InuYasha Fan Fiction ❯ Facets of the Living Jewel ❯ E pluribus unum ( Chapter 61 )

Disclaimer: I do not own Inuyasha or the other characters. Ms. Takahashi does. I do, however, own this story's plot.

 

E pluribus unum

By Licentia poetica

 

Midoriko's shoulders sagged in defeat. `How could it all have gone so wrong? What happened here?' She shook her head, trying to clear her mind and concentrate.

 

She had just been through the most difficult crisis she had ever faced. She had abruptly awakened with the sense that her soul was on fire, placed within a crucible so intense that she had screamed in mental agony. The familiar sensations of time threads, something she had not felt since she had relinquished her anchors to form the Shikon Jewel, whipped around her. The unshielded youki of Ryuu, the hanyou of the jewel, battered against her miko powers and she had raised her defenses in answer, barely able to cope with the agony. She cried out as their perpetual conflict was intensified by the transcendent power coursing through and around them and was astonished when Ryuu's mental voice cried out in tandem with hers, echoing her own pain. They were trapped by the same power, each being ripped apart and changed by forces beyond their understanding.

 

For a brief moment, they were as one.

 

But Naraku had felt the change in his portion of the jewel and she felt his youki pulse against her aura, seeking to siphon more power to his will. As she fought back she had the odd sense that Ryuu joined with her for a moment, but as Naraku's malice increased any sense of balance with her ancient enemy was destroyed. She had refused to yield to them, concentrating on agape to combat Naraku's hate, but she had almost broken under the strain. Near the zenith of their attack, when she was in mental anguish so great that she felt her soul would disintegrate, she had felt Kagome's vast power join with her own.

 

In an instant the balance had been restored. Before she could begin to understand what had happened to her, the sense of the time threads had abruptly vanished and she found herself thrown back into the awareness of Kikyou's body. There was an odd dichotomy to the sensation, similar to the time when Kikyou had first stolen part of her soul, and for a brief moment she tried to determine what had changed. Before she could assess what had taken place Naraku had attacked, trying to control the shards within Kikyou's body. She had been forced to concentrate on that battle, but mental exhaustion and the fact that she occupied only a fraction of the jewel had once again strained her abilities to the breaking point. Naraku had almost been able to turn Kikyou's body into his tool.

 

But Kikyou had saved her.

 

The betrayed miko had risen from her somnolent state and had easily banished Naraku's malevolence from the shards within her husk. Without pausing to consult with Midoriko, she had immediately relinquished control and returned to her meditative state. Midoriko, exhausted from the brutal assaults, had awakened in Kaede's home to the unexpected sensation of Kagome's time powers in use near the Goshinboku. Barely able to comprehend the rapid pace of events she had raced out of the hut.

 

Now she felt as immovable as the four frozen members of the Living Jewel as she tried to cope with the disaster.

 

“Ane-ue!” Kohaku's distressed cry brought Midoriko out of her defeated stupor. She blinked and brought her hand to her forehead as he fell on his knees next to his sister, his hands gripping the hair on either side of his head. Slowly his hands lowered and flopped to the ground next to his legs as if he had lost all volition to move.

 

`He followed me here and now he has lost the last of his family. I could not shield him from more pain.' She shook her head again and buried her face in her hands, desperately trying to regain some sense of equanimity in the midst of the loss of her hopes. `At least I have done one correct thing. Kikyou is healing.' She raised her head and let her hands move down until they covered her mouth. `I am so weary.' She closed her eyes but a few seconds later a small hand touched her shoulder and she opened them to meet the troubled gaze of Shippo.

 

“What's wrong with them, Lady Midoriko?” He patted Kagome's back as he spoke, as if the gesture would some how make her come alive again.

 

“I fear they are trapped in time, Shippo.”

 

“Isn't there anything you can do?” Shippo's small face twisted in a worried frown as he glanced from her face to the kneeling form of Kohaku.

 

“I can…I…” Midoriko opened her mind for a meld with Kagome but felt nothing reach for the connection. `I can't initiate a meld, I can only respond. There is no way for me to make the connection.' She sighed and reached out, patting the kitsune's small hand. “Kagome doesn't respond to me. I don't know how to reach her.” She tried to keep the weariness and defeat out of her voice but she could tell by his expression that she had failed miserably.

