InuYasha Fan Fiction ❯ Displacement ❯ "You Have No Idea" ( Chapter 17 )

Displacement

 

Chapter 17

 

“You Have No Idea”

 

Inuyasha leapt and screamed as the pink wave of energy exploded where he had been a moment ago, tearing up the ground. Ying Zheng drew back his weapon and fired another blast into the air. The wave missed Inuyasha by inches, and he winced as the air crackled in its wake. He landed crouched and glared at the Qin Lord.

 

“I am so gonna kick your ass,” he snarled.

 

“You made that claim some time ago, and have yet to make good on it!” Ying Zheng reminded, charging. Inuyasha ducked to avoid the glowing blade. Three more slashes came and he narrowly avoided each of them. The fourth slice met the weakened Tetsusaiga, and Inuyasha let out a cry as waves of purity energy rippled through the air where the blades met. He slowly turned his head and gasped as the tips of a few strands of his hair began to darken so close to the energy source.

 

“When I first saw you, I thought perhaps you were a warrior,” Ying Zheng sneered, pushing the hanyou back. “How wrong I was.” Inuyasha crouched down, Ying Zheng's sword coming closer to his head. He watched as three strands of silver hair turned grey, then black. With a growl, he reached out and hooked a foot around Ying Zheng's ankle. The ruler looked down, and Inuyasha fell backwards, rolling and flipping him overhead. Ying Zheng flew behind him and landed heavily, rolling and sliding down the hill slightly. Inuyasha stood up and looked at his hair. Satisfied the change had reverted, he charged towards him as Ying Zheng slowly stood up.

 

Ying Zheng cried out as a fist slammed into his jaw, knocking him further back. Inuyasha aimed another punch, but Ying Zheng rolled away and brought his sword back up. Inuyasha leapt back to avoid its path and jumped higher to avoid a blast of pink energy.

 

“Inuyasha!”

 

The two stopped and Inuyasha turned his head, running up the hill. Ying Zheng snarled and let loose another blast of purity. Inuyasha jumped and watched as it sailed under his feet. From his higher vantage point he saw the source of the voice.

 

“Kagome!”

 

Kagome jumped down from Ryuichi's horse and ran towards him. The hanyou landed and grunted as the miko slammed into his chest and threw her arms around him.

 

“I was so worried, I thought you might be hurt!” she cried, burying her face in his robes. Inuyasha sighed and patted the back of her hair.

 

“Yeah…you okay?” he asked, pulling back slightly. Kagome nodded and looked past him to see Ying Zheng glaring at them angrily lower on the hill.

 

“Inuyasha, he got my jewel shards!” she explained. Inuyasha growled and turned to face Ying Zheng. “He's got one in his chest and another in the blade of his sword,” Kagome finished.

 

“So that's how you got all this power,” Inuyasha leered. “I knew a little weasel like you couldn't be that strong on your own.”

 

“Silence!” Ying Zheng roared. “It does not matter how I acquired this power, all that matters is that is mine now!”

 

Inuyasha grabbed Kagome and jumped left as the ground tore up beneath them. Ryuichi's horse reared, and Ying Zheng looked up at the noise.

 

“Ah, at last you show your true colors,” he sneered. “I should have known someone like you wouldn't be long for this court once you got the chance to betray me.”

 

“My lord, this is madness!” Ryuichi protested. “Please stop this now!”

 

“I agree. I grow bored and desire the end of this little game!” Ying Zheng nodded, turning to where Inuyasha and Kagome had landed.

 

“Stay out of the way,” Inuyasha instructed, shrugging off his robe and handing it to her. “Run for the camp and don't stop. They'll keep you safe, just tell them I sent you.” Kagome nodded and jogged towards the camp. “I'll handle him,” he finished, turning back to Ying Zheng, holding out the rusty untransformed Tetsusaiga.

 

“How disgustingly noble,” Ying Zheng snorted. “You would forfeit your own life just to save that woman?”

 

“A hundred times over,” Inuyasha nodded. Ying Zheng smiled.

 

“Then I shall make sure your efforts are not in vain!” he cried, firing another wave of energy. Inuyasha leapt over it, and Ying Zheng was in the air to meet him. The blade pulsed, and Inuyasha fell to the ground, gasping. Ying Zheng landed and drew back his sword.

 

“Now die!” he roared, letting loose the blast. Inuyasha had just finished climbing to his feet and turned to see the pink wave slam into his chest.

