InuYasha Fan Fiction ❯ Displacement ❯ "Magnificent, Isn't It?" ( Chapter 6 )

Displacement

 

Manga spoilers ahead, be warned.

 

Chapter 6

 

“Magnificent, Isn't It?”

 

Inuyasha lay with his back against a boulder behind him, staring up at the sky with his hands clasped behind his head. He had stayed in that position most of the night.

 

“Oyaji's alive…” he whispered, not for the first time. He wasn't made of stone like his bastard of a half-brother, but Inuyasha wasn't one for excessive emotion. Never had been. But this was a rare occasion where he took the time to sort out how he felt and what he was going to do. It was one of the few times he realized that he had to think this through.

 

Once the initial shock had worn off, he had spent most of the night thinking about what the meeting had meant to him. He had never though about his father much. Sure, he was his father, and he had left him Tetsusaiga. But beyond that, he didn't really care that much. He had accepted his father's death a long time ago when he was a kid and hadn't dwelled on it much. He'd shed his tears decades ago and didn't see any point in shedding more. On the other hand, he didn't see the point of walking away from this either.

 

For one thing, he trusted that asshole Ying whatever his name was, as much as he trusted Sesshomaru. There was no doubt that he could kill him in one slash of his claws, but he couldn't. If Kagome was right, the guy was supposed to live and changing history in ways he couldn't guess was on his list just under handing the jewel shards over to Naraku. And Kagome had told him she was going to try and convince him to help them get home, which was high on his list. And killing his father wasn't something he wanted to do either, besides the fact he had no plans of doing that even if he could.

 

“So what do I do then?” he muttered. Returning to the castle and spiriting Kagome away to find out how to get home on their own was an appealing idea. And his father was…well, his father. He probably knew of a few tricks if his legacies to his sons were any indication, he might be able to help them. But then that would inevitably lead into Inuyasha revealing his true lineage, which was something he wasn't ready to do for a number of reasons.

 

Inuyasha spent another moment in thought before standing and setting off across the Chinese countryside. He reached the barrier and passed through without any hesitation. In the morning light, the camp and castle were more visible. The tents, firepits and awnings looked like they had been set in for a long stay. He walked forward and watched a few of the soldiers look up and reach for their weapons as he neared.

 

“Leave him be,” a woman called. Inuyasha's ears swiveled as the neko Yuka emerged from the tents and regarded him carefully. “You've returned,” she muttered.

 

“Yeah,” Inuyasha nodded.

 

“I'm assuming you wish to see my lord,” Yuka asked. Inuyasha nodded again, and she turned to lead him to the doors of the castle. The shojis slid back by themselves, although Inuyasha wasn't sure how, and the inner room where he had met his father the night before. His father sat there, studying a scroll with Chinese text on it.

 

“Ah, you returned,” Toga said evenly, not looking up.

 

“Yeah, I guess…” Inuyasha replied. Toga kept studying the scroll before rolling it up.

 

“And what is it you require of me this time?” Toga asked. Inuyasha thought for a moment.

 

“I want to know what you're doing here,” he said. Toga picked up another scroll from beside him and unfurled it.

 

“I do not see how that is any concern of yours,” he replied.

 

“Well…a friend of mine needs help. If you can help us, I'll help you in return,” Inuyasha offered. Toga turned a single molten eye his way.

 

“Oh? And just what is it you need?” he asked. Inuyasha took a breath.

 

“We're not from this area. We exist in another place years from now. We…we need to know how to get back,” he explained. Toga kept his golden gaze on the hanyou for a moment without any visible reaction.

 

“So, you desire my power and knowledge on how to return you to your home, and offer assistance in my quest in exchange,” he said. Inuyasha nodded, and Toga made a sound in the back of his throat. “The concept of traveling between different worlds is known to me. I am sure I could likely devise a solution to your problem given adequate time and information.”

 

“Good,” Inuyasha sighed. Trusting the Qin Lord hadn't been high priority to him ever since he first came here.

 

“But before that, as you offered, your services are now under my command,” Toga continued. “And what you learn while in my service is not to be repeated.”

 

“Yeah, no problem,” Inuyasha agreed. Toga closed the scroll he was reading and stood. He put a hand to the sash on his hip and drew a sword. Inuyasha watched as his father held the sword up to his face for inspection, running a clawed finger along the blade. The blade looked very familiar.

