So… Here's another chapter. Reviews are GREATLY appreciated! My muse is being nice to me for once so I hope you all enjoy! If you want to know what she looks like here's a link :D gallery?func=detail&id=9932
Disclaimer: I do not own Inuyasha or any of its characters
Chapter 5 – Secrets
*CLACK!*
Yet another scroll hit the wooden library floor. Sango and Tsuyameku turned to look at the source of the noise in the otherwise silent room. Inuyasha let loose a growl of frustration as he picked up another book. Leafing through a few pages, he shut it with an echoing snap.
"This ain't working! We've been lookin' through these stupid books for hours and can't find a thing having to do with saving stars or some Shadow attacking the West."
The hours had been trickling by and each book seemed to bring them no closer to finding anything useful or even remotely Helpful. Inuyasha huffed a bit, flopping back onto the pillow he'd been sitting against. Kikyou placed a hand on his arm to calm him, turning her gaze to Kagome.
"Inuyasha is right. This seems to be getting us nowhere"
Kagome gave a small sigh as she looked to the window. The sun was well on its way to setting and they'd found nothing. Setting the scroll she'd been reading in her lap aside, she nodded.
"You're right…" another sigh "You're absolutely right. There has to be something we're missing though"
Miroku and Sango exchanged glances. Tsuyameku moved to sit beside Kagome, providing the silent comfort she'd grown used to during their short time together. His aura reached out to hers to calm her.
Kagome gave him a grateful smile before turning to the others, a small pout on her lips as her brow creased in thought.
"I mean we've looked in just about every history book or report that's come into this place in the last century. There has to be something we aren't thinking of…"
Sango nodded in agreement until Miroku's hand landed on her shoulder, his violet eyes wide and starring at the open book in his hand. Slowly he looked up as he turned the book and held it up for the others to see.
"Perhaps because we were looking in the wrong place"
A collective gasp went through the room as all eyes landed on the page.
On its spine were the silvery words 'Myths and Legends'. Miroku pointed his finger to the image on the book's open page. There in black in white was an inked picture of a Crescent Moon being swallowed by a dark, shadowy cloud. The title was staring back at each pair of wide eyes.
'The Great Creation'
"No fucking way!" Inuyasha explained. And for once everyone agreed with him.
'Perhaps this entire event could be avoided … war is not so terrible'
Sesshoumaru said to himself with a wicked internal grin. He pictured the insulted looks on the Cardinal Lords' faces as he turned them from the castle, and of course the bloody fights that would follow.
His beast purred at its master's morbid thoughts. It had been far too long since he had been allowed kill something in his opinion. Just the thought of a warm, bloody heart giving its last few beats in his hand sent pleasant shivers up his feral side's spine.
The sound of a tray hitting the floor brought his attention back from his murderous thoughts. There were servants bustling and scurrying about all around him. One of the younger squirrel demons had tripped over a curl in the rug and hurried to retrieve the fallen items.
'I do not seem to recall my staff being quite this inept…'
Just that morning he'd heard of Ayako's "run in" with the priestess.
'Perhaps the miko's clumsiness is contagious'
Mentally he sighed as he walked through the hall to the kitchen to see how the chef was progressing.
Hours passed unnoticed as each item on his list was checked off one by one for the Cardinal Lords' arrival.
There were only a few minor hiccups yet his aggravation was growing by the minute. It wasn't the staff's fault really. Sesshoumaru just sincerely hated being forced into things, which was precisely what his damnable honor was doing at the moment. The other Lords wanted to discuss the victory over Naraku and all that that entailed. The reason for their impending visit no doubt. Had he not been honor bound to his house and his people he would have told the lord's where to shove it in no uncertain terms. It would be a great insult to deny them of course and Sesshoumaru knew this. Though he feared no one, he was a practical being first and foremost. In this case practicality and honor dictated that he go along with the other lords' 'request'.
There was a large portion of land the evil hanyou had 'acquired' and it was now without legitimate rule. The demon lord had assumed that by the miko's wish Kagura and Kanna would also live again. It struck him odd that neither has sent in an appeal for the land of their twisted creator. By youkai standards claims to anything were made swiftly and decisively. The fact that even hours had passed before a claim was laid was unheard of let along a full day, But he didn't have time to linger on such things. Again he gave an inward sigh as he walked through the halls to oversee the last of the preparations.
As if he had nothing better to do then listen to pretentious old demons squabble over land rights.
