Demon Fire
"What just happened?" Yuka asked as she stepped towards Kagome.
Kagome sighed and turned away from the barrier to face her friends. "I thought that maybe I could break through the barrier with one of my arrows. Apparently I was wrong."
"I think what Yuka was asking," Eri clarified as she moved to join them, "Is what just happened to your arrow?"
"Yeah," Ayumi exclaimed as she gathered with the rest of her friends. "How did you make it glow all pretty like that?"
"Well…you see…I…"
"Spit it out Kagome!" Yuka urged. "And don't forget to include what the hell you're talking about when you say that there was a barrier blocking the way!"
"Just give me a minute, for crying out loud! I'm not used to doing this." Kagome sighed as she began sorting through her thoughts and tried to come up with a way to tell her friends of her abilities without sounding like she belonged in the loony bin. Eventually, she found the words. "Alright guys, this is the basic rundown. I am a miko. Not just because I live in and tend to a shrine, but because I was born with unique spiritual powers that allow me certain abilities. The arrow you saw was the sacred arrow of a priestess, a tactic I have used often while fighting against demons and dark spirits…just like what is keeping us here now. There is a youkai on the upper levels of this house. I sensed it earlier, but it isn't very large or threatening. I have no idea what is in those shadows, but if the child's voice we heard was any indication, I would guess that it is some sort of restless spirit."
"WHAT?!" Yuka hollered in disbelief. "What a load of crap! Kagome, this is not the time to be spouting nonsense!"
"Oh, shut up Yuka!" Kagome yelled. She was at the end of her pertinence for Yuka's disbelief and full-out stupidity. "You dragged us all into this death-trap despite the warnings given out to you by all of us! You charged right into the dangers of this place without a second thought, and now that it has turned around to bite you in the ass you're trying to set the blame somewhere else! Well I've had it! I'm telling you the truth, and right now there is no one else that is going to be able to get you out of this mess but me! So why don't you just keep your mouth shut and listen for a change?!"
Kagome panted heavily after her angry outburst and stood toe to toe with Yuka, daring her to say anything to the contrary. Her anger was so palatably thick, that the air around her crackled with the turbulent energy of her restless powers, and even Yuka, with only her basic instincts to serve her in warning, could feel the danger of going against her friend now.
"Kagome?" Ayumi steeped up beside her friend and tentatively rested her hand on Kagome shoulder. She smiled when Kagome seemed to calm, and the restless air around her quieted. "What do we do now?"
Kagome sighed as she looked around at the dark house keeping her friends prisoner. There was only one way she knew of to break down a barrier strong enough to withstand her arrows that didn't involve killing the demon responsible for creating the barrier in the fist place, but since Inuyasha was nowhere around and she highly doubted she would be able to go get him and return in time to help her friends; she was left with only one option.
"We have to find the demon responsible for this barrier and kill it."
"Oh, please," Yuka huffed in aggravation. "I know you, Kagome, and you couldn't even kill a fly! So how do you plan on taking down a demon? If there really is such a thing."
"You really think you know me, Yuka?" Kagome snapped. "Now you're the one that spouting nonsense. If you knew me so well, you would know that in the past year I have only been sick one day. The rest of the time I've just been pretending so that I could leave my home, my family, my friends, and my life behind to travel in a world full of perils you couldn't even dream of and to hunt down creatures darker than the ones you like to tell stories about! You know nothing about what has happened to me in the past year! You know nothing of the ways I have been irreparably changed! You know nothing of my life behind the barriers of magic and deceit!"
Kagome turned away from Yuka to face Eri and Ayumi.
"The only way I can keep you safe is if you trust me enough to let me lead you out of this terror. I know what we're up against. I've confronted darkness and evil before and I will do so again. I will do everything that I can to ensure that all of you are kept safe, but I can not do that if you can not trust me."
"I believe you, Kagome," Ayumi said softly. "And I believe that you will find the way out of this."
"Thank you, Ayumi." Kagome sighed in slight relief before she turned to Eri.
Eri fidgeted nervously for a moment. She could see the look Yuka was giving her, and it was a look that told her she would be out one friend once this was all over if she went along with Kagome. But she also realized that in order for that to happen, she would have to make it out of this alive; and she was certain that the only way that was going to happen was if she listened to Kagome.
"Me too," Eri finally answered. "I'll go with you Kagome."
Kagome allowed herself a slight smile before she turned back to Yuka. "We need to stick together if we're going to get through this," she told her. "Please, please just try to understand that I'm only trying to help you all."
"Yeah, well you might have saved yourself the trouble if you had told us about this before. You lied to us, Kagome. You're lying to us still. I will never trust you again."
"I deserve that," Kagome agreed sadly. "But right now is not the time for sorting out lies; we have a demon to find."
