InuYasha Fan Fiction ❯ Back to you ❯ Goodbye to love, my love (part two of two) ( Chapter 27 )
[ Y - Young Adult: Not suitable for readers under 16 ]
By: MIztikal_Dragon 
THIS IS IT FOLKS! THE END! KYAAAAH
Anime/Manga: InuYasha Fan Fiction | Genre(s): Angst / Suspense / Hentai | Type: Continuation | Uploaded On: 11.18.2006 | Pages: 4 | Words: 6.9K | Visits: 407 | Status: Completed
THIS IS IT FOLKS! THE END! KYAAAAH
Anime/Manga: InuYasha Fan Fiction | Genre(s): Angst / Suspense / Hentai | Type: Continuation | Uploaded On: 11.18.2006 | Pages: 4 | Words: 6.9K | Visits: 407 | Status: Completed
Disclaimer: No, I don't own them, never will, but a girl can dream.
Warnings: Gore, Angst, Character Death!
I'm totally back now I promise! I'm going to be spending my entire weekend writing and hopefully things will turn out well. This chapter is far by one of the longest and I'm sad to see this story come to an end! Life took me by surprise and now I'm 18, and in College, it's scary. lol wish I could go back to highschool... Had an internship, and in December I'll be taking a trip to Washington with my friend, I'm totally stoked! w00t!
Back to you
By Miztikal-Dragon
Chapter Twenty-Six: Goodbye to love, my love (part two of two)
Hands trembled as they worked quickly; she could feel the suffocating aura’s heading in her direction and she pleaded that there would be enough time to finish what had been started. Oil candles littered the ground, their flickering bluish-purple flames dancing a hypnotic dance as her eyes darted frantically searching for the correct herbs laying near her bent knees.
Her breathing was rapid as the sounds of grinding rocks fluttered into her ears, the green, yellow, and brown herbs crumbling and forming a blue paste inside the medium sized bowl. The toxic fumes made her light headed; however, she couldn’t go outside to let her lungs fill with the crisp, clean air, time was flying by and soon there would be none left for her and she had to be prepared.
A few blood-colored berries rolled away from her shaking hands as she reached for them and Tsubaki cursed under her breath as she added them to the bowl and continued to concentrate on following the recipe recorded in the old tattered scroll laying pinned open a few inches away from where she was kneeling. The air was thick, thicker than normal and the nervous sweat gathered at her brow as she began to whisper the indicated words, being sure not to mess up on the translation and ruin the ceremony that would set her free.
The flickering flames turned black quicker than she expected and within an instant the wicks disappeared, the black flames spreading, eating away the oil and encircling her, growing in height and trapping her in a small circumference. Her blood was racing, her eyes dancing as her chanting grew slightly louder. It was working and within a few minutes the gates of hell would open up in front of her and she hopefully would be able to gather the rest of her strength and throw her body into the hell flames, thus ending her and Naraku’s existence in one fatal swoop.
That was her hope, her longing as she closed her eyes in concentration, the trembling of her hands increasing as she clasped them together in prayer. He was hiding somewhere deep inside her, she could feel him as his anger licked at the strands of her hair, burning them and causing the tips to curl and melt together. The heat was growing hotter, sweltering, the tiny blisters bubbling on her skin and a few exploding, the hot puss burning her pale skin like acid. She wanted to scream in pain, the oozing puss creating more of the blisters, small doses of miasma leaving them and drifting into the thick air, enticing the black flames growing closer to her form.
Just a little longer, she pleaded to no one in general knowing that he could hear her as the blisters grew larger in width, the smell of burnt hair and flesh assaulting her nostrils as she chanted louder.
The worn bamboo screen hanging in front of the hut door fluttered with an ominous breeze and she felt the air being stolen from her lungs as the aura suddenly disappeared from her radar. They were close, she knew they were; Naraku was laughing at her, but she couldn’t help but feel like a rabbit caught in a hole, a fire blazing on one side, the barking of a mutt on the other. Large glistening white jaws dripping with saliva, chomping down on thin air waiting to taste fur, blood, and bone; she was trapped like a rat.
She was more than positive that she was nearly screaming the words to the ceremony now, her voice cracking as she opened her eyes to allow them to dart around suspiciously. It had become quiet, not even the faint sounds besides her heavy panting could be heard. The evil priestess was waiting in the calm of the storm, waiting for something to happen and knowing that anything could happen, made her more frantic to complete the ceremony. She just had to or else she would never get another chance to set things right, she wouldn’t have another chance to break free and get away from the half-demon who had stolen her body and used her as a pawn in his malicious plans all from the very beginning.
The sounds of gravel crunching underneath either feet or shoes grabbed her attention and she nearly cried out as the black flames flashed green, a sickly yellow line expanding, like a pair of doors being opened from the inside. Words flew from her mouth as her eyes widened, a bloodied-gangly arm reaching out of the flames; the brown skin hanging off like cloth, the red muscles twitching and moving as though it was alive.
Her heart couldn’t have been pounding any faster in her chest as it reached out to her and Tsubaki yearned to reach out her own hand and allow it to drag her into it’s layer; however, if she discontinued her ceremony, interrupting it in any way, the hand and the flames would disappear like a reflection in a disturbed lake. Dark glistening blue eyes gazed hungrily at her as a darkened shape pulled itself through the green flames. They were filled with torture, hunger, greed, and many other things that she couldn’t recognize, but once had been expressions that she had seen before.
Long hair of midnight rolled out and slithered like snakes towards her, slithering and sliding closer and touching her wrists with the coolest touch she had ever felt. Those deep cerulean orbs pulsed and her voice faltered as her body began shaking with vigor. The locks of hair pulling her seizuring body towards the flames, wrapping tighter and she could only scream as the fire nipped at her feet, flames of red and purple.
Her mouth opened wider and her head lolled back, her muscles beginning to spasm as the smell of gun powder became overpowering. Loud thumps ran across the ceiling of the hut and her heart stopped as she was enveloped into a bright light.
The leaves fell from the tall trees and surrounded Sango, her long tendrils of black hair falling around her dirty and pale face; her brown eyes dull and empty as she blindly walked through the forest.
There were many things running havoc in her mind, the biggest one being where would she be able to find Naraku? Would he be waiting for her and when she came to him would he be able to finish her off like yesterday’s waste or would it be a struggle between two beings fighting for life and death and even more that could not be explained?
The soft alien sound of metal being dragged against the solid ground was like a small melody implanted in her brain; almost a forgetful sound, yet lingering like the pain from a simple scratch or knick. The demon slayer’s body felt like a ton of bricks, the hand which barely carried her katana a kin to dragging a corpse for miles. She was tired, dead tired of more than just the knowledge of never being able to see her children’s smiles, or hear Miroku’s gentle teasing laughter.
There so much death, so much blood on her hands and the stains, she knew, would never be washed away. She could get no comfort in knowing that she had helped kill everything she once believed in, that she killed the very person who had given her a way to live in happiness. Guilt gnawed at her, the pinprick of realization that she was at fault for InuYasha’s upcoming suffering and that it could have been prevented.
Although, that didn’t matter anymore; it was a game of running in circles. Naraku got rid of what she cared about the most, and in return she took away the only happiness that InuYasha had ever been allowed and soon it would be his turn to decide who suffered next. It was just how life went and in the end it only mattered who was the strongest and who could and would survive. There would always be one survivor since that’s always how the games worked, only one victor to the spoils of absolutely nothing desirable, what a waste of life playing a game that was meant to destroy.
