Blood Of The Heart
Ariznglori
A/N: Sorry about the really long update, everyone. I decided to torture a few happy-go-lucky reviewers until I got one more; I'm just glad someone finally broke. You know who you are!
Disclaimer: I own nothing!
Chapter 14: Kagura
If ever he though it was easy, he didn't now. The small woodland that was walled in was like a maze, and not to mention overrun by strange beasts. Sesshomaru gave the vampire some credit; fear was ever in his heart now.
"But," said Sesshomaru softly to himself, "the ritual will fail, and you will have wasted years of planning for nothing…"
The woods stirred about him; Sesshomaru's bright eyes darted from corner to corner, scanning like a hawk. He felt the hairs on the back of his neck stand on end. It was so cold, and he felt lost.
He clenched the hilt of his sword tightly, prepared to face whatever lay in his path. He forced himself forward, step by step, ever aware of his growing distance from the gates.
"Still," he thought, "I am nowhere near the main gates to the castle. I must push onward." The howl of a wolf interrupted his thoughts. Sesshomaru was suddenly aware of one fact: he was the only living thing for miles. The forest stirred again. Flashes of a moving shadow taunted his sights. Sesshomaru moved quickly, knowing that going uphill was his only way of knowing that he was approaching his target.
More howling, and the barking of those demonic dogs; Sesshomaru picked up the pace. He had to get to a different area. This fear was too much. A mad dash, more wolves in pursuit, he could smell their breath and he knew they were right behind him. He dared not turn around. He would only fall to the mind games of the woods.
Suddenly he saw a great pair of bright red eyes, luminous in the darkness. Sesshomaru shivered. The eyes' owner was approaching. He feared them.
Drawing his sword, he came to a halt. The blade Tenseiga was luminous in the dark; the shadowy figures of dozens of wolves drew back, away from the circle of light the silver blade cast. But the eyes didn't move.
"Show yourself," Sesshomaru hissed through his teeth, barely able to speak from fear.
"Sesshomaru," said the familiar voice. "I've been waiting." Sesshomaru blinked at first in shock, and then rubbed his eyes. It couldn't be! But it was. There, in front of him, as regal and beautiful as ever, stood Kagura.
"My wife," whispered Sesshomaru, still in shock. It couldn't be her. It wouldn't be her! All these years of searching, of life-threatening journeys to the ends of the world, from Orient to America, Africa to the frigid north, and here she stood, in her father's home, waiting for him.
"Kagura," he breathed in happiness, and he smiled. He quite frankly couldn't stop smiling at the beautiful ruby-eyed woman who stood in front of him, her dress flowing white, her lips redder than roses. He was poignantly reminded of their wedding day in Augsburg. The feasting lasted for seven days and for seven nights everything was perfect. It was like living in a fairy tale. And here she was, just as beautiful as ever, no age upon her, looking as vigorous and youthful as the day they met.
"Sesshomaru, I've missed you," she said, her eyes full of innocence that made her look resplendent.
"And I you," he cooed, his heart soaring. The light she gave to him made him feel unstoppable; he could fly when he was with her.
"Come with me," Kagura said softly, her delicate white hand interlacing fingers with his own. "I must take you to the castle." A sudden shadow fell upon her the moment she uttered the words. Sesshomaru frowned slightly.
"Kagura, why-"
"My father's alive," she said gleefully. "He's alive and he's so happy. I have to take you to him."
"Kagura, your father died." She stopped, turned, and stared at him, her luminous eyes locking sights upon him. He felt as if she could see into his soul.
"He is back." She pulled him along through the dark woods, and they ran together for a good distance before stopping. She led him to a path, a dirt path that wound further up the mountain. "It isn't too far now," she said encouragingly, pulling him along.
"What?"
"The gate, my silly lover, the gate!" She was so happy. Sesshomaru was worried about her; she's never been so happy. But he couldn't leave her; not now. Not after all those years of loneliness and misery and neglect to his daughter and house and home.
It would not be in vain.
He ran faster, feeling as though they were frolicking as they had in their youth. Rising up the mountain, closer and closer to the source of her happiness. Then it hit him; that wasn't him.
