InuYasha Fan Fiction ❯ A Fool's Redemption ❯ Into Alduray ( Chapter 1 )

[ Y - Young Adult: Not suitable for readers under 16 ]

***ATTENTION - Well guys, it would appear that MediaMiner has been abandoned by both its mods and web team (at least that's what people are assuming on the forums, due to the complete lack of responses from either and the endless problems this site has had for over a year now. I have tried to post the reedited versions of AFR ch 1-5, but the formatting ends up completely screwed no matter how many workarounds I use (as you can see it has done to this first chapter), so the version on this site is going to remain the original one, cuz I'm not going to make it completely unreadable just to update it to version 3. The newer version is up at FanFiction.net as well as AdultFanFiction.com. Please read it there. I will continue to post new chapters on this site as long as I can, but with the way things are looking now, I don't see this site being around much longer.***
Disclaimer: I don’t own InuYasha. This story will contain mature themes, including but not limited to strong language, violence, alcohol and drug usage, and adult situations.
(08/2011 - Note: Welcome to AFR version 3. This version features some significant changes from the original that I began posting in 2007, though the story line remains the same. Most changes were to things that needed rewriting in order to improve the story flow, and to make it a bit less wordy overall. I clarified some things, took out a lot of filler and replaced with more substance, added some dialogue, made the conversations in the second and third chapters a bit more conversational, removed many unnecessary adjectives, fixed a number of grammar and spelling errors, etc. It definitely reads easier now. The edited chapters will be rolled out and uploaded in batches of five at a time, with the date that each chapter was reposted in a note at the top. I hope you enjoy it!)
Chapter 1 – Into Alduray
She pressed back against the wall, further into the shadows of the dark examination room. Through the window in the wall to her left she saw the strobes of the alarm system flashing angrily in the main laboratory. The sirens were shrieking, and she could hear an automated voice. “Level 4 security breach. Level 4 security breach. All personnel initiate lockdown procedure 4-B immediately. This is not a drill,” it repeated over and over again. Something hit the window but she turned away. She could hear the screams and anguished moans of her dying colleagues as their bodies were being torn apart. Monsters, all of them. For all the unspeakable things they had done, they deserved it. Didn’t they? Of course there were going to be a few deaths, butc
No one had thought he would be this violent.
There was the sound of gunfire, followed quickly by more screaming. She silently pleaded with the shadows around her to move in closer. “Stop, please stop,” she tried to say, but found she had no voice.
Then suddenly, he was at the window of her little room, a spray of blood on the glass hiding his face from view. The shadows did no good. Even they retreated in terror. He placed a crimson soaked hand against the window and slowly wiped the gore away.
The golden eyes of a demon stared down at her.
“curashi?”
The lab faded around her as the wail of the sirens was replaced by the mechanical din of a plane engine.
“Ms. Higurashi?”
Kagome woke with a start and blinked at the pilot sitting at the head of the small business jet. He was turned in his seat, looking back at her.
“I’m sorry to wake you, but we’ll be heading into Alduray airspace in a couple minutes. We may need to descend pretty quickly to avoid some choppy air coming out of the mountains. I wanted to let you know beforehand so it didn’t scare you,” he said.
She cleared her head quickly and smiled at him. “Thank you,” she said. He nodded and turned forward in the cockpit once again.
She let out a deep sigh and slid down a bit in her seat. I wonder how long I was asleep, she thought, checking her watch. It was almost six. She wiped a strand of hair away from her eyes and glanced out the window, noticing the broken remains of a highway and a few decaying roadside buildings far below.
Damn that nightmare for resurfacing again. Especially now. He’s not a demon, she scolded the dreaming part of her brain.
It sure seemed like he was at the time, it argued back.
She couldn’t disagree with herself on that point. Of course he wasn’t a demon. But the experience had been so traumatizing that it was little wonder her imagination would portray him as such.
“There it is,” she heard the pilot call back as he pointed out the right side of the plane. She pulled herself from her seat, wincing at the stiffness in her limbs, and moved to the opposite side to gaze out the windows. Off in the distance, rising up from the ruined landscape, stood the city of Alduray, its three cylindrical silver towers shining proudly in the late-afternoon sun. An immense eco-dome nestled between them, its translucent environmental shield giving off a faint blue glow that she recognized as a sign of rain within. Next to the dome and fanning out from the base of the largest tower stood three massive greenhouses.
She was so busy staring at the city that she didn’t notice the surrounding area at first, but as the plane flew lower she turned her eyes toward the ruins on the ground. The shattered and rotting buildings of the old city of Norcross littered the dry landscape below. The streets that weaved between them were cracked and looked as if they would be passable using only the sturdiest of vehicles. A few of the more intact structures, rare as they were, still showed the terrible scars of war.
The plane dropped suddenly, and she had to grab ahold of the seat to keep from being bounced against the ceiling.
“Sorry!” the pilot called back. “Didn’t think the drafts would be this bad today. You might want to get back in your seat and buckle up.”
