InuYasha Fan Fiction ❯ After-effects ❯ A new sorceress ( Chapter 19 )

Disclaimer: Well, I didn't own Inuyasha and the gang in the earlier chapter so there's no reason for any of that to change ;).

 

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Chapter 18: A new sorceress

 

The sun was barely poking its head over the horizon when Kagura opened her eyes to the now familiar view of Kaede's hut. Her eyes instinctively strayed to her left where Yuna was still sound asleep. The sight of the peaceful child brought a tender smile on the youkai's lips. The fact that she had called her mommy even unconsciously filled her with a happiness she didn't know possible. Shaking herself off, she sat up in bed and stretched. Today marked the beginning of a new chapter in everyone's life, a chapter without the accursed shikon jewel. While the path ahead was clouded in an impenetrable fog, Kagura did not feel any apprehension toward the future; in fact it was quite the opposite. She was filled with an energy and determination she had never had before. In short, nothing could possibly stand in her way. Beside her, Yuna stirred and opened her eyes, bringing her out of her musing.

 

"Good morning sleepy head," she greeted playfully.

 

"Morning," muttered the child, still half asleep.

 

"I trust you slept well," teased the sorceress when she saw the state the girl was in.

 

Yuna merely nodded while stifling a yawn. As she proceeded to sit up though, her head started throbbing. While it was nothing more than a dull ache in the beginning, the pain quickly grew until she couldn't even think straight. Grabbing her forehead with her good hand, she let out a small plaintive wail as the pain grew to agonizing proportions.

 

"Yuna, what's wrong!?" exclaimed Kagura in alarm.

 

"My... head... hurts," muttered the child painfully.

 

"Okay... her head hurts... something to ease her pain... anything..." she whispered to herself, trying to keep panic from overtaking her.

 

Just as she was about to give up, her eyes fell on the feather she had given Yuna. Her eyebrows shot up in surprise when she noticed that it was actually pulsing.

 

"Her feather is reacting?! But that's impossible, only a sorceress' power can..." she began before her jaw dropped in astonishment.

 

"She's a sorceress?! But that's impossible, humans can't..." she thought, but once again, she did not finish her thought. Now was definitely not the time to wonder about possibilities and impossibilities.

 

Making her way to the twisting child, Kagura gathered her in her arms and summoned her own powers, forming a comforting blanket over the two of them.

 

For her part, Yuna could not care less about what Kagura had been doing. Right now, it felt like someone was trying to rip her head from the inside out and it hurt like hell. She was dimly aware that Kagura had wrapped her arms around her, but she hurt too much to really notice. And then, just as she thought her brain would explode, something warm and soothing washed over her, something that made the agony recede a little.

 

"Yuna..."

 

That voice... she knew it, who did it belong to?

 

"Don't be afraid Yuna; everything's going to be all right."

 

A face appeared in her hazy mind. Red eyes, black hair, pointy ears and, to top it all off, a warm and motherly smile that made Yuna feel loved and accepted. Kagura! Yes, that was the name she had been looking for. She was right there, with her. For some reason, that simple realization made her fears vanish like they never existed. With Kagura around, she just knew that nothing bad could happen.

 

"That's good Yuna, calm down and take a deep breath," encouraged the sorceress.

 

She did as she was told and flinched when the pain suddenly flared back to life. Instinctively, she tried to fight it, to block it, but it only made things worse.

 

"Don't struggle Yuna, surrender to the pain, and let it flow through you."

 

She just had to be kidding. If she surrendered, the agony would swallow her whole! She couldn't just give up like this.

 

"Please Yuna, trust me. You know I wouldn't let anything bad happen to you."

 

That was true. Kagura cared about her. She had saved her from her cruel masters, she had saved her from Akkimaru, she had braided her hair, she had given her her feather. In more ways than one, Kagura felt like the mother she had lost years ago. She couldn't possibly be suggesting something that would be bad for her now, would she? And so, with that truth firmly anchored in her mind, she gradually started to let the pain take over.

 

As preposterous as the suggestion had sounded at first, Yuna had to admit that it worked. The more she surrendered, the less her head hurt until finally, she ceased her battle completely. It left her with only a strange buzzing sensation that started spreading through her whole body, making her tingly all over. After a few seconds of this, everything sort of burst out of her body, causing her to snap her eyes open.

 

The first thing she saw was the smiling face of Kagura hovering above her. The details were blurry though, and she had to blink a few times to clear the strange red cloud surrounding the wind sorceress.

