InuYasha Fan Fiction ❯ The Longest Journey ❯ Midnight at the Well of Souls ( Chapter 18 )

[ X - Adult: No readers under 18. Contains Graphic Adult Themes/Extreme violence. ]

Chapter 18: Midnight at the Well of Souls

Late that evening, the two, along with her mother and grandfather, stood just outside the well-house. They had decided not to stay the night - Sugimi didn't really need the sleep, and Kagome could sleep during the flight. With everything that had been going on, he was eager to get back.

They quickly said their goodbyes, and with one last hug for her daughter and even Sugimi, they turned and went back into the house, leaving Kagome and her daiyoukai to enter the well-house alone. With the tiny flashlight her mother had gotten her, she illuminated the inside of it enough to get his armor back on, and then grabbing the bag of goodies that her mother had gotten, she held out her arm, and let Sugimi grab her and leap over the edge of the well into the timestream.

They had no sooner landed on the other side, and leapt back up to the ground outside the well, than wind-blades landed at their feet, causing dirt to fly up around them. Sugimi instantly shoved Kagome behind him and had Ketsuekikan drawn - and pointed straight at Kagura.

The kaze youkai stared approvingly at Sugimi for a moment, then laughed lightly. "You can put away your sword, Northern Lord. I am not here to fight. If I were, I would not have missed."

Kagome stepped out from behind Sugimi, who had not lowered his sword, and looked at Kagura steadily. "Then why are you here, Kagura?" She frowned. "I thought Naraku had killed you for betraying him."

Kagura laughed at that, then moving closer, folded her fan and tucked it into her obi, before sitting down and gesturing for the two to sit as well. With a suspicious glance at her, Sugimi nodded, then sheathing his sword, sat down as well, and waited for Kagome to do the same.

"He thought he had killed me, too. But while he may have been my father, so to speak," she grimaced at that thought, "the jewel was my mother - it is what gave me life... and since we both know that the jewel is you... you could say that you are my mother."

Kagome blinked in astonishment, Kagura chuckled and continued. "Naraku destroyed my heart, sure enough, but he doesn't have the power that the jewel does, so, even though I became the wind for a while, one day I found that my corporeal body was beginning to regenerate - and now, that bastard has no control over me."

Sugimi glanced thoughtfully at Kagome, then back to Kagura. "So, then, why have you sought us out?"

Kagura shrugged. "The enemy of my enemy is my friend, as the saying goes, and since you, mother, are not even really my enemy, I have come to join your group. I have as much reason to hate that bastard as any of you," a sad, pained look crossed her face, "maybe even more." A determined expression passed across her mobile features. "As Kagome can attest, I can be very useful in battle, I assure you, my Lord."

Sugimi looked over at Kagome, and she nodded. "I believe her, Sugimi. Back before she died, she tried to help us several times - she wanted her freedom at that time, and the only way to get it was to help us and hope that we would kill Naraku." She frowned at Kagura then. "But now that you're free of him, you could have flown off and disappeared, to live out your life anywhere you wanted. Why come back to face him in a battle that could kill you?"

Kagura grimaced at that. "Because until that bastard is dead, no one on earth is safe. No matter where I went, sooner or later, he'd find me, and then he'd just kill me again. I'd sooner stay dead than live in a world with him in it." She blushed slightly, and looked down. "Besides... I wanted to see Sesshoumaru again," she said, softly.

Kagome giggled then. "I knew it! I always wondered if you had a thing for him!"

Sugimi grinned at this. Oh, he was going to enjoy the hell out of this little situation, and he could barely wait to see how his pup would react to their newest ally.

"Well, if that's the case, you'll be seeing quite a bit of him, because he is traveling with us, Kagura."

Kagura blushed even harder at that, then smiled at Kagome's happy expression.

"I don't suppose you have any information on where Naraku might be hiding, do you, Kagura?" Sugimi asked, hopeful that she'd at least have a starting point for them. He wasn't disappointed.

"I thought you'd never ask," she purred wickedly. "I most certainly do have an idea of where he is... unfortunately," she sighed, "it's in the opposite direction from where your group is waiting. I know where they are, yes," she said in response to Sugimi's inquiring look, "although I had no idea of who was there. I didn't stop to find out, merely pinpointed their location, then followed on along after you two."

Kagome nodded, not surprised. Kagura had always been good at sniffing out secrets - and she'd proved she could keep them, too, as she'd found out early on about Inuyasha's human night, and yet, Naraku still didn't know.

"What can you tell us about the tricks Naraku has up his sleeves, Kagura? I know it's been a while but... anything you can tell us would be helpful."

