InuYasha Fan Fiction ❯ Kikyo's lonely journey ❯ Clash of the priestesses ( Chapter 21 )

Disclaimer: Most of the characters in this story are the actual work of Rumiko Takahashi. I do not own them in any way.

 

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Chapter 20: Clash of the priestesses

 

She was so dizzy... and weak. She was so totally exhausted that it almost felt as if her body didn't belong to her anymore. Dimly, she was aware of things happening around her, but try as she might, she could not do anything to make herself register them, nor could she get her members to move in a coordinated fashion.

 

"Kagome!"

 

That voice... it sounded so familiar. Who did it belong to? An image of someone wearing a red haori and had a beautiful mane of silver hair topped with two twitching dog ears popped in her head.

 

"Inu... yasha," she whispered quietly.

 

The name had come out of her lips without her even realizing it. But she just knew that this was the name attached to the face she was now seeing.

 

"Come on wench! Pull yourself together!" exclaimed the hanyou gruffly.

 

Slowly, the fragments of her jumbled memory began to coalesce together and the chain of events that had lead to this point gradually started reconstructing itself. First, the jewel... it had suddenly come to life inside her, dissolving the seal she had placed around it. Then, pain. Mind blowing agony as the sphere had turned black. She had felt it burn her skin, slowly destroying her inner organs under its wicked power... and abruptly, everything shifted. Gone was the taint on the jewel and gone was the agonizing pain she had felt. Instead, a pleasant warmth had filled her, soothing her and seemingly repairing the damage done in the last few seconds.

 

The relief had been short lived however because then, the pulling had started. She felt like she was being pulled toward Kikyo... but at the same time, her body refused to move. Confused at first, she had then been outright terrified when she realized that she was actually being pulled out of her body. She tried to resist it, but how do you resist a pull when you have nothing to grab on to?

 

Eventually, as her resistance grew frantic, the voice of Kikyo had resounded in her head.

 

"Kagome... please stop resisting. You're going to die at this rate," the dead priestess had said.

 

"But... I'm being pulled out of my body! If I don't stop it I'll die!" she had answered.

 

"You don't understand Kagome, it's not you that's being pulled out it's me! You're being pulled along because you're resisting! You have to stop fighting it!" had urged Kikyo.

 

"But..." had tried to argue the schoolgirl, still hesitant.

 

"Please Kagome... I don't want to see anyone else I love die," had said the miko and the struggling girl couldn't help but hear how desperate the miko sounded.

 

This had finally convinced the girl and she had stopped her struggle. She wasn't sure of what happened next, but she knew she was still alive... if maybe a little shaken up.

 

"Kagome goddammit! This isn't the time to play games!" snapped Inuyasha, finally bringing her back to reality.

 

"I'm... okay," she announced, her voice still slightly shaky.

 

"Good then we're getting out of here," announced the hanyou while helping the schoolgirl to her feet.

 

"But... what about Kikyo?" she questioned shooting the now human miko an uncertain glance.

 

Kikyo shifted her gaze ever so slightly to meet the girl's eyes and Kagome could see the corner of her mouth curve imperceptibly upward in the shadow of a smile before returning her attention to her waiting opponent.

 

"She'll be fine. She's not the type of woman to be defeated so easily," answered the hanyou simply, making the girl gawk in surprise.

 

"Inuyasha you..." she began but Sango interrupted her.

 

"Kagome-chan... this battle is not one where we have the right to intervene. It's Kikyo's fight, and as such the only thing we can do to help her... is not to get in her way," said woman solemnly.

 

Somehow, the schoolgirl felt as if the demon slayer knew a lot more about this whole situation than she was letting on, but now wasn't really the time to ask. "Kikyo... you'd better come back to us!" she called before she filed out of the room along with the rest of her friends.

 

******

 

"So it's just the two of us now," hissed Nesumi with an evil grin.

 

"That's right. No interference, no rules, no holding back! Today we fight... and the one to exit this room alive will be the strongest of us two!" replied Kikyo, her eyes narrowing in determination.

 

"Yes! The battle of fifty years can finally start!" exclaimed Nesumi hotly.

 

With that said, Kuro decided to attack first. Extending her left arm, she sent forth four balls of purification energy at Kikyo. Seeing the threat, the miko hastily raised a barrier around herself and the blasts dissolved harmlessly when they touched her shield. Immediately, she counterattacked by altering her power flow and concentrating them in one single direction, thus creating a beam that she sent straight at Kuro. Not having time to raise a shield of her own, the creature merely jumped out of the way and the beam collided with the far wall.

 

"Well, looks like you still remember the basics," commented Kuro when the miko let up her attack.

 

"I remember far more than the basics Nesumi," shot back Kikyo with a satisfied smirk.

 

"Amusing... then let us see just how much you do remember!" exclaimed the beast before launching herself at the miko full speed.

 

Bracing herself in anticipation, Kikyo jerked in surprise as Kuro's image suddenly vanished about two feet before her. "Masahiro's shadow technique!" she realized about a split second before she felt the creature's presence materialize behind her.

