1Blood Of The Heart
By AriznGlori
Hey! Sorry for the forever-long update, but I had to get back in the swing of things, re-evaluate the style of my writing and so forth (it started to change in later chapters...). So it should be back to normal. ('-,-') KITTY! Anyhoo, salmon is great with hot sauce! Go! Onto chapter 13!
Disclaimer: I own the plot, the twists, the town, the castle, and Shippo's parents. I have very nice fox-fur hats.
Chapter 13: The Graveyard Of The Lost
The dark secret passage ended; Kagome found herself in another bedroom, dim, but not dark. The bed was richly draped in layers of sheets and comforters, with pillows that were enticing and fluffy. She suddenly felt very tired... At long last, she convinced herself it was safe; slowly she slipped into the bed, drawing the covers around herself. She didn't know the sun was rising, but she knew she had to sleep. Or felt that way, at least. She closed her eyes, unaware that someone was watching her.
- - - - -
Inuyasha finally swept all the debris off of a heavily scorched night-stand. The drawers were still in place and relatively functional. Inuyasha ripped out the top drawer, and out flew a red-covered book, an ink pot, and a quill. The book landed on top of a pile of ash, while the quill disappeared amongst the debris and the inkpot shattered against a stone column.
Sango ran over and grabbed the red book, opening it up; "It's her diary!" she exclaimed. "It's Kagome's diary."
"Don't read it," Inuyasha snapped as Sango began to flip through the pages. "It's rude." He snatched the book out of Sango's hands and began to read it himself. "Ooh, that's funny- no, she didn't- she said that about me?"
"STOP IT!" Kaede growled. "Give the book to me. Obviously ye can't respect another person's property." She took the book from Inuyasha and slid it into a pocket somewhere under her robes.
"The book is not important now; what is important is what is under the pile of junk that ye've been digging at. Keep at it."
Inuyasha muttered under his breath, but did what the old woman told him. He kept digging. As the sun began to climb higher into the sky, he managed to break through the charred floorboards that miraculously survived the strange fire. "There's nothing here but dirt!" Inuyasha yelled angrily. "I don't see what's going to help us."
"Keep digging," the nun insisted. "It should be under there..."
The young man rolled his eyes and muttered, "If I don't find what I'm supposed to find, whatever it is, I'll leave and go straight to the castle."
Inuyasha was just about to stop and leave when his fingers scraped against rock. But it wasn't really rock; it was strangely cool to the touch, and he could feel carvings. He froze; it was a great iron plate. A large plaque, and he was on the edge of it; his fingers traced the gently curving edge that vanished under more floorboards and dirt.
He eagerly traced the grooves in the metal, feeling out what he realized to be carved words, in what seemed to be the Roman alphabet. He grabbed a sharp, splintered piece of wood and dug ash and soot out of the grooves.
Kaede squinted over his shoulder, looking to see what he was doing. "What did ye find?"
"I don't know!" Inuyasha answered, unable to keep his excitement out of his voice. "But whatever it is, it's important!"
"I'll help!" Sango said eagerly; after seeing what Inuyasha had found, she grabbed another splinter of wood and rushed over to help him uncover the plate. After another hour of digging, they uncovered the large plate. It turned out to be roughly seven feet across, a great, elaborate pentacle carved into its surface, fringed with Latin words. Its rugged surface seemed to gleam in some spots, as though it was polished a long time ago and then scratched up.
"What do you think it is?" Sango asked in excitement that almost matched Inuyasha's.
"Cool," Inuyasha stated; "literally cool..."
"But not cold," Kaede said, hobbling over to look at the completed excavation. "This is a seal."
"B-but how-?" Sango asked, gazing at the nun questioningly. "Why is it here? What did it do? Who the hell buried it here?"
"So many questions," Kaede clucked her tongue. "Miroku talked a lot less."
Sango gasped. "Miroku knew this was here?"
"He needed to know, ye did not." The nun held up her hand when Sango started to speak again. "Ye know Miroku is a theologian, yes?"
"Yes," Sango said slowly.
"He is also a theurgian." Sango stared at the woman in shock. "A theurgian? Like the priest who turned Myoga into a flea?"
"Miroku has been studying with Father Totosai and his own stepfather Mushin in Vienna. However, Mushin has a professional career within the circles of the Hapsburgs that demands more time than he can spare. He did know Father Totosai, who lived here in Heinrich, as well as knowing that he was also a theurgian. Being a priest in the winter season, with little else to do, he figured that Miroku could get better tutoring here until spring and summer."
