Itachi – OMG. The story. The last chapter! OMG. It took me like 2 years to figure out hpow I wanted to end this…so, I hope it's good enough!
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Joker… Chapter 12
"Wander into the woods at night, and he will steal your heart." That had been told to wanderers to keep them from the surrounding wooded area, but, when a lone girl finds herself lost and in the midst of a storm, she stumbles upon an empty castle, staying for just the night, she soon learns the legend had been real…for the acceptation of his utter laziness.
...
'Outside of the small town, peaking above the tree's had been the tops of a castle shrouded in black.'
"Tell me, why have you snuck into my castle?"
"Kagome, do you love me?"
'This was him…the maker (and possible breaker) of the 'Curse of Father's Time'…'
"Give to me the women whose heart you refuse to take, and in return, I will lift from you the curse of the 'Night Walker'."
"Human…tell me, how do I get rid of this pain that I feel..?"
"If I ever did try to forgive him…Would the pain finally…disappear..?"
'I am your storyteller – the one watching from the sidelines in which none else can see.'
"…The show must go on, for only I am the key to ending this story-"
"Convince me, and the curse of the Night Walker shall be removed."
"Now, I have the answer."
…
Joker – Chapter 12
The Final Page
I had the answer – I had the answer for Touga that he'd been waiting for, but he'd disappeared before I could even tell it to him! I was sure he was with Sesshomaru, but as to where they could be…The town! It was a gamble, but the only place where a storyteller could wreak havoc would have to have been in a highly populated area.
But there was always the chance that the way I was going wasn't the right way.
What if the storyteller had planned for me to go there? What if he had something in store…would he try to use me somehow? From what I've seen and heard, I'd learned that Naraku…the Storytelling Demon of Olden, was able to manipulate elements of our lives in order to bring upon an ending befitting to him. He was like the puppeteer, as well as the one who truly started the madness in The Legend of the Night Walker, "What is it…what am I to do?!"
My plan was simple enough…yet, the weight of its burden and aftermath dwelled heavily on my mind. I was to give to Touga a reason to forgive Sesshomaru – therefore, he will no longer be bound by his father's curse! And with that, "…All of Naraku's plotting would have been for naught! I'd be a waste!" And I was sure that it was Naraku who'd held the answer, it was the ending he'd written down on the final page of his tale, I was sure of it! Surly he'd have no other way of stringing us along with the page taken and read aloud, the curse done and gone…
My running slowed to a stop.
"But without the curse…he'd no reason to stay any longer in the Castle, would he?" I looked to my hands, hard, rough and calloused. My nails bitten from habit, my dress plain as any other, "Without the curse…he'd no reason to stay with me either, huh…"
I took a breath, shaking my head – Now was no time to be selfish! "It's his life, and I've no right to toy with it!"
…
"What the hell's been goin' on?" Inuyasha stood outside the Black Castle, cradling the sleeping child in his arms as the sunlit sky slowly melted into dusk, "Dad, Kagome and Sesshomaru…these past few days have been pretty damn hectic, huh?" The small bundle stirred in her sleep, cooing quietly before tucking herself into the young demon's shirt, "I guess you had your run in's with bad luck to..huh.." He almost let the fact escape him.
The poor baby lost its mother.
"All cause of tha curse," Although, little black pitches in his heart tried to string him into believing otherwise. In the end, wasn't it still Sesshomaru's fault? Sacrificing so many for the life of one… "No! It was," He took another look to the young bundle, "Even though it was mess'd up, I'm sure he'd wish there was a way to bring those people back…every moment of his life, he's gonna have that guilt to live with, and those faces to remember…sounds like the worst punishment to me, doesn't it…Rin?"
…
Naraku sat almost peacefully upon the ledge, the child frozen in his grasp, while all starred from below in silence. The full moon was out, larger than ever, and positioned right behind the mysterious man. It's bright, white light doing nothing to hide the glowing red of mocking eyes, starring down from above – much like a… "Could this man be a God?" Naraku spoke, addressing the townspeople who had yet to move their stilled limbs, in fear of being struck down, "Is that not what you all are thinking? What if I tell you that in way…I am?" None spoke, not even Sesshomaru nor his father. Naraku's black locks slow danced in the breeze.
"In a way," Naraku suddenly stood, grabbing the young boy by the neck as his mother screamed out, "I am a God, aren't I?"
"No! No Please!" The mother begged to the non listing one, hearing her child gasping for air as Naraku squeezed tighter and tighter – the young boy kicked his legs and trying fruitlessly to remove the demon's hand…to no avail.
"You-" Desperation shone brightly in the mothers eyes, "Please! Please help my son! Help him! Help him!" Sesshomaru looked at the women who'd grabbed him and saw a face he'd never forgotten in over 500 years…
"Please…Hel..p me…Sessho..ma…" Desperate eyes, and hands reaching out to him. The face of his mother in pain, on the final day. It was too late. Far, far too late for him to do her any good, she was gone. Beyond saving then, and beyond saving now.
He looked into the depths of the women's eyes, as he heard the child beg. And the women looked back at her little boy, his small arms weak and frail, yet, he still fought. Gasping for air, tears of frustration caressing his face, "G-eet off! Ack.! Ahh!"
