*InuYasha's world and Diabolik Lovers world are both pretty dangerous to live in, it would be scary so I might be glad that I don't own them.
Kagome practically skipped up the steps to the shrine with Shu following her at a more sedate pace. It was nice to be home, even if it was just for a few hours while she worked. When she reached the top, she was soon greeted by two men that she'd never seen before. They were wearing traditional clothes and gave a deep bow when they saw her.
"Lady Kagome, it is a pleasure to finally meet you," said the elder of the two. "My name is Fou, and this is my nephew, Haru."
"Wonderful to meet you, thank you for taking care of the shrine in my absence." She replied, giving them a bow in return.
"Please, it is an honor to care for the shrine of the great purification priestess. Without you, I shutter to think of the evils that might still be out in this world."
"In regards to that, you have remained clear of that storage shed and the well house, correct?"
Fou gave a nod. "Of course, as per the instructions of the Sakamaki family. We have maintained the grounds but have not approached those two buildings. May I inquire as to why those two would be off limits?"
Kagome shook her head. "All I can tell you is that those places are off limits for your own safety. And I want to stress to both of you that you are never to enter those buildings at the risk of your own lives and your very souls."
Shu listened to their conversation as he looked at the two buildings in question. Both were roped off with papers hanging from the ropes, blessings and wards from Kagome, he was sure. But even with the wards, he could sense strong evil attempting to escape from the one shed and power pulsing from the well house. Whatever was inside those buildings was nothing to laugh at. The two men seemed to realize that as well since they vigorously agreed before excusing themselves for the night and leaving the two of them alone on the grounds.
The miko turned to smile at him. "I'm going to go to the storage shed and get to work. You can do whatever you like, just please don't go into the shed or the well house."
With that, she turned away from him to do her work. Shu stepped over to the large tree in the yard and sat at its base while listening to his music. For once, it really was quiet and he could simply relax without anyone bothering him.
At least, that is what he thought until there was an explosion of power from the shed that his bride had gone into and he opened his eyes just in time to she her body flying through the air. He barely got to her in time to catch her before she could slam into the ground. Looking up to the shed, he was surprised to see that something inside appeared to be on fire but nothing else was burning.
He felt a bit of panic as his eyes looked over Kagome to check her for burns as she moved in his arms. He was relieved to see that not even her hair looked singed as she stared at the shed, a stunned look on her face. "Huh, didn't see that one coming," she said in a deadpanned voice.
"Explain," he demanded, wanting answers since his curiosity had been stirred.
Kagome continued to stare at the shed and the dwindling flames inside. "I just destroyed a cursed relic that I shouldn't have had enough power to do and I have no idea how I did it." Both continued to stare as the flames disappeared. Then, giving her head a shake, Kagome pulled out her cell phone and made a call.
"Speak," said the vampire on the other end.
"Something out of the ordinary has happened at the shrine and I think you should come here to observe and document the findings." She said before hanging up.
"Did you just hang up on Reiji?" Shu asked her with a raised eyebrow.
She shrugged. "It's easy to tell that he doesn't like phones and this is a situation where I could use someone who has, no doubt, done a bunch of research on me since I came into your lives." Then she smiled at the blonde before reaching up to draw his head down to her throat. "Thanks for the save, you deserve a reward."
Shu barely kept his surprise hidden. He couldn't recall the last time a bride had literally offered her blood as a 'thank you.' With every other bride, he had to practically fight them tooth and nail to get a few gulps of blood. He always found the whole thing to be a waste of time and effort when they were there to sustain them in the first place. It was pleasing to him that she made it easy for him to feed.
With that in mind, he wrapped one arm around her curvy body while his other hands laced through her thick hair as he eased his fangs into her neck. Her blood was… it was like a symphony to his tongue, hitting all the right notes in perfect harmony while inspiring so much emotion within him. He didn't need to take much, not with how powerful her blood was. So he simply let the blood fill his mouth of its own speed as her flavor practically overwhelmed his senses and taking sedate gulps as she slowly filled his mouth.
