InuYasha Fan Fiction / Fullmetal Alchemist Fan Fiction ❯ In Pursuit of the Green Dragon ❯ Vengeance ( Chapter 32 )

Author's note: This story is going on hiatus for a couple of weeks, as I will be traveling around Japan. I'll be bringing a laptop with me, and I hope to post travel journals to my LiveJournal account: sharibet (dot) livejournal (dot) com.
Kasama Castle, 16th-century Japan
Ed and Al discovered the drawbacks of carrying a jewel shard almost as soon as they started searching the castle: it attracted youkai.
Murderous youkai. Who would stop at nothing to steal the shard from two apparently defenseless humans.
Unfortunately for them, thought Ed savagely, Al had just figured out how to push the jewel's energy through to Ed.
Al put his hands on Ed's shoulders. "Hurry, brother!" Energy tingled through the layers of wool jacket and cotton shirt.
Ed grinned, and visualized what he wanted. Pole-axes would be good for poking or slicing, plus the long shaft would keep the nasties well away from them.
Two hand-claps, his mind reaching for the warm buzz of power flowing from Al's hands down to Ed's arms and into his mismatched hands, a sizzle of rose-colored transmutation, and both and he and his brother were armed and more than ready to take on all comers.
And then there was always the handy trick of transmuting the castle's stone to imprison particularly persistent youkai, thought Ed, leaving what looked like a giant snake with a weirdly-frilled head securely enclosed in what had been a courtyard wall and was now a youkai-sized cell for solitary confinement.
Even fighting as a team, it was still slow going through the castle. In the distance, Ed could hear crashes and bangs, and wondered if Miroku, Sango, and Inuyasha were also beset with attackers, even without shards.
He and Al had just finished dealing with the giant snake thing when Ed heard three sharp whistle blasts, faint in the distance. That was Souta's signal to indicate he had found something.
Or rather, given that he was guarding the car, it probably meant that something had found him.
Almost as one, Ed and Al turned back the way they had come, and ran like hell for the castle's entrance.