The mother grabbed Sesshomaru's collar, yanking him down with such a force, his father even twitched, "You won't save him…" She bit her lip, fear catching her ear as she heard her little boys straggled cry, "Then I'll go myself you selfish monster!" Sesshomaru was stunned as she pushed him aside, running to grab a steel rod from the floor.
"Mommy's here…" Knowing she was going to climb to the roof, he went to grab her, but she'd already started off, "Mommy's coming!" The mother propped the steel rod in her mouth, digging her nails into uneven bricks to climb up the steep wall, as onlookers gasped.
Touga stood by, watching as his son made to keep the human from making a terrible mistake, as something behind the distracted Naraku caught his eye… "Haah!" Out of a sudden, Naraku was sent tumbling down from atop the roof, landing on his feet in front of the crowd, confused, blinking as the townspeople panicked, running for shelter. He'd not a clue what happened until he'd taken a look above – and there Kagome was, standing above him with the boy wrapped safely in my her, starring down at the shocked Storyteller of Ol, as the frantic mother ran to embrace her lost child, "Not exactly what I'd planned, but you're finally here-"
"Touga! I have your answer!"
"No!" Naraku shot up, not anticipating that she'd come with an answer, if anything was done to truly undo the Curse of Father's Time for good, it would spell defeat, all he'd worked on up until now would've been for naught, "Don't say it! Don't say it!"
"Sesshomaru is..! Sesshomaru and Inuyasha are your last pieces of your deceased wife, so why toss her memory in the dirt like that?!" Sesshomaru's face wrote surprise all over – as did his fathers, "She loved you, and she's gone – you have to let go or you'll never see in front of you! For pete's sake, these are your children!"
In a final desperate attempt to stop the words from spilling from her mouth, Naraku set to jump atop the roof – but was pulled back down to earth by Touga…his gold eyes still focused on Kagome.
"Touga…do you really think that he has so little value?" Kagome took a calming breath, swallowing down fear before speaking once more, "500 years. He chased, he killed and cried alone in that castle, with not even a ghost to shed ear to comfort him, surrounded by dust and memories of the family you all once were, it's been 500 long years, even for a demon like yourself – whom I'm sure has lived longer than that, it's quite the while…Don't you think that it's time to stop?"
…
"Who are you really, girl?"
In a blank white room is where we stand, and out in that world, a broken man, for this story of mine has gone awry, it's all due to you…
Now tell me why.
"Kagome, Kagome, you girl in this cage, tell me, tell me-"
"I don't know how you did this, or what you're pulling, Naraku, but I'm not anyone important," Look at her, can you imagine her; dear reader? This annoying women whose fully ruined me from what would have been one of my best works! And she calls herself 'not important?' How impudent! How foolish! How rash of her!
"If not important, then what are you, girl?"
"Just a girl in love, facing off with a fool who can't tell a good story," She calls me a fool? The story teller, the Demon of Ol', I who have written so many great works in the past…is a fool? "Setting up a story based around the suffering of a single man, and ending it with that man still heavy in his suffering, do you really think that, that is a way to go about it? Just…why?"
"Why you ask?" Me…a fool? "Simply because this is my world, you all are my own to deal with however I please."
This story of mine; the Tale of the Night Walker : Joker…no outsider has the right to say of it.
"I know not of the stories you've made in your time, but let me tell you this, Naraku, I don't fear you." She folded her arms over her chest, unafraid of my strange, white world, unbound and unhesitating – starring at me with eyes filled with such courage…
"Kagome, I never remember giving you those eyes." I said.
"These are the eyes I was born with, and the eyes I've always had." She responded.
"Sesshomaru, as well, I never remember giving him a heart to fill with love." I said.
"Well, he had one all along." She responded, "Without your help."
"And Touga, the fool," I was far beyond myself, "I didn't give him the mind to understand."
"Beneath all of that hatred, I'm sure a man who understood it all was just scared – he just needed a push."
Reader…Yes, you. Who else do I speak to so out of context? Who here was the villain? Who here was truly the evil one?
…Me?
What about the girl giving him false hope? What about the brother who, even now, hides his animosity? What of the father who abandoned his eldest? What of those lowly townspeople who see him as a monster? What about..! What about..!
"Girl, I am the true villain, aren't I?" She said nothing, as if letting my thoughts answer for me, "Huh…What a mistake this all was – What. A. Mis-Take. I must take responsibility, should I not? I should rewrite this, Make it into something better, something written with the reader in mind, something written in such a fashion…something with beauty."
It was…It was time to turn back this clock, and start anew.
"Indeed…It is time to turn back this clock...and start anew…"
"Is that really what you want to do, Naraku?" She starred at me as the white room grew longer, larger, it grew, filling to the brim with rumpled sheets of old paper
…
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Joker… Chapter ?
…The Black Castle…
Reality seemed to differ for the townspeople after the incident with Naraku, as the events of the night before where completely forgotten.
