The Black Mirror

Nine

Kagome moaned loudly as she slipped suddenly back into consciousness. She sat up sharply, rubbing her head as a migraine shot through her temples, and she looked about her. It had torches all along the stone walls, casting dim firelight on the ancient runes carved there; it was a lot like the halls in the above level, when she and Inuyasha had been with Sango and the others…Inuyasha! She thought desperately, what happened to me? She thought back, and slowly she remembered it all. She had fallen, and Inuyasha had tried to catch her. But those things, she thought, those spirits stopped him.

'Guess Inuyasha was right,' she said aloud to herself, 'those spirits really did deserve to be there.' She stood up, relieved to find herself able to walk steadily, even though this was the third time she had passed out in the same night, (if she included when she had fallen asleep). She looked around, going to take a torch of the wall, before realising that through the only passage, the only way out of the dead end she was before, the torches were all alight. She shivered, 'someone's been here.' She looked up, there was no ceiling, and she could see the darkness that must be surrounding the glass path. 'I wonder if Inuyasha is still up there,' she wondered aloud, stepping backwards, only to hear a nasty crunch. She flinched at the disgusting noise and turned slowly and hesitantly to see what she had stepped on.

She had to pull her hands over her mouth to stop herself from screaming, there, lying beside her in the dimness, was a decomposing corpse. 'Urgh! Looks like someone is having even worse luck than me,' she muttered, kneeling down before it, and looking at it thoughtfully. 'I wonder if it was you that lit the torches,' she shook her head at the words, 'no, because then who killed you afterwards? And, is it still here?' She reached forward, and touched the skeleton, cringing slightly. 'Still warm?' as she uttered these words, she heard something sweep through the passage behind her, and she turned. There was nothing there. She turned back to the skeleton, and sighed. 'Great Kagome, you're hearing things, you're paranoid, and you're still talking to yourself.' She shook her head, not believing how stupid she was being. She realised then that there were still two arrows left in the warrior's quiver. She pulled them out away from the corpse, putting them in her own quiver, and stood up, turning to the passage behind her.

She shuddered again, not liking the look of it at all, and sensing something lurking in the shadows. But I can't stay here she thought, I have to keep moving, or Kazuya might find me…or maybe something worse than Kazuya. She swallowed her fear, and stepped nervously forward into the passage. She walked faster as she distanced herself even more from the entrance, hearing harsh breathing behind her, along with soft, echoing footsteps, and she wanted to keep moving, and pretend that she hadn't noticed it. Then she stopped, and noticed that she could recognize some of the carvings on the walls. She walked to the wall, forgetting the danger she was in, and ran her fingers over the engravings; they were no longer mysterious, unknown letters, but regular Romaji script. She ignored the harshness of the breathing behind her, and read the words under the dim firelight.

The Temple which the sages built long ago in ancient times,

Once served as a great council centre,

But as the times turned into darker days,

The spirits of the temple grew too strong,

Overwhelming their conquerors as a particularly evil spirit was sealed to the glass path,

The path trembled,

The Temple quaked beneath the evil.

The Sages knew the spirit was restless, as there was one left, who could resurrect them all,

Plunging the world into darkness.

The Sages sought the demonic child,

And as they watched him bring himself into the world,

Burning his mother inside out,

They named him after the fire that burned in the heart of their temple,

The fire that burned brightest blue in their black mirror,

Kazuya…

She widened her eyes, the walls bore Kazuya's story, she traced the engravings with her fingers as she ran up the tunnel a little more, searching for where Sesshomaru had stopped his telling of the story, and she found it.

Kazuya and the human he had come to feel human affections for, Yuna,

Were brought to the Temple itself,

Yuna's spirit, although good, was deemed soiled by her lover, when she refused to denounce their love,

She was damned as punishment of her loyalty to him, never to be resurrected nor reincarnated, just to remain, in the spirit world.

The demon was forced to watch as Yuna was branded with the condemning mark of the Sages,

And be burned alive.

Kagome skipped more of the texts, finding a part that Sesshomaru had not mentioned at all.

