InuYasha Fan Fiction ❯ Facets of the Living Jewel ❯ Omnia Mors aequat; omnia vincit Amor ( Chapter 67 )

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

 

Omnia Mors aequat; omnia vincit Amor

By Licentia poetica

 

Kagome recoiled in horror, her mind reeling in shock as she sought to reject the implications of the spider's web she had formed. I can't be like Naraku. I can't! I'm not!' She sought refuge in her anchor to the Goshinboku and sheltered in the strong, comforting aura that seemed to emanate from the ageless tree. As she mentally cowered away, the presence of the tree seemed to surround her, overlaying her sight with a patina laced with silver and gold tints.

 

“Do not be afraid.”

 

The barely audible words manifested in a surge of power that caused the strands of her web to quiver; she was suddenly reminded of the morning sun striking diamonds from a dew-laden web.

 

“Life.”

 

The tree's aura expanded and she saw a true spider's web vibrating as a flying insect impacted against the sticky strands. For an instant she reacted with revulsion, sympathy for the struggling creature uppermost in her mind, but the emotion turned to astonishment as the web vanished suddenly and the freed insect buzzed away. Almost immediately another flew by her, then another, and soon the air was filled with the droning sound of innumerable wings. She began to fear the swarm as it swirled around her but the aura of the tree pulled her back and away, giving her an expanded view of the insect horde and their rapidly deteriorating habitat.

 

“Death.”

 

The insects were everywhere, overwhelming the plants that fed them and driving off other animals. In an accelerated time frame, she saw the plants wither, unable to support the number of larvae that fed from them. A few hungry grubs stirred listlessly in the dry, dusty ground before dying of starvation. Deprived of a new generation, the swarm disappeared, erased in an instant just like the vanished web.

 

“Balance.”

 

The spider's web appeared before her again, vibrating gently as a slate-black spider spun its silk in an eight-legged dance along the strands. Silver-and-gold highlights enhanced her vision, bringing out the contrast between the achromatic silk and the ebony legs of the spider as it wove its delicate trap. One of the insects, twice the size of the arachnid, blundered into the web and the spider struggled to paralyze its prey before the web was completely destroyed. Remembering the uncontrolled swarm of insects, Kagome fought her instinctive revulsion as the insect, finally subdued but still alive, disappeared within the silken shroud of the victorious spider.

 

Time shifted again and she saw visions of herself in the recent past. In the first she was eating a bowl of oden in her family's kitchen and silver and gold highlighted the steaming egg, fish, and daikon radish. Almost too fast for her senses to follow, she saw a downy chick, a fish swimming in sun-streaked water, and a short, yellow-flowered stalk ascending from a clump of daikon leaf blades. A blast of fire seemed to obliterate the plant and she saw a another fish impaled on a stick; the field of view expanded and she recognized Miroku and Sango sitting across from her at a campfire. The sleeve of Inuyasha's red suikan swept across her vision and the campfire was replaced by the glow of her houriki surrounding a purifying arrow. She watched the enhanced radiance as she imbued the arrow with more of her power, letting it fly to annihilate a lesser demon gone mad with the power of a Shikon shard. The explosion blanked out her vision and the voice returned.

 

“Balance.”

 

Gasping in reaction, she found herself staring at the spider web of power that she had created within the time distortion.

 

The Goshinboku seemed to shimmer around her and a vaguely familiar form appeared, smiling at her with immeasurable calm in its profound black gaze.

 

“You must choose again, my daughter.”

 

The Being's eyes suddenly glowed with the radiance of the sun and she turned her face away, her own eyes watering. As she blinked rapidly to clear her vision the glow diminished and she found herself looking directly into the Being's onyx eyes again, even though she had turned her head.

 

“Love accepts death. Love accepts life. Love accepts.”

 

She found herself at the center of her web as the Being faded back into the tree. Its voice rippled around her again, vibrating the strands of power.

 

“Choose: will you cede your power and accept death or will you deny your nature and accept only life?”

 

`I have to accept death and cede my powers? Does that mean I'm going to die? I don't understand!'

 

“Have faith.”

 

The quiet, powerful words struck a bone-deep memory and she smiled as profound peace enveloped her soul. `This must be the enlightenment that Miroku talks about.' Closing her eyes and bowing her head, she said quietly “I choose to accept. I will cede my control and accept death.”

 

She mentally let go of the seven other minds forming the web of power, accepting the possibility of death in the time distortion and freeing them from her constraint. `If I have to die so that they will live, I'll accept that. I finally understand…death and life are equals.' Letting go of her anchor to the Goshinboku, she braced for the time vortex and the pain that had accompanied it, but this time the whirlpool of power drew her within the web itself. She became one with the strands, connecting to the other members of the jewel and slipping into the matrix of power as easily as if she was diving into water. She embraced the change as she finally understood. `Life and death. Balance. I prevented us from being equals.'

