InuYasha Fan Fiction ❯ The Longest Journey ❯ Endless Night ( Chapter 25 )

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

Chapter 25: Endless Night

Kagome sat near the window in her and Sugimi's chambers, meditating on the things she had learned from the little void youkai. Sugimi was sleeping, unaware that she had moved from the bed... as much as he tried to be the rock for everyone, this mess had tired him out as well, and he needed the peace that he could get from a nice deep sleep.

She, on the other hand, knew that she wouldn't find any peace in sleep at this point - the only thing that would help her was to figure a way out of the mess that Inuyasha's brash actions had put them in.

And the first step, was to master the shards of her soul. She'd already made a good start on that back when things were still simple, and she was going to use them to purify Naraku straight to the seventh hell - but now the story had changed, and she needed full mastery - because what she was going to have to do could kill them both if she couldn't control her soul.

My soul. It's odd to think of it that way, honestly, but that's really what it is - or at least, a part of my soul. It's a good thing, too, because I really need to figure out what Inuyasha's planning - and with his retention of the shards Naraku had, I can do that.

Sinking herself deeper into the trance, she cleared her mind, and began to reach deep inside - to the place where her subconscious mind merged with her soul. It was a place she was becoming more than familiar with, and as the landscape that her mind had chosen as the visual representation of that place appeared, she moved forward confidently, breaking through into the dreamscape.

It was, perhaps, the most apt representation she could imagine. She was standing on a rise above a low, flat plain, one that was featureless and dead, and pierced by only one thing - a long, high wall, dividing one side of the plain from the other, and directly in the center, a gateway... but not one that looked out onto the other side of the plain. No, this gateway looked out onto wherever you ordered it to - if you had the power and the knowledge to make it do so.

That wall was the line between mind and soul, and the gate piercing it, the way to access everything contained within the soul - she'd found it when Sugimi began teaching her how to use the sword. So now, standing finally before the gateway, she linked her conscious mind to it, and directed it to the one portion of her soul that wasn't aligned within her - that which existed within the jewel shards.

Immediately, her worldview shifted, and everything around her took on an almost crystalline awareness - things had much sharper edges, and shades of gray became stark black and white - it was obvious that the stone saw things in a much different light than humanity did. It was an almost alien awareness, very much different than she was used to, but as she explored the consciousness of herself within the jewel, she had to admit that she agreed with that awareness in the insights that it carried within it... it was very logical, and emotion didn't control it - it only guided it.

As she became more aware within the jewel, she began to pick up the thoughts of the being that held that part of it, and she was appalled at what her friend had become. He had no soul - and at first she was confused - how could that be? But then, she realized that the infant that had become Inuyasha's human heart, wasn't just his heart - it carried his soul as well. The thing that was walking around was merely a body and mind - all that made Inuyasha what he was, was trapped within the body of the infant - the only part that was not there was his youkai blood.

In a very real sense, Inuyasha had been split in two. His youkai blood, and human blood were now seperate. The infant had his heart and soul, and the adult had his mind and body. Now, she had to find a way to combine them again - without killing him.

What made that so difficult, was the portions of him that had once been Naraku. From the awareness she held inside the portions of the jewel that he carried, she could tell that the parts of the dark hanyou that had merged with Inuyasha, were completely merged - there was no way to separate them. Their very DNA had combined, and neither she, nor anyone save the kami themselves, could take a person apart all the way to the cellular level and rebuild them. It just wasn't happening.

Sighing, she set all that aside to consider later, and began to focus on his thoughts - they still needed to know what he was planning, and while she couldn't read his exact thoughts, she could get flashes. Hopefully, that would give enough for them to work with, because she was sure that whatever he was planning, had bloodshed and combat written all over it - and she had no intentions of losing her new mate.

She especially didn't want Sugimi to fight Inuyasha - no parent should be placed into that position - ever, so it would be her that would take on Inuyasha, as much as she dreaded that thought.