Sango frowned. "I wondered why he didn't buy that house in Vienna..."
"Ye see, theurgy is a little-known practice amongst Christians, and it requires much skill and concentration. Magic is, of course, dangerous, for it calls upon one of the Higher Forces to grant power to the wielder. A witch or warlock would summon their power from Satan, whereas theurgians would summon theirs from God."
"How does that demand more concentration and power? Can't I just ask God to do something for me or whatever?" Inuyasha asked skeptically.
"It isn't so easy. Theurgians must know who is trying to give them the power they must seek Satan is the Prince of Lies; he tries to deceive the wielder into thinking they are trusting someone other than him. He is a formidable opponent that way, for few know they are calling upon him when they do. A theurgian must learn to know who is God and who is Satan, and that can be very difficult.
"Witches and warlocks often start out seeking power for the purpose of good, but end up falling into darkness. Power is both seductive and addictive; unless ye can detach yerself from it, it will devour ye. Ye will do anything to get it. Ye will turn to the Darkness to get the same feeling that good power gives you..."
Inuyasha and Sango were silent, trying to digest Kaede's words. But then Sango spoke up. "So- Mother Kaede- if I try to call upon God's powers to assist with something, then I must be very careful because...it could be the devil in disguise?"
"Yes."
"Then, isn't it better to not use magic?"
"Usually..."
"But there must be exceptions, then," Inuyasha said. "Like Heinrich itself... Miroku must be the only one who can save people trapped when the night falls... because... his spells can shield him from evil..."
"Yes," Kaede smiled. "Ye're getting it at last. Though it's technically God's spells. A great number are in Latin."
"It could be that the spells are just requests in Latin... Since Latin was so important with the Ancient Roman Empire," Sango pointed out.
"It is important with the Holy Roman Empire..." Kaede trailed off.
"Maybe the right word isn't 'spell,'" Inuyasha murmured. "It could just be the 'right way to ask.'"
"So, this pentacle-plaque thing"-Sango gestured at said object- "it seals off something?"
"Yes,"Kaede said. "But it can be hard to tell if it seals off what's below it or wards away what is above it."
"How can you tell?" Inuyasha asked.
"If it seals off what is below it, it must be written backwards on the side facing up."
"What is?" asked Sango.
"The spell!" Kaede said indignantly. "Yer head must not be screwed on right or something..."
"I'm not that good with Latin..." Inuyasha murmured. "I prefer German or English..."
"Italian and French are okay," Sango pointed out. "They're much easier to learn." She turned to the nun. "Mother Kaede, do you know how to read Latin?"
"I'm rusty with it," the nun said defensively. "Honestly, ye young people need to learn more of it."
"You don't know a thing about it, do you?" Inuyasha said dryly
"Er.. No."
"Great! Just great! We're screwed!" Sango flustered.
"What's so important about this damn pentacle anyway?" Inuyasha muttered. "It's just a piece of metal for all we know."
"For all ye know," Kaede said smugly. "I know what it is for. My family also has a history of theurgical powers. Ye see, Totosai and I are related. He is my second-cousin. My great-uncle, Matthias brother to Clyde Amelia, is Totosai's father. So, we're related."
"Okay," Inuyasha said. "So... you're family put this here?"
"This house is the old Amelia mansion, and it was much older than the castle, even. All the town's governmental decisions were made here, before Schloss Nachtigall was raised. See, it was built originally in nine thirty-five AD, hundreds of years ago. The castle was erected in eleven ninety-six AD, about four-hundred and forty-five years ago.
"The house was kept up as a ceremonial records building until Miroku bought it from the city. Now, it's all gone." Kaede sighed. "My sister and I grew up here, and loved it here. Her room was upstairs, and had a view of the castle."
"That was Kagome's room..." Sango gasped. "The ghost of the clawed woman that she spoke of... in the maze at the fountain..."
"She loved the maze," Kaede said dreamily. It was her wish to baptize her son in it. She was to have Totosai bless the water, of course. A life before all the demons, all the monsters. After Kikyo left, her room was made smaller to form a bathroom and a closet. I think it was also redecorated... the whole house was, actually. Around the time that the Fox Den got some renovations as well..."
