Chapter Twenty-Seven: Generations
"The moment I heard her name I fell in love. Of course I fell in love with the wrong name, so I made her legally change her name to match that of my love interest. "
-Jarod Kintz
"You're going soft, playing the hero for a damsel in distress…" The text message wasn't exactly the reply the demon lord was hoping for from his minion when he'd sent for them. He'd have to discipline the rudeness at a later date, for now he was still eyeing up the large mansion with the patrols of hounds.
"What am I doing here?" He thought to himself, it was just a mortal that had set off his curiosity, barely worth possibly gaining the attention of all the supernaturals that seemed to have overrun the city as of late. Whatever reminiscence her scent inspired, it wasn't worth the trouble that would come from possibly starting a war.
A change in the wind inspired a set jaw for the man, heresy. The aroma of augmented demon blood flowed through the veins of the creatures beneath him, the acidic nature of their cursed blood carried easily to him. Whatever he might have done as to staying or not no longer mattered, he couldn't suffer such monsters to live.
Barely a moment passed when blood sprayed from the already falling bodies of the hound like monsters that had been patrolling the outside. He had a katana next to him, blood was streaming from its edge, and it let off a gentle amethyst glow. When he next stepped toward the building a line of the gentle purple light was left by the speed of his movement, an alarm blared a moment later as he entered the building.
Below…
Lezard was just finishing setting Kagome up to all the wiring and I.V.'s when the alarm started to blare and his own purple eyes were drawn up toward one of the displays in the room. Who the hell was this bastard? Lezard frowned as he watched one of his chimera being cut into several pieces. All the hours he'd put in and it was cut down just that easily? He'd have to consider something to toughen skin more, flesh was clearly too mutable to be a good protection.
He looked over Kagome and then her new body again…it would only take a few minutes to finish the transfer. He'd have to face the enemy on his own, that was regrettable but needed, he couldn't allow things to get interrupted or it could be damaging to her psyche when she woke.
He turned the switch to start the transfer, which resulted in several pops and hisses before a thrumming sound slowly built and lights seemed to be moving from one bed's apparatus to the next. What he hadn't expected was how swiftly the intruder would arrive. Even as he withdrew his hand there was the sharp point of a blade at his back. Lezard glanced over a shoulder as he raised his hands slightly; surprised he hadn't heard the creature's entrance.
More intriguing were the horns sticking from within the silver hair, the golden eyes glaring back at his own curious expression. A true demon, here he'd heard rumors that they'd died out ages ago, even the one from the past in Kagome's well had been a rarity when they'd visited. He'd only seen the one full demon; the rest had been watered down…
"Well, well." Lezard drawled, aware of the placement of the sword where it could slide in toward his heart with ease. "…what a horrible house guest. If you'd of told me you were coming I could have prepared something."
"Pretentious even when facing death, admirable but it will not save you. The punishment for your transgressions will not be changed. What are you doing to this woman?" The question was the only reason he'd hesitated to kill the man at all.
"I'm making her better, her new body will be perfect. It's already started now…interrupting could be hazardous to her health." Lezard explained. It was why he hadn't already reacted aggressively to the man holding a blade against him, he wouldn't risk harming his goddess just to punish the upstart. As it was the fool apparently was another one under the love spell but had no idea as to why he was acting to protect someone whose name he didn't know.
Lezard didn't expect that the blade would then slice through the velvet fabric of his suit, pierce his flesh and it was into his heart when he finally growled, darker than usual blood curling along the blade and hissing as it hit the ground. He vanished before he fell completely to the ground.
"Pity…" The demon commented as his target disappeared, still he couldn't smell the man in the room any longer so he let his silver hair brighten to gold and his eyes returned to the color of blood when he put his blade away. He glanced between the two beds and the thrumming apparatus behind Kagome with a slightly raised brow. Ignoring whatever the machine was doing he leaned closer to the body he'd danced with and pushed some hair from her face.
The slumbering expression is what finally gave his memory the last jolt it needed. His grandfather had kept sketches of a woman like this, and she had his scent on her. It was mild, certainly she hadn't been around him in at least a week but it was still there, regardless of it being hidden under bathes and soaps. Grandfather hadn't lived in Japan in nearly a hundred years…how did this human have his scent on her?
