DISCLAIMER: I don't own Inuyasha.
:Last Dream:
-an Inuyasha fanfiction-
by C.o.m.t.e.s.s.a
(999)
"…." talking
(….) thinking
(999)
Chapter 2: :Youkai:
"Are you sure you don't want me to wait for you, Kagome-chan?" said the woman, leaning on the window of her blue family car.
"Iie. That's kay. I'll be fine, kaa-san," Higurashi Kagome smiled, reassuring her mother from the sidewalk.
"O-kay. Take care, then and be careful on the way back home, honey! Bye!" said the woman turning the engine on. Then she drove off with a light hand wave.
"B-ye!" the girl waved back. Turning, she fixed the plaits of her white-with-tiny-green-flowers dress and faced the long gray stone steps that lead up to the Zojoji shrine.
She groaned. (Why in the name of all that is Holy do they have to put shrines all the way up there is something I will never understand. And the higher ranking the place is, the highest up it is located!)
Kagome could already feel the muscles on her legs tensing in distress with the oncoming climb. But, squaring her shoulders and chanting (…this is good exercise, this is good exercise…), she began the ascent.
Yesterday, she had been summoned by Tokyo's Prime Minister, Tatakai Yiu, to help in the solving of the rather mysterious trance the Head of Japan's Shinto Religion had fallen into. According to the file she'd been given, Kajiura-redi had gone to the main pagoda that fateful day to say her morning prayers. A couple of hours later Shikimura Ryoei, Head shoten and right hand of the lady, heard a chilling cry coming from there. He rushed inside and to his horror found her lying as still as death itself in the middle of a puddle of blood.
From here onwards, a loony parade began. Shikimura called the daisaiins personal guard, and they called the Emperor's Advisors, and they called the captain of the Emperor's guard, and they called the cops, whom finally -and with a bit of logical sense, if she was allowed to say- called forensics. They did an inspection, scanned the place and finally declared that the lady was not dead, nor in any apparent danger to be. And that the blood did not, in fact, belonged to her but to a dead... goat.
(Ugh. Gross! Who'd be so sick as to leach out a poor unsuspecting goat to death only for the sake of a dramatic scenario!)
Rumors, whispers and full blown shouts had been heard all around the shrine, about the hundred and one possibilities as to the daisaiins unnatural state of sleep.
(Who'd do such a thing? And for what purpose?) Kagome frowned. (And anyway, what is the real problem with her! I mean, she's not physically injured or ill, the forensics would've unveiled that in a blink. Her soul could not have departed for her body would've began withering away in a few days, and already two weeks have passed...
Then what!)
"Mmm...perhaps..." she mumbled, scratching her chin in thought. (Perhaps she got lost on her meditation, or went too deep... I've heard it's very dangerous to stray too far from the border of this world when one prays, but... It could be.)
Quickly, she shook her head. (Wait, no! If that'd be the case, then the shotens and onmyoujis that have tried working on her would've noticed the absence of her aura immediately... )
"Argh. This is too confusing..."
Four more steps and she reached the top of the stairs.
The first thing that greeted her eyes was the tall torii. Made of gold planks and cherry wood, it stood regally brushing the heights. White fluffy clouds drifted over it, giving Kagome the hazy sensation that the wooden structure was moving...as if it were about to fall over her.
(Don't be daft, old girl! It's just optics. Yeah, optics...but just to be sure...) She quickly moved through it to the other side, the tingly sensation of holy power tickling her skin.
In the distance, beyond the cobbled path that laid straight in front of her, stood the shrine.
It wasn't grand or exceedingly sumptuous. On the contrary, it was only the traditional two-stories building, flanked by the conventional two pagodas to the right, and minor shrine to the left, the Tokyo Tower rising undaunted at it's back.
But what the place didn't have in size, it did have in beauty. Made of rich cherry wood and gold, it's walls depicted intricate drawings and writings. As in the horizon the sun was languidly setting wrapped up in orange fire, it's light dyed the tiles of the four constructions a deep blackish red. On the corners of the roofs, the heads of golden dragons stood with their jaws opened in menace.
In the path that Kagome was now walking, going from the torii to the shrine, two perfect opposing lines of poles stood, the long square flags of royal blue bearing the chrysanthemum insignia of the mikado. All around, sakura trees were in full bloom, shedding their pink petals like ragged feathers.
