InuYasha Fan Fiction ❯ A Gathered Storm ❯ Mercury Morning ( Chapter 4 )

*DISCLAIMER: I hold no claim over the fantastic Inuyasha characters. Although, I do enjoying playing with them!*

 

A/N: I took creative liberties when it came to the powers of Izanami, goddess of the underworld. The creation story should be pretty much on target, however. And forgive my attempt at Japanese—I tried to be as accurate as I could!

 

Megami: goddess

Desu: death

Shukor-ru: scroll

Za: the

Yomi: the land of the dead

Izanami: goddess of creation & death

Izanagi: god of creation & Izanami's husband

 

 

 

Chapter 4: “Mercury Morning”

 

So come to me, my love

I'll tap into your strength

And drain it dry.

Can never have enough—

For you I'd burn the length and breadth of sky…

~ “My Medea” by Vienna Teng

 

 

The cold writhed inside her desolate form as she watched the embrace of her hanyou and reincarnation. A simple incantation had turned the pool of water at the opening of her cave into a mirror that had the power to gaze into the lives of others. Her lips twisted in a grimace as she observed the passionate embrace between the lovers.

 

The absurdity of the situation made her heart quake with anger. After all of the work she had put into the magic she wove into Inuyasha's mind, her work had literally gone up in smoke. She spit out a curse her dark, dead eyes focused on Kagome being ravaged by Inuyasha's mouth. That woman was the key to the unraveling of Kikyo's dark power. She slapped at the mercury colored pool with a porcelain hand, sending the image to waver and recede into nothingness.

 

“Missing you precious hanyou, Kikyo?” came a dark voice. A pair of flashing, demonic eyes caught her attention. “It seems your powers are diminishing.”

 

“Shut your mouth, you insolent being.” She spat as she watched him slip from the shadows. A rush of menacing power and bitter air slipped around her clay body. “My powers are greater than you could possibly comprehend.”

 

The chuckle from his lips sent a shiver rippling through her. “Is that so? Then why is he enjoying her touch instead of recoiling?”

 

Naraku's words struck a chord within her. “It's that blasted woman. She seems to hold some kind of power over him.”

 

Naraku clucked his tongue as he stepped from his hiding place within the shadows. “Indeed. So what can be done about the Higuriashi woman?” A hand slipped into the bell sleeve of his kimono, retrieving an ominous looking scroll. “Perhaps you should concentrate on her rather than the lowly hanyou.”

 

Kikyo's eyes revealed slight surprise as she recognized the scroll clutched between his fingers. “I know that scroll. Where did you get it?” She rose to her feet quickly, crossing the glistening cave floor to grab the parchment.

 

He held the object she desired back, slipping it into the opening of his kimono. “That is of no consequence, Kikyo. The real question is what would you give to invoke the power that it holds? How much do you truly desire to be rid of the mysterious girl?”

 

She stepped back slightly at his probing question. For three years since she had been resurrected, she had tried to gain Inuyasha's blind affections for her. Her nails bit into the hard flesh of her palms as the frustration of her constant failures flooded through her mind. She had given up her pure powers to gain control of him once again. She sold what remained of her soul to the kami of the underworld so that she might gain a new, darker magic. The power that had been recently bestowed upon her both invigorated and enraged her. It didn't seem like enough, no. Naraku did have a point regarding her hold over Inuyasha. At first, she was able to keep his thoughts close to her as she manipulated his feelings for Kagome. The harsh words he had uttered calling Kagome ugly and repulsive smelling had been her doing. She had hoped that these dagger-like words would push the meddling miko away from her rightful claim over the hanyou.

 

Yet with every calloused act he showed Kagome, every impulsive statement that he declared, it only seemed to fuel the damn girl to love him more. Perhaps she pitied him, seeing him more as a hurt child who never really knew how to trust or love unconditionally. In any case, it was down right infuriating to Kikyo.

 

But the even more curious predicament was why Naraku cared about her situation. He was an under-handed demon who tempted others with promises he never fulfilled. And there would be only one reason why he'd place the proverbial carrot in front of her.