His question might get an answer sooner than he expected, though not in the way he had. The body beneath him was still warm, but it was the other bed that moved as Kagome's new body stirred. It was much like her last actually, there were minor changes but she wasn't glaringly obvious like the rest of the fool magic-user's creations had been. There had been incredible care and genius taken in the crafting of this particular body…though it was still heresy it wasn't as though the girl had asked for it.
"What…Lezard you…wait…you aren't Lezard…who are you?" Kagome had been about ready to tear into the psycho that had decided to do…whatever the fuck he did. However, she found herself seeing…herself and a gold haired man with red eyes looking down at her as she sat up holding her head, dizzy.
"Kazama…and you are?" He didn't reach to aid her, instead he was still inspecting her. The changes were miniscule, there were small marks on the back of this new body, places where wings could extend though more than likely the girl would have no idea how to use them. Otherwise there was a minor blue glint to her hair in the light, there were fewer skin lines in her hands and around her eyes, but the amount of detailing to the copy was incredible.
"Kagome…" She managed shakily, still glancing at the other body…her body, and back at him. "Where's Lezard?"
"If you refer to the second rate sorcerer he disappeared when I confronted him with his crimes." Kazama turned to look at more of the monitors in the room. The woman didn't smell like a copy at all, there was none of the acrid nature that accompanied unnatural use of demon blood. She smelled like a full demon, and female demons were rare enough that he wasn't sure what to make of this new predicament. "How is it your body came to possess the scent of Lord Sesshomaru?"
Kagome's eyes widened as she stared at this new player, he'd apparently saved her…sort of, and that was good but how did he know about Sesshomaru? She had to be really careful…
"Uh…what do you mean?" Smooth as usual Kagome…
The look he leveled on her screamed that he didn't believe her weak protest.
Kagome sighed. "Look…I knew Sesshomaru a long time ago, and sort of saw him recently, it's complicated…"
"The well…" The two words had Kagome staring at the boy like he'd grown a second head. How did this guy know so much about her and she didn't know anything about him?
Kazama stared at her quietly, he'd always assumed the well was a fairy tale his grandfather had created as a bedtime story when he was still a pup. In retrospect that was rather unlike the stoic man that had been one of the leaders of all the demon race for centuries. Kazama sat now as Lord of Japan in his grandfather's stead but his title had remained Lord of the West in honor of the historical name for their seat…
Kagome…her name had been in those stories as well as other demon histories, the human that had helped fell Naraku. Was she the same one then? Was this the time that she'd traveled from? Time was always a fickle and unreliable magic his grandfather was quick to say…perhaps this woman was why?
"Um…you're staring…" Kagome said uncomfortably, holding her arms over her chest and feeling the thinness of the silky lace nightgown Lezard had dressed her new body in all the more under his intense gaze. "…could you ah…check my…uh the other me's pockets for my phone…?"
She didn't want to get up, the nightgown wasn't long either and at least she could grasp at some semblance of modesty in the bed. Kagome needed to call the others, so they could come out here and fix…whatever this was…she still was really dizzy and knew she shouldn't be in another body. That couldn't be a good thing, whatever Lezard's crazy ass had done, she wanted it fixed now.
Kazama pointed to her purse, it was on a stand between the two tables, she leaned over to grab it and dug inside for her phone. Unfortunately Kazama was still staring at her, her pointing out what he was doing didn't seem to give him the hint she didn't like it. Or it had and he simply didn't care as to her feelings, he certainly seemed not to possess anything akin to humility. No surprise he knew who Sesshomaru was, the superior way he held his head up reminded her of the old demon lord.
"Hello, Jade? I wasn't sure who else to call, I need your help. I'm out at Lezard's place, he brought me here and ah…just come please?" Kagome asked. She remembered Ghaleon stating once that Jade dealt with life magic and hoped that he could do something to fix her. As it was she was afraid of telling any of her suitors and having them try to hunt down Lezard. Clearly people were going to start fighting each other more than they already had and she wanted to avoid that as much as possible.
