InuYasha Fan Fiction ❯ Speaking Through Dreams ❯ Chaos That Releases the Mind ( Chapter 8 )

Speaking Through Dreams

 

Disclaimer: I do not own Inuyasha; that right belongs to Rumiko Takahashi. No profit is being made off of this story, so please don't sue me; I have no money.

 

Japanese Words in this Chapter:

Kazaana: air void or wind tunnel

Saimyoushou: The poisonous insects Naraku uses

Kami: Japanese god, deity, or a spirit of nature

Taijiya: Demon slayer

Inu-no-nii-chan: Dog eared brother (Sota's name for Inuyasha)

Shikon no Tama: Jewel of four souls

 

Chapter 8: Chaos That Releases the Mind

 

CRACK!!

 

The sound of glass prayer beads cracking filled the tense air. Kagome could hear Miroku's heart beating faster and faster and smell the fear dripping off of him, as well as everyone else, even Naraku. He probably didn't plan for this to happen.

 

CRACK!! CRACK CRACK!!

 

“EVERYONE GET AWAY FROM ME!!” Miroku cried in horror. Images of his father being sucked up into his kazaana and the crater it left behind filled his head. He couldn't let his friends get caught in that.

 

Hearing his voice snapped everyone out of their trance, but it was too late. Right as they turned to run a final crack was heard from the prayer beads followed by the sound of them shattering. A huge gust of wind started blowing everything towards the wind tunnel. Everyone grabbed the ground as everything that wasn't anchored down was sucked into the kazaana like a tornado. Rocks, debris, villagers, everything swirled around Miroku's now up-cast hand before entering the void.

 

Kagura, in an attempt to counteract the affects of the curse, summoned up her own winds to blow in the opposite direction. However, the only thing that accomplished was to knock the villagers out of harms way before the kazaana took over her winds and added them to its strength. The winds doubled in velocity, and a stray tree branch flew into the now standing Kagura, knocking her into the winds and sucking her into the haywire kazaana.

 

The winds were screeching and howling in Kagome's ears as she crawled away from Miroku and his kazaana. Sango, however, wasn't so lucky as to be the furthest from the epicenter of the whirlwind. In fact she and her brother were the closest, followed by Kanna and Naraku. Kanna and Kohaku were merely hugging the ground for dear life, seeing as Naraku had yet to give them any commands to escape.

 

Another flying plank of wood caused Kagome to duck her head momentarily before she continued her slow crawl against the winds and away from danger. When she looked again she could see that Kanna had lost her grip and was going into the void, along with her mirror which currently held the souls of all the villagers!

 

Miroku let out a bloody cry that was heard over the screech of the winds as both his kazaana increased its size to that of his hand and the saimyoushou that had been in the air entered his body. Kagome didn't have to look to know that Miroku's face was contorted with pain as his very being was starting to enter the curse.

 

`DANGER!!'

 

Kagome looked over her shoulder to see that Naraku, now back in the form of Inuyasha due to the use of his claws, was forming a tentacle from his back.

 

He's gonna try to knock me into the kazaana!

 

As Naraku brought back the tentacle like a whip, preparing to knock back Kagome, she was desperately trying to think of a way to avoid the attack. Crawling on the ground was too slow, especially because of the winds, and rolling and leaping out of the way were no good for the same reason. Naraku brought down the tentacle hard and fast, but it didn't have the desired effect…or even direction. Naraku's tentacle was trapped by the kazaana!

 

Eyes wide in fear, Naraku looked to see Miroku pointing the curse directly at him, thus centering all the wind's destructive power right on Naraku. Miroku had a pained smirk on his face as he watched Naraku, claws digging into the ground, slide towards the curse that he had created. Debris was flying everywhere within 30 feet of the kazaana, hitting the ground closest to it thus digging up dirt and forming a crater. And Naraku, try as he might, couldn't help being pulled into that area of flying death; he knew that as soon as he reached that event horizon he would be knocked off the ground and into the kazaana, just like Kagura and Kanna. 10 feet away from the debris, he was starting to sweat. 9 feet, Kagome could smell the fear radiating from him. 8 feet, the kazaana pulsed again and tripled in power. Naraku was instantly wrenched from the ground without the assistance of the debris and yelled as he spiraled into the curse, along with all his shards of the Shikon no Tama.

