InuYasha Fan Fiction / Sailor Moon Fan Fiction ❯ Prismatic ❯ Evanescence ( Chapter 13 )

Inuyasha had never liked running from a fight. He hadn’t run -not willingly- since he was a child. Even back then it had been more out of necessity, a stubborn refusal to die than any desire to retreat. In the chaotic few months since Kagome had awakened him and begun their adventures, he learned that he liked running from a fight even less when it meant leaving other people behind.

Not that he’d ever tell any of them that.

He especially did not like leaving Kagome behind, but he knew what she was like when she got an idea in her head. She was stubborn, with just as much bravado as him and not nearly the same amount of brawn to back it up. It was why he worried about her so much. Pigtail wasn’t any better. Put together they were just a recipe for finding trouble.

He could run circles around Kagome’s damned city as many times as she wanted, but he’d rather have been fighting beside them, protecting them.

Inuyasha let out a grunt of annoyance as he leapt over the last of the fencing enclosing the park grounds. Sailor Mercury, the weight of her perched on his back strange and familiar in one, straightened to cup her hands together over his head. Her cry of ‘Bubble Spray’ was muffled by the wind of their descent, and he felt the coolness of her power as it burst from her palms to thicken the air. 

It wasn’t until they were several blocks away, just as he launched the two of them from another rooftop that he finally heaved an irritable sigh. "If I didn't already think the wench was crazy…the heck is the point of this?"

"Oh, well…” Sailor Mercury’s weight shifted on his shoulders, her position shifting in a way that told him she’d turned to look down at him. “Fog contains water droplets which scatter sound waves and lessen the volume and distance it can be heard."

Inuyasha blinked, one ear twitching as he mulled it over. He supposed it was true. He had never liked wet weather for that very reason; it dampened his senses, hearing and smell both, too much for his comfort.

"We never recovered the tape they mentioned.” 

Inuyasha’s ear twitched again. He remembered that night. His ears rang just thinking about it.

“I suspect it is how they have infected the city so quickly." Sailor Mercury shifted on his back, pausing to murmur the incantation to renew that spell of hers again when the fog began to wane. 

There was a fresh burst of cold above him, though Inuyasha found the chill of her power oddly comfortable as it floated around them. The usual acrid taste of the city Kagome called home wasn’t as pungent beneath the clean taste of the mist that thickened the air. 

"It really was a clever idea…"

"Yeah…Kagome's always been smart like that." Inuyasha’s expression softened a little for a moment before a smirk curled his lips. "Shoulda' seen her set fire to the toad."

"Mm…toad?"

Inuyasha tightened his grip on her thighs and snuck a glance over his shoulder when he felt the weight of her body suddenly waver. "Hey, you alright?"

“Oh!” She straightened with a jolt, and he felt her grip on his shoulder return. "Yes, I'm fine. I suppose I’m not used to casting for so long…"

Her voice trailed off wearily and Inuyasha frowned. Even with the blue sheen of her visor, he could still see the tired way her eyelids drooped.

"Hang on a bit." Inuyasha cut his gaze away from her and set his jaw. "I'll hurry up some more."

Her grip on his shoulders tightened as he increased his pace and his ear twitched at her quiet yelp of surprise.

---

There was a moment of quiet as Inuyasha and Sailor Mercury’s silhouettes vanished into the slowly darkening evening sky.

Whether that moment of stillness was one of reprieve or an unnerving prelude to the chaos that followed, Kagome couldn’t be certain. She didn’t have time to think on such philosophical things because the masses around them suddenly burst back to life, swarming their now smaller forces. For every enthralled human that Kagome managed to purify, it seemed as if three more took their place.

The demons commanding the crowd seemed to have noticed the shift in the air, now cool with a thin layer of Mercury’s departing mist. The two of them, content to watch previously, rose to action with a look of understanding when their thralls fumbled, growing clumsy and sluggish in their movements. The dampening of the enchanted music weakened their control, though was not enough to cleanse it entirely. At least, Kagome thought as she shoved another stumbling thrall away with her bow, it disoriented them.

Kagome worried her bottom lip, quickly glancing in the direction that she had last seen the others before the masses had herded them away from each other. Sailor Mars was just as crowded as she was, but the soldier of fire was handling it well enough, despite her clear frustration with the circumstances.

Her eyes found Sailor Moon just as the demon Murido appeared before her and Kagome’s heart plummeted. Sailor Moon’s expression was wary -thank goodness- but equally confused by the polite bow that the demon offered her. Kagome saw that familiar flicker in her expression, that look of innocent Usagi rather than the magical soldier of the moon, and judging by the pleased smile on Murido’s face, the demon did too. Murido stroked the apple in her hand and the dark power within it receded for a moment as Kagome watched. Then it burst from her in a mist -a miasma- and Sailor Moon’s eyes glazed over.

