Has it been six months since I first posted this? Dude, where does the time go?
Okay, I apologize to my readers, all thirteen of you. I was going through some major issues with this story, having a serious struggle with my search for creativity. I kept thinking my ideas sucked and nearly gave myself a brain hemorrhage trying to come up with something cooler, more complex and elaborate for the plot.
My dear friend, Lynn-Minmay-chan helped a whole bunch! She slapped me upside the back of the head and called me "baka onna!" (lit: idiot woman!) for thinking my ideas sucked and told me they kicked-ass. She and my other dear friend Bunny-chan's support helped me conceive some brilliant concepts down the line and I had to get them credit for helping me out. I also wanna thank my other two reviewers, Josie and the P-Cats and Melody Unwinding (I love that name!) for their reviews and kind words! To all y'all, I dedicate this chapter!
(Inuyasha and Koga screamed a string of curses, mourning LuClipse85's return to the story)
Hey, I promised my readers that if even one person likes my stories, I would NEVER discontinue it. So given that, Inuyasha's REALLY gonna have something against Minmay-chan. She loves ANYTHING I write. Plus, since "Bakudai Kakera" is her favorite one that I wrote, that's all the more reason to go on with it!
Okay, disclaimers: InuYasha is the creation and property of Takahashi Rumiko-sama, so don't sue me! I spend more money on anime and manga than I do on clothes and food...unless those are anime/manga related too.
Bakudai Kakera
Chapter 2
Kikyo stood upon her grand balcony as the horizon brightened, daybreak approaching. Her hands gripped the ivory railing tightly as her raging narrowed eyes glared at her domain below.
"Damn that defiant bitch." The queen scowled, baring her gnashed teeth.
She thought she had triumphed over Kagome when she sent her to her grave, but the peasant didn't die empty-handed. In the skirmish between the two when Kikyo attempted to suck the life and youth from her opponent, Kagome warded off her spell and in turn, completely eradicated her telepathic powers.
The queen seethed; she could no longer invade the thoughts of her subjects and punish those who opposed her. Not only that, but her telekinetic abilities were now degraded to half their power. Kikyo would have to really exert herself to unleash her force at full strength.
"Damn her!" Kikyo roared. With my power lessened, my hold on my kingdom has also been inadvertently slackened. The fear of my displeasure still echoes in the hearts of the people, however. It shall remain with them even in my dilemma, though not for long. If the word spreads, my domain will soon be restricted to that before me.
The monarch lifted her distraught eyes to the brightening horizon as the sun surfaced.
I must find the final shard. Only when the Shikon no Tama is whole, will my desire be fulfilled.
I shall complete the jewel and become an all-powerful goddess.
Kikyo turned from her view and found the captain of the guards kneeling at the entrance of her chambers. She permitted him entrance; he approached and bowed humbly.
"I beg your mercy, my queen, but I bring you news of interest." He spoke, hiding his face from Kikyo.
Kikyo waved him away, to angry to listen. "Away with you, Captain Ueda. I am in no mood for this."
"If you command, Queen Kikyo, but I believe news regarding the location of the shard of the Shikon no Tama will change your mind."
Indeed it did. Kikyo's attention was captured as she stopped and eyed him, intrigued.
"I'm listening, Captain..."
Darkness.
Kagome regained consciousness and found all was dark, realizing her eyes were closed. Her eyelids stirred, then opened slowly. When her blurry vision adjusted, Kagome's narrowed eyes opened completely and observed her surroundings.
She was laying on her side in a wide patch of land with trees surrounding her. They were all colored in gradients of blue with whitish-blue leaves. Kagome's eyes rose to the sky, which was white with a faint grayish hue. As she moved to sit up, she found herself covered with snow, but no felt no cold. Looking back at the sky, Kagome saw the snow falling heavily. One speck fell onto her open palm; it wasn't snow but white sakura petals. Kagome stared at her palm, wondering how she wound up in such a mysterious place.
