Plea of a Fading Soul
Yummy! I loved writing the previous chapter! It was a yummy chapter! Or at least I think so, do you? I think my favourite chapter so far is probably number six. If that's the one I'm thinking of. Where Inuyasha and Kagome are sparring, heh.
Yes, you are now officially allowed to hate Kanuono – if you didn't hate him before, that is. He was such a sweety pie on his deathbed, but yes, it was a façade. You didn't really think I'd change his personality so much, did you? 'Awww bless, he's so nice.' Yeah right. Kanuono, nice? Keh!
And if you're wondering, yes, he really does love Meiko. He has some affection and admiration for Kagome, but doesn't love her. And he definitely hates Kikyo. I'll clear it up later.
I, uh, hope I'm leaving you guessing. I think. And if there is anything you don't understand, I'm sure it may be cleared up. Unless I've tried to explain it as well as I can previously, and you still don't understand. In that case… uh… I advise you to read again? Hopefully? I am afraid now, heh.
Kya! Chapter eleven!
PS: OMFG, the ruler is still not working!
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Chapter Eleven
How My Blood Curdles
Inuyasha came to a stop at the entrance to a cave. He had to duck to get in, and in the distance he could see the light of torches and some unknown glow that seemed to be coming from some kind of barrier. Monotonous drips of water from the ceiling echoed around him and he winced as he made his way further into the darkness. If he could just reach the light…
Kagome's smell was suffocating in here. Yet so was another's. Another familiar scent intoxicated the air. Kikyo.
"Kagome…?" Inuyasha called. He noticed that there was no reverberation of his voice, yet as he stepped, his footsteps echoed. He wondered absently why, why was such a thing possible unless he hadn't called loudly enough. "Kagome!"
He heard a gasp and someone shouting his name – the very girl he was looking for. And then he was running. He pushed Kikyo's scent to the back of his mind and focused on getting to Kagome. He didn't realise there was a huge grin on his face as soon as she came into view. She looked frightened, of course, but she was still in one piece. And she was smiling, relieved.
She'd forgiven him. Forgiven him for taking unknowing advantage of her earlier. And she was reaching out her hands towards him. Hands connected to arms that were bound to one wall of the cave.
The torches hung in rungs a few feet away from her, but Inuyasha paid them no attention as he ran over, checking that she was all right and smiling at her before trying to work out how to remove the holding spell that was on her. Everything was going to be all right. Kanuono was dead and Meiko… well, even if she was Kagome's dark side – Kagome didn't have much lurking inside of her that would make her evil. The girl was probably a pushover.
Plus, she was born from their love. Surely she wouldn't harm them.
"'You okay?" Inuyasha asked, staring up at Kagome. He felt – and yes, he hated the analogy – like a dog whose master had returned to him. He was filled with unexplainable feelings, words he didn't know how to get out.
He'd thought she'd never forgive him, never want to speak to him ever again. Yet here she was and she was smiling at him, tears in her eyes. And she was trying to reach for him, and he so wanted to hold her but…
There was a sound behind him that was either a cough or a slow intake of breath. Either way, whoever it was behind him was trying to catch his attention.
Is this Meiko? He thought immediately, but when he turned, he saw somebody else was bound to the opposite wall. For a minute he was confused as to who the person was – she looked like Kagome, but didn't at the same time. She was too old, too pale, and dressed in miko clothes. She couldn't be Kagome…
Inuyasha fell back to reality with a crash. Kikyo…
She's seen him fussing over Kagome. Seen his barely suppressed relief at finding her alive and well. And how was he reacting to seeing her alive and well? 'Oh, hey, Kikyo. Nice seeing you again. Sorry I can't get you off the wall at the moment, I think I'm going to kiss Kagome now. So, uh, if you would please turn away…'
Inuyasha made his way over, his steps slow. His enthusiasm was gone and inside he was hollow. "Kikyo…" he said softly, a thrum in his voice.
The miko stared a moment before smiling weakly. "Inuyasha," she replied, brown eyes boring into his.
The hanyou opened his mouth, thinking of what to say. 'Sorry, Kagome. I'll be right back. I just want to kiss Kikyo now, so if you could turn away too then that would be great…'
The voice in his head wasn't his. It was Kanuono's. He fell backwards, crashing to the floor in a fit of anger and desperation while he gasped for breath. Both Kikyo and Kagome were staring at him, one confused, and a little hurt, the other apparently distant and unaffected.
He shut his eyes, rubbing the back of his hand against them as if he could dispel any tiredness – and along with it, any ridiculous thoughts in his head. Shit, I'm caught in the middle here… He thought, slowly standing up.