"Do you think they can return you?" Kazama asked when she hung up the phone after giving a few details. Kagome shrugged lightly.
"If anyone can they can or they'll know someone who can." Kagome replied with a shrug. "I'm not sure of anything anymore though…how do you know Sesshomaru?"
"Lord Sesshomaru is my grandfather." Kazama replied, stressing the honorific title where Kagome had skipped it. "I am a part of his line, ruler here in Japan now that he's moved to the Americas."
"Oh…" Kagome nodded lightly. It shouldn't have been a surprise Sesshomaru would still be alive, if there was anything un-killable it was likely him. It was more shocking that he had grandchildren…she didn't know what to say…
"You shouldn't mention my presence here, demons don't wish to be involved in the politics of humans reaching for powers they can't comprehend." Kazama commented.
"I…can do that…" Kagome nodded to him, he'd come here to help her even if it was late after all. "…Thank you Kazama."
"I'll be sure you repay me sometime." Kazama replied with a light smirk before he faded from view, leaving her to stare at the spot where he'd dematerialized. Demons never ceased to exist…Sesshomaru in the modern era? It was probably for the best they didn't want to delve into human politics, the world would be doomed if the old Demon Lord turned into a villain.
She didn't dwell on that thought long, a concerned looking Jade stopped at the bottom of the steps, there was a spear in one of his hands and he was quickly analyzing the room before moving swiftly toward Kagome. She barely had a moment to smile as reassuringly as she could before he wrapped his arms around her. Despite herself, she found the warmth comforting, and she seemed to remember just what a horrible predicament she was in now that the shock of meeting Sesshomaru's heir had passed.
The moment lasted a little longer than just a relieved friend would be, making it nearly intimate before Jade finally withdrew.
"Are you all right? How do you feel?" Jade was all business when he did pull back, looking her over critically, the way you would expect a doctor to inspect a patient.
"I'm sort of tired and dizzy." Kagome replied honestly. "I…why did Lezard do this…I mean I feel like me and I'm not sick really but ah…I think people will notice."
"I'm not sure…" Jade answered, following Kagome's glance to her actual body as opposed to the one Lezard had placed her in. "…you're actually exceptionally similar. Where is Lezard? This is highly illegal."
"He wasn't here when I woke up." It wasn't a lie really, of course she was leaving out that a demon lord had scared him off. She didn't know Kazama had stabbed him in the heart before his swift exit. "I…just…how could he even do this?"
She knew she was in another body, she had from the moment she woke up. Even if she hadn't known his plans, there was just some sort of instant awareness to it…
"Soul transference is a forbidden magic…" Jade muttered. It only added insult to injury that his own forbidden creation had been added into the mix. Fomicry, the art of creating a perfect copy of anything or person, was something he'd suffered for greatly in the past. Lezard had utilized it to create such a perfect copy of Kagome's body without infusing it with a soul of it's own. Instead he'd somehow transferred hers…and there was no way of knowing what (if any) of the hundreds of side-effects that might manifest with such a risky and uncommon procedure…
"So…can you fix it? Put me back?" Kagome asked. She wasn't in pain but there was just something uncomfortable about not being in her own body that made her skin crawl. "I really would rather deal with my issues in my own body."
"Perhaps he thought transferring your soul would end the spell somehow…" Jade was thinking out loud and his eyes were unfocused as he tried to gather his thoughts. "No…he would have known better…he fooled all of us, he wasn't suppose to have this level of skill. I'll need to contact people in regards to letting them know he is at large. As far as changing you back, I cannot do it without extensive study so at least for a while you'll need to remain in this form."
Kagome nodded slightly, it wasn't a no, at least they were willing to try so that was something. "Thank you…what…should I do in the meantime?"
"You'll need to be watched at all times, even more than before now that we know Lezard is a traitor. I'll have to plan a schedule for it, thankfully we should be on break through the holiday so you won't need to attend school. Make sure you don't go anywhere alone, keep one of your girlfriends with you. After school you'll have to remain in the presence of people as well. I'd like to have your family moved into safe keeping as well since we cannot know who Lezard might target. With that in mind I think until we figure out what's happened to you we should keep you here with the rest of the equipment."
