InuYasha Fan Fiction ❯ Facets of the Living Jewel ❯ Fallaces sunt rerum species ( Chapter 12 )

Disclaimer: I do not own Inuyasha or the other characters. Ms. Takahashi does.

 

Fallaces sunt rerum species

By Licentia poetica

 

Kagome stared at her mother, shocked. “Mama? You were expecting all of us? I don't understand!”

 

Innin Higurashi smiled at her daughter. “There is a lot to tell you, and I'm really not sure where to start.” She gestured to the group with her head, inviting them to enter the room. “Why don't you all come in? We can sit down and straighten things out.” Her smile faded a bit as they stood quietly and stared at her. `Well, this isn't a very good start. I'm already nervous and there's so much to say! Some of it I don't understand myself and some of it is going to make Kagome angry with me.' She turned her back on them and walked to the table, carefully placing the tray on it before looking back over her shoulder. “Come on in, don't be shy!”

 

Inuyasha was the first to move. `I'm tempted by the ramen, but there are other things that are more important.' He stepped up next to Kagome and said firmly “Kagome might be hurt and we should see to that first.”

 

“I'm fine, Inuyasha. I'll probably be bruised, but I'm all right now,” Kagome assured him with an affectionate smile. `He has to be hungry, he barely ate any dinner.' Her smile increased at the memory of him sitting close beside her with his hand on the Tessaiga and his ears on point, alert and wary.

 

`She's hurt? She never knows how hard it is for me to let her go through the well.' Carefully keeping her face neutral, Innin placed the bowls around the table before she turned to her daughter. “You were hurt, Kagome? What happened?”

 

As the four travelers took their places around the table, accepting the hospitality even though they had already eaten, Kagome explained about the incident in the well.

 

Innin looked puzzled at first but as Kagome's explanation went on she began to look chagrined. Finally she said sheepishly, “I didn't think about that aspect of the problem. I'm sure your father didn't either when he brought you over.”

 

Kagome dropped her chopsticks and the group all turned to look at her.

 

“Papa?” The word, not spoken for years because of the pain it caused her, came out in a startled croak. “Mama…you…father left us,” she said in a strained, disbelieving voice.

 

“I know. Well, he did, but it isn't like you think.” Innin looked down at her hands, flustered. `How am I going to explain all of this?'

 

Kagome sat back in shock, her face pale. Inuyasha watched her from across the table and gave a low growl. `Kagome never talked about her father, even when mine appeared to me. I never thought to ask her about him.'

 

Miroku and Sango glanced at each other and shifted uncomfortably in their seats.

 

Kagome shook her head and asked “Mama, what's going on?”

 

`Where shall I start?' Innin smoothed a nonexistent wrinkle from her skirt and tried to gather her thoughts. `Shouldn't this be easier if I've done it before?' She sighed and ventured “Kagome dear, I first want to ask your forgiveness, because I know that some of the things I say today will upset you.” She glanced up at her daughter and sighed. “Maybe they'll even make you angry with me, but please believe me, if I could have told you about them before now I would have!” She stared earnestly into Kagome's eyes, pleading for understanding. “There are reasons you could not know before now.”

 

Kagome leaned forward and took one of her mother's hands. “Mama? It'll be all right and I forgive you, but tell me about my father. I thought….”

 

“This is going to get confusing.” Innin chewed on her lower lip and Sango almost grinned as she watched the older woman mirror one of Kagome's habits. `So that's where it comes from.'

 

“You first have to understand, Kagome, that you are the focus for something very powerful and beyond our understanding.”

 

Inuyasha sat up straight, ears twitching. “Kagome's not threatened by a youkai, is she?”

 

Innin shook her head and smiled. “It's nothing like that.” She turned her attention back to Kagome. “Your father calls it the Nexus, because, well…it connects space and time between the Sengoku Jidai and now. It's a wormhole contained by the well, but it isn't quite that simple. You're the focus—”

 

Miroku, who up to now had been silently observing from the corner, interrupted her by asking quietly but intensely, “A wormhole? Everything I've read about space and time is incredibly complex and wormholes are theoretical. How is it that Kagome, even with her houriki, is a focus for a hypothetical distortion in the space-time continuum? A wormhole works in four dimensions, with time being the fourth, and I can understand why the well, theoretically, must be a manifestation of the general relativity theory's…uhh…sorry.” He held up both hands in a pacifying gesture as Inuyasha's soft growls escalated in volume and belatedly noticed that his companions were glassy-eyed. He gestured for Innin to continue as he finished with, “We thought she could only go through the well because of the Shikon no Tama.”

 

Innin smiled kindly at him. “That's partly true, but you must remember that there have been times when she could get through without it and other youkai have been able to get through without the jewel as well, including Inuyasha. Some things are driven by the Nexus, and some things can be, well…controlled.”

 

Kagome glanced over at Inuyasha. `I remember the time when I was so worried about Inuyasha after he fought with Sesshoumaru over the Tessaiga. He hugged me, took the shards, and tossed me down the well telling me not to come back. I managed to get back without the shards, but it took all of my energy, all of my will, to get through.'