 

Miroku cried louder than before as the kazaana completely devoured his hand and started slowly making its way down his arm, growing bigger as it climbed. It seemed that the more it sucked in the larger it got; the edge of it was starting to hang off Miroku's body. Once again he lifted it into the air, but that did little good now. The winds were so intense that the ground around his feet was crumbling and disappearing into the chaos.

 

As the crater grew bigger, Sango, who had been making her way to Kohaku in an attempt to save him, started to slide down its slopes along with her brother. Closer to the epicenter and without a good grip on the ground, Kohaku was lifted off the ground and started the spiral to his grave after his master. Sango cried out in despair as she watched her only living relative get sucked into the kazaana.

 

Right as he was disappearing into the void, Kohaku swung his sickle and chain and released it towards Sango. Sango, in a mixture of confusion, disbelief, and lack of mobility, was unable to avoid the attack and it lodged into her back. Screaming in pain, Sango half rolled and was half drug down the slope of the now 20 foot and growing crater where she landed at Miroku's feet. The winds weren't as strong there, due to an “eye of the storm” affect.

 

“Sango! You have to get away form here! I can't lose you into the kazaana! I love you too much to let you die!” Miroku yelled over the winds. There were tears in his eyes, both from sadness and pain. The curse was picking up the speed it devoured him and was already the size his chest and had completely taken over his arm.

 

“Miroku!” Sango gasped as she coughed up blood. The sickle had punctured her lung and she was drowning in her own blood. “I won't leave you! I love you too.” Sango grabbed hold of Miroku's waist in a hug as the pair of them disappeared into the kazaana. Before it closed up on itself at the bottom of an 80 foot crater.

 

Kagome was at the very edge of the crater when it closed, and she now slid to the bottom. She was shaking on her hands and knees, tears dripping from her eyes. She had failed them. She had failed everyone. A flood of despair and sadness washed over her as her emotional dam broke. They were gone: Sango, Miroku, Shippo, Kirara, the Shikon no Tama, the souls of the villagers, her friends, her family, Inuyasha; she failed to protect them all.

 

Now she really had nowhere to go. She had no quest to complete because the jewel shards were lost in the kazaana, she had no friends to turn to because they were all dead, she had no family to return she had disappointed them, she had no love to run to because she hadn't listened to him.

 

Suddenly crying wasn't adequate enough to express her sorrow so Kagome, eyes shut and tears streaming down her cheeks, yelled as loud as she could.

 

“NOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!!”

 

`NOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!'

 

NOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!

 

As she yelled she continued to cry and beat the dirt with her fist. She had failed them all! She wanted it all to end! She wanted the nightmare to be over. As she yelled, and as she cried, and as she beat the earth with her fists, the pain in her neck grew stronger and stronger, until she noticed in the very back of her mind, that she wasn't beating the ground anymore, she was beating cement.

 

Confused, in spite of her pain, Kagome opened her eyes to see that she was in the middle of her family's shrine! How in the world did she get there? As she looked around, she noticed that she wasn't alone. She saw Miroku! And Sango! And Shippo, Kirara, Jii-chan, her mother, Sota, Hojo, Yuka, Eri, Ayumi, Kikyo, Kaede, Kohaku, Naraku, Kagura, Kanna, Kouga, they were all surrounding her! How in Kami's name did they get here? Plus, as she inspected them further, she noticed that they were transparent, almost like ghosts or a specter, but not quite. They seemed more solid and they smelt sterile, like a hospital.

 

“Uh,” Kagome stood up; she wasn't sure how to react to this. “hi? What're you guys doing here? What's going on?” Suddenly she was afraid. She looked at each of their faces and each of them held a glare; they looked furious.

 

“You failed us. That's why!” Miroku shouted. Why was this happening? Water started gathering in Kagome's eyes again.

“You are a disgrace! You let down my entire people!” Shouted Sango.

 

“Now all the taijiya are dead, because you failed to protect me and my sister!” Kohaku shouted.

 

“I'm sorry! I didn't mean-”

 

“Save it wench! You don't deserve to be listened to! You lead me to believe you loved me and then crushed my heart!” Kouga shouted

 

“You let Naraku eat me and Kirara!” Even Shippo was furious at her”

 

“You turned the villagers against me after everything I did for you!” shouted Kaede

 

“You betrayed you family”

 

“you let Inu-no-nii-chan die!” the accusations were coming faster; each one like a dagger to Kagome's heart. She tired to talk but they wouldn't let her.

