AN: I… have just found out… that Mad Hatter is actually a girl (I'm talking bout a character from Angel Sanctuary here) (sorry to youse who have no clue). mistarrymistress bursts into tears (her dream of marrying Hatter is forever shattered)
Well whadya know, it's lucky number 13….. my fave number, in fact.
CHAPTER 13: SLAVE
"Chiri." I will not.
You will.
Yasei squeaked in pain, as Tsubaki once again let her snake-demon loose on him.
I was the one who gave you a mind. I am your master, and you. WILL. OBEY.
With a last desperate squawk, Yasei freed himself from the clutches of the huge snake spirit, and flew away into the forest, in a sad plight.
Tsubaki pointed at a piece of paper in the form of a raven and flicked her hand, seeming nonchalant. The paper came alive, looking like a real raven. It squawked once, ruffled its wings, and awaited instructions.
"Find him, and bring him back."
Dispatched, the paper-raven flew off into the night after the unfortunate sparrow.
Alone, Tsubaki lightly smiled. She could afford to smile, now. She turned and walked towards an enchanted pentacle, outlined with little dishes with oil and flames burning. Inside, the prone bodies of Kagome and Kikyo lay, just as they were on the day they vanished from the field.
Above the two priestesses, two spirit-like forms of Kagome and Kikyo were moving within a floating orb, talking and acting in their own created world, none the wiser. Their little drama was being watched and monitored every step of the way by Tsubaki. And in front of the whole set-up, two glowing blue spheres could be seen, moving more and more together by every moment that passed, almost melded into one single one.
"Oh, my beautiful Kikyo… Did I not tell you not to lose your heart?" And Tsubaki threw her head back and laughed.
"Too bad you came back… my curse allows me some power over you, and that girl is so strong, but so misguided – she is so fun to play with…"
Tsubaki stepped into the pentacle, one long nail tracing the line of Kikyo's chin.
"And when the true powers of you and your look-alike are combined, they will be mine. Your combined energies are almost enough to overcome the Shikon Jewel itself! Do you know what that means? That means I'll be strong enough not to remain with this wretched, ugly face!"
Tsubaki's face twisted into an ugly sneer, and she dug her nail into Kikyo's skin, but no blood flowed. Tsubaki then allowed herself a little maniacal laugh again.
"A puppet… you are a mere puppet… And soon you'll be simply my own little doll…"
Her snake writhed, and hissed, in consent with its mistress. Tsubaki laughed once again, as her raven came back with the beaten Yasei.
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I can't figure out my mind… What happened to the sun?
… Detached blurs…whirling, knowledge, price, confused? Maybe…
I see nothing.
The witch is calling. Must go… where is my mistress? The human with the elegant serpents, the ones that didn't hurt me…
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"Ugh!"
"What is it, Kikyo?"
"I feel disgusting. Like… like a snake just spat on my face…"
Kagome stopped. "But there are no snakes here. Not that I've seen, anyway."
"I know, not here, not here, and not a real snake, but..." Kikyo dropped to the ground, still touching her chin.
A red drop of blood spilled from a nonexistent cut on her lower cheek, and landed on Kikyo's finger. She stared at it in mixed wonder and horror.
"Kikyo! Kikyo, are you okay? You look like you've cut yourself!" Kagome fussed and talked, while Kikyo remained on the ground, frozen in her thoughts.
Blood? Blood… Blood… Blood… BUT I'M NOT ALIVE!
ALIVE! ALIVE! ALIVE! ALIVE! ALIVE! Alive alive alive alive, not alive? Alive alive alive alive alive alive alive, let me live?
LIVE Live live live live live live, not living…
Death. Death comes to those, who, are not, alive. I… am not… alive?
HATE HATE HATE consume me consume, PUNISH! HELL! Tainted soul… Not good enough, perhaps?
PERHAPS… Perhaps I…
"KIKYO!"
"Yes…" Kikyo fumbled for the word, the name – "Kagome?"
