InuYasha Fan Fiction ❯ Love, Interrupted ❯ Chapter 48 ( Chapter 48 )

[ Y - Young Adult: Not suitable for readers under 16 ]

Inuyasha sat up and held his head in his hands. Kagome wrapped her arms around him and leaned her face into his neck, kissing him softly,
"You're back, Inuyasha." she spoke softly to him, in a soothing, calm voice.
Sesshoumaru, badly hurt, bruised and bloody, looked down disdainfully at Inuyasha,
"You weak, pitiful half-demon. This only proves you do not deserve father's blood. I would never have been controlled by the likes of Ryouya or this Bbwaddene." he eyed Cleopatra warily as he spoke the last words.
"I know that." Inuyasha muttered, very softly.
"HMPH!" she muttered, "With an attitude like that, you most certainly will, Sesshoumaru."
"What do you mean by that?" asked Anzu.
"Bbwaddene looks for imperfections. For broken lines. For any weakness." she spoke, huskily.
"I have no weaknesses." spoke Sesshoumaru evenly.
"Your brother is your downfall, my dear Sesshoumaru." the demoness spoke, her voice again dripping sex.
As the full demon's eyes grew wide at her statement, Miroku approached,
"Who are you and who exactly is Bbwaddene?" he asked.
The demoness eyed the monk carefully,
"A human." she purred, "I see you are affected by my aura." she spoke in a deep, round, sexy voice as her eyes averted to his waist, hidden behind his monks garb, but not hidden to her knowing eyes.
"Miroku ..." warned Sango, "Back away." she said, but the monk ignored her.
"He's bewitched." said Anzu.
"That's what she was trying to do to me." said Sesshoumaru, blankly.
Sango walked up to her husband and landed a loud, resounding SMACK! across his face, knocking him to the ground and breaking the spell.
"Wha ...what happened?" he asked, shaking his head.
"You were overcome by the demoness." muttered Kagome, who still held Inuyasha close to her.
Inuyasha struggled to get up, his body weakened by what had happened to him,
"Inuyasha. You shouldn't be walking yet." urged Kagome, but it fell on deaf ears.
Inuyasha turned and walked away from the group with Kagome close behind. The rest of the group just watched as the couple walked away. Miroku turned back to the demoness,
"Answer me." he demanded.
"I am Cleopatra. I am a hyena demoness from the valley of Niger on the continent of Africa."
"Africa?" asked Sango.
"Yes, a continent far away. My husband is Bbwaddene ... a hyena demon from the southlands of Africa." she spoke.
"You are not from the same areas?" asked Anzu.
"No. Mine was a political marriage. Our marriage was supposed to join our two warring tribes. Instead, Bbwaddene enslaved my people and brought them back to the southlands to work his fields."
"The demons worked the fields for Bbwaddene?" asked Miroku, incredulously.
"Demons and humans. My family was the rulers and protectors of the Niger peoples ... both demon and human."
"How terrible." commented Sango.
"So how did Bbwaddene get here?" asked Miroku.
"He heard of the gods of Japan and decided he wanted to be more than a dictator ... he wanted to be worshipped as a deity. Then he met Ryouya ... who desired to rule the Western Lands. It was a cinch to manipulate him."
"So with Ryouya's manipulation, Bbwaddene began killing humans and demons?" asked Miroku.
"Killing the ones that he couldn't enslave. The ones he enslaved are being kept in his castle in the north." she said, finishing her story and turning away.
Sesshoumaru turned away also and walked over to where he had seen the priestess' illusion. As he peered towards the ground, he saw it. A demon puppet broken in half.
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Some where farther north ...
"DAMMIT!" Ryouya cursed, as he paced frantically back and forth, "My puppet is destroyed. I have lost my grip on Inuyasha."
"And it appears Sesshoumaru is still alive." came a deep voice from behind, making Ryouya jump.
"Bbwaddene, it's you." Ryouya held his chest as his heart pumped rapidly.
"Frightened of me, Ryouya? For what reason?" the huge, ebony colored man smiled evilly.
"No ... no reason, master." Ryouya bowed his head.
Bbwaddene continued, "I do not fear that weak half demon ... but Sesshoumaru is another matter ... I can't even count on you to destroy him with the half-demon ..."
"Give me another chance, master. I promise, this time I will succeed. That foolish mortal with her sacred arrow ... she's the one that did it ... I concentrated all my power into the sword ... it should have worked ..."
"I have given you many chances to kill that half-demon and his boring mortal mate. I have given you access to my powers. THIS IS A BLOODY HALF-BREED, YOU IDIOT!" Bbwaddene bellowed.
Ryouya cowered from the thundering voice.
"And, furthermore, there's the business of that village over on the eastern border of the western land ... why hasn't that village been destroyed or enslaved?" Bbwaddene spoke more civilly.
"There is some kind of presence there ... protecting it ... I do not know what it is nor can I defeat it." Ryouya got out in a shaky voice.
"That, my friend, is your final answer?" said Bbwaddene, his eyes staring cruelly down at the dog demon.
"Y ... y ...yes ... wh .. wh...why?" he stammered, his head bowed in respect.
Blood spattered on the wall as a loud scream echoed through the castle,
"AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!" ------------------------------------------------------------------------
"Inuyasha?" asked Kagome, as she took his hand, "Where are we going?"
Inuyasha stared straight ahead, "Far away." was his only reply.
