InuYasha Fan Fiction ❯ His Heart & The Only One Who Can Save Him ❯ Chapter Twenty ( Chapter 20 )

[ T - Teen: Not suitable for readers under 13 ]

Artemis neared the small village, and began to make her way around it, keeping down wind of course. She had learned from the past that it was wise to go unnoticed by the demon slayer and monk. Working her way carefully through the brush to the forest’s edge, she ran full out to the clearing that housed the well. It was no more than less than an hour till sunset and she knew that once the bickering couple in the village were done that they’d high tail it to the clearing and she wanted to be no where near there when they did.
Reaching down to her waist, Artemis went to retrieve her weapon only to find it gone.
“Where did I…” she trailed off, scanning the surroundings thinking she had just dropped it. Then she remembered what she must have done with it.
Flash Back
Koji was laying down in front of her as she cleaned his shoulder. Her sword to her right propped against the wall.
Koji’s deep azure eyes opened and gazed into her silver-dark grey ones. They were like that for a few minutes until Koji lost consciousness again and fainted.
End of Flash Back
“I must have left it back at Koji’s den.” Artemis said to herself. “No time to go back for it now and besides, how would I explain myself to him. He, by now, probably knows what I’m up to.”
Looking around the clearing once again, she spotted a white wolf in the shadows of the dense forest.
“Shiro, I thought you were going to stay back at the castle.” Artemis said softly, beckoning the wolf over toward her.
Swiftly the wolf made her way over toward her companion, nudging her cold nose against Artemis’ hand.
Artemis raised her hand and gently stroked the pure wolfs head, speaking in a soft tone, “I need you to hide yourself and watch to see who comes here, all right? I need to know if Koji followed me, so once I get back you let me know okay.”
The wolf nodded her head in understanding as she retreated back into the shadows to steak out he scene.
Artemis turned once again toward the well, then swung her legs over the lip of the well, sitting there for a moment.
She cautiously reached a hand toward her shoulder where the shard was embedded.
“I just hope I can get this out before I do something I’ll regret.” Artemis thought as she jumped into the well.
She had a plan, if Naraku couldn’t go through the well then he couldn’t see what was going on in the future. So she’d make him think that she caused the eclipse and then return saying it didn’t work. Little did she know that Naraku was watching what she did through her very own eyes.

The young lord from the north neared his destination as the small village came into view. The rows of huts made the village seem so warm and welcoming in the night as the smell of simmering food filled his nose.
Raising his nose in the air he was able to lock onto Artemis’ scent and began to follow it. Taking shelter from the trees and brush as he moved, Koji was instantly stopped in his tracks as nearly all the people of Japan did, their blood running cold from the horrifying scream that ripped from the forest.
“What was that?” he heard a young man asked, he was dressed in purple monks robes. Next to him stood what looked to be a slayer, no doubt by their rough exterior they were indeed experienced in their arts.
“Shit.” Koji cursed as he quickly ducked behind a rather bushy shrub, poking his head around the bush he watched to see what the pair were going to do. Looking down at his waist, he noticed for the first time that all he had was his claws and a sword he neither knew nor had the power to wield; he didn’t even have any armor on.
“I’m such an idiot.” Koji scolded himself, “I know better than to go so far away from the den with out any protection.”
Creeping in the direction from where Artemis’ scent was coming from, low to the ground he made his way deeper into the forest. As he continued to move away from the village he thought, ‘The best armor is to keep out of range.’
Coming to a small clearing he scanned the surroundings. The scent he was looking for was the strongest in the old wooden well located, but, to him that made no sense. The clearing was also coated in the thick smell of tears, blood, and grave yard soil.
“Where did she go?” Koji said to himself, “And what went on here?” Nothing made any sense anymore.