 

“Why have you come here, Naraku? You present an item with great power, and yet you've asked for nothing in return. That is highly unlike you.” Her dark eyes narrowed on the man swaddled in a baboon cloak.

 

His dark chuckle filled her ears again as he stepped forward. “Before I respond to that, you must answer me this: what would you give to take Kagome out of the picture?”

 

She snorted disdainfully, “My miko powers are gone, dark hanyou. I've given the last of my remaining soul to the kami of the underworld that I may have the powers to control Inuyasha. So I am of no use to you to be a jewel shard detector.”

 

A venomous smirk pulled at his lips behind the mask of the baboon cloak, “I am already aware of that, precious Kikyo. But you are not the only woman with the power to find the shards of the Shikon jewel. Shall I explain it this way? You want Inuyasha for yourself. The only way you can get him alone is if we take care of Kagome.”

 

Her brow furrowed at his logic. “So you wish to have Kagome to find your jewel shards? Poor fool, you were unsuccessful before with your attempts. That cursed girl thwarted your incarnation's hold upon her heart. What makes you so sure you can claim her now?”

 

His lips screwed into a grimace, “Woman, you need not remind me of those failures. I am well aware of them.” His stance seemed to strengthen as the darkness swayed around him. Naraku inhaled deeply, releasing a strange chuckle from his malevolent mouth. “Ah, yes. That was before I came upon this…”

 

Naraku pulled the delicate rolled parchment from its hiding place in his kimono. “Surely, you are versed in the goddess of the underworld?”

 

Kikyo's brow rose slightly at his impudence, “I was a priestess in my former life, Naraku. I am well aware of the kamis.”

 

His lips curved in a wicked smile, “Then you know of the powers of Izanami? Her sorcery is one beyond all the prophets' comprehension. They say that her powers were born out of her hatred for her husband.”

 

She peered through the darkness at Naraku. Yes, it was a story that she was told when she was a young girl. The gods, Izanagi and Izanami, created the magnificent land of Japan eons ago. Izanami gave birth to the islands that make up Japan, along with many deities. However, her life in the Heavens was cut short as she died giving birth to the fire god, Kagututi. Izanagi lamented for his love desperately and journeyed into Yomi to see her once again. He quickly found her and announced that he had come to rescue her from the land of the dead. She spat at him, declaring that he was too late. She had already eaten the fruit of the dead which anchored her soul to her fate. Out of desperation, he would not relinquish his mission to bring his beloved back to the land of the living. Izanami finally agreed to go back with him, but under her terms: she needed to rest and he was not to follow her into her bedroom. While she slept, he crept into her room. A light cast over his beloved's face, but the visage he saw was of decay and rot. Fear overtook him as he ran from the palace. Izanami was furious and sent waves of shikome and other creatures of the dead to bring him back to her. He escaped and broke the link between the living and the dead as he blocked the entrance to Yomi forever. Izanami remained among the dead and became the goddess of the underworld.

 

Kikyo's countenance darkened at the implications before her. The scroll known as Sukuro'ru za Megami Desu possessed immense powers of the death goddess. What Naraku held was the authority to invoke the force of the goddess of death and her minions.

 

She felt unwelcome warmth against the nape of her neck that jarred her from her thoughts. Naraku's devilish lips traced the junction of her swan-like neck while his voice perversely invaded her ears, “Do you long for this power, Kikyo? One incantation and the minions of Yomi will follow your every command.”

 

A shiver ran down her spine as tendrils of his power licked against her clay-like skin. He was seething with it, this dark magic she had sought and sold her soul for. Her hand began to ache with the other worldly magic as Naraku slipped the baneful parchment into her left hand, continuing his ministrations upon her frail shoulder.

 

“You are much like the Megami Izanami. Both of you lost your lives and your control over your beloveds. And the bitterness that drives you to rightfully claim the hanyou is what keeps you from joining the dead. Kikyo, Izanami should be so honored to have you to invoke her powers.”