She quickly did as he suggested, and as soon as she was fastened in once again, she heard the pilot talking through his headset. The plane banked and turned, then leveled and began its descent. She watched as the ruins rushed past outside, noticing they'd been completely razed in a circumference of nearly two miles around the new city. By the time the plane touched down on a smooth runway, they were nowhere to be seen.
The pilot spoke into his headset again and turned the plane in the direction of the towers, taxiing down a short avenue toward them. Kagome unfastened her belt, reached under her seat, and pulled out the one bag she'd packed for herself, looking at it sadly. It contained all that was left of her material possessions. Finally, once the plane had slowed to a stop, the pilot stood and moved toward the door. He pulled a latch and the door hissed open, the stairs folded against it sliding down to the ground automatically.
“Door-to-door service. Welcome to Alduray,” he said.
As she stepped out into the sunlight and crisp air, she realized he'd driven right up to the ground entrance of the largest tower. An ornate metal awning stood before her, shading a pair of glass doors that were too deeply tinted to see through. She tilted her head back and gazed up at the tall structure looming overhead.
“It looks so much bigger from down here,” she said. She heard a chuckle from behind, and turned to find the pilot checking a service panel on the underside of the plane.
“}Wait ‘til you see the inside.” He closed the hatch with a snap and extended a hand to her. “It was a pleasure meeting you. I’d come in with you but I want to get back by nine.”
She smiled and shook his hand. “No problem. It was nice to meet you as well. I’m sorry I wasn’t better company.”
The pilot tipped his hat. “We all gotta sleep sometime. You might not get a lot of that here, so might as well sleep while you can.”
She nodded and wondered at his odd advice.
As he climbed back into the plane and was closing the hatch, he called out, “Say hi to the king for me!” Then the door closed and the engines whined to life once again.
Kagome almost laughed aloud at the mention of the 'king'. That was going to take some getting used to. She stood watching as the plane headed back down the runway, then turned to stare up at the tower, feeling a dual sense of closure and beginning. She was finally here, finally safe. In this place, with time and, most importantly, forgiveness, she could reclaim her life.
But what if there is no forgiveness for you here? an uncertain part of her asked. It was a question that had been tormenting her for months. Now it seemed as if the city itself was asking her the same thing, standing over her like a monolithic judge, ready to pass sentence.
“I'll keep trying,” she answered aloud. There was only one person here whose opinion mattered, only one who knew the crimes of her past. And only one who could forgive her for it.
Fresh start, she reminded herself as she squared her shoulders, shaking off her insecurities, and walked toward the entrance. The sound of the plane taking to the air met her ears, and as it died away, the utter silence of the place settled in around her. It was frighteningly quiet. The only sounds were her own footsteps and the wind whistling through the awning above. She suddenly felt terribly alone, as if she was the only person alive for miles. Her pace quickened, but as she approached the doors and reached out to open them, she realized neither one had a handle.
She paused, wondering how she was supposed to get inside, and was about to resort to knocking, when the doors slid open on their own. A tall, dark skinned man in a black coat stood on the other side. His head was shaved bald and he wore dark glasses that hid his eyes. Security, she thought.
His face showed no emotion, and when he spoke, his voice wasn’t unkind, but it was all business. “Your ID and travel documents, please.”
She reached into a pocket in her bag and produced both.
As he scanned them, he said, “Please state your business with the city of Alduray.”
“I’m fleeing Eona and wish to seek refuge here,” she said, just as her uncle had instructed.
He nodded and returned her documents, then removed his glasses as his stiff expression softened into a smile. “Welcome, Ms. Higurashi. We’ve been expecting you. If you’ll follow me please.” He turned and headed into the tower.
A bit startled by his quick change in demeanor, but grateful at the same time, she stepped inside and followed him. The doors closed behind her, cutting out the sunlight, and as her eyes adjusted to the dark interior, she realized that she was walking through a kind of lobby. Two other people, a man and a woman wearing clothes similar to the man she was following, stood on either side of the room, curiously watching her as she passed. They too were both bald. She offered a small smile to them and was surprised to receive one from each in return.
She followed her escort up a short flight of stairs, and as they cleared the landing at the top, they left the darkness of the lobby behind, and emerged into a large round hall topped by a vaulted ceiling. Her mouth dropped open in awe as she gazed around. It was the most breathtaking room she'd ever seen.
The floor was a tiled design of mosaics, worked in colors of every shade of green imaginable. Several large marble columns lined the walls along the perimeter of the room, but they had been dyed and cut to resemble the trunks of trees. Across the ceiling overhead, leaves and tree branches dotted with tiny colorful birds were painted against a background of the bluest sky, as if the marble tree columns continued to grow up into verdant canopies. There were no visible lights to illuminate the mural. Somehow it just seemed to glow on its own, its soft ambient hues providing light for the entire room.
