InuYasha Fan Fiction ❯ The Longest Journey ❯ A Fragmented Mind ( Chapter 23 )

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

Chapter 23: A Fragmented Mind

Kanna looked up at Kagura, and said, "Naraku has changed."

Sesshoumaru glanced over at the tiny void youkai, and suppressed a bit of envy. She had what would be considered perfect control of her emotions, and he envied that - but the truth was, she didn't have control of them, she just didn't have them - and that was sad. It was one thing to control your responses, but an entirely different one not to have any at all. For that, he pitied her.

Curiously, Kagura frowned at the girl. "What do you mean, Kanna?"

"Naraku is no longer Naraku - he is different. There is another mind that is in control of his youki, and body, but it is a fragmented mind - and does not remember itself." Her voice was low, almost a whisper.

"What does this mean for us, child?" Sesshoumaru wondered where she was going with this.

She turned her head slowly to look at him, and seeing his reflection in her dead eyes, he shivered internally. Naraku cursed you, young one...

"The mind has control of everything that Naraku was, but it does not remember who it is - only what it wants, and not why it wants. It will be just as dangerous as Naraku, but in a different way." She looked away again, focusing her dead eyes on the infant once more.

Kagura frowned, deeply disturbed. Kanna, as a void child, could feel things around her that even the most powerful youkai couldn't, but she was also unafraid. She was unable to really feel fear - so for her to be warning them, it must be serious, indeed. Looking up at Sesshoumaru, she tilted her head towards Kanna, and said, "If Kanna is seeing fit to warn us, it means it's bad. We need to get back to the others as soon as we can."

Sesshoumaru nodded, eyes going distant as he gazed into the horizon. "Father has returned to his shiro in the North - if we travel through the night, we can make it there by tomorrow afternoon. Are you able to do so?"

Kagura grinned at him, more than willing to meet the challenge. "I am as much youkai as you, and need as little sleep. I have no problem with continuing on."

He glanced at her out of the corner of his eye, approval sparking there for just a moment.

"Good."

---zZz---

Inuyasha sat up, staring around himself at the cave he was in, and grinned, fangs openly displayed. There was only one thing on his mind as he looked around - food. He could feel the heat in his body, and knew that he still wasn't finished changing, but his body had temporarily stopped, needing food to fuel anymore changes.

Pushing himself slowly to his feet, he growled in approval, already, the strength flooding through his body was so much greater than he ever remembered having - although, with a frown, he realized that he didn't remember much from before - only two women, women that looked slightly similar, but that were not the same.

Yes! He remembered now. They were his. But one of them was also claimed by a rival - that's why he was still waiting here - he needed to finish changing before he went after her, so that he could defeat his rival and take his female. The other was already his... but he could not remember their names, or how he'd known them, nor could he remember who his rival was.

He shrugged after a minute... it didn't really matter. The only thing that mattered right now was finding food, so that he could finish changing. Then, he could go claim his females, and kill the rival. Moving forward, he pushed aside the rock blocking the entrance, and stumbled outside, grateful that it was dark - his eyes were very sensitive, and he knew he needed time for them to adjust to light before he'd be ready to face the sunlight.

Half an hour later found him sitting in a small clearing, surrounded by the remains of the deer he'd taken down, and covered in blood. The meat tasted good, but the blood tasted better, and the newly becoming youkai revelled in the taste and the heat of the blood - it satisfied the primal being within him.

Once he'd had his fill, he moved off, heading for water - he needed to drink, and then it would be time to return to his nest and let his body take over again.

The thought of washing off the blood barely intruded into his mind, and then only because he didn't want to attract scavengers to his cave - not because before, it would have been something that horrified him.

That was before. Now, it attracted him.

Now was a different matter altogether.

---zZz---

Kagome awoke with a shudder, disoriented and frightened - and it took her a few to realize where she was. Once the knowledge of her surroundings kicked in, though, she curled into her new mate's side, still shaken by the nightmare she'd just had.

But had it really been a nightmare? She pulled away from Sugimi and sat up, suddenly, wondering. It had felt so real... she could still taste blood, and it made her want to gag. She started when a hand clamped onto her shoulder.

"Kagome? Are you alright, beloved?"

Turning, she stared blankly at him for a moment, and then, shaking her head, she brought her gaze to his.