The tall grass ended suddenly and downcast brown eyes darted up as gooseflesh covered her numb flesh forcing her back into reality. Clouds drifted together, combining into dark whites and black making a cloak of gray surround the once blue sky. Sango’s fingers tingled catching the almost invisible hut sitting merely yards away from where she stood. The air around her had become thicker making it almost hard to breathe.
Muscles tensed, twitched and her eyes narrowed as the youki leaked from the hut like sweat from pores. Pulling the mask from its place on her hip, Sango strapped it around her face and searched her pockets for anything that would help her. She could feel Naraku’s aura all around her, billowing through her hair, trying to suffocate her and it only made the anger race back to her chest like a flame flying across dry hay. Five small orbs rolled into her hand from inside the small pocket on her side; five small black balls with coarse textures and a slick feel and a grin inched itself to her lips.
They were the explosives she had confiscated from Minoru a few days earlier, and why they hadn’t gone off while she was in the burning hut that was her home alluded her. Growling to keep away the tears of pain, Sango turned them into hate as she stalked towards the hut, allowing her demon exterminating instincts to kick in and take control. She couldn’t feel the hurt, see it or taste is as she ran closer, her arms pumping at her sides as she turned sharply and threw herself onto the hut; her fists grabbing the middle and straining from the weight as she efficiently pulled herself onto the rather large structure.
Carefully she unrolled the gunpowder she hid in a pouch and dumped a small portion by each cleverly placed explosive. Her blood was racing and she was almost giddy as she stood up tall, surveying her accomplishment as she listened to the feminine chanting that was going on inside the hut underneath where Sango stood. It was Tsubaki, she realized and a nasty taste filled her mouth as the sounds of hissing and growling came from inside. Whatever the evil priestess was doing was none of Sango’s business; however, if it was to harm anyone else, the evil woman wouldn’t be able to complete it, Sango would make sure of that.
Pulling the stones from the pouch, she struck them together as Tsubaki’s scream rang out. Sparks danced across the dried hay ceiling and caught fire faster than Sango had anticipated. The first explosion knocked Sango off the roof and sent her rolling to the floor as the other’s went off right after the first. Angry roars escaped the burning hut as large pieces of wood and hay landed next to the demon exterminator, the orange flames flickering green and back to orange again.
Louder cries reached her ears and Sango’s eyes landed on the burning form of what she thought was Tsubaki being attacked by a demon of hell. The demon exterminator scrambled to her feet as long black locks of hair darted out everywhere, cerulean eyes burning like fire as it fought an unknown opponent. The Evil priestess screamed, her shrill voice going from a loud shriek into husky laughter as pain filled eyes turned from black to red, the hell demon fading and disappearing into a large cloud of grey miasma.
Those eyes watched Sango with mirth as her hands groped for the katana that had fallen from her grasp earlier. Somehow she wished she was still lost in the trance of murderous vengeance, not thinking about anything, not caring, but staring into the large orbs Naraku’s eyes she couldn’t help but wish that she wasn’t alone.
“S-ssango,” his baritone voice whispered seductively. “Have you come here to join your beloved and allow me to give you the privilege of dying honorably? I feel flattered.”
She narrowed her eyes as she grasped the hilt of her katana and stood shakily to her feet. She could feel her blood boiling, she would not allow him to get to her, she would destroy him once and for all and have fun doing it.
“You shouldn’t be,” she snarled in return taking a step closer, the blood-stained blade shining from the fire light surrounding them in heaps, “because I’ve come to kill you.”
His laughter was loud and she growled again as his eyes turned to cold orbs of red. Taking a fighting stance, Sango sounded out her battle cry as she lunged at the evil half demon, her blade nicking an arm, but with the flick of his wrist had Sango skidding across the grass, her body rolling and tumbling to a stop a few feet away. His ebony hair billowed without the wind, fluttering by itself as though it were alive and his fists clenched as he turned towards her.
“Don’t think you can defeat me demon slayer,” Naraku spat, “you’ll be dead a hundred times before you can even lay a scratch on my body.”
However, the arm she had hit with her katana bubbled and grew in size and she could only quickly get to her feet and watch in something a kin to horror as it became large enough to fit a body and the twitching and spasming flesh, sliding from his arm and jiggling like a lump of lard. Sango’s stomach churned as the enormous sack broke and a woman’s body slid out from the slime, a plume of miasma escaping from the seemingly regurgitated skin.
Skin bubbled and blisters burst, a sickening pop and more puss oozing from the opened wounds. Singed hair hit Sango’s nostrils and a woman’s scream erupted from the lump of flesh as it begun to melt. It was Tsubaki, and Sango held a hand to her mouth as the remains of the evil priestess still screamed the chanting words, the skin slipping off of her hands and body, dripping and hitting the ground around her as the orange flames turned black and then green.
Naraku’s grin was sadistic as he watched his host being reduced to a puddle of melted flesh, bones, and muscles. What a waste of a perfectly good body, although, the priestess deserved what she had coming to her for thinking she could deceive him.
“We are both a like demon slayer,” Naraku cooed, his arms lazily crossing his chest as he stared at her with amusement.
“I am nothing like you,” she was on her feet again and ready to charge at any given opportunity.
The evil half demon came closer, his purple haori fluttering with each passing step. He was getting pleasure watching her trembling with uncertainty, at the fact that he knew that she was in no condition to face him now, or ever. He would win, yes and he would make this entire place his and no one would be able to stop him. The demon’s of hell couldn’t escape him, and neither would any pathetic human, priestess, or half-breed.
“To the contrary Sango,” he was merely feet away and closing in, “we are more similar than you think. I killed a priestess because she betrayed me, and so have you.”
“I am nothing like you!” She screamed as she rammed her katana into Naraku’s chest.
His laughter filled her head as she stared open eyed at him, his red eyes staring hypnotically into her own as her body trembled. The long ebony hair that tumbled down his back pierced through Sango’s shoulders and elbows, ripping the muscles and tearing through the bones as her katana lay embedded in her own chest.
She could smell the miasma drifting into her nostrils as the mask fell from her face and crashed onto the ground with a thunk sound. How had he- How was it possible, she had stabbed him, hadn’t she? The tentacle like hair was the only thing holding her up as she stared unblinking into his now cerulean eyes, his white teeth glistening as he cockily smiled at her. Blood dripped unceremoniously from her fingertips as she tried to find the strength to attack; however, it was pointless because she knew she was dying and that in the end it was Naraku who had won.
“What do you have to say for yourself?” Naraku’s voice was so close to her, so lulling that she fought from drifting into the blackness that danced across her vision.
A flash of silver and red caught her eyes and blood dribbled out of the side of her mouth as she stared past Naraku, past the burning hut and it all made sense. Closing her eyes Sango let a ragged sigh escape from her throbbing chest and the tears began to fall.
“I’m sorry InuYasha.”
The sound of a large object whizzing through the air was heard and her chest lurched as she was speared to Naraku’s body by a jingling object. There was no way she could ask for forgiveness, but she was happy that he let her have her freedom to be with her loved ones. Everything would be okay now, Sango understood that and with the last of her strength she smiled before drifting into the darkness.