 

With a scream, the hanyou's clothing tore and shattered, and his skin singed. Inuyasha was sent flying backwards, rolling and landing in a dirty bruised heap, his hair dark grey with purification and smoke rising from his body.

 

A ways down the hill, the Tetsusaiga landed and stuck in the ground with clang.

 

“So, it is done,” Ying Zheng chuckled, staring at Inuyasha's motionless body. “I must admit you were much stronger than I expected. But, I am the Lord of Qin. And a pathetic yaoguai like you could never defeat me. Now,” Ying Zheng held out his sword and summoned another purity aura, the jewel shard in the blade glowing brightly. “Stand, and give me the honor of knocking you down one final time,” he ordered.

 

Inuyasha reached out and put a hand on the ground, shaking as he pushed himself to his knees. His hair went back to white, then silver as he drew in several breaths, his dirt-clumped hair falling over his face in waves.

 

“Good,” Ying Zheng nodded. “Now then,” he drew back the sword, “is there anything you would like to say to me, before you die?”

 

Inuyasha let out a deep growl and climbed to his feet, raising his head to glare at the Qin Lord with glowing red eyes.

 

- - - - - - - - - -

 

Toga looked over the battlefield at the dead and dying, most of the soldiers lying on the ground, many sadly his own caught in his own bloodlust. He turned to see another soldier approach him and swing the tip of their blade into the ground.

 

“So you are the yaoguai general,” the soldier said, bowing their head. “I am pleased to meet you.”

 

“You are an ally of Ying Zheng?” Toga asked, brandishing Tetsusaiga.

 

“A subject. I am Prince Liu Bang of Han. Ying Zheng conquered us some time ago and forced out army to march to aid him this day. The Han are an honorable people. We would not refuse.”

 

“I respect honor,” Toga nodded. “But your ruler has none.”

 

“Of that we are agreed,” Liu Bang replied. “He has dealt you a great insult today. But the insult he dealt to Han is greater.”

 

“What concern of that is mine?” Toga asked. Liu Bang smiled and stepped back, leaving his sword stuck in the ground.

 

“None at all,” he whispered, spreading his arms. “You see, Lord Toga, although we are different men, like Ying Zheng I am in the interests of longevity. That in mind…I'm also not a fool.” Liu Bang turned his back, and Toga stared at him strangely, then turned himself.

 

“Who are you?” he asked as a young woman stopped panting for breath a few feet away.

 

“I'm…” Kagome started, lifting her head. Her breath caught. “You…you are…” she stammered.

 

“I am Taiyoukai Toga of Japan,” Toga explained. “And you are, maiden?” Kagome swallowed heavily.

 

“I'm Kagome. I'm a friend of Inuyasha,” she replied. “That has to be his father! All this way back in time…no wonder he never came back yet.”

 

Toga nodded, and lifted his head. He sniffed the air and bristled.

 

“This does not bode well,” he muttered, staring up the hill. Kagome turned to see Inuyasha facing off with Ying Zheng. His aura pulsed as he got up, and Kagome shivered.

 

“Oh no. He's transformed!” she shrieked.

 

- - - - - - - - - -

 

“Well, enough banter. I grow tired of this,” Ying Zheng yawned. “Time to die.” He swung and let loose a purity blast. Inuyasha snarled and flung up his arm. The blast hit and pushed him back several inches, but he remained standing. Inuyasha lowered his badly burned arm and began stalking towards Ying Zheng.

 

“Still more?” he laughed. Another purity blast, and Inuyasha's other arm came up. The skin smoked and sizzled as he kept walking. “You simply cannot accept defeat!” Another blast. Inuyasha took it in the chest and fell to his knees, but stood up a moment later. Ying Zheng stared in horror.

 

“This is impossible!” he roared, swinging the sword over and over. Three waves of energy flew towards Inuyasha. With a snarl, he drew back his claw and sliced through them in one dash.

 

“He can't do this, he'll be purified!” Kagome cried. Toga nodded. The hanyou's youki had grown much stronger, but was still waning in the face of so much sacred energy. If he didn't stop soon, there was no telling what could happen to him. Toga had seen youkai be purified before. If they were fortunate, they were destroyed in a single flash of sacred energy. If they were unfortunate, their deaths could take days while their youki bled off and left them powerless. “We have to get him the Tetsusaiga!” Kagome said.