He would have left the preparations to Misumi but, truth be told he thought getting to order the servants about and scare the daylights out of them would serve as at least a distraction from the troubles plaguing him.
It seemed his mind would not let go of the thought of Rin and her current state. His thoughts continued to drift back to the moment when he saw his young ward lying motionless on the battle field and the events that followed.
The entire world seemed to have gone silent as he saw Rin's wide brown eyes gazing up at him in shock, the light slowly leaving them as she began to fall to the ground. His heart seemed to freeze in his chest. In less than a second he was at her side, mokomoko having caught her.
Steadily he brought to the child to eye level. He saw minor wounds, but none that would explain her current state. He could still hear heartbeat slow and steady. He had not seen Kanna steal her soul, having been engaged in battle with Naraku which was just what the evil hanyou had wanted. His face remained cool and impassive yet inside he was reeling. And his beast demanded whoever harmed its pup be torn apart in the most sickeningly slow manner possible.
Sesshoumaru agreed, not even knowing precisely when he stopped seeing Rin as his ward but as his own.
Mentally he was tearing himself apart. His arrogance… his pride had caused this. If only he'd thought to place the children in a stronger barrier, left them behind at the shiro, or something. Anything other than believe none would be so foolish as to touch what was his in his presence. But no, He the Demon lord of the Western Lands had believed himself untouchable and Rin was now paying the price.
His eyes went to Jaken's body and the fatal wound across his stomach. A bit of remorse found its way into the apathetic lord at his loyal retainer's death as well as the two headed dragon that had been so loyal to him. Both heads lay severed a small distance away. They had died well protecting their master's most precious charge.
Quickly his molten amber eyes sought out the miko. Kagome rocked, kneeling on the ground and clutching her adoptive son, tears streaming as she raised her hand to stroke his small cheek. Through the sounds of battle around him he could hear her chanting quiet words of sorrow and begging for forgiveness over and over. Sesshoumaru could almost hear the sound of her heart breaking. In a flash he was beside her, Rin held to his chest and Tokijin in hand.
"Miko, you will calm yourself. The boy lives…"
Instantly hope rose up inside her like a sunrise as she slowly rose with the boy in her arms.
Using the fluffy appendage he gently lifted the motionless child from Kagome's hold and brought both children away a safe distance. This time he was sure to infuse every ounce of extra yoki into it as he erected the strongest barrier he could muster around them.
Finding Kagome once more the pair looked upward to the towering form that was now Naraku, his band around him each engaging a different member of the Inu-tachi in battle.
Kagome let all her anger, sadness and frustration build within her. Steadily it filled her up until it threatened to burst through her skin. Her holy power filled her aura and began to swirl and dance around her. But strangely it neither burned nor purified the demon beside her.
"Can you get me close to him?"
She asked without looking to the demon lord beside her. His response was wrapping his arm about her waist and jumping high above the cackling hanyou.
Naraku was watching the battle below with morbid satisfaction as each member of Inuyasha's group was losing their perspective battles. The Shikon jewel glowed black in the base of his neck.
The wind whipped about Kagome as Sesshoumaru flew higher.
"The jewel is in his neck. I can get to it, just throw me at him as hard as you can!"
She yelled to him as they continued to ascend. Mentally Sesshoumaru weighed his options and the viability of her plan. After a moment he complied and sent her sailing down to the hanyou with all the strength he possessed. It didn't sit completely well with him to let the girl take a kill that he considered to be his, but at the moment there were other pressing matters. Namely, the demon about to defeat the last living relative he possessed.
Sesshoumaru shot downward toward his own foe, Inmetsu. The tall red haired demon along with Naraku were fighting Inuyasha and winning. Wave upon wave of tentacles and burst of white hot flames were being shot directly at the hanyou so fast that even he barely dodged them. In the moment Inmetsu was poised to land the killing blow to the injured hanyou, Sesshoumaru landed between them, Inuyasha drawing in gasping breaths on the ground behind him.
"See to Naraku, this Sesshoumaru will handle this filth"
Leaning on Tetsaiga to stand Inuyasha nodded once before darting off to engage Naraku. Mentally he thanked his brother for the first time in his life for saving him.
Inmetsu was about to spout off some arrogant rant of how futile the demon lord's interference would be, but the words never left his lips.
With a speed that none knew the he possessed the sing of a blade swished through the air in an instant as Sesshoumaru struck. A thin line of blood showed on the crimson haired demon's neck as a pleasant smile formed on his lips.