"Everything that Kagome said... the dream, the man with the amethyst eyes..." Sango whispered in blood-curdling realization.
"Onigumo had lovely amethyst eyes," Kaede said, alarmed. "What are ye getting at?"
"I-I told her..." Sango trembled. "I told her to listen... I told her..." She managed to pull herself together, slowly. She looked over at Inuyasha. "We have to get them back."
- - - - -
Miroku woke up, slowly. He couldn't see, it was so dark. He wasn't lying down on the ground, passed out. He was instead suspended from chains, dangling from the ceiling, gazing down at what appeared to be a torture chamber. He gulped in fear. This could not be good. He glanced over at his gloved hand worriedly. He couldn't grasp at the rosary that was wrapped around it. If only he could reach...
Somebody walked into the room through the thick wooden door below him. Miroku could only see the dark-brown hair of the person below him. He remained absolutely still, for fear it was someone he didn't want to meet in his predicament. But as he gazed at the person moving through the room, fingering sharp and dangerous tools, he realized who it was.
"KOUGA!" he called in relief. "I'm up here!" The man below glanced up at him.
"I know," he said, his voice colder than his icy-blue eyes. "I put you there." Miroku's heart beat faster. Oh God, he's with the vampire...I didn't ward him off...
"Kouga, w-why are you here? What are you going to do with that very sharp dagger that you're fingering tauntingly?" Miroku smiled weakly, nervously, couldfeel sweat dripping off his brow and watching as it fell to the ground below him.
"Why, this is a torture-chamber, Miroku," Kouga grinned, flashing wolfish fangs at the theurgian. "I'll be your tormentor for this evening-" He smiled, walked over to the winch that worked the chains that held Miroku up.
"No," pleaded the theologian.
"And I'll be you're life-" he loosened the chains, and his eyes lit up as Miroku swung like a humanoid chandelier.
"Don't," he begged.
"And I'll be you're death-" he said with a matter-of-fact manner in his voice; he pulled the lock off the winch. Its handle spun wildly as Miroku fell twenty feet, and hit the stone floor with a sickening thud. Kouga spun the winch so Miroku was pulled back up to the ceiling again. Miroku's breathing was rattling, his body shaking, his nose broken. He moaned and wept.
"Don't do it, Kouga..." he sobbed.
"And I'll be your god." Kouga let the winch spin freely again.
"KOUGA!" Miroku screamed as he plummeted to the floor again, his ribs breaking like sticks. Then he didn't move.
"Sweet dreams, Miroku Josif." The man turned and walked out of the room, extinguishing the torches that lit the room as he left. He swung the door shut and locked it.
- - - - -
Kagome woke, rested, happier, the sun gleaming brightly through the window; the clouds were starting to clear up as the sky was revealed for the second time since she had been in Heinrich. Her window afforded views of the town; it once again looked like a picture of sorts. "It's beautiful..."
"It is indeed," the voice of Naraku whispered in her ear. "Come, Kagome; you must get dressed. I will wait for you in the dining room; it's just down the hall there-" he gestured at the door to the hallway. "Breakfast is waiting for us." He disappeared.
Kagome gave a dreamy sigh. "Maybe it won't be so bad," she said to herself. "I haven't seen Kouga since last night..." she trailed off, trying not to remember how Kouga had mocked her and molested her, both mentally and emotionally.
She went over to an armoire that was placed where she had entered the room, through the secret passage. She opened it, and found it full of beautiful dresses, many of them white or red. She frowned; it was breakfast, not a date. She dug through all the clothes, and found a nice winter dress, with sleeves, made of velvet. It was a light peachy pink, with red trim and fuzzy white collar, hem, and cuffs.
It fit well; too well. So well, in fact, that she wondered if she was measured when she slept. It wouldn't surprise her, what with Kouga seeming to know his way around so well. After slipping on a pair of shoes, she walked carefully out of the room.
The hallway was well-furnished, white-paneled, and carpeted with a long oriental runner. It was wider than the other hall was, and she followed to the left, where it ended at a large pair of elaborately-carved wooden doors. She opened one, and slipped into an elegant dining room, where the fireplaces were roaring and the table was laid out with a feast. Naraku sat at one end in a fancy, plush chair. An identical one was placed to his right. Kagome went over and sat in it, nervously.
"Kagome, you look lovely," Naraku said with a smile. "Please, let's eat."
