Chapter Seven: Sorrows Tale
Kagome grunted as she was thrown back into the familiar, rank hole that was her prison. Yojikin had just finished another "lesson", leaving her body aching and covered in yet more bruises. This time had been worse, though, Kagome thought as she eased herself into a sitting position in the center of the cell. This time he had ordered the guards to hold her still, allowing him to deliver the blows where ever he wished. Kagome thanked her lucky stars that he had been distracted by something, and the guards had been ordered to throw her back into the cell. She was amazed that she could still think clearly, let alone move or breath.
Kagome lifted her tired eyes to the small slit that was her only window. Though she had seen the late afternoon sun as she was being beaten in the courtyard, she still felt the need to seek out the small light now. It reminded her of the life that waited beyond the pain, and the friends that she knew were still searching for her.
It had been what, two, three days since Yojikin had taken her prisoner? Kagome could not remember, seeing as how she had been drifting in and out of consciousness the whole time. All that she could remember were the senseless beatings, followed by questions that she could not allow herself to answer. The sadistic lord had been trying to extract information about the Sacred Jewel shards, demanding to know where he could find more. When she had told him, truthfully, that she did not know where he could find them, that's when the pain would start again...
She shook her head, trying to forget for even a brief moment the pain coursing through her body. "Where's Inuyasha? Why hasn't he come for me yet?" she wondered aloud as she gingerly seated herself in the corner nearest the door.
"No one ever comes, child."
"Ahh!" Kagome tried to scream, but the sound was shrill and broken as it escaped from her raw throat. She quickly turned, ignoring the throbbing ache that ran through her body.
"Lady Aniko, what...how did you get in here?"
The older woman smiled sadly. She was standing in the corner across from Kagome, where the light didn't quite reach at this time of day. "You look ill. Have ye not eaten?"
Kagome ran a dirty hand through her hair nervously. Had she been that distracted that she missed hearing the door open? No, she couldn't have been THAT out of she? "Not really...a friend of mine told me once that captors like to drug their prisoners. I figured I'd be better off..."
The woman who called herself Aniko beckoned to the miko. "Ye must eat and save your strength. Here, I have brought ye something. It is not much, but it will help."
"Th...thank you." The girl reached forward and took the bowl that the woman offered. As Kagome moved the bowl closer to her worn body, she noticed that a thick stew sloshed along the inside. The warmth of the bowl felt good against hands, and she anxiously raised the stew to her lips and let the warm liquid trickle down her throat. The heat spread through her body, and she greedily consumed the remainder of the small portion.
After licking the last of the stew from her lips, she noticed that Aniko was still standing before her. A slight blush spread across her cheeks as she stammered an apology for her rudeness.
The woman smiled gently, motioning for her to have a seat. "There is no need to apologize, child. Ye must have been starving. I am the one who is sorry, for I have no more to offer ye."
Kagome lowered her eyes for a moment, slightly embarrassed. "Lady Aniko, may I ask you something? Why are you here? I mean, are you a prisoner too?"
For a moment, the woman simply stood there, her dark eyes downcast and hidden beneath a stray raven lock of hair. Then her eyes came up once more, and Kagome recalled the lost look that she had seen the other night. An infinite sadness whirled within the woman's eyes, and Kagome instantly regretted asking the question. "I'm sorry, you don't have to answer that..."
"No, child, it is all right. There is something...different about ye. Something that I did not see in the others. Perhaps..." she trailed off for a moment, then continued. "Please, sit, and I shall answer your questions."
Kagome carefully folded her legs beneath her, shivering slightly as the cold stone came in contact with her bare shins and knees. "What others? Are there other women here now?"
Aniko seated herself across from Kagome, and spent a moment arranging her robes. She still wore the same crimson kimono as before, and the soft silk rustled gently as she moved it about. "It is easier to understand if I start from the beginning.
"I once lived in a small village nearby. One day, the lord of the region came down from his castle, looking for a bride. He spoke to each of the young village girls, but none seemed to suit him. And then he came to my father and asked to speak with me. My father was over-joyed; he had always believed that I was destined for a better life. So the lord met with me, and we fell in love.
"He was such a kind man at first. And then, something changed. He became dissatisfied with me, and began straying to other women. I thought that if I bore him a son that things would change, but even after our second son was born, he would still stray. After a time, he began doing horrible things with these women, and finally I protested. I begged him to stop doing these things, to remember the love that we once shared. But he turned on me, telling me that I was nothing but a simple peasant and that he had only married me so that he could have sons.
"I was heartbroken. In my grief, I attempted to escape and return to my home. But I was captured. My lord told me that I would never be allowed to leave him, that I must stay and raise his sons as was the duty of a wife. Even though he no longer loved me, he refused to let me leave. And so I raised his sons, and I tended to him as a wife should. But my hesitant devotion seemed to bother him, and so he began to beat me and our children. The beatings grew worse, and I began to fear for our sons lives. I sent my oldest son away, and made plans to send away my younger boy, but then something happened that I would never have believed possible. My own child betrayed me."