 

Faster than she could process the connections, balance points appeared between the members of the jewel in all their aspects: the courage to act immediately and without regard for personal danger balanced against the courage of disciplined, controlled action and self-denial; adult recognition of the sacrifices required to maintain a family balanced against the child's absolute need for nurture and security; the wisdom of human learning and knowledge balanced against the truth of instinct and survival; mature, adult love with physical and spiritual aspects balanced against a child's innocent devotion.

 

Youki and houriki remained separate and yet flowed easily from one aspect to the other; balanced as perfectly as the taijitu itself.

 

She quivered as the energies flowed through her, erasing her fatigue and healing the minor wounds that she had received in the battle. Acutely sensitive to the other beings in the Living Jewel, she became aware of the cycling energies healing other, more severe injuries. The shared power rippled down Sesshoumaru's regenerating arm; with the same intense focus that she used to develop her own form, Aiko assisted him in knitting bone and muscle as the rest of the members of the Jewel gave of themselves to reform the missing limb.

 

The resonance of power, freed from healing and balancing, channeled through the eight members of the Living Jewel and built into a tidal wave of energy that pushed her up and out, forcing her from the time distortion and back into her body.

 

She gave a shuddering breath and opened her eyes to the Sengoku Jidai, her body tensed for combat. The quiet susurration of wind in the trees unnerved her for a moment and she heard a collective gasp as the other members of the Living Jewel reacted to the peaceful calm, a bizarre contrast to the cacophony of battle that they had left just moments before. She breathed deeply once, barely registering the sense of the mind meld receding from her conscious thoughts, and blinked bemusedly at Sesshoumaru and Kirara as the nekomata's rumbling purr ceased abruptly and the taiyoukai gave a growl of warning. Kagome screamed in fright as Inuyasha snatched her up from behind and spun her around.

 

“Get the hell away from her, Kanna!” Inuyasha's voice snarled over her head as he looked back over his shoulder, his chest vibrating Kagome's body as he continued a low, menacing growl. Shippo, his growl a tenor version of Inuyasha's bass, startled her by leaping on her back and giving her a fierce hug. The kit then jumped to Inuyasha's shoulder and the two males growled in counterpoint at Kanna.

 

Kagome pulled her face away from Inuyasha's distractingly bare chest, about to chastise them both, but blinked at the unexpectedly empty clearing. “What…what happened?” She twisted in Inuyasha's grip and peered at the desolation around them, struggling to reconcile it with her memory of the battle. `Where is Midoriko?' Just inside the trees on one side of the clearing, Rin stood leaning against Bandit, both the girl and the Kai-wolf staring fixedly at a place just behind Inuyasha's back. `Rin? How did she get here?' She quickly surveyed the rest of what she could see and began to breathe rapidly as she noticed a plume of dust and vapor dissipating in the morning sunlight and partially obscuring the still forms of Jinx and Shiro. “Oh gods, no.”

 

“Rin. Remain there and stay quiet. Do not come any closer.” Sesshoumaru's voice was soft but the authority in his voice cracked like the tip of his seishou whip. He followed up his command with a short series of barks and Bandit turned to shield Rin from the clearing with his body, whining as he turned his gaze to the still forms of his pack mates.

 

“Kanna.” Miroku's voice was as stern as Kagome had ever heard it as he came up and stood next to Inuyasha, facing the demon child. “Where is Lady Midoriko?”

 

Kagome tried to look around Inuyasha's body but Inuyasha growled and pulled her close to his chest again. Miroku took a step closer to Inuyasha on that side and the two males effectively barred her from seeing anything. Irritated, she tried to push away, but her steel-armed protector trapped her by tightening his grip and pinning her arms next to his body. She growled but had to stop struggling to hear Kanna's soft reply.

 

“The miko and Mouryoumaru destroyed each other.”

 

Inuyasha gave a small sound of protest at the news and tightened his arms even farther; Kagome winced but rubbed her face against Inuyasha's bare chest, seeking to comfort him even though she was unable to use her trapped arms. `I knew it…that cloud of dust. Oh, Inuyasha…that means Kikyou's gone, too.' She glanced up as she heard Shippo's growl turn into a croon and smiled as she saw the young kit nuzzle Inuyasha's jaw. Inuyasha eased his tight grip and returned Shippo's gesture before stroking his jaw over the top of her head. `He'll grieve, but he has us still. At least Midoriko's not gone…she's still in the Shikon jewel.' She swallowed hard as she remembered a vivid dream about a spider web and the necessity of death. `Oh gods…if we have to destroy the Shikon…but I don't think we'll have any other choice.'

 

Sesshoumaru stepped up on the other side of Inuyasha, creating another physical barrier between Kagome and Kanna. “You have not told us the whole of the matter.” Kagome smelled ozone and realized that the taiyoukai had formed his seishou whip. “Speak plainly and without guile. This Sesshoumaru would know why the demons that we fought have vanished.”