"Many thanks.." he whispered as blood formed in the corner of his mouth and the fires in his smoldering eyes died.
With a sickening thud Inmetsu's head fell from his shoulders.
"Pathetic…" Sesshoumaru sneered, unsatisfied with not having the time to draw out and savor this kill.
Naraku stopped mid- chortle to look toward his fallen fledgling, an angry snarl leaving his purple lips.
"No!"
He screeched and moved to attack Sesshoumaru, but a pulse of holy energy immobilized him mid swing. The encounter with Inmetsu and Inuyasha had taken but a moment or two, and all the while Kagome was soaring down from above Naraku, a beacon of holy energy barreling down through the miasma clouds. His head shot up as her felt the thrum of her pure power. Hundreds of tentacles shot forward to stop the girl but her eyes glowed bright and her power created a barrier around her. Each of the disgusting appendages vanished the instant they came within 3 feet of her.
Like a tornado she shot down. Power flaring as she finally made contact, Kagome, surrounded by orb of pure light punched a wide hole straight through Naraku's massive neck, directly where the jewel was buried. His head flew from his body and landed a few feet away.
With an angry cry Kagome unleashed the full force of her power and it began to grow and spread around her. Lashing out before he had the chance to regenerate.
Naraku gave one final pained scream as his body disintegrated till there was nothing left but ash blowing away in the wind. The only sign of him was the echo of his scream and a blackened stain on the ground.
Helplessness was not a feeling the taiyoukai was familiar with but he promptly decided he disliked it. It was gripping and he felt it each time he thought about the brown haired child.
Continuing on back to the study he decided to change his train of through before he killed something needlessly. He didn't trust his control at the moment, and that in and of itself was an extremely unsettling development.
Next on the list of things to consider was the prophecy and the ambiguity of it all. Sesshoumaru decided the only thing he disliked more than not being able to do anything was not knowing 'what' to do. Proud demon that he was, he had to admit that even his extensive knowledge failed him on what the bothersome riddle might mean.
"No fucking way!"
Sesshoumaru stopped for a second after opening the library doors to see a stunned Inuyasha gaping the a book being held up by the houshi.
The door was closed and the demon lord moved to inspect the book as Miroku offered it to him. Kagome left her spot next to Meku and stood beside Sesshoumaru to look on the page.
"This is a fairytale.. a story they tell to children. What could the Legend of The Great Creation have to do with the children… or anything else?"
She asked, brown eyes swimming with confusion as she looked up his face.
Truly Sesshoumaru didn't know.
"The male in your vision did say the mission was not about the children, perhaps this is what he meant"
Meku said coming up beside Kagome. She nodded slowly admitting he was right. Looking back to the book she began to read aloud.
…
"In the beginning there was only darkness and chaos. The only shape was a swirling mass of clouds, shrouded in shadows. Slowly, over the course of many, many years the earth began to form from the beaten hunk of matter that was this mass. When heaven and earth finally began, three deities came into being, The Spirit Master of the Center of Heaven, The August Wondrously Producing Spirit, and the Divine Wondrously Producing Ancestor. These three divine beings were called the Three Creating Deities. Suddenly like reeds sprouting up, a pair of immortals were born from the earth. After them, five or six pairs of deities came into being, and the last of these were Izanagi and Izanami, their names meaning "The Male Who Invites" and "The Female who Invites".
Each of the gods was given a task or duty to perform in the heavens, keeping order and seeing to the creation of all things. Amaterasu, the Goddess of the Sun, created man that would populate the earth. She made sure to shine her golden light of the sun upon them during the day so all would know they were her beloved children. Tsukuyomi, the Moon God decided to create the youkai that would populate the earth. Tsukuyomi felt the demons superior to humans in all ways and so for each demon, a star was birthed so all would remember the power he and his children held.
The elder gods commanded Izanagi and Izanami to make and solidify the land of Japan, and they gave the young pair a jeweled spear. Standing on the Floating Bridge of Heaven, they dipped it in the ocean water and stirred. When they pulled out the spear, the debris that dripped of it formed an island to which they descended. On this island they built a palace for their wedding and a great column to the heavens.
Upon examining her body Izanami found a part of herself to be lacking, while Izanagi found that same part of himself to be plentiful. And thus the two decided to join in hopes of creating new life. They procreated and the first of their offspring was a leech-child, which they put in a basket and let float away disappointed and shamed. Then they gave birth to a floating island, which they also did not recognize as one of their children.
