InuYasha Fan Fiction ❯ Children of Light ❯ Chapter 29 ( Chapter 29 )

Chapter 29

 

“This is all so messed up.”

 

“Tell me about it.” Miroku smirks as he takes a large sip from the coffee in his hand.

 

The group had reluctantly driven back into the city and were now sitting around their familiar coffee table, giving Kouga a quick run down of everything that had been happening since they had all regained their memories. He seemed to be taking it fairly well.

 

“I just can't believe I got stuck in another lifetime with dog-shit. Again!” Kouga shakes his head, unable to believe his horrible luck. “I mean, I didn't think I'd been that bad a guy in my past life. Sure I use to hurt and maim people, but I changed! Shouldn't that count for something? And this is my reward? Dog-turd over here?”

 

“Grrrr, well who asked you to join the party you stupid-ass wolf!” Inu Yasha was reaching the very edge of his thinly restrained temper. If they didn't need everyone's help to take down Naraku, he'd take the damn wolf out back and show him just how bad his luck really was.

 

Miroku smiled inwardly at the bantering between the two demons. At least they were back to normal. Watching Inu Yasha and Kouga get along, even if it had been momentary, had been too creepy for Miroku's taste. He was a firm believer in the mantra, `if it ain't broke, don't fix it.'

 

“Alright you guys,” unlike Miroku however, Sango was not in the mood to deal with the demons petty differences today. “You guys need to swallow your male chauvinistic bullshit for right now, and concentrate on what the hell we're going to do to get Kagome back!”

 

“I still don't understand why the hell we aren't heading towards Naraku's right now! We know where the hell he is! There's only one fucking base camp on the coast and how much do you wanna make a bet that it's his!?” It had taken all of them to convince Inu Yasha that they needed to regroup before rushing head long into danger. After all, if they weren't properly prepared, they wouldn't do Kagome any good.

 

“Inu Yasha,” Sango places a hand over his to get his attention, waiting until he looks her in the eyes. She notices the hint of fear that runs through their depths as he thinks about Kagome. “We've been over this Inu Yasha. We need to make sure we're capable of getting her back. We're useless to her if we're dead. But we will get her back Inu Yasha.”

 

The determination and conviction in Sango's voice had always been the next best thing to placate the hanyou if Kagome wasn't around to do it herself. He nodded at her. Sango had always been like a younger sister to him. He would protect her with his life. The only reason he had agreed to come back into the city in the first place was so that they could get Sango properly patched up. Luckily, her minor wound was already starting to feel better.

 

Sitting back in his chair, Miroku plays absentmindedly with a sugar packet from the table. “Alright, now all we need to do is figure out where to find this jewel. We're going to need it, or at least know something more about it, if we're going to get Kagome back.”

 

Everyone nods in agreement as they think about what the riddle could mean. The riddle that would apparently unlock the mystery of the ever-elusive jewel.

 

“But that stupid riddle doesn't make any sense!” Kouga growls as he runs a hand through his hair.

 

“It's gotta be something obvious we're just not seeing.” Inu Yasha was getting more then just a little frustrated as he kept worrying about Kagome. He rubs his face with hands in a nervous gesture while slumping back into his chair, jamming his hands into his pockets.

 

Sango turns her attention to Miroku. He knew more about the jewel then any of them, with the exception of Kagome of course. “Part of the riddle talked about the spirits being in place. What does that mean?”

 

“Well, the original jewel was made of 4 powerful demon spirits, held together by the powerful soul of an ancient Miko. All together, there were 5 spirits.”

 

“Hmmmm…” Sango begins to toss the bits of information around in her head when her eyes suddenly lit up. “Hang on a sec! 5 souls?”

 

Miroku nods as he and Kouga wait patiently for her obvious revelation. “Well, there are 5 of us. Maybe that's a connection!”

 

“What do you mean? We're not in the jewel.” Kouga wondered if the girl was finally starting to loose her mind. To be honest, he had never been too sure about her. She never seemed quite…stable. But she was one hell of a warrior!