 

“Tenseiga,” Inuyasha thought. “But that sword doesn't have the same aura that Sesshomaru's had. Why?"

 

“While in Japan, I happened upon a youkai of the Void named Shishinki,” Toga murmured. “The beast had the audacity to attack my mate while I was off on a hunt, and when I returned he attacked me. He had in his possession a sword technique called the Meidou Zangetsuha, which allowed him to create portals to Hell. Using the Tetsusaiga, I was able to turn back Shishinki's attacks and absorb the Meidou from him. The power of Hell was too great for Tetsusaiga to hold, especially with all its other powers, and I thus had a swordsmith shear off this Tenseiga to hold the Meidou while I perfected its technique.”

 

“That's right, the Tenseiga wasn't able to form a perfect Meidou when Totosai first reforged it. No matter how large a Meidou Sesshomaru cut, it was always an oval,” Inuyasha thought.

 

“This Tenseiga will allow me to temper the raw power of the Meidou without endangering the Tetsusaiga. Once the circle completes, the power should be easier to control, and I can thus return Tenseiga to the Tetsusaiga safely. I came here seeking a way to complete that circle,” Toga finished.

 

“Yeah, but that ain't gonna happen. Sesshomaru had to kill Shishinki before his Meidou could form a complete circle. That was the whole reason Oyaji gave him the Tenseiga in the first place, so he could perfect the Meidou.” Inuyasha remembered, frowning. It was a little strange to hear his father explain his quest when he knew perfectly well it would end in failure. It wouldn't be until decades after his death that Sesshomaru completed the technique his father couldn't.

 

“So you think you know how?” Inuyasha asked.

 

“I believe so. I will leave later this day with a scouting party. If you desire so, you may accompany me,” Toga said. Inuyasha thought for a moment. He hadn't paid much attention to Shishinki when they fought, and he hadn't bothered to ask Myoga or Totosai about the details of the Tenseiga's relationship with the Tetsusaiga…

 

“Alright,” he replied.

 

- - - - - - - - - -

 

It was actually rather uncomfortable to be carried in the palanquin that Ryuichi had said Ying Zheng had picked out for her. For one thing, Kagome hated the fact she was being carried by other people. She had been going along with the charade for the time being so Ying Zheng wouldn't be offended, but the way he kept flaunting and abusing his power was getting tiring. Hopefully Inuyasha would complete whatever errand Ryuichi had claimed he'd been sent on and return soon so they could focus on a way to get home. Obviously they would have to do it on their own, Ying Zheng had been no help at all.

 

“We are here.” Kagome jumped as the palanquin lowered, and Ryuichi appeared at the side of the device with a hand out. Kagome took it and stepped down out of the cart, looking back at the two soldiers who had carried her. They had kept their heads low, but beads of sweat ran down their foreheads, and they were discreetly gasping. Kagome frowned and stepped towards the front one.

 

”Ah, Lady Kagome.” Kagome stopped as the man she recognized as the Qin Lord smiled towards her. Ying Zheng had on a long yellow cloak over a smaller yellow tunic with something underneath she couldn't make out. He held out a hand to beckon her forward, and Kagome quickly leaned down to the man in front of her palanquin.

 

“When we go back, I'm walking,” she whispered. The man lifted his head to stare at her as she walked up to Ying Zheng and did a quick bow. “Lord,” she replied. Ying Zheng's smile grew, and her put a hand around her shoulder. Kagome stiffened at such a familiar touch from a man she had seen exactly twice, but fortunately he didn't seem to notice.

 

“Please, Lady Kagome, there is no need to be formal around me,” Ying Zheng chuckled, leading her along the path. “Feel free to speak my name whenever you address me. In fact, I request it,” he cast her a pointed glance, and Kagome inwardly scowled. `Feel free' was obviously code for `do it now'.

 

“Thank you, Lord Ying Zheng,” she muttered. First his radiant shows of authority and now his unnerving familiarity with her. This guy was starting to annoy her.

 

“Thank you. Now, I have something I would to show you. Please, close your eyes.” Kagome blinked and looked up at him. “Do not be alarmed, I assure you I mean you no harm, this is a pleasant surprise,” Ying Zheng insisted. Kagome took a breath and shut her eyes, but kept them open a sliver to watch whatever he was doing. The pressure at her shoulders guided her forward, and she fell into step beside the Qin Lord. They walk forward for a few moments before the pressure eased and his other hand came to stop her.