When he'd had enough, he ran his tongue over his bite as it slowly closed. Because he was so highly alert from consuming her blood, he easily noticed her shiver at the sensation and how her scent became slightly stronger from her arousal. Her reactions pleased him even more. Perhaps she is a masochist and that is why she agreed to come with us so easily. I will have to explore this more the next time we are alone.
He wanted to tease her more, but knew that his brothers would be there momentarily. It was barely a minute later that he heard the fast approach of his brothers up the shrine steps and released her. It would be too tiresome to deal with his jealous brothers at the moment.
Reiji was quick to take in his surroundings when he reached the top: the smell of smoke from a fire inside a shed, the tracks from Shu which indicated that he'd actually moved quickly, the lack of tracks from Kagome which told him that Shu had probably moved quickly to catch her, but also the fresh bite mark on her neck. The last part annoyed him. He didn't like that Shu had fed from her or that he was already feeling possessive over their new bride. But that was an issue for another time.
"What is the reason for calling me out here?" He asked the priestess, not bothering to hide his annoyance at her.
Kagome stepped away from Shu, looking Reiji directly in the eye. "That shed contains a lot of dangerous relics that I have the ability to suppress but not yet destroy. Somehow, I was able to destroy one of the relics that I shouldn't have had the ability to destroy for another 2-5 years."
"How the hell could you know that?" Ayato asked her as his eyes kept switching from her to the shed.
Letting out a sigh, she motioned for them to follow her to the shed but stopped them before entering. "Whatever you do, don't touch anything in here. Consider everything you see to be highly toxic, radioactive, or infectious. If you suddenly have the urge to touch anything, get out of the shed right away or I might actually have to kill you."
Despite their anger at her threat, all of them understood the reason for her warning since they could easily sense the power resonating inside. They followed her inside of the large shed and were surprised to discover that the power tripled as they crossed the threshold.
"What is this place?" Kanato asked as he held Teddy tightly to him.
"This is basically a toxic waste dump of relics that no one has the ability to destroy." Kagome said as she walked around the room, looking at the different seals and talismans in place.
"Why not just burn all of this shit?" Ayato asked her as he looked at a weird looking doll.
"For one, some of these things can't be destroyed by fire. Like this painting," she pointed at a painting of a little boy that was crying. "This is from a series of paintings and prints by an Italian painter in the 1950s. These paintings are said to be of orphans who later died in an orphanage fire. Everywhere these paintings went, there would be house fires but the paintings would somehow survive."
"And what about the others? I'm sure that not every one of them has a resistance to fire." Reiji commented as he looked as a warped mirror.
"True, but think of these objects as being sealed jars full of toxic waste," Kagome said as she closely watched all of them to make sure they didn't touch anything. "On their own and kept sealed away, they can't do much harm. If someone were stupid enough to touch it or open themselves up to the contents of that jar, then he and the people around him would be in danger. But since the jar is still intact, there is still the possibility of sealing the jar again with the toxic waste inside. But if the jar were to be destroyed in some haphazard way, the waste might be destroyed along with the jar but it is more likely that the waste will enter into the air and ground with the only means of sealing it away being completely destroyed."
"From what you are describing; if these are the sealed jars, then you are the person in the hazmat suit that knows how to properly dispose of this toxic waste?" Laito asked as he leaned in to get a closer look at an old sword.
"That's right," she said before reaching up to grab Subaru's hand before he could touch a rusted dagger. "My purification powers give me the ability to purify cursed and possessed objects before destroying them, effectively ridding the world of the toxic waste and the jar it is contained in so it can't harm anyone else ever again. But there are things that are so contaminated that I don't have the ability to destroy them yet, only suppress them until I'm strong enough. These are the items that I haven't been able to destroy yet, but I was somehow able to destroy one of them without meaning to."
"And that would be the item that had rested in this spot." Reiji commented as he pointedly looked at the charred remains of something on a shelf.
Kagome nodded as she stepped next to him. "That was a relic from the southern islands of Japan, though no one knows which island it originated from."
"Another story, does it have a lot of blood in it?" Kanato asked as he looked past her at the remains.