ooOoo

Inuyasha cleared the outer walls of the castle with a single leap, and headed towards the confrontation with all of his superhuman speed.
His legs carrying him across the clearing--but not fast enough-- he watched in horror as Envy caught Kagome in his jaws.
His worst nightmare, come to life yet again: close enough to witness an attack upon her; too far, still too fucking far away to do anything about it.
But Envy was going to be one dead bastard when Inuyasha got close enough to use Tetsusaiga.
He saw Kagome struggle free of the dragon's hold, then drop to the ground and scramble to shelter behind the iron carriage.
Safe. For now at least.
And in another moment, he'd be close enough to--
Wait--what the hell is Kagome's uncle doing?
Souta was confronting the dragon, surrounded by clouds of steam and the crazy lightning pattern of the foreign sorcery that Edward called "alchemy."
There was a sound like a gust of wind, and a huge, nearly colorless wave of flame engulfed Envy.
He shrieked in rage and pain as the air around him blazed. His scales sooty, his wings in singed tatters, and the arrow stuck in his eye flaming like a torch, he crashed ignominiously into the muddy clearing, sending up gouts of mud and uprooted grass as he tumbled neck-over-tail.
A moment later, what felt like a volcano's hot breath swept over Inuyasha.
The air stank of burnt flesh and scorched wool, and in the midst of a blackened circle of bare, desiccated earth sprawled the burning figure of a man.
Fuck!
Leaping forward, Inuyasha tore off his fire-rat jacket and wrapped it around Souta, frantically trying to smother the flames.
"Inuyasha!" Kagome's tone was gratifyingly overjoyed.
She popped up from her hiding place behind Ed's iron carriage, and Inuyasha spared her a quick glance, just long enough to see that she was thankfully unscathed by the inferno.
"Oh, no! Uncle Souta!" She began to rush around the side of the iron carriage.
The dragon saw her and rose, albeit shakily, to his feet.
"Kagome, STAY THERE!" Inuyasha roared, straightening up from his firefighting efforts and ripping Tetsusaiga from its scabbard.
She froze, and he was grateful.
Souta was extinguished for now, though covered with terrible burns. But any other aid would have to wait until--
Tetsusaiga transformed with gratifying ease. Wielding his great sword, Inuyasha faced Envy. The dragon was not youkai, but maybe…
"Kaze-no-Kizu, you bastard!" he yelled, and unleashed the sword's attack at his opponent.
Envy recoiled as the concentrated burst of youki tore toward him, leaving behind its characteristic long gouges in the clearing. It reached the dragon and engulfed him in golden fire.
Nothing more happened. After long moment, during which both Inuyasha and Envy stood frozen, Envy began to laugh nastily.
Inuyasha clenched his jaw until his teeth ached. If Kaze-no-Kizu didn't worked, then he'd just use something else.
Kongousouha--the diamond fragments will rip right through the bastard's scales, and see if he fucking laughs at me then!
"Hanyou," called Envy, still chuckling. "Is that the best you can--"
He stopped speaking suddenly. A dull red glow began pulse inside of him, as if his flesh and scales had become translucent.
What the hell--? Inuyasha stopped and gaped as the red glow intensified and Envy fell to the ground, writhing. He'd never seen Kaze-no-Kizu produce this kind of result before.
Envy shrieked, and the glow brightened, enclosing the dragon in a cocoon of blinding scarlet light.
There was an unpleasantly wet tearing sound, followed by the sharp scent of burning flesh.
Then the red glow disappeared, taking the dragon with it.
Inuyasha blinked at the mess of scorched, scarred earth in front of him. Envy was gone. Only his musky stink remained behind.
"Inuyasha! You did it!" Kagome cautiously made her way around the battered body of the iron carriage.
Her clothing was torn and blooded, her hair wildly disordered, and she was moving a little stiffly, but she looked essentially uninjured, though she reeked of wolf.
She was also grinning from ear-to-ear at him, and the look in her eyes was both grateful and admiring. Inuyasha took a step in her direction, fully intending to sweep her up in his arms, and surround himself in her beloved scent.
"Kagome-chan!" came the hated voice of Edward's younger brother.
Alphonse ran past Inuyasha, coming to a halt in front of her.
She looked at Inuyasha apologetically. He scowled and saw her shoulders slump a little just before he turned away.
"You're all right? Envy didn't hurt you?" Alphonse asked, stepping close and gazing down at her with worshipful fervor.
"Oh, I'm fine," she replied, giving him the same careful assessment that he had given her. "But what about you? The last time I saw you, you were bleeding, really badly--"
He waved a hand dismissively. "Oh, Brother took care of it," he declared, in a tone that implied that he believed his brother could do anything.
Kagome gave him a blinding smile, and Inuyasha decided to go elsewhere for a while. He told himself that his feelings weren't hurt, but sorcerer or not, Alphonse hadn't been the one to defeat Envy now, had he? So why was Kagome standing so close to that tall bastard, and smiling up at him...?
He spotted Kouga sprawled under the trees some distance away. Maybe he should check up on the wimpy wolf, before he accidentally punched Alphonse and forced Kagome to use that fucking "osuwari" command on him