"This is your final answer then, Touga?" Naraku stood in front of the Black Castle, facing the father, Sesshomaru, Inuyasha and I, "Letting him go free after such small words from her…Well then, you've beaten me." The Storyteller placed his back to a tree, sliding down – sighing when he finally hit the ground. His black locks were messy, his face tired, sad and worn. He looked up, "Tell me, why did you find it in your heart to forgive him?"
Touga took a glance over his shoulder, his gold eyes tracing my form; next to Sesshomaru's, before turning to face the beaten demon on the ground, "It…it will truly take time for me to call it 'forgiveness'…but elsewhere in my heart," He glanced back to us once more, taking in a breath, then facing Naraku, starring into his red eyes, "Elsewhere, this old heart of mine has started to…heal," He stroked his long hair behind his ear as the early morning breeze blew by, looking to the sky, as if someone where watching him speak, "After these recent events, I feel as now is the time to…the time to move ahead from this point I've kept myself at." Naraku seemed disappointed, then took a glance to Sesshomaru, who'd been so shocked by his father's words, he'd nothing to say to Naraku.
"You no longer hold the 'Joker's name, Nightwalker…congrats." Naraku stood, facing the tree behind him – he swept his hand down its bark, summoning a red knob to the surface, "You fools, take care…it's time I take back to drafting," Taking a hold of the knob, he turned it, pulling it backwards like a door. A gaping space of nothingness was before him, "You there, Kagome, keep a look out for my new work,"
I took a step forward, "And it's name, Naraku?"
He hefted a laugh, "The Demon of the Watching Tower, all about something's and someone – You'll read into it yourself one day…Well then," He stepped into the door, "Until next time…"
It disappeared from our sights.
"Does he mean, he'll be back?" Said Inuyasha, as we all starred at where the Storyteller used to be, "Why would he need'ta? And what's he mean about that 'something's and someone'?"
"Let's just leave it be for now, and be grateful that it's over," Sesshomaru spoke with disbelief shinning heavy in his voice, "It's…500 years…it's finally over…" I gripped his arm smiling as glee filled tears racked down his face – I was pulled into a tight embrace, he hugged me tight, and I hugged back with equal force, smiling into his shoulder. He closed his eyes, "Thank you, thank you so much, Kagome, you've done so much for me love, so much and 500 years I've waited and I can't…I can't thank you enough…"
Inuyasha looked to his father, who still starred above to the sky, then down to the sleeping bundle in his arms, wondering about Naraku's last words. They bothered him like nothing else.
"Sesshomaru, my…son, and Kagome," Touga started as we two broke apart, "I would like to go inside, and see…her."
…
"So her rooms have stayed untouched for these past 500 years, huh?" Touga starred inside the former bedroom he and his wife shared so long ago, walking inside a step at a time, taking caution to not move a single hair of dust on the elderly furniture, "Everything from her scent, to the clothes hanging off the vanity, stay untouched in this place," He sighed, his gold eyes glazing over other things as Inuyasha, Sesshomaru and I starred on – the look of recall and remembrance was clear in the brothers eyes, as they too, missed the women they called 'mother'…little Rin began to shuffle with discomfort in Inuyasha's arms, and he's stepped away to calm her back to sleep.
Touga had stopped stalking the rooms insides, facing an old picture of his wife that hung on the pale walls, "Keep this home warm, Sesshomaru, Kagome…In due time, I'll come to…visit."
The father beckoned for Inuyasha, and they both disappeared.
Sesshomaru and I stood in confused silence, "He said, he'd come back to…"
"Visit?"
The smile that broke onto Sesshomaru's face was filled with joy – after 500 years, after such turmoil, he was free, and his father's anger, fading. He pulled me into another embrace, landing a gentle kiss atop my forehead, "Aw, Sesshomaru!"
"I'm at a loss for…words, I…I can't recall them…well even, now." His lazy wording habit had sprung forth due to emotions, "Kagome, I love you, love you, love you!"
…
The next few months were filled with nothing but remodeling of the Black Castle – changing the drapes, fixing old windows, dusting the aged floors, and setting a new chandelier in the revived living area. Working on his promise, Touga came to visit – although sparingly, his conversation with his two sons was finally starting to take off…It seemed all was well again in that black castle…
For the first time in years, it was bright, it was merry, it was warm.
We all were finally free of the 'Curse of Fathers Time'… It was this happiness that made us forget him. The StoryTeller, I wonder…What was he up to now?
…
"The watchtower reached high into the sky, beyond the peeks of the very clouds – It's tips shredding the air, sharp as a dragons tooth…But it's windows stayed open, it's door's stay locked, it's brick build was solid, and covered in smock. It was said that a dead man lived there, a God watching over all, hating all around him. Hating that none cared to see him. Loathing that none cared to visit him…knowing that he was not long for this world. Before he passed, he'd made a demon to soak his lonesomeness, and that demon did in fact, take on his burden. The lonely God passed – With only the one to watch him go. His hate filled, saddened, sorrowful demon…"
I wonder now, should I come to write about this lonely demon of mine? This Demon…Of the Watching Tower?
Maybe.
Maybe then, will I make my masterpiece.
Maybe then, I shall finally be set free of this place.
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…END
