InuYasha Fan Fiction ❯ Legend of the Labyrinth ❯ Lost Souls ( Chapter 7 )

Chapter 7

Important Note: I've created a misconception near the end of this chapter. However, to correct it now would ruin the story. Instead, I have made amendments and explainations at the end of chapter 8, that EVERYONE should read.

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The next morning, Kagome woke up to find the sun streaming into her room from somewhere almost directly over head. Yawning, she stretched happily with a sigh, feeling like she had just awaken from the best sleep of her life. Even her bruises didn't hurt as much. The feeling of unhindered bliss continued as she crawled out of bed, changed into her now clean clothes and walked out the door, heading for the kitchen. It was slightly dampened upon her arrival, however, when she heard the arguing coming from the dining room.

"Look at him Shippo! He has animal ears! Of course he's a God beast!"

"Nuh-un! I smell human in him! He can't be a God-beast if he's human!"

"But he can't be! Look at him! Besides the ears, that hair colour is just unnatural! And his nails look like claws! Admit it Inuyasha, you're a god beast, or at least a demon or unnatural being of…some sort!"

Growl. Snort "Keh! Who says I have to tell you!"

By this time, Kagome decided she'd heard enough of the conversation and pushed her way through the light curtain to make her presence known. "Morning everyone!"

"Ah, Lady Kagome! Good morning to you. Did you sleep well?" Kagome smiled and walked a wide path around Miroku, taking a seat beside Inuyasha. She had just sat down when Shippo came flying at her from the other side of the table, to land lightly in her lap.

"Kagome!! You finally woke up!"

She smiled, "Yes, I did. And I slept wonderfully, thank you, Priest Miroku."

Snort, "Yeah, you slept so well I'm surprised you didn't wake up the whole place with your snoring!"

"Inuyasha…" She gave him a warning glare. At least he was back to normal.

"Keh!" Was his response.

Kagome gave him the cold shoulder and went about filling her plate with the food on the table. Mainly, a bit of bread, cheese, and some fresh oranges. It was then that she noticed the relative emptiness of the hall. "Where is everybody?"

Miroku gave a tired sigh, "Asleep, mostly. We usually can't find any reason to awaken before noon, unless it is the season for making wine. I would most likely be asleep as well, if it wasn't for this brat here, waking me up!"

"Oi! You're the one who locks me in the cupboard every night! It's not my fault! I can't hold it forever you know!"

Kagome looked down, shocked at the fur ball in his arms, "He puts you in that cupboard every night! How cruel!"

She shot Miroku a glare, to which he responded by laughing nervously and holding up his hands in self defense. Then, quickly changing the subject.

"So, Lady Kagome, may I ask, how long have you and Inuyasha been travelling together?"

Kagome had to stop petting Shippo to think about that. So much had happened! In her mind, she counted three nights travel…the ship wreak, the attack on the fortress, the night on the beach, "About a week." She said out loud.

"Oh!" Miroku flashed her a charmed smile, "Well then perhaps you can help us settle our little argument. You see we're trying to figure out just what your friend here is, and since he won't tell us, we were wondering if you could."

Inuyasha growled and shot Kagome a "Don't you dare!" look, while Shippo jumped up in her lap and said, "Yeah Kagome, he's a human isn't he! I'm right aren't I! He's human!"

Miroku piped in. "But he can't be! So tell us Lady Kagome, what is Inuyasha? Is he a Demon, or Human?"

Inuyasha's growl had by now reached a very audible level. However, Miroku and Shippo continued to stare at her, oblivious to this.

Should she tell them? Or shouldn't she. Neither of them seemed to care too much either way. Personally, Kagome couldn't see what the big deal was about his heritage, though she knew people had hurt him for it in the past. To her, he was just Inuyasha, and maybe it was about time he found out that not everyone thought it was a bad thing.

Praying she was making the right choice, she straightened her back, lifted her nose, and with the air of a princess, said, "You're both right, Inuyasha is both God beast, and human."

Jaws dropped, eyes bugged, and Inuyasha gripped the hilt of his sword in anger. He had his eyes closed, for which Kagome was glad. She had this strange gut feeling that she wouldn't like the emotions she might have see in them otherwise. Miroku was the first to speak.