 

Suddenly the Kai-wolves growled, staring up into the trees surrounding the Goshinboku. Midoriko, stunned and only reacting to events, looked up in bewilderment as a disheveled, bloody Kirara landed in the path from the village, her movements graceful and poised in spite of her appearance. She hissed in agitation as Jinx and Bandit ran up to her, staring over their heads at the inert forms next to the sacred tree. As the two Kai-wolves ignored her warning and moved closer, she arched her back and hissed malevolently. Shiro gave a sharp bark; Bandit immediately stopped and sat down but Jinx took two more steps. Without hesitation Kirara hissed again and swatted at the bitch with a flaming claw. Jinx yelped and flattened her body to the ground just in time to avoid the strike. Shiro growled and moved forward but Kirara hissed angrily and stalked past Jinx without bothering to look at her. The Kai-wolf remained flattened to the ground where she was, her ears twitching as Shiro growled at her.

 

Shippo shook his head and looked up at Midoriko. “I don't think Kirara is very happy with dogs right now. She says they're useless and haven't protected the Pa…” he stopped as Kirara stepped closer and stared down her nose at him, “I mean the Pride.” He ducked his head and gave a furtive glance up at Kirara.

 

After making sure her quelling stare was sufficiently heeded, Kirara ignored both Midoriko and Shippo as she stepped closer to Sango's inert form. She transformed back to her kitten form and rubbed against the kneeling Kohaku. “Prrrrt? Mmmmm mmraow prrrt Mmm.” She turned her head and stared back at Shippo, flicking her tails.

 

“She says you smell like Kohaku again.” Shippo's voice was subdued as he translated for the neko.

 

“I…” Kohaku weakly reached out to Kirara and patted her on the head. “Kirara.”

 

Kirara purred but left his side and began to rub against Sango. Midoriko gasped as the neko's movements caused Sango's arm to shift position and the taiji-ya slipped bonelessly to the ground next to her brother.

 

`Sango can move? She's not completely frozen?' Firmly tamping down on the sudden desperate hope that they could salvage the situation, Midoriko sprang to her feet and reached out to touch Kagome's face. The skin was warm and pliable.

 

“Thank the gods! They're only unbalanced!”

 

Shippo gave her a quizzical look and Kohaku stopped gathering Sango up in his arms long enough to stare at her, a baffled expression on his face. Shiro gave a short whine and the other Kai-wolves perked up their ears as they focused on her. Midoriko tried to explain the situation as she touched Inuyasha's face.

 

“They're not frozen in time! They're anchored here somehow and they can come back if they find a way to balance.” Midoriko wracked her brain for a solution to the dilemma. “I have no idea what could be causing them to be out of balance. Is Sango warm?”

 

A bemused Kohaku looked down at his sister's face and touched it lightly with his finger tips. “Yes.” He looked back up at her with a serious expression on his face. “Is this what was supposed to happen? Sango told me that they would be vulnerable when they formed the Living Jewel for the first time.”

 

“No. It should have been momentary, but they are…they're not in time as we feel it. They must balance before they can return to us.”

 

Shippo made a small sound of surprise before asking “Balance?”

 

Midoriko, too absorbed in the problem at hand, merely nodded an affirmative and ignored the kit as he leaped to Inuyasha in response to her gesture. `What could be causing them to be out of balance for this long?'

 

Shippo gave a few short barks and the Kai-wolves crowded over by Inuyasha. Shiro stuck his nose into Inuyasha's hands as if he was trying to pry them off of Kagome's back and Midoriko pushed the Kai-wolf away, irritated at the sudden press of hairy bodies around her as she tried to think. He growled at her but she ignored him. He woofed softly and Shippo barked back an answer. The other Kai-wolves sniffed more delicately around Inuyasha's hands, glancing nervously up at her, and then the pack began scenting along the ground nearby.

 

Midoriko studiously ignored them as she tried to determine what could possibly be keeping the quartet unbalanced. `Is one of them out of the meld?' She was about to check on Miroku when Kirara purred loudly and padded over to the monk, rubbing her cheek and body against the arm with the cursed hand. He nearly fell over on her, sprawling on to his back with his arms and legs akimbo. Kirara streaked out from underneath him and immediately used her impossibly quick reflexes to execute a complete about face, jumping on his chest and peering into his face. She rubbed her jaw against his before batting at his nose with a gentle paw. “Mrrrrrt?” When there was no response she turned around, still ensconced firmly on Miroku's chest, and stared at Midoriko. Her tails lashed in agitation as she yowled “Raaaow mmmrr rraow rrrr mrrrr. Prrrt mraaow Mouryroummmrow!”