The thought of actually seeing a demon (even if it still was a possibility in her mind that no such thing existed) and fighting it to its death; filled Yuka with dark anticipation. Even though she was still angry that Eri and Ayumi had turned on her to go along with Kagome, she was beginning to se an up-side to Kagome's plan as well.
"Alright," Yuka relented to her friends. "I'll go, but only to make sure you don't make more trouble for yourselves."
Kagome turned quickly to hide the fact that she was rolling her eyes at Yuka's stubborn display, and made her way towards the stairs.
"I know there's a youkai upstairs somewhere." She called back over shoulder. "It should be able to give us some answers about what exactly is going on here. Hopefully I'm right in thinking it won't be much of a threat, but just to be safe, everyone stay close together."
Yuka, Eri, and Ayumi fell in behind Kagome as she made her way towards the grand staircase. They took turns shining the bright beams of their flashlights into the deep shadows of the great hall around them. The longer they spent in this dark place, the more justifiably wary they were becoming of what lay lurking in the shadows. But the dark corners of the room lay empty when exposed to the light, almost as though what hid in the shadows feared the light, shying away from it to steal back into the darkness.
They began their assent up the grand staircase, every step upon the aged structure cautious and deliberate to avoid any more rotted planks or hidden traps. The wooden planks beneath their feet creaked and groaned loudly in protest of such use after so many long years of neglect, but it had been crafted well, and despite its age and wear, the staircase held.
Upon reaching the landing above, Kagome paused to wait for her friends and to decide which direction to go. The hallway stretched out in two directions from the top of the stairs. Both left and right corridors were submersed in heavy darkness that could not be penetrated by the beam of her flashlight, and each was only distinguished by caved arches of worn marble, each bearing a different crest at its peak. To the left, the mark was that of a rising sun; and to the right, a crescent moon.
"Would you look at that."
Kagome was brought out of her indecision by Eri's awed voice. She turned her attention to where Eri was directing her flashlight, finding there a massive portrait hanging on the wall which was bracketed by an elaborate frame of gilded gold. The portrait was covered in a thick layer of dust, but even so, some of the color bled through the haze.
A massive creature of brilliant white stood proudly amidst a hoard of dark and tangled bodies. The dark ones were climbing up the legs of the great beast, struggling to bring it down with both sharp and blunt objects, but the great beast paid them no heed. The crimson eyes of the creature looked off into the distance, its sight set to the top corner of the portrait where the eye of hell burned within its fiery prison, consumed with its hatred for the great beast.
"What is it?" Ayumi asked as she stepped closer to examine the art.
"This is the final battle of the terrible wars of World Conquest." Kagome replied. "The painting depicts the mighty Taiyoukai Lord, Inu no Taisho, as he confronted the evil blade of the underworld, So'unga."
"Why would someone want something so hideous hanging in plain sight?" Yuka asked as she lifted her lip in disgust.
"I…I don't know," Kagome replied hesitantly as she tried to force down the thoughts nagging at her which whispered that perhaps she knew more than she was willing to admit. She turned away from the portrait and cast the beam of her flashlight down the corridor to the right; the passage marked by the crescent moon. "I think this way is the best place to start," she told her friends before she started down the hall.
The other girls fell in behind Kagome, and together they made their way though the darkness. The hallway was thankfully free of the debris littering the corridors below, making movement here easier. Still, the girls proceeded with caution, since with every step the boards beneath their feet groaned in protest. They came to many rooms as they traveled the hallway, but Kagome passed by each door without pause.
"Kagome," Yuka had finally gotten tired of being led without explanation. "I thought we were looking for a youkai. How are we supposed to find it if we aren't looking in any of the rooms?"
Kagome cast an annoyed glance over her shoulder to Yuka before responding. "This place is an old mansion. If you were the only thing living here, would you want to stay in a guest room or in a servant's quarters? The answer is no. I'm looking for the master bedroom. It should be at the end of this hallway…There!"
In front of them, the hall finally came to an end. The light from their flashlights hit a double-door of solid wood in which was carved the same symbol as the one adorning the arch leading here: the crescent moon. Kagome edged forward carefully, her friends bunched tightly behind her in suspense. When it was within her reach, Kagome stretched out her hand and pushed against one of the panels. But the door did not budge.
"Is it locked?" Ayumi asked as she peered over Kagome's shoulder.
"I don't think so," Kagome responded as she leaned more of her weight against the door. "I think it's just stuck."
She pulled back slightly then plunged forward with her shoulder, jamming it into the wood. The old wood of the doors groaned and complained under her weight, but still they did not give way. Kagome cursed under her breath at the door's stupidness, but a hand on her shoulder made her look back. Yuka stood at her side, gesturing for her to clear some room. Kagome smiled and moved over to give Yuka space. Then, together, Kagome and Yuka pulled back from the door and threw their full weight against it.