InuYasha wasn’t too far behind Sango’s trail, he could smell her scent clearly in the air and he darted past a tree following the blood on the demon slayer’s hands. He wasn’t thinking clearly, the excruciating pain of losing Kagome was reeking havoc on his heart and loosening the holds that he had left on his sanity. While he had been running earlier he had come across Miroku’s staff in the oddest of places, laying in between the roots of the Goshinboku tree. How that was possible since Sango had thrown in to the ground earlier before storming off from the village was beyond him.
He had picked it up anyway and took it with him and now the cold metal of the staff was digging into his palm as well as his claws as he ran faster, the jingling of the staff constantly plucking away the barriers that he had placed up in order to keep the demon inside himself from breaking loose. The fowl scent of fire and the smoke rising out of the trees grabbed his attention and he growled smelling Naraku’s scent overpowering anything else within the vicinity of the direction InuYasha was going in.
The staff was burning the flesh of his hand as InuYasha saw red, his legs propelling him through the thick foliage and into the forest canopy. Crescent shaped dugs bled and the blood dripped down the staff and mixed with the rest of the smells that drove the hanyou crazy. His fangs were digging into his lips as he glared daggers into the back of his enemies. He stood there like a stone, watching as Naraku rose from the ashes like a phoenix, the cerulean red eyes, and as both Tsubaki and Sango fell.
He wanted to laugh and was barely able to subdue the chuckle itching in his throat, he wanted them all dead and out of his way. Sango would fall to Naraku and then InuYasha would take down the evil half demon and the next step was shrouded in mystery. InuYasha didn’t know what he was going to do afterward, nor did he care, he just wanted for them all to die slowly, painfully, and by his hands… He could practically taste their blood on his lips.
The tears he had cried for Kagome had dried on his face, dirt and blood covering his cheeks as his dangerous eyes watched Naraku the way a lion does before the hunt. He was bloodthirsty and the ears on top of his head twitched in delight from the painful sounds of his once comrade Sango. She was dead to him, they all would be in a matter of moments when the moment was right.
The flames changed around the scene and InuYasha caught the green glow, Naraku had tried absorbing a hell demon, he could smell it as plain as day and InuYasha smirked glancing down at the staff burning deeper into his flesh. Naraku wouldn’t get a chance to complete the absorption and get stronger, he wouldn’t even have the chance to successfully kill anyone else because it was InuYasha’s turn to step up to bat.
His blood red and blue eyes captured Sango’s dull brown and it was at the minute she registered that he wasn’t there to save her. Pulling the staff up InuYasha took his stance and laughed before throwing it like a spear at the two people a few leaping distances away. It flew faster than it would have originally and as it ripped threw Naraku’s back and into Sango’s flesh a loud howl escaped InuYasha and he charged.
Naraku didn’t have time to blink as InuYasha attacked, claws drawn and sinking into flesh. Blood rained down on the two half demons as Naraku ripped the staff from his body, a cry of pain ripping from his mouth as the metal object tore through bones and muscles, its purifying powers cauterizing the wounds preventing them from closing as quickly. Sango’s body fell to the ground in a lump, the staff sticking straight out of her chest, her katana underneath her split down the middle.
InuYasha’s claws dug into Naraku’s chest, tearing out the muscle and ripping the flesh off of him as Naraku’s miasma burned his skin and his tentacles ripped through his own body. Tetsusaiga pulsed at his side again more desperately but InuYasha merely ignored it as he continued, his claws dislocating Naraku’s left shoulder and ripping it from it’s socket. All he could do was think about more carnage, more blood, more death and not about his own welfare as Naraku’s miasma seeped into his body and began taking its toll on his innards.
Thrown back from the mixture of miasma and large tentacles, InuYasha laughed as he opened his clenched fist from his place on the ground, the gleaming white muscles surrounded in a puddle of blood gazing up at him pathetically. Digging his claws into Naraku’s eye, the hanyou climbed to his feet and stared at his opponent; the evil half demon was a self-proclaimed evil mastermind, but when push came to shove InuYasha knew that Naraku couldn’t size up. Tetsusaiga continued to pulse at his side, this time more powerfully and the Inu hanyou chuckled as Naraku’s tentacles surrounded him like a thousand swords and spears, he wasn’t afraid of a little pinprick.
“Do you feel it yet Naraku?” Knuckles cracked as InuYasha crouched down, his eyes in thin slits. “Do you hear it yet?”
Naraku answered with a loud howl as the tentacles surged to stab InuYasha and in the blink of an eye he was gone, the only sound being the air as it was sucked into the tiny capacity where all the tentacles interlaced. There was no blood, no feel of muscles twitching in death, no warmth of victory. Naraku frowned standing there as he with drew the tentacles into his body, his lips nothing but a thin line. He couldn’t feel the pathetic hanyou anywhere and it bothered him, how could InuYasha just vanish?
The face was that he couldn’t. “Can you hear it Naraku? Cause I can,” InuYasha’s voice was husky and filled with laughter and as Naraku turned around, he saw the silver haired mongrel standing behind him. His haori bleeding red and Tetsusaiga pulsing almost violently in his hands. There wasn’t even time to react as InuYasha swung the massive sword, Naraku couldn’t move an inch and the blade swiftly sliced through the evil hanyou’s jugular and crushed the bones of his spinal cord.
Without even a fight, Naraku fell to a heap onto the ground, his head rolling a few inches away and coming to a stop, one dark red eye staring at InuYasha filled with surprise. Tetsusaiga fell to the ground a moment later, InuYasha breathing heavily as he stared at the carnage of the area. It was nothing but a wasteland, blood littering the ground like fresh snow and snorting, he walked away from the scene like it was just another demon extermination.
He walked for what seemed like hours, just wandering aimlessly, his legs feeling like a ton, his chest hurting and his vision blurring and it felt like the entire world was ready to collapse around him. Walking seemed to be harder than anything else and his fingers and legs cramped as he came out of the thicket, tiny beads of sweat glistening the top of his brows and forehead.
The grass was slick under his feet and he tried to keep himself on his feet, though he tripped over a rough patch and went tumbling down the small hill and when he stopped his entire body was throbbing as though he had been beaten repeatedly with a large boulder. What was happening to him? Why could he barely get himself to his knees before he felt like he was going to throw up his entire entrails?
Not able to walk, InuYasha crawled his way away from everything he knew. There was nothing left for him at the village, nothing left in the forest, he was all alone now and he had made it that way. He was angry at himself, angry that he lost control, angry that he couldn’t keep Kagome safe like he wanted to. It was killing him on the inside, he could feel himself dying and it hurt like a bitch.
Stopping to catch a breather, InuYasha closed his eyes and tried his hardest to relax, but it wasn’t working. His nerves were shot and now he was shaking all over, his breathing coming out in heavy erratic breaths. What he would give to just be able to start all over, for things to have had a different outcome, a different ending was all he wanted. Opening his eyes InuYasha forced himself to glance around and a sharp pain clutched his heart as he stared at what he knew to be Kagome’s body.
A quiet sob escaped his throat as he stared at her. Damn it, why couldn’t he be stronger? Why did things have to go so wrong? Sitting up as best as he could InuYasha’s head lolled over onto his shoulder and all he could do was stare at her. Stare and hold back the sobs that he wanted so desperately to let loose. Silver hair fell over his face, the tips and some strands stained red and InuYasha wondered how pathetic he looked, feet away from the women he loved but unable to touch her.