 

“And why another member of my Pack is injured, you scentless freak. What did you do to Jinx?” Inuyasha snarled.

 

Kagome closed her eyes for a moment and gave a sigh of relief. `Oh, thank goodness! Jinx is alive! I have to go see if I can help her.' She began to squirm in earnest, but Inuyasha's arms were still unyielding.

 

Kirara, still ensconced in the crook of Sesshoumaru's arm, gave a long, drawn-out yowl followed by a hiss, and both Sesshoumaru and Inuyasha growled in response.

 

`What did she say?' Kagome stopped squirming against the arms of adamant that held her prisoner.

 

Sesshoumaru, almost as if he heard her thoughts, growled “Excellent question, little one.” Ignoring Kirara's sibilant hiss, he continued “This Sesshoumaru would also like to know why you were about to attack a bitch of our Pack with your mirror.”

 

`Gods, why can't they call me something else?' fumed Kagome, effectively trapped by Inuyasha's arms, the fence of protective males, and Kirara. `This is getting very irritating! Why are they being so protective?'

 

“I used the mirror for its purpose,” Kanna replied, her voice still devoid of emotion, “and I did not harm the Kai-wolf. Mouryoumaru struck her when the barrier fell.”

 

There was silence for a moment as Sango appeared in Kagome's peripheral vision, calmly walking toward Jinx. “You didn't answer the Pack Leader's question, Kanna.” She looked over her shoulder and Kagome gasped at the coldness in her gaze. “Tell us why you had your mirror pointed toward Kagome.”

 

Inuyasha's chest rumbled under her cheek again, almost drowning out Kanna's response.

 

“I seek to learn love from the miko.”

 

“Oh, enough is enough!” Kagome finally exploded. “You're all behaving as if I'm some delicate little flower that has to be protected from everything!” She fisted her hands and pushed hard against Inuyasha's muscled chest.

 

Sesshoumaru looked over Inuyasha's shoulder and raised one eyebrow as he saw the fury in her face. “Are you not an alpha female in the Pack, worthy of our protection?”

 

“I'm…what does that…gaaah!” Kagome sputtered. She took a deep breath and tried to calm herself. “Please, Inuyasha, let me go. I want to check on Jinx and Shiro.”

 

“Stay away from Kanna.” The confident authority in Inuyasha's tone made her eyes narrow, but she nodded her head.

 

“I'll stay away, but did you ever think that she might have been helping us?”

 

Inuyasha began to growl but Miroku's voice, tightly controlled, interrupted his response.

 

“We have no way of knowing what her intentions were, Kagome. You must understand our mistrust.”

 

Through gritted teeth, she answered “I understand. Now, let me go, Inuyasha!” Her voice began at a normal volume, but by the end of the sentence she was almost screaming.

 

Sesshoumaru raised both eyebrows and withdrew his head from her field of vision. “Well, Pack brother. You certainly have your hands full.”

 

Inuyasha growled something. Kirara growled back and both Sesshoumaru and Shippo barked a laugh in response, causing Kirara to hiss loudly. Inuyasha took a deep breath and released his hold; Kagome looked up at him as she pushed away and he winked at her.

 

She punched him as hard as she could in the arm and whirled away toward Jinx, furious. `Stupid, overprotective,…jerk! I'm going to kill him, I swear!'

 

“What was that for, wench?”

 

Kagome ignored him and knelt down next to Jinx, nodding to Sango who was straightening out Shiro's sluggishly bleeding limbs. The unconscious female Kai-wolf had a broken jaw and foreleg. Shippo helped her stabilize the bones by fetching her some small branches and her ruined yoga pants as Sango used the rest of her discarded clothing to bandage Shiro's wounds. At the reminder of her midnight tryst with Inuyasha, she began to blush furiously as she ripped strips from the pants. `How dare he let everyone know what happened? I am going to kill him!' She glared at Inuyasha for a moment. `Look at him over there, bristling with overprotective testosterone. Oh…gods, look at him. He's gorgeous.'

 

Inuyasha had picked up the Tessaiga and held it, fully transformed, cocked against his shoulder as he alternated between glaring at Kanna and watching Kagome's progress with Jinx. His muscular torso, healed of the battle's wounds by the shared energies of the Living Jewel, glowed with health and strength, taking her breath away. He took a short step away from Kanna and his muscled thigh caught a shaft of light through the gap between the front and back panels of his hakama. She swallowed hard as her body responded and turned abruptly back to her task, missing the smug grin that Inuyasha shot at her when he caught her scent.

 

Bandit, tail and head drooped almost to the ground and his ears flattened to his skull, crept up to Jinx and gently nuzzled her. He whined and looked up at Kagome, his dark eyes expressing absolute misery. Shippo buried his hands in Bandit's ruff and leaned against the Kai-wolf, whimpering with him.