 

Innin picked up a ball of thread from the table that she had prepared earlier as she tried to think of a way to explain the Nexus to the four youths. “You see this ball? Think of it as threads of time. There is one thread going in and one thread coming out, but everything in between can be connected.” She pinched the ball between her thumb and first finger. “The Nexus is a vibration in time between our two worlds, caused by the birth of Kagome and the power of the Shikon jewel. Kagome and the Jewel are the center and they create a resonance in the time threads. Time will keep coming back to the center until the one thread is found that can exit the ball.” Innin paused for a moment, gathering her thoughts, and her voice took on a darker tone. “The problem is that resonance can be disturbed by other power and the connection between the times can be broken. It takes immense power to stop that from happening and it's happening more often, now.”

 

Miroku spoke again. “Because Naraku has so much of the Jewel, the increase in the evil is causing the resonance to change. It's a paradox because the changes occur both backwards and forwards in time, just like waves in a pond. Am I right?”

 

“Yes. The wormhole had to be stabilized before Naraku caused any changes, which is why your father left, Kagome. He is not…not really human. He is a member of the Time Lords, beings who have the power to step outside of time, to stabilize the sheet of space-time that surrounds us and partly control how time flows. He left us shortly after Sota was born when it became obvious that a rip was developing…the well was opening. He had to protect us all.”

 

“Papa.” Kagome stared down at the floor, a lone tear tracing a path down her cheek.

 

“It is your father's power that keeps the well open and anchored in both times. He had to do it, otherwise how could there be a guarantee when you would end up? He can also bring things through the well or prevent them from coming through, unless the Nexus is forcing the threads of time.” Looking down at her hands, Innin tried to keep her own personal pain out of her words. “He will not be able to return until the Nexus is finished.”

 

Silence blanketed the room for a long moment.

 

`Gods help me get this right.' Suddenly Innin gave an abrupt sigh and sat up straight, clapping her hands for emphasis and startling the group. “That brings me to why you were all brought here. It is your responsibility, the four of you, to find the time thread that will lead us all out of the Nexus.”

 

Four sets of eyes blinked owlishly at her.

 

“Kagome, you have your father's power; you are a Time Lord. He told me that you began using your power today and he tried to contact you through your mind link.” As Kagome opened her mouth to say something, she held up her hand. “He also asked me to explain why you couldn't be told any of this before. A Time Lord's power is expressed by the choices that are made when they come to the paths that a Nexus offers. It takes a certain amount of maturity to make those decisions and if you know too much of the time paths ahead, you may not choose to go forward.” Her voice became flat as she added, “If you don't make a decision when you are offered the choices, you will die.”

 

“The power that took me out of time…it's my own?” Kagome's voice was soft and afraid. “Mama, I don't know how to use it!”

 

“There is another problem to consider as well.” Innin paused, looking apologetically towards Inuyasha. “Kikyou has taken part of the soul of Midoriko from the Jewel. Good and evil were balanced at first, but now the Jewel is becoming increasingly evil and Midoriko's soul is being driven out. There isn't much time to stop Naraku, and if he isn't stopped, there will be disastrous consequences.”

 

Inuyasha glared back at Innin. “Kikyou wants to get rid of Naraku. She told me that and I believe her!” he snarled. Unaware of Kagome's pained look he shouted “She's going to purify the Jewel and take him to hell! That will solve all of this and Kagome doesn't have to use her powers!” He leaned back and growled softly. `Shit. She's forcing me to face the problem with Kikyou and Kagome now in front of all of my Pack, but she doesn't understand that I don't want Kagome choosing paths where I can't follow and protect her.' He looked over at Kagome, who had gone pale and was staring pensively at her mother. `Damn, she's upset now, but I know her too well. She would sacrifice herself to protect me and the others.'

 

“Kikyou is wrong, Inuyasha.” Innin's voice was kind but firm and he whipped his head around to glare at her again. “My husband says that the current lack of youkai in our era is result of the last time Kagome went through the Nexus, when Kikyou did try to purify the Jewel. It was a disaster and resulted in the total genocide of all youkai. Naraku absorbed them all.”

 

The first thought in three of the minds was `Inuyasha!' but a heavy, somber silence blanketed the room.

 

Inuyasha shook his head, unable to articulate a word. `Sesshoumaru? Shippo? Kirara? They'll all be absorbed? I'll kill Naraku first.' The fact that he himself would be absorbed didn't cross his mind.

 

Sango turned to Innin, a pale but determined look on her face. “We have to find a way to save Inuyasha and Kirara and Shippo. How are we supposed to find the way, the…time thread out? Why is it our responsibility?” She put her arm around Kagome's shoulders. `She looks like she's about to faint. She needs some support.'

 

“Kagome and Miroku will receive training from a sensei in the Sengoku Jidai.” Miroku's eyes widened and he cocked an eyebrow, but he remained silent. “Sango, you will join Inuyasha and train with him and his current sensei.”