The Black Mirror,

The heart of the Temple,

The source of all it's power,

Glowed fiercely,

The Sages knew he would use it to return.

They sealed the Temple,

Banishing it from the face of the earth,

Sealing themselves behind an ancient door in a Temple nearby,

Behind the door that their followers called Sanctuary.

It is said that though Yuna cannot return,

When the balance is broken,

And the sky shatters and trembles with a piercing scream,

She will return and haunt the night before the shattered morning sky,

And guide those with hearts that were as pure as her own,

Find their way…

So that's it, Yuna is supposed to guide those with hearts as pure as her own, help them find their way on the night before the broken sunrise, thought Kagome in her realisation, the wolf that helped me find Inuyasha that night, the one that chased Kazuya from me…Kazuya didn't attack the spirit, didn't fight back because the wolf spirit was Yuna! Suddenly, Kagome heard the ragged, hoarse breathing grow even louder, and the soft footsteps thundered up the passage behind her. She turned, running as fast as she could through the dimness, taking one guess who her pursuer was – Kazuya. She turned suddenly, hearing the footsteps almost upon her, and all within a split second, armed an arrow to her bow, and shot into the darkness, she heard a gasps of pain, though it sounded to her ears inhuman, and she continued running. The firelight grew dim, as she saw faintly, at the end of the passageway, more light. Her heart lightened, and she sped up her pace, her feet barely touching the ground as she dashed towards the opening.

Kagome ran out of the darkness of the forebodingly shadowy passage, and into what she assumed was what was at the centre of this maze of tunnels. The room was almost a perfect circle, and so many tunnels and passages led on from it she feared the others would never find her. The walls were the same stone blocks, but there were intricate carvings on the walls that Kagome only wished she could understand. She stepped further away from the shadows as a chill shot up her spine; she felt something's presence behind her in the dark. As she walked further in, she saw bright fiery torches burning on the walls, and in the centre of the room, a dark pool sat still, steps leading into it from every side; Kagome shivered, she did not like the look of it. She turned to look at each of the tunnels in turn. She had not heard one sound from Inuyasha, nor seen anything of him, or the others for that matter. She felt uneasy being alone here, or at all with this thing after them, they did not even know what he was after.

She hugged herself and rubbed her arms, trying to make the goose bumps she got from this place go away; she knew something was watching her, but whatever it was, she didn't want it to know she was afraid. She tightened her grip on the bow in her hand, and reached sharply behind her for an arrow from the quiver. As she put the last of the arrows to the bow, she spun round to where she sensed the lurking spy. Kagome looked across the dark waters of the pool, she felt its gaze from this direction, but there was nothing there, unless, she thought, it's there, just below the surface. She took a deep breath, and acting against every instinct as a human, followed the few Miko instincts Kikyo unintentionally passed to her, and stepped towards the black pool.

Kagome knew this was a stupid thing to do, but for some reason she was drawn to the pool, no matter how suspiciously calm the water looked, or the dark colour of it, or even the evil aura it gave off. She stopped on the steps of the pool, aiming her bow at the water's surface, the arrow trembling as her whole body shook with fear. Suddenly all she could see before her eyes was Inuyasha's face, and the faces of Shippo and the others. A cold, dreaded feeling rose up in her, she wanted more than anything to see her friends, she felt alone, as if she would never see them again. Then, a terrible thought came to her head, and she dropped the bow to the floor, shaking, as of trying to shake the thought from her mind.

They're not, she thought, 'they're not dead!' Her voice echoed loudly through the room, and even shot through the tunnels and passages; she knew her voice would have awakened anything ancient, dark and evil in the temple, and this did not help her feel better. 'Inu… Inuyasha?' She felt so afraid, she knew Kazuya and even worse, were somewhere in the temple, and she was alone, and defenceless, she was in trouble.

Suddenly, a voice she knew all too well came softly to her ears.

'Don't worry Kagome; he shouldn't come here while my power protects this place.' Kagome stood up strong as she heard this voice, the voice of one she hated so much, of her soul's former body, Kikyo. Kagome looked up above her, and floating above the water in mid air, was Kikyo herself, her long raven hair over her shoulders, dark hazel eyes like Kagome's staring down at her, and the same blank, emotionless expression on her pale face.

