InuYasha Fan Fiction ❯ In Death, Trust Me, as You Didn't in Life ❯ Wake Me Up Inside ( Chapter 61 )

[ X - Adult: No readers under 18. Contains Graphic Adult Themes/Extreme violence. ]

Chapter 61: Wake Me Up Inside

Sesshoumaru could feel his consciousness returning to him slowly as he drifted up from the blackness surrounding him.  His last tortured memories flashed through his mind like lightening, broken and bleak, of his mate disappearing - then... nothing.

He could feel the neural pathways of his mind repairing themselves from the massive damage they'd sustained when the bond with his mate had snapped, leaving the horrific backlash of their combined energies to explode through his mind, but couldn't understand how he was still even alive.

The snapping of their bond should have destroyed his mind, consequently setting his beast loose, maddened and seeking blood, until he was destroyed by whoever managed to do so.

He also noted that he felt no grief, and that thought was so unbelievable, that his eyes opened, and he found himself staring into the worried, loving eyes of his mate.

That is why I feel no grief.  Are we then dead once again?  I... forgot the vow between us in the breaking of our mate bond, and did not remember that we would be together, death not withstanding.

"Have we died again, miko?"  he asked, looking up at her face.

Kagome blinked, then giggled.  What?  "Uh... no, Sesshoumaru, I hate to disappoint you, but we aren't dead.  We're just inside your mind for right now."

His brow cocked, then his eyes narrowed questioningly.  “Explain.”

She rolled her eyes at his one-word tendencies, but answered.  “When the bond between us was stretched to such a degree that you couldn't feel it anymore, and I disappeared, you apparently flipped out as badly as I did, and with as much energy as we were channeling, we were pretty close to destroying reality.  Amaterasu decided to step in, and settled you into unconsciousness until I could get back to you.”

He considered that for a few moments, still feeling the effects of that backlash, the pain that it had caused.  He never wanted a repeat of that again.  So...

“Where are you, then, if you are not physically with me?”  he asked, catching the fact that she was somewhere else in body.

Shifting a bit uncomfortably, she shrugged, even as she dragged her fingers through his silver hair comfortingly.  “Well, you see, about that...”  she trailed off at his warning look.

“Do not attempt to mislead me.”

“I wasn't going to,”  she muttered defensively.  “I was just trying to figure out the best way to say it!”

“The best way to say it is just to say it.”

“Okay, okay!  Apparently, Sosa set a trap for me – a time trap.  I'm stuck about two hundred years in the future in a small time warp, and I can't get out until I figure it out on my own.”  She looked sulky for a moment.  “Amaterasu wouldn't let me out, she said I had to do this myself.”

Sesshoumaru's eyes narrowed dangerously, and he growled, before pulling away from her and sitting up.  She could tell he was very angry.  Apprehension thrummed through her, then – was he angry at her?

“S-sesshoumaru?”  she asked, voice tentative.

He heard the fear in her voice; it upset him even more, but he managed to calm himself enough to look at her and soothe her fears.  “I am not angry at you, mate.  I am angry at the machinations of gods and the interferences they have created in our lives.”

She lowered her head, looking down at her hands sadly.  “But you forget – I'm now one of those gods, though through no desire of my own,”  she said softly.

“Though that is true enough, these machinations are not yours.  The fight between Amaterasu-kami and her brother should never have boiled over to engulf you and I.”

Kagome sighed.  “Yeah... but you know why it has to be this way, Sesshoumaru.”

“I know.”  He was still for a moment, then looked at her.  “If you are here, inside my mind, then how are you supposed to get out of this trap you are in?”

A smile crossed her face then, and she flicked a glance at him.  “It's called multitasking,”  she said as she bent her knees to her chest and folded her hands around her legs.  “If I have to be a minor goddess, I might as well use it.”

He caught her gaze.  “Hn,”  agreement clear in his voice.  “In the meantime?”