Tears swelled in his eyes blurring his vision and he bit down on his lower lip as a cough racked his body, phlegm and blood landing on his haori sleeve. Whatever Naraku had done to him would surely kill him and he could faintly feel the pain ebbing back into his body, making him aware of every tiny bruise and broken flesh on his body. A gentle wind blew passed him and for a fleeting moment it felt like a hand was caressing his face and it broke his heart even more.
“InuYasha,” the wind was torturing him, making him think that he was hearing her say his name.
His name was repeated again and this time when he looked up he could no longer see Kagome’s body, in fact he no longer could see anything besides an endless sea of black. Was he dead, he wondered craning his neck to look around only to see the inky blackness all around.
“It’s okay InuYasha you’re not dead,” the voice wasn’t Kagome’s he realized, it was familiar though, very familiar.
“Where am I?” He asked, waving his hand in front of his face and seeing it blur in front of his eyes as if it was moving faster than he could see it.
It grew colder, so cold that he could see the white plumes of his breath as he exhaled and the sounds of feet colliding with solid ground jerked his head to the left and he saw her walking towards him with a swanlike grace. Hair as black as the night, eyes that matched it and a priestess outfit that he knew all too well. She had a sad smile on her face as she neared him, her skin as white as the air that exited his opened mouth. If he wasn’t dead then why could he see her? She was dead so if he could see her wouldn’t that mean he too was also among the non-living?
“It’s been a long time hasn’t it?” She asked ignoring his question and kneeling next to him.
Her hand brushed across his face and gooseflesh covered his skin, but he leaned into the touch with familiarity. She was a face that he hadn’t seen in decades, and he hadn’t realized how much he had missed her until his eyes found her. Her lips brushed his forehead and his throat swelled and a lump formed not allowing him to utter anything but a gargling sound.
“Everyone’s dead,” his voice cracked as he stared at her, his eyes stinging with more tears. “I let them all die Kikyo, every last one of them and I couldn’t stop it.”
“Hush,” She pulled his head to rest on her boosum as she ran her cold fingers through his stained hair. “You didn’t do anything wrong InuYasha, it’s not your fault. It’s not your fault and we’ll fix it don’t worry.”
Fix it? How could they fix it when you couldn’t bring the dead back to life and have it be all peachy keen again? His claws clutched the materials of Kikyo’s clothing and he held her as tightly as he could. He wanted to fix things, he wanted to so desperately that he was willing to give up anything if only just to give back what was stolen. She was wrong when she said that it wasn’t his fault, because InuYasha knew that it was, deep down in his very bones he knew that it was. He wasn’t strong enough to save anyone, wasn’t strong enough to protect the women that he loved.
“I don’t wanna be alone Kikyo,” tears found their way out of his eyes and he couldn’t stop the flow as he let loose his sobs. “I don’t wanna live without her, I love Kagome so much.”
A smile came to her face and she pulled away from her hanyou, “I know you do InuYasha.”
“I just wanted her to be happy,” he went on trying to pull Kikyo back into his arms. “I just want her to have a happy life with me, I want Kagome….”
I know you do, she thought standing tall gazing down at the half demon she had once loved while she had been alive. Closing her eyes, she whispered a prayer before disappearing back into the blackness along with everyone else who had stood by watching.
“It’s going to hurt,” she whispered to him as a final goodbye, “but it has to be this way.”
InuYasha sat there pathetically staring into nothing and he could only go limp as the prickles of pain began at his toes and surged forwards. She had said that it would hurt and at first he thought she had meant emotionally; however, this kind of pain was something entirely new to him. It felt like his skin was being ripped from his flesh a layer at a time; his bones being split in half and sockets being torn out of place as his muscles were tore roughly from the bone. His head was pounding and he could barely hear himself as he screamed bloody murder. His hair was torn from his head, his ears cut from his scalp and as stars danced across his vision he could see his life being played out before his eyes.
It was from end to beginning, all of it being emptied from his brain, being erased and he screamed for it to come back to him. He reached out as his fingers bent backwards, the bones snapping through the skin and cutting his face. He was being stabbed all over, pushed, pulled thumped in so many places that he couldn’t do anything, he was powerless to stop it. Kagome was the last thing he saw, her smiling face glowing gently as if she had been there all along and he couldn’t even get his voice to work as she turned around and walked away from him, her green skirt fluttering as she went further and further away from him.
Come back, he mentally screamed. Please come back, don’t leave me here like this! Kagome… KAGOME!
It all faded, the way her eyes dance, she smiled and waved to him and it all faded away. His mind was racing, a thousand thoughts per second, the wind in his hair, his claws clutching something hard and round and all he could think about was getting away from something. Memories flooded in his mind and everything else was gone in an instant.
Trees flew past him as he ran, his ears twitching trying to keep alert as he tried to flee whatever was behind him chasing him. The scent of blood was fresh in his nose, the smell of flames and burning hay making his nose itch and he had the urge to sneeze.
Glancing down at the hard object in his hand he saw a round jewel, it was the Shikon jewel and a grin flew to his face. With this… I can become a true demon, he told himself.
“INUYASHA!” He turned suddenly to the sharp voice and she stood there a yard or two away from him, an angry face molded onto her beautiful pale face.
His body hit the tree behind him with a thunk as an arrow pierced his chest pinning him, the jewel falling from his hands onto the ground below him, his amber eyes watching in disbelief. His blood was racing as he looked back up at her, his hand reaching out to her black eyes, still not comprehending why she held a bow in her hand or why there was a sacred arrow embedded in his chest.
“Kik-Kikyo,” he whispered as his vision danced, sleep suddenly overpowering him and dragging him into unconsciousness.
Kikyo…
This blackness, he remembered it, remembered it very well and as hard as he could he tried to free himself from the blackness and get revenge on the woman who killed him. His anger was overpowering, sweltering, growing as he was stuck there in the emptiness. He didn’t know how long he was there, just sitting there like a fool, but for as long as it was it didn’t matter as the light seeped in, his body pulsing and drawing him into that expanding light.
Someone was calling him, he realized, someone needed his help and was begging for him to save them. His ears twitched as his body pulsed again, his eyes snapping open to the blackness of the forest surrounding him. He could smell her, smell her as clearly as day, it was Kikyo and she was still alive.
His claws flexed and he stared down at the roots that intertwined around his chest, around the sacred arrow that held him prisoner to the enormous tree he was against. The leaves blew in an eerie wind and InuYasha sniffed as a young girl ran towards him, tripping and falling to the ground as a gigantic centipede nearly took off her head. It was Kikyo, he could smell her, he could see her… and what in the hell was she wearing?
Gruffly he insulted her, why couldn’t she finish off such a lowly demon? After all he was strong than that damn centipede and she had wasted no time in finishing him off? Why play with small game when there were bigger fish to fry? She looked insulted and tried yelling at him but failed as the demon attacked her once again. Damn he was getting irritated quickly. Villagers came and speared the demon, pulling it away from Kikyo like it could possibly do serious damage to her. She was Kikyo, Priestess Kikyo, why the hell would she use the aid of the pathetic villagers to help her kill a demon when she was more than capable to deal with it herself?
He insulted her more and her eyes blazed like a flame from hell as she yelled at him moving closer.. She had to be Kikyo, she was just stupid liar, but then, then why? She wasn’t Kikyo… How could he have been wrong? It wasn’t Kikyo..
“Now I get it,” she said angrily, “My name’s Kagome. KA GO ME!”
His body pulsed and he knew deep down that he knew her… that there was something different, but what?
The End.