 

“You soiled my pure soul!”

 

“You lied to all of us!”

 

“You killed an entire village by not getting rid of my mirror!”

 

“You let everyone down!”

 

“You made the Shikon no Tama useless and forever condemned Midoriko to pain and suffering in an endless battle!” Even Naraku was mad at her.

 

“Please let me explain myself!” Kagome cried. She was on her knees and tears were running from her eyes. The look on her cut up, bruised face was one of utmost anguish. She couldn't believe that this was happening.

 

“NEVER!!!” they all shouted in unison. And as Kagome started to cry harder, they started to circle around her, faster and faster, shouting at her, spiting on her, yelling at her.

 

“HALF-BREED!!”

 

“TRAITOR!!”

 

“DEMON!!”

 

“FAILURE!!”

 

“WENCH!!”

 

“I HATE YOU!!”

 

“I WISH YOU WOULD DIE!!”

 

“ROT IN HELL!!”

 

“YOU FAILED US ALL!!”

 

“YOU FAILED US!!”

 

“YOU FAILED ME!!”

 

“YOU FAILED YOURSELF!!”

 

“YOU FAILED HIM!!”

 

“YOU FAILED INUYASHA!!”

 

Their shouts came louder and faster each time, until they all blended together into a high-pitched shriek. Their bodies moved with their voices until they were a storm, like a tornado, circling her; trapping her in her failure and suffering.

 

Kagome closed her eyes and covered her head with her hands. She just wanted this to end. The howling got louder as the storm of her guilt circled her; threatening to engulf her and make her lost to the world forever. And she was more that willing to let it. This storm would be her escape; it would end it for her.

 

“Kagome!!” a voice called out for her, but it wasn't angry; it was anxious and desperate.

 

“Inuyasha, is that you?” The howling and shrieking got louder and Kagome's tears were flying into the tornado that was around her.

 

“Kagome you have to fight it! You have to hold on! I don't want to lose you!!”

 

“But Inuyasha, I'm scared! I can't fight anymore; I have nothing left to give!” Kagome shouted over the storm, her voice filled with despair.

 

“You can! Come on Kagome, you're the strongest human I've ever met! Don't let this get you! You can beat it!” The cyclone was getting stronger as its walls started closing in on her. The pain in her neck was incredible and she could hear the pulsing of the storm.”

 

“How Inuyasha? How can I beat this? What do I have to do?”

 

“Just wake up Kagome, please, just wake up!” Inuyasha's voice was shaky and small, like he was crying.

 

“Inuyasha I don't understand what you mean!” Kagome could feel the wall of wind tearing at her, closing in on her, trying to crush her.

 

“I don't know if you can hear me Kagome, but if you can I'm begging you to hold on for me. I can't live without you; no one has cared about me like you have since my mother died. I don't want to lose you too. I wasn't strong enough to save her and I swore I would never be that weak again. Please, I begging you, don't make me break my promise.” The shrieking was getting quieter and quieter, and it felt like some evil was being pulled from her body.

 

“Just wake up Kagome, please just wake up.” Kagome could feel rain landing on her cheek, but for some reason it smelled…salty. The pulsing of the storm was getting more and more frequent and was rising in pitch. His soft voice was filled with sadness, almost a whisper.

 

“Please,” she heard a sniffle, like someone who is crying and talking at the same time. “please just wake up.” More rain fell on her cheeks and Kagome suddenly became aware of something warm in her hand and the pulsing was now more of a beeping.

 

Suddenly Kagome realized that she could hear someone crying and that something bright was over her. Kagome slowly opened her heavy eyelids to find…herself in a hospital bed, Inuyasha crying over her.

 

“I-Inu-yasha?”

 

A/N: Dun dun DUUUU!!! *dramatic music* And there it is; the big secret behind the story. It's also the reason why everyone was ooc (told you there's a good explanation). And don't worry: there's still an epilogue that explains what was going on. But you have to read it carefully and think about it (yes, I'm making you think). Hope you all enjoyed it, and don't forget to review.

 

Tyashaay14: Your welcome. I hope this chapter clears things up for you (or at least the next one) and I'm glad you liked my story. I hope the epilogue meets your expectations and I'll miss reading your reviews. You've really been a lot of help and a good friend. Thank you.

 

Kawaichan: Well, now you know what she wakes up to, and in the epilogue you'll find out even more. I'm glad you like the story, and I hope you enjoy the ending.