All in all the view was simply.…
"Breathtaking, isn't it?" a male voice said behind her.
"Gah!" Kagome quickly turned around, right hand flying to her heart. "Ta-Tatakai-san! Kami! you frightened me!"
Tatakai Yiu laughed, lightly extending both hand in an appeasing gesture. "Oh, my! I'm really sorry, Higurashi-san! I assure it was not my intention to do so."
Kagome nodded, still slightly spooked.
"I appreciate your coming this afternoon, Higurashi-san. It was really nice of you to offer assistance..."
Kagome blushed a light shade of pink and smiled. "Arigatou," (My, he sure does seem changed today... The wrinkles on his forehead have vanished and his eyes are brighter. He looks younger now.)
"Well, then," Tatakai continued, turning around and going inside the temple. "Shall we go in?"
In spite of the outside heat and lighting, the place inside was slightly cold and enshrouded in darkness. Kagome followed the man closely, looking about and feeling peevish by the reigning silence.
"Demo….where's everyone?" she said in hushed tones.
Tatakai shrugged, hands in his pant pockets. "Amaterasus honden, I presume. The last five times I came they were all there, praying for the lady's health." He sighed dejectedly. "Praying seems the only thing left to do..."
Kagome nodded, feeling a compassionate pang in her chest.
"But now that we have you here, there's still hope, ne?" he continued in merrier tones over his shoulder, winking.
"A-anou--"
"Ah, here we are!"
They both stopped abruptly. Kagome peered ahead. A pair of big wooden shoji screens laid shut at the end of a long passage, no doubtly leading to the daisaiins personal chambers if the royal kadous at it's top were any sign. To both it's sides two armored guards dressed in the royal blues and whites of the Emperor's House stood poised.
(Also wearing a pair of very sharp, very mean looking daiyos each...) She gulped unconsciously.
Tatakai approached them and bowed respectfully. "Konnichiwa. I ask for permission to enter the daisaiins rooms." Standing, he gestured for Kagome to walk forward. "I come with the miko Higurashi, guardian of the Shikon Pearl."
A pause was made, in which all the guards fixed their eyes on the poor unsuspecting teenage.
One of them turned to the other and whispered, not so silently, as he peered at her through the corner of his eye. "A miko? In that clothes?"
"Shhh!" the other admonished.
Kagome blushed more intensely.
One of them, the kumichou by the white nuno wrapped about his right arm, was the first to snap out of it. He was a tall handsome man, with long deep coloured hair neatly bound at the base of his neck and keen green eyes. He swiftly moved to stand in front of her. Extracting the katana from his sash, he held it in front of him vertically and bowed, forehead to the blade in the ancient greeting of servant to higher lord´.
"It is an honor to have you here, miko-sama," he said in a smooth voice. Straightening he motioned the others to move aside. "Please enter."
And in they went. First the guard, then Tatakai-san and at the rear, Kagome.
The chamber was huge. Generous lighting poured forth from a set of four rice-paper windows, giving the room an air of undaunted sparseness. To the left, a cherry wardrobe with the traditional sakura design; to the right a low chabudai with red velvet pillows to sit on carefully strewn around it. And in the center, close to the windows, a double futon with gold coloured linens were the lady rested.
At a light head gesture from Tatakai, Kagome approached silently and kneeled near it.
She felt slightly nervous at the hawk-like vigilance the other two bestowed upon her persona. Fidgeting, she tried a inhaling a few deep calming breaths.
She never performed very well when watched.
But as she turned towards the victim of this apparent supernatural comma, what she saw made her throw her embarrassment off a mental window.
She choked.
(Kami-sama, she's just a child!)
Indeed, a little girl laid as still as a statue amidst the folds of the futon. She was pale, face as a blank mask, her blood-coloured hair fanning about her head like a halo. By her features Kagome surmised she couldn't be more than 12.
Suddenly, fear gripped her. The child was so still that….
(Oh Kami! I-is she ...dead?) Kagome´s heart plummeted to her feet.
Bending down, she placed her nose near the child's one. To her great relieve, a light puff of air touched her.
Kagome swore she could have almost fainted of relief at that moment.