 

“I know, Bandit. I'm sorry. I'll do everything I can to help her.” She sighed and looked over at Runt's broken body and blinked back tears when she noticed that Sango was straightening Kohaku's stiffening limbs. Sighing again, she turned to seek Sesshoumaru and was surprised to find that he had left the group around Kanna. `Oh…I should have realized when Bandit came over.' She turned her head toward the forest where she had first seen Rin and Bandit.

 

He was standing slightly in front of Rin, shielding her from the clearing and Kanna, with Kirara still tucked into the crook of his arm. Kagome had to suppress a grin as she realized that, although his predatory gaze was most definitely concentrated on Kanna, his newly regenerated hand was unconsciously petting the nekomata. Kirara's eyes were half-closed and she was contentedly purring. “Lord Sesshoumaru, may I ask a favor of you?”

 

Kirara's eyes snapped open and her purr abruptly ceased. Sesshoumaru kept his gaze fixed on Kanna, removing his hand casually from Kirara's head and placing it on the tsuka of the Tenseiga as if nothing untoward had just occurred. “Do you seek the Tenseiga's power for the dead?” he asked sternly.

 

“No.” The word, said in a clipped and uncompromising tone, came at the same instant from both Miroku and Sango. They looked at each other and smiled tentatively before Sango turned to Kagome and explained quietly, “He said to find him on the other side of the well and he seemed…he did not want to continue with this life.”

 

Miroku added, “Nor should we deny Runt her opportunity for punarbhava.” He moved forward and gathered Sango up into a fierce embrace. “We will find him, Sango.”

 

Kagome smiled, suddenly encouraged as she remembered Kohaku's final words. Standing up and placing one hand on Bandit's woebegone head, she gestured with the other to the injured Kai-wolves. “Actually, Lord Sesshoumaru, I wanted to request your assistance in moving our injured Pack members back to the village so that I can care for them there.” At his raised eyebrow, she added “Would you please assist us with your transportation cloud?”

 

“Keh. Welcome to the Pack, brother. Now you can be a pack animal,” Inuyasha smirked, glancing sideways at Sesshoumaru. He grinned as the taiyoukai's eyes narrowed dangerously.

 

Sesshoumaru grinned back, and Kagome suppressed a gasp of alarm as the facial expression caused Bandit to drop to the ground and roll over in absolute submission, knocking Shippo akimbo. The brothers glared dominance at each other for a moment before Kirara gave a disgusted sounding mew and leaped out of Sesshoumaru's arm, pattering over to Inuyasha. She leaped up on his shoulder and batted his nose, giving a low growl.

 

“All right!” Inuyasha stopped grinning, but didn't drop his gaze. Kirara began rubbing her cheek against his jaw and up over his face. “Stop it, Kirara!” He raised his free hand to swipe her off his shoulder but stopped as Sesshoumaru gave a feral growl. Inuyasha raised one eyebrow and slowed his hand, changing the movement to a placating gesture. “Fine. But quit trying to leave your scent all over me, Kirara.” He broke eye contact with Sesshoumaru and the taiyoukai's face reverted to its usual stoic demeanor as Kagome watched, astonished.

 

“Prrrrrt.” Kirara leaped off of Inuyasha's shoulder and pattered over to Kagome, tails flagged. Hissing at Bandit, she butted her head against Shippo, who was just regaining his feet, knocking him to the ground again where she licked his startled face. She rubbed against Kagome's legs in passing as she sauntered over to Miroku and Sango, leaping up onto Sango's shoulder to rub her cheek against their faces. With a final chirp, she jumped from Sango's shoulder to the ground, pattered up to Sesshoumaru, and leaped to his shoulder, burrowing under the mokomoko-sama with a satisfied purr.

 

Inuyasha turned away and Kagome could see that he was suppressing a laugh. “Good luck with her, brother. You're going to have your hands full, too.”

 

A sibilant hiss came from under the mokomoko-sama and Sesshoumaru growled something in response. Inuyasha choked off a laugh and shook his head as Kagome opened her mouth to question him.

 

Shippo gave a startled exclamation as he looked at the ground where Kirara had knocked him down. “Look! It's the Moonstone! I could feel it underneath me.” He frowned as he turned the stone over in his hands. “But it's different. Look, Mama!” He handed the stone to Kagome.

 

The original two-sided stone was surrounded by a thick, clear layer, as if glass had been poured over its surface. Kagome flinched as the stone touched her palm and stared in shock at Inuyasha, holding the stone out in her open hand. “It's…how did...Kikyou?”

 

As the entire group turned their attention to Kagome and the Moonstone, Kanna gazed into her mirror and a rare, avid smile flitted across her face, replaced almost instantly by her habitual, emotionless mask.

 

The mirror did not reflect her expression.

