InuYasha Fan Fiction ❯ In Death, Trust Me, as You Didn't in Life ❯ Of Gods and Magic ( Chapter 70 )

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

Chapter 70:  Of Gods and Magic

Kagome looked around at the group of people waiting for them at the front of the tent, and sighed inwardly, her mind touching over all the suffering and strength of those here – and their sheer determination to see everything through.

They were her reason for pushing on, even now, when she felt so uncertain about what to do.  The world was literally waiting on her, but it wouldn't wait forever, and that meant that she had decisions to make.  She'd never had a problem with that, never been weak-willed, but it was different when your decisions didn't just affect you.  

Now, when she decided something, the world was affected, and that made her nervous.  

There wasn't really any room for mistakes.

And that was where she depended on her mate, because Sesshoumaru was used to making decisions that affected others, and had no qualms with doing so now, on a larger scale.  He also made no room for mistakes, and was not really prone to making any.

She glanced up at the daiyoukai who was so much more now as he guided her to a seat, and then took the place next to her once he was assured of her comfort.  With a small smile, she acknowledged all the others who were now looking at them both expectantly.

But before she could even open her mouth, a loud, overbearing hanyou opened his, and started the conversation off with a poke at her worries.  

“Oi, Kagome, stop being a wishy-washy wench and get busy doin' what ya gotta do.  Why's it so hard, anyway?  It ain't like you don't like bossin' people around, and this is no different, except on a larger scale,”  he said gruffly, smirking as she immediately fired up in defense of herself.

“Hey!  I don't boss people around – only you, and that's because you're a jerk that always wants things his own way!  If I didn't put a stop to you sometimes, you'd run all over everyone.”  She looked over at Nyoko, than back at Inuyasha, and smirked evilly.  “Although, it's not really my job anymore, and Nyoko can do all sorts of interesting things to you to make you listen.  I'm sure that by the time she's finished, you'll be a good little puppy, won't you?”

He flushed an angry red, but caught sight of Nyoko's warning glare before he actually got a response out, and ended instead with a rather weak, “Feh,”  at which point everyone, including his parents, laughed.

Except Sesshoumaru, of course.  He wasn't really one for laughing in public, though his eyes gleamed with amusement.

After a few moments, though, he sobered, and pulled everyone's attention back to the matter at hand.  “There is much to be done, and little time to do it in,”  he said, and the group sobered as well, looking to him to continue.

“It is time to decide the fate of this world, and that is no easy task.  Kagome felt that including all of you in the decision making-process would be beneficial, and that is why we are here with you all at this time.”

Sugimi frowned thoughtfully.  “Doesn't Amaterasu-sama want to be part of such a large undertaking?”  he asked.

Kagome answered him.  “No... she dumped it all in our laps and went home after a little pep talk.”  She sounded a bit disgruntled at that, and there was a bit of snickering from certain members of the group.  She loftily ignored them.  “Sesshoumaru was all for taking off and going into seclusion until we'd made some decisions about things, of course, but I felt that some discussion on the matter with all of you might actually be helpful, instead.”

“So what are we really looking at, Kagome?”  asked Sango, and everyone else nodded at that question.

With a sigh, Kagome thought about how to word things.  This isn't as easy as I thought it would be, she mumbled to herself.  “Well, the world around us exists as it does only because of Sosa's interference.  If he'd left well enough alone, things would be completely different.  And that's what I've got to do – get things back to the way they were meant to be.  But the changes needed are enormous... right now, the world is in a sort of stasis, but that won't last. I've got to decide what to do – and soon.”

“Hm,”  Sugimi grunted after a moment of silence.  “It sounds like a lot... but perhaps the way to deal with it is a little at a time?  By that I mean that you don't need to do everything right now.  In fact, it would probably make things worse if you were to attempt such a thing.

“Yeah,”  she said, shrugging frustratedly.  “I've figured that out, but that still leaves... where to start?”

Sesshoumaru looked out of the front of the tent thoughtfully, his eyes going to the sliver of night sky visible from his spot.  “Tell me, Kagome... in order to change the lands back to what they were before, what needs to happen?”