Quickly, she brushed the perspiration off her forehead and sighed.
(O-kay, then. First thing first, I need to feel her aura.)
Suspending both hands -palms down- over the child-daisaiin, Kagome closed her eyes. Concentrating, she let the noises slowly recede and the visual world vanish.
Her aura reawakened, spreading like an invisible silver-coloured mist about her and reaching that of the child.
In the black depths of the connection, she saw the tilt of a little light in the distance.
Reaching out with the ghostly tendrils of her power, Kagome caught it.
It was a red butterfly, made of light and energy.
(It's Kajiura-redis aura!) Kagome noted with quiet awe.
For an aura to have a form, an impersonation beyond that of a simple shield or mist was something rarely seen. Full control of extraordinaire power and many decades of hard training were required to achieve that, and most of the time not even that worked!
(Yet this child can... No wonder she rules the Zojoji no Jinja...)
In a few seconds, thousands of little titillating butterflies surrounded her, probing with their fiery wings the threat that Kagome could possibly represent.
She let them approach and envelop her completely. The air around her began to weave and spark in power, like the beginning of an arson. An odd tingle coursed through Kagome´s body at that moment, and suddenly she felt as if she were being set on fire….
...but soon she realized it wasn't her the one burning, but the daisaiin.
Her aura was like the sun, strong and wild, the pulsing of an inner fire that went beyond the surface and sprouted from a constantly burning core.
(Power spurned from power….)
In a few seconds, it vanished though; the connection stilling completely.
Kagome inhaled sharply the fresh air of reality, opening her eyes as quickly as any drowned would upon reaching safe ground. A mild light-headedness invading her senses, she looked upon the apparition that was the child-daisaiin.
Never in her short career as a miko had she felt power so bright, so…. so….
(I can't even put it in words!)
Standing slowly on shaky feet, Kagome bowed and mumbled a hushed "Yurushite kudasai for the intrusion". Then, turning, headed back to the entrance were the others awaited.
The kumichou was standing as straight as any other guard, his beautiful green eyes fixed upon her in a blank look. Tatakai, on the other hand, was fidgeting, worry wrinkles once again marring his brow, hands twirling with each other. He was the first to talk.
"Well? Is there anything you can do?" he said, strained.
Kagome shook her head silently in negation. "No, not for now, at least.
I connected with her mind. It doesn't respond, but she feels...her aura feels fine," Kagome said slowly, left hand massaging the bridge of her nose.
(Aura-channeling sucks.)
"And?" Tatakai pressed.
"And if her aura feels fine, then that means," Kagome turned weary eyes towards the unconscious high priestess. She sighed and faced Tatakai again. "That means the problem runs deeper."
"Deeper? What do you mean?"
"Well, I'm not exactly sure myself but...Oh, how should I put this…. If anything external, shall we say, were to try to invade the daisaiins mind, then her aura would flare and attack it in retaliation. If said invader were to take successful control over her, then her aura would end up sucked by the other.…or simply vanish." (With the life of the daisaiin as a bonus….) she finished mentally.
Tatakai raised an eyebrow in puzzlement.
(He doesn't understand now, does he?)
"So you mean to say... it's not someone from the outside then, but from...within?" he said, carefully pronouncing each word.
"Ehmm….yes and no." Kagome replied carefully, too.
Tatakai raised both eyebrows. The kumichou did so, too.
Kagome blushed. "Well, you see, it could be something from within as I just said, for personally I think it's the most probable…. a spirit from the Netherworld or something the like perhaps, but it could also be something form the outside. That is, if it is powerful enough, of course, to overpower the daisaiin…." She tapped her chin lightly, fixing her gaze on the floor, deeply pondering. "When I connected with her, her aura arose and...prodded me in a way. It was... I have never sensed something the like! So strong, like a raging fire." Here, she focused solely on Tatakai. "If you ask me, I don't think it's possible for something-- someone to exceed that kind of power. It should be.…out of this world."
"So it's more probable that something is holding her from inside, then?" Tatakai said, trying to come to grips with the comings-and-goings of the supernatural world.
"You could say so, yes. Nevertheless..." Kagome sighed. She felt exhausted, worned out, like a ragged doll after too many years of children abusing of it. (Is it possible for something that has even more power than that to exist? And if so, how will I fight it? Whatever will I do to fix this mess?
