InuYasha Fan Fiction ❯ Mayumi's Story ❯ Chapter 25 ( Chapter 25 )

Inuyasha belongs to Rumiko Takahashi.

 

 

Mayumi's Story, Chapter 25:

 

Times were changing. Even I noticed there were more humans around now than when I'd first started coming to this era as a child. Proportionally, the number of visible youkai, including the innocuous forest types, had dwindled to next to nothing. It wasn't hard to see how, in a few centuries, youkai would be no more than a faint memory, if that, in the minds of most humans. A few centuries more, and we would be the stuff of legend.

 

It helped me to connect the dots, already knowing the outcome. Of course, not all youkai disappeared. Some withdrew to the wilder places where humans could not go. Some let their physical shapes fade and took on more of their spirit nature. And some, like us, assimilated.

 

The wolf youkai village was remote, but humans still managed to stumble across us, so we built houses and shrines and even an inn for the occasional weary traveler. That's one reason why Daichi and I traveled so often. We traded with other human settlements for the things we needed to blend in, like rice and silks and scrolls of artwork. It gave us an opportunity to hone our human façade, so we could return and coach the other wolf youkai in the art of seeming human.

 

My children all still lived in the wolf youkai village, even Choko, who had moved back with her hanyou children after Hiroshi died. Her children eventually moved away, but Choko stayed. I hoped that one day she would find a nice wolf youkai to settle down with but she wasn't attracted to any of the local men. I didn't push her. When she was ready she would figure it out.

 

Megumi, my youngest, still hadn't found someone to settle down with, either. She was my wild child, most like me in everything but coloring. With her father's dark hair and swept back youkai ears, she could have passed for human, except for the wildness in her soul which shone from her like a beacon of fey light. No one would mistake her for anything but youkai.

 

No matter how old they get, your children are always your children. I'm sure Mama and Papa thought the same thing about me and my brothers. You can't help but worry. I guess with humans, it's inevitable that eventually the trend turns the other way, and the children become the parents. But because we were so long-lived, the old relationships between parent and child still held strong. It helped that we all looked so very young.

 

So when Megumi finally began to get serious about a guy, I was glad. Like I said, Megumi was wild. She often ran with the boys through the mountains like I used to do, and sometimes still did. She met the youkai in a lake region where humans did not settle due to the instability of the area. It was beautiful, if you like surreal landscapes draped in mist and shadow. Personally, I prefer the dappled sunlight that spears down through the treetops and turns the ground into slivers of light and dark. Her youkai wasn't a wolf, but I didn't mind too much. I wasn't a wolf youkai, either. I was just glad that she had fallen in love with someone who was youkai instead of human. Don't get me wrong; I have nothing against humans. I don't mean to give that impression at all. But I wanted my children's children to be strong. I was an idiot back in those days.

 

She spent days at a time with her youkai, and to hear her talk about him, you'd think the world began and ended where he stood.

 

“So when are we going to meet this paragon?” I asked one day, after having listened to her list his attributes one time too many.

 

“Soon, soon,” Megumi promised, tossing back her tousled black hair. “He's anxious to meet you too. I'll bring him back with me this time.” She zipped off into the forest on her latest trip to meet her youkai.

 

“You'd better,” I called after her. Then I promptly forgot about her in the day to day activity of living among the wolves. Megumi was a grown woman, and besides, she was with her boyfriend, so she was safe.

 

It wasn't until a week had gone by that I began to worry. Megumi was usually only gone for three to four days at a stretch. “Daichi, should we go after her?” I asked. I didn't want to interfere, but it wasn't like Megumi not to keep in touch.

 

“How much do we know about this youkai?” Daichi asked, as he began getting ready for an extended trip. I guess that was a yes. We were going after Megumi.

 

“Well, we know he's handsome, and charming, and he makes her very very happy,” I quipped, trying to calm my own fears with a little humor.

 

Daichi just shook his head, and went off to organize some of the other wolves into groups so that we could comb the woods for sight or scent of our Megumi. If she was only spending a little `quality time' with her new man, she was going to be really upset with us.

 

That gave me an idea. “Daichi, I'm going to check the summer house,” I called, and then I sped off before he could object. Maybe Megumi had brought her boyfriend there for a little privacy. It always worked for me. I took my way in between to travel there as soon as I was out of sight of the wolf village.

 

As soon as I arrived in the clearing, I caught Megumi's scent, and one other. My eyes widened and my heart beat faster. It was his scent, Trace's. My daughter must have been kidnapped! I wondered what he had done with her youkai, as I couldn't detect a third scent. I truly hoped he had not killed him. I would never forgive him for that!

 

“Trace!” I yelled, as I charged into the house, breaking down the door in my haste. There was a scramble of movement inside and I didn't comprehend what I was hearing, or smelling. I burst through the inner doors and fell to my knees in horror.