She knew what he was asking.  “In the meantime,”  she said after a pause,  “we will stay here – together.  The way we will always be.”

Slowly, he nodded, his eyes still holding hers.  “Hai.  The way we will always be.”

No more was said as he moved back to lay against her as she lowered her legs and welcomed him into her arms.

-cCc-

Sugimi flared his aura around the area, wanting to get a feel for the auras of those that were his allies in this venture.  He wondered idly if he would come across any that were familiar.

He did.

With an inward groan, he sighed and began to think on how he was going to handle what he'd found:  Touran, and her panthers.

Though when he'd fought them originally, it had been their leader that he'd battled, and Touran and the others had been minor annoyances that his generals and troops had taken care of, still, he knew her, and her icy demeanor.  Sometimes, he'd pondered the thought that she would have been a good match for Sesshoumaru, with his own icy nature – if she hadn't been a cat, and the enemy.

But then again, if he had mated her, they'd probably have frozen each other solid the first time they tried to, well, actually mate.  He chuckled at the thought, then sobered again when he realized that Touran had felt him... and was heading in his direction, along with her brothers and sisters.

This would have to be handled delicately.

Touran landed on the hilltop he'd found first, followed swiftly by the other panthers; they all eyed each other for several moments, then...

“Sugimi no Taisho,”  Touran said, in her mellifluous voice.  “You are here, and Sesshoumaru is... not.”

“My son and his mate are... indisposed at this time, dealing with Sosa's tricks in the other realms.  Amaterasu-kami sent me here to take my son's place until they are finished, and can return.”

She looked at him thoughtfully – there was more to that situation than he was saying.  But what?  She knew enough of the Inu no Taisho to know that he was a formidable opponent, and despite the fact that she herself also was, she was no daiyoukai, and no match for him.  Much as she disliked the necessity...

“Have you changed any of the battle plans that Sesshoumaru made before he left?”  When Sugimi shook his head, she nodded.  “We will follow, then.”

The dai was taken aback a bit aback at that.  “And you say that so easily, Touran, despite the fact that we were bitter enemies?”

There were a few low hisses from the other panthers, but Touran didn't react, simply shrugging elegantly.  “There is little point in breathing new life into dead grievances.  We tried that once... and our own Master turned on us.  We were only saved by Sesshoumaru's interference.  For the lives of my family that he saved, I will not fight with you.”  A light chuckle sounded.  “That doesn't mean, however, that we must be friends... after all, you are still just a dog.”

Sugimi bared his fangs in a dangerously amused grin.  “Says the cat.  Nonetheless, this Inu will abide by the alliance, as well.  If we are not rid of this menace, this Ungai, and his allies, we will not be around afterward to continue our rather comfortable enmity.”

Touran's fangs gleamed in a agreeable grin.  “Very true.”

“We will be meeting in two hours in the meadow east of here so that I may become acquainted with the other leaders of the various factions in this army.   We leave for the battle site at first light tomorrow – and we must be ready.”  He turned and began to head back into the village.  “I will see you then, Touran.”

The panther watched the Inu walk away with narrowed eyes.  Still the same arrogant dog as always... death has not changed that.  Still... as he is already dead, it is unlikely that anyone in that battle will be able to kill him again.  

That can only be a good thing.

-cCc-

Zetsumei stayed well back as he watched the meeting on the outskirts of the village he'd come to.  It had been a deliberate thing – this was where he would get his vengeance for what that bastard Ungai had done to him.

He would join the army opposing the monk and his followers.

In order to do that, he would have to portray himself as just another half-demon coming to join the fight – leaving out the method of his birth.

As a created half-demon, he would be automatically looked at with suspicion.

Personally, he really didn't care what others thought of him.  For the first time in his life, he felt a power within that was burningly addictive.  It was a whole new side of things, and he could perfectly understand now how the demons and half-demons felt about matters.  Humans were weak.