 

"How do you feel?" asked the female youkai once Yuna had recovered completely.

 

"I..." started the child and she trailed off. Her brow furrowed as she searched for words to describe what she was experiencing. "... feel different," she finally resigned herself to answer.

 

"That's normal, don't worry about it," reassured Kagura, her smile never leaving her face.

 

"Kagura-sama... what exactly... happened to me?" asked Yuna in a tone that was halfway between hesitant and fearful.

 

"Well Yuna, it seems that your sorceress' powers have just awakened," answered the youkai.

 

This reply was met by a completely blank stare on the child's part. Giggling slightly at the lack of reaction, Kagura shook her head slightly before answering.

 

"Why don't you sit up and I'll explain," she urged.

 

As the child righted herself, Kagura turned around and rummaged through their shared belongings, extracting a small mirror offered by Kagome. She then turned back to Yuna and pointed it at her, making the girl gasp in surprise.

 

"My eyes... they're glowing," she murmured in awe. And indeed, a pale hue could be seen emanating from her pupils.

 

"That's right, it's a little side-effect of the power that now courses through you," explained Kagura patiently.

 

"But... Kagome-sama and Miroku-sama have powers too and their eyes don't glow like mine," countered the young girl.

 

"True, but their powers are spiritual while yours are elemental, there's a huge difference," answered the female youkai.

 

Yet another blank stare met the explanation and Kagura smiled understandably. "Let's just say that your powers are different from theirs," she simplified and Yuna nodded, her confusion gone for the moment.

 

A flash of realization suddenly lighted the ten year old's features, followed quickly by hope. "Kagura-sama... does that mean that I can summon huge tornadoes like you?" asked the girl eagerly.

 

The youkai smiled sympathetically at the girl before answering. "We still have some ground to cover before actually getting to that point, but one day, I'm sure you'll be able to," she answered.

 

"Really?" questioned the ten year old, eyes sparkling with excitement.

 

"Of course," reassured the sorceress while ruffling Yuna's hair playfully. "But now, what do you say we go and get ourselves some breakfast?"

 

The child nodded vigorously to show her assent. "And then you'll teach me, right?" she questioned again, hopefully.

 

"Of course," reassured the female youkai. "But one can't very well learn on an empty stomach can she?"

 

******

 

"So you're actually saying that Yuna is a sorceress? I'm afraid it is rather hard to believe. I have never heard of any human with that gift before," commented Kaede in a calm but disbelieving tone.

 

The news of Yuna's unexpected ability had caused quite a bit of turmoil in the members of the household. The child had scrunched her back a little at the disbelieving stares she was receiving, but as the surprise dissipated and calm returned, her confidence seemed to come back slowly. It was Kaede who had recovered first and asked her question.

 

"Well, with what happened to Yuna, I'm not surprised," answered the female youkai.

 

"And what really did happen to you, child?" asked the old miko gently.

 

"Well..." began the girl, searching for words to describe accurately what she had experienced. "It felt mostly like my head was being ripped apart. But then... Kagura-sama did something and the pain diminished. After that, I just surrendered to the pain and it went away."

 

Kagura beamed proudly at Yuna for the accurate description, prompting the said child to blush a little, before explaining everything a little more thoroughly.

 

"What Yuna just described is called the awakening. It happens when the link between a sorceress and one of the four elemental essences asserts itself. It is very painful and also inevitable. If the link cannot be formed adequately, the person dies sooner or later," clarified the female youkai.

 

"Interesting, but it still does not explain why there are no human sorceresses," commented Miroku with a thoughtful expression on his face.

 

Before Kagura could answer, Kaede cut her in with a question of her own. "Kagura tell me, what happens when the link is not established correctly the first time?"

 

"It will keep trying to reassert itself periodically," came the immediate answer.

 

"And could her powers trigger sporadically during this phase? Causing unexplained occurrences around the person?" she asked again.

 

At this, Miroku's eyes suddenly lit up in recognition. A knowing smile spread upon Kagura's lips as she replied. "Very astute of you Kaede. It's very common for an untrained sorceress to trigger her powers accidentally, especially during the awakening phase."

 

The monk and the miko did not answer, but their expressions spoke volumes. It was as if a long mystery had finally been solved with that revelation.

 

"Did you two actually encounter something like this in the past?" asked Kagome, sensing the shift of mood from her friends.