"S-shouldn't we say grace?" Kagome asked nervously. For some reason, she felt odd about eating the food set before her. She wasn't so hungry...
"M-must we?" Now Naraku sounded nervous.
"Yes." Kagome smiled back at him, an attempt at a reassuring smile. "Say it with me. Our Father..."
"Our Father," Naraku said, his voice a low hiss.
"Thank you for our meal," Kagome led on.
"T-thank y-you for our–meal," he puked the words, his face going green.
"Amen."
"Amen–AAAH!" Naraku's tongue burst into flames. Kagome screamed and threw a glassful of wine on his tongue, forgetting the combustibility of alcohol. However, the yelps of pain combined with the increase in smoke told her when water was necessary.
After the fire went out, Naraku stood up, tried to excuse himself (it must have been difficult with a burnt tongue) and left, leaving Kagome blinking confusedly and wondering what set his tongue on fire. She glanced sneakily at the candles standing on the table, but they weren't lit. She guessed it might've been a spark from the fireplace that landed on his wine-soaked tongue.
"This is a rather disturbing predicament," she ranted at a suit of armor in the hallway, only to scream and run away, terrified, when it tried to say its opinion.
"What have I gotten myself into?" she wondered, walking down the halls aimlessly. Sometimes she thought she saw Kouga out of the corner of her eye, or a strange person would walk by in the halls, not speaking a word, and disappear.
"Angels have freaky lives," Kagome shuddered.
- - - - -
"So," Inuyasha stared at the pentagram, "Who can speak Latin?" Neither Sango nor Kaede spoke up, but they didn't have to a strange figure came from behind them, a woman dressed in flowing dark robes, a bandana over her dark hair and great golden chains suspended around her neck.
"I can speak it," she said. "I speak Latin." Sango gasped.
"I-it's you!" she pointed. "The fortune-teller!"
"And theurgian," the woman said. "I am Lucerne Orleans, of Jerusalem."
"You people keep coming out of the woodwork too late!" Inuyasha barked. "Why are you here now?"
"I'm here," Lucerne said testily, "to open the Pentacle of Tetsusaiga."
"The-the..." Inuyasha sputtered, his face pale. "Tetsusaiga?"
"The sword your brother speaks of," nodded Kaede. "This woman was in the gypsy-carriage that passed yours on the way into town."
"Our goat fell off the roof," the gypsy said lamely. "We spent several days nursing him back to health in Leoben."
"A nice place, not far up down the river, I believe," Inuyasha said. "But it is to the east. We saw your carriage go west."
"We turned around," Lucerne said shortly. "My caravan has little time to be here; I only stopped in to town because Totosai sent me a message."
"Through your crystal ball?" Sango asked.
"No, through the pig's rectum." Silence. "OF COURSE THROUGH MY CRYSTAL BALL!"
"Just open the seal," Inuyasha said, pointing at the iron plate. Lucerne nodded, and walked to the center of the plate. She set a small glass ball in a small impression in the plate's center. Next, she placed a candle at each point of the pentacle. She stood to the side, and sprinkled salt in the grooves that were letters. She then read them. "Yo aboleo malum. Yo aboleo Diabolus. Evigiles! Evigiles! Evigiles!"
"I could've done that," muttered Kaede. Pale flames shot from the glass orb, traced their way along the grooves of the pentacle, lit the candles, and the salt in the words began to absorb into the metal. Sango and Inuyasha jumped back while Kaede stared, fascinated.
The pentacle of the plaque slid underneath the other edges and disappeared from sight. A single sword, on a platform that filled in the space for the pentacle, rose out of the ground. The sword was stuck inside a great dark stone, a stone that was clearly–
"The black pearl!" cried Inuyasha. "My father hid it before he died!"
"As he hid Tenseiga in the White Pearl," Lucerne said. "I knew your father well. As did the Amelia family. When he needed to hide the sword, they allowed him to use this ancient bane of evil. See, the plaque keeps many demons from coming into the house; save the most powerful of them. The plaque was laid down well before the vampire arose, because somebody in this family was superstitious. Thank goodness, you know!"
Lucerne looked at Sango. "You didn't do as I instructed; neither did Victoria...now she is damned, and you are on your way." Sango backed away from Lucerne, and walked away down the street.
"Wait!" Inuyasha called to her. "Where are you going?"
"I never buried my feelings for Shippo!" she shouted back. "There's a mound of bodies that need the respect of a proper burial..."
