InuYasha Fan Fiction ❯ Psyche ❯ VI. Eeny Meeny Miny -- Oh no. ( Chapter 6 )

Title: Psyche

Author: Stress

Summary: Alternate Universe / When the beauty of the young maiden, Kagome, becomes greater than that of the fabled Kikyo, the spirit sends a half-demon to exterminate her. But, what happens when her pure beauty is strong enough to warm the hanyou?

Disclaimer: I own neither the characters of Inuyasha, nor the Roman myth of Psyche & Cupid. If you can see the parallels between the two stories, I applaud you. If not, please enjoy my interpretations presented here within as cheap entertainment.

Author’s Note: Again, this is a little shorter than normal but this is the last bit before our heroes meet up.  I finished off with a short insight on everyone’s position (except for Kikyou – we can leave her be for a little bit).  Enjoy – and, to anyone who celebrates, Happy Easter.


  VI. Eeny Meeny Miny – Oh no.

“Daughter?” < p>Mrs. Higurashi looked from the dinner she was preparing.  “Dad, that you?  I am in the kitchen,” she answered.

Her father entered the small room.  His face was pale and there was sweat upon his brow.  He immediately slumped into the nearest seat at the table and gestured for his daughter to take a seat.

Confused, and a little nervous, she wiped her hands on her skirt and joined him at the table.  “Is something wrong, Dad?”

He opened his mouth and shut it almost directly after.  His throat was dry and it had nothing to do with the long distance he had walked.  He had accompanied the priestess until she was safely in the village square of the town next over.  After ensuring she had found proper lodging for the night, he had then turned around to make it back home as soon as possible.  His every instinct warned him that he should get home as soon as possible.  His intuition was rewarded when, before he could start on the road back home, the priestess, Kaede, had grabbed his traveling cloak and compelled him to listen to a second prophecy.

The fit took much longer to control this time.  Much nonsense was spouted by the elderly priestess before he could make any sounds that he knew were words.  Just when he was about to call for the innkeeper to help him restrain her – during this spell the priestess had begun to tremble and then shake violently – she had spoken:

By the sacred well she waits, yet she is not alone.  Afore the half-breed finds her she shall be tempted but, should she be pure enough, that purity will stay her to he path.  A haven not of this world shall protect the two but it will not be enough.  Evil and good forces alike will attempt to shatter their fragile bond and more than her soul will be lost should the forces succeed.  The chosen maiden, alongside the half-breed, will lose her life.

His body betrayed him and remained rooted to the spot.  His hunch was vindicated but, as his feet stood firm, he could not leave the inn. 

The priestess, after a few moments, opened her eyes and glanced sadly at the old man.  “I am sorry,” she said simply and fell to the floor.  He had rushed forward and helped her to her cot.  Once she was sitting down comfortably, she spoke again.  “If I would have – I never saw – I didn’t know…” she stumbled, her voice low and weak.  He nodded his understanding.

Shaken and rattled, he had left her there with only a quick word exchanged between himself and the innkeeper on the way out.  He needed to get home.  He needed to warn his daughter and Kagome.

Now, sitting across from his child, he found he couldn’t speak.  How could he tell her that her only daughter was in danger – and that they had pushed her into such a situation?  He would have fallen to pieces if someone had told him something similar of her.  How would she take it?

But he knew he had to warn her.  Maybe she would be in time – maybe she could be saved.  So he told her.  He had, over the hurried journey back to the cottage, memorized and recited the brief addition to the prophecy.  Now, without meeting his daughters’ worried gaze, he spoke it aloud.  When he was done he chanced a glance upward.  She looked confused.  “Lady Kaede had another prophecy about Kagome,” he said sadly. 

A still dread settled over the two adults.  She was just about to rise and leave to bring Kagome back – darn it, If only I can get these legs to move, she thought, remaining unmoving in her seat – when another person entered the kitchen.

Souta.

The young boy was bouncy and seemed, at first, not to notice the quiet surrounding his family.  “Hi Mama.  Good Afternoon, Gramps.  Where’s Kagome?  Anyway, sorry I’m so late but Satoru’s mom insisted that I stay over for lunch.  And, after they let me spend the night last night, I thought it would be rude to refuse…”  His voice trailed off when he saw the confused expression on his grandfather’s face couple with the horrified one on his mother’s.  Hadn’t Souta gone to bed last night with the cat, only to come downstairs with the arrival of the priestess?  Or why was it that, when Souta came downstairs, neither grown-up remembered that Souta had left to spend time with a recently ill classmate?  And, if Souta had left yesterday, who had been at the table that night listening to the priestess’s prophecy?

Mrs. Higurashi finally rose from her seat.  Kagome was in trouble – and she was just beginning to realize how much.


& . & . &

Even though it was dark, and the fall seemed endless, Kagome breathed a sigh of relief.  She would rather be anywhere than with that monster.  Just the thought that he could chase after her into the well at any moment made her skin crawl.  She twisted her head up to check whether or not he was there.  There was no one there, he had not followed her – yet.

Feeling safer, she continued in her freefall.  When I land, she decided, I’ll wait until I hear Mama arrive and I’ll yell for help.  She’ll go get Grandpa and they’ll save me from him.  But the bottom of the well never came and she continued to fall. 

All at once the stories her grandfather told her in her youth came barreling through her mind.  The well, it had been said, was a place to turn to when evil was abound; guarded by the priestesses of the village, the well had been purified generations ago but the concentrated spirituality of the structure warped it from its initial design.  While it once was used to discard the remains of defeated demons, it now accepted anything – or anyone, she noted, wryly – that it deemed worthy.  However, as her grandfather warned her constantly, usually accompanied by a smiling threat that should she be naughty he would toss her in, anything that went in the well never came out again.