"Snap out of it! You scared me there for a while, anyway, it's not even a scratch!"
"I'm afraid that's not it." Kikyo stood up.
Gosh, she's scary when she gets like this… I wonder if demons ever feel fear the second before she blows them to smithereens…
"This isn't real."
"Huh??" Kagome looked puzzled. NOW what in the world is she talking about?
"KYYAH!!" She was nearly decapitated as Kikyo shot out with a blare of white priestess-magic from her hand at the nearest tree. Kagome warily got up, half-hiding behind the stump of the tree. "HEY! I liked that tree!"
"Look."
"Hmm? Ahh… I see… So… What does this mean?"
Kikyo gave her one of her death glares.
"Sorry, I'll drop the weird voice. Now – what DOES it mean?" And Kagome pointed towards the obliterated tree, which turned out to be very strangely hollow and un-tree-like on the inside, though it seemed exactly like a tree, and felt like a tree, and basically acted like a tree, on the outside.
"It's not real."
Kagome pouted. "You've said that already."
"Dark magic… psychosis… We've got to get out!" Kikyo whirled. "But how?"
"Gee, I dunno, isn't that what we've been trying to do for the last, umm, what, oh I dunno, I've lost track of time."
"WHY ARE YOU BEING SO IRRITATING?"
"Geez! Well, because we are stuck here with no foreseeable hope of getting out, I was just trying to lighten the mood!"
"Well, I'm being serious!"
"Aren't you always!"
The two priestesses stopped, fuming at each other, not able to think of anything to say that wasn't really, REALLY personally offensive.
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Tsubaki chuckled. "Oh, how cute. Don't you think you should break the two silly girls up, Yasei?"
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An earth-trembling roar once again tore all other thoughts away from the two priestesses, who were just about to lose it.
"Not again…" They mumbled in unison.
"And we don't have any arrows this time!" Said a suddenly serious-yet-scared Kagome.
"We'll manage. Something tells me this whole business isn't lasting very much longer."
And as Yasei flew from afar towards them, once again in enlarged psychotic bird form, Kagome asked, "What- how do you know?"
"She's gotten less careful. And now I remember what those grey-green walls reminded me of."
"Really?"
"Err…no. But now it does all fit in."
Yasei let out another great roar, making both Kagome and Kikyo jump a bit involuntarily.
"Great. Tell me all about it when we're finished being viciously torn limb from limb, will you?'
"Gladly." Kikyo smiled. Even if she was annoying, it was amazing how Kagome still managed to stay strong in tough times….
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"Oh, what a smart little cookie. She's got it all figured out… But it's too late, isn't it, my dear?" Tsubaki asked her snake, and it hissed menacingly at the sleeping forms of Kagome and Kikyo.
The two blue spheres were now just a hairline apart from completely being merged.
AN: Time's running out for Kags and Kikyo! Gosh, who knew I'd actually have enough… suspense… and drama to actually make a cliff ending! So proud…
OK! So it's not that good, and you can all guess what happens, but still! Let me enjoy my own story.
WELL! We can all tell it's about to conclude, though I still have a few plot twists (and oh my gosh a real plot - yes readers, you heard it, a real plot – though it's a bit late to finally come up with the whole thing, hey? Well, better late than never) to go. Ad it turns out kikyo wasn't alive after all... how sad. Let us mourn.
I hope the weird stuff is clearer now. If you don't get it, then here it is: all this time they've been living in their minds, under Tsubaki's spell. The 'why's are yet to be found out, but all the different scene changes, that was just Tsubaki messing with them. And Yasei… the second change of pov – that was him, the whole "where's the sun' bit. So yeah… is he a good guy… or a bad guy…. OOOOH. Find out when I can be stuffed to update. (I'm not very nice, am I?) Well, at least this update was fast! See yaz!
Plese tell me what you think will happen, what you think should happen, and all those encouraging things that tell me you are paying attention! WOOHOOH! (I'm happy right now)