ooOoo

Ed, following close on Al's heels despite his brother's longer legs, slowed down as he saw Al making a beeline for Kagome.
Inuyasha did not look happy about this.
Ed skidded to a halt near the car, which was scorched and dented but essentially still intact.
The clearing, though, looked as if it had been shelled by artillery. The area near the car looked weirdly desiccated, the grass yellowed and dried where it wasn't scorched black, and the dirt was cracked in a pattern like a giant jigsaw puzzle.
Beyond the dry zone, Ed saw several arrows sticking up out of the ground, pockmarks of cratered earth, and three great gouges running parallel, to one another as if giant claws had raked the muddy meadow.
Behind him, he heard Alphonse saying something to Kagome, amidst alarmed exclamation from Miroku and Sango, as they, too, arrived, carried over the castle walls by a transformed Kirara.
The others clustered around Souta's fallen form, with Miroku taking charge of the injured man. Edward looked at the extent of Souta's burns, and felt a shiver raise gooseflesh on his arms. It was bad. Very bad....
Ed ignored them for the moment, looking frantically around. There was no sign of Envy.
Where did that bastard go?
Then a gleam of celadon-green on the ground caught his eye. Ed stooped, and slowly lifted a single, scorched dragon scale. Wha--?
He squinted a little, examining the ground, and saw other scales, as well as what looked like tiny chunks of carbonized meat, scattered elsewhere amidst uprooted clumps of grass and clods of dirt.
The dreadful truth began to sink in, and Ed suddenly found it hard to breathe. It felt like something was squeezing his chest, preventing him from drawing a full breath.
Envy was gone. Completely destroyed.
"Edward-san?" It was Kagome, hesitantly touching his arm. "Are you all right?"
"No, damn it!" he exploded. "What is this? How the hell are Al and I going to get home now?"
Kagome jumped back as if he had slapped her. "W-what do you mean?"
"Brother?" Al came up to stand next to her, looking both concerned and protective. "What happened?"
"Our whole expedition into medieval Japan just turned into a fucking failure, that's what!" Ed's voice rose into an outraged shout. He thrust the scale at Al. "This is all that's left of Envy! He's gone, Al. Completely gone!"
"But-but Inuyasha was just trying to save our lives. Uncle Souta tried to use your alchemy, but Envy just kept coming, even when he couldn't fly any more," Kagome protested, her eyes flashing with temper, and her voice rising to match Ed's outraged tones. "Inuyasha had to kill him! He was going to kill us!"
"Well, couldn't he have killed him differently?" Ed yelled back, his fists clenching. "All we needed was his fucking blood!"
Kagome flinched, and Al stepped protectively between her and Ed. "Brother, that's enough," he said sternly. "This isn't Kagome-chan's fault."
And it wasn't. Ed let out a long breath, knowing he had just tried to bully a teen-aged girl. "Sorry, Kagome-san. I didn't mean to blame you--it's just that we're really stuck now."
Kagome's expression instantly changed to deep concern. "I'm so sorry, Edward-san, Al-kun, but we didn't even know whether Kaze-no-Kizu would work! I mean, Envy wasn't youkai, my arrows didn't work against him, and Inuyasha's sword uses an opponent's youki against them…"
"That is odd, then." Al said, looking around the clearing. "I wonder--"
Kagome's brow furrowed in thought. "I saw Envy kill Chouko--she was my, um jailer, and a youkai-- and somehow absorb her youki. And from things I overheard from the other youkai while I was a prisoner, that wasn't the first time that he'd eaten one of his followers."
"His red stones," breathed Ed, his mind racing. "They were an incomplete form of the Philosopher's Stone, created by killing people and collecting their life-energy with a set of special transmutation circles."
"How many people?" Kagome looked horrified.
"A lot," Ed answered. "You don't want to know, believe me." He pushed down dark memories of exactly how he had discovered this fact--and how close he'd come to colluding in the creation of the stone. "If Envy was killing youkai here, then maybe his red stones were infected with youki, and that's what reacted with Inuyasha's, uh, what did you call it? Kaze something?"
Kagome nodded. "Kaze-no-Kizu. That would explain it. But, Edward-san--"
"Yeah, it doesn't really matter why it happened," Ed concluded, glumly. "We're still screwed."

ooOoo

He was cold So cold...
Souta was floating in a vast, icy sea. It was dark, and the only sound he could hear was the harsh, rattling rasp of his own breath. His nose was filled with the overwhelming smell of smoke and burning things.
Gradually, he became aware of voices. At first, the words flowed around him in an incomprehensible rise and fall of tones, but soon, he began to pick out words, then phrases.
"--told him he shouldn't have...fire alchemy--too dangerous--" Ah, that frustrated tone and the rapid-fire, accented Japanese. Edward.
"Will he be all right?" Kagome's voice was earnest, and pitched low with worry.
A murmur of reply in a man's calm voice. Miroku. But what was he saying? Something about damaged lungs and extensive burns...
Oh. He was dying.
Instead of fear, Souta felt only annoyance. He had fought the monster--and won. He couldn't die now! And what would happen if he couldn't return home to 1925?
"--brothers--" he forced the words out, trying to get his throat to produce a sound louder than a whisper. No luck.
But Kagome heard him. "Uncle Souta?" she said, her voice much closer now, as if she were sitting or kneeling next to him.
"Brothers," he whispered again, trying to convey all of his fears, his frustration in that single word. "Ikeda."
"Don't worry, you'll--" Kagome stopped speaking abruptly. After a moment, her voice sounding oddly hoarse, she said, "I promise I'll go back, Uncle Souta, and tell them all that--that you're a hero."
"And I'll make sure that creep Ikeda and his secret police buddies leave your family alone," Edward added.
"Promise?" It was getting harder to speak, and Souta barely heard his own voice over the roar and rush of the black arctic waves lapping at his soul.
"I promise," Edward said firmly.
Good. Too tired to tread the waters of consciousness any longer, Souta let go, and slipped beneath the dark surface.
It was cold, but it didn't hurt at all.