The door buckled under then, ripping away from its hinges and crashing to the floor, bringing the two girls with it in its path. Kagome and Yuka both groaned as the pulled themselves up from the dusty ground, but after a shake of the head to clear away some dizziness and a dusting of their clothes to rid themselves of the new layer of dust; they were no worse for the wear.
"So what are we supposed to be looking for?" Eri asked as she stepped around the broken wood of the door and entered the room.
"I don't really know," Kagome answered her. "Look for anything that doesn't fit in with the rest, something that might tell us more about this house, or if there is something else living here."
The girls spread out into the large room, each searching for some sign to lead then further in their search.
Yuka had taken to searching through the dressing tables. She didn't find anything not fitting in with the décor, and there was nothing that hadn't been covered in a thick layer of dust. The old brushes had long since had their bristles rotted away, the mirrors were blackened with age, and there was nothing that would be able to tell anything about who had lived here or what had become of them. She did, however, find a wide array of jeweled rings and chains, all fitted for a man. The items were gorgeous and priceless, and she wasn't about to let this whole trip be a waste, so she grabbed a handful of the jewelry and stuffed it into her bag.
On the other side of the room, Kagome stood in front of a large armoire. She traced her hand delicately over a beautiful carving of a great dog as her mind filled with images of flashing silver hair and fiercely golden eyes. She didn't want to open the doors. She feared that if she did, that she would find something that would shake away the doubts of who or what had been the master of this grand estate.
"Kagome?" Ayumi came up to her side and set a supportive hand upon her shoulder. "Is something the matter?"
"Ayumi," Kagome began hesitantly, "Would you think I was crazy if I told you I might know who the Lord of this place was?"
"I wouldn't think you were crazy," Ayumi stated matter-of-factly. "You seem to know a lot more that any of us about all of this. It wouldn't be so surprising if you had learned about this lord the same way that you did about that battle depicted in the hallway."
"That's just it," Kagome sighed, her voice dropping into a whisper. "I didn't read about that battle and I didn't hear it as an old story from the shine. I know about Inu no Taisho because I have met the sons of the great demon Lord. I'm afraid, Ayumi. I'm afraid that I'm going to open this door and find out that someone I believed to be almost invincible died in this place of a horrible and painful death."
Though Ayumi couldn't understand how it could be possible for Kagome to know a man that had obviously died so very long ago, she could understand the pain in her friend's voice. "It'll be ok, Kagome," she soothed. "We'll get through this together. I promise."
Kagome smiled wearily at her friend. Ayumi didn't understand, she knew, but still she was willing to be here with her, still she was willing to support her in her moment of need. She shook her head slightly to clear away her broken thoughts, then reached forward and opened the doors of the armoire. But what she saw did nothing to support her fears or to ease them. The armoire was empty, it contents lying at the bottom in useless ruins of eroded silk.
- CLUNK….tick, tick, tick…..sssqqqqquuuuueeeeeaaaakkkkkk…….BANG!!!!!! -
- "AAAAAHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!" -
Kagome and Ayumi spun around, but in the place where the scram had come from, there was nothing but for the old fireplace. Kagome looked around the room frantically to take count of her friends. Ayumi was by her side, Yuka was on the other side of the room by the dressing table doing the same thing as she, and Eri…
"ERI!" Kagome cried in terror as she raced over to the fireplace.
- "KAGOME!" -
Eri's muffled voice sounded out from the other side of the wall, making Kagome sigh in relief.
"What happened?"
- "I don't know! I was just looking at the things on the mantle and then there was this noise and…well…now I'm here…wherever here is." -
"Well just hang on, we'll find a way to get you out of there."
Kagome looked back to Yuka and Ayumi and gestured them to help her search for the hidden trigger that had been spring to trap their friend on the other side of the wall. They all worked at moving the dozens of unusual items in their search, but after several minutes of searching, still they found nothing.
- THUD….scccrrrape…THUD…scccrrrape… -
- "Who…who's there?" -
"ERI!" Kagome screamed though the wall. "You've got to get out of there! The demon! It's coming towards you!"
- THUD….scccrrrape…THUD…scccrrrape… -
- "You…you stop…stop right there!" -
"ERI!"
- THUD….scccrrrape…THUD…scccrrrape… -
- "NO! Stay back!" -
"ERI! Get out of there!"
- THUD…THUD…THUD -
- "AAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!!!!" -
"ERI!!!!!!"
Kagome, along with Yuka and Ayumi were thrown back from the wall when they were hit with a tremendous wave of scorching heat.
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
I'll get you my pretty; and your little dog too!
Mwahahahahahahaha
Shadows cast upon the heart become the darkness in the soul.
Disclaimer: Unfortunately my imagination only goes so far as to create plotlines not characters. I don't own any of them.