His back to the entrance of the cave, he looked to his left, where Kikyo was, and then to his right, where Kagome was. Both were now no longer looking at him but to the side, into the darkness.
Why is Kikyo even here? He wondered. Unless this was another trick of Kanuono's, to add to my fear
"You look good," A voice said. He turned to see Kagome smiling limply. He made his way back over to her, hand reaching up to brush her hair out of her eyes.
She didn't look presumably insane either. The two of them were slipping back into the people they once were. Inuyasha smiled back. "You too,"
"Our guard left us." Kikyo put in behind him. He turned his head, but not his body, hand resting lightly on the wall beneath Kagome. "Let me guess. Meiko,"
Kagome nodded above him. "We don't know why she ran off. We think it was because she found out who Kanuono is." Upon saying this, Kagome flinched but continued. "Or perhaps you could shed some light on that?"
"I killed him," Inuyasha said simply, hoping to see some sort of pride in her eyes. Kagome's eyes just widened in shock and surprise. There was no pride. Just disbelief and confusion.
Why the hell does her opinion matter anyway? What the hell is wrong with me? He put a hand up to his head, swaying. Kanuono had done something to him. His emotions were running riot, he was acting like a lovesick puppy.
Kikyo sniffed. There wasn't even any pride in her eyes. Her disbelief overshadowed Kagome's. "I doubt he was so easy to kill."
Inuyasha stared, from one girl to the other. Both girls looked as if they thought Kanuono was about to set foot in this cave any minute. The hanyou clenched his fists, punching the wall with the hand pressed against the stone.
Kagome gasped and even Kikyo looked up in shock. The two stared at the half-demon as he thumped the stone again and again and again. Then he stopped, and his hand was trembling. There were marks on his knuckles but no blood. He was stronger than that. "Kagome," he said, looking away. "Kanuono was me. He was like some kind of evil clone, as if he took my bad traits. And Meiko… Meiko is you,"
The schoolgirl's eyes widened, but the miko opposite her sniffed yet again. "That doesn't surprise me."
She didn't say why it didn't surprise her, leaving Kagome with an aching feeling inside. She felt raw. She could only hope that Kikyo didn't gather this connection because Meiko hated her and she presumed Kagome did too. The girl crossed her fingers, before looking down at Inuyasha.
"Anything else?"
"You're both safe." The silver-haired boy turned away from both of them, the fingers on one hand folding in triumphantly, while the other was clenched at his side. "So we can get the hell out of here."
"Inuyasha," Kikyo said emotionlessly. "If we're safe, we could walk out of here this instant. Yet Kagome and I are still bound to these walls. Meiko didn't cast this spell, it would have weakened when she was taken over, or would have disappeared completely when she left us. No, this is a strong spell, and it isn't Meiko's aura I sense. It's Kanuono's."
Kagome nodded. "Our bindings haven't weakened or loosened, Inuyasha. So Kanuono must still be alive."
Inuyasha whirled around. "I didn't imagine him dying! His heart stopped beating – he stopped breathing, I was there! I split that bastard in two and now you're telling me he's alive?"
"Maybe he's like Naraku," Kikyo said. "Perhaps he can piece his body back together. Who knows?"
"He. Is. Dead." Inuyasha spat, furious. "I thought at least that you two would believe me. Especially you, Kagome,"
The girl tried to put on her best supporting face, trying to calm him without using any bodily gestures. "Maybe you have to kill Meiko to settle this, eh?" she smiled. But inside she felt… odd. Why did she feel connected to Meiko? Inuyasha had had no sympathy for Kanuono. He'd killed him. So why did she feel like Meiko didn't need to die?
Inuyasha turned to her, still angry, but his face had softened slightly. "I have to kill the witch?"
"By all means do," Kikyo said unenthusiastically. "But there's only one way to get rid of both of them, Inuyasha."
"Kikyo's right. So you couldn't have killed Kanuono. You can only kill them by targeting the source of their power."
Inuyasha was slow. He looked about in a daze, frustrated. "And? Point me in the right direction and I'll do it – anything to get rid of those creeps."
Kikyo smiled, but it wasn't a nice smile. It was a mixture between mocking and distantly sad. She pointed with one finger at Inuyasha, and then Kagome. "The source," she announced.
The hanyou stared. What? "Kikyo, what are you talking about? What's the source?"
"To destroy Kanuono and Meiko, you must kill yourself. And Kagome."