Miroku and Sango sat in the small hut talking with Kaede on what the village has been going through, demon attacks, jewel shard rumors, the usual.
“Have you heard any rumors about the jewel Lady Kaede?” Miroku questioned, taking a sip from his tea Kaede had provided the couple.
“I have.” Kaede replied, stirring the contents of a large cooking pot that was simmering over the fire. “There have been talk among the villages that a young wolf is in position of a shard.”
“Do you think it could be that demon Ayame spoke of a while ago?” Sango asked.
“That’s a possibility.” Miroku commented.
“There’s something that’s been bothering me though.” Sango said.
“What is it my dear Sango?” Miroku asked, turning to face the young slayer.
“Well, we haven’t had a run in with Naraku in a while. It just makes me think he’s got something big planed.” Sango said.
“This is true.” Miroku agreed. “I think we should discuss this with InuYasha and Lady Kagome once they return.”
“How long do you think it will take them to get over their fight this time?” Sango questioned.
“Not too long.” Shippo sighed, entering the hut and taking a seat in between Sango and Miroku, “They took off for the forest not to long ago, so I imagine they’ll be back soon.”
“Ah, young love.” Kaede said, pouring some soup from the cooking pot into four bowls.
The occupants of the hut quietly ate their meal, silence seemed to blanket the small village, much like the calm before the storm. The scream ripped through the air as the couple in the hut ran out side, Kirara not too far behind.
“What was that?” Sango asked, raising her weapon from her shoulder into a defensive position just incase they were attacked.
“I don’t know.” Miroku looked around the village, nothing seemed to be out of place, no demon or bandit. Then a gasp and a call from Sango got his attention.
“Miroku!” Sango gasped, “Look at the forest.”
Miroku did as was told and trained his gaze off toward the forest, there, rising from deep with in the forest most likely from the clearing which housed the old well were many white and light blue lights.
“Do you think that could be…” Miroku started.
“If it is she’d either badly hurt because the souls are escaping, or may be she’s…” Sango began, unable to finish, neither could actually grasp the fact that Kikyou could be dead. She had seemed so powerful to them, that maybe she was unstoppable but the evidence presented before them proved them wrong.
“Lets go make sure.” Miroku suggested as the couple sprinted into the forest heading toward the well.

