InuYasha Fan Fiction ❯ The Golden Paintbrush ❯ Chapter 1

[ T - Teen: Not suitable for readers under 13 ]

Chapter 1
“I don’t want to China, mom…can’t I just stay here with you?” Kagome begged her mother as she was pushed onto a train with many other children fleeing the country to stay safe from the ongoing war.
“Honey, it isn’t safe for you here. The war is only going to continue to worsen as time goes on. You will be better off in Juban city. And this is only temporary dear, I promise.” Her mother replied to her with a kiss on her daughter’s right cheek. “I want you to take this with you as well,” Kagome’s mother handed her fourteen year old daughter an old back journal that was worn out and slightly torn on the spine. “It’s the very same journal I kept when I went to china…use it well my dear.”
“All aboard!” The train conductor yelled down the busy train station.
Kagome nodded are gave her final farewell to her mother whom she would miss dearly. She held her hand out the window of her seat and reached for her mother. “Mom…” She mumbled to herself as a tear trickled down her face, but shortly after she could no longer see her face. Kagome took a deep breath and deep breath and threw herself deeper into the uncomfortable train seat.
The trip to china was going to take an entire twenty-four hours. That was a long trip to be taking by yourself especially without any idea as to where you were going and who you were going to be staying with for the next possible few years. All she knew is that she was going to a safe house with a good friend of her mother’s from child years. She wasn’t allowed to bring any more than one suitcase, so she did not have a lot of stuff…certainly not everything she would have wanted to keep. All she had of her mother was the run down old journal she had given her right before the train pulled off.
“Oh mom…I already miss you,” Kagome whispered to herself while hugging the journal close to her heart. More tears ran down her face and started dripping onto the cover. Kagome could have sworn she’d seen a faint glow come from the book when her tear hit it. “Huh…” She stopped crying and examined the book, but the glow had stopped. Kagome thought perhaps maybe it was just her imagination and she shrugged it off. She decided to open the book however and began to read the words on its pages. The journal her mother had given her was no journal at all, it was a fairytale her mother must have written as a young girl. As Kagome read, the story seemed to play inside of her head as if watching a movie on fast forward. It was an adventure of a girl named Rai named after her mother who found a magic paint brush that made anything she drew with it come to life. Rai drew a picture of a fantasy world where she was a valiant warrior, and a gentle queen. She cared for her people, she protected them and listened to them. She fought in a war and fell in love with a man named Cedrick. Together they ruled over the mighty kingdom of Chronis, until the one day where their adventure came to an end and they had to return back home, then …the magic paintbrush was nowhere to be found. The picture of the magic world lost all its power and wouldn’t let Rai and Cedrick back inside.
Kagome raised her eyebrow at the book. There were so many holes in the stories plotline…so many unanswered questions. Kagome knew the only way to have her answers were to make them up herself. She grabbed a pencil out of her suitcase and began writing her own alternate ending...
And thus, her adventure begins.
--
Kagome was dozed off when an announcement roared over the loud speaker of the train, “Attention passengers, we are now arriving at Juban city China. Last stop.” Kagome stretched her arms and yawned heavily. It was the early afternoon, but the time difference made it seem like much earlier. Once the train docked into the station, Kagome grabbed her only suitcase and of course her mother’s journal and lined up with the remaining children on the train waiting to get off.
This was the first time Kagome had ever truly been on her own, she had no idea who this man was that she was supposed to meet, or even what he looked like. All she knew was that he was a middle aged man, with blue eyes and grey hair. She just hoped he knew what she looked like. When she finally stepped off, everything looked foreign; she couldn’t ready any of the signs and didn’t recognize anyone. Immediately, she wanted to break down and start crying. But even if she attracted attention, the language barrio would prevent her from asking for help anyway. Just then, someone grabbed hold of Kagome’s shoulder. The gesture terrified her and she was afraid to even turn around.
“You are Kagome, Rai’s daughter?” A male’s voice asked her from behind. She turned and looked at who was talking to her. It was a man between his late forties maybe early fifties. He had grey hair and blue eyes like her mother described.
“A-are you the man I’m supposed to be meeting? You know my mom?” She asked skeptically.