 

"Once, years ago," began Kaede somberly. "The woman was said to be cursed and I was called upon to lift it. She was plagued with violent headaches and whenever they occurred, all the water around her would boil and swirl around. I could do nothing to save her as it was neither a curse nor an illness."

 

"And what about you Miroku?" questioned the girl hanyou.

 

"My story is extremely similar to Kaede-sama's. The only difference is that the woman would cause earthquakes when her headaches occurred. Had I known what was happening, I might have been able to save the lady, but unfortunately, all I could do was watch helplessly," answered the monk regretfully.

 

"As it is, even if you had known, there's nothing you could have done anyway. When the link establishes itself, it causes a violent shock to the body, a shock that is too violent for a human to bear," reassured Kagura.

 

"But... Yuna survived," argued Kagome.

 

"True, but that's because I was there. With my own powers, I was able to shield her from the blunt of the blow by slowing the establishment of the link, giving her body the time it needed to get used to it all," explained the female youkai patiently.

 

Shippo did not really understand most of what the other had just said. The only thing he did managed to understand was that Yuna had the same kind of powers as Kagura, which did not really matter to him, just as the fact as Kagome had turned into a hanyou did not bother him at all. But then something clicked in his mind and he bolted to his feet.

 

"So that's how you were able to push Akkimaru away yesterday!" he exclaimed, for the first time taking an active part in the conversation.

 

Everyone turned to the kitsune before shifting their gaze to Yuna, the unspoken question evident in their features. The said girl blushed and lowered her head in embarrassment before replying.

 

"Well... she threatened Shippo-chan and also promised to take away Kagura-sama's powers with her staff. So... well I... sort of got angry and... something exploded inside of me and before I knew it... she had flown right through the wall... and was lying about thirty feet away," she related, her cheeks having turned a bright crimson by now.

 

"Yeah, you should have seen it, the feather on the back of her head flashed and then something exploded, pushing Akkimaru away like this, BOOM!" continued the kitsune enthusiastically, punctuating his explanation with wild gestures.

 

"Impressive, I wish I could have seen it," congratulated Sango with a playful wink.

 

"I'll say, I bet Akkimaru must have been fuming after being caught like that," agreed Kagome with a smile on her face.

 

"That's an understatement," replied the kitsune, shivering in remembrance of the panther youkai's expression back then.

 

Everyone burst out laughing at this except Kagura, who wore a pensive frown on her face instead. Of course, Yuna, who was always trying her best to please the wind sorceress was the first to notice her expression and react.

 

"Is something wrong Kagura-sama?" she asked worriedly. Had she done something bad by summoning her powers like she had done? She felt fear grip her heart at the thought.

 

"What?" blinked the female youkai, snapping out of her stupor. She gazed down at Yuna who was pulling her sleeve lightly and was gazing at her with almost pleading eyes. "Oh! Nothing's wrong Yuna, I was merely trying to figure out what was your element," she answered with a smile.

 

The worry drained out of the child's body almost instantly, replaced with confusion this time. "My... element?" she questioned.

 

"One of the four basic elements: Fire, Water, Earth and Air. Your powers will come from one of these and it's important to figure out which one before you begin training," she explained patiently and once again, she could see that the ten years old did not understand. "After breakfast, Yuna, after breakfast," she concluded while patting the child's head in a friendly manner.

 

******

 

"That was quite a surprise," commented Kagome as she watched the two sorceresses walk away.

 

"Yeah, who would have thought... another sorceress, as if one wasn't enough," joked the red-clad hanyou.

 

"It did bring them quite close together though, like mother and daughter," added the girl dreamily.

 

Inuyasha watched the retreating Kagura and Yuna for a few seconds before shifting his gaze to the girl beside him. If he had had any doubts about what she had been thinking about, they evaporated when he saw the look on her face. Turning his eyes once more to the sorceresses ahead, he allowed his mind to wander slightly making the image shift until it wasn't Kagura who was walking beside Yuna, it was Kagome, holding the hand of a faceless child and beaming brightly at him or her.

 

"Pups..." he thought, feeling his heart warm up at the thought. "Yes... that would be... nice wouldn't it?" he asked himself, looking at Kagome with a loving smile.

 

Noticing his eyes, Kagome turned to face him and when their eyes met, they both could see the same desire burning brightly in each other's soul. No words were exchanged between the two, but they were not needed. Wordlessly, Kagome's hand sought Inuyasha's and squeezed gently. Not saying anything more, the male hanyou draped his arm around his mate and both walked back to Kaede's hut.

