InuYasha Fan Fiction ❯ And all else will fade ❯ Strength of the soul ( Chapter 9 )

A/N: Thanks to all reviewers for you comments - they really made my day. I'm sorry I'm rather late with this chapter - time is getting scarce these days. Anyhows, I hope you continue to enjoy this… do let me know what you think of this chapter!

 

Sango

 

Colours.

 

The entrance to the void was nothing but colours- merging and emerging in strange and beautiful ways. Fuchsia and azure melding with fluorescent highlights to fan out into green, with little traces of red like rivulets of blood flowed with borderlines of deep midnight blue, with starlike silver spots, and many other mystic colour combinations.

 

It wasn't what I'd expected at all.

 

I turned around to see if the entrance was still there; if Kagome had made some mistake. But the tunnel of colours seemed to stretch on for infinity behind and in front of me. Panic lashed like ocean waves during a tempest against the walls of my calm. What if Kagome had made a mistake? What if I was stuck in this place forever?

 

Worse, what if Miroku died… without me?

 

The last thought sent a shudder through me that seemed to make my knees wobble, and my legs tempted to just crumble beneath me. With an incredible force of will I managed to stay upright, my fingers maintaining a white-knuckled grip on the Hiraikotsu. The rough and strong surface, washed over the years by countless demons' blood, acting like a talisman- giving me strength, hope.

 

Breathing noisily through my nostrils, I took a step forward- and immediately the tunnel of moving, shifting colours dissolved, opening a great black abyss under my feet. I couldn't run. I couldn't move.

 

I couldn't even scream.

 

I just fell, fell, fell… the occasion reminding me, strangely, of a story Kagome had once told Shippo- of a girl who had fallen through a seemingly endless rabbit hole into a land of unending surprise and magic… In many ways, I could relate to that girl. I had fallen into the rabbit hole in search of Miroku's life, and whatever lay in wait for me at the end of the hole… only fate and perception could realise that.

 

Finally, I landed with a big thud, the dust of the ground around me rising like puffs of smoke; dispersing into the air. Coughing, I got to my feet slowly, clutching the Hiraikotsu, examining my body for any injuries and finding it to be absolutely unscathed. I was surprised. Having fallen down such a great height, shouldn't my body have shattered…?

 

I shook my head, trying to clear it of all questions. Of course it couldn't have shattered. Rational thinking served no use in this world… for the first time I found myself encouraging fantastical thoughts in my mind. After all, as Shippo had said, wasn't this hell just a figment of Miroku's mind, even if it was controlled by the Soul Eater?

 

Clearing my eyes of the last mites of dust, I looked around me. And once again, despite my now-increased capacity to accept the impossible, my jaw dropped slack with surprise. The `hell'… it was…

 

Beautiful.

 

A meadow of flowers spread out in all directions, their bejewelled petals nearly shining in the soft, yellow sunlight. Insects flitted around, the flowers seemingly swaying to the orchestra of their melodious buzzing- the gentle, cool wind aiding them. A huge banyan tree, old and majestic looking with its gnarled, experienced trunk, proud green crown of dew-lined leaves and numerous hanging roots, stood in the middle of the meadow. Flowers grew in patterns of whorls around it. The sweet smell was nearly intoxicating. Now I knew Kagome had made a mistake.

 

This just couldn't be hell.

 

No…

 

It was just the place I'd dreamed to live all my life… with Miroku.

 

Heaven.

 

I waded through the flowers to reach the banyan tree. I put my hands out and ran them over the rough, strong, trunk, dropping the Hiraikotsu, a sense of peace and security washing over me. I smiled and revelled in that rare feeling, now leaning against the tree and sliding into a sitting position.

 

I'd better wait here for Miroku, I thought dreamily. He'll be coming any moment, now…

 

I closed my eyes, my mind filled with rosy visions of me and Miroku together. We could live here together forever, I thought to myself. Yes… There would be no black hole, or Naraku, or demon attacks to worry about. Just Miroku and I… And nothing can- will- come in between us.

 

Not even Kohaku?

 

My eyes snapped open at the sly voice from the back of my mind. Kohaku…! He was still in the clutches of Naraku… my only surviving family… my throat clenched and I got to my feet, swaying.