The man nodded, “I am…you can call me Dr. C.” The man took her hand and started leading her outside of the train station.
The two were walking in silence for about twenty minutes and it was starting to become very awkward, so Kagome decided to finally speak up. “Dr. C, how do you know my mother?” She asked curiously.”
“Your mother was a very good friend of mine. She lived here, in china and we were neighbors. We grew up together, until she moved to Japan. We kept in touch through letters for a while, but even that came to an end eventually. But when I received her letter asking if I would take you in, I was more than happy to. I am a very busy man though young lady, so I won’t be able to entertain you much during your stay. “
The two stopped outside of a large set of French doors. Kagome looked at the house she was to be staying at. It was huge, but it was really old. The wood was deteriorating, the walls were thin, but it was still a lot larger than any house she’d ever been in. Dr. C opened the French doors and Kagome was instantly filled with awe. Despite the houses run down exterior, the house was beautifully decorated on the inside. Kagome dropped her bag and started walking around, “This is really your house?” She bellowed in amazement. Dr. C just picked up her suitcase and started walking up the tall circular staircase, “Follow me…” He said.
Kagome quickly followed behind not wanting to fall too far back and get long in the giant home. Dr. C led her down a long hallway that was filled with paintings. Somehow, the paintings looked vaguely familiar. One was a castle; another was of a young man and woman sitting on thrones and many others. However, Kagome couldn’t figure out why the pictures seemed so familiar to her. When Dr. C stopped walking, the two were outside of a door. “This will be your room, Kagome.” He said while pulling out a key and unlocking the door. Kagome could hear the click when the key turned. She sure hoped this man wasn’t about to hold her captive in this room alone by herself. Her mother wouldn’t do that to her…would she? Dr. C pushed the door open and stepped inside, Kagome followed suit. The bedroom was nothing exciting, just a small bed and a simple dresser. The room was filled with so much dust that even if someone without asthma entered, it could trigger an attack. That was to be expected in an old room right…nothing out of the ordinary. But one thing did strike Kagome’s attention. There were two extra doors in the room, one opened and one closed. The opened one naturally was the closet…but the other, Kagome had no idea, the door also had no door knob.
“You’ll find fresh sheets inside one of the drawers. Dinner is at six…I shall see you in a few hours.” Dr. C spoke up breaking Kagome’s thoughts.
“Wait, Dr. C…”
“Yes?”
“What is behind that door, sir?” She asked.
Dr. C smirked faintly enough that Kagome hadn’t noticed it. “I have no idea my dear. I have lived in this house for thirty seven years have seen every square inch of this house, except for that door.”
Kagome thought that seemed a little weird, “Haven’t you ever wondered what was in it? Why haven’t you ever looked?”
Dr. C shrugged his shoulders, “Never got around to it I suppose, plus…there is no door knob, so I never worried myself with it. I have to return to my work now young lady. I will see you at dinner time.” He replied and closed the door behind him.
Kagome sighed heavily as she looked at the strange door. She decided she shouldn’t worry about it, though that did not stop her curiosity. But since the door clearly wasn’t meant to be open she would let herself rest about it for now. To keep her mind off of it, she unpacked what little bit of clothes she had and made up her bed. When she finished that task, Kagome decided to read her mother’s journal once more. She imagined her mom reading it to her, after all that was all she had to remind her of her mom. She liked to think of Queen Rai in the story as her mom, and every time she made it to the end of the story, she would write more. She wrote in a new character…a princess; Daughter of Queen Rai and King Cedrick who got a hold of the magic paint brush and made her way into the land Chronis. But before she knew it, it was six o’clock and time for her to go to dinner.
Back down the painting filled hallway she walked and examined the pictures more closely. She even noticed one she hadn’t seen the first time. In fact, she was sure there was another picture in the same spot when she first walked by. But now there was a picture of a young girl with long black wavy hair and brown eyes sitting graciously on a throne. “What happened to the painting of the couple sitting on the thrown?” She asked herself, “I’m sure it was here.” She looked up and down the hallway trying to find the picture of the king and queen on thrones but couldn’t find it. “Wow...that’s so weird, I know what I saw.” But the painting had somehow vanished…or wasn’t there at all. Kagome gave up and decided to just go to dinner.
