InuYasha Fan Fiction ❯ The Duty Of Blood ❯ Ressurection ( Chapter 11 )

Replies to Mama-sama, Snowcat, and Sessgirl at the bottom.

I don't own anything or anyone in this fic that is recognizable by anyone other than myself.

The Duty of Blood - Chapter 11
By Caliko

Kagome and Miroku followed Sesshoumaru down a stone path into the garden. Both were nervous, unsure if this ritual would work. The Miko carried Tetsiega, while Tensiega pulsed slowly at the Taiyoukai's side. Miroku walked with his staff resting on his shoulder, and carrying a bronze brazier in his other hand, while mentally reviewing the runes that he would have to use.

Reaching a stone circle in the middle of the garden, they separated. Miroku went to the center, laying out the brazier to hold the fire. Then, he taking a bit of charcoal from his sleeve, he began to inscribe the runes just as Inu Taisho's scroll described.

On one side of the brazier, he inscribed Inu Yasha's name, then did the same with his fathers on the opposite side. Moving over a bit, he surrounding the names with the directions of the compass, drawing a circle from one symbol to the next so that they enclosed the inner inscriptions. Next, came the symbols for Heaven, Hell, and Earth, one on the top of the circle, one on the bottom, and one off to the side. When he was done, he backed away, careful not to smudge his work.

"It's ready." He told the other two, watching as Sesshoumaru dug Toujikin into the ground outside of the ritual area. The Monk quickly went over to it, placing a barrier around the sword so that it wouldn't interfere with what they were about to do.

Then, the two main participants took the swords into the runes, standing in the blank spaces around the brazier. This is where they were nervous. According to the scrolls, Tetsiega can open the gates to the land of the dead, but only inward. Supposedly, Tensiega would be able to reverse the gates, but it couldn't open them in the first place. Inu Taisho was adamant that the two would have to work together.

In the back of his mind, Miroku remembered a third sword and shuddered. Would Tensiega and Tetsiega deliver them zombies, like their sister sword had? Or, would they be truly alive? Miroku watched, reminding himself to breath as they started.

Suddenly, Tetsiega flares to life on it's own, magically light enough in this instance for Kagome to hold it. She holds it out flat, her palms supporting the blade as Sesshoumaru lays tensiega across it. Then, he opened his wrist with his claw, and squeezed the slit so that his blood would flow over the blades. Kagome stumbled under the weight, then braced herself. She called up her spiritual power, making the symbols on the ground glow with dormant power.

At the touch of power, Sesshoumaru's blood separated into two rivilets. Each rivelet thickened, flowing to the ground where Inu Yasha's and Inu Taisho's names are written down. The writing began to glow red as the youkai's shapes begin to appear on those spots.

He caught his breath, recognizing one of the shades in front of him. Kagome began to sob, then forced herself to calm down. It wouldn't do this late into the ritual, for her emotions to become out of control. With her power, she could just as easily purify all of the youkai, rather then ressurect her mate and his father.

Slowly, both Youkai grew denser, their faces stark and rugged with concentration. At the fire, Sesshoumaru's blood still flowed, being drawn steadily into the two ghostly shapes. The Monk could see strain on the normally stoic face, and he began to worry that it would be too much for the Taiyoukai.

Across from him, Kagome began to sway under the fierce power that buffeted her slim body. Every moment, the clearing became brighter, pink spiritual energy snaking around the four in the center of the ritual. A wind picked up, becoming small whirlwinds that surrounded Inu Taisho and his son.

Inside his private storm, Inu Yasha opened his eyes. Though none of the others could see it, he was worried. It was apparent that neither he, nor his father realized just how dangerous the entire ritual would be. At that moment, he would sacrifice his life again, if only Kagome and the pups would be safe.

Abruptly, he staggered as the whirlwind became faster. Remembering his part, he began to pull matter into himself. It was time to take over his ressurection, before he took too much of his brothers blood.

It was like moving through syrup - every push of his power being fought against by his death on this plane. The land of Death didn't give up it's prize easily.

And then, in an explosion of pure, white light, he was back. He could actually feel the blood rushing through his body as he gasped for breath. Inu Yasha fell down to one knee, his hand holding him upright. Then, he looked up at his mate as the power dispersed. He was back.

Kagome smiled at him, her lips partled slightly. Then, calling his name, she stumbled closer, oblivious to the man that stood beside Sesshoumaru. "Inu Yasha…." She had time to say, and then the world went black as the Miko fell forward.