Kagome blinked.  “Umm, well, I suppose that there needs to be a change in the climate.  Everything needs to cool down just a little.  That way, more water gets locked up in the polar ice caps, and the ocean recedes a bit, too.  Why?”

“Would that not be a logical place to start, then?  Begin by allowing the temperatures to cool a small amount.”

“But that would take too long, I think,”  she said slowly.  “Though... maybe not.  Sometime soon, I believe, in Europe, there'll be a minor ice age*.  It's going to affect a lot of things,”  she trailed off for a stunned moment, the spoke up again, eyes wide.  “That's it!  That's where I can start!  In the original history, that ice age only lasted a few years, and then puttered out.  But if I can take it over and make it the beginning of the necessary changes, maybe start it off a little slower so people don't die like they did in that original timeline...”

Miroku chuckled at her excitement.  “And that's one part down, Kagome.  But what about the people themselves?  How are you going to go about changing us?

That brought her right back into frustration, and she glared over at the monk in disgust.  “Sure. Couldn't let me bask in the easy answer, could you?  No... you had to throw the hard one at me.”

Again, Sesshoumaru came to her rescue.  “I believe that the same answer will apply to this problem as the last one.  We go slowly.”  He looked at his mate, a weighing expression in his eyes, though it wasn't aimed at her.  “Now that we have changed things, there is no definite timeline that we have to work within.  Amaterasu merely stated that we must get a start on things.  So... if we choose to work slowly, changing things a little at a time, generation to generation, I do not think it will harm anything.”

Kagome was arrested by his words as Sugimi nodded in support of his son's ideas.  “That's true, I suppose,”  she said slowly, thinking about it.  Amaterasu really hadn't said they had to get it all done right now... merely that they had to have a good start.  And... “So you think if we start by tweaking the genetics of the next generation, just a little, we can gain our goal over the long run?”

Then she frowned.  “But that would take an awful lot of work, even for us,”  she protested, and Sesshoumaru shook his head at her.

Though he had not been raised with her knowledge of genetics, and DNA, now that he was a kami, he found himself knowing automatically all the things she knew from her learning in her time – and more.  They both knew things that human scientists had just begun to even understand.

It was this knowledge that prompted him to speak.

“We do not need to interfere with each pregnancy, as you are indeed correct.  It would take a great deal of effort to do that.  What we can do, is begin changing the genetics of the parents.  Just minor changes would be necessary, Kagome,”  he said,  “at least at first.”

Something slightly wicked sparked in the young goddess' eyes, then, and she slid her gaze over to her friends, taking in each ones interested expressions.  “We should probably start with these guys, then, ne?”  she asked, a smirk obvious in her tone of voice.

Several sputters were heard, most notably from Inuyasha and Sango, while Izayoi simply blushed, her voice soft and embarrassed as she said,  “Well, not all of us need that.  I'm too old to worry about any more children.”

Kagome didn't miss Sugimi's interested leer at his little hime, and her smirk widened.  “Oh, I don't know about that, Izayoi-sama.  After all, you're alive again, and I think you're going to find that age is one of the first things I'm going to tackle.  You're perfectly fertile still – I think it's a wonderful idea to give Inuyasha some younger siblings,”  she snickered, her amusement almost exploding from her at the hanyou's horrified expression.

“Hell no!  I don't need anymore frigid assholes like him-”  he pointed at Sesshoumaru,  “-making my life miserable, wench!”

He jumped back a bit as his brother's acid whip flicked warningly against his chest.  “Watch your tongue, half-breed.  You will not disrespect my mate by calling her by that uncouth name again.”

Sugimi's voice broke in between the two before anything else could be said as he ordered both his sons to stop fighting.  With a certain glint in his eyes, he looked at Kagome.  “I certainly have nothing against the idea of more children,”  he said, even as Izayoi blushed deeper and glared at him from the corner of her eyes.  He ignored the look with lofty arrogance.  “So feel free to alter whatever you see fit, Kagome-sama.”