"Sailor Moon!” Kagome felt her heart thud in panic. Sailor Moon was too far away and she was too crowded to risk a shot at the creature controlling the demonic red mist. Charging her bow, she swatted the cluster surrounding her away and readied to clear a path through the masses again.

That plan, it seemed, was not meant to be.

"Ah!" Her bow fell from her grip as she was hauled into the air, allowing her only a moment for her eyes to widen as she watched the ground rapidly grow farther away.

Then, all at once, she was on the ground again, staring up at the creeping shroud of night sky above. The dull hum of a vent off to the side brought her back to reality enough to realize that she had been dropped on the roof of the building that Murido had greeted them from. There was a glint of light to her side, a reflection of the slowly rising moon off a nearby skylight. A glance down through the window revealed what looked like a factory of sorts, empty and dilapidated but for a few props and a stack of gym mats, perhaps meant for whatever performances the real park staff might offer.

Suddenly, the light of the moon was gone, blocked by the shadow of a silhouette Kagome thought she was growing far too familiar with.

"You've improved, little soldier." Jadeite’s footsteps echoed from behind her, ominous and threatening in the surety of his slow approach. Her arm throbbed as she jolted upright to look at him, his expression just as condescending as his tone in the way he eyed her. "But you're too easily distracted by the weakness of those around you."

Aching from the impact but too angry to care, Kagome pushed herself up to her hands and knees with a hiss. "You won't get away with this!"

"And here you are,” Jadeite arched a brow as he looked down at her, his posture infuriatingly casual despite the sounds of battle echoing just below them. “Delivered to me regardless."

"And for what?!” Kagome pushed herself to her feet and spun to glare at him as she wiped the blood from her mouth. “What is the point of this, Jadeite?!"

Something in his eyes flickered as he glanced at her hand, her glove stained pink with blood. "That isn't your concern-"

"The hell it isn't!" His eyes widened at her interruption, an incredulous expression twisting his features as she stomped her foot childishly, the outburst more befitting of Sailor Moon’s antics.

Kagome didn’t care. Kagome was sore, tired, and downright fed up.

"You demanded me, Jadeite!" Slapping a hand to her chest, she waved the other towards the edge of the rooftop, gesturing almost exasperatedly at the chaos raging below them. "Why?! What is the point of all this?"

Kagome stomped up to him and Jadeite didn’t seem to know whether he ought to be amused, confused, or insulted by the bold move. He settled on a look of confusion when she lifted a hand to shove him angrily in the chest.

"Who is this 'Great Ruler'? Why do they need you to steal the life energy from other humans?"

When she made to prod at him again, he caught her by the wrist, still looking uncertain how to handle the tirade. Despite her captive limb, Kagome wasn’t deterred and only scowled defiantly.

"You're human too!" Kagome hissed at him, ready to continue her ranting -despite not actually letting him answer- when Sailor Moon suddenly screamed. She dared a glance over the edge and her stomach rolled.

Sailor Moon was clutching her arm, which might have been a show of dramatics if not for the chunk of rock that encased the limb. Sailor Mars was nowhere to be seen. Kagome flexed her fingers, grasping for a weapon long gone.

"You…want me for my energy, right?" She lifted her free hand and his grip on her wrist tightened at the little wisps of light that rose to her fingertips. His shoulders squared, a fresh tension that spoke of a readiness to fight. Another shriek of terror from below made Kagome wince. "Look, I'll…I'll go with you, okay?"

He looked startled by the offer, his expression almost alarmed as he took a step back from her.

"Just…let the others go." His fingers were trembling now, the grip on her wrist growing loose. Kagome swallowed, her own nerves tightening her throat as her eyes met his. "Promise me you won't hurt anyone else and I’ll-"

"Fire Soul!"

Several things happened all at once. Jadeite yanked her forward suddenly and Kagome stumbled into his grasp. His arms wound around her and the scream had barely left her lips when her vision rapidly filled with fire. The sudden burst of power stole the air from her lungs, the heat oppressive as it engulfed the two of them.

Jadeite shouted in pain above her and the power that had been dancing at her fingertips slipped from her grasp.

It burst from her in a flash, blinding and pure, and the heat ebbed just enough that she could breathe. Kagome sucked in a breath, clutching the front of her would-be captor's coat as a bead of sweat rolled down her forehead and they were shoved back by the force.

Then the ground fell away beneath her feet as they tumbled through the skylight.

---

Everything was dark. The air was dry and musty with an unpleasant sense of heat to it.

“ail…or…T!”

Something was happening. She couldn’t remember what. Her head throbbed. She clenched her fists, gripping something hard and cool against her palm.

“Sail…or…T!”

That was a funny name. It sounded familiar.

“...gome!”

