InuYasha Fan Fiction ❯ Mayumi's Story ❯ Chapter 26 ( Chapter 26 )

Inuyasha belongs to Rumiko Takahashi

 

Mayumi's Story, Chapter26:

 

 

“Mama? Papa?” I repeated mournfully, hiccoughing a little as my tears subsided. What good was crying now? I was afraid to time travel to the future even for this. Trace had given me one week to produce the jewel. That meant he was coming back here. What if I fell into his trap by going to the future to fetch my parents and got stuck there? What would happen to Megumi then? I clenched my fists in frustration. This was all Fenn's fault for not taking care of his creation when he had a chance.

 

“Fenn!” I screamed, raising my eyes skyward.

 

I didn't really expect anything to happen. But the air exploded with an audible pop and Fenn stood before me, looking almost as surprised as I was. He knelt down and gathered me into his arms and awkwardly patted my back as I cried in relief.

 

“Shh,” he said, when I tried to explain what had happened. “I know.”

 

“I thought you didn't time travel,” I said, sniffing the air around him. Fenn had a smell. He smelled like home when I was a little girl. Just his presence comforted me.

 

He laughed. “I don't. I've never gone this far before. But you didn't leave me much choice.”

 

“Me? You heard me?” I was astonished.

 

Fenn nodded, still smiling, and I had to wonder just how powerful this youkai was, and did any of us really know him at all?

 

“You know me,” he admonished gently. “I'm still the same Fenn who used to give you cookies when your Mama wasn't looking. Remember?”

 

That was a lifetime, nearly two lifetimes ago. It was hard to reconcile that Fenn with the one Trace described so bitterly. I watched Fenn's expression change from sunny to somber as he read my thoughts, and it brought it home even more how very like Trace he was.

 

“That's because you're so loud,” Fenn commented. “I usually try not to read my friends' thoughts.”

 

I wondered if that meant he had no qualms about reading the thoughts of those he did not consider his friends. He just gave me that enigmatic smile which meant he wasn't going to answer. Then I wondered if Papa had ever been successful in hiding thoughts from Fenn, and his laughter rang out. I guess not.

 

Fenn helped me to my feet and used his sleeve to wipe away the tracks my tears had left upon my cheeks. “Go back to your husband,” he told me. “I'll let Inuyasha know what happened here.”

 

I stared at him. “You're not going to help?” I asked. I'd assumed Fenn would be able to find Trace if anyone could. They were the same, after all.

 

“No, we're not,” Fenn replied, pointing to his head and mouthing `loud' to explain why he was still reading my thoughts. I couldn't help it. I giggled.

 

“Trace is me a thousand years ago,” Fenn explained. “He doesn't want to see anything but himself. If I had noticed him when he was younger I might have had a chance to put an end to him, but not anymore. Now, I see myself in him, and I see what he might still become. No, you need your father to kill him now.”

 

“But where do we look? Surely you must have some idea where he might hide.”

 

“Look in the dark, swampy places. That's where he will have taken her.”

 

“How--?”

 

I didn't get to finish my question before Fenn replied, “Because that's what I would have done, once upon a time. Gone back to where I originally came from, where I felt most powerful.”

 

“A swamp?” I was skeptical. What was powerful about a swamp? “You originally came from a swamp?”

 

Fenn shrugged and smiled sheepishly at me. “What can I say? The primal ooze? The stuff of creation? I have no clear memories of where I came from, or when, but it was dark, and wet, and teeming with life. It's what I am.”

 

“Are you kidding me?” I could see he was not, even though he still had a faint smile on his lips. “And that's where Trace brought my daughter?”

 

“Most likely. I'll go get Inuyasha now.”

 

I grabbed his arm. “Won't you stay? You're here already.”

 

Gently Fenn loosened my fingers from his arm. “I have to go, Mayumi,” he said. “I don't belong here.”

 

I blinked. Fenn said he didn't belong; he did not say I didn't belong, like Trace repeatedly told me. A sense of relief washed over me. I did belong in this time, after all.

 

“Of course you do,” he agreed. “Trace was wrong. You belong here just as much as you belong in the future.”

 

There was an even louder bang as air rushed in to fill the space where Fenn had stood, and in the distance I felt the earth rumble. Perhaps Fenn was right, and he did not belong here. Perhaps there was a reason why he did not time walk for any great distance. I took a deep breath and centered my thoughts. It would be a little while before Papa got here, and I needed to figure out how much of the truth I was going to be able to tell Daichi.