Saddened by their failure the young pair ascended back to the heavens to seek guidance. The elders instructed them on the proper way to try once more and so they did. Upon this attempt they gave birth to the eight main islands of Japan and six minor islands. Then they gave birth to a variety of deities to inhabit those islands, including the sea deity, the deity of the sea-straits, and the deities of the rivers, winds, trees, and mountains. Last, Izanami gave birth to the fire deity, and her womb was so badly burned that she died.
Izanagi grieved over Izanami, and a deity was born from his tears. Distraught after burying Izanami, he used his long sword to behead his son, the deity of fire, whose birth had killed Izanami. From the blood on the sword came three deities of rocks, two deities of fire, and one of water, all of which are needed to make a sword. Eight more deities arose from the body of Izanagi and Izanami's slain son.
Though casted from his parents the Leech-Child, or Hiroku, mourned the loss of his mother to the underworld. Having been born with no legs due to the error in his parents mating, he was the Kami who created all serpent and legless creatures to fill the void of loneliness he felt. He himself was like an enormous legless dragon of the sea in appearance. Knowing his mother would now never return from the underworld and blaming his father, Hiroku wept for his fallen mother.
The Leech Child vowed on that he would destroy his Father with a great darkness that would black out the very stars themselves, wanting to remove the brilliance they gave to the heavens and take glory from the way they shone on his father's palace. He however did not understand that to blacken the stars would be to kill all demons, for each star that was laid to rest would result in a youkai death on Earth. Tsukuyomi heard of his nephew's plot to destroy his children for something as petty as punishing Izanagi. And so using what power he possessed he sealed Hiroku in the deepest part of the oceans beneath Japan where he would spend eternity trapped within an impenetrable cave with no company but the crashing waves and the sea serpents who made their homes in the ocean's depths. Thus is the creation of all."
"Wait… I don't think I've ever heard of this version before."
Kagome said her brow furrowed in confusion.
"Naturally not. This story is passed down through youkai society. One such as yourself would not have been made aware of its existence."
Sesshoumaru said in his usual haughty tone, as though the information should have been obvious. Though even he had to admit the last part of the myth was foreign to him.
"So… if this is some well-known legend how come you just so happen to have not mentioned it 'till now?
Inuyasha asked, glaring at his brother with suspicion dancing in his golden orbs.
Sesshoumaru for his part didn't acknowledge Inuyasha's questions save for a simple "Hn"
"Come on Inuyasha that's not fai…."
"Actually Kagome-sama Inuyasha is right. Both Lord Sesshoumaru and I have been told this story since childhood. Though the final part of the legend would have been blocked from any other's demon's subconscious but my own. Until now that is."
The rest of the group could do little more than gawk at the phoenix youkai. Kagome backed away from Meku slowly, staring in disbelief.
"Why?"
She bit out with unhidden rage lacing her voice.
"Simple"
Tsuyameku said with a small sigh, his emerald eyes peering into her own with the same guilt and sorrow she had seen in them so many times.
"Amaterasu decreed it so."
*Author's Note*
Sorry for the cliffhanger but the chapter would have been another 8 pages if I hadn't cut it off when I did. Please don't hate me! This creation story is a mixture of the Japanese creation story from the Kojiki my own personal legend. I had to tweak a few things for it to make sense with the Fanfic. I do not hold any rights to the creation story nor do I make any profit from it.
The part I tweaked was partially inspired by the creation myth created by ToWriteLoveOnAPage in the story 'Of Gods and Demons'. [ fanfiction/story/1946] It is a truly amazing story and well worth the read.
Thanks so much for continuing to read. Please review. Your reviews are my life force :D !
Glossary:
Inu-tachi- Inuyasha's Group/ A specific group of dogs
Shippou: Oka-san is scary when she's mad…
*Inu-tachi all nod in agreement*
Kagome: Hey! I resent that.. besides it not my fault bird boy was holding out on us *rolls up her sleeves and stalks closer to beat Meku up*
Meku: Now now… umm *gulp* You wouldn't truly hurt me would you?
*A ball of purification energy wizzes past his head*
Meku: Ah… well in that case *he turns tail and runs*
Inari: *whistles* She even scarier than you Neo
Neo: *glares actually daggers at Inari
Inari: EEP!
*Inu-tachi munches popcorn and watches Meku and Inari being chased around the room*
Rin: See you next time… if they don't kill each other
Coming up: Chapter 6 – Fate