 

“Like hell she will!” growled Inuyasha. “I'd kill her in training and I don't have a sensei, I…” Inuyasha hesitated as he remembered his recent “lessons” from Yourei Taisei. Irritated, he huffed, “How the hell do you know about him?”

 

Innin smiled enigmatically. “Let's just say that my husband has ways of knowing what goes on near the well.”

 

Inuyasha growled menacingly, remembering the many times he had mumbled about Kagome with his back resting against the well. `I'm never gonna sit near that damn thing again!'

 

Miroku leaned forward. “You still haven't answered why it is up to the four of us to find a way out of the Nexus.”

 

Innin gazed at each of the four before speaking. “It is imperative that the four of you must learn to act as one. You each represent one of the four aspects of the Shikon Jewel and to combat the evil that Naraku is contemplating, you must be become more powerful by working together. You must become a Living Jewel.”

 

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

 

Over six feet of lethal grace, Lord Sesshoumaru entered the clearing near the hot spring where Kagome and Inuyasha had been earlier that day. He had traveled here curious to know the source of the Mate Call that he had felt miles away. The Lord of the Western Lands was not threatened by the powerful Call, but he respected Pack Law and he had not hurried. He never hurried.

 

`I am faster than all I have met, but I never act in haste.'

 

He paused, inhaling deeply, and closed his eyes to analyze the scents. The beautiful, intensely masculine face remained preternaturally calm but an elegant eyebrow raised half a millimeter.

 

`The pup is growing up. The scent trails, as always, fade into the signatures of magic near the well…I will eventually solve that mystery, but it is enough that Inuyasha's scent is finally, subtly different. I have been waiting for this, although I will have to confirm the change. Each time that I have checked on the pup before, I have had to show him his place. If the change is confirmed, I will still put him in his place.'

 

He stood silently in the rock shadows cast by the waxing moon, contemplating the recent encounters with his half-brother. `I have changed, as well. The loss of my arm called for an adjustment in my fighting style, but it is insignificant. I am a warrior. Toukijin is broken, but the Meidou Zangetsu Ha of the Tenseiga is, in its own way, as lethal as any attack of the Tessaiga.'

 

He placed his hand on the tsuka of the Tenseiga for a moment. `Why do you not acknowledge my mastery yet, Tenseiga?'

 

Lord Sesshoumaru left the clearing and continued his survey of his lands, his mind only partially occupied with the youkai that either acknowledged him as leader or froze in terror at his approach. `You reached beyond death to give me a lesson in Pack Law, Father, and I paid attention. Although it took some time I have taken my rightful place. The power I sought is almost within my grasp.'

 

A fierce smile spread across his face and the youkai who had begun a casual obeisance fell to its knees in supplication before him. Ignoring the shivering being he continued on his way, a silent focus of power in the moonlit night. `I will use Inuyasha for my own ends, whether or not he wishes to be beta.'

 

At the top of a ridge, he looked back down at his brother's forest, the whispering leaves silvered by the moon's glow.

 

`Soon, Inuyasha. But one does not hunt with a pup.'

 

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

 

Kensei Higurashi rubbed at his temples. The power transfer to bring the four across the wormhole had tired him and he blocked the well to give himself time to rest. `I'm worried. I know Innin will try to explain the Nexus to them but I don't know that they'll accept it. Each of them is as stubborn and willful as Kagome; I've listened to them too many times when they've sat by the well.'

 

He mentally checked the anchors of his power as he walked through the empty hallway of the dwelling. `I haven't told Innin everything. Should I? I hope Midoriko knows what she's doing, because I'm risking everything; my children, my wife, both of my worlds, on the hope that she's right.

 

As he walked to his bed chamber, he passed the room where the others stood, silent and still. `Face it, Kensei, we're desperate.' He stared bleakly at the black sphere floating inertly in the center of their circle.

 

`We have to stop this time thread and reverse it.'

 

His friends and family were using all their power to hold back the end of the universe. By using the Shikon Jewel to absorb the magic of countless youkai, Naraku had created a black hole that would swallow time itself.

 

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

Translations:

Fallaces sunt rerum species: Latin: the appearances of things are deceptive. (Seneca)

Innin: Japanese: patience, endurance. Ms. Takahashi has not given a name to Kagome's mother. I chose this one (poetic license).

 

Kensei: Japanese: power, influence. It also can be translated as check or restraint, which is perfect for someone who must anchor a wormhole.

 

Houriki: spiritual power. In Inuyasha houriki and reiryoku seem to be used interchangeably, the former being used by Buddhist and the latter by Shinto practitioners. A common mistake made in the Inuyasha fandom is that these spiritual powers are based solely on purity as defined by the western perspective; obviously Miroku has powerful houriki and yet he does not have “pure” thoughts or actions.

 

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

Thanks RPW!

 

R&R thanks:

 

Behind Crimson Eyes, Kellybug, Stress, Eartha, Shatter the sky comes quietly, Inu fan, Titina.