Kagome and InuYasha made it through the well, both now sitting at the bottom. Kagome looked up toward the dark interior of the well house as she contemplated how she was going to get InuYasha up the ladder and into the house. Drawing a blank she resorted to plan “B,”
“Mom! Grandpa! Sota! Anyone there? I need some help!” She shouted from the bottom of the old well. Then she heard a pair of feet walking across the wooden floor of the well house. It was almost a heavy, quick step, more like a tall man. It was nothing like the swift, light pace of her mother; the slow walk of her grandfather or the quick pace of her brother. When the sound stopped, she saw two glowing golden eyes peering from over the lip of the well.
“Sess….Sesshomaru?” Kagome gasped as her mind slowly registered that the young lord was standing above her.
“Are you both all right?” The young lord asked.
“I am but InuYasha needs serious help.” Kagome managed to say, standing up, bringing InuYasha up with her.
“Hold on.” Sesshomaru said, climbing down the ladder, fearing if he jumped he’d hit the two at the bottom.
“Give him to me and I’ll get him out of here and you can follow.” he said, reaching the bottom of the well.
“Okay,” Kagome said as Sesshomaru grabbed a hold of InuYasha placing him on his back. The young lord positioned him on his back and wrapped his arms under the hanyou’s knees to support him.(Yes I said “arms“…you‘ll find out in a second…now no flames on this okay….there‘s a reason I did this cuz u don‘t want him to get killed in the sequel do you?)
Sesshomaru jumped out of the old well, followed a few moments later by Kagome who climbed up the ladder.
“Get the door.” Sesshomaru said coldly. (or ordered…bossy ain‘t he…--)
“Right.” Kagome said, unfazed by his cold exterior. She knew he cared for InuYasha at least a little because he was doing all of this for him. The only thing that Kagome was concerned about was what her family would do once they saw the young lord and what if the InuYasha from her time showed up? What would happen then?
The two walked silently up to the house, Kagome sliding open the doors and closing them. The house was quite meaning that the other occupants weren’t home.
“Follow me, we can lay him down in my room.” Kagome said, scaling the stairs and walking to her room, opening the door and showing Sesshomaru where he could lay him down.
“If you need me I’ll be down stairs.” Sesshomaru said, turning to leave the room.
“Thank you.” Kagome said softly.
Nodding his head, signaling he’d heard her, the young demon left the room, closing the door behind him.
“Now where did I put those extra supplies?” Kagome said to herself, unconsciously scratching her head as she looked around her room. Off in a far corner was a rather large cardboard box.
Walking over toward it, Kagome looked at the writing that was present on one of the flaps on the lid.
“’Stuff from Hojo‘. Forgot about this.” ( remember from chappie 2...ahhh good times…) Kagome said, opening the now almost empty box, “Guess I used more of that stuff than I thought.”
Reaching down into the box, she groped around for some bandages and antiseptic. Finding several rolls of gauze and some cream to prevent infections, she walked over to her bed and set the items down on it.
“Lets see how bad the damage is.” Kagome said, sitting behind InuYasha, gently lifting him so she could see his back while supporting him with her legs so he wouldn’t fall over or back onto her. Reaching around she untied his Haori and gently pulled it off, then undid his undershirt and discarding it with his haori. When both articles were disposed of, Kagome was able to see the extent of Kikyou’s arrow.
The wound was deep, deeper than she had first thought. It had stopped bleeding, thankfully, but the wound wasn’t healing as fast as it should be, granted his demon powers were dormant now, he still should be healing faster than he was. A light pink glow was surrounding the wound, almost like a barrier to prevent it from healing correctly. Looking closer, Kagome could see that it was slowly starting to fade.
“At least that’s going away.” Kagome whispered, opening the jar with the antiseptic cream in, carefully applying it to the wound. After that was done she gently wrapped the bandages around his shoulder, having to wrap some of his chest in order to keep the bandage over the wound. “Now maybe that will heal faster.”
Kagome scooted away from InuYasha, placing her hands on his shoulders to gently lay the unconscious hanyou now human onto her bed. InuYasha’s head laid on her soft pink pillow, subconsciously going deeper into it’s comfortable fabric.
Smiling softly, Kagome looked around her room once again. She opened the closet door, looking toward the top shelf then the bottom in search of an extra blanket.
“Where did I put that thing?” she asked her self, frustration evident in her tone.
Almost tearing the room apart, Kagome finally got on her knees and looked under her bed. There, laying neatly folded was her pink comforter. Pulling that out, she laid it over the sleeping man and tucked him in. Leaning down, she placed a soft kiss on his forehead, caressing his cheek with her hand.
Straining up, she turned and headed for the door. Looking back at the man she loved so much resting in her bed she whispered, “Get some rest InuYasha.”
Closing the door so there was only a small crack left, she proceeded to go down the stairs to talk with Sesshomaru. She had a few questions and she was sure he’d have the answers.