 

“Tetsusaiga?” Toga frowned. He looked over the battlefield and pointed. “This way,” he instructed, walking forward. Liu Bang watched them go quietly, then turned back to the battle on the hill. Kagome reached the Tetsusaiga and groaned.

 

“It's been purified, with no aura it can't restore him!” she protested. Toga clenched his first and turned around.

 

“The Tetsusaiga can restore him?” he asked.

 

“Yeah, that's what it was made for, sealing his youkai blood. Without it he can't control the transformation,” Kagome replied. Toga nodded.

 

“Very well then.”

 

- - - - - - - - - -

 

Ying Zheng was stumbling back now as Inuyasha charged forward.

 

“Just die!” he yelled, bringing his sword back. A claw wrapped around his wrist, and Ying Zheng's mouth fell open as Inuyasha glared boiling red eyes into the lord's own deep brown, panting. The claw brought Ying Zheng's arm down, and the other claw came up. As Ying Zheng watched in horror, Inuyasha grabbed the tip of the blade and began bending it, his skin burning and blood running down his arm.

 

“Y…you…” he whispered. Inuyasha sneered as the blade shattered, the iron fragments tumbling to the ground along with a glowing pink jewel shard. Ying Zheng looked down, then back up as the youkai grabbed his arm tighter and cracked his knuckles in front of his face. Ying Zheng swallowed and struggled to speak. “Pl…please don't kill me,” he begged. The youkai growled and lowered his face down. The next word was more a growl than a word and almost indecipherable.

 

“Die.”

 

Ying Zheng threw his head back in a scream of agony as claws slammed right through his armor and into his chest. Inuyasha looked down for a moment, then pulled his arm back. Blood dropped from his fingers along with a few considerable portions of bloody flesh. Tears of pain ran down Ying Zheng's face as he stumbled back, alive and clutching his chest. Inuyasha looked down at the red-stained jewel shard in his hand and dropped it to the ground.

 

“Inuyasha!” Inuyasha turned and looked up. Something small, slim and metal spun through the air towards him. Instinctively, he leapt and grabbed the handle. Red eyes cleared to liquid gold with a gasp as Toga's Tetsusaiga pulsed and shifted in his hand, responding to the call of its future owner.

 

Inuyasha landed and looked down at his bloodstained claws, then down at the sword they held. Finally, his eyes found Toga's. The taiyoukai simply nodded, and Inuyasha turned to face Ying Zheng.

 

“You took Kagome. You tried to kill Toga. Yuka. Oinari. Everyone. You've killed thousands, torture more, ruined entire lives all just for your own desires,” he said. “If I didn't know any better I'd think you were one of Naraku's henchmen. But at the end of the battle…you're just a man.” Inuyasha shook his head. “I pity you, old man.”

 

“You pity me!?” Ying Zheng roared, drawing to his full height despite the wound in his chest. “I am Lord Ying Zheng of Qin, Ruler of the mightiest people and the future First Emperor! I am Heaven's chosen son, the heir to the throne, and-”

 

“Dear god, shut the fuck up!” Inuyasha cried, drawing the Tetsusaiga back. With a cry of the attack, the Kaze-no-Kizu fired, and Ying Zheng gasped and raised an arm in a futile attempt to defend himself. The waves of youkai washed over him, and the thundering of the winds were drowned out only by the scream of agony.

 

As the attack subsided, Ying Zheng collapsed to the ground.

 

“Is he…?” Kagome asked, coming up beside Inuyasha. Ying Zheng put a hand and pushed his torso up, blood pooling on the grass.

 

“His will to live is incredible,” Toga muttered behind them. The lord's arm shook heavily, and with a final breath, Ying Zheng collapsed to the grass. His eyes stared blankly ahead, locked in an empty gaze on the broken pieces of his sword and the two bloody jewel shards among them.

 

“But not without limit,” Toga finished.

 

“I…did it…” Inuyasha muttered, dropping Tetsusaiga. “I killed him…”

 

“You did what needed to be done,” Toga replied, reaching to pick up his sword. “That is all anyone can ever do.” Inuyasha nodded sadly.

 

“Yeah, but…he was human…”

 

“Trust me, Inuyasha,” Kagome whispered, wrapping an arm around his. “I've studied history, and there were a lot of evil people who deserved to die. I think it's safe to say he was one of them.”

 

“I know…still…I'd never taken human life willingly…until today.”

 

“We're not done though,” Kagome said. “He lives.”

 

“Huh?” Inuyasha asked, turning to her.