 

Koji found me before Papa returned. Fenn had briefed him on the situation and he had volunteered to act as a go-between in case I had need of someone from my time, a sort of telephone line to the future. He waited in my cave, which, of course, he had free access to, while I returned to the wolf youkai village and reported on what I had found to Daichi and his men. I told him Megumi had indeed been at the summer house, with her youkai lover (oh, how I cringed at saying those words out loud!), but something had happened and they must have left suddenly. I didn't mention that the something that happened was me!

 

Daichi and Kouga and some of the other wolf youkai immediately left for the summer house to try and pick up Megumi's trail, and I followed them, ostensibly to clean up some of the damage I'd found there. I knew they wouldn't be able to pick up any trail because Trace had disappeared with my daughter. They detected Fenn's scent, and assumed he had been the `problem,' and I couldn't really disagree. I needed them to be gone before Papa arrived.

 

Daichi's face was strained, and he looked like he could use a good night's sleep. Megumi was his baby, too. I should have been by his side through this. But I couldn't be, not if I wanted to safely rescue Megumi. I wanted Trace dead for what he'd done, and only me or Papa or one of my blood could attack Trace in between and hurt him. Maybe Fenn couldn't bring himself to kill him, but I had no such problem.

 

“I'm so sorry, Mayumi,” Koji murmured after the wolf youkai had all gone. “We'll get her back.”

 

I nodded wordlessly, and busied myself removing the debris from the broken doors. I couldn't bring myself to touch any of the blankets that had made up their love nest, so Koji did it for me, gathering the cloths in a bundle and bringing them outside.

 

“Papa will want to see this,” he said, careful not to mention scent although we both knew that's what he meant. “She didn't know—about Trace, I mean?” he asked.

 

“No,” I said, miserable in my guilt. Had Trace been right when he said I kept too many secrets from those I purported to love? Was keeping the time line intact more important than Daichi? Than Megumi?

 

“Did she really love him?” Koji asked, holding up a kimono that reeked with their combined scents.

 

“NO!” I shouted, revolted by the idea. Megumi hadn't loved that monster! No more than Trace loved Megumi. He was incapable of love! He was just using Megumi to get back at me, that's all.

 

“All right.” Koji threw up his hands, “I believe you.”

 

Mama arrived with Papa not long after that, and she stayed with me while Papa took Koji and headed for the nearest swamp. He told me not to come, and at first I argued. Megumi was my daughter. I wanted to be involved in her rescue. Besides, I knew the area better. . .Papa just gave me a look, and I subsided. Ok, so Papa knew the area too. But I wanted—

 

“I said stay here,” he insisted. “You're too close to it. You'll distract me.” He hefted Tetsusaiga over his shoulder, where he had drawn it as soon as he caught Trace's scent. He agreed with me on how dangerous Trace was. He would kill him without hesitation.

 

Maybe Papa was right. I was too close to the situation. I might make things worse if I lost my temper. “All right, I'll stay here with Mama until you come back with Megumi.”

 

In a flash, Papa and Koji were gone. Koji surprised me. I had thought, just because he chose to remain in the modern world, that he would be somehow weaker or slower than the youkai here, but I was wrong. Koji was just as fast, and just as strong, as Papa.

 

Mama and I waited in my cave, where she showed me her latest gadget. She called it a holo, and it was tiny enough to fit into the palm of her hand. She used it to store pictures of the grandkids.

 

“I even had some of your old digital shots converted,” she told me, as she touched the device once.

 

A life-sized three-dimensional image of Choko's son Noboru, when he was about three or four, suddenly appeared in front of me. I reached out to touch the image, but my hand went right through it.

 

“You can get ones that talk and move,” Mama said, “but I just brought the stills this time. They're so life-like, don't you think?” She touched the device one more time and other images appeared—Koji as a little boy, me, my own babies one after the other. My throat closed up as I watched and remembered.

 

“Your Uncle Sesshomaru is developing an adaptation that would let youkai wear the hologram like a second skin. Wouldn't that be wonderful? You'd never have to wear a kerchief again! Of course, that's still years off, and naturally the holo wouldn't stand up to physical scrutiny. Your ears would still be there, under the holo.”

 

Mama was babbling, which meant she was nervous. I think she realized her holograms had made me sad. “That would be nice, Mama,” I murmured, to set her at ease. The future was a very different place from what I remembered.