Somehow, by mere miracle she found her way to the dining hall and found Dr. C sitting at the head of the table reading a book while forking up the contents on his plate. Kagome sat at the other end of the table where a plate was waiting for her as well. Dr. C never looked at her when she entered the room, he just kept reading. The silence was almost like when she first got to China and the two walked from the train station in complete silence. Kagome wasn’t sure if she would be able to live in a house where she didn’t talk the only other person that lived in it. It would be weird. Wasn’t it weird for him as well? Didn’t he want to talk to her? Did he not like her? Why was Dr. C so distant? Was he hiding something?
“I trust that you settled into your new room without any problems?” Dr. C spoke up.
Kagome nodded while taking a sip of the soup that was in front of her. “Yes, everything was fine.”
“Nothing…out of the ordinary struck you by surprise?” He asked her raising an eyebrow at the girl.
“No…” Kagome thought for a moment, she would sound crazy if she said she thinks one of his paintings just got up and left his house. But she was still very curious about them; she decided to beat around the subject. “Um, those paintings upstairs in the hallway…where did they come from? They’re really beautiful.”
Once again, the corners of Dr. C’s lips curled into a faint smirk. “Actually, they were given to me by your mother. She made them herself.”
Kagome’s mouth dropped, “Really? I didn’t know my mother could paint!”
“Well, naturally I suppose you wouldn’t…your mother used to cling to this special paint brush that she painted everything with. One unfortunate day though, she lost it and never painted again. She was actually quite a brilliant artist, but I guess when she lost the brush, she also lost her will to paint.”
“Why didn’t my mom just get a new favorite paint brush? There are tones out there…” She asked.
“I couldn’t answer that for you because I don’t know myself. The paint brush she had was special though, without it…I can only imagine that Rai felt that without it, her work wasn’t special. She told me once that she lost the paint brush here. The very last day I had seen your mother, she came here to say goodbye and gave me a new painting to hang up in that hallway upstairs. The paint brush was in the pocket of an old jacket she had with a tear in it. I assume the brush fell out and she was gone before she noticed it was gone. She wrote me a letter asking to look for it and to keep it safe, but I never found it either, and I searched everywhere in this house. Since I couldn’t find the brush, your mother and I eventually lost touch. It was like the magic in the paintings she drew that kept our friendship alive. When the magic died…so did our friendship. “
Kagome had to fight the threat of crying at the sad story. “I’m so sorry…” She said.
“Don’t be, I had wonderful adventures with your mother and I am always reminded by the paintings she left behind.” He looked into her orbs deeply, “I trust the paintings will remind you of her too.”
With that said, silence once again settled between them and Kagome quickly finished her meal and headed back to her room. She changed into nightgown and simply lay across the bed. She wasn’t tired and she really didn’t have anything to do. But her mind was busy…she couldn’t help but think about the story that Dr. C had told her. Something about it seemed too bizarre. If her mom was so good at painting, why would she just stop because she lost an old brush? And what did Dr. C mean about the paintings keeping the adventures he had with her mom alive?
Kagome’s head was spinning due to too many thoughts racing through her head. She sat up on the bed when something came to mind. She looked at the journal a few feet away from her on the dresser. She thought about the story her mother had written inside of it about the Queen and her magic paint brush. That story ended with not being able to find the paintbrush either. “Perhaps…that’s where mom got the idea for her story from.” She said out loud to herself, and then she looked at the mysterious door in her bedroom and thought back to when Dr. C first brought her here.
‘I have lived in this house for thirty seven years have seen every square inch of this house, except for that door.’
Then again at the dinner table, ‘look for it and to keep it safe, but I never found it either, and I searched everywhere in this house.’
Kagome pondered for a moment, “He said he looked everywhere for the paint brush…but he also said he’s never been behind that door.” Kagome stood up and walked over to the door; she pressed her ear up against it and knocked on it three times. She heard nothing come from the other side, but her knock accidentally pushed the door open a little. Kagome gasped and pushed it opened a little more with her forefinger and stepped back. There was a staircase leading up to somewhere and Kagome debating on taking the chance at following it. “This is way freaky…” She said while quietly ascending the stairs. When she got to the top she found an old black box. It wasn’t very big, perhaps the size of a standard jewelry box. The stairs did not lead to anywhere in particular, just a really old painting of what looked like a kingdom. There was an ocean and a waterfall, some cottages where commoners lived Kagome assumed, a bright blue sky, and some mountains; but on top of the mountains where a beautiful, big castle.