 

In a movement born out of sheer desperation, the miko threw herself to the left. Her side burned as the blast that should have passed right through her chest soared past her. Finishing her dive, she landed hard on the ground and bounced a few times, ending up on her stomach, fighting something she hadn't experienced in ages: physical pain.

 

"So how did you like that? Masahiro taught me this little trick a while back. Pretty neat don't you think?" mocked Kuro, towering over the woman's prone form.

 

"Dammit! I'd forgotten how much pain actually hurts," she thought as she struggled to push herself upright.

 

"What's the matter Kikyo? Don't tell me you're tired already, we've only just started," shot the creature disbelievingly.

 

Reacting to the taunt, the miko abruptly pointed her arm at Kuro and sent a lightning fast blast of purification her way. Surprised by the unexpected gesture, the beast was unable to dodge fully and the energy connected with her right shoulder.

 

"I'm far from being beaten Nesumi," hissed Kikyo through clenched teeth.

 

Then, to prove her point, she pushed herself erect and glared hard at her opponent, completely ignoring the growing red stain on the side of her uniform.

 

"It would appear that you do have a few surprises up your sleeves," commented the creature, looking at her shoulder in appreciation. "But I wonder how well you can fight with that injury."

 

"Well... enough," shot back the miko while sending yet another beam of purification energy at her opponent.

 

"Not bad Kikyo, if that blast had connected I would have been history," complimented Kuro in a sarcastic way. "But in the end, it doesn't matter how strong a blast is, if it can't hit its target then it's just a waste of energy."

 

"What are you getting at!" snapped the woman irritably.

 

"It's really quite simple Kikyo," answered the creature arrogantly before disappearing from view.

 

"You..." and pain shot up Kikyo's left side as a small blast of energy slammed into her.

 

"Are..." the miko cried out as a blast hit her right side this time.

 

"Way..." the back this time.

 

"Too..." the front.

 

"slow." the back again.

 

After that, she simply lost the count as blasts began raining on her from seemingly every direction at once. The shots weren't very strong in themselves, but a myriad of weak blasts can sometimes prove a lot more effective than a single strong one. Unable to counterattack, Kikyo did the only thing she could do, she raised a shield around herself to block Kuro's blows. But just as she was beginning to catch her breath, pain suddenly shot forth in her chest, making her lose control of her power flow. The barrier she had created abruptly dissolved as she collapsed to her knees.

 

"What's... going on?" she thought frantically. "I... can't move!"

 

Apparently she wasn't the only one to notice the strange situation because Kuro let up her attacks, perplexed by the sudden development. "What's the matter Kikyo, spent already?" asked the creature in suspicion.

 

"Not good... my body won't answer me anymore," she mused, desperately trying to move, but only succeeding in making her fingers twitch slightly.

 

Frowning in confusion, Kuro watched as the purification powers surrounding her opponent blinked a few times before winking out of existence. "What the hell? Her powers are completely gone. What does this mean?" she wondered.

 

"Could she have burned herself out? No, I would have felt that. It's almost as if..." and then her eyebrows shot up in surprise as she understood exactly what was going on.

 

Taking her sweet time, she slowly made her way to the helpless miko and towered over her confidently. "What's the matter Kikyo, can't move?" she taunted and saw the woman laboriously turn her head toward her.

 

Grabbing her by the collar, Kuro effortlessly hoisted her opponent at eye-level. "Tell me Kikyo, what was the first thing they taught apprentices at the temple where we used to train all those years ago?" questioned the creature in a tone that plainly indicated she knew the answer.

 

Kikyo's eyes suddenly widened as the long forgotten memory played back in her mind.

 

"Remember now, never use more power than what your body can handle. Otherwise you'll suffer from what is called spiritual exhaustion. This is a self-defense mechanism of the body to preserve itself. First, you will be completely paralyzed for a short amount of time, until the remainder of your powers leave your body. Then, you will be unable to use your spiritual powers for days after that. This situation is extremely dangerous, especially if it happens to you in the middle of a battle."

 

The miko felt horror fill her being at the same time that, ironically, her body began functioning again. Spiritual exhaustion... she couldn't believe she had been so careless. She was so used to having a body capable of channeling vast amount of power that it never even occurred to her that her current body couldn't. But then again, it did make some twisted kind of sense. Her body was brand new and as such had never channeled at all. So in essence, it was a miracle she had been able to last as long as she had.

 

"So it seems you do remember," snickered Kuro. "That's good because it'll spare me the hassle of explaining why it is that you are now at my complete mercy," she added, her expression turning downright sadistic.

 

"I'm really going to enjoy this Kikyo. I think I'll start by breaking a few of your bones to make sure you're really helpless. And then I'll go finish off your friends one by one. I'll make sure they scream extra loudly so you can appreciate their final moments from here," laughed the creature cruelly.

 

"Go to hell," hissed the woman hatefully.

 

"Hell? Oh yeah, that reminds me I won't get to torture that sensor... Susune it was right? It's really too bad. I would have enjoyed making her scream, but she instead chose to foolishly throw her life away, how disappointing," replied Kuro lightly.

 

At those words, Kikyo felt the anger she had been repressing up to now explode and she quite litteraly saw red. "Foolishly?" she whispered, her voice dangerously low. "Foolishly you say?"