"Oh…" Kagome nodded slightly. Jade was always the pragmatic one…that's why she'd called him. Even if the news was hard to hear it made sense, her life was quickly becoming a prison…unless she picked someone soon, the spell would just keep getting worse until all the people she cared about were at war with each other…
"Hey…" Kagome blushed as gloved fingers pulled her chin up so she was looking into the professor's crimson gaze. "Don't blame yourself Kagome, this all isn't something Lezard developed overnight. He's been pursuing illegal magics for many many years, long before you ever met him. If anything we might have never caught him if it wasn't for you."
Kagome smiled a little, the comfort coming from Jade was still a matter of logic but this time she welcomed it. It was a nice alternative to the fears racing through her mind, she leaned closer and at first she was just going to lean on him but her lips found his instead.
He tasted like the spiced coffee she always saw him drinking in class, perhaps he'd had some at the dance while he was looking after everyone. She blushed as she pulled away, shaking her head.
"I'm sorry…I just…and you…and nice…and I shouldn't." There she went again, kissing her teachers and just being wrong. She shouldn't have let her guard down, Professor Curtiss hadn't even ever shown the slightest interest in her.
"Calm down Kagome…here I was concerned that you weren't at all interested in an old man like me." Jade commented, the smugness in his voice made it clear he wasn't insulted by her action. "If time wasn't of the essence I'd make certain you didn't feel the need to apologize."
Since he'd always been the voice of reason, it was even more surprising he'd make such a comment in a whisper clear of moral intentions. Of course Kagome found herself breathing a little more quickly when he leaned away and pulled out his phone to start making calls. He'd been one of the only ones to break away when she wasn't certain herself and that much made her stare at his back as he chatted with whoever he'd called.
In one day she'd lost one possible suitor in Lezard, she'd certainly never pick him after this violation of her personal rights, but she'd picked up three possible others. Certainly she wouldn't soon forget the intense presence of Sesshomaru's grandchilde, or the heated whisper of yet another of her Professors…then there was the calm collected Kyoya…
Kagome groaned and laid back down in the bed, life was never going to be easy at this rate…she was quickly losing track of how many people in her life were after her hand. How could she ever reasonably pick any of them with a spell constantly tugging at the emotions of all involved? She let out a scream into a pillow…
End Chapter
Ah poor Kagome, new body, down one suitor, up three others…will she ever resolve this? There should be a little more Jade/Kagome next chapter, they didn't get much love with the rest of the plot unfolding this chapter. This however brings us to the end of the dance and first semester. Holidays are coming up, and of course more good times with our ever growing cast. They'll be a class trip eventually as well. This fiction is no where near an end at this time.
-Aura
P.S. Kazama Chikage (From Hakuouki) is called the Demon Lord of the West in the games/anime and I thought he looked enough like Sesshomaru (particularly in his demon form) to reasonably be his grandson.
To my reviewers:
Dierdreaes – Good call on the switch, I'd planned it that way for a bit. Far as Kikyo, unlikely that plot will arise, but who knows this fic doesn't have a planned ending so it could sometime.
Guest – Well not Sesshomaru, his grandson though! Lezard isn't dead but he's out for the count for the time being.
Heartlesslover11 – Ever updating as soon as time/my muse allows.
Kagome-is-kool-2 – Sorry you didn't guess, of your guesses I only know Zero from Vampire Knight. But I already wrote a crossover with him so I likely won't add him into this one.
Herseybarrules – Good/evil are such relative terms. He's awesome! That's what matters!
LovelyLadyMarMar – More Jade moments are coming…he had other things he had to do before that…
Tohru78 – Well he saved her…though not quite at the time she'd like…
Sin of the Fallen – LOL not really my thing…
Kakashixangela – Sorry, most people sadly don't seem to know Kazama, and he's awesome too…
Serenity Dinago – He did, though maybe not in the way people were imagining…
Setsuna uchiha – Lezard is sort of a creeper, but I still like him…
Black Firelight – Negative.