THE HAND THAT ROCKS THE CRADLE
Disclaimer: I do not own Inuyasha or Kagome. These characters belong solely to Rumiko Takahashi and Viz.
Oh,and the SVU characters belong to Dick Wolf's company!
I do however own my own creations.
Chapter 15
Inuyasha stared at the old woman with death in his eyes. He did not appreciate having his family manipulated like this. The old woman looked at him and started laughing,
"You think you can harm me with that thing?", she said amidst her cackling.
Kohana and Kagome stared shocked at the old witch's statement,
'She's not afraid of the Tessaiga?', thought Kagome.
The old woman calmly reached out and grabbed Tessaiga's blade with her gnarly hand as Inuyasha stared in disbelief. As the old woman grabbed the blade, Tessaiga transformed back into its rusty form,
"WHAT?", cried Kagome and Kohana.
'She ...she was able to touch my blade ... and she transformed it back.', thought Inuyasha in disbelief, his eyes wide.
"See, Inuyasha,", the old woman cackled, "I told you you could not harm me with such a blade."
Kagome recovered from her shock and stammered,
"B-b-but how on earth?", she said.
"That blade may have been formed from your father's fang and forged by old Totosai,", she cackled, "But I was the one who infused it with its demonic power!"
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Back in New York,
Kentaro walked up the stairs to his parents apartment. As he walked in the door, he was greeted by his brother,
"So, Kentaro, where have you been?", queried a very interested Yasha.
Kentaro smiled a cat-that-ate-the-canary smile, "Nowhere important."
"Huh uh. So, my guess, by the scent on you, that you were with that lady detective and you actually caught her!", said Yasha.
"Never could get anything by that nose of yours, Aniki."
"So, how was it?", Yasha asked, curiously.
"Fine. Fine. Where's mom and dad?", Kentaro asked, trying to change the subject.
"In Haiti with Kohana - now stop changing the subject. Just fine?"
"Yes. Yes.", answered Kentaro impatiently, "Why are they in Haiti?"
Yasha flopped down on the couch and placed his feet on the coffee table, "Oh alright, you win. Kohana called and said that the voodoo priestess she sought out needed mom and dad to fly down to talk with her about Sousson-Pannan."
"Does she have the answer of how to destroy him?"
Yasha shrugged, "Dunno. I haven't heard from them yet. Dad promised to call as soon as they had word of what to do."
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Back in Haiti,
Inuyasha resheathed Tessaiga and approached the priestess,
"You're telling me that you are the one who gave Tessaiga its powers?", he said, pointing his finger in her face.
"Inuyasha!", admonished his wife, "Be nice."
Inuyasha turned to Kagome, "But, she's a demon!"
"And so are you. Let's hear what she has to say."
Inuyasha crossed his arms and simply said, "HMPH!"
The old lady cackled again,
"Please enter."
Inuyasha looked at Kagome who simply smiled and started following Kohana into the old hovel. Inuyasha growled as the strong incense hit his nose,
"Damn incense."
The old woman sat down near a fire and the three followed suit. Kagome started,
"So you know old Totosai and knew Inuyasha's father?"
"You can say that. This is my 4th reincarnation.", she spoke, looking into the fire.
"Incarnation? I didn't realize that demons were reincarnated.", said Kohana.
"Oh yes, we are. I was a great demon during the reign of the Dog General. I was one of his greatest allies. It was with my assistance that he managed to conquer the lands of the west. And it was my beautiful daughter that he wed."
"Wed?", queried Inuyasha, eyebrows raised, "Sesshoumaru's mother, I presume?"
"Yes."
"So you were a dog demon in your former life?", asked Kagome.
The old woman nodded, "But shortly after my daughter wed the Dog General, joining the two most powerful demon families in all of Japan, I was destroyed by a traitorous comrade."
"So, Lucita,", asked Kohana, "If you died shortly after the wedding of your daughter and my grandfather, how is it you gave Tessaiga its demonic power? Tessaiga was forged to protect my grandmother, Izayoi. That was over 200 years after my Uncle was born."
"Ahhh, child, my second reincarnation. I was a bull demon. I managed to locate Totosai, Myouga and Saya and convinced them of who I was. They led me to your grandfather. By that time, he had taken over the protection of a castle town and fallen for the princess that resided inside. I was angry at first. Dog demons are supposed to mate for life and he was wed to my daughter, a beautiful and strong demoness, and he had a strong son. I could not understand what he saw in this ... this human girl."
At this, Inuyasha "HMPH!" angrily, but the old woman continued, ignoring his outburst,
"I realized he had changed and the human girl had changed him. Before this girl, the Dog General desired only power. But, now he cared about humanity and wanted to see the human world and demon world live together. He had married my daughter because he had to - it was his duty. And he had provided an heir, Sesshoumaru. But, with Izayoi, he was a changed man. He was in love. So, when he commissioned Totosai to forge the sword of the fang, he requested that I fill the sword with demonic power necessary to protect the humans - but mostly to protect Izayoi."
"So Izayoi was the Dog Demon's only true love?", said Kagome, a romantic tone in her voice.
"Yes.", admitted the old woman, "And, Inuyasha, he much anticipated your birth. Before you were born, the General requested that I infuse the sword with the power to hold back your demon blood until you were strong enough to handle the implications of such a power. His ghost had Housenki place the black pearl in your eye to hide Tessaiga. He knew what your life would be like, but he had a strong faith that you would be able to overcome such hardships and prevail."
With that, the old woman fell silent and Kagome clapped her hands together like a little girl, so anxious was she to learn more of Inuyasha's past. Kohana stared at her father lovingly. Inuyasha just stared at the ground, absorbing the woman's words. Finally, he spoke,
"Yea, well, old woman, we didn't come here for family stories. My two pups are lost somewhere, held by an evil Haitian deity and I want to know how to get them back."
"Certainly, Inuyasha.", she said, pulling out a crystal orb. Placing it on a table in front of her, she instructed those present,
"Stare into the orb and you will see what you need to do ..."
As they stared, the orb began to swirl with a blue and pink light. Soon an image appeared. Kagome gasped,
"It's at your father's grave. The time Housenki gave you the Adamant Barrage."
Sure enough, playing out in front of them was the near destruction of Naraku. The old woman started,
"This is when Sousson-Pannan first had designs on you, Kagome. He was present at this event."
Soon, the orb swirled again. Another image appeared. Kagome gasped again,
"This is just before we destroyed Naraku for good."
"Yes, Sousson-Pannan decided he wanted the jewel, but you stood in his way, Kagome. You absorbed the power of the jewel when it disappeared from this world."
Kagome was surprised, "I did?"
"Yes. That is why the Mystics came after you. To protect you. And to teach you how to use your new powers that would begin eminating from you."
"My training in Kusamura.", Kagome spoke softly.
"Yes. And after your training you were out of reach of Sousson-Pannan. Until you were weakened by the white witch."
"That's when this all started.", said Kohana.
"Yes, my child. And now you must end it. Once and for all."
"Finally!", said Inuyasha, annoyed, "That's why we're here, wench! What do we need to do?"