 

Akago stared back at her, his face twisted with hatred and fear. Behind him the faint outline of Yourei Taisei seemed to gaze at her, his stern expression and folded arms signifying his continued resistance to her power.

 

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

 

Kensei, tensed with hope and waiting for another whisper of Sota's power, felt a sudden profound shift in both anchors of the well. His tight control of the anchors didn't change, but he felt the entire structure of the wormhole shudder as if the time-space continuum was reforming around it. `What the…?'

 

Before he could react, the tableau in front of him erupted as the spider's web of power flared and engulfed the room with blazing light. He raised his hands to shield his eyes from the soundless explosion and gasped as he heard voices cry out. `Those voices…what's happened?' Blinking against the pulsing glare, he lowered his arms and gaped in astonishment.

 

His family and friends, most of them holding their heads as if they had painful headaches, had been thrown back against the walls of the room by the explosion and were no longer holding the black hole in stasis. The hole, still centered in the middle of the room, pulsed rapidly; a blazing white light alternated with the usual profound black void, causing the other Time Lords to move like badly handled marionettes in the strobe-like illumination. A powerful barrier kept the ravaging energies from incinerating everything in the room. Kensei squinted as the light flashed, but could not see the spider's web of power that had surrounded the sphere previously.

 

“Kensei? A blazar? Is that your barrier? What the hell did you do?” The male voice was familiar and dear, though rusty from disuse.

 

Kensei shook his head and reached with both arms for the older man stumbling toward him. “Gods, Dad! I've missed you!” He pulled his father into a fierce hug.

 

“It's all right son. I'm back again.” The older man patted his back before pulling away and grabbing Kensei by the upper arms. He stared intently into Kensei's eyes. “What happened?”

 

Kensei squinted into the pulsing light and reached out a hand to the rest of the Time Lords, who were gazing at him with expressions varying from joy to concern on their faces. As his mother pushed forward and reached for him he pulled away from his father and bent down to draw her into another fierce embrace, choking off a sob as she smiled up at him.

 

“Kensei.” His father's voice was stern. “We need to know what's happened. Why is the black hole still in existence and what has turned it into a blazar? What took the control away from us?”

 

Kensei released his mother and shrugged helplessly as he ran a hand through his hair. “I have no idea, Dad.” Turning back to his father, he added “You've been in stasis an incredibly long time. Why don't you come with me and I'll try to explain everything while you sit down?”

 

As one, the other Time Lords glanced at the blazar and looked back at him.

 

He shook his head but answered their unspoken question. “The blazar? I don't know how the black hole got that way.” He ran his hand through his hair again as they continued to stare at him flatly. “Look, we don't even really know what it is! It looks like a blazar, I grant you, but even though I was here to see it develop I have no idea what happened to create it.” As the other Time Lords glanced among themselves he continued, “It seems stable for now, so why don't we work together to come up with some theories. I'll tell you what I saw.” He gestured toward the kitchen and wrapped one arm around his petite mother's shoulders. “This will take a while. Leave someone here to keep watch and I'll try to be as brief as possible.” He smiled as two of his father's old friends turned and stationed themselves within the room, knowing that they had responded to his father's unvoiced mental request. As he led the group away from the room, he reached out to his anchors and suppressed a shudder.

 

`What the hell just happened? I thought I sensed Sota just before…gods, did I lose him?'

 

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

 

Sota fell over on his side as he slipped into his own time stream. Gasping, the dark haired, handsome young man opened his eyes, trying to focus his bleared vision. `I've got to remember I was Kohaku. I've got to retain those memories!' He put a hand to his head where the phantom pain of Kohaku's injury throbbed, taking a deep breath to control the grief threatening to overwhelm his current memories. `Damn, he…I hurt like hell, but I know a lot about Naraku now.' He took another breath and began to recognize parts of the small island of reality left in this particular path through his personal Nexus. `That was the worst of the transitions back…where the hell am I?' Frowning, he glowered at the purple-black haze that filled most of what remained of his world and focused on his home. `Damn. Just like all the other times. The back half of the house is still standing, but the other half is still engulfed in the flux.' He rolled over and pushed himself into a half-sitting position, his troubled gaze seeking the glow that would indicate that the Shrine of the Well was intact near the Goshinboku. `Please, not another partially formed time island!' A grin split his face as the entire building floated on an island of reality next to the tree. Whooping in victory, he leaped to his feet.

 

`Finally, after all these times through, I've found the node! I made the right decision last time and I'm on my way out of this damn Nexus!'

 

He ran along the peninsula of stable reality that connected the remains of his home to the tree, ignoring the odd recollection that he hadn't learned about a Nexus yet and the subtly different sensations coming from his muscles and vision. `Gods, please! Let there be a connection to the well! I don't want to risk time travel again and lose what I've gained here!' He stopped short and puffed out his cheeks in a defeated breath as he neared the tree. A whisper of connection, barely visible at points, tethered the Shrine's island of reality to the tree.