"It was a fisherman's net. Legend says that a fisherman went mad and would capture people in this net before stabbing them to death with his knife and using their remains as bait for fishing. A lot of blood, sorrow, fear, and anger was absorbed into those ropes. But they were all human so I knew that I would be able to purify it some day and set their souls to rest."
"How did you come up with the time frame of 2-5 years?" Ayato asked as he continued looking around the shed.
"It's because that was a Level 2 relic. All the relics in this shed are numbered from 1-5. Level 1 being items that I will need another six months to two years of training to have enough power destroy them."
"If Level 1 takes up to two years and Level 2 takes up to five years, what's a Level 5?" Subaru asked her as he looked at the sword that Laito was looking at.
"That's exactly what you're looking at," she told them as she stepped beside the two vampires. "This is one of the Muramasa swords, known as the 'Great Destroyers' because they were possessed by blood thirsty spirits. During times of war, their thirst for blood was a boon to battle, but if their thirst wasn't satisfied, the wielder of the sword would be driven to commit murder or suicide. This particular Muramasa sword was also wielded by a pretty strong demon. The demon and the spirit within the sword fed off of each other until the demon lost his mind and killed himself with the sword. By doing that, his soul joined the spirit inside of the sword and increased the blood lust. If anyone touches that sword, they are immediately taken over and start killing."
"Hmm, this is my first time seeing one up close," Laito smiled. "Sounds to me like it might be a vampire's spirit trapped in there."
"I doubt it, and don't touch." She snapped as she slapped the redhead's hand away.
"And what would it take for you to destroy a relic of this level?" Reiji asked her as he kept an eye on the rest of his brothers to make sure they didn't touch anything as well.
"Another 20 years of training and another priestess with powers equal to mine. Only problem is that there are no more priestesses with power like mine, which is why relics like these keep ending up here no matter how many I purify."
"Yet, you were able to purify a Level 2 when, before, you had not been able to purify a Level 1."
"And that is why I wanted you here." She confirmed before motioning all of them to step outside of the shed before the influence of the relics became too much and someone touched them. Once they were all outside, she continued talking. "The only thing that could have caused such a drastic change in my abilities is all of you. You mentioned to Tsubaki that the power of your bites have the ability to change the recipient. Is it possible that it is influencing my powers?"
For the first time in a long time, Reiji was at a loss. The fact that she was a priestess was rare enough, but that their influence might be affecting her abilities was not something that he'd anticipated. "This is not a situation that occurred in the past, so I do not know. That being said, you asked me out here in order to observe you and your powers. So I suggest that you stop wasting my time and do so. Begin with bringing out a Level 1 relic so I can see your process."
Giving a nod, she went back inside and brought out the doll that Ayato had been looking at before setting it on the ground in front of her. "This doll belonged to a little girl, she and her family were killed during a raid and the soldier that killed her family took the doll to give to his own daughter as a gift. The night after he gave it to her, the daughter slaughtered her own family in their beds before leaving the village. When they found her, she said that the doll made her do it. A priest confirmed that the doll was possessed by the little girl that the soldier had killed and was taking her revenge. Her soul is still connected to the doll and in a rage after almost three hundred years."
Reiji was impressed that Kagome actually knew the history behind the relics that she kept in her possession. Not many people would bother to do so and it gave him a better idea of the pain and bloodshed that were connected to them. He watched as she stood over the doll and clapped her hands together as if she were praying. Then her powers enveloped her in lavender-pink light, also surrounding the doll. There was a hellish scream as a dark cloud erupted from the doll and dissipated within her powers. Then the doll itself caught on fire and quickly turned to ash.
"How much effort did you put into the destruction of that relic?" He asked her as the doll continued to burn.
"About half as much as it would normally take to keep it sealed." She told him before turning to go back into the shed to bring out the next item. It was the warped mirror he had been looking at before. "This Level 2 mirror survived a fire at a mansion in northern Japan over a hundred years ago and has changed hands many times since then. It's said that the victims of the fire are trapped inside and if a person were to see them, it would drive the onlooker insane."