Artemis walked down the semi crowded streets of Tokyo. Being a school night, not many teens were out and with sun setting not many adults were out either. Strolling down the sidewalk, she looked into the darkening sky. The moon was now visible and it looked to be truly full.
“Better be sure though.” She said to her self, looking around and spotting a newspaper stand. Walking over to it, paying the man behind the counter, she took the paper and began to walk down the street once again, her uniform skirt swaying with the wind from passing cars.
“I can’t see how anyone would wear this, it‘s like an open game of peek-a-boo.” She said to herself as she opened the folded paper, scanning the pages for he weather and moon phases. Seeing the phase chart they had posted in the paper she sighed with relief, tonight was indeed a full moon. Next to the phases were the horoscopes.
“What the hell, couldn’t hurt.” Artemis said, looking down the list for her sign reading it she laughed, “Your feelings may mislead you regarding a friend or colleague this week. Fantasy can be delicious, of course, but crossing the line from thought to action can be tricky, especially during the weekend when the Moon in your sign tends to bring out your impulsive side.”
“What a joke.” Artemis laughed, folding the paper up once again and looked around. “Now where’s the tallest place in Tokyo?” She thought, looking around.
“Well duh, Tokyo tower.” she said, slapping herself in the head, “God am I spaced out tonight or what?”
Walking to the tower, she got into an elevator and headed up to the top. Stepping out onto the platform on the top, she looked out over the safety rail, the moon shining brightly from just over the horizon.
“Now all I got to do is chill here and then I wait till morning and go back, no problem.” Artemis said, “And no ones the wiser.”
“I will be.” came a cold voice from in the back of her mind, a searing pain shooting through her head from her shoulder where the shard was imbedded, a tainted black light emanated from it.
Falling to her knees, grasping the bars of the safety railing she gasped, “Naraku, how did you…”
“Do you think I’m a fool?” He ask, “I knew you’d try something like this, that’s why I had Yokoro plant the shard in you in the first place.”
“Bastard.” Artemis hissed. “I won’t do what you ask of me.”
“Oh I think you will.” Naraku said coldly as another pain shot through the young maiden’s body.
“I have other ways of persuasion besides this shard you know.” Naraku said, his voice laced with warning.
“Really?” Artemis said sarcastically, “ There’s nothing you can say that’ll change my mind. I will fight this control no matter what you say.”
“You truly think so?” he questioned, projecting an image into the young woman’s mind.
Artemis gasped in pain, the image of her mate lying on the ground was too much for her. His deep azure eyes faded to a light blue, lifeless and cold as his lifeless body lay motionless covered in blood.
“Forgive me.” Artemis whispered into the wind. She stood up and faced off toward the east, the moon rising over the horizon. Her once bright grey eyes were now a cold black, her voice echoed a sinister evil to it as she spoke.
“Now to get a move on.” Came the tainted voice of Artemis as Naraku controlled her. She stood up, putting her hands together in front of her body, looking at her body it looked as if she was praying.
She began to glow a bright white, then it turned into a more grey color from the tainted power Naraku was emitting. As soon as the glowing covered her entire body she began to chant her spell, making the moon move a little faster into the midnight position.
“Now all you have left to do is to cast the eclipse spell.” Naraku said, sending a shock through Artemis’ body in warning. “And make it so the demon in this era can attack his soul.”
Cringing slightly she said, “Yes Master Naraku.”
Artemis began her final spell to set Naraku’s plan into motion. She sat down Indian style and began her chant, soon you could see the moon fade, almost like something was covering it. The eclipse had begun, however the plan won’t truly work until it is fully covered, a total Lunar Eclipse.
“Forgive me Koji.” She thought before Naraku once again took over her mind.