Miroku nodded with a rather lecherous grin, not even getting the chance to say anything before Sango was laying him out.  Nyoko just eyed Inuyasha blandly.  “As if his traits weren't bad enough, now you want to play around with them, and add to the confusion, Kagome?”  she asked.  “I don't know about this...”  she trailed off teasingly, to Inuyasha's insulted huff.

“Feh!  If I'm so bad, why the hell'd ya chase me, then, woman?”

“I'm a sucker for a hard luck case, I suppose,”  she mused idly.  The group laughed at the hanyou's antics, watching as he tried to keep up his insulted facade.  

After a few moments, Sesshoumaru turned to his mate, and in a low voice, asked,  “Then have we decided on a course of action – at least to start, mate?”

“I think so.  We can fine tune things as we go, of course, but I feel good about these decisions for now.”  

He nodded, then waited patiently for the playful joking from the group to die down a bit.  Clearing his throat, he spoke as everyone fell silent.  

“My mate and I will now go apart for a time, and begin to work on those changes that we have discussed here.  We will return to you all once we have instituted things,”  he said, before standing and reaching down a hand to assist Kagome up.  

There were various nods from the rapidly tiring group – now that the adrenaline of the past days exertions was dissipating, even the youkai in the group were feeling in need of rest.

“Get some sleep tonight, everyone,”  Kagome smiled,  “tomorrow is soon enough to begin to face the damages of this day's work.  Sesshoumaru and I will return tomorrow, as well, to help.”

With nods and smiles all around, the two divinities disappeared, and it wasn't long before the exhausted companions left in the tent went off in search of their beds.

Tomorrow was, indeed, soon enough to face the consequences of the days events.

~oOo~

In a swirl of ambient light in every color of the rainbow, Sesshoumaru and Kagome appeared in a place that didn't really exist – except in the mind of the miniature goddess.

Sesshoumaru looked around with curious eyes, one brow cocked as he took in his mate's imagination.  “It is... different, I suppose,”  he intoned, and Kagome cast him a sidelong glance.

“What?  Don't you like it?”  she pouted, feminine pique sharpening her voice just a tad.

He looked around once more at the kaleidoscope of colors writhing through the area, and sighed.  “It is... distracting, mate.  Perhaps something like this,”  he said, just as the scenery changed,  “would be a little more conducive to the concentration we will need?”

Kagome blinked, taking in the change to the void bubble she had created for them to work in.  It was much calmer, true... but still beautiful.  They were at the center of what appeared to be a miniature of the universe, surrounded on all sides by glowing stars and gaseous nebula, even galaxies appearing in distant splendor.

“It might be calmer, but I want to explore, now, not work,”  she sighed.  Finally she shrugged at the amused glance her mate shot her.  “Oh, well... I guess once we get some of this stuff done, we can always go explore the real thing, ne?”

“We could,”  he agreed,  “but that is for later.  For now...”  he trailed off and held out a hand, which she promptly took with a small smile.  “Come, little mate, and work with me.”

Her smile widened, and she closed her eyes, merging her consciousness with his.  It was different, this time – now that he was chaos personified.  Their natures called out to each other even more, now, hers desiring to wrap its orderly nature around his own and keep it balanced, just as his desired to be balanced.  

It was a rush, to be entwined so intimately with the other half of what she was, and she could feel his agreement.

“It is time to create change, mate.”  Between the god and goddess, a miniature representation of the solar system swirled into being.  

“First... the sun,”  Kagome thought, and the representation of that star appeared in the center.  “It is time for it to enter a slightly more dormant period in its life, cooling just a little.”  As she spoke, the miniature sun obediently began to dim, dropping its temperature by a few degrees.  But even as it balanced, a little bit of chaos settled in, as well, giving the potential for slightly more or less cooling – leaving an element of the unknown in it.  

Kagome smiled, pleased.  

Sesshoumaru nodded, just as pleased, and in the blink of an eye, the sun dashed out of the center, allowing the representation of the blue-green orb known as Earth to take its place.  He studied it for a time thoughtfully as Kagome waited patiently for him to speak.

“Sosa allowed chaos far too much control,”  he finally said, looking up at her.  “You must negate that.”

