Disclaimer: You know, after this long, I'm starting to wonder if I should even still have claim to this story...:sigh:
Please don't kill me. it's been a very long and tiring few months, and, while I haave a good reason for my prolonged absense, I don't much feel like going into the details at the moment. Still a bit too fresh in my mind to go blabbing out to my readers. Suffice to say...I did some soul searching. It was a painful journey, but here I am, back to my story. I only just remembered that I left you guys with the knowledge that I was in the path of the hurricane, and it was thoughtless and rude of me to not let everyone know that I was okay and that the story would continue on at some point. Please...forgive me?
Well...this chapter is a bit short and vague, but we're getting back into the heavier stuff next chapter, so bear with me for now.
ladyofcamlann: Thanks for reading and reviewing.
inu'sdarkangel89: Yeah, I've got a three-year-old son, who's quite a handful. His current favorit pastime is waking up before us and getting into whatever he can, including the ferret's food (which he then dumps into the ferret's cage) and the refridgerator (which he likes to leave open). Ah well, what can I do except love him? Thanks again for reviewing!
Silver Rain Drops: I always seem to find a bit of pity for villians, since something always has to make them the way they are. Next to no one is born pure evil. Thanks again!
Raithya: Once again, you give me my longest reviews.:) I'm not sure what all this chapter will answer for you, but I will put your mind at least a bit at ease in the fact that Kallos will be living. I've had a few special requests for the next chapter anyways, and Christmas is the season of miracles, so who knows? Thanks for reading!
darkangelprincess24: Nah, I wouldn't kill her, because then my story would die too.
Fading Memories: Thank you muchly! I try to keep everything original, and it's good to know that I'm succeeding, at least to some degree. :)
YuniX-2: Plot twists and cliffhangers are my buddies. :)
Nebacanezzar: Thankie for reviewing, Nebbers, and thanks for sticking with me through all this. Everyone say hi to Kallos's creator!
mizushoubai: DAMNED good review! Thankie kindly. :)
Ezekial Daemo: :hugs: I'm trying, babe, I really am.
hector rivas: Finish? I'm not sure. Work on it? Hopefully a lot more. I don't plan on having such a long break between chapters again, and I apologise again for making you wait. v.v
Chapter Eighteen – Mistletoe and Betrayal
Christmas had blindsided most of the students this year, as they woke up to find the hallways of the school covered in garlands and holly, as well as the quartet of decorated trees in the corners of the dining room. To many of the occupants of the castle, it was the picture of merriness and festivity, reminding them all that old Saint Nick would be visiting in just five days, but to those select few, it proved that time was slowly running out.
Kagome wandered the halls after dinner, her mind running over the information Caligo had passed on at breakfast. Frankly, she had been startled as the albino feline came barreling through the breakfast hall not a full day after Kallos had been put into a coma, but the news she carried had completely floored her. She had made it through the rest of the day in pure shock, and while she knew she had worried at least a few of her teachers, she couldn't bring herself to tell them the information she carried.
Somehow, if she said it out loud, it would make it real. And Kagome wanted nothing more than to wake up to find the whole thing was a dream.
But now, all alone in the festive hallways of the school, she found she could believe it just a little more, and she did nothing to stop the tears that were flowing steadily down her face. Her sister had made a choice, to either kill her twin or her mother would die. The nerve of him! How dare he do this!
She paused at a bay window and sat down, leaning her head against the chilled glass. The hollow feeling that had gotten her though the day had completely vanished, leaving her mind in a frenzy. But all the thinking and rationalizing and plotting was getting her nowhere, as the cold reality just kept coming back to center stage in her mind, demanding that it be known and accepted for what it was.
The tears began to flow faster, and still she did nothing to stop them.
"One week…" She mumbled to herself, watching as her breath misted against the cool window, fogging around the trail her tears had left. "I have one week to figure this out and save myself…" Her eyes drifted closed as her body slumped on the window seat. "I need help."