 

******

 

"Kagura-sama, why are we getting out of the village to train?" asked Yuna, perplexed.

 

"Well, for one thing, I don't want us to be disturbed. And for two things, it reduces the chances of accident," answered Kagura pleasantly.

 

"Accidents?" came the immediate, fearful reply.

 

"Don't worry, as long as we're careful, nothing bad will happen," reassured the youkai.

 

Seeing that her charge's fears were alleviated for the moment, Kagura once again focused on their location. They were nearing a small stream bordered with a large grassy area, the perfect location to start "school".

 

"This place is perfect," she commented with a hint of satisfaction. "Now we can begin."

 

Motioning for Yuna to get herself comfortable, she grabbed a stick from the ground and went back to the sitting child.

 

"Okay, first a few general facts so that you can understand your powers better," started the youkai.

 

"This..." she began while drawing a big circle on the ground. "... represents magical powers in general."

 

"You mean like yours or Miroku-sama's?" asked Yuna.

 

"Exactly. Now if one were to look a little closer, he would realize that he could divide these powers into two different classes: Spiritual and elemental," she continued and looked up to see if the child was still following.

 

The said girl was looking at the drawing with a frown of concentration. It didn't last though because after a few seconds of silent contemplation, Yuna's features brightened with the light of understanding. "That's why my eyes are glowing and not Miroku-sama's," she exclaimed, the fragmented pieces she had gathered so far finally slipping into place.

 

"Are there more differences between the two powers?" asked the ten year old, eager to hear more.

 

"There are plenty, I've heard of some scholars that spent their entire life trying to list them all. The main one, however, lies in the source of the power," Kagura answered.

 

And then, seeing Yuna's confused expression, she continued. "With spiritual powers, the energy comes from a person's own soul."

 

"And what about elemental powers?" asked Yuna, her brows creased in confusion.

 

"They come from one of the four basic elements: Fire, Air, Water or Earth. Depending on your link, you'll be able to draw from one of the four," she explained.

 

"Really?" asked the girl, her eagerness returning. "But... which one am I?" she asked once she realized that she lacked this crucial information.

 

"Now that's what we're about to find out," shot back Kagura with a knowing smile.

 

Without another word, Kagura sat up and motioned for Yuna to do the same. She then walked to the small stream with the child on her heels.

 

"Do you feel anything peculiar about this stream, Yuna?" asked the sorceress once they had reached their destination.

 

"Well I..." started the child before a strange tingling sensation caused her to trail off and shiver slightly in response.

 

"Excellent," thought Kagura as she watched the reaction. "Well then, looks like we just found out what your element is, Yuna," she said out loud.

 

"We have?" answered the girl in confusion.

 

"Yes, we did. You are going to be a water sorceress, Yuna," answered the youkai, her smile never leaving her face.

 

"A water sorceress," repeated the child as if testing how the term sounded. Apparently it did not displease her at all because when she turned to face Kagura once more, her features were shining with eagerness.

 

"So then Kagura-sama... when do we start?" she asked.

 

If possible, the sorceress' grin widened before she answered. "Right now."

 

And, as she began explaining the rudiments of using her powers, the wind suddenly picked up, caressing her face gently. She stopped talking abruptly and frowned. For a second, she had been sure that someone had whispered 'Thank you' but... there was no one there.

 

"Am I hearing things?" she asked herself.

 

"Kagura-sama? Is something wrong?" asked Yuna, puzzled by the abrupt halt in the sorceress' speech.

 

The female youkai's eyes went back to the child sitting in front of her and she suddenly understood what that murmur had been all about. "It's okay Yuna, nothing's wrong, I just thought I heard something," reassured the youkai, her smile returning.

 

"Don't worry, I swear I'll take good care of her," she thought, answering the invisible voice with a promise of her own.

 

The wind picked up yet again and once again the soft murmur came, fainter than the first time, but the sorceress heard it as clear as day. "I know you will... Kagura."

 

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Author's note: Well, there you have it, Yuna's a sorceress which explains her outburst in an earlier chapter ;). By the way, I apologize if any of you found the scene between Kagome and Inuyasha somewhat disappointing. It wasn't really my intention, but when I got down to the actual writing, the words eluded me, so I ended up with what you read. Still, I hope it did not tarnish the whole work too much ;). So now, only the epilogue remains which should be up in a few days :).