Why do I always end up involved in the muddiest grounds...?)
"Hmm…. I see." Tatakai finally muttered, snapping Kagome out of her depressing reverie.
The three of them moved outside the room.
Both Tatakai and the girl quickly bid their thanks and goodbye to the guards and walked past darkened corridors once again, now gratefully lit by small red lanterns with a flickering flame inside.
Kagome blinked, still marveled as the image of the daisaiins aura replayed in her mind.
(They're so similar, these little lights and her... Someone so small holding such great prowess...)
"It must feel very lonely..." she whispered, lost in herself.
"Pardon? Did you say anything, Higurashi-san?" The quiet tones of the other drifted to her ears.
"Huh? Ah, iie! Just mumbling to myself, I guess…." she said smiling and scratching her left hand.
A question nagged her, and she couldn't hold it in for long.
"Anou…. since when has Kajiura-redi been the...daisaiin?" she asked hesitantly. She wasn't sure whether it was okay to ask something like this. She had heard from her jii-chan that the private lives from the members of the Court were an absolute secret.
Tatakai turned...and frowned in thought. "Well, for all I know Kajiura-redi has been the High Priestess for, let's see," he looked up, seemingly making a mental sum. "Ten years, give or take."
Kagome´s jaw almost broke in two against the hard floor.
(Ten years! Good Kami! Has she been here since birth! )
"A-ha-haha...really, now?" she tried saying in a light tone, which ended up sounding like the creak of a poorly-oiled door.
"Mmhmm. The Emperor said she had been selected by the Goddess herself! It was a great honor for her family when they were informed."
"I-I see..." Kagome felt a shiver run down her spine. She knew very well from painful experience the implications of being chosen, of having powers beyond those of what was seen as normal´. But to be daisaiin, to have you selected by the mikado himself!…. it must've been tenfold worst.
(She must've been taken away, then. Far from her mother and father…. Secluded, locked up in a golden cage...and trained to near exhaustion. And all because she has power, because she can see´ what others can't... How can she stand it? I would've...I wouldn't have held on for so long….
She's so little...)
Kagome peered back over her shoulder. At the far end of the corridor, the wooden gates were once again tightly closed, the guards standing tall, like concrete statues in eternal attention. She couldn't help aching for what laid inside.
(What is wrong with you Kajiura-redi?
...where are you?)
Legend tells us that upon waking from her century-old sleep, Sleeping Beauty embraced with happiness her charming prince and from her eyes a thousand white pearls fell like drops of tears, for every year she had lost asleep. Snow White smiled, and the glass coffin were she had laid melted away as if illuminated by a pure ray of sunshine, in it's place flowers of all kind sprouting glamorously.
Sesshoumaru, on the other hand, merely yawned and smoothly brushed off his clothes the churned remnants of the 1001 charms that had kept him trapped for 300 years.
He wasn't prone to petty Disney sentimentalities.
Slowly, he looked about. Dust, decaying woodwork, half crumbling statues of Buddhas…. Apparently he'd been locked inside a rather shabby little human temple.
(Hn.)
Where was he?
The dampness of the place was making his sensitive nose tickle and the murky darkness forced him to adjust and readjust his eyesight. Mildly cocking his head to a side, he concentrated his ears and nostrils on what laid beyond the temple walls…. and flinched.
Immediately he had been bombarded by the not-so-delicate sounds of what was the life of evening Tokyo. Roars, blares, buzzes, clatters, voices, anything you might imagine and more... And the smells! Kami, the reek of thousand upon thousand of humans, all cramped up together, living, breeding, dying…. sweating.
Any other person in his shoes would have swooned nauseated, most probably fainted, too. But he was Sesshoumaru, ex Ruler of the West, one just did not acquire such title by vomiting every time one felt disgusted.
He merely groaned.
(It is summer, then. Interesting, I recall it was winter...)
With his characteristic grace, Sesshoumaru unfolded himself from his sitting position and stood. His clothes, though they had marvelously survived the inclemency of the passing the ages -thanks to the magic of the charms, no doubt. It wouldn't do to have the most powerful demon that once roamed the Earth to be chained to a rock and fully naked after a 100 years….- were a bit dirty and worst for wear.