The kaze youkai looked thoughtfully at the miko, then smiled. "Well, I'm sure you know about the incarnations he has, so none of that's new to you but... I can tell you about his heart."

Sugimi frowned. "His heart?"

"Yes. He removed his heart from himself, and that is why no matter how much he is attacked and his body destroyed, he always regenerates. That is why no one's been able to kill him yet... but you knew that, ne, Kagome?" At her nod, she continued. "What I can tell you is this. You remember the infant, Akago, I am sure. Naraku has placed his heart inside the infant - and Kanna is his protector. You guys could never find her because she is void - she has no youki. But - I can. We were birthed at the same time, and as such, are much as ningen twins - I can always feel her presence."

Kagome sat back, excited. That would be a tremendous advantage. If they could gain Naraku's heart, and destroy it, they wouldn't even need to battle him.

Sugimi looked thoughtful, a slight frown creasing his brow. "So that is his trick, is it? Even were you to purify him using the jewel, he'd merely regenerate... I see. But if you purify his heart first... that would end it all."

He looked up at the kaze youkai and grinned evilly. "Welcome to the pack, Kagura."

Kagome laughed as Kagura smirked back.

Vengeance would be sweet, she just knew it.

---zZz---


By the time they had finished their discussion with Kagura, and begun their flight back to their camp, it was already quite late, or early, however you chose to look at it, and so, with Kagome held closely in his arms, he had her curl up and go to sleep as they flew - she would need the sleep.

They arrived just after dawn, and everyone save Sesshoumaru was still asleep. As they landed, Kagome woke, and couldn't resist watching the reunion of Kagura with the youkai Lord she had such a crush on.

Sesshoumaru's face actually showed his surprise this time, and Kagome was laughing hysterically inside as the normally imperturbable Lord was knocked so far off balance.

Sugimi was just as amused - to him, the fact that his normally icy, controlled pup had been so knocked of kilter was hilarious - and he let it show.

"Well, pup? What do you think of our newest pack member? She, also, has recently returned from death - and since it was at Naraku's hand that she died, I feel it is only just that she be allowed a hand in his destruction... don't you agree?"

Sesshoumaru finally managed to get his shock under control, and asked, "And just how did you manage that feat, Kagura? Coming back from death usually requires outside assistance - so who helped you?"

Kagura laughed lightly at him. "Why, my mother did, Sesshoumaru-sama."

He absorbed that with a straight face. "Who is your mother?"

"Kagome is, of course. I thought you prided yourself on knowing everything, Sesshoumaru - do you mean to tell me that there are some things you do not know? she asked, mockingly, as his face twitched in annoyance.

Sugimi was avidly watching this, still holding onto Kagome, and was almost in tears watching his unflappable son being tied in knots. He liked Kagura already, damned if he didn't. His inner beast was rolling with laughter - he just couldn't wait to see this courtship - because by all the kami, he could already tell, that's where this was going to end up.

His son couldn't fool him, he could smell his attraction to the kaze youkai - and it was definitely returned.

"Kagura, you would do well not to mock me. How is Kagome your mother?"

"Because the Shikon jewel was used to birth me, Sesshoumaru - and everyone knows that Kagome is the jewel." She said all that with just the right amount of condescension, and as Sesshoumaru growled, his father broke in.

"Now, now, pup, that's no way to treat a pack member, and Kagome's daughter." He snickered as Kagome growled at him under her breath.

"Both of you, quit with that 'mother' stuff. I'm not old enough to have a full-grown daughter," she huffed.

Kagura laughed again. "But mother, if you think about it, I'm actually only just about two years old..." She put her hand over her mouth as Kagome glared, trying to keep the laughter in.

Sesshoumaru raised a brow at their antics, then moved back towards the camp, obviously determined to ignore them, and sat down near Rin's sleeping roll.

Kagura followed, grinning lightly, and sat down near Kagome and Sugimi. "This, I can tell, is going to be an interesting group of people to hang around."

Kagome nodded, still sleepy, and yawned, trying to wake up. "Yeah, that it is..."

Kagura looked around, taking note of everyone within the boundaries of the camp, and then frowned. "Where's Inuyasha? I expected him to come screaming out of the trees at first sight of me, and why is the undead one here?"

Seshoumaru smirked at that, the visual, in his mind at least, highly amusing, but before he could make a weighted remark, Kagome spoke sadly.

"Inuyasha's having a difficult time dealing with reality right now... he mated Kikyou about a year ago, and I left the group. They all thought I was dead, but as you can see, I wasn't, I just traveled alone for a while, before meeting Sugimi." She sighed, then. Sesshoumaru was also listening closely - he hadn't been aware of how everything had come to pass, either.