The last thing she remembered, Kagome was escaping the Ukato army in the spaceship she had stolen from the army fleet. She had almost gotten away when a massive blast of Kikyo's dark aura had engulfed her ship, destroying it and burning her alive.
"I must be dead." She whispered, a solemness washing over her at the realization.
"Ye think it so, Kagome?" A kindly voice spoke to her.
She gasped, recognizing the voice. Kagome's head turned slowly in its direction and found Kaede. The old woman smiled warmly at her adopted daughter, leaning on her cane and wearing a while silk kimono.
"Kaede!" Kagome exclaimed in a joyful whisper. At least in death I won't be alone.
Kaede's smile waned upon hearing Kagome's exclamation.
"Kaede?" Kagome inquired softly. "What's wrong? What is this place?"
The old woman answered with a small smile. "There is nothing to fear, dear Kagome. Ye shall not remain here much longer."
Kagome stared in confusion, fearing she would be separated from Kaede again. "Why? Will I be taken to another realm, Kaede?"
"My time is gone, but thine continues, Kagome." The old woman continued to ease Kagome's confusion, "All has been prepared for you, young one. The paths laid before you are yours to choose."
The forest gradually grew brighter when Kaede concluded, the old woman blending with the light.
"Kaede! Kaede, don't leave me!" Kagome cried, shielding her eyes from the blinding light but managing to see Kaede's smile before she faded completely from her sight.
Farewell, Kagome. Find happiness...
Kagome feebly opened her eyes and saw she was no longer in that forest, but in a bed. Upon trying to sit up, an overwhelming wave of weariness and pain slammed into her. She fell back, writhing and groaning in agony. Kagome felt someone take hold of her arm and stick a needle through her skin, injecting a fluid into her body. Within the minute, the pain was gone, though her fatigue remained. Kagome relaxed onto the bed, her breathing heavy.
"Maiden? Young maiden, are you feeling any better now?"
Kagome slowly opened her eyes again, hearing a man speaking to her. Adjusting her vision and coming to her senses, she found herself in a room with a group of people surrounding the bed and looking at her with worried faces.
She carefully sat up, fighting her dizziness. "Am I still dead?"
Two women looked at each other and whispered something amongst themselves, thinking Kagome was delirious. They were scolded by the man who was tending to Kagome, easing her onto the propped pillows.
"Please don't mind them, young miss. They found something oddly humorous about your question." He stated, casting a reprimanding glare at the two women.
The man's facade softened as he offered Kagome water. "Answering you, miss, you are actually still alive. Considering the severity of your injuries, you are most fortunate indeed."
Kagome looked up at the man's kindly face, still puzzled. "H-How did I get here?" She asked weakly.
One of the two women spoke up, "The children of the other servants here were playing along the beach two evenings ago and they found your body washed up onto the shore."
"You were unconscious, bleeding and quite badly burned. It must've been an awful shipwreck, young miss." The other finished.
"A shipwreck?" Kagome whispered to herself, even more confused.
The group of servants pitied her, thinking she was traumatized by her ordeal. A young girl entered the room and informed the group that their lord and lady had returned home from their journey. The man tending to Kagome excused himself to welcome them when he discovered she had fallen asleep.
Kagome woke up two days later in a much larger and even more elaborate room. She grimaced as she propped herself up on the large bed, feeling pain in her body but not as much as previously. Upon a closer observation, Kagome concluded she must've been inside the master bedroom.
"You sure sleep a lot, miss. You've been sleeping for four days already."
Kagome looked to her side and found a little girl leaning on the edge of the bed looking up at her with wide blue eyes and a bright smile. Before she could ask anything further, the little girl's parents walked into the room, also happy Kagome had awakened.
Kagome continued to look around the room, still feeling a little out of it. "I still don't understand how I got here. Where am I?"
"The poor lass." The queen sympathized, then obliged to end Kagome's confusion.
"You are on the planet Dnalgne; my husband and I are the monarchs of our world. I am Queen Ne'Elie."
