Ok, here's the deal...I want to KINDA parallel what goes of in the original plot with this phase of the story! PROBLEM: (and I mean huge problem) Everything is drawn out and very complex, as is most in this anime, ( I mean come on...have you ever tried to explain this to some one that started late in the series...NOT GONNA HAPPEN...they'll never quite get it.) so this is gonna be twisted! Some people who are dead in the Takahashi's work aren't gonna die, some who should already be dead will die later...perhaps after the storyline. I'm gonna use different entrances and exits in different orders. I have a lot of things that aren't gonna go the way they should...SO NO FLAMES (on this aspect of the story) BECAUSE YOU HAVE BEEN WARNED!!
Enchanted Orbs
Chapter 10 Plans and Explanations
Kagome is in a dreamscape trying to figure out what happened to her in the forest. She is standing in a meadow with nothing in sight with the exception of the trees at the edge of the clearing, several flowers surrounding her, and the silhouette of a castle or manor of some sort at a great distance from her. The wind flows through her hair, and she has a distraught look on her face.
"That light, what happened? It attacked me. Why?" She bit her lip as she concentrated on was happened. "Well, the darkness was comforting me both before and after the light attacked me. I'm not turning into a dark miko am I? No, that couldn't be it. I haven't had any evil thoughts or intentions. The darkness is, most likely, not symbolic, just an absence of light. Well, what was the light? It felt familiar and threatening at the same time. I knew, instinctively not to let it consume me, but it tried."
The wind picked up, and the trees swayed. Kagome's hair swept in front of her face as she closed her eyes.
"My power. The light that attacked me, I think it was a manifestation of the power within me. Does that mean I'm in danger from my own power, and what triggered it? I hadn't used my power too recently. Maybe not using the power will cause...no that doesn't sound right. What happened before...I can't remember."
"Rest, Kagome." A familiar voice calls to her across the field.
Kagome turns to see who called to her, but as she sees the silhouette of the person, darkness falls over her vision and she enters a dreamless slumber.
### Sango looked down at her best friend and let out a troubled sigh. She sat on Kagome's sleeping bag with the unconscious miko resting her head in her lap. Sango was running her fingers through Kagome's hair much as a mother would hoping against hope that was well.
Shippou was crouched next to Sango's leg and was rubbing Kagome's back with a shaking paw and unshed tears glistening in his eyes.
Kagome's revelation on the last shard had everyone a bit uneasy. A tense silence hung over the campsite until Inuyasha's frustration found a vent to escape through.
"Arrrhh, it doesn't make sense. It can't be there. How can a shard pass onto another plane? Plus, Kagome's already been there, and she didn't sense it."
"Um, Inuyasha, how did you get to your father's grave the first time?" Miroku asked in a quiet, contemplative voice.
"Sesshoumaru ripped it out of my eye."
"What!!" Sango and Miroku asked simultaneously as Kirara and Shippou snap their heads to look at the hanyou.
"The Black Pearl, which held my father's grave, or at least a portal to it, was hidden in the black of my eye. Sesshoumaru figured out where it was and pulled it out. It hurt like a bitch."
Again the monk voiced his concern, "Can we use the pearl again?"
"No. After we left the gravesite, the pearl disappeared. I don't know how, but...OUCH!"
Inuyasha slapped the side of his neck only to pull away a flattened Myouga.
"Ah, Master Inuyasha, I've missed your blood."
"Feh, what do you want Myouga?"
"I heard a rumor about a new power that arisen in this area, I came to investigate it."
"Like what kind of power?" Inuyasha asked.
"It is said to be a purification-based energy. If it is then the strength of it is unrivaled by any miko living."
"Yep, she's right there." Inuyasha says in a bored voice as he points to the sleeping figure of Kagome.
Myouga does a double take as he realizes Kagome is the one Inuyasha is speaking of; he hops over to the sleeping girl. As Sango watches, Myouga hops unto Kagome's sleeping figure.
Kagome's arm becomes animated as she slaps the spot Myouga decided to taste. Her eyes open, and she glares at the flattened flea.
Myouga's body pops back into a three dimensional form as he speaks. "What a rush. Yes, I can taste a strong energy running through her veins."
Sango and Shippou immediately start fussing over the slightly sleepy girl.
"I'm fine, I'm fine. I just passed out is all." Kagome comforts her worried friends and gives them a small smile.
"Hey Myouga, we need to talk. We think the last shard is in my father's grave. How do we get there?"
"That's not probable Master Inuyasha. I don't believe a piece of the Shikon no Tama would transcend planes."
"But it is possible, right? Inuyasha and I fought the Noh mask that had a jewel shard in it, and the mask was in my era. If that shard could be in my time, then its not too hard to believe that the last piece could be at the gravesite." Kagome said as her mind lost the post sleep fog.