Tearing her gaze from the ceiling, her eyes wandered down to a round, shallow reflecting pool set into the middle of the room. A large orange sphere hovered above the water, seemingly without suspension, and as they approached, she realized it was a fountain sculpture of the sun, crafted from thousands of tiny bits of glass, each expertly fitted together like jigsaw pieces. Like the floor, every hue of orange, as well as a few flashes of yellow and red, had been used in its creation. Here and there, tendrils of gold spiraled out from the glass. Water flowed down from the top of the sphere, covering it in a smooth sheet, dripping fiery colors into the pool below.
Skirting the room were three arched corridors; one to her left, right, and directly in front of her, each framed with statues cut from pearl-gray stone. The statues of the corridor to her left had solemn expressions and each held one hand up with palms forward, as if swearing an oath of some kind. To her right, the statues had more direct expressions, seeming to stare out with an air of authority. The opening in front of her was the largest and most ornate of all. Beautiful men and women\each delicately crafted in stone\danced, laughed, and embraced all along the frame of the archway. Beyond that she could see fading sunlight spilling into a large open space she assumed was the building’s center atrium.
The man she was following moved toward the right corridor, and she quickly followed, feeling a little overwhelmed by the dramatic change from the barren world outside to this brilliant place filled with so much color. They continued down a long office-lined hallway, sparsely decorated except for the green tile beneath their feet. At the end of the hall, her escort stopped in front of the last doorway. He turned to her and extended a hand toward the room, indicating she should enter.
“Thank you,” she said and stepped inside.
“}Solomon,” he announce from behind. “Ms. Higurashi has arrived.”
An older man with salt and pepper hair looked up from a stack of papers. “Kagome!” he exclaimed, rising from his chair.
“Your majesty!” she greeted playfully as he rushed out from behind his desk and extended his arms.
“}Oh, don’t you start.” He wrinkled his nose at her, wrapping her in a hug.
“}Hello, uncle,” she said with a giggle, returning his affection. “It's good to see you again.”
“}It’s been too damn long!” the older man said as he pulled away, then turned to Kagome's escort. “Thank you, Adem.”
Adem nodded and disappeared from the doorway.
“Come! Sit!” her uncle continued. “You must be exhausted. Did you come straight from Eona?”
“}Yeah. We left right after sunrise and didn’t get to Belle Drift until just after noon. And the plane didn’t leave from there until three.” She sat heavily in one of the large overstuffed chairs he had motioned to.
“}You’ve been traveling all day. I won't keep you long then.” He settled in a chair opposite her.
“}No. It’s all right. We haven’t talked in ages. I don’t want to rush,” she said.
“}I’m glad you’re finally here. I feel much better having you where I can keep an eye on you like I promised your father I would. With all that’s happened over the last few years, I’ve felt as if I wasn’t keeping my promise to him.”
“}I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to worry you.”
He pointed an accusing finger at her in jest. “It's my job as your uncle to worry about you. Anyone would worry with the kind of things you get involved in.” His tone softened. “But I know your father would be proud of all you’ve done.”
The corners of her mouth turned up in a pained smile.
“You don’t think so?” he asked.
Kagome hesitated. There was still a lot of doubt in her mind.
“You know,” he said, “if it weren’t for you, that boy would still be there right now, having God knows what done to him.”
She nodded. “Don’t get me wrong. I’m glad I was able to help shut the place down. I just wish I could have done more soonercso he wouldn’t have had to suffer so much.”
“But you had no other options, correct?”
She nodded again.
“Better to do things the painful way than not at all. I’m sure, given the choice, he would have agreed.”
She gave her uncle a grateful smile, but remained silent.
His eyes drifted to the bag lying at her feet. “Is that all you brought with you?” he asked.
“It’s all I have left,” she replied. “Everything else was destroyed in the fire. It's mostly just essentials and a few sentimental things I was able to save.”
Solomon sighed and ran a hand through his hair. “How did it happen? I thought you were in hiding. In fact, I don’t think you've ever told me the entire story. Just bits and pieces.”
Kagome turned to stare out the huge floor to ceiling windows that lined the far wall of his office. The sun was beginning to nestle down among the distant mountains, streaking the sky with red. Might as well start at the beginning. As unpleasant as it was to recount all over again, he deserved to hear the entire story, especially after all he was doing now, and had done already. She took a deep breath and began.
Continued in Chapter 2 – The Most Important Question
A/N: Hello IY community! This is my first InuYasha fic, so please review and let me know what you think!
By the way, since I rely a great deal on music to inspire me, I've decided to include a listing of the music I use for each chapter in my author’s notes. It's kind of like a soundtrack, with each piece listed in the order it was used, from beginning to end of chapter. For this one, I've included an opening theme piece, but it didn't actually have any place in the chapter.
Influential music for this chapter
(Theme) JOURNEY – Reira starring Yuna Ito, Nana movie insert single Endless Story
Mumen – Bakumatsu Kikansetsu Irohanihoheto OST
I Do – Illaria Graziano, Ghost in the Shell SAC OST


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