E/N: OMG! I can't believe that this story is actually over now, my brain is having a hard time processing it still! lol Wow, it's been going on for almost three years now... I'm stuck in nostalgia or something. I had originally planned on having an alternate ending, but I liked this one better, becuase there was more mystery, and it was something different, well at least I think so. THANK YOU for everyone who has read and reviewed! I love you guys so much!
Well I'll be working on my other stories now... Please go check them out if you liked this one and haven't already! w00t! Thank you once again for being so supportive, I love you all!
-Krystal-
Warnings: Gore, Angst, Character Death!
I'm totally back now I promise! I'm going to be spending my entire weekend writing and hopefully things will turn out well. This chapter is far by one of the longest and I'm sad to see this story come to an end! Life took me by surprise and now I'm 18, and in College, it's scary. lol wish I could go back to highschool... Had an internship, and in December I'll be taking a trip to Washington with my friend, I'm totally stoked! w00t!
Back to you
By Miztikal-Dragon
Chapter Twenty-Six: Goodbye to love, my love (part two of two)
Hands trembled as they worked quickly; she could feel the suffocating aura’s heading in her direction and she pleaded that there would be enough time to finish what had been started. Oil candles littered the ground, their flickering bluish-purple flames dancing a hypnotic dance as her eyes darted frantically searching for the correct herbs laying near her bent knees.
Her breathing was rapid as the sounds of grinding rocks fluttered into her ears, the green, yellow, and brown herbs crumbling and forming a blue paste inside the medium sized bowl. The toxic fumes made her light headed; however, she couldn’t go outside to let her lungs fill with the crisp, clean air, time was flying by and soon there would be none left for her and she had to be prepared.
A few blood-colored berries rolled away from her shaking hands as she reached for them and Tsubaki cursed under her breath as she added them to the bowl and continued to concentrate on following the recipe recorded in the old tattered scroll laying pinned open a few inches away from where she was kneeling. The air was thick, thicker than normal and the nervous sweat gathered at her brow as she began to whisper the indicated words, being sure not to mess up on the translation and ruin the ceremony that would set her free.
The flickering flames turned black quicker than she expected and within an instant the wicks disappeared, the black flames spreading, eating away the oil and encircling her, growing in height and trapping her in a small circumference. Her blood was racing, her eyes dancing as her chanting grew slightly louder. It was working and within a few minutes the gates of hell would open up in front of her and she hopefully would be able to gather the rest of her strength and throw her body into the hell flames, thus ending her and Naraku’s existence in one fatal swoop.
That was her hope, her longing as she closed her eyes in concentration, the trembling of her hands increasing as she clasped them together in prayer. He was hiding somewhere deep inside her, she could feel him as his anger licked at the strands of her hair, burning them and causing the tips to curl and melt together. The heat was growing hotter, sweltering, the tiny blisters bubbling on her skin and a few exploding, the hot puss burning her pale skin like acid. She wanted to scream in pain, the oozing puss creating more of the blisters, small doses of miasma leaving them and drifting into the thick air, enticing the black flames growing closer to her form.
Just a little longer, she pleaded to no one in general knowing that he could hear her as the blisters grew larger in width, the smell of burnt hair and flesh assaulting her nostrils as she chanted louder.
The worn bamboo screen hanging in front of the hut door fluttered with an ominous breeze and she felt the air being stolen from her lungs as the aura suddenly disappeared from her radar. They were close, she knew they were; Naraku was laughing at her, but she couldn’t help but feel like a rabbit caught in a hole, a fire blazing on one side, the barking of a mutt on the other. Large glistening white jaws dripping with saliva, chomping down on thin air waiting to taste fur, blood, and bone; she was trapped like a rat.
She was more than positive that she was nearly screaming the words to the ceremony now, her voice cracking as she opened her eyes to allow them to dart around suspiciously. It had become quiet, not even the faint sounds besides her heavy panting could be heard. The evil priestess was waiting in the calm of the storm, waiting for something to happen and knowing that anything could happen, made her more frantic to complete the ceremony. She just had to or else she would never get another chance to set things right, she wouldn’t have another chance to break free and get away from the half-demon who had stolen her body and used her as a pawn in his malicious plans all from the very beginning.
The sounds of gravel crunching underneath either feet or shoes grabbed her attention and she nearly cried out as the black flames flashed green, a sickly yellow line expanding, like a pair of doors being opened from the inside. Words flew from her mouth as her eyes widened, a bloodied-gangly arm reaching out of the flames; the brown skin hanging off like cloth, the red muscles twitching and moving as though it was alive.
Her heart couldn’t have been pounding any faster in her chest as it reached out to her and Tsubaki yearned to reach out her own hand and allow it to drag her into it’s layer; however, if she discontinued her ceremony, interrupting it in any way, the hand and the flames would disappear like a reflection in a disturbed lake. Dark glistening blue eyes gazed hungrily at her as a darkened shape pulled itself through the green flames. They were filled with torture, hunger, greed, and many other things that she couldn’t recognize, but once had been expressions that she had seen before.
Long hair of midnight rolled out and slithered like snakes towards her, slithering and sliding closer and touching her wrists with the coolest touch she had ever felt. Those deep cerulean orbs pulsed and her voice faltered as her body began shaking with vigor. The locks of hair pulling her seizuring body towards the flames, wrapping tighter and she could only scream as the fire nipped at her feet, flames of red and purple.
Her mouth opened wider and her head lolled back, her muscles beginning to spasm as the smell of gun powder became overpowering. Loud thumps ran across the ceiling of the hut and her heart stopped as she was enveloped into a bright light.
The leaves fell from the tall trees and surrounded Sango, her long tendrils of black hair falling around her dirty and pale face; her brown eyes dull and empty as she blindly walked through the forest.
There were many things running havoc in her mind, the biggest one being where would she be able to find Naraku? Would he be waiting for her and when she came to him would he be able to finish her off like yesterday’s waste or would it be a struggle between two beings fighting for life and death and even more that could not be explained?
The soft alien sound of metal being dragged against the solid ground was like a small melody implanted in her brain; almost a forgetful sound, yet lingering like the pain from a simple scratch or knick. The demon slayer’s body felt like a ton of bricks, the hand which barely carried her katana a kin to dragging a corpse for miles. She was tired, dead tired of more than just the knowledge of never being able to see her children’s smiles, or hear Miroku’s gentle teasing laughter.
There so much death, so much blood on her hands and the stains, she knew, would never be washed away. She could get no comfort in knowing that she had helped kill everything she once believed in, that she killed the very person who had given her a way to live in happiness. Guilt gnawed at her, the pinprick of realization that she was at fault for InuYasha’s upcoming suffering and that it could have been prevented.
Although, that didn’t matter anymore; it was a game of running in circles. Naraku got rid of what she cared about the most, and in return she took away the only happiness that InuYasha had ever been allowed and soon it would be his turn to decide who suffered next. It was just how life went and in the end it only mattered who was the strongest and who could and would survive. There would always be one survivor since that’s always how the games worked, only one victor to the spoils of absolutely nothing desirable, what a waste of life playing a game that was meant to destroy.
The tall grass ended suddenly and downcast brown eyes darted up as gooseflesh covered her numb flesh forcing her back into reality. Clouds drifted together, combining into dark whites and black making a cloak of gray surround the once blue sky. Sango’s fingers tingled catching the almost invisible hut sitting merely yards away from where she stood. The air around her had become thicker making it almost hard to breathe.