He slowed, Kagura tugging on his hand still. "Sesshomaru, follow me."
"Kagura," said Sesshomaru sadly.
"Yes?" she said impatiently.
"Do I make you happy?"
Kagura paused, lips parted, her gaze softened as she stared at him. She rested her hand on his shoulder.
"You did make me happy."
Sesshomaru watched as Kagura raced up the remainder of the slope. With a sigh, he followed.
"Kagura please, slow down. I'm not as youthful as I once was." He watched her hurrying form slow down. She turned to face him. He was caught up again in her eyes. She regarded him coolly and with some mild interest.
"Men always want youth in their women, and women always want maturity in men. We have that now; follow me, Sesshomaru. I have met people here, wonderful friends to help us raise a baby."
She turned again but he caught her ivory hand. "Stay," he pleaded. "We have a baby; we have a daughter, Kagura. She's grown up without you for far too long. Come back home. Please." She turned around quickly and didn't look at him.
"Let go of my hand, Sesshomaru." He let her go. She regained her step and hurried up the path and the stair through the forest. He followed slowly, regretting ever having entered the grounds of Schloss Nachtigall.
The ground's slope leveled out and leveled out, and they found themselves at a second gate. It was open, unguarded, its rusted portcullis suspended over the portal like fangs over a mouth. To their left and right, paths to a great graveyard could be seen. Sesshomaru eyed the countless headstones with some shock and disgust. Kagura saw his face, and whispered.
"That is the Necropolis; the City of the Dead. Those are all the citizens of Heinrich for the past centuries. Some of the names are washed off the stones." Her wide red gaze forced itself into Sesshomaru's golden one.
"I know most of them," she whispered. "Some are my friends. None really rest here. It's holy to the point where the Dead can't stand it." She smiled ironically.
"This place is evil," Sesshomaru whispered.
"See that obelisk over there? That's my grave." Sesshomaru turned and looked at Kagura in horror. He backed away from her, step by slow step. She kept on grinning from ear to ear, and somehow Sesshomaru noticed the fangs, the inhuman pallid skin, the teeth tainted slightly red when she smiled, the eyes that were too wide, and the depths that held nothing.
"You're not Kagura."
The fake Kagura's smile faded, the eyes narrowed, the ears grew pointed and the fangs lengthened.
"No, I'm not."
"What are you?"
"Nothing you should concern yourself with."
"What are you?" he asked with more forcefulness.
"Are you deaf?"
"WHAT ARE YOU!"
"I AM YOUR NIGHTMARE! I AM THE NOISE THAT KEEPS YOU FROM FALLING ASLEEP, I AM THE SHADOW WHISPERING IN THE CURTAINS, AND I AM YOU!" The creature's skin peeled, or rather the Kagura costume fell off. What was left was a haunting distortion of Sesshomaru himself, laughing maniacally. But it wasn't the ancient and worn Sesshomaru of now. It was Sesshomaru when he married Kagura, when his hair was black, his eyes full of love, and his heart cleansed. But this was the darkness within.
"I am Doppelganger, the Demon of Shadows! I haunt every footstep on this earth, I know the longing in every worm's heart, I know the desires of spiders and flies, and I know the darkness in every man!" the demon laughed, molding and remolding itself into everyone Sesshomaru knew.
From his father and mother to his brother, his daughter, Kagome, Myoga, Leon and Victoria; every guise rose and fell in the rhythm of the demon's mocking laughter, and countless faces of people Sesshomaru barely recognized flew before him, each twisted form representative of that person's darkness.
And last it was Kagura again.
"So," said Kagura's sultry voice. "Sesshomaru, I could show you your own darkness, I can reveal the lusts and longings of your wife, and the love and hatred of your daughter, and I can do this for the whole world. I am the Angel of Identity, and I am the Demon of Desires. You asked, and now you know." And with that the demon disappeared in a whirlwind of laughter.
Sesshomaru was left, shaken and alone, in the forest. He breathed deeply, trying to calm himself down. He glanced at his surroundings. The wolves were gone, and the game was on.
