Disclaimer: You should know this by now.
Eheheh...yeah, I kinda disappeared there. Yes, I'm a very naughty author. slaps own wrist Hopefully...this will make up for at least part of my long absence. If not...well, hopefully I'll be updating more frequently.
Thank you to everyone who's reviewed! . YOU ROCK!
Chapter Twenty-two - Mitternacht
It was cold and dark again, the mists of the Blight trailing over her prone body, carving their little threats and promises into her soul. She shuddered involuntarily at the sensation, but something seemed wholly different about this time. She could move her fingers and toes, could turn her head...and a thin sheet was covering her body. Sudden movement to her right caught Kagome's attention, and with some difficulty, she turned to look.
There was a young girl sitting on a rotting log, her body seeming to glow amongst the gloom of the Blight. She wore a simple white dress and had left her long reddish hair to fall as it pleased. Though she could feel the mists blowing, the girl never moved, not a hair ruffled from it's place.
"Hello, Kagome." She spoke clearly, quietly, and the mists seemed to shrink back from her. "Though I'm certain you are well accustomed to this place, you have nothing to fear from me. His plan didn't work, and I have come to you instead of the one he intended." Her hands came to fold in her lap as she studied the dark-haired girl for a moment. "He fears you, though he has not put such feelings into words. Doing so, he thinks, will make you all the more powerful. That is why he sent these others to weaken you and make you vunerable, as he has been doing the same with your sister." The girl seemed to sigh, her gaze wandering off across the Blight. Kagome struggled to speak, to ask questions of the girl, but though her lips moved slightly, her throat wouldn't cooperate.
Noticing Kagome's troubles, the girl turned back to her. "Don't worry, all will be answered eventually." She glanced upward suddenly, her outline wavering. "The white-haired one is approaching. I shall tell him what I am able."
The silence was oppressive, broken only by the thin slapping of bare feet on hard wood. Whatever light had been coming from the stained glass window blotted out suddenly, but whether from a cloud or something else, Inuyasha didn't care to check. Something suddenly shone out of the darkness to his right, and he skidded to a halt, eyes wide and staring. Kallos was on his side, his mask off and eyes glazed over. A few feet away lay Kagome, her mask also removed and her face even paler that normal. A girl stood between them, watching him, her hands clasped behind her back. Though the corners of her mouth didn't raise or lower, he got the feeling she was smiling nonetheless.
"Hello, Inuyasha." Her voice carried across the blank darkness between them, making the silence seem just a little friendlier. "I do not have long, but you have nothing to fear from me." She glanced to Kallos briefly before shaking her head. "This one was to be Kagome's undoing. He was to be possessed by Naraku's third spirit and he was to take Kagome from this place. As you can see, he has failed. Your friend is not possessed, and Kagome will suffer no ill from the meeting." Inuyasha breathed a sigh of relief and made to sheathe Tetsusaiga, but the glowing girl held up a hand. "Your troubles are not over, Inuyasha. Once she puts the pale one out of the battle, that other will be back to finish the job. This one," she gestured to Kallos, "is in no immediate danger, but you must get Kagome away from here. She is –"
"The hell? I won't leave him to get killed off!" The hanyou exploded, pointing his sword at the girl, who had the decency to look properly taken aback. "The 'pale one', as you say, is my friend, and if you think I'm just gonna stand here and let them both die just so me and Kagome can get away, you're dead wrong. Damn cats would probably haunt me anyways." He trailed off into a grumble, finally turning back to glance at the wan light coming from the room's only window. The cloud had passed, and there was no sign of Caligo or her attacker. Turning back to the girl, he was surprised to find her actually smiling.
"Very well then. I shall do what I can to wake this one up. The least he can do is carry Kagome for you. Keep guard, hm?" With that, she turned to Kallos and held her hands over his face. Inuyasha watched in fascination for a moment before the girl gave him a very pointed look that reminded him of just what he was supposed to be doing. With a slightly sheepish nod, he turned to stare across the blank expanse of the ballroom, his sword held at the ready.
Almost ten minutes passed before the silence was broken, but it wasn't the girl's voice, or the raspy breathing of the unknown attacker. The huge clock in the entrance hall began chiming its hour. At five, Kallos was sputtering and coughing, apparently trying to scramble away from the girl in shock. At eight, she was assuring him, urging him to take Kagome and leave. At ten, Inuyasha was turning to yell at him.
At eleven, Tetsusaiga was knocked out of his hands by the same black-cloaked figure. The sword returned to its rusty state as it clattered across the floor and into the far wall. Cursing under his breath, the hanyou jumped backwards, landing a few feet from Kagome's prone form. The light the girl gave was enough to throw the cloaked figure into sharp relief, picking out the well-built body and the barest hint of breasts that were obviously bound to hide her identity. She skirted the edge of the ring of light, her breath harsh and grating from behind her over-large fencing hood.