"Anyway, for some reason, when he found out I was still alive, he decided he wanted two mates... in other words, Kikyou and me. I've tried telling him over and over that I'm not willing to do that - besides, I'm promised to Sugimi - and I love him, but Inuyasha just won't listen. So anyway, he took off yesterday on his own - he said he was going to try to find a way to win me back."

Kagura's brow had risen higher and higher into her bangs as she listened, and by the end, she was shaking her head. "What does he think he can do? As strong as he is, even I can tell he is no match for you, my Lord," she said, to Sugimi, "and besides, if Kagome doesn't want him, what good would challenging you do,anyway? It's not like he could force himself on her against her will, she'd just purify him."

Sugimi growled low in his chest at the image her words caused to go through his mind, and his eyes flashed to red for a moment. "If the whelp ever tried, I'd kill him before she got the chance to purify him. I will never allow him to touch her - ever. She belongs to me. Inuyasha will have to come to terms with that sooner or later."

Kagome put a soothing hand to his cheek and smiled up at him. "I don't believe it would ever come to that, love. Inuyasha may be stubborn as hell, and not know when to give up, but he isn't the type to assault a woman. He has too much honor for that."

Sesshoumaru blinked at her. "Only if he's in his normal hanyou mindset, miko. If his youkai ever got out, though, and desired you, it would be a different story altogether. He would be horrified once he'd come back to himself, I am sure, but if he'd marked you, it would be too late - you'd be mated to him, and there would be nothing anyone could do."

Sugimi snarled at the thought, then, taking a deep breath, shook his head. "There is one way, Sesshoumaru. The only way to break a mate bond is death... if one died, and then were resurrected by Tensaiga, it would break the bond."

They all got silent at that.

Kagome swallowed hard. "Well, then, we'll have to make sure that doesn't happen - maybe we should consummate the bond sooner than we planned, love - I don't think I could handle that kind of mess."

Sugimi stared at her, for once unsure. "I will think on this, beloved. I don't want our mating shadowed by necessity, done because we had to, nor do I want to take you on the forest floor like an animal - I have a palace, and I intend to use it - but, if it looks like it might become necessary..." he trailed off for a minute, then continued.

"Then we may have to do so," he said, reluctantly. "I will not lose you to anyone, my beloved - not even my son."

---zZz---

Inuyasha sheathed his sword with a triumphant grin, and then moved to pick up the tiny little shard that he'd just acquired. Putting it into a little leather bag, he stuffed it into his kimono, and with one last glance around, he took off, looking for the next opportunity.

It was just after sunup, on the second day after leaving the pack, and he'd already gotten one shard - hopefully, he'd have more quite soon. And he hoped Naraku wasn't far behind - the sooner he got ahold of him and stole his youki, the sooner he could go back and challenge his father for Kagome.

He had no intentions of killing his father - he wanted to have a relationship with him, but he would not give up his miko in order to do so. The older inu could simply find himself another female - kami knew there were plenty out there.

He sighed to himself. What was it about Kagome that always brought the males out of the woodwork? Even Sesshoumaru respected her more than any other female he'd ever run across - and for Sesshoumaru, that was a miracle! Then there had been Kouga, that bastard ookami, and if he found out Kagome was still alive, he'd be all over her in a heartbeat, too.

Come to think of it, he mused, that might be pretty funny - let Kouga go pick a fight with my father and get smeared all over Musashi - that'd be one less ass I'd have to deal with!

He thought about that as he ran - all the males he'd had to scare off the silly onna - and she'd always been so oblivious. Practically everytime they'd entered a village, the men would start surrounding her and offering her everything they could think of to impress her - and he'd be left trying to intimidate them into leaving, while she'd smile and look around helplessly - not understanding at all why they were even talking to her.

It was frightening sometimes how innocent she was to her own beauty. Of course, a lot of that was probably his fault, and he knew it. He'd spent a lot of time insulting her, and he really felt guilty about that. Especially since none of the things he'd told her were true in any way. She was a very beautiful woman...

And he had every intention of letting her know that every day for the rest of their lives, just as he would Kikyou.

Once he had Kagome, he'd have the two most beautiful women around bound to him - and to hell with all those who'd scoffed and told him he'd grow old alone, and that he'd never find a mate.

Not only had he found one - but he'd found two. And he would have her... just as soon as he defeated his father.

With that thought in mind, he turned his attention to his surroundings, and continued his search for more shards.