His hair, though, had somehow survived with it's pristine silk-like quality very much undaunted.
With a light hand movement, he flicked it over his shoulder.
In his situation any other would have felt hysteric, scared, panicky or at least mildly worried. After all, it isn't every day one awakens to find himself in what was obviously not his land and surrounded by what he sensibly assumed were countless pestering humans. Yet Sesshoumaru only felt the slight stirrings of curiosity and the oncoming drum of a headache.
This wasn't so surprising, either. He had lived upon Earth for more days than grains has a desert dune of sand. He had witnessed first hand the ruthless prowess of Lady Nature. Had seen the reckless, lust-driven minds of sorcerers and kings at work. Had felt the mind-numbing strength that gave Light, and had equally bathed joyously with the blood of innocents in the name of Darkness.
He had walked with the gods.
He had stood still as the world and the ages moved.
He had also looked down now at the yellow sash wrapped around his waist. His swords weren't there.
(They must've taken them...)
In the blank canvas of his mind, images began to take form. The white-covered valley lost in the capes of Mount Fuji in one of the crudest winters he'd seen in a long time. The lazy snow like cold strings of cotton, falling from a midnight sky without a moon…. And beneath, his lands and territories. Burning.
A non-descript army bearing torches, gliding like deadly fireflies, setting the territories of his forefathers aflame.
Trees, grass, rivers... Every nook and cranny burned to the core.…
As he watched from afar.
For the last hundred years, the humans had moved. They'd spread as easily as fungus on humid grounds, overpowering, bringing down everything in their path with the frail blades of their man-made swords and their fire. Mindless men who overthrew the four reigning daiyoukais of Yashima not by prowess or skill, but by cunning and the sheer increasement of their species.
Sesshoumaru had seen all this, but he hadn't interfered. Life was life, and everything had it's written date of expiry, whether one so wanted it or not. Everything living was firmly attached with a golden thread to death. To some, it took mere decades for the thread to snap, while to others it held strong for centuries on end. The only apparent constant were the gods and demons, who could survive a millennia without aging a day.
Yet still they all had to die, too.
In the intimate depths of his brain, he conceded with mental contempt that he had let them catch him with a rather foolish easiness. The trap hadn't even been powerful or well concealed, either! They'd been a group of bald men, wearing the purple robes of monks and shokoujos. They had surrounded and imprisoned him. He asserted, though, that he had, indeed, fought. A bit. Just not with the same passion as he once had.
Perhaps he'd felt bored beyond the point of survival or reason; perhaps he'd been tired and unconsciously craved for a break. After all, not even he was sure any more how many years exactly he had spent roaming the world. Perhaps he had simply lost focus, had lacked…. motivation.
He hadn't had real interest in anything….
...hadn't possessed nothing to deem worthy of his protection.
So, he had always stipulated that he'd eventually die in the profound greenness that was the nishi no mori, vanishing from this world encased in the legend of the power and greatness he had possessed when alive, just like his forefathers had done.
He never stipulated he might be spared.
And now here he was, stuck in a place only Kami knew where, in a time obviously not his own -nothing in his time produced anything remotely similar to the blasts he'd heard outside, and he prided himself of knowing every part the world had to offer-, surrounded by the noisy humans he always felt contempt towards and the unknown expanseness of a new age.
The flicker of curiosity flared up inside of him. Well, just a notch.
Languidly he turned and moved towards the door, beyond rotten passages and sooty stairs, to the World Behind This Temple.
The sun was setting in orange and red flames beyond the horizon, the shadows from trees and buildings expanding, merging with each other to create more darkness.
Sesshoumaru stopped at the entrance of the shrine, amidst fallen masonry and tall blades of grass.
In the second that takes the viewer to blink, he disappeared…. Only to reappear a moment later standing at the top of the torii.
From his high perch, he impassively roamed with all his senses what this new place was about. Keen eyes focused beyond streets and buildings, inside and out. His ears perceived the sounds and quickly analyzed them, assessing and forming ideas. With his sharp nose, he scented the air to briskly get used to each and every smell.
(The first rule of self-preservation is to know the grounds.)
Suddenly, Sesshoumaru felt the spark of a power to his right. He turned his head, eyes trained over what was walking across the road.