 

Shippo, who had been searching the ground near the roots of the Goshinboku, gasped and froze in response to Kirara's speech. He stared at the neko in astonishment until she gave an impatient growl, still staring at Midoriko. Shuddering, Shippo turned to Midoriko and said “She says he's warm but we need to get them out of here as soon as possible. There are demons coming. Lots of them. And Mouryoumaru is leading them.”

 

Midoriko once again put a hand to her head, this time in trepidation as Kikyou's memories of Mouryoumaru surfaced. `Things are happening too fast. Why are they imbalanced? What can we do to help?'

 

Shippo suddenly gave a cry of triumph as Bandit whined and scrabbled at something in the dirt. He ran to the Kai-wolf and picked up what looked like a white pebble and turned to her. “Here it is! Shiro said Inuyasha didn't have it in his hands and Inuyasha said it was balance. Will this help?” He trotted over and dropped it into her outstretched hand.

 

“What is this, Shippo?” Midoriko stared at the odd stone, turning it over in her fingers. It radiated a subtle yet potent power.

 

“It came from inside the tree. It was Kouga's shards and Kagome had put a barrier around it but she let it down when Sango got it out of the tree.” Shippo's small face studied hers intently. “Inuyasha was full youkai and he said it was balance. I couldn't tell but it felt weird…it's not like the feeling I get from the regular shards.” He inspected the stone carefully as she held it in her hand with the white side up. “It looks like the moon on that side. Maybe we should call it the Moonstone.”

 

Midoriko stared at the fused shards as an odd sense of detachment grew in her. `I am in this stone, I can feel my power, yet…it is not the same as the Shikon Jewel.' She flipped the stone over and over in her fingers, wondering at the pure white and black faces. `Is this the result of the conflict that I felt with Naraku and Ryuu?” She tried to purify the black face of the stone and regarded it curiously when her powers seemed to pass smoothly over and around it, mimicking the flow of water around a pebble in a streambed. `I can sense Kagome's time powers but I can't influence it.' She frowned suddenly, remembering the sense of being trapped in a crucible of power, recalling the moment of complete balance with Ryuu, and she focused her attention on the Goshinboku.

 

`The Tree…it was the crucible. Ryuu and I are in the stone, but we are not in conflict. It is the Shikon, but in perfect balance and shielded from time.' Abruptly, she whirled and held the stone to Kagome's forehead, hoping for a miracle.

 

Nothing happened.

 

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

“What the hell happened, wench?” As always, Inuyasha didn't hesitate to speak even though the rest of the group was stunned.

 

Kagome gave the mental equivalent of a shrug. “I don't know. Well, I guess I do know in a way because I did it, but…”

 

“Well, where the hell are we?”

 

Trying to rein in her mounting irritation at his blunt mental tone, Kagome replied “This is similar to being in the Nexus but we can see the passage of time around our bodies. We're still able to see our time because I'm anchored to the Goshinboku like my father anchors the Well.” Although blushing wasn't possible, each member of the group could feel her embarrassment as she added “I don't know how to return to our bodies when we're this unbalanced. I'd try to reach Midoriko but I have to keep my anchor to the Goshinboku or we'll never get back.”

 

Without the noises of the normal world, the following silence was profound.

 

Finally Kagome meekly ventured “We're stuck and it's my fault for trying to form the Living Jewel so fast. I was having so much trouble holding on to everyone's minds and the anchor, too! I probably should have reached for you before Miroku, but when I made the connection I really thought she was a part of you.”

 

Sango knew through the meld that the last comment was directed at her, but she merely radiated an intense, awed happiness and didn't answer. She was too busy observing her child.

 

The group of four adult minds studied the fifth mind as it blithely ignored them and busily concentrated on its own internal development.

 

Miroku's mental voice was calm but with the meld they could feel his underlying tension. “I can understand why you connected with my…my daughter. She…feels…like Sango.”

 

“And she feels like you, Miroku. Can't you tell? She'll have holy powers. That's the other reason I thought…” Kagome's fatigued mental voice trailed off.

 

The profound mental silence returned until Inuyasha gave a mirthless laugh. “Well, Sango. At least I know why your scent's been weird.”