'And what are you doing here?' Kagome asked irritably, as she would rather walk back unprotected into the shadowy passage than face this woman.

'I watched Inuyasha and you come here with those others,' her eyes almost exact to Kagome's were it not for the coldness and emptiness in them, looked deep down into the eyes of her reincarnation. ''I entered, sensed where the true power was, and presumed wherever the power was Inuyasha would be headed for. I guessed correct, don't you think I know him so well?' Kagome looked away from Kikyo, knowing she was only taunting her, wanting her to make a move; it worked, Kagome was furious with her. She picked up the bow, put the arrow to it once more, but with a steady hand this time, and aimed it at Kikyo.

A small grin spread over Kikyo's face, and Kagome glared at her confidence, (though it was probably well placed). 'You won't kill me Kagome. You did not save my life to take it away, did you?' Her voice was as cold as her gaze was, and just as confident.

'I saved you because of Inuyasha, because I know he would be sad if you died.'

'But how can you live with that Kagome? How can you care about him when he would once have shared a human life with me, and does not even ponder the prospect of one with you? And that's all he'll ever see.' Kagome sneered. 'Dont you see how everytime he looks at you, touches you, kisses you, speaks to you, he is only seeing me? How can you love him even though he doesn't see you at all?' Kagome lowered her bow.

'You know the answer to that question, because I love him enough that…I don't have to answer you.' The priestess stared dangerously down at the girl, but Kagome was not in the least afraid. 'But I am not afraid of you Kikyo, not how you want me to be.'

'How is it you are so sure about me Kagome? Did it ever occur to you that taking Inuyasha from you isn't the thing that I could do to you, that would hurt the most?'

'That's not true, because you and me, we love the same thing. That's what gives you most power over me. Not strength, and not magic…' Kagome felt sorrow more than anything else now, but that was not even allowed to settle in her, as something else happened…

The temple shook violently as if an earthquake were happening beneath their feet, and the black waters of the pool rose up angrily, stopping just beneath Kikyo, who looked just as horrified as Kagome. But the water ignored Kikyo, and reared terrifyingly into a gigantic whirlpool before Kagome's eyes. As Kagome stood, paralysed with fear at the monstrosity, a hand of water, though more solid than rock launched at her, wrapped itself around her ankles and pulled her into the water. It released her as she hit the icy pool, but the current in the once calm waters was so strong, she only was able to have enough strength to fight the waves once to reach the surface, and even this was brief. She threw her head above the water and screamed at the top of her lungs, her voice desperate with fear. 'INUYASHA!' Then as she screamed, the water dragged her under again, and she took a mouthful of the nasty substance. She was exhausted, and she could not fight anymore; her body felt heavy, and she sank down in the bottomless pool.

Kikyo looked down at Kagome as she disappeared completely from her view, and still hating the girl with every breath she drew, leapt into the icy waters below to help her. Kikyo knew the loss Inuyasha would have in losing Kagome, would surpass by far the loss of herself, and even though she was not the same person she used to be, she loved Inuyasha, and did not want him to feel like that. She dove deeper and deeper, until as her pale hand groped in the darkness of the pool, it touched Kagome's, and she grabbed the girl's wrist roughly, dragging her upwards towards the surface. She surfaced with Kagome's arm round her shoulder, the girl gasping for air as they did so. The current still raged on, and she could not get to the edge of the pool; they were trapped.

Inuyasha dashed desperately through the dark passage, and into the room with the pool. He saw the whirlpool raging violently in the water, but saw then the two women trying to stay surfaced within its rage.

'Kagome!' Inuyasha's voice sounded loud above everything else, and Kagome looked up to see him, her heart lightening.

'Inuyasha?' Her voice was weak, but her heart felt strong, it felt warm and light, and she was sure she was glowing inside; until she realised, she was glowing on the outside. A radiant pink light shone from her, and it shocked Kikyo, and flung her against the side of the pool. With nothing to keep her afloat, Kagome sunk back down again, and disappeared from the surface. Inuyasha ran to the water's edge, fear building in him as Kagome disappeared.