"I - I think so..." she trailed off, sounding uncertain, and concerned, he pulled her into his lap, nuzzling against her soothingly.

"Well, tell me what has you so shaken up, my mate - and maybe we can figure it out."

"I woke up from what I thought was a bad dream - but I'm not so sure that's it. Something about it feels... I don't know - wrong. It's more like I was seeing something that was happening to someone... or something like that." She stopped, confused, and put a hand to her head. "It's fading now, though..."

Sugimi tightened his arms around her and growled low in his chest, the vibrations soothing and calming her, and finally, she slumped against him bonelessly - and that diverted his mind to other things.

"Maybe you would feel better after a soak in the hot springs - especially after earlier, love." He smiled. "You were quite the vixen, you know, but since you've never really used those muscles before..."

She blushed, and pressing her face into his shoulder, mumbled, "It's not my fault you're the most gorgeous guy I've ever seen - you sent my hormones straight into orbit."

He chuckled at that. "Not that I understood what you just said, but come, I will carry you."

Setting her down, he stood, then picked her up, and walked, naked and fully confident, through the door into his private bathing area, and straight into the hot water with her held closely to him.

As they sank into the water, Kagome hissed - she could certainly feel it hitting the sore muscles, but after the initial shock, she relaxed... she could tell it was drawing out the soreness and taking it away.

Sighing contentedly, she snuggled closer into his shoulder, breathing in his scent - a scent that was permanently imprinted into her psyche as belonging to her other half - and smiled, happy to be there with him. Glancing up at him through her lashes, she caught his eyes on her - and the tender, loving expression in them undid her, causing her to blush - and then her eyes widened.

"Oh! I just thought of it - what does my mark look like?"

He grinned at her, a satisfied look crossing his face, and she shook her head reprovingly. He ignored the look, and sat her up with her back against his chest, and leaned her forward, so she could see herself in the water.

"Look," he said, pointing to her neck.

There, joining her original jagged blue courtship mark on one side of her neck, was another, exactly like the original, only on the other side of her neck, in the exact same spot. She stared at them, then turning in his lap, she looked up at him and smiled softly, enchanted.

"I have your crests on me..." she breathed, running one slender finger across said mark on his cheek.

"Indeed, beloved. They also carry my scent - and now, I will not have to contend with others going after what's mine," he said, smugly.

She pouted. "Is that the only reason you mated me?"

He shot her a look. "You know better. I mated you because I wanted you - and I've waited centuries for you. Do you not think I waited long enough?"

"I'm just kidding love, don't get bent out of shape." She turned to face forward again, laying happily back against his chest. After a little while, she asked, "Sugimi? Is the library here any good? I haven't actually seen it..."

His brow furrowed with confusion. "It's the only thing the former Lord appeared to have taken care of, and it actually has many fine, rare, and old works... why?"

"I need help with this whole thing with Inuyasha. I mean, at first, I thought if I just purified him, that would work - when that's happened before, like at Mt. Hakurei, he just became human for a while, until his youki recovered itself." She smiled as he hummed at her - that felt so good. "But I realized that with him being combined with Naraku now, and all that stolen youki, the level of purification that I would have to expose him to would kill him."

He sighed deeply, and nodded. "You are correct. He would not survive."

Kagome shook her head, pained at the thought. "I'm just hoping to find something somewhere that might help - because I'm working blind, here, and I don't want to make things worse. Kikyou's already suffering so badly over this... if you noticed, she wasn't even at dinner. When I asked one of the servants about it, he said she'd not left her room since arriving."

He nuzzled his head into her shoulder, inhaling and enjoying their combined scents, then rumbled affectionately at her. "You are worried about them both - and yet, they caused you so much pain over the years... there are not many like you, my love."

"Well, of course I'm worried! Inuyasha's my friend, and as for Kikyou... I never hated her, you know. Not even back then. I wanted to be her. But now I can honestly say that I'm thankful that the Kami don't always answer every prayer - because I can say without a doubt that everything I went through to get here, every tear I cried over him, every fight we had about her, was worth it... just to get to this place. You are worth it all, and I honestly wouldn't change it."

Sugimi closed his eyes, contentment seething through him. He had never, in his entire life, been happier than he was in that moment, holding her in his arms, and he smiled, laying a line of kisses down the back of her neck until she was shivering. Pulling away, he said, huskily, "Why don't we take this back to our bed? I find I need to be with you - again."