"I didn't say it was impossible."
"Kagome, if you and Inuyasha have been there before, why didn't you sense it then?" Miroku asked.
"Well, it was probably buried in the many skeletons. Plus, I wasn't very good at sensing the shards then. My ability progressed as with time. The gravesite was very early in my time with Inuyasha."
"Well, how do we get there." Inuyasha asked impatiently.
"The Black Pearl was the original transport, but it was only given enough energy to transport you to and from the site. It has completed that job, so using it again is not an option unless you can...no." Myouga drifts off thinking.
"What Myouga?" Sango prods.
"Well, the maker of the pearl, Housenki. He was a friend of your father's who rears many kinds of jewels, and those jewels one by one, become the entrance leading to the graveyard. He spent years creating the pearl hidden in your eye. If you don't want to wait that long, maybe he can supply the original pearl with enough energy to again transport you."
"So where do we find this Housenki?"
At the home of Housenki
The gang stands in front of a lake. The water starts swirling and bubbling. A huge clam shell rises from the water. There is a small gap in the shell and eyes can be seen looking at them from the gap.
A voice calls from the shell. "Who's there?"
Myouga speaks up, "Housenki, its me Myouga."
"Housenki is my father, and he is dead. Why have you come?"
"Master Inuyasha is seeking entrance to his father's gravesite again. The Black Pearl you created has been drained of power. Do you have another jewel that can be used?"
A bit later...The gang is in the shell with the Housenki's son
"Lord Myouga, I have no jewels that could be used for the purpose you've asked, and to make another would take about fifty years."
"WHAT?!? We don't have that kinda time." Inuyasha rather rudely points out.
"I may be able to give the pearl more energy so that you may be able to seek entrance again; however, with as many as you have with you, I doubt I could give it enough to get you back. You would have to either split up, or take another exit."
Kagome speaks up in a hurried voice "Well, we can't split up, so how else do we get out?"
"The only way out is the only way in. The gateway is in the mountains in the Country of Fire. That gateway is there to keep the living out and the dead in, but I doubt gatekeepers will just let you walk out."
"Feh, then I'll just have to cut them down."
Within a few hours, Housenki had managed to 'rediscover' the Black Pearl hidden in Inuyasha's eye, recharge it, and open the portal for the gang.
Everyone's eyes are glued to the crackling black portal.
[[[A/N: For all you experts in the Inuyasha series that have seen/read every episode/manga. In this fic, there is no Hakudoushi!! That is just too complicated for me to explain since I'm not rewriting the series. The whole 'getting into the underworld' plot is just too long and drawn out for me, especially since this is much more indepth than I wanted to go in the first place. It just kinda happened. SO...what this means is: no medusa-like light, no Princess Abi, no River of Blood, nothing. We can assume Naraku used that pathway if you wish. I am not gonna go into detail on that. BUT the gateway will be shown by another (if you've read the manga, you know who it is)]]]
### "Lord Sesshoumaru! Lord Sesshoumaru!" Jaken calls as he races down the hallway to find his master.
"Yes, Jaken I know." The taiyoukai states as Jaken rounds the corner narrowly avoiding the legs of his master as his slides to a stop.
"but..."
"Yes, I know that Kagura is here. I am on my way to meet her. I do not care to rush for the likes of her." Sesshoumaru interrupts in his bored tone.
Outside of his fortress
Kagura is floating in the air on her feather in front of Sesshoumaru. Her arms are crossed in front of her body, and she has a haughty smile on her face. No matter the confident face she is holding, she stays on her feather, ready to take flight at any instant.
"Why have you come?"
"I have some information that you may find interesting."
"Speak." His face is still completely unreadable.
"The last shard of the Shikon no Tama has been hidden in your father's grave."
"I have no concern for that trinket."
"This I know; however, Naraku and Inuyasha both know this and are making their way there. Do you honestly believe they will leave gravesite undamaged?
Sesshoumaru retains his stoic façade; however, inside his rage is building. 'How dare they!?! They will NOT desecrate my father's resting place.'
"I may have been wrong in my assumption. Maybe you care not about your father's final place of rest, but if I wasn't, the entrance to that plane is in the mountains of the Country of Fire." She holds out her fan about to create a gust of wind to take her away, when a masculine voice stops her.
"Why have you brought this to my attention? What does this do for you?" Sesshoumaru's suspicions are voiced by his questions.
"Anything to help Naraku find his own destruction," and with that Kagura was gone.
###SORRY!! I know this chapter is shorter, and LATE, and I really feel bad about it. Real life interrupts sometimes, in other words (shit happens). Because I feel guilty about the shortness, and the lateness, I will post the Inu no Taishou (leader of the dogs) grave scene later this week. I will post chapter 11 pretty quick. You have my word. Sorry again.