 

“Damn! I can't get across!”

 

He was suddenly knocked flat to the ground as something leaped on to his back from behind and above. “Oooof!”

 

“Got you, Sota.” A silky voice announced proudly and Sota shook his head, struggling with a disorientation of memories. As he remained still, trying to place the voice in the different memories that were jumbled in his head, the voice became concerned. “I didn't hurt you, did I? Gods, I'm sorry! I just…you know me, Sota. I couldn't resist pouncing!”

 

He was gently but firmly turned over and gathered into the lap of a slim, petite young woman with a heart-shaped face, cat-pupiled silver eyes, and pointed ears. Her long hair, mostly white but streaked here and there with black and orange, was gathered high on one side in a thick ponytail which was separated into five linear sections by brightly colored leather ties. He blinked, slightly embarrassed, as the ties of the soft leather jerkin that she wore brushed against his cheek; the leather strained against the swell of her breasts as she manhandled him. She began to purr, stroking his cheek and frowning in concern, as he struggled to place her in the memories of the lives he had lived while traveling in the Nexus.

 

“Sota? Are you all right? What happened this time through?”

 

When he continued to stare at her she sniffed delicately and suddenly swallowed hard, blinking back tears. Looking back toward the remains of the house she called loudly “Ojiisan! OJIISAN! Come quickly, he doesn't recognize me!” Turning back to Sota she almost sobbed “You don't, do you? Your scent…you don't remember me.” She dashed one hand across her eyes and nose as the threatened tears finally came. “Damnit, now I won't be able to smell anything and it's all your fault, you baka!” She grabbed one of his hands and almost desperately began stroking his forearm and hand against her jaw. “We grew up together, Sota. We're best friends!” She batted his hand away and growled furiously “You knew this was a risk and you went anyway!” As he blinked at her, bemused by her mercurial shifts in mood, she picked up his hand again and begged, “Oh please, remember me! I'll even let you call me Buyo again!”

 

“Buyo?” Sota stared in consternation at her, trying to reconcile the obese feline that was foremost in his memories with the beautiful female holding him in her lap.

 

She cuffed him lightly on the cheek in response. “Stop it! You know I hate that nickname.” She sniffed, nuzzling his hand with her nose, and Sota began to grin as memories of a different life began to solidify. `Three inu pups and a nekomata kitten…my best friends?'

 

“Buyo,” he said slyly, teasing just a bit as he searched his new-found memories for her real name.

 

She narrowed her eyes and hissed, digging her claws lightly into the hand that she still held.

 

Sota opened his mouth to complain, but a familiar, cranky voice grumbled “What's all the fuss now? What did you do this time, Sota?”

 

“Ojiisan?” Sota turned his head and stared at the old man making his way toward them under the shade of the Goshinboku. “Oh, thank the gods, you're the same!” he blurted.

 

The old man set aside a bag of scrolls, quirked and eyebrow at him and said gruffly “Of course I'm the same, Sota! You only entered your trance an hour ago…what were you expecting?”

 

The female underneath Sota gave a soft sound that sounded like a kitten's cry. “He doesn't remember me, Ojiisan.”

 

Sota, already disturbed by being held in the lap of his formerly obese pet, began to hyperventilate when his uncle began to soothe the woman by petting her head and she purred in response.

 

“Give him a moment, Mao. He always has trouble sorting things out for the first few minutes.” The two men locked gazes for a long moment as the older man continued to pet the upset woman.

 

Sota struggled to find the memories that placed him in the present time frame. `I was Kohaku on the other side of the well. I was…what…eleven or twelve when the time continuum splintered on this side? Why can't I remember who I am here? I'm Sota again, but…the memories aren't clear…it's almost as if they haven't…oh gods.' He sat up abruptly, causing the young woman to hiss at him in response. `They're not complete because I've entered a time line that's still in flux. Oh gods.' He stood, opening his mouth to try to explain that he had to go back right away, but stopped as he found himself staring down at his uncle. “I…I'm tall,” he blurted.

 

His uncle snorted and said “I keep telling you, you're too tall, Sota…but you've been that way for a while now. You are eighteen, after all.” Suddenly he poked at something on Sota's chest. “What's this?”

 

Sota reached down and pulled an odd looking scroll that had somehow ended up tucked into his shirt. “I don't know.” He turned the scroll over, wondering at the strange texture of the paper. “It almost feels like it was made of…feathers?”

 

Mao stood up next to him, sniffed at the scroll, and cuffed Sota again. “I can't smell well enough to tell you what it's made of but that's all your fault.”

 

Sota wrinkled his nose and stuck out his tongue at her and she grinned back. `Where did that come from? Why does it seem so familiar to tease her?' He shook his head and looked over to the thin connection between the Goshinboku and the Shrine of the Well. `This time may be in flux, but…do I dare try again? It's taken me so long to find the node.' He was shaken out of his reverie as the old man gently plucked the strange scroll from his fingers.