 

“No, not like that. The entity said that the jewel would be powered when all the spirits were in place. It didn't say the jewel was made from any souls this time around. Maybe it's useless until the souls come together to empower the jewel or something like that. The mystery guy also said that you were a missing piece of the puzzle. So if you count everyone in our little group, there is you, me, Miroku and Inu Yasha. That makes 4 powerful souls, if I might be so bold,” Sango winks at the grinning boys, knowing it did their egos good to be thought of as powerful. “Plus Kagome as a powerful Miko, who was once the protector of the jewel, makes 5 souls!” Sango's excitement at the possibility of having discovered a connection to the jewels mystery was more then evident.

 

“It's possible.” Miroku scratches at his head. “But how do we power the jewel when we find it?”

 

Sango's hopes slumped. “I don't know. Inu Yasha, what do you think?” Inu Yasha had been strangely quiet for the last little while.

 

“Inu Yasha?” Sango waves a hand in front of his face. His expression had gone completely blank, seeming to stare at nothing.

 

The movement of a hand fluttering in his face finally catches Inu Yasha's attention. “Huh? What was that?” Even though Inu Yasha seemed to have recovered the ability of speech, he still looked rather out of it and slightly pale.

 

“Inu, you okay?” Miroku asks, leaning towards his friend.

 

But Inu Yasha didn't answer. He simply blinked a few times and slowly pulled his hand out of his pocket. He lay his fisted hand over the table in front of everyone.

 

“What do you have Inu Yasha?” Sango looks down curiously at his closed fist.

 

“Kagome, she…she gave it to me, when we first met. I didn't even think about it, till just now when I felt it in my pocket. I've always had it with me.” Inu Yasha's voice was quiet and thoughtful as he held out his fisted hand.

 

“What are you talking about?” Kouga could clearly see the surprise and disbelief written across Inu Yasha's face.

 

Everyone gasped as Inu Yasha uncurled his fist, immediately making the connection upon seeing the oddly shaped glass stone.

 

“She made it I think. I don't think she realized what it was, but…look.”

 

The words of the entity came floating back to their minds; “Together, thy knowledge and understanding combined will power the jewel when all the spirits are in place. The power of all the heavens, in the palm of thy hand.”

 

Everyone stared in awe at the tiny pinpricks of light dotted in the stone that glinted under the coffee house lights, immersed in a dark inky middle. When Inu Yasha had first seen it, it had reminded him of the Milky Way.

 

At last they had the jewel.

 

And now it was time to see. Would the past repeat itself, or could it be redeemed?

 

*********

 

“I don't understand.” Kagome couldn't explain it, but somehow, a part of Inu Yasha was inside her. She had discovered the humming of his energy in her own body, completely by accident. “I wonder if it's because of our bond?” Kagome knew there were still many things that were unclear about a dog-demons connection to his mate, but if this was what she thought it could be…. her hopes soared at the implications.

 

A slight scratching sound in the dark room catches Kagome's attention as she swivels her head in the direction of the noise. Kagome groans against the subtle movement. Her body was soar and stiff from the weight of the chains. She wasn't exactly sure how much time she had actually been down in her little cell, but she was ready to leave.

 

She lets out a sigh of relief as she watches a particularly fat rat dash through her line of vision off in the corner, where the noise had originated. “It's probably wondering when it's going to get to snack on my toes.” Kagome shudders and immediately promises herself, no more disturbing or depressing thoughts. After all, she may have just found an ace up her sleeve.

 

Kagome proceeds to get as comfortable as she can on the cold floor. She tucks her legs under her and off to the side. This position at least offered the least amount of resistance against the chains that were rubbing raw at her ankles and wrists. “Okay, concentrate Kagome, concentrate. Forget about the hungry rat. Forget about this dark dank room.”

 

Her eyes close as she sends her senses reeling inwards. “Just think about Inu Yasha.”