She examined this piece of art in front of her, more specifically at the waterfall. It almost looked as if the water was moving and even some of the people on land looked like they moved a little but Kagome knew it was just her imagination. She picked up the box she found and went back downstairs. Kagome sat on her bed and just starred at the box contemplating on opening it or not. But somehow, she locks on the box unlocked themselves and the lid popped open. Inside was a gorgeous solid gold paint brush with brown bristles that look as if they had never been used and next to it was a small glass vile that had nothing in it.
There were words engraved on the inside of the lid, ‘the magic in this brush can bring forth your deepest wishes…and darkest desire. The brush its self is a spell, use it well…little princess.’
Kagome had a flashback; her mother had said something like that to her before she left. Kagome grabbed the journal from off her dresser and sat back down on the bed.
‘Use it well, my dear…’
She opened up the next black page in the book and picked up the brush and vial. Kagome started breathing heavily as she dipped the brush inside the empty glass jar. Her heart started to pound while she began inching the brush to the blank page in the book. She decided to draw something simple…a bird. Kagome was no artist and she knew what she drew would be nothing like a bird, but what ended up on the paper was something more magical that she ever dreamed. She merely tapped the page and a beautiful cardinal drew its self on the page. Kagome wasn’t even touching the paper after the one dot she made. Still, she picture drew its self…then, she heard a faint tweet.
Kagome gasped when she heard the sound. With her other hand she went to touch the page, but instead…her hand went inside of it. When she pulled it out, the cardinal from the picture was on her finger. It was beautiful magic, and Kagome couldn’t believe what had happened. The bird was real, living, breathing…tweeting. It flew off of her finger and out the window of her bedroom.
“Weird…” She whispered. But then…it struck her, the story from the journal was real. What her mom wrote really happened. The paintings on the walls must have really been the places she and Dr. C had went together.
“Dr. C…” She gasped, “King Cedrick!” Kagome squealed and ran into the hallway only to see another site that took her breath away, every one of the paintings that was on the wall when she first got there, where gone.
“Kagome, did you say something?” Dr. C heard her squeal and started coming towards her room. She knew if he saw the paintings were missing he would blame her and she was in for a world of trouble. She had to get out…but there was nowhere for her to run.
“Unless…” She looked that the mystery door.
“Kagome, are you alright up there?”
She could hear his footsteps getting closer to the hallway. Kagome grabbed the magic paintbrush, and the bottle of clear paint as well as her mother journal and run back up the stairs behind the mystery door. Kagome tried to stick her hand through the painting but nothing happened.
“What happed in here!?” She heard Dr. C yell. He must have seen that the paintings were missing and Kagome had to think fast. “Kagome, where are you!” He said.
Kagome dipped the paintbrush in the clear liquid and started making swivel marks on the old dingy painting. The wall glowed so bright that Kagome had to cover her eyes, she couldn’t see that it started transforming into a new picture. She was more concerned about getting out so without thinking she stuck her hand through and followed with the rest of her body.
Kagome fell, but still had her eyes closed. Be neither her hands she felt grass. She was so afraid to open her eyes because she kept telling herself that none of what happened in the last few minutes real. She didn’t open the mysterious door. She didn’t find a black box. Kagome opened that when she opened her eyes she would be back with her mother. But when she did, Kagome saw a sight that was more than she would have ever imagined.
-x-
AN: And that’s the end of the chapter. What do you guys think? This was just something a whipped up while sitting around trying to think of a new chapter for Sexy Baby. I have been completely blank-headed for coming up with a new chapter for SB. I kind of have an idea, but I don’t think I like it just yet and thus, you guys got the Golden Paintbrush. Do you like it or not? Do you think I should continue it or not? Do you love it or do you hate it? Let me know in a review. I’m serious…REVIEW! >.>
-Kriss