"She's going to the Graveyard of the Lost," Kaede murmured. "She's disregarding everything I said..."
Lucerne's dark eyes softened. "I think now... she's doing what she needs to do..."
Kaede glanced over at the fortune-teller. "I think she's doing the wrong thing for the rest of us..."
"But who is left?" Lucerne asked. "Who is left to save? All the people here are going to leave, even if they bury their love for those they lost. So many died, Kaede... The stench is ungodly..."
The nun sighed. "I myself cannot let them go..."
"So," Inuyasha said, grasping the sword's hilt. "This is Tetsusaiga... The Wolf's Fang and brother to Tenseiga..." He tried pulling the sword from the pearl, with great difficulty. "Ack! Stupid-piece-of-metal-won't-come-out!" He grunted the words in between yanks.
"It's made of pure silver," Kaede muttered, not really paying attention. "That sword also has a hilt wrapped in spell-bound tatters that keep the weapon sharp and deadly. It was forged by Totosai, back when he wasn't a priest, but a metal-worker. A mightily skilled man of his craft..."
"Ah," Inuyasha said after finally wrenching the blade free. "Nice... So, how do I kill a vampire?"
"Cut off his head and drive a stake through his heart. Then, cut out the heart and burn it... It's not so hard."
"It's just doing it that will kill you," Lucerne said seriously. She drew a long, slender, and sharpened stake from a pocket under her robes; its sides were elaborately carved with flowing patterns of leaves and crosses. "This is the stake of the Orleans family; it is made of Eucalypt, a tree from the land of Australia. The wood is especially dangerous to vampires. Considered sacred by some, it is the natural bane of the vampire, though only recently has this been discovered. It is even thought that the burning bush that spoke to Moses was a bushel of Eucalypt branches and twigs."
"Okay," Inuyasha took the stake from the woman's hand and waved it around, jabbed it in the air a few times, and spun it around his fingers. "I like the sword better..."
"Then give the steak to Sango, and you use the sword," Kaede said snippily. "You're both going to have to go to the castle... Otherwise, what chance have you? With only one person?"
Inuyasha didn't want to accept this point, but had to; what chance would they have? He sighed, nodded, and went to find Sango. The street she ran down disappeared in a haze of heavy and bitingly cold fog that crept up from the river. The cathedral was barely visible in the gray shroud, and the broken walls of the convent house were difficult to discern. It didn't occur to him that he really didn't know where the graveyard was until he was three blocks east of the cathedral; but he kept walking. Eventually the street ended at a pari of high, wrought-iron gates that seemed to stand alone in the fog.
One door of the gate was slightly open. He pushed through it, and found himself staring at a barren field, dotted with the silhouettes of crosses that marked graves; they seemed to go on forever. He could tell he'd have trouble finding Sango... until after an hour of searching through the graves he found her, trying to shove a cross into the frozen dirt, tears streaming down her face. He frowned, the cross already set up next to her was labeled Shippo Orlandus already. He softened when he saw how sad she was, how frustrated she was with trying to shove the cross into the earth.
"Sango?" he spoke her name softly, but she didn't look up. He could sense that she heard him, though.
"Go away, Inuyasha."
"Sango, who are you burying?"
She looked up at him, her eyes wide, tears frozen to her cheeks. "I don't know yet..."
Inuyasha's eyebrows raised in alarm. "You don't know?"
"I have to write down their name," she said shakily, "then I'll remember."
"Sango, are you okay?"
"No, I'm not. I'm in the Graveyard of the Lost. Everyone forgets about who they are burying when they are here; but I'll remember when I write their name on the grave... Could you get this cross in the ground? I can't seem to be able to do it..."
Inuyasha picked up the lightweight wooden cross and slammed it into the ground, where it stuck up light the other crosses.
"Write their name out now," Inuyasha said softly. Sango nodded, and grabbed a carving knife that was lying on the ground at her feet. Slowly, she carved into the cross the name Victoria Orlandus, and then dropped the knife, and prayed. Inuyasha watched as Sango got up, turned to him, and smiled.
"My memories of her, all the painful ones, are gone now."
"But-how..?"
"I don't know..." Sango whispered, looking around at the graves that stood like a silent army, all in rows. "It's just this place...it's so peaceful... We can go now."
Inuyasha followed Sango as she led the way out of the graveyard and into the street again.
End Of Chapter 13