 

“Come. Shall we see what this scroll has to say?” At Sota's nod, Ojiisan knelt down and began to unroll the scroll, smoothing the oddly made paper with one hand. It became obvious that it had been damaged; charred remnants disintegrated off of the ends and sides. The old man frowned as he looked at the writing. “Hhmmm. This is not ink.”

 

Mao took a delicate sniff of the paper. “It's blood, Ojiisan. A…bird of some kind?” She glared at Sota. “I still can't smell well enough.”

 

Sota looked at the script and frowned. “I can't read it…it's some ancient language.”

 

The older man sighed. “I knew you were not paying attention to my lessons. Let me read it to you.” He held the scroll well away from his face, squinting as he obviously had trouble focusing on the delicate script. “It is missing portions, but I'll do my best.”

 

He cleared his throat and began “— created from my essence to withstand the powerful magic of time that I sense each time you pass through the void. Your scent tells me that you are brother to the miko named Kagome. I don't have enough energy to explain everything; suffice to say there are advantages to mastering alchemy and that I am forced—”

 

The old man sighed and said, “The rest of that sentence is lost. I'll continue.”

 

“— my remaining power to send you this message the next time you pass through this void. I and several others are trapped by a force that I am only beginning to understand; a force that is embodied in the form of a girl-child named Kanna. She is the first and most powerful incarnation of a being called Naraku. You must believe me when I say that our worlds, in fact all worlds and times, will be destroyed if she is not stopped.

 

Naraku has created other incarnations. One that sought to escape him is now traveling with me and informs me that Kanna is not controlled by Naraku for one simple reason; he neglected to give her a heart of any kind. He did it purposely, creating her to be the perfect vessel to hold an unresolved, obsessive love he had for a woman—”

 

The old man looked up from the burned remnant. “It's burned for quite a bit here and I can't quite make out the next few words, but it picks up again at a word that looks like `power'…let's see.” He squinted at the writing again and nodded his head. “Yes, that makes sense.”

 

“—power of the Shikon Jewel to make a vessel to hold his human heart and his first attempt created a perfect monster housed in the innocent form of a girl-child. In his hubris, he designed a vessel to hold anything and everything—his first and ultimate incarnation: a soulless, insatiably empty being. Created out of nothingness and the corrupted power of the jewel, her purpose is to be filled and her mirror is the tool that allows her to satisfy her absolute need to replace her emptiness with substance.

 

She is the perfect vessel he wanted and more; she does not reveal her youki or any scent because nothing can leave the absolute abyss that replaces her soul unless she chooses to let it go. By the time he discovered that not keeping a tether on his incarnation was a mistake, it was too late.

 

According to my fellow traveler, Naraku fears her; however, he can—”

 

Ojiisan sighed and looked up. “It ends there.” He began to carefully roll the scroll back into a cylinder.

 

When he finished, the trio glanced among themselves for a long moment before Sota turned to look back at the fragmented connection to the Shrine of the Well. He gave a long sigh. “Well, flux or no flux, I can't risk losing that connection. I have to stay in this time line and find a way to reach Kagome.”

 

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

 

The burnt-out remains of a fishing village lay in a mountain valley hidden from most eyes by the cloying, dank mists rising from a polluted lake. Rotting fish littered the mold-slimed shoreline and the putrid stench of decay overwhelmed all other smells. Lichen and parasitic plants leeched the remaining life out of the few stunted trees that remained standing near the water's edge; shattered stumps indicated that a substantial grove had thrived there at one time. Tainted droplets dripped from the dank lichen into the fetid water, the muffled sound oddly shocking in the otherwise silent tableau. The morning sunlight, muted by the murky haze, revealed a single intact home at the edge of the devastated village; the fine carvings indicating the wealth of its owner were obscenely pristine in the midst of the devastation. The open doors revealed a roiling miasma that flowed in a ghastly parody of the oily wavelets of the lake.

 

An unmistakable droning hum, faint at first but increasingly louder and more strident, indicated the approach of a hell wasp and the dark miasma swirled, coalescing into Naraku's slim, aristocratic human form. The evil hanyou stood arrogantly as the hell wasp approached; the insect paused at the edge of the lake before diving toward the ground and approaching slowly, almost hesitantly, at a level below Naraku's piercing glare. It hovered in front of him for a moment and then began a series of hisses and clicks, moving backwards slightly as the elegant features twisted into a furious grimace of hate.

