object through which wondrous powers were conferred upon her people. But what if it was more than that? What if it truly did control her- and perhaps Inuyasha as well?
"You haven't gone back to the tower since that night have you?"
Kagome stiffened involuntarily. How was it that he seemed to know so often what was troubling her? It was uncanny.
"I've felt no need to go there," she replied. Trying to betray none of the uneasy the question really gave.
"The light is nearly blinding now. If I hadn't boarded up the windows, it could be seen for miles at night."
She shrugged, "Boarding the windows makes little difference now. I doubt there is anyone within sight of its light who doesn't know that I exist."
Sitting straight up in his chair he ran a clawed hand through his long silver hair. "Then come up with me now and we'll remove the boards."
"I'm tired Inuyasha. And as I said, it really makes no difference." She got up and started towards the door, but his soft taunt stopped her.
"You're not tired, Kagome. You're afraid. You're afraid to go up there with me and find out we're both part of some plan."
The black, blinding rave came over her suddenly. She whirled about to face him. "If there is a plan, you play no part in it, Inuyasha. That light burns for me- not you! You would do well to remember that."
She stopped, as shocked by her outburst as he appeared to be. Once again, it was as though something had seized control of her, forcing those words from her.
They stared at each other in a charged silence, until he broke it with a quite challenge.
"If you believe that you can kill me, then do it!"
To her horror, Kagome felt her hand begin to move upward. He saw it, but stood his ground. She clenched her fist and held her arm rigidly at her side and the anger began to drain away.
"You can't kill me, Kagome." He said, but without mockery. "I'm as much a part of this as you are."
She turned again and left the room. But his words followed her. And later, she though about all that he'd said. Was it possible that there was a dark side to Ceadda magic? Was that the reason her people had forsworn it? Had they been corrupted by their great powers- and now was that corruption touching her?
)O(
Review responses:
tsunami-chan - Yes, sorry about that, but my schedule got more crazy then usual. Sorry about that!
Anna Sakurai - Talk about a power struggle. Hanyou v.s. Ceadda. Would be interesting wouldn't it. LOL, you know my husband and I have a deal worked out. I deal with sickness, he deals with blood when it comes to the kids. So far it has worked out nicely. Haven't seen Kill Bill 2, but just bought the first one. Crazy I tell you. Although, personally, I like 'The Crow' better as my favorite movie.
Josie'n the P.cats - LOL, Inuyasha show concern? LOL, that means he would have to show he cares. And we all know how that goes. Yup, every story has to have at least one of the evil type persons running around it. (giggles maddly) I mean besides the author! MUAWAHAHAHAHA! (cough, choak, gag)
poabrittany- I thank you for the wonderful comment. I don't know about being the best, I just try to do my best.
InuKagluver91 - Will do! I don't think I could handle all the angry peeps coming after me with sharp, pointy things if I did stop this story. (shudder)
Renae- Aw, thank you! I wouldn't do that. I did pause my other two stories, but that is only because that I hit a problem with my computer and all stuff that I had saved: plot, outline, indept details, ect. went bye-bye. SO now I am completely starting from scratch with those two. (sigh) Thank you for the thought of nominating my story. That is a very big complement to me, since most of the nominated stories are ones I have fallen in love with myself. There are quite a few good ones out there.
Aitu- Nope, no hints as of yet. Heck the topic hasn't even come up in the story. LOL! Souta and Shippou are two of my favorites in the story. Shippou is going to become more of an 'Evil Mini-Me' once he learns more of his magic powers. Besides, there has been many a time when I just want to type in something so off the wall, but I can't. So that is where Shippou will be stepping in for me. Can't say who 'Evil Guy' is, heck, I can't even say that you were correct in your guess.... Er, um, never mind... (wanders off smacking head)
Well, here you have it. Oh, BTW! I changed my profile. I realized that I didn't have an e-mail addy put on the darn thing. Isn't that silly. Well, not really, I just changed my e-mail a few weeks ago, so yeah. Thanks again for all the wonderful reviews, and don't forget to let me know what you think of this chapter.
Brightest of Blessings,
Lady Banshee 999