 

I needed to get out of that place… it was doing something to me… needed to find Miroku…

 

At that exact moment, the sunlight stopped abruptly, as if a giant hand had covered it. The numerous flowers that had shone so beautifully and brightly in the sunlight now stooped in the darkness, their rotten petals oozing blood. Panic was winning the war against calm…

 

A great wind blew suddenly, bringing with it the stench of a bloodied demon battle-pit. The rotten flowers were torn off their fragile roots and were soon spinning around and around me like a monstrous hurricane.

 

Around and around the banyan tree it went, enveloping me as well into the eye. The dizzying speed nauseated me; gasping, I stepped backwards until my back hit the trunk of the tree. The low-hanging roots of the tree suddenly came to life, encircling my wrists and ankles in tight knots, pulling me up, leaving me hanging, like a dummy archery practice target.

 

I fought and struggled; but I soon discovered that the more I struggled, the more the roots tightened their hold on my limbs- nearly drawing blood. I had no choice but to hang slack, watching the speed of the hurricane building up into a crescendo. The closer I watched, the more the form of the rotten flowers seemed to change… forming something rounder, bigger… my curiosity turned to fascination when they turned into human heads, each one of them. And then that fascination turned to horror as each of the heads turned into that of Kohaku's.

 

I could notice the multiple heads grinning at me, even though they were moving at a very fast speed. A deep, eerie, echoing voice sounded from each one of them.

 

“Sango, listen! Father finally said that I could kill my first demon - I was coming with you on your assignment!”

 

“Oh, Kohaku,” I whispered, tears welling up in my eyes.

 

“But you spoiled it,” the voice continued. “You got me killed before I could prove myself to father… could prove me to my own self… why, sister…?”

 

“No, Kohaku!” I shouted, struggling again, ignorant of the pain that immediately shot through my limbs. “You're not dead… there's still hope for you… I'll save you!”

 

The voices laughed- a sad laugh, made scary by its endless echoing. “It's too late for me, sister,” it said. “As it is for you…”

 

In front of my horrified eyes, the skin peeled away from every one of the heads and blood poured in torrents, splashing against my demon-slayer uniform. Soon the raw, red flesh disintegrated, and the eyeballs fell out; the hurricane of Kohaku's heads was now a hurricane of bloodied skulls, clanging against each other, the empty eye sockets seemingly leering at my hapless situation.

 

The horror… it was unbearable… panic and nausea finally won the war against my calm and composedness, and I let out a scream like I'd never let out before- the horror, the despair, the sadness, the guilt all tumbled over each other as they came out in a single, high strain of my vocal cords. Immediately after that, I turned my head and vomited.

 

After that… outlet… I sagged in the tree's unrelenting grip, gasping, tears dripping to fall on the ground mixing with the puddles of blood. Blood and tears…

 

I had come to save Miroku, and I had ended up getting caught myself.

 

I had set out to avenge my village's massacre, and I had ended up dying in a creation of a Soul Eater.

 

I had tried to save my little brother, and I had ended up failing to even find him- find the real him, not the ruthless Kohaku controlled by Naraku.

 

I had tried to assist my friends in their ambitions… and I had ended up feeding them with false hope and depriving them of valuable time and fighting.

 

I had failed.

 

The monstrous place only reminded me of it, forcing the realisation into my side like a white-hot needle. That pain was worse than any physical pain I had suffered, am suffering, or ever will suffer.

 

The place was hell.

 

Hell… A blessed shred of sanity suddenly clamoured for attention within my despairing mind. This is my hell… the fabrication that the Soul Eater has done for me…

 

Of course! It had to be! Miroku wasn't here at all… I had to get out of my own personal hell to save him… the only question that remained was whether I could do it- escape out of the hell hole in time.

 

Ignoring the hurricane of skulls, I closed my eyes, trying to think. From what I could remember of Shippo's explanation, the cooping up of despairing and saddening emotions was what had allowed the Soul Eater to trap Miroku successfully in his hell. If I could get away from my own sadness and guilt, I might be able to escape and save Miroku.