At twelve, she jumped, and Inuyasha leapt to meet her, claws and metal flashing. They struck at each other again and again, each one keeping even pace with the other. Neither spoke as they darted and attacked, nor did their spectators say a word. Kallos had finally gotten to his feet and gathered up Kagome and moved to stand behind the glowing girl.
'There's something wrong with her legs.' Came a sudden thought to the tall neko as he watched the two. The cloaked figure's movements were slowing, an odd stiffness seeming to contort her lower body. At the same time, her torso seemed to be lengthening, her arms thickening. Her breathing was louder than ever as she fought off Inuyasha with increasing difficulty, her swipes and strides becoming more frantic.
It was over almost faster than Kallos could register, though it was his own fault. The figure had jumped backwards and landed with one foot on the mask he'd left on the floor. A high-pitched, whining cry issued from behind the mask as she fell, Inuyasha leaping at the chance to end the fight quickly. His hand came across badly, his claws ripping through the metal mesh of the mask's face and through the cheek of the girl underneath. She hit the ground hard and scuttled backwards as best she could, keeping her face down, but Inuyasha followed, his claws now dripping. She ducked away as he reached down and grabbed what remained of the mask, but there was no mistaking the untidy mop of blue hair that appeared.
"…You?" The hanyou stumbled to a halt, staring at his classmate. The seemingly timid Lynx now stared up at him with a strange blankness in her green eyes. She was smiling, he realized, but something wasn't right. She backed up again, finally hitting the wall before struggling to her feet and clicking on the light with her outstretched arm. He was blinded for a moment, but she made no further move to attack.
She simply regarded him. "Aren't you going to kill me, Inuyasha?" Her voice was even worse without the hood, the streams of blood from her cheek spilling down her lips and chin as she tilted her head. A shudder ran through her, and he was shocked to watch a pair of ears, somewhere between canine and feline, sprout from the top of her head and grow until they nearly shadowed her face. She laughed, showing her bloody and elongated teeth. "I'll not last much longer. I've lost control of it." She chuckled faintly as she slid to the ground again, her legs lengthening and pushing out the bottom of her pants, her feet now more hooves than flesh. Multi-colored fur was spreading over her body as one pupil stretched into the slit of a cat's and the other widened until it nearly engulfed the iris. She never stopped that hoarse chuckle, despite the range of pain that crossed her features.
Inuyasha dropped the hood and moved to crouch beside her, trying hard to ignore the fact that her body was quickly growing much too large and misshapen for her clothes to hold onto. "What happened to you?" He asked out of a lack of anything better to say. Her head lolled to the side, mismatched eyes now staring up at him as she slumped sideways. "He's smarter than you think." She wheezed out, blood now dripping from her nostrils. "He had a…friend of his…guy named Tucker…fuse me with a bunch of animals." She coughed blood, a deep shudder running through her. "Told me I was…a chimera. Liked it, at first…it's amazing what you demons must feel…but I lost control." She reached down with a hand that was fast growing scales to pet at the thick black fur of her now horselike legs. "Used…my own horse…oh gods." Her eyes tightened shut in true pain, her clawed hand digging into the flesh of her furry thigh.
"You are not meant to be." The calm voice from behind him made Inuyasha turn, having already forgotten that there was still an unknown girl in the room. The blazing light overhead had dimmed her glow greatly, leaving her a faded memory he was sure he could bat away with a flick of a finger. Lynx had looked up again, studying the girl silently before understanding dawned in her eyes. "You're the one…he didn't want here. Where's Albedo, Nephilim?" The misshapen girl asked with a bloody smile, which Nephilim returned only slightly.
"Albedo and his brothers are gone from this place. They, at least, know better than to mess with things they cannot comprehend." Both girls turned at a whisper of fabric, and Inuyasha followed their gazes to Kagome, who was standing under her own power with his haori around her shoulders. Kallos helped her walk over and both knelt beside Inuyasha and Lynx.
"Why did you do it?" Kagome asked, watching Lynx calmly. The two simply stared at each other for a long moment before the blue-haired girl smiled softly and shook her head. "Reasons don't matter to the dying. You should know that." Her gaze wandered to Kallos. "Cali's up in the balcony, bound and gagged with ofuda." Kallos simply nodded at the news of his friend, but didn't get up. Lynx's eyes shifted back to Nephilim as her body seemed to tighten. "You've won the battle…ask him if you'll win the war."
Her body seemed to split along the seams, cracking and oozing thick blood. A hoarse scream shook the air as the three scrambled back, leaving only the thinly glowing girl beside their crippled and broken classmate. With one last gasping breath, Lynx died.