She perked up as she began to catch wisps of his thoughts, and as some of the things came through, she had to fight the horror of them... she couldn't imagine what Kikyou was going through if even a tiny bit of this was seeping into her from their bond - it was horrible. Listening hard, she caught enough to know that he was traveling to Naraku's old hideout - he'd decided that Naraku's incarnations and the hellbugs were now his by default - and he was going to collect them.

That meant that he'd have the Saimyousho - and this made her happy as hell that she'd gone home and gotten those anti-allergen epi-pens - and Hakudoushi, as the boy was the only incarnation left in his control, now that they had Kanna and Kagura, when he finally made it here and attacked.

Because that's what he had planned, and she could see the glee that filled his mind at the thought of the coming fight - and the blood that would be shed.

Cringing, she began to pull her awareness back, bringing herself back to the point of the gateway, and then slowly pulling further back, waking herself from the trance. It was slow going - with as deep as she'd been, to wake too quickly was akin to a diver coming up too fast - it could give your mind the 'bends' as they were called.

Finally waking to the world around her, she opened her eyes, and almost flinched when she found herself looking directly into very worried golden ones. Moving stiffly, as she'd apparently sat there for most of the night, she smiled at him as he moved to pull her into his arms.

"Kami, Kagome! Don't ever do that to me again! There's a limit to how deep into a trance you should go - too far and you'll never wake, and you were pushing that, my mate." His voice carried fear, and her heart melted at the sound.

"It's okay, love - I wasn't too deep. I was linked to the jewel, that's all. I needed to get an idea of what he's planning," her face paled slightly as the memories of what she'd found in his mind returned, "and I certainly found that out. Got a bit more than I bargained for - but also gained a more complete understanding of what he's done to himself."

Sugimi's eyebrow rose into his bangs as he realized what she'd done - he was impressed. She'd found her gateway. Not many people ever did, only the most powerful could manipulate their minds and souls that way.

"What did you find, my love?" he asked curiously.

"A world of endless night."

---zZz---

Sugimi sighed, finally breaking the lengthened silence they'd fallen into after she had told him everything she'd learned from the trance.

"So... he intends to gather his slaves and then come to us here. At least we know now - and you were right, we needed to be behind walls. I do not want you vulnerable to him."

"Except that I'm going to be anyway, love, since I'm going to have to face him to fix him." She thought about it for a minute. "It'll be no different in some ways than the final battle we had planned against Naraku, except that Inuyasha's goals are different. He's not really after the rest of the jewel - at least, at this point. Right now, he's only focused on Kikyou and I."

He growled low, displeased at the vocalization of his son's perverse desires towards his mate, and his hands tightened on her. "I will not allow that, Kagome. I would sooner see both of us dead and in the afterlife together than to lose you to him... the only way for him to have you now would be if I were dead - and the next time I die, I won 't be alone. You will be with me, you know that right? We will live together, and die together. That's the way this works."

She smiled up at him. "I know, love, and I wouldn't want to be left behind anyway... if you went, I would fall on my sword and follow you. Without you, there is no life."

He looked down at her tenderly, his eyes darkening with pain at the thought of being without her for even a few moments. Reaching a tender hand up, she caressed his face, and leaning down, he kissed her, just edging her bottom lip with the tip of his tongue, not moving fast, just content to taste and savor her slowly.

She moaned as heat began to pulse through her, his every touch a spark to the flame, and parted her lips for him, using her tongue to draw his into her mouth.

This time, his claiming was hot and slow, sweet like honey, and it fanned the flames to heights undreamed of by either of the participants. He laid her back against the fur covering the floor, and moved softly down her body, worshipping every inch of skin he uncovered, and all the while, hot tears ran down her cheeks, and she caressed every bit of flesh that she could reach. As he moved further down, away from her hands, she ran her fingers through his hair, unbound and sensual to her, the touch of it sending little electrical shocks through her.

Suddenly, she couldn't stand anymore, and just as he reached her nether regions, she grasped his head and tilted his face to hers.

"Please, not now. I don't need that - I need to feel you, within me... Foreplay can wait for another time. I just want you to love me now."