 

Koji suddenly popped in, and Mama and I both jumped back in startlement. “Papa's got Megumi,” he panted, “but Trace got away.”

 

“Where is she?” I started to run towards the mouth of the cave, but Koji stopped me by placing his body between me and the entrance. He wouldn't look me directly in the eyes.

 

“There's something you should know,” he mumbled softly. “She's—not happy. She thinks we are the bad youkai. She tried to defend Trace.”

 

“That's nonsense!” I said, and I pushed past him. I didn't know what Trace had said to my daughter to make her trust him, but I'd make sure she knew the truth.

 

“Dad said not to go out there!” Koji protested. “It's safer in here for you and Mama.”

 

Safer, because of Mama's barrier, which Trace couldn't penetrate. Suddenly I had an idea how we could get Trace! But first I needed to make sure Megumi would be safe, too. “Mama, I'll be right back!” I called, as I ignored Koji and burst out of the cave.

 

Predictably, Koji followed me. “Koji, you've got to bring me to Papa and Megumi. Right now!” I said urgently. “Megumi can move in between like we can. Papa doesn't know that.”

 

Koji's eyes widened. “Then she can get away from him at any time!” he said.

 

“Yes, but she's not good at it yet. She only knows what Trace has showed her, and I doubt he's shown her very much. He likes to be in control too much. So we still have a chance to get to her before she figures out how to get away.”

 

Koji nodded, and brought me to where he'd left Papa and Mayumi. He was right; there was no trace of Trace, but we picked up Papa's trail and followed him as fast as we could. He hadn't gotten too far, with a screaming Megumi slung over his shoulder. She had gouged him pretty good.

 

“Megumi!” I called, and Papa turned around, still holding her with one arm.

 

“Mama!” she cried. “Help!”

 

“It's all right. We're here to help you. Pa—I mean, sir, please put her down.”

 

Papa loosened his grip, although he didn't let go altogether, which was a good thing, because as soon as Megumi's feet touched the ground she tried to run. “No, you don't,” grunted Papa, as he scooped her up again like a sack of potatoes, ignoring her outraged shrieks.

 

“Megumi!” I cried again.

 

“Traitor!” she yelled back. “He tried to hurt Trace! You want to hurt Trace, too! He told me all about you! Let me go!” She pounded on Papa's back, then swiped at him with her claws until he unceremoniously dumped her on the ground and held her there with one foot on her bottom. She fought back wildly, but Papa wouldn't let her turn over so her attacks were mostly ineffectual.

 

I wanted to cry. What had Trace done to turn my beautiful daughter against me? What, exactly, had he told her? It didn't matter now, not really. We had to un-do what he had done. “Koji, can you take Megumi to Fenn?”

 

“You mean to our time?” Koji probably thought that was the last thing he'd ever hear me say.

 

“Yeah. He needs to make her forget. Forget Trace, forget what he told her, all of it. Give me at least a day, then you can bring her back, somewhere where Daichi and the others can easily find her. Will you do that?”

 

“Of course,” Koji replied. “You sure you want me to bring her back afterward? We can keep her there with us if you like.”

 

I thought about it, but I shook my head. Daichi would be devastated if his youngest daughter disappeared. Soon enough, if history ran true, I would disappear and hurt him deeply enough. He couldn't lose two of us. And, since it hadn't happened, it wouldn't happen, and I had the means to make sure of it. “No, once her memory is clear, bring her back.”

 

Koji nodded, and went over to figure out how he could hold on to Megumi long enough to time-walk back to our time and Fenn. He finally ended up just hefting her over his shoulder like Papa had, and the two of them winked out, hopefully getting to Fenn before Megumi realized she could do that, too.

 

“What are you up to?” my father asked suspiciously. He twisted around, trying to see his back, which was lined with bloody stripes from Megumi's sharp claws. He hadn't said a word when I asked Koji to effectively bring my daughter to Fenn to have her mind erased.

 

I didn't want to tell Papa. His mind was like a sieve. If I told Papa, then Trace would read my plans from Papa's thoughts. So I danced around the truth. I was getting too good at that. “Now that Megumi is safe, we can concentrate on getting Trace,” I told him.

 

“Hmph,” he answered, not quite believing me.

 

“I'll meet you back at the cave,” I said, before I disappeared. With any luck, I'd be able to put my plan into action before Papa got there, and before Koji got back with Megumi. For this plan, I was going to need Mama's help.