It was a girl apparently lost in deep thoughts, for her head was bent, eyes on the ground, hands entwined in the straps of her small white backpack. She was also wearing a remarkably indecent outfit, though Sesshoumaru had to concede it must be quite comfortable on such hot weather.
Said girl, Higurashi Kagome, was indeed lost in the raging oceans of her mind. That's why when she felt the hissing flicker of demonic power, she almost fell face first to the floor. Luckily, years of training to dodge her grandpa's attempt at protection´ -i.e. indiscriminately sticking wards even inside your mouth!- had given her quick reflexes.
So she merely stumbled.
(Demon!) her mind screeched.
In a flash she whirled around her head, hand unconsciously moving to her madly beating heart, eyes trying to discern where that ki had so suddenly come from.
Nothing seemed out of the ordinary. Forty or so cars in the street trapped in a traffic jam, horning each other. The trees of the nearby park standing still for lack of wind on which to sway in. A group of giggling teenagers; people chatting in the cafe in the corner. More people waiting to cross the street. The closed shrine in front with...
Kagome gasped, her wide eyes immediately glued to what was standing over the torii. It looked like a man dressed in white, though the sun and shadows dyed his clothes with oranges and black and made his facial features almost impossible to discern. He was tall and remained rigidly poised up there, staring.
Kagome shuddered. His rippling power was cold as it crushed hers.
(Wh-what is he looking at me for? Who is he!)
She gave a step back, startled…. and blinked.
He disappeared. So did his ki.
Kagome gasped again, more loudly now, her head moving this way and that, searching for him. (He vanished! How is that possible! No one can do that so fast! Did-did he fell?) Her thoughts rambled. But she highly doubted it. (He didn't seem the type to fall off anything... And how come his aura's vanished, too?)
Kagome rubbed her eyes a couple of times with the backs of her hands. Then she looked up again. Nothing.
(Did I imagine it?)
She closed her eyes and tried feeling the surroundings. Nothing at all.
"Ugh, peachy. The last thing I need to put the cherry on top of the creamy cake that is my life is to suddenly begin seeing things!" she mumbled darkly, frowning.
(But I didn't imagine it….)
She stood still for some moments, waiting.
Once again, nothing happened. Reluctantly, she turned and resumed her walk to the bus stop. Still, she peered twice more over her shoulder towards the shrine... just in case.
Giving up, she sighed. (It couldn't be real, but... I could swear I saw it.
I did see it, didn't I?)
When she reached the corner, she stopped and looked up again.
Nothing.
(Did I?)
(999)
Glossary of Japanese words:
Youkai: demon.
Mikado: Japanese emperor.
Amaterasu: Amaterasu Ohmikami (Sun Goddess) was the first daughter of Izanagi-no-mikoto and his wife Izanami-no-mikoto.. She is also the ancestress of the Imperial family of Japan. She's the chief deity and her shrine is at Tokyo.
Amaterasus honden: it is the place were th God of the shrine lays. It is a construction, like an altar of a sort, but quite big. People pray inside, so imagine the size.
Kadous: Japanese symbols (hiragana, katakana, kanji, romanji).
Daiyos: the set of two samurai swords: wakisashi and katana.
Kumichou: captain.
Chabudai: low table were tea and food are served.
Zojoji no Jinja: lit. The Zojoji Shrine (The Emperor's Shrine).
Yurushite kudasai: "Please, forgive me".
Daiyoukais: Great Youkai.
Yashima: ancient name for Japan.
Nishi no Mori: The Woods of the West.
(999)
A/N: Thank you for the reviews and support, it's very fluttering (blushes madly). Anyway, there was one in particular who had some questions, here are the answers to them:
1)Yes, the youkai is Sesshou.
2) No, the miko is not Kikyou. It's the Head of the Imperial Shinto Religion, Yuki Kajiura-sama (an 11 yeared-old child).
3) Ajajaja…no, no! The dog in Chapter 1 is NOT Inuyasha...Ehmm...it's just a dog. A simple every day dog. ) I put it for the purpose of….well, I can't remember now but surely it had a VERY important purpose.
Anyway, thank you very much! I hope you like this one, too. And remember, if you have any questions or anything you wish to know, make me know!
C.o.m.t.e.s.s.a.