 

There. She could feel it again. A humming in her very blood it seemed, that felt like Inu Yasha. But where was it exactly? She could sense her Miko powers, agitated at being restrained from the power of the chains. Kagome sent out tendrils of soothing thoughts to her own energy in an effort to calm the turmoil within her, when the sense of Inu Yasha suddenly grew stronger. Her Miko powers pulsed intensely a few times before revealing the secret it held within its depths.

 

Power. Inu Yasha's power. Inu Yasha's demon power.

 

Smirking, Kagome realizes that her own blood and power had been protecting this essence of Inu Yasha the whole time. “Man, I'd never hear the end of it if Inu Yasha realized I was just as territorial and over-protective as he is!”

 

Cautiously, she pulls at a strand of energy that hums with Inu Yasha's demonic power. Unknown to Kagome, her aura flares a deep golden red as she tugs at the strand. It comes to her immediately as her Miko blood releases its hold.

 

Kagome had never felt so…so alive! The power humming through her was so different from her own. This was raw, more primal. She could feel the strength soaking itself into her very skin, her bones. She felt indestructible! Was this how Inu Yasha felt like all the time? No wonder he hated it when he turned human on his human nights. This feeling of power, of strength that coursed through her blood, was like a natural high. But she quickly realizes that even as her senses were heightened, so were her emotions. No wonder Inu Yasha was so grouchy most of the time. His human side most likely found it exhausting having to keep up with the flow of highly charged demonic energy. But still, it seemed to Kagome that it was a small price to pay.

 

Now for the test.

 

Kagome's aura continues to grow and swirl in its golden reddish hue as she pushes her Miko powers as far back into the distance as possible. The chains reacted to her Miko energy, but how would they respond to energy that was demonic?

 

Concentrating, Kagome sends out a tiny wave of Inu Yasha's energy first. A pulse that would simply tell her if anyone was in the room with her. That way, if it recoiled against the shield, it wouldn't tear her to bits. But just as she thinks of sending out the energy in a controlled and measured way, it rushes out of her, uncontrolled and unchecked as it crashes through the barrier of the shield.

 

Kagome flinches and closes her eyes as she waits for the energy to come slamming back into her. But nothing happens. “Huh?”

 

She blinks open her eyes. “Cool!” Kagome grins as she immediately notices that she is no longer sitting in a dark room. No, now she could see everything almost clearly. Inu Yasha's power had enabled her to tap into his night vision. The room she was in was a simple room, with only a few empty boxes and a broken chair in one corner. In the other, a fat rat hid underneath an old decomposing newspaper. It didn't understand the predatory feeling that had suddenly immersed the room, only knowing that it needed to hide from it.

 

Kagome quickly turns her attention to the metal cuffs. She closes her eyes again and sends a slightly more powerful burst of energy through her ankles and wrists. She's rewarded with the sound of metal chains hitting stone and blood rushing back through her arms and legs. It takes a full 30 seconds before Kagome realizes that she is actually free.

 

“See Inu Yasha, even when you're not here, you still find a way to save me.” A tear slips down her cheek as joy swells in her heart. She rubs at her abused ankles and wrists, getting the blood flowing through her system again. Cautiously, she makes her way towards the door. Even though she was free of the chains and could now use her Miko powers, Inu Yasha's demon abilities would give her more of an edge as she tried to escape. She tests the door. Locked.

 

A satisfied grin spreads across her face as she stands directly in front of the door. Concentrating on the thread of demon power within her, Kagome cracks her knuckles in a very Inu Yasha like way. Her aura flares a deep red. Momentarily wishing she had claws, Kagome wraps a hand around the doorknob and places another against the hinges of the door. She tugs gently and is rewarded with the door yanking itself off its space.

 

“This is way too cool!” Quickly placing the door to the side and leaning it against the wall, Kagome's head begins to suddenly swim.

 

“Whoa.” She lays a hand on the wall to steady herself as her senses clear again. “Okay, note to self. Careful how much energy you use Kagome, `cause it drains you.” Inu Yasha's power was much more raw in nature then her own Miko powers, so it was unsurprising that it took more of Kagome's strength to properly handle the flow of energy. Hence why it had flown out of her uncontrolled the first time she had tried to use it.