 

The authority to rule over the sycophants of Yomi was within her grasp. She unconsciously tightened her hold on the scroll before replying to the dark hanyou. “What is it you wish me to do, Naraku?”

 

He turned her forcefully to face him, relishing the look of hatred at his control in her eyes. “You will speak the incantation and invoke Izanami's powers into your body. You will bring the miko to me, and then the hanyou boy shall be yours to command.”

 

Her eyes blazed with annoyance and intrigue as she pushed as his chest unsuccessfully. “I will bring the detestable girl to you after I have collected Inuyasha. Do not think I will follow your every word, Naraku. With the sorcery of Izanami, I will be more powerful than you.”

 

Naraku inhaled her deeply before roughly casting her aside. “The incantation must be spoken upon the night of the solstice. You will find a clearing near Mount Hiba where Izanami was laid to rest. Invoke the powers of the Death Goddess, and you shall have your hanyou.” Kikyo watched him slip back into the shadows, hearing nothing but the roaring wind outside of the cave.

 

Naraku chuckled morbidly as his hand glided into the sleeve of his kimono to clutch at another scroll. You shall not be all-powerful, Kikyo. His characteristically wicked grin spread across his features. He had an ace up his sleeve…

 

 

@-------------}---------------

 

 

A sigh pulled from Kagome's lips as Inuyasha nibbled down her jaw line towards the sweet slope of her neck. Her anger had vanished, or at least had been pushed back by the lustful thoughts that now plagued her mind. She slipped her arm around his powerful neck as he lifted her to her toes, capturing her lips once more in an earth shattering kiss.

 

The wind began to pick up its ferocity as the lovers teased and tempted each other. A low growl uttered from Inuyasha's mouth tickled at her ears as he clutched her tightly against him. Shivering both from the cold and his attentions, she wrapped her voluminous cloak about them both.

 

The biting air nipped at her ankles causing her to take in a quick breath. Inuyasha raised his blazed eyes from her nape to her face in both curiosity and hunger. He parted his lips to speak, but a squeaky voice caught them both off guard.

 

“Kagome! Hurry! Sango says the storm is rolling in fast. We have to take cover!” Shippo's voiced piped in. He stopped short, glaring up at Inuyasha before tugging at the coarse fabric of Kagome's cloak.

 

Miroku appeared at Inuyasha's left, causing the dog demon to growl in annoyance. “We've found a hollow where we will be protected from the elements,” he announced, ignoring his friend's stand-offish manner.

 

Kagome looked back up at Inuyasha as if asking him to decide. “Fine! We'll go to the hollow,” he snarled. Shippo squeaked with joy as he climbed up onto Kagome's shoulder, snuggling into the hood of her cloak. Miroku merely nodded at Inuyasha, turning back towards the campsite and bounding off to Sango and Kirara.

 

Kagome smiled to herself as she slipped her hand into Inuyasha's which startled him. He leaned down and whispered thickly into her ear that was not blocked by a kitsune, “Don't think you got off so easy, Kagome.” A smug grin curved at his lips and hinted in his eyes that he had more in store for his sweet miko. She trembled slightly at the torrid thoughts that ran through her mind, unaware of her body leaning against the muscular form of her hanyou.

 

Shippo, oblivious to the heated emotions between his friends, chattered on about how the howling wind spooked Kirara and sent them both into hiding beneath Kagome's sleeping bag. Kagome chuckled at the spirited boy as they walked together to the hollow with the early morning air rushing past their feet.

 

The light that teased at the horizon was cloaked by the thick clouds of winter. Dull shades of the morning lit like mercury lamps against the rocky terrain and spread into the gathering of trees that housed the rest of their companions. Blankets of snow drifted over the branches of the trees and impeded their immediate vision.

 

Despite the cold, the warmth that flowed between Kagome and Inuyasha eased the pain of the storm. They set off to seek shelter before the gales became too violent.

 

 

 

And not too far away stood a desperate woman with a scroll that would change their lives forever…