"Surely you jest! It isn't possible, is it?"

Kagome shot him her pointed royal glare, "Are you accusing me of lying? That is what he is. And it is possible, because the God, Poseidon, confirmed it to me himself!"

She turned her head up in an indignant sniff, glad for once of all the training she'd received in court. Even though she couldn't see it, she knew the looks that must have been on their faces. It almost made her want to laugh.

"P-Poseidon! You talked to a GOD Kagome?!"

"Of course, and Inuyasha did to. That's where he received his sword, and overcoat."

Now Inuyasha was the focus of their admiring faces. "Inuyasha, is this true?" Miroku asked.

Kagome watched Inuyasha's cheeks turn slightly pink. He wasn't used to being the center of attention. They were looking at him, and they weren't disgusted. "Uh…um…uh…" He stammered for a minute before biting out. "Keh! Kagome isn't a liar!" And turned away with an embarrassed huff. Miroku and Shippo looked at each other, trying to see what the other thought about this.

In the end Miroku settled for nodding his head slightly, adding a thoughtful, "Indeed…"

There was a moment's silence while Kagome munched on her breakfast and everyone else was lost thought. Inuyasha was contemplating why Miroku and Shippo hadn't tried to run him through yet, when a sudden question struck him. Something he had meant to ask yesterday, "Oi!"

Everyone looked up to find him staring at Shippo.

"What are 'you', brat?"

There was an indignant glint in Shippo's eyes as he hopped onto the table and drew himself up to his full height.

"I'm a Fox God beast! My parents were both created by Demeter, the Goddess of the earth! So there!"

Kagome raised her eyebrows, parents? "What happened to your parents, Shippo?"

Surely, they wouldn't let their son live in a place like this. Shippo however, had suddenly gone strangely quiet.

It was Miroku who finally broke the silence. "Still don't want to tell us, eh Shippo…" His voice was not unkind, and maybe even understanding. For the first time, he actually sounded like a priest. When Shippo still didn't answer, He sighed and leaned back in his chair. "No matter though. Demeter is a fertility Goddess after all. We decided that taking him in would bring us good luck, which he did. The grocery bill has been chopped down to almost nothing."

Kagome almost fell out of her chair as Miroku gave Shippo a reassuring pat on the head. Encouraging that kind of behavior, did this man have NO morals?? Still, it seemed to bring Shippo out of his little slump, so Kagome wasn't going to rebuke him. Instead, she let Shippo take a slice of orange off her plate, and another brief silence set in.

"So, Kagome, Inuyasha, how long were you planning on staying with us?"

The thought of spending another night here almost made Kagome choke on her cheese. She was almost relieved when Inuyasha stated, "We're leaving as soon as the wench is finished eating."

Miroku raised an eyebrow, but Shippo's whole face fell. "K…Kagome? He's lying, right?" Obviously the kit had become attached to her. Kagome finished swallowing before she gave a slight nod.

"No, Inuyasha's right. We still have a very long way to travel."

"Where are you going?" Shippo didn't miss a beat as he stared up at her with huge, puppy dog eyes. Kagome felt her heart clench.

"Delphi," She said, regret unintentionally coloring her voice. "I need to go see the Oracle there about finding my family."

She bit her lip and lowered her face to hide the sheen in her eyes. Unfortunately Shippo was standing in her lap.

"You're family? What happened to them?"

What indeed? Even Poseidon didn't know where they were. She was trying to think of an answer that wouldn't betray the shake in her voice when Inuyasha cut it.

"Stupid brat! If she knew that, she wouldn't need to go see the or-i-cal thingy. Keh!"

"You mean you wish to travel all the way to Delphi? On foot?" This from Miroku.

Kagome cleared her eyes and sighed, "I'm not sure. To be honest, I don't even know how far Delphi IS, let alone how we're going to get there. I was hoping we would find someone here who could help us."

To this, Miroku gave a thoughtful, "Hmmmm," and then, "I've heard it is somewhere to the North-west, deep in the mountains, and overlooks the Ionian Sea. I'm sure by heading in that direction, you will be able to find more information."

Kagome nodded and absently stroked Shippo's head. There was another long thoughtful silence.

"Soldiers!"