 

"SUSUNE WAS ANYTHING BUT FOOLISH! SHE WAS STRONG, KIND, COMPASSIONATE, COURAGEOUS! SHE WAS EVERYTHING YOU ARE NOT! NO ONE HAS THE RIGHT TO SOIL HER NAME LIKE YOU DID... ESPECIALLY NOT YOU NESUMI!" screamed the miko, enraged.

 

Kuro blinked once, surprised by the outburst before her smile returned. "And what exactly do you plan to do about it?" asked the creature.

 

"This," answered the woman and punched the creature hard in the chest.

 

A brief flash of blue surrounded the miko for a split second, followed by a slight stinging sensation in Kuro's ribcage due to the punch, but that was all that really happened. "That was rather pointless," observed Kuro, unable to keep from smiling at the futility of the gesture.

 

"I wouldn't be so sure about this if I were you," replied Kikyo, a dark and satisfied smirk pasted on her lips.

 

The beast opened her mouth to ask what the woman meant, but the words died in her throat as a pain like no other gripped her chest. Letting go of her captive, the creature fell to her knees, clutching her ribcage and screaming in agony.

 

"How do you like that? It's the very same technique you used on Masahiro to dispose of him. A small concentrated burst of purification energy that explodes inside the victim's body. I really have to thank you for showing it to me otherwise I never could have used it now," said Kikyo to the skirming Kuro in front of her.

 

"How... you..." tried to utter the beast but the words died in a gurgle as blood began spurting from her mouth.

 

"You of anyone should know just how much power anger and hatred can give a person. In my case, it was enough to allow me to break the limitations of my spiritual exhaustion and channel just enough power to place this attack. I'm afraid you don't have very long now. My attack destroyed your heart so it's likely only a matter of minutes before you die," answered the miko seriously.

 

"I'll... take you... with me!" wheezed the dying Kuro before grabbing hold of the miko's throat and squeezing mercilessly.

 

Findind herself suddenly unable to breathe, Kikyo started clawing at the hand crushing her windpipe in a desperate effort to dislodge it. It was no use however, as weak as the creature had become now, it was still quite a great deal stronger than her. Her efforts grew frantic as black dots began clouding her vision, but still her efforts proved useless.

 

Then, as she was about to lose consciousness, the arm holding her throat jerked and abruptly, the pressure around her throat vanished. Not even realizing what she was doing, she pushed the creature's hand away and took in as deep a breath as she could. God, she couldn't remember how utterly blissfull it was to simply breathe.

 

"You're... not... taking... anyone... down... with... you... bastard!" said a very familiar voice that made the priestess freeze in astonishment.

 

Raising her gaze, she felt her heart stop as she saw who exactly had just saved her life.

 

"Susune..." she whispered, tears welling up in her eyes.

 

The child's hair was a hopeless tangle of dirt, blood and sweat. The ribbon that had held it in a neat pony tail was no more, allowing the girl's hair to fall on her shoulder messily. Her uniform was soaked through and thorned in countless places making the woman wonder how on earth it could still hang on Susune's body. Her left arm was hanging in a makeshift sling made with her blue belt. A huge gash crossed the ten years old's right cheek from right beside the eye all the way down to her chin. The girl's shoulders were hunched in exhaustion and she was panting laboriously... but Kikyo did not see any of this. What she saw was the bright smile filled with relief Susune directed at her.

 

"Kikyo-sama... you're not... hurt are you?" she questioned weakly.

 

The miko merely shook her head negatively, her voice failing her as her lips began curving up in a shaky smile. "That's... good," answered the girl before collapsing to her knees, all strength leaving her body.

 

"Susune!" exclaimed the miko and before she knew it, she had the girl cradled safely in her arms and was crying uncontrollably. "God I thought... I thought... I'd never see you again!" she babbled incoherently.

 

"I'm sorry Kikyo-sama... I'll try not to... worry you like this again," murmured the girl, her head dropping forward and coming to rest against the woman's chest.

 

Silence then reigned supreme on the room, envelopping the pair in a comforting embrace. It was a long time before either of the two decided to speak again, but eventually, Susune spoke up, albeit a little quietly.

 

"Say Kikyo-sama... where is everyone?" she asked curiously.

 

"They shouldn't be too far away. I'll bet they're waiting for us right outside the door," answered the miko.

 

"Do you think... maybe we should call for them?" continued the girl in the same sleepy tone.

 

Kikyo seemed to consider what to answer for a few seconds before her smile turned somewhat wicked. "Well I don't know... I'm sort of beginning to like it here," she said wryly.

 

The child raised her head to gaze into the miko's face. She remained like this, gauging the woman's degree of seriousness before she simply shook her head in discouragement. "Kikyo-sama... you're cruel," she said, her shoulders beginning to shudder in silent laughter.

 

Kikyo wasn't long to follow suit and before they knew it, they were both laughing their heart out, not caring that it hurt every step of the way, not caring that there was a dead body not three foot behind them, not caring that they were both covered in blood. Right now, they were both alive... and it was all that mattered.