 

“Curse her to the deepest hell!” Naraku spun on his heel and waved the hell wasp away, adding cursorily over his shoulder, “Await my orders.” He strode into the house and paused in front of a glowing ceramic pot, filled nearly to the top with a pulsating veined mass. His lip lifted in a snarl and he plunged a taloned hand into the center of the tissue, his snarl transforming into an evil grin as he lifted out a beating heart. He held the organ up at eye level as he began to pierce it with his claws and it pulsed rapidly in response, the tissue still within the pot flinching away from the blood that fell in thick drops as he slowly clenched his fist.

 

“You will suffer for her defiance.” His maniacal grin faded as his eyes narrowed to slits and he released his hold slightly, the heart beating spasmodically within his grasp. “Pathetic weakling. Why did I bother?” His hand tightened again and the heart seemed to twist in his grasp before he brought his other hand up and slowly ripped it in half, ignoring the frantic pulsing of the tissue in the pot below him as the blood spurted out over his pristine clothing. He smiled in satisfaction as the remains of the heart melted into his hands and the stains disappeared as they were absorbed by his jyaki.

 

He took a deep breath before rotating his clenched hands to send a pulse of jyaki into the pot, melting it into a bubbling soup of tissue and clay. Glaring at the mess, he transmuted his power to envelop the entire house and smiled malevolently as it was blasted into splinters. Looking up he stepped over the still steaming remnants of his last incarnation and beckoned the hell wasp as it hovered near the edge of the lake. “Relocate the main hive here, send messages to the others, and await my orders.”

 

Silently brooding, he watched the insect as it flew toward Kaede's village. As the droning sound of its wings faded in the distance, he twisted into a plume of miasma and shrouded the dying lake.

 

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

Translations:

Omnia Mors aequat; omnia vincit Amor: Latin; Death equals all things; Love conquers all things.

 

Blazar: not a typo. A blazar is an “optically violently variable quasar” (OVV quasar) that is a highly variable energy source associated with a supermassive black hole at the center of a galaxy; one of the most violent phenomena in the universe. Poor Time Lords…no wonder they're concerned!

 

Buyo: a traditional Japanese performing art which is a mixture of dance and pantomime. It is more correctly referred to as Nihon buyo (Japanese dance) and has been an art form for over four centuries.

 

Mao: Japanese; female name. Ma (real, true, or dance) combined with o (center or thread). I thought it would be funny to give the new incarnation of Buyo a cat sound for a name, especially becasue it dovetailed with Sensei Takahashi's original and allowed me to play with words.

 

Akago: just a reminder, this is the baby incarnation of Naraku that seems to hold a large portion of his kon.

 

Punarbhava: Sanskrit; rebirth (literally becoming again). This has always been an important tenet in Buddhism and is often referred to as walking the wheel of life (samsara). It is the process of being born over and over again in different times and different situations; each life appears as a link in a sequence of lives with no beginning (the wheel). These lives can be in any of ten realms of being, including those of humans, any kind of animal, and several types of supernatural being. The type of rebirth that arises at the end of one life is influenced by the karma (actions of body, speech and mind) of the previous life. As long as there is tanha, we generate karma. Because we accumulate karma in this or in a past lifetime, there is a next lifetime in which the accumulated karma will take form. This is not to be confused with the Christian and Hindu doctrines of an everlasting soul; Buddha departed from Hinduism in his doctrine of anatta: individuals do not possess eternal souls but consist of skandhas (a bundle of habits, memories, sensations, etc.) which give that individual the notion that he or she is a stable, lasting self.

 

Thanks to:

 

RPW the Hun, you are wonderful, as always!

It is a measure of my stress level in the last few months that I did not thank the IYFG for voting `Facets' 1st in Best Action/Adventure and Best Characterization: Sesshoumaru and 3rd in Best Drama for the second quarter of 2007. `Facets' was also nominated and seconded for Best Alternate Reality/Alternate Universe (thank you Ranuel and Lady Griddlebone) and Best Serial (thanks to Ranuel and Deathotron) in the third quarter. I thank the IYFG for giving `Facets' a 2nd in Best AR/AU. Your support has meant more to me than you know.

 

Everyone who has read in the last few months. The fact that people are still reading when I've been so snowed under has been a real encouragement. Thank you!

 

PM:

Neko-sama, Raeko, inuyashaloverr, Snowfall, kagomenesan (wish you could get a scanner), doggieearlover

 

MM:

Ranuel, Inuyashaloverr, Come Hither, sakuralovesinuyasha, deviousauthoress 1, Raeko, Bastion (I still promise to get you that fanfic for the 400 review!), Knittingknots, Snowfall, AKA Pirate Queen, redroseonblacksatin

 

FF:

Inuyasha05, aradow, Photographing Poetry, Mrs. JediK1, hanyou master, billysgotagun, Silver-head Angel, Fenikkusuken, and:

 

To the anonymous reviewer over at FF who left me the following review: “I studt latin and no offensive but the way you put the latin is incorrect,” I respond: in alio pediculum, in te ricinum non vides (Petronius; you see a louse on someone else, but not a tick on yourself).