This time, Inuyasha simply gaped. He didn't want to believe, even though he knew immediately that it was true. Why had he been so stupid? Why had he not even thought about it? They were born from them – they would die from them.
He cursed and bowed his head.
Kagome sighed. "That's… not all." She told him. "Kanuono gave Meiko an order – he possessed her sometime while talking to you, probably through some kind of telepathy. He ordered her to… to corrupt Kikyo."
Inuyasha's head snapped up. "Corrupt her?"
He then turned to stare at the miko in question, realising he was talking as if she wasn't there. His face was concerned. "Corrupt you?" he asked weakly, strength washing out of him. That means…
"The Shikon no Tama will be defiled. And I will die."
Inuyasha felt as if the world around him had collapsed, probably not for the first time these past few months. He struggled to hold onto reality and then he took a deep breath. "If Kanuono is alive." He told them, folding his arms.
"Oh, but I assure you, Inuyasha. He is,"
Kagome and Kikyo stared at him for a moment, as if he had been the one speaking. Inuyasha was about to clamp a hand over his own mouth, when he realised that it wasn't his lips that had moved. And he was no ventriloquist.
Slowly he turned, as did Kikyo and Kagome, and the three stared in the direction of the tunnel entrance. They could not see who was there, the path to the cave exit wound round a corner slightly and they could barely make out daylight. But shadows were cast against the mouth of the cave.
Inuyasha backed up, shaking his head in disbelief. No… I killed him, I watched him die!
Footsteps were echoing down the tunnel, one after the other. Two sets of footsteps. Meiko and Kanuono.
Kagome slammed her eyes shut, Kikyo glared and Inuyasha shook his head from side to side.
It's over, Kagome thought, her heart racing. It's all over.
Once she came to that conclusion, she found some kind of peace had been made inside of her, as if she was no longer afraid to die. If it were to be, she'd rather stare death in the face then shy away from it. She would prove she was strong – for once and for all.
Meiko was standing there. Except it wasn't the Meiko she remembered. The girl's eyes were still fuchsia pink and haunting, but her hair ran only down to her shoulders. And it was black. Her cheekbones were lower and less sharp, so she appeared less faerie-like. She was in her true form. Just as Kanuono, beside her, appeared so much more like Inuyasha than he ever had before. In that instant, Kagome saw herself in Meiko, and she knew why she did not want the girl to die.
Meiko's face was confused, as if she were coming to some horrible conclusion in her mind, one she didn't want to think of. She glanced at Kanuono, and her eyes were filled with tears. Those beautiful, yet terrifyingly familiar eyes. She bowed her head, and when she raised it again, her expression was set. Whatever she had decided on was there to stay. All doubts had been pushed to the back of her mind.
Kagome winced and looked to Kanuono. He, himself, was beautiful. But not as beautiful as the real thing, she thought absently, wishing she could hold Inuyasha's hand.
Kanuono's arm was looped around Meiko's waist and the girl was turned away from him, resting her back against his side. He didn't appear to notice.
Her expression was grim and determined.
Inuyasha, before he realised what he was doing, leapt in front of Kikyo. "You bastard…" he hissed, a growl entering his throat. No one's going to corrupt her on my watch. He thought, over-protectively.
Kanuono laughed as he stepped forward, leaving Meiko to stand alone. "You can't stop me. You thought you could kill me, but you can't hold me off forever. Your life isn't something you value, but Kagome's is. Would you really kill her to kill me?"
Inuyasha gritted his teeth, arms flung out by his side in case Kanuono would dive past him to get near Kikyo.
No, I wouldn't sacrifice Kagome. He didn't need to say it out loud. It was as plain as day across his face.
Kanuono laughed again. "Step aside, Inuyasha. This game is no fun otherwise."
Kagome glanced at Meiko, and noticed the girl was in some kind of stance. She was getting ready to dive to her right… yet to her right was… Me, Kagome realised, staring in confusion. Why would Meiko want to dive at me? Unless she's planning to kill me too…?
And then it all dawned on her. Inuyasha tensed up ready to fight off Kanuono's blows, Kikyo's expression softened as if she were soaking in her last moments, Kanuono was facing Inuyasha but his hand, out by his side, was glowing – filling with some kind of miasma. And it wasn't aimed at Kikyo, thought it would appear to be over where the three stood.
Kagome opened her mouth to scream a warning but it was too late. The ball of miasma flew through the air, and it was aiming at her. On target all the way.
Inuyasha expected it to fly past him and stared in horror as he watched Kagome try and wiggle out of its path. It was no use.
The miasma exploded… and everything went black.
