InuYasha Fan Fiction ❯ Displacement ❯ "I Believe I Understand Now" ( Chapter 13 )

Displacement

 

Anyone who knows me knows I don't toot my own horn that much. In fact, I've actually got self-esteem issues. But to be blunt, I consider what I cooked up in this chapter genius considering what we know about the Tenseiga, and I did very much enjoy writing this. I hope you enjoy reading it just as much.

 

Chapter 13

 

“I Believe I Understand Now”

 

Dark.

 

Toga looked around the place the meidou-seki had sent him. Everywhere was inky blackness, and a strange sense of displacement. An invisible path under his feet cushioned him from falling into the abyss below.

 

“Where am I?” he whispered to himself, tightening his grip on the Tenseiga.

 

“Figuring that out is part of your trial,” Lady Song replied. Toga looked over his shoulder, not expecting the priestess to have followed him. “Down this path lies the trial. I cannot follow, but I can help you.”

 

“Help me how?” Toga asked. Lady Song bowed her head.

 

“Remember not my words, lord dog, but your own. What is it you came here to find, and more importantly, how did you expect to obtain it?” Toga looked down at the Tenseiga with a frown.

 

“What manner of assistance is that?” he muttered, turning. This time, he was not entirely surprised to find the path behind him empty. Toga made a small sound and turned forward, sheathing the Tenseiga and walking down the path he couldn't see stretching before him. The dark place was eerily silent, even his own feet made the smallest of sounds as they touched on the path underneath them. The loudest sound he could hear was his own breathing.

 

“What am I expected to do here?” Toga asked the blackness, not expecting a response but unsure if it wouldn't give one - there was no telling where Lady Song and the meidou-seki had taken him. There was a rumbling, and the blackness before him began to shift. Toga stepped back slightly and assumed a fighting stance as the shadows formed into a form. A large, horned monster loomed over him, flexing large black claws and glaring at him with luminous gray eyes.

 

“So, you are my trial,” he stated, looking up at the monster.

 

“I shall be your destroyer,” the monster hissed, eyes flashing. Its mouth did not move with the words, but they boomed just the same.

 

“This I doubt,” Toga replied. The monster roared and lunged forward, and Toga leapt up to avoid its claws, slashing his own talons into the monster's head. Toga's claws met the creature's eyes, and he gasped as he dove right through the eyes and tumbled back to the invisible floor below. The monster swiped at him, and Toga jumped and slashed at its elbow. His claws passed through the beast as if it weren't there.

 

“You aren't real,” he whispered, landing.

 

“Wrong!” the monster cried, swinging out a hand. Toga was caught offguard and went flying backwards, landing heavily.

 

“What manner of trickery is this?” he demanded, rolling to avoid the creature's fist. The other claw came towards him, and Toga jumped and put a hand to his hip.

 

“Tetsusaiga!” he roared, flinging the sword from its sheath. The ordinary katana in his hand gave off the barest wisp of youki, and Toga growled. “The Tetsusaiga cannot transform?” he thought, staring at the sword. He landed and sheathed the sword.

 

“Fine, to hell with you!” Toga moved his hand to the other sword handle at his hip. The Tenseiga emerged into the abyss, and turned black in his hand. “Meidou Zangetsuha!” Toga roared into the darkness. He swung the blade into the unseen ground and sent a massive oval of dark energy toward the monster. The meidou hit the creature in the head, and fell to its knees as its head, right shoulder and upper torso vanished from the hell attack.

 

“You made me use my Tenseiga,” Toga muttered, insulted. He looked around for any sign of Lady Song, when a hissing filled the void of silence. Toga turned to watch as tendrils of black energy emerged from the space where the creature's missing skin should be. The tendrils grew larger and more numerous, merging, turning, curving, and formed a new shoulder…then a torso…then a head. Toga watched in horror as the beast roared and climbed back to its feet.

 

“Impossible…” he whispered. The beast lunged, and Toga leapt.