"Kagome!" Inu Yasha jumped forward, catching her before she hit the ground. "Are you alright?"

But, his mate didn't answer. Her body was limp as he cradled her, her skin pale.

"Son, get them inside!"

Inu Yasha looked up at his father, noticing for the first time that he held up his brother. "Pop? Is he…?"

"Dead? No.. but he's close to it. Now, move. We have to get them to bed."

He nodded, then stood up with Kagome in his arms. Rushing down the path, he ran inside, screaming for Nari to come.

Nari appeared next to him, faster then he thought the old crone could. "Lord Inu Yasha? What? Oh my poor Lady!" She screeched, grabbing hold of the Miko's kimono.

"My father is behind me carrying Sesshoumaru. Send for a healer, quickly." Inu Yasha didn't stop walking as he spoke to her, forcing the old woman to keep up. Nari nodded, understanding, then turned, rushing down another hallway to the Healers quarters.

"Miroku! Where are the kids?" He called out, as he seen him stop in the entranceway. Behind him, Inu Taisho kicked out with his boot, moving the monk out of his way.

He picked himself up, leaning heavily on his staff before answering him. "With Sango, Inu Yasha. I'll go warn her to keep them away until you know what will happen." He then hurried off towards the dojo, knowing that Sango was invited to watch the pups go through their katas.

It seemed like forever before Inu Yasha stood in front of his mates room. Then, breathing deeply, he forced himself to calm down as he pushed through the doorway.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"Lord Inu Taisho!" The ancient youkai stopped at the doorway, in awe over his former master's return. "When.. How?" His eyes were huge, even for an owl youkai as he shuffled inside.

"Kiba-san, my son is your patient." Taisho motioned to the futon, where Sesshoumaru lay pale and weakened. He had begun to rouse as his father had placed him on the bed, but he still lay dazed. His mumblings were incoherent, and he could not hold up his arm for more than a moment. This had the elder inu worried.

"Of course!" Kiba stumbled closer, and began his inspection. "What happened, My Lord?"

"He participated in Inu Yasha's and my ressurection. He lost too much blood in the process, I fear." Guilt laced the Taiyoukai's words, making it apparent that he regretted the entire night.

With new information, Kiba once again examined his young lord, but this time with his inner eye. Falling into a trance, he traced Sesshoumaru's body with his hands hovering about an inch from his skin. Nothing apparent, at first glance, but looking closer, he noticed dark spots on the Taiyoukai's soul that stretched from mind, to heart, to hand. Whatever the youngster had done, he knew what he was risking. This, he worried, was much more dangerous than severe blood loss. A youkai could replace almost his entire blood stream in one single night of sleep. But, to fix a wrent soul… that took something else.

"Lord Inu Taisho… please describe the ritual to me." He asked, upon coming out of his trance. "I think I know what is wrong, but I need to know the details before I say anything."

"Lord Sesshoumaru bled upon the swords of Heaven and Earth, opening, then reversing the gates into the afterlife. Lady Kagome called our souls through those gates, and Inu Yasha and myself used Sesshoumaru's blood to fix our spirits into this plane while we called upon new bodies."

"Is that it?" Kiba asked, his mind running ahead.

"Yes. It was very straightforward, really."

The Owl nodded, then sighed. "Not so straightforward, my Lord. Sesshoumaru gave you and his brother more then blood - he knowingly gave both of you a bit of his soul. To be truthful, I doubt the ritual would have worked without it."

"Kiba, is my son dying?" Inu Taisho asked flatly, dreading the answer.

"No, no. Nothing like that. However, it will take quite some time for his soul to heal. Until it does, there is no telling how he might live. I've heard of cases, where the doner lost his sanity for years, killing his family and torturing his servants only to wake up completely cured years later. There have been other cases where the patient was completely dependant, like a newborn, until the soul regrew. In all cases, the soul of the youkai regrew, and reversed itself. However, until it does, he is not fit to rule the Western Lands."

"I had planned on going home with Inu Yasha and his wife, settle down and live out my old age away from court. Yet, it seems, I can not."

"You had no plans to take back your territory, My Lord?"

Inu Taisho nodded, then sat down heavily against the wall. Staring into his eldest's face, watching it contort as if the boy was having a nightmare, he sighed. "Sesshoumaru has been ruling well in my absence. I may have teased him a bit, let him wonder, but I was sick of the responsibility long before I died. Now, Kiba, if you would - go see to Lady Kagome. From what my son had told me, she's expecting my next grandchild. I want to be sure that all is well."