"Your own child? How horrible."
"Yes, it was. I could not believe that he would ever do such a thing. Even now I am not sure why, but on that day, he went to his father and told him of my plans. My husband and son confronted me, and when I tried to run...he ordered his men to kill me."
Kagome reeled back in horror. "Whoa, wait a minute there! He ordered his men to kill you?? Then that means that you're...?!"
A soft, sad smile returned to Aniko's lips. "Yes, child, I am dead. I am a spirit, destined to wander the halls of this castle until I am released."
Kagome stared blankly at Aniko, letting the information sink in. Well, at least that would explain how she managed to get inside without opening the door. What am I thinking? I'm sitting here, in a cell, talking to a dead woman? The young miko sighed, rubbing her forehead with a dirty hand. Here's where Inuyasha would tell me that I'm going crazy... "Ok, first this guy kidnaps me, and now I'm having conversations with a ghost...what next? Oh, I hope Inuyasha and the others get here soon..."
Aniko shook her head. "No one ever comes here. I am sorry, but I doubt that ye will ever see your friends again."
Kagome let her hand fall back to her lap, and gazed wide-eyed at the ghostly woman before her. "What do you mean? Of course they'll come for me! Inuyasha is probably out there right now, looking for me."
"He will not find ye, child. This castle is protected by a strong barrier. My Lord had a priestess erect it long ago to protect him from his enemies, shielding these walls from mortal eyes."
Oh, great. What am I going to do now? "Is there any way to break this barrier? If I could get close, I might be able to find a way to disarm it, and then Inuyasha and the others will be able to find me!"
"Let her try, Lady Aniko...."
"Yes, let her try..."
"No one will come for her. She'll die just like the rest of us..."
"The rest of us..."
Kagome scanned the room wildly, trying to find the source of the voices. There seemed to surround her, filling the small cell with a chill that bit into her very bones. "Who are you? Where are you?"
The apparition seated on the floor before her watched in mild amazement. "Ye can hear them?" She leaned forward, examining Kagome intently. "Are ye...a priestess?"
"Well, that's kind of a funny story...I guess you could say that I'm a priestess, of sorts."
"Lady! She is a priestess! She can break the barrier!"
"She can free us!"
A ghostly hand found its way into the air as Aniko sought to silence the growing cacophony of disembodied voices. "Enough of this. The child has her own worries right now. We cannot ask this of her; it is not her responsibility."
The girl listened to the odd conversation, feeling slightly out of place. "Um, excuse me? Lady Aniko, what is going on? Who are these...voices, and what do they mean by free them?
A sigh escaped the other woman's lips as she waved her hand. "Leave us," she commanded, and the chill that had permeated the room seemed to disappear as suddenly as it had come. "Now that we are alone once more, I will explain to ye what is happening.
"After my husband died, he left his castle and his lands to his younger son, Yojikin. It seems as though my child has taken after his father..." the large brown eyes broke contact, turning instead to the filthy stone floor. After a long moment, Aniko returned her gaze to the miko and continued her story. "He continued his father's horrible habits, and added a few of his own. He began kidnapping women across the countryside, making irrational demands of them. When they could not fulfill his wishes, he would cause them great pain, as ye have already discovered. But the spirit can only take so much pain before it crumples, and after a time, the women would simply give in to my son. Once their spirits were broken, they were...no longer sufficient entertainment...and he would kill them."
"But the souls of these women became attached to him once he broke them, and they could not find peace in the afterlife. They became bound to him and this castle, and cannot be freed until he either releases him or finds death himself. The voices that you heard are the souls of the other women held prisoner here. They believe that ye may have the power to break the barrier that guards this fortress. Once the shield is destroyed, the castle and my son are vulnerable to attack."
"Each of these women has met a horrible death, and are forced to remain here until they are set free. I have been here to offer what comfort I could to them in life, but each time it was the same. Each woman sat here, as ye do now, waiting for someone to rescue them. But no one ever came, for no mortal eyes can see these walls. I fear that ye await the same fate, Kagome, should the barrier remain in place."
Silence filled the cell as Aniko finished. Kagome blinked her eyes, fighting to take in all of the information she had just received. She looked around the cell, noticing that the sun had moved away from her little window. Her prison was almost completely dark; soon there would be no light at all.
A sigh escaped her lips. No mortal eyes can see these walls. The words seemed to echoe in her mind, drowning out the hope that had momentarily flickered there. If I could get to the barrier, then maybe I could disarm it...but how would I even get close?
"I can see that ye have much to think on, Kagome." Aniko stood, taking a moment to straighten her robes before turning back to the girl. "I am truly sorry, child." I pray that ye are the one. I pray that ye should not go through the pain of death, and the hell that awaits beyond...
Kagome watched as Aniko began to fade into the darkness that was quickly spreading through her cell like a plague. In moments the woman was gone, leaving Kagome alone in the dank prison once more.
A/N: Ok, this chapter might seem a little boring, but it's mostly to get Kagome up to speed on things, lol. But I assure you, some exciting things are on the way!