Kagome jerked, her eyes popping open with a gasp. Her chest ached at the sudden intake, as if she had forgotten to breathe for some time.

“Ka-go-me!”

‘Oh…’ That was her name. She was Kagome. They were looking for her. The haze cleared a little more as the memories began creeping back. As she slowly recalled what had happened, Kagome grimaced, the awareness bringing the ache of her fall with it. Her skin stung and the crunch of glass that came of her attempt to sit up told her why.

"You shot Kagome!" That was Usagi. She sounded upset. 

"I did what I had to do! I had a shot to take out the enemy and I took it!" Rei sounded as indignant as ever but there was something strained about her tone. "It was her or the city!"

A glance above showed the remains of a shattered skylight, edges of the wooden frame charred and broken.

As luck would have it, she had landed on the stack of gym mats that she’d spied through the window before. A glance around the room found her alone. The air felt distinctly lighter, the weight of dark magic and demon energy no longer so suffocating a presence. The sounds of fighting outside were gone.

‘Is it over then?’ Kagome clenched a fist, only to look down in surprise at the sight of the tiny gemstone in her grasp. It was lovely, with a deep viridescent sheen that glittered in the moonlight trickling in through the broken skylight. The echo of footsteps drew nearer, reverberating through the empty remains of the factory, and Kagome curled her fingers around the stone she still held.

"There had to be another way!" Usagi sounded shrill, as if on the verge of tears, and Kagome rolled onto her feet to drag herself towards the door with a wince. "You didn't even- Kagome!"

Kagome yanked open the door -miraculously unlocked- and leaned on the frame to catch her breath. It was only as her gaze caught the sight of her bloodstained gloves, more visible in the moonlight now that she was outside, did she realize that, among the other miracles of that night, her disguise had held. She gave an appreciative pat to the Disguise Pen in her pocket.

She stumbled the rest of the way out the door and Sailor Moon’s eyes were wide and tearful as she looked over Kagome’s battered form, her bottom lip quivering. "Kago-chan…"

Sailor Moon practically launched herself at her, grabbing her up in a hug with a wail. Despite the ache of her body and the tiredness that weighed on her, Kagome strained to smile for her friend. "Hey, Sailor Moon…"

"You're okay!" Sailor Moon paused, suddenly holding her at arms length to look her over uncertainly. "You…are okay, right?"

"I'm fine…just," Kagome grimaced and rubbed the back of her neck. “...a little sore and kind of tired."

Really, she wasn’t quite sure of the truth to that statement. But she was relatively in one piece and it seemed to placate Sailor Moon’s worry. Thankfully, any further questioning was promptly derailed by the sound of a quiet landing beside them.

"Sailor Mercury! Inuyasha! You're back!" Sailor Moon straightened and released her grip on Kagome to scurry over to the pair. "Did it work?"

"It would appear so." Sailor Mercury slid from her perch on Inuyasha’s back, one of his hands gripping her by the shoulder to keep her steady as she righted herself. He looked away with a huff when Mercury flashed him a grateful smile, but the soldier seemed nonplussed and only turned her attention back to the computer now balanced on her arm to type at the keyboard. "Readings show that the dark energy in the air is steadily declining."

"I don't know about you guys…" Kagome sheepishly gestured to herself, disheveled and bloodied in the wake of the evening’s events. "But I could really do with a hot bath and some food right about now."

"Yes!” Sailor Moon bounced in place with an excited clap of her hands. “Dumplings!"

Kagome smiled tiredly, only able to muster a fond shake of the head at the blonde’s excitable behavior in the wake of their biggest fight yet. Her fingers curled, clenching around the little gem a bit tighter. 

She watched as Sailor Mercury turned to Mars, who appeared to have hung back, to question if the other soldier would be joining them. Somehow, Kagome wasn’t terribly surprised when the shrine maiden waved her off, though she didn’t hear what was said between the two.

A bouncing Sailor Moon distracted her from further observation, and Kagome turned to offer her friend another tired smile as the girl latched onto her arm to lead her out of the gates.

---

Lingering at the entrance, Rei watched them leave quietly. She waited until she could no longer hear Sailor Moon’s loud chatter to heave a breath. She was unsurprised at the echo of footsteps that drew up behind her. She had stayed back to wait for him, after all.

It was his interference that had saved Sailor Moon from her own foolishness when she could not, when they had been left so vulnerable by splitting their forces. It was no matter if that half brained idea had worked in the end, because it had nearly killed the silly girl. At least it had given her the opportunity to take out that general from the Dark Kingdom.

Though the admission of her own failure left a sour taste in her mouth, Rei was still the daughter of a politician - much as she might hate that particular fact. It was one thing to harp on the weakness of her own teammates, to criticize their failings in the hopes they might recognize them and improve, but she still felt she knew them enough to be comfortable making such judgements. 