Muscles tensed, twitched and her eyes narrowed as the youki leaked from the hut like sweat from pores. Pulling the mask from its place on her hip, Sango strapped it around her face and searched her pockets for anything that would help her. She could feel Naraku’s aura all around her, billowing through her hair, trying to suffocate her and it only made the anger race back to her chest like a flame flying across dry hay. Five small orbs rolled into her hand from inside the small pocket on her side; five small black balls with coarse textures and a slick feel and a grin inched itself to her lips.
They were the explosives she had confiscated from Minoru a few days earlier, and why they hadn’t gone off while she was in the burning hut that was her home alluded her. Growling to keep away the tears of pain, Sango turned them into hate as she stalked towards the hut, allowing her demon exterminating instincts to kick in and take control. She couldn’t feel the hurt, see it or taste is as she ran closer, her arms pumping at her sides as she turned sharply and threw herself onto the hut; her fists grabbing the middle and straining from the weight as she efficiently pulled herself onto the rather large structure.
Carefully she unrolled the gunpowder she hid in a pouch and dumped a small portion by each cleverly placed explosive. Her blood was racing and she was almost giddy as she stood up tall, surveying her accomplishment as she listened to the feminine chanting that was going on inside the hut underneath where Sango stood. It was Tsubaki, she realized and a nasty taste filled her mouth as the sounds of hissing and growling came from inside. Whatever the evil priestess was doing was none of Sango’s business; however, if it was to harm anyone else, the evil woman wouldn’t be able to complete it, Sango would make sure of that.
Pulling the stones from the pouch, she struck them together as Tsubaki’s scream rang out. Sparks danced across the dried hay ceiling and caught fire faster than Sango had anticipated. The first explosion knocked Sango off the roof and sent her rolling to the floor as the other’s went off right after the first. Angry roars escaped the burning hut as large pieces of wood and hay landed next to the demon exterminator, the orange flames flickering green and back to orange again.
Louder cries reached her ears and Sango’s eyes landed on the burning form of what she thought was Tsubaki being attacked by a demon of hell. The demon exterminator scrambled to her feet as long black locks of hair darted out everywhere, cerulean eyes burning like fire as it fought an unknown opponent. The Evil priestess screamed, her shrill voice going from a loud shriek into husky laughter as pain filled eyes turned from black to red, the hell demon fading and disappearing into a large cloud of grey miasma.
Those eyes watched Sango with mirth as her hands groped for the katana that had fallen from her grasp earlier. Somehow she wished she was still lost in the trance of murderous vengeance, not thinking about anything, not caring, but staring into the large orbs Naraku’s eyes she couldn’t help but wish that she wasn’t alone.
“S-ssango,” his baritone voice whispered seductively. “Have you come here to join your beloved and allow me to give you the privilege of dying honorably? I feel flattered.”
She narrowed her eyes as she grasped the hilt of her katana and stood shakily to her feet. She could feel her blood boiling, she would not allow him to get to her, she would destroy him once and for all and have fun doing it.
“You shouldn’t be,” she snarled in return taking a step closer, the blood-stained blade shining from the fire light surrounding them in heaps, “because I’ve come to kill you.”
His laughter was loud and she growled again as his eyes turned to cold orbs of red. Taking a fighting stance, Sango sounded out her battle cry as she lunged at the evil half demon, her blade nicking an arm, but with the flick of his wrist had Sango skidding across the grass, her body rolling and tumbling to a stop a few feet away. His ebony hair billowed without the wind, fluttering by itself as though it were alive and his fists clenched as he turned towards her.
“Don’t think you can defeat me demon slayer,” Naraku spat, “you’ll be dead a hundred times before you can even lay a scratch on my body.”
However, the arm she had hit with her katana bubbled and grew in size and she could only quickly get to her feet and watch in something a kin to horror as it became large enough to fit a body and the twitching and spasming flesh, sliding from his arm and jiggling like a lump of lard. Sango’s stomach churned as the enormous sack broke and a woman’s body slid out from the slime, a plume of miasma escaping from the seemingly regurgitated skin.
Skin bubbled and blisters burst, a sickening pop and more puss oozing from the opened wounds. Singed hair hit Sango’s nostrils and a woman’s scream erupted from the lump of flesh as it begun to melt. It was Tsubaki, and Sango held a hand to her mouth as the remains of the evil priestess still screamed the chanting words, the skin slipping off of her hands and body, dripping and hitting the ground around her as the orange flames turned black and then green.
Naraku’s grin was sadistic as he watched his host being reduced to a puddle of melted flesh, bones, and muscles. What a waste of a perfectly good body, although, the priestess deserved what she had coming to her for thinking she could deceive him.
“We are both a like demon slayer,” Naraku cooed, his arms lazily crossing his chest as he stared at her with amusement.
“I am nothing like you,” she was on her feet again and ready to charge at any given opportunity.
The evil half demon came closer, his purple haori fluttering with each passing step. He was getting pleasure watching her trembling with uncertainty, at the fact that he knew that she was in no condition to face him now, or ever. He would win, yes and he would make this entire place his and no one would be able to stop him. The demon’s of hell couldn’t escape him, and neither would any pathetic human, priestess, or half-breed.
“To the contrary Sango,” he was merely feet away and closing in, “we are more similar than you think. I killed a priestess because she betrayed me, and so have you.”
“I am nothing like you!” She screamed as she rammed her katana into Naraku’s chest.
His laughter filled her head as she stared open eyed at him, his red eyes staring hypnotically into her own as her body trembled. The long ebony hair that tumbled down his back pierced through Sango’s shoulders and elbows, ripping the muscles and tearing through the bones as her katana lay embedded in her own chest.
She could smell the miasma drifting into her nostrils as the mask fell from her face and crashed onto the ground with a thunk sound. How had he- How was it possible, she had stabbed him, hadn’t she? The tentacle like hair was the only thing holding her up as she stared unblinking into his now cerulean eyes, his white teeth glistening as he cockily smiled at her. Blood dripped unceremoniously from her fingertips as she tried to find the strength to attack; however, it was pointless because she knew she was dying and that in the end it was Naraku who had won.
“What do you have to say for yourself?” Naraku’s voice was so close to her, so lulling that she fought from drifting into the blackness that danced across her vision.
A flash of silver and red caught her eyes and blood dribbled out of the side of her mouth as she stared past Naraku, past the burning hut and it all made sense. Closing her eyes Sango let a ragged sigh escape from her throbbing chest and the tears began to fall.
“I’m sorry InuYasha.”
The sound of a large object whizzing through the air was heard and her chest lurched as she was speared to Naraku’s body by a jingling object. There was no way she could ask for forgiveness, but she was happy that he let her have her freedom to be with her loved ones. Everything would be okay now, Sango understood that and with the last of her strength she smiled before drifting into the darkness.
InuYasha wasn’t too far behind Sango’s trail, he could smell her scent clearly in the air and he darted past a tree following the blood on the demon slayer’s hands. He wasn’t thinking clearly, the excruciating pain of losing Kagome was reeking havoc on his heart and loosening the holds that he had left on his sanity. While he had been running earlier he had come across Miroku’s staff in the oddest of places, laying in between the roots of the Goshinboku tree. How that was possible since Sango had thrown in to the ground earlier before storming off from the village was beyond him.