"Will that be all, My Lord?" The healer asked, waiting for the answer before he exited.

"No. Send a servant to bring Lord Sesshoumaru's advisor to me. We need to see to the fortifications of the land before my son's enemies learn of his illness."

"Yes, My Lord." Kiba bowed out of the room, then started for the Miko's room. Once there, he sent Nari to the Lord's advisor, stating only that Lord Inu Taisho awaited Tavi in Lord Sesshoumaru's quarters. Once she was gone, he nodded to the Hanyou, then bent over Kagome to begin his examination.

A few minutes later, he reassured the young lord that his mate was merely resting after an exhausting ordeal. "Her body is not used to channeling youkai energy, Lord Inu Yasha. She has it in the core of her being, but up until now has only used the miko powers she inherited from her human ancestors. As you know, youkai energy is a bit harder to control. Give her a few days and she'll be fine. After that, it may be wise to encourage her to tap into her youkai ancestry a bit more. At the moment, she's unbalanced, and only accepting both halfs of herself will fix that."

The Healer then bowed, and started to back out of the room. He hadn't noticed Yasha's shocked face, or the stutter that came out of his mouth, which was why he jumped when the young lord shouted at him.

"What do you mean, youkai energy? My mate is human - fully human. What kind of healer are you that you couldn't smell that?" Inu Yasha stomped over to the owl youkai, and glared into his overly large eyes.

"You are mistaken, Sir. Your mate is a hanyou like yourself. It's not obvious by her scent or appearance, but her soul doesn't lie. I am not sure just what type of youkai she is, but her soul is clearly split - it's tones are the red of the humans, and the green of our own kind."

"Her soul?"

"Hmm.. I have studied healing a long time ago, in China. Most of our own healers tended to the body, but ignored to soul at the time. The youkai healers of China tended to the soul first, and then the body. Mamy illnesses that were untreatable here, where easily cured there. And yet, our elders refused to see that their way was lacking. Because of this, I traveled to China, and requested tutorlage from a famous healer there. It was easy for me to diagnose both your brothers and your mates illness by what their soul looked like - recognizing your mate's demon heritage was but a side-effect of my method."

"So your saying that Kagome is a hanyou, but no one realized because her body shows no demon traits."

"Yes, My Lord. That is it, exactly! Her soul, however, can not hide what it is made of, and that is why I could see that she was a hanyou, when other healers in this land would not know where to even look. Now, Sir, if you do not want a repeat of this, encourage her to discover the extent of her youkai powers, and force her to use them slowly. She has many years of neglect to compensate for."

Dazed, Inu Yasha allowed the healer to leave, and sat down on the futon next to his mate. Taking her hand in his, he leaned down and kissed her forehead, then stared at the wall, deep in thought. "You are still surprising me, Mate, even after seven years. Now, rest, Wench. You have a lot of work in front of you when you wake."

Soon, Nari came back, and Inu Yasha left Kagome to sleep under her watchful eyes. It was time to visit his pups.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

TBC

A/N - I never intended to add that twist… (still in shock that I had). When I hinted that Aika was more than human, I had no idea that my subconscious was planning this twist! I still don't know if it's going to be pertinent to this story or not, or just an interesting detail. (shaking head) I gotta stop writing on the fly and actually PLOT my fics out! (chuckling) Then again, I enjoy surprising myself!

a few thanks and replies…

Mamasama - As always, I appreciate your reading this! It's good to have my own personal cheering section. Heheheheh I'll work harder to get my writing back where it used to be, so don't stop cheering me on!

Snowecat - yeah I know I'm spelling Naraku wrong. /sigh/ I kept spelling that way, going back and changing it, then doing it all over again. It was basically making my writing slow down. ) I plan on going back once all the chapters are done and fixing it. I'm afraid that if I take too long between chapters at this point, that I won't make my goal of finishing this fic before classes start on the 18th. Any way, glad you liked this chapter! ^_^ Her reincarnation? Hmm… maybe the sequel if there is one… or maybe one of his brothers new babies…(Kag's preggers, remember?) I actually toyed with getting him together with Tai's sensei…

Sessgirl - I originally intended to have that scene right away, but my fingers didn't cooperate. I guess Fluffy-sama will have to get better first, then find out that his father had been ruling in his steed. Of course, knowing Inu Taisho's warped sense of humor, he'll allow Sesshoumaru to go on thinking that he lost his title for awhile. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~