 

Kagome allows herself a quick rest as she reaches for her connection to Inu Yasha. He would feel her through their bond, and he would at least know that she was okay. That she was still here. But as she reaches for the bond that connects her to her mate, Kagome is surprised to discover it…gone.

 

“What? I don't understand? I don't have the chains on me anymore, why can't I sense him?” Kagome's mind whirls in frenzy of momentary panic. What could possibly be blocking her connection to her mate? Was he okay? A cold fear slowly creeps its way into Kagome's stomach.

 

“The alley!” Kagome thankfully remembers the blocking spell that had kept Inu Yasha from sensing her when she had been trapped in the alley. Naraku must have put up another spell of some kind to continue blocking their connection. She would just have to figure it all out later.

 

Feeling a bit better about the missing connection, Kagome quickly pushes the mystery aside for the moment as she peers through the now open doorway. There was only one way out, and it was down the long badly illuminated hallway. Keeping to the shadows along the corridor she hurries her way down to the opposite end. There didn't seem to be many people around which caught Kagome as strange. Then again, Naraku had no reason to believe that Kagome could ever escape from her Miko chains. She'd have to personally thank Kikyou for that one.

 

It became apparent rather quickly that wherever Naraku had stuck her, was some out of the way building that not many people seemed to use. Could she be in an old warehouse of some kind? Reaching a flight of rickety stairs Kagome tentatively takes them one step at a time, not wanting to get caught when she was so close to freedom.

 

The stairs lead her up into a warehouse type room. The space is huge and packed with massive crates and boxes, creating a labyrinth of sorts. She can hear the soft chuckling of a couple of men somewhere off in the distance to her right, near what she assumed to be the front entrance of the warehouse. Kagome promptly turns left, towards the back, to avoid detection.

 

Zigzagging her way quietly through the warehouse, Kagome notices that a lot of the boxes have warning labels of explosive content pasted to the side of many of the boxes. Not wanting to think about Naraku's malicious plans at the moment, she sighs with relief as she finally comes upon a side door in the back. Tiptoeing her way to the door, she ensures no one is around to see her as she slips out the back door and makes her escape.

 

Kagome's hands go up over her face as she exits the building. She's a little surprised to discover that the sun still has a few hours left to go in the day. Being trapped in that dark isolated room had left her with no concept of time. But the warm sunshine was a welcome sight as it quickly drove the chill from her bones. Now all she had to do was figure out where she was and how to get out!

 

Thankfully, wherever it was she had been taken too wasn't short on hiding places with various crates and boxes scattered all around as she crouches down next to a box positioned near the door. Surveying the landscape around her, Kagome realizes she's on a large compound, a type of base. There were other buildings that looked like warehouses scattered around her. She seemed to be located at a warehouse that was farther back, away from the central hub of activity she could hear in the distance. As she continues to view her surroundings, Kagome notices another warehouse a couple of buildings away that seems to be blocking the view of a canopy of trees. She sniffs the air with her heightened senses as a strong familiar scent carries itself to her nose. Was that salt water? Kagome gasps realizing at once where she is. On the coast!

 

Immediately Kagome understands that she needs to make for the safety of the trees. No doubt if she had come out on the other side of the warehouse, she would have been met with an ocean view. And that would not help her at the moment. No, she needed the safety of the forest. Praying to all the gods she knew, Kagome takes off at top speed, cutting a path across what she hoped was a short distance, to the other warehouse that blocked her view of the forest.

 

She catches sight of various humans and demons in uniforms and plain clothes walking around in the distance. But no one seems to notice her as she continuously ducks and covers behind anything that she could. At times, even lying flat on her stomach for lack of anything better to hide behind. By the time Kagome reaches the back part of the next warehouse, she is panting hard and her heart is sitting in her throat. The adrenaline coursing through her body is enough to make her quit caffeine for the rest of her life.