"And I am King Cirdrah, and that is our child, Azile." The king stated. "It is rumored that you washed onto our shores after surviving a terrible shipwreck, however your actions seem to suggest otherwise."
The little princess spoke up, "Do you remember anything about floating in sea, miss?"
"Azile!" The queen scolded. "Our guest has surely endured a horrid event, don't beckon her to recall it."
"No," Kagome answered the question, "I wasn't on a ship, or this planet. I was escaping my enemy and she destroyed my ship with me inside. I heard a deafening blast and felt random parts of the ship puncture me and then felt my body being burned. The next thing I knew, I had passed out and woke up here."
The king and queen stood silently, wondering what to make of Kagome's story. The princess tapped her fingers onto the bed quilts, trying to think of a solution to contribute. She lifted her head as one came to her.
"Excuse me, miss... my, it sounds a bit rude to call you 'miss' all the time. May I know what your name is?" She inquired politely.
"Kagome." She answered with a small smile.
The princess smiled, thinking her guest's name was very pretty. "Well, Miss Kagome, nobody knows how you got here, but Kayura-sama must know."
The monarchs seemed enlightened at their daughter's suggestion. "Excellent, Azile. The goddess, Kayura, must certainly have the answers to your mystery, Kagome."
The king summoned his carriage to accompany Kagome to Egdehenots Lake outside the city limits where their deity dwelled. Kagome watched in awe as the vehicle rose high into the air and flew forward. As she rode, she looked outside her window into the night sky at the city below her, astonished.
It was an enormous metropolis stretching farther than the eye could see. The skyscrapers astounded Kagome with their height; she had never seen anything of the like before. In the air with them were thousands of other flying vehicles, hurriedly making their ways through traffic to their destinations. The bright lights from the buildings added to the luminescence of the stars.
Within the hour, the carriage stopped and lowered to the ground. The royal guards assisted Kagome out and awaited the king's orders to proceed. Just then, numerous animal sprites dressed in different colored robes appeared and bowed in greeting to their guests. The head sprite, a white kitten with a red bow in her left ear, stepped forth with a bright smile and bowed to Kagome.
"Greetings to you, Lady Kagome. The goddess Kayura-sama has told me that you would arrive to our world."
"Then she does know how I got from my planet to yours?" Kagome asked, hopefully.
"Why of course. I was the one who brought you here."
All eyes lifted to the top of the high and steep staircase. Standing in beautiful Japanese style robes was the goddess, Kayura. She smiled as her servants bowed before her, everything around her brightening. The goddess stepped forward to gracefully descend down the staircase, when her foot caught on her outer robe. She hollered as she fell, tumbling, twirling and bouncing all the way down until she came to a stop at the foot of the stairs, landing on her face while the rest of her body crashed soundly onto the pavement.
Kagome stared then helped Kayura up to her feet, the sprites trying to restrain their laughter. The goddess overheard their stifled snickering, teardropping as she looked at them.
She sighed with a small smirk. "Go ahead. Y'all know you want to."
At Kayura's beckon, there was a round of laughter, from the sprites and from the guards. She found her actions rather humorous as well and felt compelled to laugh, as did Kagome.
Clearing her throat and fixing her appearance, Kayura summoned tea and refreshments from Kagome and the others. With the snap of her fingers, seating pillows appeared for the goddess and her honored guest. The meeting began upon them taking their seats.
"Kagome," Kayura stated softly, "I have heard of the Queen Kikyo of planet Ukato. She has taken control of a vast region of the universe with the Shikon no Tama. I saw how you fought against her and was almost killed trying to escape her. I sensed you had a very noble cause for doing so and brought you here to Dnalgne before your vessel was destroyed entirely."
Kayura paused, seeing Kagome's sad downcast eyes as well as the tears streaming down.