He had picked it up anyway and took it with him and now the cold metal of the staff was digging into his palm as well as his claws as he ran faster, the jingling of the staff constantly plucking away the barriers that he had placed up in order to keep the demon inside himself from breaking loose. The fowl scent of fire and the smoke rising out of the trees grabbed his attention and he growled smelling Naraku’s scent overpowering anything else within the vicinity of the direction InuYasha was going in.
The staff was burning the flesh of his hand as InuYasha saw red, his legs propelling him through the thick foliage and into the forest canopy. Crescent shaped dugs bled and the blood dripped down the staff and mixed with the rest of the smells that drove the hanyou crazy. His fangs were digging into his lips as he glared daggers into the back of his enemies. He stood there like a stone, watching as Naraku rose from the ashes like a phoenix, the cerulean red eyes, and as both Tsubaki and Sango fell.
He wanted to laugh and was barely able to subdue the chuckle itching in his throat, he wanted them all dead and out of his way. Sango would fall to Naraku and then InuYasha would take down the evil half demon and the next step was shrouded in mystery. InuYasha didn’t know what he was going to do afterward, nor did he care, he just wanted for them all to die slowly, painfully, and by his hands… He could practically taste their blood on his lips.
The tears he had cried for Kagome had dried on his face, dirt and blood covering his cheeks as his dangerous eyes watched Naraku the way a lion does before the hunt. He was bloodthirsty and the ears on top of his head twitched in delight from the painful sounds of his once comrade Sango. She was dead to him, they all would be in a matter of moments when the moment was right.
The flames changed around the scene and InuYasha caught the green glow, Naraku had tried absorbing a hell demon, he could smell it as plain as day and InuYasha smirked glancing down at the staff burning deeper into his flesh. Naraku wouldn’t get a chance to complete the absorption and get stronger, he wouldn’t even have the chance to successfully kill anyone else because it was InuYasha’s turn to step up to bat.
His blood red and blue eyes captured Sango’s dull brown and it was at the minute she registered that he wasn’t there to save her. Pulling the staff up InuYasha took his stance and laughed before throwing it like a spear at the two people a few leaping distances away. It flew faster than it would have originally and as it ripped threw Naraku’s back and into Sango’s flesh a loud howl escaped InuYasha and he charged.
Naraku didn’t have time to blink as InuYasha attacked, claws drawn and sinking into flesh. Blood rained down on the two half demons as Naraku ripped the staff from his body, a cry of pain ripping from his mouth as the metal object tore through bones and muscles, its purifying powers cauterizing the wounds preventing them from closing as quickly. Sango’s body fell to the ground in a lump, the staff sticking straight out of her chest, her katana underneath her split down the middle.
InuYasha’s claws dug into Naraku’s chest, tearing out the muscle and ripping the flesh off of him as Naraku’s miasma burned his skin and his tentacles ripped through his own body. Tetsusaiga pulsed at his side again more desperately but InuYasha merely ignored it as he continued, his claws dislocating Naraku’s left shoulder and ripping it from it’s socket. All he could do was think about more carnage, more blood, more death and not about his own welfare as Naraku’s miasma seeped into his body and began taking its toll on his innards.
Thrown back from the mixture of miasma and large tentacles, InuYasha laughed as he opened his clenched fist from his place on the ground, the gleaming white muscles surrounded in a puddle of blood gazing up at him pathetically. Digging his claws into Naraku’s eye, the hanyou climbed to his feet and stared at his opponent; the evil half demon was a self-proclaimed evil mastermind, but when push came to shove InuYasha knew that Naraku couldn’t size up. Tetsusaiga continued to pulse at his side, this time more powerfully and the Inu hanyou chuckled as Naraku’s tentacles surrounded him like a thousand swords and spears, he wasn’t afraid of a little pinprick.
“Do you feel it yet Naraku?” Knuckles cracked as InuYasha crouched down, his eyes in thin slits. “Do you hear it yet?”
Naraku answered with a loud howl as the tentacles surged to stab InuYasha and in the blink of an eye he was gone, the only sound being the air as it was sucked into the tiny capacity where all the tentacles interlaced. There was no blood, no feel of muscles twitching in death, no warmth of victory. Naraku frowned standing there as he with drew the tentacles into his body, his lips nothing but a thin line. He couldn’t feel the pathetic hanyou anywhere and it bothered him, how could InuYasha just vanish?
The face was that he couldn’t. “Can you hear it Naraku? Cause I can,” InuYasha’s voice was husky and filled with laughter and as Naraku turned around, he saw the silver haired mongrel standing behind him. His haori bleeding red and Tetsusaiga pulsing almost violently in his hands. There wasn’t even time to react as InuYasha swung the massive sword, Naraku couldn’t move an inch and the blade swiftly sliced through the evil hanyou’s jugular and crushed the bones of his spinal cord.
Without even a fight, Naraku fell to a heap onto the ground, his head rolling a few inches away and coming to a stop, one dark red eye staring at InuYasha filled with surprise. Tetsusaiga fell to the ground a moment later, InuYasha breathing heavily as he stared at the carnage of the area. It was nothing but a wasteland, blood littering the ground like fresh snow and snorting, he walked away from the scene like it was just another demon extermination.
He walked for what seemed like hours, just wandering aimlessly, his legs feeling like a ton, his chest hurting and his vision blurring and it felt like the entire world was ready to collapse around him. Walking seemed to be harder than anything else and his fingers and legs cramped as he came out of the thicket, tiny beads of sweat glistening the top of his brows and forehead.
The grass was slick under his feet and he tried to keep himself on his feet, though he tripped over a rough patch and went tumbling down the small hill and when he stopped his entire body was throbbing as though he had been beaten repeatedly with a large boulder. What was happening to him? Why could he barely get himself to his knees before he felt like he was going to throw up his entire entrails?
Not able to walk, InuYasha crawled his way away from everything he knew. There was nothing left for him at the village, nothing left in the forest, he was all alone now and he had made it that way. He was angry at himself, angry that he lost control, angry that he couldn’t keep Kagome safe like he wanted to. It was killing him on the inside, he could feel himself dying and it hurt like a bitch.
Stopping to catch a breather, InuYasha closed his eyes and tried his hardest to relax, but it wasn’t working. His nerves were shot and now he was shaking all over, his breathing coming out in heavy erratic breaths. What he would give to just be able to start all over, for things to have had a different outcome, a different ending was all he wanted. Opening his eyes InuYasha forced himself to glance around and a sharp pain clutched his heart as he stared at what he knew to be Kagome’s body.
A quiet sob escaped his throat as he stared at her. Damn it, why couldn’t he be stronger? Why did things have to go so wrong? Sitting up as best as he could InuYasha’s head lolled over onto his shoulder and all he could do was stare at her. Stare and hold back the sobs that he wanted so desperately to let loose. Silver hair fell over his face, the tips and some strands stained red and InuYasha wondered how pathetic he looked, feet away from the women he loved but unable to touch her.
Tears swelled in his eyes blurring his vision and he bit down on his lower lip as a cough racked his body, phlegm and blood landing on his haori sleeve. Whatever Naraku had done to him would surely kill him and he could faintly feel the pain ebbing back into his body, making him aware of every tiny bruise and broken flesh on his body. A gentle wind blew passed him and for a fleeting moment it felt like a hand was caressing his face and it broke his heart even more.
“InuYasha,” the wind was torturing him, making him think that he was hearing her say his name.
His name was repeated again and this time when he looked up he could no longer see Kagome’s body, in fact he no longer could see anything besides an endless sea of black. Was he dead, he wondered craning his neck to look around only to see the inky blackness all around.