 

“Okay, I'm almost there. One more building and I'll have the forest to hide me.”

 

Kagome gauges the distance between her current hiding spot and the next warehouse. A quick jog across and around the back of the building would ensure she'd be unseen, allowing her safe access to the forest. Checking to see that no passerby's were in the vicinity, Kagome digs her heels in the ground and takes off again. She comes flying around the corner of the last warehouse, throwing herself to the ground as she struggles to catch her breath. On her hands and knees, her head bobbing between her shoulders, she pants for deep steadying breaths. She was almost there! She couldn't believe it!

 

Kagome quickly hurries to her feet. She knows that she can always catch her breath when she gets into the woods. She carefully peeks around the corner she had just come from, wanting to ensure that no one had seen her little fight or flight scene. Sighing with relief, she turns to proceed towards the direction of the forest when she smacks into something hard. Kagome falls to the ground, stunned by the unexpected collision.

 

Fear grips her as she looks up to see who had caught her, when a smile breaks across her face, jumping to her feet. “Oh my gosh! I can't believe this! I'm so happy to see you!” She throws her arms around her rescuer's neck.

 

“Kagome, you okay?” Hojo asks, hugging her tightly.

 

“Yeah, I'm fine, Hojo, really. But you won't…be..lieve…” Kagome's eyes widen in horror as she staggers back, out of Hojo's grip.

 

“Wait, what…what are you doing here Hojo?” Kagome's eyes dare him to lie to her, as her mind begins working at lightning speed, struggling to make the connections she seemed to be missing.

 

Hojo remains silent as he scratches at the dirt with his foot.

 

“No, you…you can't be.” Slowly, Kagome begins to see that it wasn't an amazing miraculous coincidence that had brought Hojo to her.

 

“I'm sorry Kagome.” Hojo's voice was full of remorse and something odd that she had never heard before in his voice and couldn't quite place.

 

Understanding slams into Kagome's mind as it tears a piece from her heart. It had been Hojo all along. He had been there, moments before the first attack at the bar. He had been the mysterious number 1 who had first grabbed her, concealed by the smoke. Then when she had seen Kikyou, hadn't she run into Hojo moments before? No, this couldn't be happening. Hojo did not work for Naraku! He couldn't! Because then that would mean…it would mean he knew… about demons...about everything.

 

“How could you?!” Kagome's voice shook in her rage as the full force of the betrayal slammed into her.

 

Hojo shook his head as he looked briefly down at his feet. “You don't understand Kagome.” He looks her in the eye, to meet her anger face on. “Naraku has given me so much. He's given me power and control!” Hojo's eyes take on a glassy enthralled sheen as he speaks, while his hand clenches itself tightly into a fist before him.

 

“I was nothing until him! You wouldn't even give me the time of day, and now I know why! Because you like `em mean Kagome. You like `em rough. Like your dog friend.” Kagome shivers at the predatory lust that comes over Hojo's once serene and boyish features. Naraku had corrupted another soul.

 

Hojo reaches for her again as he grabs her by the shoulders. “And when Naraku is done with you, he's going to let me have you Kagome. And then we can finally be together. I'll be what you need me to be.” A disturbing yet determined calm creeps into Hojo's voice as he speaks. Somehow, he had managed to convince himself that his wild delusions could possibly come true.

 

“No Hojo!” Kagome yells as she struggles out of his grip. “You'll never be what I want! Naraku is just using you, don't you understand!?”

 

Hojo shakes his head, as though to rid himself of Kagome's words. “No, Kagome, you're wrong. And I'll prove it to you.”

 

“What do you mean? Hojo?” Kagome couldn't believe what was happening. This was not possible.

 

Hojo grins mischievously. “We're going to go have a little chat with Naraku. He'll clear this all up, you'll see.”

 

“Nooooooooooo!” Kagome screams as she struggles against Hojo's iron grip.

 

But Kagome's scream is swallowed in the blaze of reddish light that suddenly explodes around them and envelopes them both.