'Kagome?' Then the whirlpool raged around him, and dragged him inside its tornado like twist. Kikyo was caught inside it with him, and he looked up at her his eyes hurting from the spinning. 'Kikyo, take my hand!' But as the words sounded from his mouth, the whirlpool flung her from it, and against the far wall of the room, and Inuyasha dropped onto the stone steps, nearly unconscious as the tornado died. Kagome felt hard stone finally beneath her feet as the water calmed, and she kicked off hard from the ground, swimming swiftly to the surface, desperate for air.

As Kagome surfaced she took in many deep breaths before her breathing stabilised; Inuyasha slid nearly passed out into the water down the steps, but Kagome did not see him. Suddenly, Inuyasha's black hair turned silver once more along with his dog-ears, his hanyou claws returned and his deep brown eyes shimmered back to gold, giving him the small amount of energy he needed to swim to Kagome's side, though that was all he got, he was exhausted. Kagome smiled as she saw him coming towards her, he tried to keep himself upright as he reached her, but he was too weak and wounded from the night's many battles, and fell back in the water. Kagome leapt forward and pulled him back up, wrapping her arms tightly round him, determined not to let him go. Inuyasha coughed as she pulled him up, the black water foul to his mouth, and he breathed deeply in exhaustion, and rested his head unintentionally and naively on Kagome's chest.

Kagome's face light up bright red, but she held him all the same, finding comfort in his embrace.

'Inuyasha? Are you okay?' Her voice was shaking as she shivered from the cold, but Inuyasha did not reply. His eyes were closed and his breathing was light; Kagome almost thought that maybe he had gone to sleep. 'Inuyasha, you're going to have to help me get you out of the water.' Inuyasha opened his eyes weakly and nodded slightly. She pulled his arm round her shoulder, supporting his weight as he crawled up the steps. Inuyasha threw himself onto the ground as he left the water, and he laid flat on his back; he felt so tired he felt he would never be able to move again. Kagome knelt at his side, looking down into his golden eyes dotingly, and worry shining within them.

'You'll have to wait for me a moment Kagome,' he said quietly, finding that just saying her name gave him comfort, 'I think the water did something to me.' Kagome smiled and nodded in reply, finding this place not so terrible with him beside her. He closed his eyes, trying to gather strength, and she rested her hand next to his cheek, stroking it softly, and in doing so moving the wet hair away from his face. She ran her fingers along the cut on his forehead from where he had landed on the stone steps; she leapt nearly out of her skin as Inuyasha grabbed her wrist. 'Leave it; I'll be okay as soon as I can stand up again. My head just fucking hurts…' He let go of her wrist, and gazed contently up at her, as she slid her hand into his, which lay on his chest. A wave of emotion spread over them both, and Kagome leant down towards Inuyasha; they both closed their eyes as their faces drew closer to each other. Inuyasha lifted his head slightly to meet her; she felt his warm breath on her face as she moved in to kiss him. But her lips barely skimmed his when a violent coughing came from the corner, and they both shot up from their state, and remembered Kikyo as they saw her, lying in the corner, blood spurting from her mouth as she coughed.

Kikyo was lying face down on the ground, lifting her head, and coughing blood over the ground. Kagome knelt beside Inuyasha, not looking at him, knowing what Inuyasha's eyes would silently ask her if she met them, and knowing she could not refuse him if he asked. She felt kind of queasy after being nearly drowned, but had been so concerned with Inuyasha before she hadn't realised until now. She held her hand over her face, feeling really dizzy and hot, but what was worse, she had a feeling that someone was watching her, from the depths of the pool, but dared not speak her fears aloud.

TBC

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A/N: What ya think? I like this chapter. The black pool thing was actually my favourite idea, and this was actually the first chapter I wrote of this fic, everything else was developed around it. Any-who, read and review loyal readers, and you shall be rewarded with another, better chapter.

Luv

Shigure

x chuu x