 

Sango's sudden concern bled through the mental link. “This won't harm her, will it? She's strong, I know we can all tell that, but she's not connected to her new body now and I…she's my responsibility.”

 

A sudden rush of warmth enveloped the four adults. The baby reassured them, bathing them with acceptance and love, communicating without words that she trusted them to take care of her. She withdrew from the meld as quickly as she had entered it, returning to her development.

 

“Gods!” Miroku's exclamation was filled with fear and self-loathing, but they all understood; they had all seen the echo of the Wind Tunnel within the child. “We have to get back in balance and I must seal this curse!”

 

“How?” Kagome's mental voice was fatigued. “I don't know what to do.”

 

“We need a youkai.” Miroku spoke with unusually clipped tones.

 

“What?” It was clear that Kagome hadn't followed his thought processes.

 

“Keh! What am I?” Inuyasha's mental tones came at the same time as Kagome's.

 

Miroku spoke rapidly, his words almost tumbling over each other as he delineated his logic. “Kagome, we both know that we must be balanced to leave this state. If it was just the four of us, we would have two half magical beings and two full humans. Now we have an extra human and we need a magical being to counterbalance her. We need a full youkai.”

 

“We'll need a male youkai, too.” Kagome's voice was filled with hope. “And we need to make sure that he's not doubling up in her aspect of the jewel.”

 

“Keh. She sure as hell ain't courage.”

 

“Are you so sure, Inuyasha? She is in a completely foreign situation and she shows no sign of panic.” Miroku sounded irritated.

 

“Shit! Like she'd know any better? She's a pup and she's with her parents!”

 

“Don't curse in front of my child!” Sango's voice was fierce and protective.

 

“Stop!” Kagome's desperate and pain-filled voice resonated in the silence around them. “You're putting us further out of balance!”

 

An intense silence followed. They could all feel that Kagome was in pain, losing control of the meld and barely able to keep them anchored.

 

As she struggled the baby's awareness touched them all again, conveying the same sense of acceptance and warmth that she had given before. Wordlessly she soothed their irritation, mutely confirming her absolute conviction that they would succeed as she bathed them in innocent, trusting love.

 

Kagome's mental voice was a whisper. “She's my aspect. I know it. I can feel it.”

 

“Keh. So let's find a male youkai in one of the other aspects and balance!”

 

Miroku's voice conveyed renewed hope. “I know just who we need to balance! He's right here and he's not love. He's family.”

 

As one, the group of adults looked at the soundless tableau around the Goshinboku just as Shippo handed the balanced stone to Midoriko. As one, they all spoke.

 

“Shippo.”

 

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

Midoriko sighed in defeat. “I don't know how to reach her! If I could only form a mind meld and find out why they're imbalanced!” Frustration gripped her and she threw the balanced stone to the ground.

 

Shippo picked up the stone. “Mind meld? Is that like what Kagome's papa had me do with Kagome?”

 

Midoriko kneeled down and grabbed Shippo by the shoulders. “What did you just say?”

 

Shippo frowned at her and she released her grip on his shoulders a bit. “When I went down the well to save Mama the well…I mean, her papa gave me this contact with her. He was trying to get her out of this whirlwind thing. I could talk to her in my mind.” He grinned as she stared at him in astonishment. “It was kinda scary but fun.”

 

Midoriko slumped backwards. “Do you think you could do it again?”

 

His grin became cocky and he scampered over to Kagome and Inuyasha. “Sure!”

 

Before she could warn him or give him any cautionary words he leaped up on Inuyasha's shoulder and reached out to Kagome's face with both hands. The balanced stone was still in his grasp as he touched her and called “Mama!”

 

Midoriko stumbled forward with a choked “No!” but it was too late. Shippo was frozen in position.

 

Long seconds passed. The full moon slipped to the horizon and began to set, mercifully dimming the scene as Midoriko stared in despair. `I am numb. Too much has happened tonight.'

 

Suddenly Kirara began to hiss. She leaped off of Miroku's body and transformed to her youkai form, growling at the stone in Shippo's unmoving hand.

 

“Ane-ue?” Sango stirred in Kohaku's arms and Midoriko gave a sigh of relief as the five motionless forms began to move of their own volition.

 

The stone began to glow with an unearthly light and vibrated with a pulse of power, falling from Shippo's grasp. The radiance shifted and began to take form, coalescing in the air surrounding the stone and arresting its fall before it touched the ground. Midoriko watched, still motionless with shock, as it shaped itself into a vaguely humanoid figure.