 

“Having trouble, lord dog?” Toga growled as Lady Song's voice filled his ears.

 

“Wretched priestess, you expect me to defeat this beast?” he demanded, continuing to dodge the monster's attacks.

 

“You can, the hell beast is strong but not as strong as you,” Lady Song replied.

 

“I cannot, the Tetsusaiga will not transform, and neither my meidou nor my claws affect it,” Toga protested.

 

“That is quite unfortunate,” Lady Song stated simply.

 

“Enough riddles!” Toga cried, diving to avoid a foot slamming where he had been. Lady Song did not reply.

 

“You shall die. Your soul will grow stagnant in hell,” the monster taunted, turning around.

 

“Remember my words, lord dog, and think why the Tenseiga did not work. The power to prevail lies within you,” Lady Song whispered. Toga jumped to avoid a punch and was hit backwards by the other hand. He landed and rolled, shaking himself off and looking up at the monster.

 

“Remember your advice that offered no clue?” he growled, leaping back. This time Lady Song did not answer. Toga narrowed his eyes. “There must be a way, think. Her words…” Toga continued thinking, and gasped.

 

“Of course,” he whispered. His distraction did not go unnoticed, and he was punched back, groaning from the impact. He climbed slower to his feet than he would have liked, glaring at the monster. “It is no wonder the meidou does not affect you,” he accused. “The priestess said you were a beast of hell. So the technique which dispatches its victim to hell does nothing to you.”

 

“This revelation will be of no help,” the hell beast hissed.

 

“I think it shall,” Toga whispered. “The priestess claimed the ability to see through time and found the end of tail amusing. She would not lead me to you if she thought I would die.”

 

“Think what you must, you shall die all the same,” the hell beast laughed, slashing. Toga jumped back, his mind racing.

 

“She told me to think of what I came here seeking, and how I wanted to obtain it,” he explained. “I came here seeking a way to harness the power of the meidou, and…” Toga thought intently, and frowned as his words to Inuyasha came back to him.

 

“One of the Taoists' common beliefs is balance, tempering a force with an equal but opposite force. If my Meidou is to be harnessed properly, I am sure that one of the priests there will have a way.”

 

“Temper a force with an equal but opposite force,” he said, drawing the Tenseiga. The waves of dark energy surrounding the blade quickly began to swirl and form a vortex as the Meidou Zangetsuha formed.

 

“She gave three pieces of information,” Toga remembered, staring at the sword even as his feet moved to evade the hell beast. “The first was to remember what I came here to do. The second was that you were a hell beast. The third was that the power lay within me.”

 

“What are you rambling?” the hell beast roared.

 

“My power…my own demonic energy is potent enough without any outside sources fueling it further.” Toga whispered, looking at his arm and the aura of youki energy coursing around it. The energy randomly snapped out a whip of power, crackling in the air. A tendril snapped towards the Tenseiga, and curved into the vortex at the center of the meidou around the blade as it snapped back from the black energy. Toga stared at the sword in his hand, and his mouth slowly opened.

 

“Of course…” he gasped. He jumped to avoid another attack, and landed. He held the Tenseiga out to his side.

 

“You shall die now,” he glared.

 

“What can you do to me?” the hell beast laughed. Toga concentrated. His aura shifted, pulsed, and began to flow down his arm. Toga concentrated, and let out a gasp of pain as his youki was drawn into the vortex of the meidou surround the Tenseiga. “You fool, you shall kill yourself!” the hell beast said. Toga clenched his eyes shut and grunted as more of his aura flowed into the vortex, the yellow tendrils of his power flowing amidst the black tendrils of the meidou's energy. Beads of sweat began to roll down Toga's face.

 

“No…” he panted, struggling to breathe. “I believe I understand now.” Toga felt his strength waver, and let out a scream of anguish. He pulled, and the flow of energy from his youki slowed. The hell beast stepped back and growled.

