InuYasha Fan Fiction / Yu Yu Hakusho Fan Fiction ❯ The Blue Anshan ❯ Everything Changes 5 - Statue ( Chapter 42 )

The Blue Anshan

By Alesyira

Disclaimer: Inuyasha and Yu Yu Hakusho are not mine. I made a few OCs to fill in my gaps.

Summary: One man's treasure is another man's treasure.

Chapter Rating: T

Author's Note: next three are pretty close to being done but they're larger chapters and a lot happens. they might need more time to make sure everything connects. hopefully Monday update if no hurricane madness

Arc 5 - Everything Changes 5 - Statue

broken

Youganryuu hadn't gone far before circling back to monitor the chaos. Once the fire had spread sufficiently, he would be free to slip in and collect his treasure and be on his way. As he approached the clearing, the shivering intensity of the magic he'd left behind choked off unexpectedly, vanishing into nothing. He slid closer and peered through a break in the trees as the last of the fire in the clearing sputtered out and died.

That girl had done something impossible to counteract his magic. He stared up at the unnatural glow, appalled. So much magic, wasted.

A different fire elemental quickly approached to join those in the clearing —another one that was not his— and he clenched his fist in irritation. Far too many to deal with. He fled the way he'd come, crisscrossing his tracks a few times to throw off any pursuit. He'd have to plan how best to distract or draw them away…

He quickly found a steep hill with a decent vantage point from which he could see any that approached and stood quietly, staring down into the woods at the top of the towering tree that had somehow escaped his wrath. It glowed a sickening color, unnatural and conflicting with its surroundings.

It should have all burnt.

He noticed the vague flicker of the new elemental's barrier. He focused and reached for the fire magic lacing its structure, but his touch slid off against the unnatural energy from that girl. That strange one who poorly resembled his…

He ground his teeth in frustration.

It was a short time later that he realized none had attempted to follow him, so he knelt and placed his hands against the earth, listening. A scream reached him, echoing through the ground, something awful and…

and his heart wrenched. His magic broke. The glittering trail that led him to her, connected her life to his, his connection to her hints of sadness and broken love, crumbled.

His treasure his love his only reason for continued existence was gone. He crumpled in agony, clutching at his chest. A rush of his fire magic returned to him from her, trailing ragged edges tainted with madness.

He'd been connected to Hananoki for hundreds of years, their life force linked together, so he'd know her while he slept and while he destroyed. He'd felt the echoes of her suffering and sadness warring with some strange sense of the love she still harbored. But it had been a broken love. They were a broken match. And now she was gone.

His rage suffused him.

The foliage and small animals in his immediate surroundings burst into flame. The ground steamed and the rock far beneath him shook suddenly under the onslaught of seismic heat. He had never thought that his treasure could ever be taken from him. He ignored a gigantic beast crushing the forest some distance away. Let it destroy everything, he thought. Such a massive thing should have no other purpose.

He was torn, go back and fetch what might remain of her, or cut his losses and return to his mountain?

He crushed his fists to his eyes.

He couldn't bear the thought that she was gone.

Truly gone

Disgust flooded him

She'd betrayed his family, betrayed his love, and then he was the last-

He'd killed all that had dared to harm what was his, and then she was the last-

He choked on the flames in his throat before screaming in agony.

He couldn't leave her body behind, even if she was gone.

He made a quick decision and headed in a new direction. He could taste the power trickling deep within the earth.

He would destroy them all.

treasure

As Hiei flashed away to return Kagome's magic to her, Shippo noticed a slowly spreading circle of fire had crept through his barrier. He stared in confusion and carefully approached the unnatural burn as it smoldered in a ring of smoking grasses. It seemed to originate just outside of his barrier, and there was a small figure collapsed in its center.

His footsteps were silent and slow as he crept closer, peering at the ash-coated female. A light breeze ruffled her hair, exposing a shimmer of copper. Her familiar green eyes were half-open but lifeless as she stared into the night sky. He cocked his head as he neared, confusion ricocheting through his thoughts.

This female seemed wrong somehow. Is she dead? He knelt by her side and tilted his head so that she was no longer sideways to his gaze, then brushed some of the coating of ash from her skin. The action stirred up a faint trace of her scent and his breath caught in his throat as he froze on his knees, numb with disbelief.

He hadn't seen her in over five centuries, but he would never forget her scent.

'Mother.'

She hadn't aged a day.

And she was alive.

…Sort of.

Her youki was gone. She had a heartbeat and her breath came in shallow puffs of air, but there was no one home.

It clicked into place faster than he'd have liked, and he looked away from the face that had haunted his dreams for centuries to stare after the trail of raging power roiling in the distance.

He pulled off his cloak and wrapped her carefully in the soft fabric. Depending on what had just happened in the last ten minutes and how it related to Kagome's curse that had been set 500 years ago, he might need to proceed with extreme caution.

He gently gathered her limp body into his arms and stood, a sad smile curling his lips. He hoped he'd see her smiling at him again soon, but at the very least, he had her back. He prayed he would not have to bury her.

He'd heard the rumors of the stone figure that had been seen when the mountain kami brought his gifts of destruction. After so long of not knowing what had happened to her, if she'd been there, just beyond his reach each time he'd followed the clues to another of the targets days after they'd been destroyed...

He clutched her to himself in a fierce hug and rubbed his cheek in her hair before pulling the edge of the fabric up to hide her face from view.

Mother.

He stared at the Goshinboku, ensconced safely within the barrier, wondering if she would be safe amongst its roots, or if he should risk carrying her into what might end up being a major battle with the terrifyingly large presence he could sense stampeding to the north. He sighed. He couldn't leave her behind, now or ever.

The mountain kami would be back for her, he was certain. If he'd had her since she disappeared over five centuries ago… He froze for just a moment, realizing the danger. They did not have much time.

He held her limp form close and ran toward the maelstrom of youki. They needed to regroup immediately and prepare for the worst.