 

Kagome mumbled “Wha…what happened?”

 

Inuyasha quickly leaped up and backed away from the figure, holding Kagome tightly to his chest with one hand and balancing Shippo on his shoulder with the other. He hid from the others in the shadows of the Goshinboku and with a few deft movements he managed to uncouple himself from a dazed and obviously exhausted Kagome. He growled softly, looking over her head at the glowing shape as it became more defined.

 

“Shippo. Get my hakama,” he whispered softly to the kit as the little youkai leaped to the ground.

 

Shippo grinned at him but quickly ran to the hakama, scrambling back to Inuyasha with them just as Miroku rolled up onto his feet with a groan.

 

Shiro and the Kai-wolves formed a half-circle in front of the glow, protecting their Pack Mates. As Inuyasha managed to struggle into the hakama with one hand, Kagome gave another groan and made a great effort to stand on her own.

 

He released her but stood next to her for one more moment, eying the solidifying figure as he tied his hakama closed. “Kagome. I've got to get the Tessaiga,” he whispered.

 

She shook her head slightly to clear it and opened her eyes. “I'm all right, Inuyasha. Go ahead.” As he leaped away she tucked the ends of his suikan around her, the blush on her cheeks almost matching the color of the fire rat. `Oh well, I guess I have to face them sometime.' She turned around just as Inuyasha stepped in front of her to shield her from whatever was forming around the stone.

 

Shiro growled “Pack Leader. This is Pack and not-Pack. I do not understand the scent.”

 

Holding the sheathed Tessaiga with one hand Inuyasha barked “I don't understand it either, but I'll protect you. We must protect the Pack.” He gave a low, fierce growl and the Kai-wolves tensed, readying themselves for a fight.

 

Midoriko stood in front of the figure, her mouth open in an expression of absolute astonishment.

 

“Lady Midoriko?” Miroku asked carefully as he picked up his shakujou, eying the rapidly solidifying figure. He reached down to lift Sango to her feet and gave a brief nod to Kohaku. Settling into the horse stance, he moved slightly in front of Sango and gripped his staff with both hands. He glanced back to make sure he was in position to protect his wife and their unborn child, smiling grimly to himself as he noticed that Sango had one hand on her katana while the other was pressed protectively over her stomach. When Midoriko did not respond to his initial question, he gently asked “Sensei?”

 

Midoriko finally turned her head to look at him.

 

“Do you know what this is?” Miroku gestured with his head to the glowing figure.

 

Midoriko gaped at him for a moment and finally shook her head. “This is…it is beyond me.”

 

The glow from the figure finally dimmed and in the pre-dawn light they could see that it had become humanoid. It faced Midoriko and she stared in consternation at it.

 

“This…this is impossible,” Midoriko said in a strained voice.

 

The figure never fully solidified. The hair was ebony in the dim light, but portions would shimmer to silver or red before reverting back to the black color. It seemed to stand up straight for a moment, but just as suddenly it lost height and became short.

 

Inuyasha gave a loud, warning growl. “What the hell?”

 

The being turned around quickly and smiled at him with human teeth that immediately morphed into fangs. “We are Houseki.”

 

It had Kagome's face.

 

 

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

Translation:

E pluribus unum: Latin; one out of many.

 

Japanese:

Ryuu: dragon

Houseki: jewel (thanks for the name, Inaqui!)

 

Three major `thank yous' are in order:

First, thank you to all my readers over at MM! Sometime during the last week while I was off doing work `Facets' reached 100,000 hits. Thank you so much!!!! I never thought I'd receive that much interest, and I'm grateful.

Second and third, thanks to Shalini Lahiri (Best AR/AU) and Ranitagoyle (Best Serial) for nominating `Facets' in IYFG's 4th quarter 2006!

 

R&R Thanks:

 

PM: Ranuel, Neko-sama, Fenikkusuken

 

MM: Ranuel, inuyashaloverr, Jester08, Autumn the Reviewer, InuyashasBiggestFan, lunatickat

 

FF: First of all, I apologize if I haven't replied. FF is being weird when it comes to notifying me of my R&Rs! Foenixfyre, kitsune-koinu, Mrs. JediK1, MarsOutcast, hanyou master, Kortir, Photographing Poetry, Moonlit Showers aka InuKag Fan, Inuyasha05, Fenikkusuken

 

Bless you all!

iPoe