Everyone turned to Inuyasha, who had muttered the out of place remark. He was sitting still, ears pivoting on the top of his head.

"Inuysaha?"

He flicked his eyes at Kagome in response. "There are soldiers outside, I can hear them."

This bit of information was followed almost immediately by a loud banging at the main gate, and a voice.

"We have you surrounded! Come out peacefully, and bring the demon!"

It was Inuyasha's mind who processed this information first. Rising from his seat, he began to walk purposefully towards the door, only to be stopped by Kagome.

"Inuyasha? Where are you going?"

He turned to her with that completely deadpan face Kagome had come to recognize as the one he wore for battle. The one that assumed everyone was an enemy, and was schooled to revealed no secrets or hints as to his emotional state. Inadvertently she felt a pang in her soul much like hurt. He still didn't trust her.

"They weren't lying, they've got this place surrounded. Everyone's asleep. If they attacked now, it would be blood bath."

There was another insistent banging on the door and Inuyasha once again moved down the hall towards it. He was stopped at the last second by a sudden and firm tug on the back of his jacket.

"Stay there, I will see what they want." and Miroku pushed Inuyasha to the into a corner with Shippo. Kagome stayed with Miroku because she was used to dealing with soldiers and was not intimidated. Ignoring the persistent knocking, Miroku grabbed a monks staff from the arch and slowly lifted the latch. Sunlight streamed in the small crack of door as Miroku pulled it open just enough to show his face.

"Good morning, fellow Athenian. How may the humble followers of Dionysus be of assistance?"

The guard, a rather shaggy middle aged man peered back at him from under the visor of his helmet. There were at least ten other men behind him, and several off to the sides that could not be seen through the narrow space. Miroku kept his face calm.

"We have witnesses who report seeing a demon on these premises. It attacked one woman and is most likely responsible for wreaking havoc on the agora (market). We were sent to investigate. Stand aside."

The soldier attempted to shove Miroku back but the monk stood, blocking the door by planting his foot firmly in front of it. Smoothly he replied, "An attack you say? Unfortunately I have heard of no such thing. Perhaps you could go into greater detail?"

The guard was about to respond when a new, shrill voice pierced the late morning air.

"Liar!" it screamed, "It was that bastard, the one with white hair! Look what he did to my face! He's a monster! He doesn't deserve to live!"

Poor Miroku had to open the door a bit more and crane his neck around the edge to peer at a beautiful young woman with the ugliest black eye/cheek/jaw he had ever seen. "Holy Dionysus!" he gasped, and the young woman burst into tears again.

It was a good thing because it drew everyone's attention away from the strange growling sound that had started to vibrate through the air. Behind the door, Kagome gave Inuyasha a startled/cross look and asked him, "Inuyasha, what did you do?"

The answer was, "Keh!" accompanied by more growling. The soldiers began to force themselves through the door again while Miroku tried to hold them back and Shippo somehow changed himself into a vase. Miroku gave a mighty heave and Kagome lowered the latch into place, followed by the heavy door bar. They had just gotten it in place when a voice rang out from somewhere outside.

" Oi! What are you assholes waiting for? If you want me, come and get me!"

The shrill voice said, "Eeek that's him!" and somebody yelled "Charge!" just as Kagome managed to confirm that Inuyasha wasn't in the corner they had left him. The sounds of clanking armor were fading into the distance.

"Inuyasha!?"

There was a pop and Shippo re-appeared. "He left through the courtyard over the roof! He's out there!"

"Shit!" Kagome gawked as the priest swore. "What in Hades does that bastard think he's doing!"

Half an instant later new voices cut through the air, as monks came running to meet them. "Brother Miroku!" The noise had finally awakened the rest of the compound, which was surprisingly lively considering the massive hangovers they must have been feeling. People were running pell-mell searching for lost weapons and misplaced clothes.

"Arsinos! Put everyone on their guard, we may still be attacked! Lady Kagome, follow me!"

And the next thing she knew she was being dragged down the hall towards the back of the temple. "Wait! Where are we going? What about Inuyasha?"

Miroku snorted something and continued to drag her. They burst through a modest wooden door and into a brightly lit open stable area. In the distance, Kagome could make out the rest of the soldiers running off to join their comrades. There must have been at least two hundred of them, maybe even three. Inuyasha…

"Can you ride bareback, Lady Kagome?"