He then stopped and knelt, her signal to get on his back. She did so, and he was off like a shot, racing through trees and over rivers. Kagome knew they had gone far away when he finally stopped to let her off. As she slid off his back he turned, pulling her into a hard embrace,
"Inuyasha?" she mumbled into his hitoe.
"Kagome." he spoke, his voice sounding older than his years, "I know what I've done. I know what I did to those people. I know I attacked Sesshoumaru."
"Inuyasha. You were under someone else's control. It wasn't even you ... you didn't do it."
He released her and turned away, his head hung low, his bangs covering his eyes,
"But ... I was powerless to stop it. I had no control over my own body." he spoke, "I don't deserve anything but death for what I've done. I don't deserve to live."
"Inuyasha! You stop talking like that right now ... it wasn't you!" she raised her voice just a bit.
"You heard Sesshoumaru. He never would have been overcome. But, I was. I'm a weak, pitiful half-demon."
"Yes, you are a half-demon and probably because Sesshoumaru is a full-blooded demon, he wouldn't have been overcome. But, Inuyasha, you have done things Sesshoumaru has never expected you to do because he thought of you as weak. You mastered Tessaiga, you defeated Naraku, you procreated!!! Dammit, Inuyasha, you can't expect to do everything!"
"If I was full-demon though ..." he spoke softly.
"INUYASHA! Put that thought out of your mind!!! You know what happens when you are full demon ... you told me that wasn't the power you desired..."
"WHAT IF I CAN'T PROTECT YOU ... OR THE PUPS?" he screamed at her.
She ran to him and wrapped her arms around him, "I know you will always protect me. You always have."
"KAGOME!" he yelled her name, "LISTEN TO ME!"
"I will not listen to you utter such nonsense!" she shook her head hard and fast, as she wrapped herself tighter around him and cried.
As the salty scent of her tears reached his nose, Inuyasha softened. He never could stand her tears,
"Kagome ..." he said, softly, as he pulled her into his arms, "I'm sorry."
"You are who you are, Inuyasha. And you're not a horrible person. Of course, you feel bad about what you did ... but it wasn't YOU doing it ... you heard that demoness ...it was this Bbwaddene person." she sobbed.
"Kagome." his resolve was gone ... melted away with her tears.
"Let's go back to the others, Inuyasha." she said, softly, her tears drying.
Inuyasha turned around and knelt as Kagome climbed on his back and they headed back to the group.
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Sesshoumaru walked back to the group with the remnants of the demon puppet in his hand.
"Cleopatra. You said Inuyasha was my downfall ... what do you mean by that?" his eyes narrowed as he looked at her.
"As long as you harbor that deep rooted hatred of your brother ...you are just as vulnerable as he was."
"HMPH! Ridiculous!" huffed the daiyoukai.
"You were unable to even hurt me ... and the Wind Scar hurt you." said Cleopatra.
"Are you saying that as long as Inuyasha and Sesshoumaru continue to hate each other ... Bbwaddene can harm them?" asked Miroku.
"Wow! An alliance between Inuyasha and Sesshoumaru ... I never thought I'd see that!" commented Shippou, wryly.
"There will be no alliance!" remarked Sesshoumaru, gruffly.
"Sesshoumaru!" Miroku said in a commanding voice.
The daiyoukai turned to face the monk ... staring at the mortal with cold, hard eyes.
"If you truly wish to defeat Bbwaddene ... then end your hatred towards Inuyasha." Miroku demanded.
"Inuyasha is not worthy of our great and terrible Father's blood." said Sesshoumaru.
"That may or may not be ... but our common goal here is to defeat Bbwaddene and set Japan free of his tyranny." Miroku said, his voice tinged with anger.
"The human speaks the truth." Cleopatra rolled her words off her tongue.
Sesshoumaru began to turn to counter Cleopatra's remarks when the object of their discussion landed softly in front of him. Kagome slid off his back and Inuyasha stood straight and tall ... looking straight into his brother's cold eyes,
"Sesshoumaru." he spoke, his voice straight and even.
"Inuyasha." his brother responded, returning the even gaze.
Cleopatra stared at the two brothers and thought, 'They aren't fooling anybody. They both hold a deep-seated respect for each other's accomplishments. Maybe Bbwaddene has a real fight on his hands.'
Inuyasha turned to his comrades,
"C'mon. Let's go." he said.
"Go? Go where?" asked Miroku.
"Where else? To battle Ryouya and whoever is pulling his strings." said Inuyasha.
"Do you know where he is?' asked Shippou.
"Yea. I picked up his stench close to where Kagome and me stopped." he said, then thought 'But, there's blood mixed in. Ryouya's blood as well as the blood of the damn Shiba pack. I hope we aren't too late.'
Cleopatra came forward,
"You will never get past Bbwaddene's guards. They'll notice you right away. Bbwaddene's looking for you, remember?" she spoke.
"How do you suggest we get in then?" asked Sango.
"Under cover." she replied.
"WHAT? You expect me to SNEAK in????" Inuyasha declared.
That response earned him a heated right-hook from Sesshoumaru,
"What the FUCK was that for, Sesshoumaru?" he cried out, as he recovered.
"For being an idiot." his brother coolly replied.
"Bout time." muttered Shippou.
Inuyasha turned his head toward Shippou and growled,
"SILENCE INUYASHA!" commanded Sesshoumaru, "From here on out, I give the commands!"