 

“What is this?” it demanded. Toga groaned and continued to pull back his youki. The energy, flowed up his arm, down from the hilt of Tenseiga, back out of the vortex. The yellow and black strands, wrapped around each other, slowed to a stop. Toga gasped as his strength flowed back, and opened his eyes to slit as he continued pulling. The vortex of meidou and youki auras began to flow again, in the opposite direction as the two flowed out of the vortex.

 

“Enough of your games!” the hell beast roared, raising a claw.

 

“There!” Toga thought, snapping his head up, eyes wide. The claw came down towards him, and Toga swung the Tenseiga out.

 

The hell beast let out a cry of pain as a glowing white slash appeared on its palm. It stumbled back in pain, and Toga watched, before lowing his gaze to the Tenseiga. The vortex of energy had begun to flow on his own, the whirlpool of the meidou's energy flowed in the opposite direction without his own youki to control its path. The black vortex lit up blue, and as Toga stared, the meidou circling the blade lightened from black, to blue, then blue-white.

 

“Incredible,” Toga whispered, holding the sword out into the abyss. The Tenseiga pulsed, sending a wave of glowing blue energy through the abyss, lighting up the horizon.

 

“NO!” the hell beast slashed again, and Toga brought up the glowing blue Tenseiga, slicing off the beast's hand. It threw its head back and screamed as the wound lit up in white light.

 

“This is your end,” Toga growled, turning his gaze to the hell beast. It let out a scream of frustration as Toga charged towards it, leaping up and bringing the Tenseiga over his head.

 

“Gyaku-Meidou Zangetsuha!” he shouted, slashing. The glowing fang cut a blazing white wound down the center of the hell beast's face, and continued down with the flow of the blade. Toga landed with a cry, the Tenseiga cleaving the beast in two. The two halves of the hell beast glowed white and collapsed around him.

 

- - - - - - - - - -

 

“We should have helped him!” Yuka protested, slamming a fist into the wooden platform surrounding the shrine, cracking the wood.

 

“Look,” Inuyasha whispered. Yuka stood up and gasped as the black barrier turned pink again.

 

“What happened?” she asked, staring inside it. Toga and Lady Song stood there. Lady Song's mouth moved, and Yuka frowned. She couldn't hear.

 

“I understand what you meant now,” Toga whispered, bowing his head. “Forgive me earlier impertinence. I was…frustrated.”

 

“Frustration over calmness is good,” Lady Song replied. “The frustrated man cannot understand what he hears. The calm man does not care.”

 

“The meidou's energy…” Toga said, drawing the Tenseiga. “The vortex of the meidou was reversed by my own youki.” He looked down at the sword, glowing bright blue instead of pitch black. Where before the vortex of energy had flowed right, now it flowed left. The energy was still black, but it turned blue the farther away from the vortex it went.

 

“The technique known as the Meidou Zangetsuha dispatches the soul of its victim to hell,” Lady Song recited. “However, should an outside force reverse the flow of the meidou's energy…”

 

“Then the technique that once dispatched its victims to hell shall return them to earth,” Toga finished. “You told me my own power was the key. I was able to channel my youki to reverse the flow of the meidou, but it drew my energy into itself. It nearly killed me.”

 

“Had a less powerful creature attempted it, it would have,” Lady Song warned. “But it is done now. The blade that once was a weapon of destruction has become a weapon of life.”

 

“I thank you for this,” Toga said, sheathing the Tenseiga. “But all the same, I am still confused. You told me you would tell me how to harness the meidou, but its power has been reversed into this…blade of healing. How am I to perfect the technique if I cannot use it?”

 

“You cannot,” Lady Song explained. “There exists no way in this world for you to perfect the meidou to a complete circle. That honor will fall to a youkai named Sesshomaru, many centuries from now.”

 

“Sesshomaru?” Toga frowned. “Who is this youkai and how does he acquire my Tenseiga?” Lady Song closed her eyes.