She nodded, eyes heavy-lidded and filled with desire.

"As if you have to ask."

---zZz---

"He is changing again."

The whispery soft voice of the void child caught Sesshoumaru's attention again, and he raised a brow at what she was saying.

"Changing?"

"Hai. He is becoming. This is not what he thought, nor is it what he wanted - but now, he is full youkai. And Naraku's mind is gone. So is the heart of the other."

Kagura shook her head impatiently. "What do you mean, other?"

Kanna raised her head and looked at Kagura, then folded the blanket covering the infant back so that they both could see him. As they looked, astonishment overwhelmed them both, and Kagura gasped.

The infant now had black hair - and violet eyes... much like a certain hanyou.

"It looks like a human Inuyasha!"

Sesshoumaru stared at the infant, and then looked ahead, jaw clenched.

"But what did you mean, Kanna? What about his mind?"

"His mind is different now, broken, and twisted together with fragments of Naraku's." She turned her gaze on Sesshoumaru for a moment, then looked back down at the once again sleeping infant.

"Akago was once Naraku's heart - but now he is Inuyasha's human heart - the only thing left to him is the youkai. The human part of him is here."

Sesshoumaru continued to stare straight ahead.

"Inuyasha is a fool."

---zZz---

The next morning, after another quick soak in the hot springs, Sugimi and Kagome left their rooms, and headed to breakfast. Everyone they passed smiled - anyone with a sense of smell could tell that she was full of his scent - apparently once or twice hadn't been enough for the passionate couple, and the occupants of the palace were well pleased with their new Lady.

There was one person, however, that was not pleased with the undeniable fact of what had happened in the Lord's rooms last night, and that person let it be known - loudly.

The moment she opened her mouth and started harping, however, Sugimi looked at her - and her mouth snapped shut immediately, fear of him overcoming her bruised pride.

"Listen to me, Leiko. I warned you. Leave well enough alone - if you bother my Lady, I will have you thrown out, and you won't be visiting Sesshoumaru anytime soon."

Gesturing to a servant,he spoke as soon as one approached. "Take the Lady Leiko and escort her to her room, and have a tray delivered to her. She will be breaking her fast there."

Leiko, fuming, was lead from the dining room, and as soon as she disappeared, Kagome burst out laughing. "She's way too uptight. She needs to relax - badly."

Chuckling, Sugimi nodded. "You are correct, my love. But telling Leiko to relax is like telling Sesshoumaru that it's okay to laugh in public."

Kagome's face scrunched up almost comically as she tried to visualize that. "Nope... I see your point - that'll never happen."

Her attention was diverted as, one by one, the rest of the group, including Rin and Shippo, wandered in. She wasn't sure if anyone knew about her new status... until Miroku came in and saw them sitting there - and a lecherous smirk the size of Edo plastered itself across his face.

"So, Sugimi-sama, that was quite a roar last night, and this morning, and then again this morni--" he broke off as Sango entered, and just as red-faced as Kagome, knocked him on the back of the head so hard his eyes rolled up in his head for a moment. She drug him over into a corner and dropped him there... he'd be out of the way as he recovered his senses.

Sugimi just chuckled at the looks on the women's faces, and nodded at Sango's quietly spoken congratulations.

Shippo hopped over to her and sniffed, then looked at her marks, and grinned. "It's about time Kagome found someone to make her happy." He looked at Sugimi and sobered for a minute. "Don't you ever hurt her none like Inuyasha did, always two-timing her."

The Lord just smiled at the kit and nodded gently. "I swear that I will not ever willingly hurt her, little kit... you have my word."

Shippo grinned again. "Great! So what are we gonna do today?"

Kagome frowned and looked over at Sango, then at a still slightly dazed Miroku. "I am going to be looking through a library to look for anything that might help us figure out this situation with Inuyasha - and you three are gonna help me." She pointed at each of the adults firmly.

Rin piped up at that moment. "Kagome-sama, what should Rin do?"

She smiled at the adorable girl. "Rin should see if she can keep Shippo occupied. It would be a good day for you both to play in the gardens."

Rin nodded and smiled. "Okay. Rin will take Shippo out to the gardens."

Both children ran out of the room, heading for the great outdoors as soon as they finished and were dismissed, leaving behind the adults.

Kagome sighed as she looked at her new mate.

No rest for the wicked - they had work to do.