"She's a devil." Kagome whispered after a long silence. "The woman has the most twisted and deluded ideals as to crimes against the monarch. She'll slaughter anyone who does so much as name the most minor flaw of hers. An elder spoke in his thoughts that Kikyo was third in beauty to his wife and myself and she sent his head back to his wife. When she learned that my village condemned her, Kikyo sent a horde of demons to destroy it and everyone there. I thwarted her that time, but then she retaliated in my absence and annihilated it..."
Kagome's throat choked up as she remembered Kaede's death at the queen's hands. Fighting her urge to sob, she went on to tell the goddess of all of Kikyo's known atrocities. The king and his guards were moved to rage, sympathizing with Kagome.
Kayura's heart filled with utmost pity for her sorrow. "Kagome, Kikyo is a formidable and dangerous woman. I sense your aura is pure and strong, but so long the Shikon no Tama is in her possession, it will not sustain against her. This region of the universe is under my protection and thus outside of Kikyo's grasp; it is best that you remain here where she can't follow you."
"No! I won't!" Kagome declared, lifting her tearful eyes. "It's true that she's a frighteningly powerful woman, but that's not enough for her! Kikyo's a glutton for power. No matter how much she gains, her desire for more is insatiable. The Shikon no Tama is incomplete, one tiny sliver remains to be found and Kikyo is obsessively hell-bent on finding it! That's why she destroyed my village, thinking it was the source of my power. If the shard becomes hers, Kikyo will wish for ultimate power and complete reign over the entire universe. She'll overthrow you and every ruler in the process."
Kagome paused as she noted the concern on Kayura's face.
"I can't allow that to pass." Kagome continued, her voice solemn. "I can't allow anyone else to be murdered by Kikyo's brutality. I must find the final shard of the Shikon no Tama before she does and end her tyrannical reign."
Kayura was astounded by Kagome's firm determination, but she had to be certain she was utterly serious about this.
"It would be a most dangerous journey, and may mean your very death. Is your decision set in stone, Kagome?"
Kagome looked into Kayura's eyes, refusing to allow any second thoughts. "Yes, Kayura-sama. I must do this, not only to avenge my village, but to stop Kikyo before she can bring about further misery."
The goddess smiled warmly; she was greatly pleased with the answer. She rose to her feet and clapped her hands, sending a selected few of her servant sprites to work.
"Very well, Kagome. I shall help you in your quest."
A large spaceship flew overhead and landed in an open field beside the hill. Kayura provided it to Kagome for her journey ahead, having her sprites load it with all the essential supplies. Before sending her on her way, the goddess created a parting gift for Kagome.
"This is a pure silver amulet." Kayura explained as she placed it around Kagome's neck as a necklace.
"Should you be confronted by any evil magic you deem too powerful to handle alone, the amulet will fuse your powers with the purity of the silver and amplify it to ward off the evil. The empty circle in the silver ring will serve as a holder for the Shikon no Tama. When you obtain the final shard, you will place it inside the ring. The shard will then be purified and will attract the rest of the jewel from Kikyo's grasp to the amulet.
"Your journey is to the planet Awakioa in the West River providence. You shall receive word of the jewel shard there. I am sorry I can not offer you the location of the shard, but at least there you may obtain information that will point you to the right direction, Kagome."
Kagome bowed before the goddess Kayura with utmost gratitude and boarded her new ship. The craft lifted into the air and the king, his guards and the sprites waved good-bye.
The ship then flew into the sky backwards, halted and zipped around in a drunken path before opening fire on the lake, sending the fish into pandemonium. The lasers ceased, allowing Kagome's screams of frustration at not being able to work the controls to be heard before crashing into the dirt ground in front of the lake.
The group teardropped as the spaceship sat a quarter buried in the ground.
"King Cirdrah?" Kayura beckoned the king's attention.
"Yes, Kayura-sama?" He answered.
"Sprites, tend to the ship. King, have your captain educate Kagome with some flying lessons, please. It'd be a damn shame if she should end up killing herself before she gets off the planet."
Thanks for reading, see you next chapter! Please leave a review!