 

“Several centuries from now, he shall become your first son,” she whispered. Toga's eyes went wide for a moment. “Do not ask. I see through time, I do not interfere with it,” Lady Song said. “In time, you will come to understand yourself.”

 

“I…see…” Toga's eyes narrowed. “Wait. If I am to give the Tenseiga to my son, then…” Lady Song slowly nodded.

 

“I am sorry,” she sighed. Toga took in a breath and thought for a moment. Several seconds later, he closed his eyes and bowed.

 

“I thank you for your assistance once again. Be sure I will not forget such kindness,” he said.

 

“You have one final task ahead of you, but I cannot even tell you what it is. When your task presents itself, you will do the right thing.”

 

“And has your soothsaying told you this?” Toga asked, lips curling up in a small smile.

 

“No. You have,” Lady Song replied. Toga snorted.

 

“I am many things to many people, lady priestess. I rule my subjects fairly and protect them when they cannot protect themselves. I do the duties any honorable ruler would in my place. I assist those I see fit to assist and destroy those I deem necessary for destruction. I am a taiyoukai and a lord, but I am not and do not desire to be a hero,” he said.

 

“Well, not yet anyway,” Lady Song laughed. Toga grunted in response and looked down at the Tenseiga. He thought for a moment, then his eyes widened.

 

“Wait a moment…” he whispered. Lady Song looked up as Toga looked down at the ground. He narrowed his eyes again as something in his head clicked into place. “On the way here, I was asked a question,” he continued. He thought for another moment. “Before I go, I would have one more question to ask you, lady priestess.”

 

“Ask,” Lady Song replied with a wave of her hand.

 

- - - - - - - - - -

 

“This is annoying, she should lower the barrier so we can hear them,” Yuka grumbled.

 

“You ever consider maybe they're speaking privately?” Inuyasha said with a roll of his eyes, looking over his shoulder at her. Yuka crossed her arms and turned her head away. Inuyasha turned back to the barrier. Lady Song's mouth moved to unheard speech, and Toga stood silent for a moment.

 

Then, without warning, the taiyoukai slowly turned fully to lock eyes with him.

 

Inuyasha stood up straight as Toga stared at him, his face blank. Inuyasha's face was more giving, and let his confusion show as the youkai continued to stare. The barrier around Toga and Lady Song lowered, and Toga walked towards them. Yuka stood up from the tree she was leaning against. Toga walked past him to stand before Yuka.

 

“My lord. Did you acquire what you came for?” she asked, bowing.

 

“Yes. I believe I got what I desired. Several things I desired, in fact,” Toga replied. Inuyasha looked back at Lady Song as she approached Toga.

 

“Lord dog,” she said. Toga turned, and Lady Song held up her hands. “Take this.” Toga looked down and reached out a claw to pluck the meidou-seki from her hands, the black pearl in its center whole once again. “The time will come when its powers shall be needed again.”

 

“And I shall assume that while you could tell me the circumstances for that, it will instead be up to me to figure it out on my own,” Toga said dryly. Lady Song smiled. “Very well,” Toga nodded, tucking the meidou-seki into his robes. “If you would allow it, the trial you gave me was quite tiring. Seeing as how the sun has set, I request you let us rest the night here.”

 

“Of course, come into the shrine and you may sleep there,” Lady Song replied. Yuka and Toga moved to follow her, the taiyoukai stopping slightly after passing Inuyasha.

 

“Whatever the outcome of our time together, know that I have enjoyed your company, Inuyasha,” Toga whispered neutrally. Inuyasha frowned as he walked after his father, the two youkai and one hanyou entering the Song Shan shrine.

 

Alrighty, if anyone got lost, basically when the meidou dispatches the opponent to hell - when the vortex of the meidou flows the right way. But Toga found a way to make it flow the opposite way, and presto, the Tenseiga now returns the dead to earth. Get it now? One of the things that always ticked me off is that they've yet to explain how Tenseiga became a healing sword. Well, in my world at least, now you know.

 

Translation

 

Gyaku - reverse