Not that he all of a sudden hated humans, though.  He was rather indifferent.  As long as they left him alone, he was perfectly content to leave them alone.  No... hatred burned in his heart and soul – but it was towards one human in particular.  Once that one was dead at his hands, he'd be perfectly happy to leave this place and never come back.

He could feel the auras of all those in the clearing – there were some powerful demons there.  There was one, though... that one was dangerous.  Daiyoukai, he wielded an insane amount of power, and Zetsumei knew he would have to be very careful about even being around that one.

With that in mind, he turned, and instead of heading towards the group meeting out there, he headed into the village proper, instead, and waited for someone to approach him.

It didn't take long.

Shunichi had watched the stranger watching the meeting in the field, then turn and head into the village, and noted that he was a half-demon.  It was not difficult to figure out why he was here, so he took it upon himself to step forward and confirm that he was, indeed, there to join the army opposing Ungai.

“My name is Shunichi,”  he said, bowing politely.  “May I inquire as to your reasons for visiting our village?”

Zetsumei stared at the villager for a moment, then said,  “I have come to join those opposing Ungai.  He has caused me much harm, and I would see him stopped.”

Shunichi's face darkened, and he nodded agreeably.  “That one has caused most of us here great harm – another warrior against his tyranny and insanity would be greatly appreciated.  If you will follow me, I will take you to the area that most of the other half-demons are awaiting the call to battle and they can get you settled, and fill you in on anything you need to know.”

The vengeful half-demon didn't speak, just nodded, and followed quietly behind the human man, glad to have slipped beneath the notice of anyone who could be dangerous to him - so far.

He only hoped he could keep it that way.

-cCc-

Kagome could feel the part of herself that was linked in with Sesshoumaru, and the reassuring sense of his presence helped calm her, and stabilize her emotions, leaving her much more able to cope with the trap she found herself in – able to think and begin to try to unravel it, so that she could free herself and get back to what was important.

Okay... so I'm two hundred years away from the sengoku jidai, and approximately three hundred years away from my own era.  But that's not even the problem – if I were just dropped into a different era, I could simply go back to where I needed.  No... I'm stuck in this time warp – this bubble of twisted time.

What is time?

Brow furrowed, she thought about that.  What was time, really?  Time, and distance... sort of the same thing, weren't they?  After all, when she was talking about the distance to her era, she was really talking about how long it would take to get from sengoku jidai to the modern era – five hundred years.  Normally.  And what force worked to warp time, and distance?

Gravity.  Like... a gravity well.

Her eyes widened at that thought.

In fact, come to think of it, that's probably what the Bone Eater's well was – a contained gravity well.  After all, gravity warps time, and energy, and matter, depending on how strong it is.

Sort of the same thing as those black holes... there's no telling where those would lead.  I remember watching an American movie one time about something like that, she mused.  Something... she frowned, trying to remember... Oh, that's right.  It was a horror movie – Event Horizon.  Kinda creepy, if you ask me.  But anyway...

She probed and poked at the energy field around her, and wasn't surprised to find that it was exactly that – very strong gravity fields surrounding her, almost making her the center of her own little black hole.  

“I wonder what this trap looks like from the outside... would I have my own event horizon?   That would be kinda cool,"  she said aloud.

So how does someone escape from a black hole?

From every theory about those I've ever heard, you don't.

But of course... I'm not exactly human anymore, so...

I wonder if I could warp this trap even further by adding even more gravity – enough to destroy it from the inside out?

Make myself the gravity – with such density that it would collapse the trap?

-cCc-

Sugimi looked around at the group of demons, half-demons, and humans in the meadow with him, and sighed.

“So, it is agreed – we stick with the battle plans laid out by my son, and leave for this place decided as the battle site at first light tomorrow?”

Everyone nodded and murmurs of agreement circulated through those in the field.  “Then I think that is all.  We will all begin to move out this afternoon to the open plains to the east of here and make camp together.  At that time, we will integrate everyone into the places that they will need to be in, that way each element will be able to become used to working along side each other.”