 

“That is far enough,” Ying Zheng instructed. “Now, please. Open your eyes and gaze upon the future site of the Qin royal tomb and the vast army that will protect it.”

 

Kagome opened her eyes more, and they quickly went wide as saucers. Beside her, Ying Zheng's lips followed suit.

 

Stretching before them was a gigantic pit. The ground suddenly ended and fell away in a hole so large it looked like you could fit the entire palace in it and have room left over. And room left above it, not only was the hole long and wide, but it was deep too, deep enough that a fall would likely be fatal. But the hole wasn't just a simple cube of dirt cut from the earth, no. It was uneven on the ground, the walls were slanted outwards, and piles and ramps of dirt were packed all along the perimeter.

 

And inside the pit looking disturbingly like ants, were men. Thousands of them were working below. Crude metal spades dug into the dirt, baskets of dirt were carried out of the pit on dirt ramps, wheelbarrows with more dirt ran up and down them. Kagome stared in disbelief. The work on the gigantic pit was efficient, organized, and utterly horrifying.

 

This pit was being dug for the tomb of only one man. You could build a city inside the hole he had, and from the looks of it the equivalent of a city was working on making the hole deeper. The men were filthy, sweaty, malnourished, and obviously tired. And what about their families, how many of them had been conscripted from loving families, wives, children, parents, siblings, to work to make a glorified grave for this man.

 

Suddenly, all the pieces clicked into place, the reason why Ying Zheng was so controversial to historians was made clear. The man had slaughtered thousands in the name of unification, destroyed any forms of math, communication, measurement, language or government that opposed his own. And those that survived his rampage were either conscripted into the army or conscripted into the labor force and forced to work themselves to the bone for a man that didn't care about any of them.

 

There was no controversy about the man standing beside her. He was a monster, a tyrant, plain and simple. Ying Zheng hadn't unified China, he had conquered it, there was no unity, there was only obedience. How could anyone serve this man out of anything less than fear when they saw what he was doing to his own people? He killed those who defied him without thought and those that served him loyally were bound to enforce unfair laws. And anyone who was not fit to be a noble or a government official or a soldier was sent to work on constructing not only this but who knew how many over lavish monuments for him.

 

The Lord of Qin was literally working his people, his country, to the death.

 

“Magnificent, isn't it?” Ying Zheng asked. Kagome discreetly clenched her fist. Magnificent? Was the man insane to find any sort of satisfaction in ordering his loyal followers to work themselves day and night on this sort of project? How could anyone do this to even a single person and not be anything but disgusted with themselves? Kagome swallowed heavily and fought to keep from turning and pulling the Qin Lord into the pit. Very few people she had ever met had ever earned hatred from her, had ever registered as being so foul and vile that they deserved nothing but death. Naraku had been one. And Ying Zheng had just become another. Any man who did this to people had no right to exist when they forced such hardships on others for their own glory.

 

“I can honestly say I've never seen anything like it,” she answered carefully, keeping her response neutral. Ying Zheng chuckled again, and Kagome tore her eyes away from the pit. “I would like to return to the castle, my lord,” she growled, barely able to form the title. This man was no lord, this man was nothing but a butcher.

 

“Of course. Ryuichi, Lady Kagome will return to the palace, have the palanquin ready,” he called.

 

“My legs are stiff from sitting in there on the way here. I would rather walk,” Kagome replied. Ying Zheng gave a small grunt, but nodded. Kagome turned and all but stomped away, the two men who had carried her palanquin flanking her. Ryuichi stood silently as she left, turning his head as Ying Zheng stopped beside him.

 

“I think that went quite well,” he mused. Ryuichi watched him smile yet again and kept his tongue in check. His lord may not have seen the young woman's fist as she surveyed the tomb.

 

But he had.

 

Oyaji - rude, loose term for Father. I think an accurate comparison would be referring to your father as “old man”, but I'm not sure.

 

Yes, this takes place after the Shishinki arc, Inuyasha is completely aware of Tenseiga's true purpose. However, this is before he absorbs the Meidou from Tenseiga. So, after he learns about Tenseiga, before he absorbs it.