 

“Ying Zheng lives for around another fifteen years or so to unite China. His death sparks the Han revolution and places the ruler of Han on the throne of imperial power around five years later,” Kagome explained, unaware that a few feet behind her, an all-too human set of ears listened with great interest.

 

“So he was meant to live,” Toga said. Kagome nodded, and gasped. Lady Zhou had said this before! Inuyasha had ruined time, it was her place to set it right. She knew what was to happen, and it was her task to ensure that did not change.

 

“You can fix it!” she cried. Toga looked down at her. “You have the Tenseiga right?”

 

“Yes,” Toga replied, drawing the sword in question.

 

“You can use it to revive the dead, you can bring him back!” Kagome insisted. Toga looked down at her, then moved to Ying Zheng's corpse. Tetsusaiga pulsed as its meidou began swirling and cloaking the blade in its blue light.

 

“I see them,” Toga muttered, staring down at the ugly green imps wrapping chains around Ying Zheng's body. Toga swung Tenseiga, and the imps vanished in flashes of blue light. The large wound in Ying Zheng's chest closed and healed, and the lord gasped in a breath loudly, turning over and coughing and vomiting into the grass. He clutched his unmarred flesh through the hole Inuyasha had pierced in his armor, shocked.

 

“Stand, Lord of Qin,” Toga growled. Ying Zheng paled and stood, turning slowly. “Hear me now and listen well,” Toga leered. “It is by Inuyasha's hand you died. It was by the words of the maiden Kagome that I was convinced to spare you and it is by my sword you have been restored to life. If you are wise, you will leave now. And mark well my face for you would do well to never see it again, unless you wish for it to be the last.”

 

Ying Zheng stared at Toga, his face a mask of rage and fear, but he turned his head away and began walking up the hill, ignoring the bloody bodies of horses and men alike that lay in his path. Kagome and Inuyasha watched him crest the hilltop and keep moving back to the Qin state. Ying Zheng never once turned back.

 

“You are certain he deserves to live?” Toga asked, walking back to them.

 

“No,” Kagome sighed, shaking her head and kneeling to pick up the jewel shards from the grass. “But he has to.” Toga nodded.

 

“Yes. But if what you said is true, he must also be overthrown,” he reminded. “By the Han, you said.”

 

“Yeah,” Kagome nodded. Toga grunted, and turned to walk up to the small group, only six, staring blankly over the battlefield. Their commander was kneeling and examining a corpse.

 

“Liu Bang,” Toga muttered. The Han Prince looked over his shoulder as Toga's shadow fell over him.

 

“Yes?” he asked.

 

“You are allowed to leave,” Toga explained. “This battle is lost. You and your remaining followers are free to return to Han.”

 

“Yes,” Liu Bang laughed bitterly, waving his head as said followers. “All six of them!”

 

“Not so,” Toga shook his head and looked down at the corpse between them. “That crest on the armor…that is Han?”

 

“Yes, it is…was the symbol of our nobles, before Ying Zheng had them cut down,” Liu Bang replied. Toga looked down and lifted the Tenseiga, slashing the air. The slashes down the armor of the Han soldier vanished as his chest healed, and Liu Bang leapt to his feet as the Han sucked in a breath.

 

“My prince!” he exclaimed, looking at Liu Bang in awe. “I was certain, I had glimpsed death! I saw blood, and felt great pain…how is it I live?”

 

“Lord Toga saw fit…to revive you…” Liu Bang whispered as the Han stood. The Han turned to Toga and kneeled, but the taiyoukai turned his head to Liu Bang.

 

“Tell me, do all the Han wear armor bearing that crest?” he asked.

 

“Most, but not all, some had crests for their families,” Liu Bang explained. Toga nodded and pointed Tetsusaiga over the sea of corpses.

 

“Then you shall show me these men,” he ordered. Liu Bang nodded and led him into the field. Kagome and Inuyasha watched as Tenseiga swung again and again, and one by one the army of Han climbed to its feet. The taiyoukai of Japan and the future, and all-too deserving, founder of the Han Dynasty.

 

“He's gonna revive his entire army?” Yuka snorted, coming up behind him. “Those two have a lot of work ahead of them.” The knowledge of the future fresh in their minds, Inuyasha and Kagome smiled and replied as one.

 

“You have no idea.”

 

Chapter 18, the grand finale. Will Inuyasha and Kagome get home? What is the final word in the chapter of Qin and Han? Do not miss the final chapter of Displacement!