ooOoo

Kagome stared at her great-uncle in disbelief as he gave a long, rasping exhalation, and then didn't draw breath again. He can't be--
"Uncle Souta!" She leaned forward, intending to apply what first aid she could to his poor, burned body. His hair had vanished in the blaze, and his face and scalp were covered with ugly, charred burns.
But he wasn't dead. Not yet. She could still feel the lingering presence of his soul. She cringed at the thought of touching him, and hurting him, but she had to at least try CPR...
"Kagome-chan, don't." Al put a hand on her shoulder, restraining her. He was standing very close, as if hesitating whether to give her a hug or not.
She hoped he wouldn't. She wished Inuyasha were here. "But he's not dead yet, Al-kun!" she said, appealing to him. "You have to help me!"
The jewel fragment tucked into her blouse pulsed. Kagome whirled, and saw that Uncle Souta's body was glowing with gentle, rose-colored light.
Then Souta vanished, and the light died away.
"What happened to him?" Al asked.
"I don't know," Kagome said, placing one hand over the now-quiescent jewel.

ooOoo

Miles away, the Bone-eater's Well blazed with rose-colored light, as if the time-slip were opening for a new traveler. The birds in the surrounding woods fell silent, as if in anticipation.
But no one entered, and no one appeared. In a moment, the light died away, and Inuyasha's Forest gradually returned to normal.