She nodded.  “I know.”  Cupping her hands around the glowing planetary representative, she breathed gently on it, smiling as the chaotic bands of energy entwined within it calmed somewhat.  As it did, the white of the polar caps began to grow just a bit, as the ambient temperature of the planet cooled in response to the very slight cooling of the sun.  

Both beings watched in pleasure as more cloud cover appeared around the globe, stabilizing the temperatures at a certain point, so that there would not be too much cooling.  

After a time, as the changes they were making began to play out in more detail in their model, they nodded, pleased, and with a thought, the glowing solar system disappeared.

Now it was time to work on an entirely different scale...

Two brightly glowing strands of DNA appeared between the two, and Sesshoumaru, especially, studied their forms, intrigued by something he'd never known of before.  Kagome, on the other hand, was somewhat familiar with the double helix from her education, and wasn't quite as taken.

“One human, and one demon,”  she sighed, looking at the two strands, taking note of the differences in them – and the oddly startling similarities.  “Sosa corrupted the human DNA once they were separated one from the other.  Look at it,”  she gestured, frowning.  “There is so much missing, compared to the demon DNA.”

The silver-haired god nodded.  “Yes... I am curious,”  he said, motioning at the two strands.  They moved obediently, merging slowly.  “I wish to see what it would look like joined as they are now...”  he trailed off.  As they merged, certain portions of the DNA began to weaken, and it became apparent in that instant just why Inuyasha's blood was so unstable.  

The demon blood, stronger than the human, wanted to take over the human blood, which was riddled with corruption.  But though weaker, the human DNA would not dissipate, instead fighting to maintain itself, and so, the constant battle between the two caused havoc for its bearer.

“I see,”  Kagome sighed, casting her love a glance.  “In order for this to work, we're going to have to start very small.”  She looked deeply into the strands, concentrating first on the human one, and very delicately, made a tiny change in the portion that controlled longevity first.  As the rate of decay in the body began to stabilize, moving slower, they would gain more time to affect the changes they desired.  

As that change began to take affect, there was a ripple along the entire strand, and she nodded to herself, pleased.  Next, in direct correlation, she tweaked the tiny portion that controlled health – what formed the immune system, making it just a bit stronger.  

While she worked on the human DNA, Sesshoumaru pondered the demon strand, and took note of the portion of the strand that controlled strength.  It needed to be adjusted – it was far too dominant at this time to blend well with the human blood.  But if he could change it, making it merge with the human blood, rather than trying to overtake it, things would begin to smooth out, and as the two strands once more began to recombine into one, creating one race once more, the transition would be much smoother.

As the two worked their godly magic, they were unaware of the passing of time, caught up in the delicate nature of what they were doing.  The glowing lights and swirling energies moving to the couples silent commands took on an almost solemn cadence, and the essence of chaos and balance twined together to create beauty in now calmly illuminated double helixes.

Finally, minutes, or maybe hours, after they had begun, the two stepped back and looked over the results of their efforts.  After a time, both allowed pleased expressions to settle on their faces, and with one final flare, the DNA disappeared into the ether.

“It is good,”  Sesshoumaru said, a small smirk suddenly crossing his face.  “We work well together, mate, do we not?”

Kagome laughed and flung herself into her mate's arms.  “Of course we do, Sesshoumaru!  And now that the first part of our job is done,”  she rolled her eyes,  “we get to go back and join our family on cleanup detail.”

He held her for several moments, his arms coming around her to pull her tightly to him.  Leaning down, he nuzzled into her hair with a sigh.  “Hai... and that particular duty will take more time than this one, I fear, mate.  I am looking forward to finishing this – so that we may have time to ourselves.”

As their starry void faded from around them, Kagome couldn't help but agree.  Goddess or not, she was getting a bit tired, and would love some nice downtime with her mate.  

Of course, it wasn't like they would actually be resting, or anything...

She grinned as that thought crossed her mind.  

Nope... not resting!

~oOo~

*Historically speaking, there was a mini ice age sometime in the fourteenth or fifteenth centuries that cost hundreds of thousands their lives due to longer, harsher winters, which in turn also caused famine and disease to rise.  If I recall correctly, it lasted about ten years.  I simply borrowed that historical fact and applied it loosely here.




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