When the fall continued to lengthen, her nervousness grew considerably.  What if she fell forever?  I really should have thought this over before jumping in, she chided herself.  Her next thought, very similarly to the earlier one – after all, how diverse of thoughts can one be expected to have when free-falling in an ancient, enchanted well? – was cut off when a blue flash erupted around her.  Almost immediately, Kagome’s butt made contact with the ground.

She had landed.  And it was dark.


& . & . &

With a sigh, Naraku pulled himself together.  His aura shimmered much stronger than it had before but, of course, the injury had been much more serious.  It took a few minutes for his torso to repair itself and he grew impatient at the wait.  The last time Inuyasha had struck him down in the same manner he had only taken a moment to become whole.  He must have grown weaker over the last fifty years.

His sigh deepened when his gaze landed on the well.  Not only had it swallowed up Kagome but Inuyasha had followed after her.  It was only a matter of time until the poor girl knew exactly what role she was playing; knowing her fiery nature as he did he was aware that it might not be welcome knowledge for her to know that she was nothing more than a Kikyou replacement.  He could only hope that he got to her before that vulgar half-breed did.

Naraku placed his hands on top of the well, preparing to push himself in after the pair.  At first contact he was aware of the painful sensation but ignored it.  It was nothing more than a faint spark to him so he continued.  He raised his leg and tried to enter the mouth of the well.  But his foot went no farther – as soon as he made to lower it, a magnificent force propelled him back.  It took a moment for the truth to sink in.  He narrowed his crimson eyes and glared at the offending structure.

The well had not let him through.  He remained on the one side while Kagome was falling ever further away from him.

Merely inconvenienced, Naraku got to his feet and approached the old fixture.  The well had allowed Inuyasha passage yet it denied the same to him.  He traced the rim of the well with his index finger enjoying the pain he endured.  I’ll just have to wait until they emerge, he decided.  He cast a barrier around the area so that none, including Kagome’s bothersome mother, could come nearer to the well than he wished; he also set the barrier so that, should the pair decide to climb out, neither Inuyasha nor Kagome could leave the area.  Then, again, he would be in control.


& . & . &

Though he had only jumped into the well a few moments after the girl Inuyasha caught no sight of her during his descent.  This was a good thing; as soon as he caught sight of her he planned on throttling her until she explained to him exactly what was going on.  Not only did this girl share in Kikyou’s face but, it seemed, she also shared in Naraku’s company.

Even though he was falling he held out his hand and extended his claws.  The crack they emitted as they grew to their full length resonated around the wooden structure.  Sure that he was still in the well, at least, Inuyasha focused on what he would do when he found the girl.  Maybe he would have been better off if he had shot the girl with Kikyou’s bow and arrow when he had the chance.  Maybe then he wouldn’t be in this mess in the first place.

He reached out and tried to grab hold of the side of the well by jamming his clothes into the wood.  But no matter how far out he reached he could not find the side.  That confused him.  He had seen the well countless times; if he veered to the right and stretched out there should be no reason why he could not easily touch the side.

He huffed and, as he continued to fall, crossed his arms.  He should have known better.  The well was enchanted enough; obviously the mikos had set it up so that any living creature that was thrown inside would not be able to grab hold and climb back out.  And, since many of the priestesses had used this well as a burial ground for demon remains many years ago, he was equally certain that it would be warded so that none could climb back out.  If a demon had resurrected and had the ability to fly, the well would have to be spelled so as to not let anyone leave the structure.

Either way he looked at it, he was stuck.

Wait… maybe not…

Inuyasha had his pride.  Coupled with his sense of honor, his pride was all the hanyou ever had.  But was he prepared to continue to fall for the rest of his existence just in the name of his pride?  He had is pride – but he wasn’t that proud.

He had one chance and he was going to have to take it.  He had to call on Kikyou.  Not only was she one of the most powerful mikos to ever have lived, she had strengthened many of the charms and spells on this exact well only fifty years ago.  She should be able to view him with her mortal mirror; if she did then she could use her retained spiritual powers to reverse the spells and allow him to leave.

And, as an added bonus for her help, Inuyasha was prepared to leave the girl – that Kagome – falling within the well.  This way Kikyou got what she wanted and Inuyasha could return back to his cloud.  It wasn’t the best plan, and he wouldn’t choose it normally, but forever falling in an enchanted well was not a normal circumstance.

Knowing he would regret this move – it was never a good idea to give Kikyou something else to hold over his head – Inuyasha opened his mouth to call out for Kikyou’s help.  But, right as he began to make the first sound, a blue flash surrounded him.  Temporarily blinded, Inuyasha relied on his instincts.  He curled up tight, presenting a smaller target in case a threat was present.  Until his sight came back to him, this would have to suffice.

His sight might have been impaired by the flash but his other senses were still in tact.  By his sense of touch, Inuyasha felt that he was no longer falling.  He landed abruptly on top of a grassy area and, defensively, drew himself up to his knees.  By his sense of hearing, Inuyasha knew he was not alone.  The sound of someone breathing deeply and quickly – They’re trying to remain calm, he thought – was just off to his left side.  And, by his sense of smell, he recognized who that person was.

He was stranded in an unknown place, and blinded, alongside that Higurashi Kagome.  Perfect, just perfect.