Then, as if on cue, the six vampires saw movement from within the mirror that could not be explained, including handprints that were suddenly appearing for no possible reason. Ayato could actually feel something skirting on the edge of his mind, as if it was trying to get into his head. Then the mirror was surrounded by that same lavender-pink light and whatever had been trying to get into his head disappeared. They watched as the mirror warped even more before the glass shattered and multiple dark clouds escaped from the cracks before dissipating within the light. The frame of the mirror quickly caught fire as well.
"That thing was even trying to attack me," Ayato said in a daze as he watched it burn.
"Not surprising," Kagome said absently. "These relics might even target you because you're not human and want to be used by someone with a thirst for bloodshed." She turned back to the shed and came out a moment later with the rusted dagger that Subaru had been looking at. Reiji noticed that she had her hand tucked into her clothes so that she was carrying it by her sleeve.
"Level 3 relics are the ones that have more involvement with spirits and youkai. This dagger was the personal weapon to a vulture youkai. Not the most blood thirsty youkai there was but she was killed by her own dagger by the one she loved. Any woman who touches this dagger will experience the same death because she wants others to know her pain. It works on both youkai and humans."
"Then should you be touching that thing?" Ayato asked as they all looked on.
She shook her head. "I don't touch it directly, it only works if it touches skin. And there has to be someone the woman loves since it is her partner that will be drawn to her and stab her in the heart. This little dagger has been the cause of over 200 deaths by stabbing and even more lives ruined since the lovers never intended to kill them."
Subaru glared down at that dagger. The story that Kagome told reminded him too much of his mother. The fact that he had felt drawn to that knife sickened him and he hoped that Kagome would be able to destroy it. He watched as her power surrounded her and dagger. It didn't immediately react like the other two relics had done, but he saw the black smoke begin to rise from it. Then another cloud rose from it, and then even more. He counted 237 individual clouds rising out of the dagger before the blade shattered, the handle cracked, and the remains began to burn.
Kagome's legs gave out from exhaustion but she didn't hit the ground since Shu was there to catch her again. It had taken a lot more effort than she'd thought it would to release all the souls that had been trapped within the dagger. She could feel her arm shaking with effort just to reach up and wipe the sweat off of her face.
"And it looks like that's my limit for now." She told them.
Reiji stepped forward to inspect the ashes of the relics that Kagome had destroyed. The last one had been particularly powerful, probably on the higher end of Level 3. He had only been able to tell its true power after she had brought it out from the confines of the shed. The fact that she was able to destroy it was impressive.
"Have you strengthened the other seals as you intended to?" He asked her.
"Yes, that is what I was originally doing when the fisherman's net basically blew up. I'm kind of surprised that the blast didn't destroy a bunch of the Level 1 relics along with it. Maybe it was because I was closest to the net at the time." She pondered out loud.
"And what of these ashes?"
"I've purified them to the point where they can return to the Earth without causing any more harm. It will be fine." She said as her voice began trailing off.
"Then we are done here. You can return next week to continue your duties and you shall also show me a complete archive of all the current relics you have and the past relics you have purified."
"Sure, I'll start on that after I wake up." And just like that, she was out cold in Shu's arms.
Ayato growled at her before walking over to the shed to close and lock the doors. If her blood wasn't so amazing, this girl might have been more trouble than she was worth. Lucky for her, her blood was that good. He found it even more annoying that she had passed out in Shu's arms rather than his own. He also saw the tell-tale bite mark on her neck, telling him that his eldest brother had been feeding on the girl when he had already claimed her.
As they made their way down to the limo to take them home, his mind was moving quickly. Thinking of how he would make this girl realize that she belonged to him. After all, he was the best of all of his brothers. He would make her see it easily in due time.
A/N: So what do you think of the relics? I actually did a lot of research on the items that I listed in this chapter and might come back to them later. All the items were either real or based on real cursed/haunted items that really exist around the world.
A/N 2: Sorry that I haven't been updating as regularly as I normally do. I had some major family issues that needed my attention more than writing, but that has cleared up now and everything is alright!
The poll is still open so don't forget to vote if you haven't done it already! Warm-Fuzzies and please vote and review!