In the days before Christmas, the conspiracy against the headmaster met at every available minute in Kallos's room, knowing it to be one of the few places they would be safe from prying eyes and wondering minds. After all, it was the holiday season, and who wouldn't want to visit with a sick friend at every possible moment in this time of goodwill towards your fellows? And that's what the rest of the student body was told, that Kallos had suffered some injury by doing something foolhardy, though the details were fuzzy at best, and thus caused all sorts of rumors. Some claimed he had a suicidal streak and had flung himself from the bell tower. Others said it was simply a riding accident.
No one attempted to stop the rumors.
And still, the conspiracy had no idea of how to stop Kikyo from fulfilling her mission, save for guarding Kagome at all hours of the day and night. It was both unnerving and comforting at the same time, always to have a friend close at hand, but knowing that they were trying to protect her from being killed by her only sister.
Kikyo saw this, and was both afraid and a bit more determined, still remembering the day when she had promised herself that Kagome would pay. But her will was tainted with pity and a bit of pride that her sister could still make friends, even after such a long time bedridden. Within herself, Kikyo found her younger, more naïve side constantly at war with the power she had found and unleashed against her sister, each pulling and twisting her around until she simply shut them all down and walked about the halls with a distant, cold look in her eyes. It worried her sister's friends at least, and she took a bit of confidence from that fact.
Naraku saw the band Kagome had formed around herself, and hated her all the more for it. To him, it simply meant that his army was shrinking and becoming divided. Even that blasted cat, who he had tried to kill so many times before, was still alive and breathing in the infirmary, the one place he could not reach because of the many wards and barriers put up by the old miko. He hated the fact that he logically could not show his true form for long in the school, lest all the full demons in the place band together and slay him for his deeds. He knew they could smell him, though he had tainted and altered his scent to be more like a human's, but if he shed his exterior façade before the time was right, he would lose everything he had worked for. And so he was forced to sit in half-hiding, waiting for the time when Kikyo would strike down her sister, and he would provide justice for the fallen girl by "banishing" her sister, but in reality keeping her locked away in a special chamber which he had prepared long ago, hiding her away until it was time…
Christmas Eve was dark and cold, with yet another blizzard blowing through the school grounds. But inside, the mood was happy as the students milled about the ballroom, some decorating the large Christmas tree that stood before the circular window, others wrapping presents, still others putting the finishing touches on the walls, all in preparation for the party that night. Even Sesshoumaru had been seen with Rin on his shoulder, helping her hang up a generous sprig of mistletoe off the front of the balcony.
Kagome watched the scene from a corner, a slight smile on her face at the different interactions going on between her classmates and teachers. She was, for once, visibly alone as she wrapped a few gifts, having shooed Inuyasha and Kouga off so they wouldn't peek at their presents. Yet she took comfort in the fact that the large room still held everyone in the school, and that if she needed them, she had simply to call for her friends and they'd be at her side in an instant.
So it was with a happy sigh that she finished off the last present in her moderate pile and stood, stooping again to gather the brightly wrapped packages in her arms. She wandered slowly over to the large tree, gaze roaming over the decorations that seemed to be nearing completion. It wasn't until she unceremoniously ran into someone that her gaze snapped back to the front, where her eyes widened in fear at what she saw.
Kikyo stood before her, in all her calm, cold glory, holding one simply wrapped package in her slim hands. Kagome stumbled back a pace and cast her gaze to the floor in an effort to calm her now racing heart, but everything stopped dead when an all too familiar voice rang through the hall.
"Alright now, children, I think it's about time to get back to your rooms and prepare for tonight's masquerade." The Headmaster's voice had lost none of its commanding quality during the months they had been at school, and everyone moved to obey without question. Kagome skirted around Kikyo and scurried off to deposit her gifts under the tree before striding as quickly out of the room as she could, smiling as Inuyasha and Kouga once again assumed their places at her sides.
But she was well aware of the two gazes that were boring into her back, and a sudden feeling that the peace of tonight wouldn't last ran through her body, leaving her chilled despite the two warm bodies pressed to her sides.