Again, sounds of assent went around, and Sugimi dismissed everyone to go begin to gather their people, and make any last minute preparations.  Turning to look at the elder miko, and the rest of his youngest son's group, he sighed again.  “Are you all ready?”  he asked.

Inuyasha folded his arms into his haori and huffed.  “Keh!  Of course we are!  We've been traveling and fighting together for so long, we're always ready to leave.  Or fight,”  he said, eyeing Miroku, and Sango, who was standing a little away from the monk's wandering hands, hiraikotsu held between them.

His father chuckled at that.  He'd watched over much of his pup's life, and he had to admit – the monk and slayer made for an amusing pair.  He'd never seen a human male that was so persistent – or seemed to like pain so much.  He'd always thought of that as a demon preoccupation.

“Yes... the monk would have made a fine demon male, would he not have?”  he asked facetiously, laughing at the dumbstruck expression on the monk's face.

Sango glared over at Miroku and growled out,  “Yes, come to think of it, demon males are notoriously thick-headed and persistent, just like you, Miroku.  Take Koga, for example.”

Inuyasha growled angrily at the mention of Koga; everyone else laughed and started to walk away, Miroku following along behind indignantly, all the while defending himself vociferously.

No one was really listening, though.

-cCc-

Later that afternoon found Sugimi standing on a small rise at the head of what was now clearly an army, watching as each element found its niche and began to integrate itself into the next, making the whole group into a cohesive, deadly force.

He sighed deeply, a predatory smile beginning to cross his face.  It had been centuries since he'd gotten this rush – the rush a warrior got before a battle.  He felt so alive, suddenly, and it was a difficult thing to accept that he really wasn't – that as soon as this was over, he'd be back in the other realms.

It wasn't that he couldn't feel things in the other realm, because he could – it was just not as vivid.  Being demon, his blood screamed for vivid.  

Demons lived on the edge at all times, hot-blooded and passionate – even Sesshoumaru, though his nature was more controlled, his icy demeanor was truly misleading, because that same passion lay just beneath the surface.  Being demon was truly living on the wild side... it was a constant rush, of power, of life, all the time.  So for a demon, death was even harder to accept than for a human – because all of their senses and passions were muted, made less, and it left an ache.

It was that very muting that was going to hurt him when it was time to go back.  He dreaded it.

But he would accept his fate with grace – because there was nothing that he could do to change it.  And he wouldn't willingly leave his hime behind, either – if he were here, he would want her to be, as well.  So for his own dignity, and for her sake, he would do what was necessary here...

And then go back.

But while he was here... he flared his aura around, looking for his son.  He had been given a chance to know him, to interact with him, even if it was only for a few days, and he would take it and run with it.

After all, this was the son he'd never known, never had the chance to raise – the son born of his love for his hime, not out of duty to his lands.  And while he did not love Inuyasha any more than his older son, though the reasons for their birth were different, at least Sesshoumaru he had had the chance to know and raise.  

Inuyasha had been cheated of that...

And nothing could ever make that up.  But at least, he could give both he and his youngest son a few memories to hold onto.

Good memories.

He turned and left the hill-top as he felt his son's vibrant aura wash over him, heading straight for it.

There was no time to waste – every second counted and he was determined to use them all.

-cCc-

A/N:  The Event Horizon is the boundary within which a black hole's escape velocity is greater than the speed of light.  Visually, an observer would theoretically see a ring of light surrounding the black hole, denoting the Event Horizon's boundaries.  This is all a part of the General Theory of Relativity as proposed by Albert Einstein.

On another note, I found out this morning that In Death won First Place for Best Action/Adventure – I was so thrilled!  It's my first, first place win on Dokuga!  It also won Second Best Kagome Portrayal, as well, and I wanted to send a thanks to those who nominated/and or voted for it.  I am honored!  Also, congrats to all those nominated, and those who won!

Amber


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