In a small apartment complex across town from where The shrine and Tokyo Tower was, a couple were talking outside on their balcony, their apartment on the top floor.
“The moon looks nice tonight.” came a mans voice, he seemed to be in his mid-twenties.
“Sure does.” Came a woman’s reply, she looked to be about the same age as the man, her black hair falling over her shoulder as a gentle breeze blew by.
Sitting in the young man’s lap, the woman looked up, a questioning look in her eyes as she asked, “Does the moon look full to you?”
“Yeah, why?” he asked, puzzled about why she would ask such a question.
“Shit.” cursed the woman as she shot up and ran through the sliding glass doors into their apartment. She ran into the kitchen and scanned over the calendar to the days date.
“Shit.” she cursed once more.
“What’s the matter?” asked the man, closing the doors as he entered the apartment.
“You need to go now!” she exclaimed.
The man just stared at the woman before him, “Why?”
Jabbing her index finger at the calendar, pointing out the date to the man she said, “You need to go to the Tokyo Tower.”
“It’s time then.” he said more to himself then the woman before him.
“Yes and judging by the position of the moon it’ll happen soon.” she added.
“Okay, I’ll go right now.” the man said, walking over toward the woman, embracing her and leaning down into a kiss. “I won’t fail you, I promise.”
“I know you won’t,” came the woman, her voice no more than a whisper, looking up into the mans face, his deep blue eyes shone with so much love, “trust me I know.”
The man sprinted toward the door, leading into the hall. He ran down the hall until he came to the door where the stairs were, wrenching the door nearly off it’s hinges he ran down the stairs with speed that would rival any demon’s. Once down the flights upon flights of stairs he headed out of the building and ran toward the tower across town, knowing that this was most defiantly a life or death situation.
“You always some how seem to save me huh?” the woman whispered.
Walking out once again to the balcony of their apartment, the woman closed the door behind her, walking up and leaning against the railing. Looking up into the star scattered sky, then back toward the city and the direction in which her love was heading she said, “Hurry back Koji”

Kagome reached the kitchen, walking into it and sitting down at the table at which Sesshomaru current sat.
“I believe you have some questions for me.” Sesshomaru said calmly, looking into the eyes of the young woman. Reaching over next him he took a pot of fresh tea in his left hand and poured it into a cup help by his right, then passed the cup over to Kagome after which he poured one for himself.
“First, why did you decide to help InuYasha in the first place.” Kagome questioned, “and how did you get him out of the well on your back, you can’t support him like that.”
Sesshomaru just sat there, looking at the young woman as a strange expression crossed her face. It was one mixed with surprise and confusion.
The light bulb went off in her head, he had handed her the cup with his RIGHT HAND. That very same arm was the one that InuYasha had loped off when they had first fought Sesshomaru.
“You…You have your arm back?” she questioned, dumfounded.
“Not exactly.” Sesshomaru said, raising the limb in question, pulling up the long sleeve of his shirt to expose the replacement arm. “I just merely found an arm that wouldn’t be rendered useless after a short time or try to burn itself off.”
Kagome sat there and looked at the young lord, deep in her heart she had felt sorry for the demon. It wasn’t right for him to have to go through the rest of his life with one arm, it made his life increasingly difficult. “So you got a prosthetic arm.” she said.
Sesshomaru nodded.
“Is there anything else you have to ask me about?” he questioned, pulling down his sleeve.
“Yes,” Kagome began, “If you knew that this was going to happen to InuYasha, why didn’t you warn me about it?”
Sesshomaru looked at her as if she was the stupidest person on earth.
“I thought you would have figured that out by now.” he stated simply.
Kagome just stared at him, “What do you mean by that?”
“The time line is a very fragile thing.” Sesshomaru said, “Your going through the well has disturbed it quite enough and my input on past events…or in this case InuYasha’s future events, have caused many changes all ready. Besides, this event needed to occur if you want to save his soul.”
“What do you mean?” Kagome asked, worry etched on her face.
“Tonight he fights his biggest battle.” Sesshomaru said, looking the young miko strait in the eyes, “Tonight he fights for his soul.”

InuYasha laid on the soft bed, the blanket wrapped tightly around his body, yet not too tight to constrict him. Some of his demon traits were returning; his black hair gaining some streaks of silver as the purifying power was waning, however due to the fact of the eclipse-unknown to InuYasha of course-his powers won’t truly return. Sweat began to pour down his forehead, as his head tossed around slightly. It was almost as if he was having a nightmare.
“No…Kagome…RUN…KAGOME!” he shouted in his sleep as he began to thrash around in his bed, “No… you won’t …make…me hurt…her.”
Outside the sliding window a figure looked into the dark room. His tall frame nearly covered the pane of glass as his glowing crimson eyes scanned the interior of the room, pure white fangs glistened in the light of the full moon.