Kagome was incredibly flustered by now but managed to shake her head, no. Miroku sighed and untied the nearest beast of burden available. "Then it can't be helped!" he said, and with an almost inhuman grace leapt onto the back of the excited animal.

Equally graceful, he leaned over and plucked Kagome off the ground with one arm around her waist. To his credit, he only touched her breast once and her bottom twice while he arranged her sideways in his lap so she wouldn't fall.

"Wait for me! I'm coming too!" Like a shot, Shippo darted out the door as Miroku spurred the beast by hitting it's flank with his staff. Kagome caught the fox kit in mid air as the horse broke into a quick canter and raced out into the busy streets of Athens.

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"I hope everyone will be alright! They wouldn't attack the temple now that Inuyasha's gone, would they?" Kagome tried desperately to focus on something other than her fear of sliding off the horse and landing with a splat on the marble blocks below. In her arms, Shippo seemed to be holding on for dear life.

Miroku didn't look at her, and kept his attention focused on dodging carts and people in the busy streets. "They'll be fine. It's happened before. Some of the citizens don't like us very much."

He swerved around a cart and Kagome shrieked and clutched the arm that passed before her. The firm muscle trembled and Miroku sweated as he single handedly held Kagome in place and steered through the streaming crowds of people. His other arm knocked down any soldiers within range of his staff as the horse overcame them. It seemed Inuyasha was heading to the high grounds of the acropolis and the Temple of Athena. Luckily it wasn't a holy day, and the place would be fairly deserted.

The soldiers were getting thicker, and they seemed to be on to Miroku's ploy of taking them out from behind. He swerved again, this time to avoid a drawn sword. The priest cursed the idiot half breed and said to Kagome, "About this supposed attack, did Inuyasha mention anything to you?"

Kagome couldn't answer as Miroku abruptly switched hands, tossing the staff up in the air and catching it, as the other reached out behind Kagome to steady the horse. She shrieked as the staff came down, clubbing another soldier who had been about to slash her legs off, and Shippo clutched at her so tightly her ribs began to ache. They were almost at the acropolis now, and at the top, Kagome could make out the flash of swords and silver and red in the sunlight, Miroku rode on.

"N-no," the ride became bumpy as they ascended the hill at a trot, "he-he didn't say anything. He was u-upset though, and I doubt that g-girl was telling the tru-uth."

Miroku nodded and suddenly veered off the path and into the bush. Kagome shrieked again and ducked because she couldn't see the branches. Olive leaves brushed her back and whipped her bare arms until, abruptly, Miroku stopped. He slid Kagome off so fast she stumbled to the soft ground, releasing Shippo who rolled some other short distance away. An instant later, the priest was on his feet beside her, tying the panting animal to a nearby tree while Kagome stared up at the rock face before her. The sounds of fighting were closer now, maybe thirty feet directly overhead. She could make out Inuyasha's voice from among them, and prayed he was alright.

"Lady Kagome!"

She turned to see Miroku's shadowed figure sticking half out from a small cave like crevice in the rocks. With his hand, he motioned that she should follow him, and follow him she did. The cave turned out to be a small, low tunnel-way, which wound steeply upwards into an impenetrable darkness. Miroku called for Shippo and Kagome felt something small squirm passed her feet and prayed it was him. A minute later, there was a small cry of "Fox Fire!" and the cave lit up with an eerie blue glow. They continued on, until the cave suddenly stopped, directly under a suspiciously flat piece of stone.

Miroku rested his staff against the wall before bracing his shoulders up against the low ceiling and pushing with all his might. He gave a groan as the stone moved, and a gray natural light flooded into the cave. Shippo stopped making his fire, and they all climbed out. The fighting was very close now, Kagome noted. It was just outside the walls of whatever temple they were in. Kagome was impressed, how had Miroku known about this?

As if he read her thoughts, the delinquent priest muttered, "Never thought this tunnel would come in handy for anything but stealing."

Kagome almost fell back down into the hole.