 

From beneath a pile of blankets peeped two golden eyes, gazing back at me in dismay. Megumi clutched a piece of clothing to her neck, hiding herself from my view. Behind her, Trace made no attempt to cover himself, because Megumi was doing that very well for him. His eyes, behind her where Megumi could not see them, laughed at me as his hands moved possessively over my daughter's stomach.

 

“Get away from her!” I growled, as I stalked towards them, one hand on the hilt of my sword. I don't know what I thought I was going to do—Megumi was his shield.

 

“Mama!” Megumi cried. “What are you doing? Stop!”

 

“Yes, stop,” mocked Trace, wrapping his arms even tighter around Megumi. “Don't hurt us!”

 

Megumi twisted her head around to look at Trace, surprise naked on her face. “What?”

 

“It's all right,” Trace murmured, kissing my daughter softly on her temple. She sighed and leaned back against him.

 

“Leave her alone,” I said. Trace must be siphoning off Megumi's energy. I had to get her away from him.

 

Trace laughed, whether because he had caught my last thought, or just because he was that evil, I couldn't tell. I growled again.

 

“Megumi and I are both tired,” Trace explained with that smug grin of his. “You should have waited. I would have brought her back—eventually.”

 

Megumi reddened, but I paled, as the implications of Trace's words finally penetrated to my brain. Trace was Megumi's new boyfriend? My stomach churned, and I let him read my thoughts. Trace's face tightened, then he smiled mockingly again.

 

“Yes, Mayumi, your daughter and I are lovers,” he said with satisfaction. “We share everything. You, on the other hand, haven't shared the secret of your cave with your own daughter. Why is that, I wonder? You keep secrets from your daughter and your husband. Who else do you keep secrets from, Mayumi? Shall I tell your secrets to Megumi?”

 

I felt sicker and sicker as the words fell from Trace's lips. Megumi twisted in Trace's arms and looked from him to me and back again. “You two know each other?” she asked in a small voice. “Trace?”

 

I stared hard back at Trace. “He's not what you think, Megumi,” I said. “Don't trust him. Get away from him now.”

 

Megumi's eyes widened. “No!” she protested. “I love him—and he loves me. I'm not going anywhere.”

 

Oh, how familiar those words sounded. But it wasn't the same—it wasn't the same with Daichi and me. I had to rescue my daughter from herself. I disappeared so I could reappear next to Megumi and yank her away before Trace realized what I had planned. But before I could pull her from his clutches, Trace disappeared, too, and he took Megumi with him!

 

Immediately I followed his track in between, so I was right next to them when they reappeared, thankfully in the same time period, only several yards away, in front of my cave. It was still under Mama's barrier, so it was invisible to Megumi and impenetrable to any but my brothers, my parents, and me.

 

“How can Megumi do that?” I whispered, too shocked to be upset. Up until now, none of my children, or Kazuki's, had shown any indication that they could do what we did, and walk in between.

 

“She's your daughter,” Trace replied. “She has your face, your personality. Is it so surprising that she has your powers?”

 

I carefully shielded my raging thoughts. She looked like me, with dark hair, therefore she looked like Midoriko. Which was worse—thinking that Trace targeted Megumi because she resembled Midoriko, the miko he had unsuccessfully attacked in the past, or because he couldn't have me?

 

“Megumi?” I held out one hand towards my daughter.

 

“Mama, what's going on? I don't understand. Why do you hate Trace? He said you haven't told me the truth about my youkai abilities. He's been showing me how to do some amazing things, Mama.” She clung to Trace as she spoke, wrapped about in pieces of her kimono that she hadn't had time to slip back on when Trace dragged her in between to get away from me, her own mother.

 

“Shall I take her back to your home—your true home?” Trace asked. He started to fade, still holding on to Megumi.

 

“NO!” I shouted, suddenly frightened. This wasn't it, was it? The time when I disappeared? Nothing had ever been said about Megumi, though. If it hadn't happened, it wouldn't happen. Right?

 

Trace solidified once more. “Then give me the jewel,” he said adamantly.

 

My eyes automatically glanced towards my cave where the nonexistent jewel supposedly was stored. Trace followed my glance.

 

“You have one week,” he said. “If you ever want to see your daughter again.”

 

Just before Trace disappeared with Megumi in tow, I caught a glimpse of her face, and it looked just as frightened as mine did at that moment. I lunged after them, but Trace's minions swarmed all over me, stinging me and devouring my essence until I had the presence of mind to draw my sword and annihilate them all. By that time it was too late and I lost track of the path they had taken.

 

I sank down onto the ground and wrapped my arms around my stomach. I felt sick. “Mama,” I whispered. Then, louder. “Mama, Papa, help me! I need you!”