This man was a stranger. This man, while a devilishly handsome stranger, she did not know.

Something within her shifted uncomfortably at the thought, but if he noticed her unease, he did not acknowledge it. Rei, for one, was not inclined to point it out. Instead, she only thinned her lips and kept her posture tall, proud even as she inclined her head to look at him. “I suppose I should thank you for helping us tonight.” 

“Of course. I came as soon as I saw the news.” He hummed, tapping the cane she’d seen him fight with earlier against the ground thoughtfully. “I didn’t expect even Sailor Moon to be so brash as to walk into such a trap.”

Rei supposed he didn’t need to know that she had been the most vocal of their little team to vote in favor of facing the enemy that night.

He sighed suddenly, the sound weary and annoyed in one. “She’s far too distracted.”

Barely withholding the sense of vindication that swelled up within her, Rei chanced a peek at him through the corners of her eyes. "You saw it too?"

"Yes. I worry about Sailor Moon." His lips thinned and she watched his brows crinkle. "That other girl's influence…"

"I know!" Rei hissed, turning to the masked stranger, lips pursed. "And she isn't even a real soldier!"

His own lips thinned and she imagined the way his gaze must have narrowed behind his mask as the corners of his eyes crinkled. "I suspected as much."

After a moment more of silence, he turned with a dramatic flutter of his cape and paused to glance back at her. Rei felt her heart skip a beat at the gesture.

"Do keep in touch, Sailor Mars. And don't worry." He tipped his hat in her direction and Rei felt her heart girlishly skip a beat. "I will be keeping a much closer eye on our situation now."

Then she was alone.

Well, that wasn’t so strange, she supposed. She was used to being alone. People already called her a witch for her uncanny ability of the sight, the way she drew on the sacred fire for visions so seamlessly. Becoming a sailor soldier was no different, but at least the media had called her a superhero rather than a witch or, worse yet, Hino Takashi’s daughter.

With a huff, Rei straightened her posture and turned in the direction of the temple.

For now, she would trust her instincts. After all, she could not remember a time that they had been wrong. The fire had never led her astray before.

---

There were few things that shook the General of the North American division. There were fewer still that could so lapse his control. Watching the defeat of his brother in arms, his fellow king, was bad enough.

"I can't believe they've beaten Jadeite." Nephrite seethed. 

Losing one of their own wasn't unexpected. Losing one of them, one of the kings, was a different matter. They were no mere servants, after all. Jadeite was no mere servant.

"He's one of us!" Nephrite clenched his fist, turning from his comrades with a hiss. "One of the special, the chosen, the Four Kings!"

"Damnit!" Zoicite's quiet curse reminded Nephrite that he was not alone. 

Inhaling, Nephrite grit his teeth and schooled his expression back to one more controlled. "It was that nameless soldier, I'm certain of it."

Quiet up until that point, Kunzite -their ever dutiful commander- finally looked up, expression intrigued. "Nameless soldier?"

“Well, I suppose not anymore.” Though he only knew of the soldier’s supposed title from the news headlines that had lined her city. Nephrite thinned his lips thoughtfully. He hadn’t even gotten the chance to speak with Jadeite before the man had rushed off to face the soldiers. 

The man had stormed out of the throne room a week earlier, eyes wild as he nearly bowled Nephrite over in his haste. At the time, Nephrite had thought it anger, but in hindsight it had been more than that. He’d only tried briefly to question it at the time, but let it go when Jadeite snapped a refusal to speak on the matter -whatever it had been- and stormed off with the declaration that they would talk later. Perhaps if he had insisted, his fellow king might not have met his end.

Perhaps his friend might still be alive.

Under different circumstances, Nephrite might not have risked sharing such information with the pair. In the wake of Jadeite’s death, however, whatever rivalry that he and Zoicite -and by extension, Kunzite- entertained was less important. 

That wasn’t to say that Jadeite had told him everything to begin with. Reporting what he knew made him realize just how little that actually was.

Despite their camaraderie, both he and Jadeite had a -perhaps foolish in hindsight- tendency to keep things close to the vest. It was one thing to work in tandem, another entirely to work as a unit. But they knew when to come together as a team - at least he thought they did. Rivalries aside, they were the Four Kings, respected generals of the Dark Kingdom, not fools.

His friend had never been such a fool.

"Well, we'll have to pay this girl back then, won't we?" There was an unsurprising viciousness to his tone as the boy spun on his heel to stomp towards the door. Zoicite always had been the most emotionally driven of them.

Nephrite inclined his head to glance at him. "The queen ordered her to be recovered alive, Zoicite."

Zoicite paused, his hand just on the door. As he glanced over his shoulder there was a glint to his eyes that reminded Nephrite exactly why the boy was one of them.

"Good," Zoicite drawled, the corners of his lips curling upwards. "Killing her would be too easy."