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Inuyasha leapt onto the roof of the colossal temple gatehouse to plan his next move and see what he was dealing with. The fight hadn't started out too badly, and at first he'd been dancing circles around his enemies and simply knock them out. However, as the battle progressed, Inuyasha found that there was less and less space to dance circles in as more and more soldiers came pouring in through the entrance. Now, he was even more surprised to see at least as many still outside as there were inside. Things weren't looking up.

He yipped as a rock cracked against his skull and quickly dodged the barrage of others that came flying towards him. Damn bastards! His sword was proving to be as useless as it had been when he fought with that annoying monk, and his knuckles were starting to bleed where he had punched in too many of those impossible metal helmets. For some reason, he was hesitant to start using his claws. They were deadly, he knew, but he also hadn't used them much in any number of years. When fighting humans in the labyrinth, his fists had been more than enough to gain the upper hand. Now he examined them as the muscles in his jaw set slowly into a grim line.

A volley of spears were what finally made up his mind. Dodging them, he took another mighty leap, sailed over the heads of the soldiers, and slid to a halt on the worn marble roadway behind them. Some gasps went up, before somebody else yelled "Charge!" and as one, the whole wave of humans about faced and ran in his direction. Inuyasha ran forward as well, diving headlong into the fray.

His senses and brain were on hyper drive so that everything seemed to go in slow motion, while he moved faster than ever before in his life. Using his momentum he seemed to literally 'dig' through the masses of people, feeling a crunch, and then warmth and then wetness as his claws passed through breathing body after breathing body. The blood went up in sprays, spattering his cloths and wetting his cheeks like tears of permanent crimson. He breathed in it's aroma and something within him seemed to lurch and fall into place as smoothly as Inuyasha fell into the pattern of hacking limbs and disemboweling stomachs.

The space around him became wider and wider as his swings flailed wildly and little yellow sparks began dancing from the tips of his claws. Intrigued, he made his next swing wider, hitting nothing yet watching as whip like streaks of light emanated from the his razor edges and sliced cleanly through entire rows of tightly packed bodies. He felt exhilarated and lustful, ecstasy coursing through his veins as he cut carelessly through the backs of bronze encased enemies. They were running from him, they feared him! After an entire lifetime of being hunted the tables were finally being turned and he laughed, cruel and cold as the blood ran from his fingers, flicking off to form streaming arcs, long range projectiles and death personified. It was joy! It was passion! It was power like he had never felt, never knew he possessed. He could conquer the world like this, who needed people? Who needed…

"Inuyasha?!!"

"No, Lady Kagome, wait… …"

Inuyasha would spend the next few months of his life agonizing over that moment. His mind was so awake that he remembered every detail, every smell, every feeling, and every sound as it passed. He would replay it backwards and forwards, slow motion and fast. Sometimes he imagined the trails of his rage passing just slightly to the right, and other times, a little over to the left, and he would shudder to think what could have been and what was. He would remember the way her mouth had moved, but no sound had come out; would remember the darkening stain of betrayal that could not be contained on her sleeve. It slipped down off her elegant finger tips to spat quietly against the once white marble. It mingled with the other bloods there, swimming and thinning in a sea of casual destruction, and was indistinguishable from the rest. He would never forget her eyes…

They stood like that for a long time. Kagome didn't move, Inuyasha didn't move, and Miroku DID move, but it was only to grab Shippo and bury the child's face into the folds of his holy robes, blinding him from that terrible scene.

Mutely, Kagome reached out with her injured arm, and snagged the smallest bit of Inuyasha's robes as far away from his body as possible. She tugged him and he followed, back into the temple, down the hole, the only sound their footsteps, and those of Shippo and Miroku as they followed behind.

Out again in the sunshine, the three mounted the horse, just as before with Kagome sitting on Miroku's lap, and Shippo in hers. She was still bleeding, though she didn't seem to notice. When they started to move, Inuyasha wasn't sure he was meant to follow. Miroku paused some distance away and waited for him to catch up. He did.

They moved steadily north, passing out of Athens, and into the rolling hills beyond, stopping by a stream only when the sun began to set. They made camp there, Kagome attended to her own wounds. Miroku and Shippo found something to eat, but nobody was really hungry.

That night, up in his tree, Inuyasha had nightmares of people calling him "Monster" and the way Kagome had shuddered when she had touched his coat…

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