ooOoo

The sun was up, though the mountains still cast long shadows and morning mist concealed the rice paddies in the valley below.
Kohaku sat on a rickety wooden bench that had been placed next to a tiny, equally-rickety wooden roadside shrine, eating a hasty breakfast of onigiri flavored with salted plum paste. He longed for a cup of hot tea, but Kikyo-sama had been traveling at a relentless pace since learning of the Shikon-no-Tama's possible location and Kohaku decided, regretfully, that it would take too long to gather materials for a fire, kindle it, and boil water.
As it was, he felt guilty for needing this rest stop at all, so he was taking large bites of the cold, sticky rice ball in his fist, chewing and swallowing as fast as he could, spurred by regret that the weakness of his mortal body was slowing them down. He knew that his companion could have walked tirelessly all day and all night, her smooth strides never faltering.
He and Kikyo had been traveling steadily north for several days. During that time, the road had gradually narrowed, until it was just a rutted track leading up through the mountains.
As they drew closer to Kasama Castle, they encountered villagers and fellow travelers who told them increasingly-lurid stories about the domain's terrifying new lord, who alternately took the form of a foreigner and a green dragon. All the stories mentioned a magical jewel worn by the lord and coveted by the youkai who flocked to his court.
Courteous as ever, Kikyo was standing on the other side of the mountain road, her back turned to him as she waited patiently for Kohaku to finish his breakfast. She gazed north with a troubled expression.
Since dawn, they had seen an unusual number of youkai fleeing south, many badly wounded and all of them giving Kikyo and Kohaku a wide berth. Kohaku could only speculate what happened to them.
Kikyo frowned, then silently strode away to investigate something. In a moment, she had vanished behind a screen of bushes growing alongside the road
Kohaku watched her leave without alarm. She would return for him. She always did.
He had just extracted a second onigiri from its protective wrapping of leaves when the jewel shard embedded in his back gave a dull throb, sending a wave of sick heaviness through Kohaku's limbs.
Oh, he remembered this sensation all too well...
"Naraku!" he managed to gasp, before invisible fingers closed around his throat, choking off air and sound.
He felt himself topple off the narrow bench, and felt an instant of regret for the rest of his breakfast as it plopped into the mud next to him.
The acrid stench of miasma surrounded him like the exhalation of a thousand rotting corpses, sparking terrible memories of the time when he had been enslaved by Naraku, his free will and memories submerged. He had killed and maimed at Naraku's orders, bathed in the blood of humans and youkai alike, suspended in a timeless continuum where each moment was dictated only by his master's will. Even ane-ue had not been safe from him.
He thought he had since freed himself from his servitude, his presence at Kikyo's side keeping his shard free of taint and Naraku's influence, but--
"I have need of you, Kohaku," said that familiar, hated voice.
Kohaku was surrounded by the dark cloud, and lifted by invisible hands. His throat and lungs burned with each sobbing gasp of air around the strangling grip, and he was nearly blinded by tears flowing from his stinging eyes.
He blinked madly, and saw Naraku floating nearly face-to-face with him. There was something wrong with Naraku--his body seemed misshapen somehow, and one sleeve hung empty and torn.
Naraku smiled, his eyes cold and unblinking in that inhumanly handsome face. "The shard I loaned you some time ago--I have need of it, Kohaku."
Kohaku watched with horror as a tentacle, as pale and slimy as the grubs found in rotten logs, emerged from Naraku's chest.
If his shard was removed, Kohaku would die.
He knew he deserved no less for all of his sins--murder, patricide, betrayal--but did not want his death to aid Naraku in any way.
If he could only reach his weapon, he would sever the tentacle snaking swiftly toward him…
Kohaku strained against the deathly cold radiating from his shard, willing his right arm to move, to grab the chained scythe tucked through his belt.
But his numbed limbs refused to obey him.
The tentacle sped by Kohaku's ear, and he felt it press against the place between his shoulders where his life-giving shard was embedded. Despite its soft appearance, the tentacle was as hard and sharp as a fang at its end. It dug relentlessly against his armor.
I have to move! Kohaku screamed silently, throwing all his will into moving his arm. Sweat began to prickle on his temples and under his arms, but he failed to even twitch his fingers.
Not that he could feel his fingers. The control exerted by Naraku though the shard was deadening all sensation. Kohaku knew from bitter experience that next would come the deadening of his emotions, then his reason, and finally his memories--if Naraku let him live that long.
Not that he would. The fang broke through the armor at last, and scraped against skin. Kohaku knew his shard was going to be removed in another moment.
"Naraku, it seems you lost the Shikon no Tama," came Kikyo's voice from somewhere behind Kohaku. Her tone was cool, almost disinterested. "And yet you dare to confront me without your shields and barriers? Are your injuries so grave that they drive you to such a desperate act?""
Kohaku saw Naraku's eyes widen, and the tentacle trying to pierce Kohaku's back stilled, "Kikyo!"
"Fifty years ago, you took advantage of my weakness," she continued, as if he had not spoken. "And now I will take advantage of yours, and finally end this cycle of death and violence. Farewell, Naraku."
"Kikyo, no! I want to--" Naraku flung his remaining arm out in a desperate gesture, and Kohaku saw dozens of new tentacles pushing through the tattered remains of his once-fine clothing.
An arrow, blazing with spiritual energy, streaked forward, and Naraku's arm disintegrated at the shoulder. "You bitch! How dare--"
A second arrow fired in rapid succession penetrated his heart, and a third blew his head apart.
The cloud of miasma vanished, as did the force holding Kohaku aloft and immobile. He managed to get his feet under him, and landed upright.
A few lumps of Naraku's flesh, still writhing, fell to the ground at his feet. He stepped backward in disgust, and reached for his weapon. He would pulverize the disgusting things!
"Kohaku, wait."
He stopped, and Kikyo came forward quickly. She knelt, heedless of mudstains, her bow placed carefully across her knees to keep it dry.
"So much hatred. So much anger. So much jealousy," she murmured, stretching out her hands. "Be at peace, Naraku. Want nothing. Feel nothing."
Light poured from her fingertips, surrounding the remains. They blazed brightly for an instant, like paper flaring in a fire, and then vanished.
"Fifty years," she whispered, still kneeling. "Time--more than time--for all of us to find some peace."
Then she rose to her feet in one smooth motion and examined Kohaku. "You are uninjured?"
He nodded, his throat still feeling raw from the miasma he had inhaled. But he could walk, and that was the important thing.
"Come then. We must continue on to the castle, for the puzzle of the missing Shikon-no-Tama can only be solved there."

ooOoo

Canon and Historical Notes
Kaze-no-Kizu - translated as Wound of the Wind in the official US release of the anime and manga. One of Tetsusaiga's attacks, that sends out waves of destructive energy that can slay a hundred youkai in one strike
Kongousouha - translated as Adamant Barrage in the official US release of the anime and manga. One of Tetsusaiga's attacks, which sends showers of sharp diamond fragments hurtling toward an opponent
osuwari - a Japanese command to tell dogs to sit.
onigiri - a traditional Japanese food--sticky rice molded into a ball or triangle, and stuffed or flavored with a variety of ingredients.
ane-ue - an extremely respectful term for a older sister
As always, thanks to Ginny, aka kokoronagomu, for serving as my beta-reader and slayer of continuity glitches!