The gate was still wide open. He walked under it, and the minute he was beyond it the portcullis fell down with a clang, and latched itself shut into a locked position. He looked ahead, and found himself staring at a wide array of plants, dead and alive, in a set of beautifully manicured formal gardens.
To the left and right were mazes of hedges, and straight ahead, at an intersection of paths, stood a beautiful fountain, at least twenty feet across. A large white marble statue was being soaked by the fountain. It was of a woman, constricted by a great cobra, and she held a small child high away from the snake's clutches.
It was ominous, ethereal, and moving. The image became ingrained in Sesshomaru's mind. "My Kagura would have loved this…" He gazed over the wide paths and flowerbeds. He could almost picture this place before the vampire came, before Kagura's father… A child's mischievous laughter rang in the air, a very real laugh, one that was of the village.
"Shippo…" He recognized the figures in the statue; the small child was Shippo and the woman was his mother. The snake had a laugh too, darker and more menacing.
"Naraku, you vain bastard," Sesshomaru whispered as he realized the snake's eyes were glittering red with rubies. "This is your life… This isn't your family." Poor deluded bastard…Sesshomaru couldn't help the thought. But a sharp voice rang through the air angrily.
"Sesshomaru, you taunting fool! Think no ills of me; I have more health in my hairs than you have in your whole body! You know my plans, and you want my daughter. Kagura will be yours if, and only if, you will join me."
"What?" Sesshomaru whispered. Naraku's voice rang through the air again.
"Pitiful fool that you think I am, eh? You have fallen helplessly into the trap of Schloss Nachtigall! Here you face more evils than me."
Sesshomaru looked around. The wolves were approaching him, and now that he could see them in the sullen moonlight he truly was afraid. These were no ordinary wolves stalking into the gardens. And, parting a great hedge that barred direct entrance to the castle, Kouga stalked forth, a sadistic smile playing on his lips.
"Sesshomaru," he growled lowly. "I have rooms waiting for you in the castle, where the deal can be drawn up, if you like. You'll be facing your brother's host again."
"What? Miroku's here?" Sesshomaru said suddenly. "I knew it! But you've…you've caught him…"
"He's waiting for my company," Kouga grinned. "A little bit of push and pull- or should I say rise and fall- in the relationship, but…things work out."
"A torture chamber…" Sesshomaru whispered, eyes wide as wolves formed a circle of no escape around him. Kouga leered at him.
"You will follow Kagura, yes? She went through the same thing."
"You…you killed my wife," Sesshomaru hissed. "It was you this whole time."
"I don't like to brag," Kouga said.
"I can't believe my wife was killed by the village idiot."
"What?" Kouga blinked. "W-what did you just say to me?"
"You heard me," Sesshomaru smiled victoriously. "you're an idiot. Or should I say the idiot?"
"You'll come with me," Kouga glared sternly at Sesshomaru before grabbing him forcefully. "I didn't kill her on my own account. A servant does his master's wishes until the very end. Where would Rome be if Cassius hadn't ordered Pindarus to kill him?"
"I hate Shakespeare."
"We're off to the dungeon, you ass."
"Finally. I thought you'd never shut up."
They walked through the hedges, down a long and sorrowful path flanked by black roses, and entered the castle, passing under an angry three-headed dog.
"All the way from Hades," said Kouga impressively. "That beast was given to my master by the Devil himself."
"Your master in the Devil Incarnate."
"Not totally." They walked on, into the castle's main entrance, up a sweeping staircase, down a few halls, around a few corners, and up a few halls to a door that led to a darkened room.
They walked in and Kouga lit a torch. Sesshomaru gasped in horror as the broken, limp form of Miroku was illuminated, blood filling in the grooves in the stone floor. Kouga led Sesshomaru over to a great cast-iron shell in the shape of a woman. He opened the door to reveal hundreds of spikes of different lengths. Sesshomaru shuddered.
"This is my Iron Maiden. Step into her open arms and she'll give you quite a pinch." He thrust Sesshomaru backwards into the spikes and slammed the Iron Maiden shut.
The screaming lasted for thirty seconds as Sesshomaru's blood flowed onto the floor like fresh-squeezed lemon juice.
End of Chapter 14