“It’s okay InuYasha you’re not dead,” the voice wasn’t Kagome’s he realized, it was familiar though, very familiar.
“Where am I?” He asked, waving his hand in front of his face and seeing it blur in front of his eyes as if it was moving faster than he could see it.
It grew colder, so cold that he could see the white plumes of his breath as he exhaled and the sounds of feet colliding with solid ground jerked his head to the left and he saw her walking towards him with a swanlike grace. Hair as black as the night, eyes that matched it and a priestess outfit that he knew all too well. She had a sad smile on her face as she neared him, her skin as white as the air that exited his opened mouth. If he wasn’t dead then why could he see her? She was dead so if he could see her wouldn’t that mean he too was also among the non-living?
“It’s been a long time hasn’t it?” She asked ignoring his question and kneeling next to him.
Her hand brushed across his face and gooseflesh covered his skin, but he leaned into the touch with familiarity. She was a face that he hadn’t seen in decades, and he hadn’t realized how much he had missed her until his eyes found her. Her lips brushed his forehead and his throat swelled and a lump formed not allowing him to utter anything but a gargling sound.
“Everyone’s dead,” his voice cracked as he stared at her, his eyes stinging with more tears. “I let them all die Kikyo, every last one of them and I couldn’t stop it.”
“Hush,” She pulled his head to rest on her boosum as she ran her cold fingers through his stained hair. “You didn’t do anything wrong InuYasha, it’s not your fault. It’s not your fault and we’ll fix it don’t worry.”
Fix it? How could they fix it when you couldn’t bring the dead back to life and have it be all peachy keen again? His claws clutched the materials of Kikyo’s clothing and he held her as tightly as he could. He wanted to fix things, he wanted to so desperately that he was willing to give up anything if only just to give back what was stolen. She was wrong when she said that it wasn’t his fault, because InuYasha knew that it was, deep down in his very bones he knew that it was. He wasn’t strong enough to save anyone, wasn’t strong enough to protect the women that he loved.
“I don’t wanna be alone Kikyo,” tears found their way out of his eyes and he couldn’t stop the flow as he let loose his sobs. “I don’t wanna live without her, I love Kagome so much.”
A smile came to her face and she pulled away from her hanyou, “I know you do InuYasha.”
“I just wanted her to be happy,” he went on trying to pull Kikyo back into his arms. “I just want her to have a happy life with me, I want Kagome….”
I know you do, she thought standing tall gazing down at the half demon she had once loved while she had been alive. Closing her eyes, she whispered a prayer before disappearing back into the blackness along with everyone else who had stood by watching.
“It’s going to hurt,” she whispered to him as a final goodbye, “but it has to be this way.”
InuYasha sat there pathetically staring into nothing and he could only go limp as the prickles of pain began at his toes and surged forwards. She had said that it would hurt and at first he thought she had meant emotionally; however, this kind of pain was something entirely new to him. It felt like his skin was being ripped from his flesh a layer at a time; his bones being split in half and sockets being torn out of place as his muscles were tore roughly from the bone. His head was pounding and he could barely hear himself as he screamed bloody murder. His hair was torn from his head, his ears cut from his scalp and as stars danced across his vision he could see his life being played out before his eyes.
It was from end to beginning, all of it being emptied from his brain, being erased and he screamed for it to come back to him. He reached out as his fingers bent backwards, the bones snapping through the skin and cutting his face. He was being stabbed all over, pushed, pulled thumped in so many places that he couldn’t do anything, he was powerless to stop it. Kagome was the last thing he saw, her smiling face glowing gently as if she had been there all along and he couldn’t even get his voice to work as she turned around and walked away from him, her green skirt fluttering as she went further and further away from him.
Come back, he mentally screamed. Please come back, don’t leave me here like this! Kagome… KAGOME!
It all faded, the way her eyes dance, she smiled and waved to him and it all faded away. His mind was racing, a thousand thoughts per second, the wind in his hair, his claws clutching something hard and round and all he could think about was getting away from something. Memories flooded in his mind and everything else was gone in an instant.
Trees flew past him as he ran, his ears twitching trying to keep alert as he tried to flee whatever was behind him chasing him. The scent of blood was fresh in his nose, the smell of flames and burning hay making his nose itch and he had the urge to sneeze.
Glancing down at the hard object in his hand he saw a round jewel, it was the Shikon jewel and a grin flew to his face. With this… I can become a true demon, he told himself.
“INUYASHA!” He turned suddenly to the sharp voice and she stood there a yard or two away from him, an angry face molded onto her beautiful pale face.
His body hit the tree behind him with a thunk as an arrow pierced his chest pinning him, the jewel falling from his hands onto the ground below him, his amber eyes watching in disbelief. His blood was racing as he looked back up at her, his hand reaching out to her black eyes, still not comprehending why she held a bow in her hand or why there was a sacred arrow embedded in his chest.
“Kik-Kikyo,” he whispered as his vision danced, sleep suddenly overpowering him and dragging him into unconsciousness.
Kikyo…
This blackness, he remembered it, remembered it very well and as hard as he could he tried to free himself from the blackness and get revenge on the woman who killed him. His anger was overpowering, sweltering, growing as he was stuck there in the emptiness. He didn’t know how long he was there, just sitting there like a fool, but for as long as it was it didn’t matter as the light seeped in, his body pulsing and drawing him into that expanding light.
Someone was calling him, he realized, someone needed his help and was begging for him to save them. His ears twitched as his body pulsed again, his eyes snapping open to the blackness of the forest surrounding him. He could smell her, smell her as clearly as day, it was Kikyo and she was still alive.
His claws flexed and he stared down at the roots that intertwined around his chest, around the sacred arrow that held him prisoner to the enormous tree he was against. The leaves blew in an eerie wind and InuYasha sniffed as a young girl ran towards him, tripping and falling to the ground as a gigantic centipede nearly took off her head. It was Kikyo, he could smell her, he could see her… and what in the hell was she wearing?
Gruffly he insulted her, why couldn’t she finish off such a lowly demon? After all he was strong than that damn centipede and she had wasted no time in finishing him off? Why play with small game when there were bigger fish to fry? She looked insulted and tried yelling at him but failed as the demon attacked her once again. Damn he was getting irritated quickly. Villagers came and speared the demon, pulling it away from Kikyo like it could possibly do serious damage to her. She was Kikyo, Priestess Kikyo, why the hell would she use the aid of the pathetic villagers to help her kill a demon when she was more than capable to deal with it herself?
He insulted her more and her eyes blazed like a flame from hell as she yelled at him moving closer.. She had to be Kikyo, she was just stupid liar, but then, then why? She wasn’t Kikyo… How could he have been wrong? It wasn’t Kikyo..
“Now I get it,” she said angrily, “My name’s Kagome. KA GO ME!”
His body pulsed and he knew deep down that he knew her… that there was something different, but what?
The End.
E/N: OMG! I can't believe that this story is actually over now, my brain is having a hard time processing it still! lol Wow, it's been going on for almost three years now... I'm stuck in nostalgia or something. I had originally planned on having an alternate ending, but I liked this one better, becuase there was more mystery, and it was something different, well at least I think so. THANK YOU for everyone who has read and reviewed! I love you guys so much!
Well I'll be working on my other stories now... Please go check them out if you liked this one and haven't already! w00t! Thank you once again for being so supportive, I love you all!
-Krystal-