 

But… how…?

 

Steeling my nerves and taking a deep breath, I clenched my eyelids over my eyes even harder. Maybe thinking about something that would make me happy would do the trick…What made me happy? But there were so many things that would make me happy… Kohaku returning back to me, with Miroku, the destruction of Naraku; Kagome, Inu Yasha and the others achieving their dreams…

 

I formed the picture of everyone together, happy and contented, in my head and concentrated as hard as I could on it. Happy, satisfied, content…

 

The hurricane did not abate.

 

Before I could slip into despair again, I forced myself to think harder about my situation. The fact that stood out was that what I was seeing was not real- the very world I was in now was just a sliver of visual reality that the Soul Eater had morphed from my own vulnerable emotions. Real laws, rules, rationalism… none of them applied here. Emotions had more value than sensibility here…

 

Here was where the heart ruled, not the head.

 

The pure, clean rush of that realisation buoyed my soul and my spirits. Immediately I could feel the roots slackening ever so slightly. I reached within myself now and dispersed the now-bubbling happiness and more importantly, hope around me. The darkness suddenly took on a rosy tinge and the hurricane spun faster and faster until it swallowed itself, taking the puddles of blood and all the gruesome skulls along with it.

 

The roots let go of me and I dropped to the ground, landing on my palms and knees. My `hell' faded away into oblivion, revealing where Miroku himself was. My nose crinkled at the red-black blood-pouring skies, the stench of death, and the vacuum of despair that prevailed. Hopefully Miroku was still alive…

 

Picking up the Hiraikotsu, I let my eyes roam over the wasted land, before I noticed a figure lying on the ground, and a golden gleam next to it. My heart lightened.

 

Miroku and his staff!

 

I ran toward him, nearly tripping over my own feet in my eagerness, before stopping to finally stand before his still form on the ground. I slid to my knees and placed his head in my lap. “Miroku…” I whispered.

 

I was truly concerned, for his pall, sweat and blood-drenched skin, the defeated, despaired look etched on his face… they all scared me, to the point where I almost thought there was no hope for him anymore.

 

Almost.

 

“Come on, Miroku,” I said plaintively. “Wake up…”

 

With great effort, it seemed, he finally opened his eyes. The vivid indigo of his irises were now nothing put pale hints to a shadow of what they used to be. They fell on my face, and immediately he slumped further. “Please Sango,” he whispered hoarsely. “Don't do this to me anymore; go away…”

 

My eyes widened in surprise. What had the damned Soul Eater done to him? If only I could get hold of that … creature… I would teach it lessons in pain no one should ever have to learn!

 

As if on cue, the wind blew stronger for a few moments, before the familiar dark figure of the Soul Eater towered before me. When it spoke, I could detect a faint hint of surprise:

 

“So you escaped, demon slayer… you are stronger than I gave you credit for…”

 

“Yes,” I said through clenched teeth. “And so is Miroku. We will both escape your vile clutches, and banish you back into the darkness in which you belong!”

 

The creature laughed- a chilling laugh that sent shivers down my spine. “Your bluster amuses me. Do you really think your poor monk is in any condition to recover? He is weak… a weak mortal, within my control.”

 

Anger welled up inside me and I was about to answer with a sharp retort, before my demon-slaying instincts picked up on a certain aura emanating from the Soul Eater. I smiled- a cold, hard smile.

 

“You're in hardly any position to talk about others' weakness when you are so weak…”

 

Anger gathered around the silhouette. “You dare not say another word, infidel…”

 

“Oh, I will,” I said. “It was Sesshoumaru destroying that tree that was your major blow, wasn't it? And your plan to use Kikyo to separate us also backfired, didn't it?”

 

Now I knew I had angered the Soul Eater. A web of dark energy surrounded it, crackling and shimmering, reflecting off the drops of blood, encasing it in a mystical, dark red aura. I merely smiled. This was the first sign of vulnerability from the Soul Eater- a sign foretelling, no doubt, its imminent defeat. I looked down at Miroku's pale face and brushed back his limp hair, trying to feed some of my own hope into him. He would need all the help he can get.

 

The real battle had just begun.