Eyes soft, he nodded at her, and moved back up her body. As he slipped inside, a fresh wave of tears hit her cheeks, and she smiled shakily at him, all her love shining in her eyes as he began to move. The sight of her, like that, so openly vulnerable to him, shook him to his core, and he leaned down with a groan, kissing her passionately, but still slowly, whispering, "I love you so, my beloved, my mate," against her lips.

Kagome's eyes finally fell closed, her senses and her heart just overwhelmed by the feelings of him inside her body, and inside her heart. It was simply... everything, and she had no words to describe any of it anymore - love just didn't even come close. The eroticism of him, and the feel of him, so strong, and so hard within her, moving, and his skin against hers, soon had her reaching her first climax.

But that wasn't the end, because Sugimi, despite the fact that the heat of her, gripping him like a burning vise had him releasing at the same time, was so stimulated by the emotional bond, that he remained hard, and continued moving within her, drawing out the heat within the both of them until time spun away, and climax blended with climax, til nothing existed but the two of them, loving and worshipping each others bodies and souls.

Finally, after hours of loving, they both fell apart, crying their satiation and satisfaction to the heavens, before falling asleep in each others arms, Sugimi still buried deep inside his love.

Time enough for the realities of life to hit them when they woke... for now, they were at peace lying locked together in sleep, and woe to the one that disturbed them first.

---zZz---

Later that day, Kagome went looking for Kikyou. She had to be told what Kagome had managed to find out - and what she would be able to do, and what she would not be able to do.

She found the priestess in a one of the little private gardens, sitting under a sakura tree, looking lost and frightened. Her heart clenched at the obvious pain the woman was going through, and she again felt guilty at the knowledge that it was her 'return' that had been the catalyst for the whole thing.

Sitting down near Kikyou, she said, "I'm sorry... I know that doesn't help anything but..."

Kikyou shook her head, with a small sob, she threw herself into the younger woman's arms. "No! It's me that should be sorry, Kagome. This is karma, you know?" As Kagome's brow furrowed in confusion, Kikyou pulled away, sniffling, then continued. "I'm getting my own medicine thrown at me. This is simple justice, really, for all the pain and grief I knowingly caused you over Inuyasha. I was so wrong to do those things to you, and I feel so horrible now that I have an inkling of what, exactly I put you through."

She sighed heavily, still sniffling, as Kagome shook her head, but before she could speak, Kikyou spoke again. "Don't deny it, Kagome. I knew at the time I was hurting you. The thing was, I never hated you, I had nothing against you being happy - just not with my Inuyasha. So when you made it clear you had feelings for him, I wanted to make it clear that he was mine and you'd never have him." Another sob broke through her voice as she finished, "And now, I don't even have him! He's lost to either of us... and I deserve every bit of suffering I'm getting, even if I hate it."

Kagome shook her head. "I wish you'd stop thinking about it, Kikyou. It's done and over, and I forgave the both of you a long time ago. And besides," she blushed, "I'm glad you and Inuyasha got it together - even though it hurt at the time, I can't imagine what would have happened if you hadn't made sure he was with you and we'd gotten together, because, the minute I met Sugimi - all of us would have been miserable."

Smiling, she looked out at the horizon, gaze far away. "We really are soul-mates you know... imagine the pain we'd all have gone through had I been mated to another when we met. All three of us would have suffered... horribly."

Kikyou stared at her for a moment, a slight smile breaking across her face at that thought. "I guess you are right - although it still doesn't change the fact that my behavior was wrong..." she trailed off.

"Yeah, but you know... how many people do you know that are perfect and don't have things that they look back and regret doing?" Clasping her arms around her knees, she finished, "I certainly don't know any."

"When did you gain so much wisdom?"

"Well, its the results of all that painful suffering, you know. Everything has a purpose, after all, right?" She giggled. "Just forget about it, Kikyou... we have other things to talk about now so..." she began talking her through everything she'd learned the night before.

"... and so, the infant is Inuyasha's heart and soul, and the adult is his body and mind." She was quiet for a moment as Kikyou digested all that, then said, "The problem is that, while I can save him, he will never be the hanyou we all knew again. At the very least, he will remain full youkai - and it will take him a while to adjust to that, I'd imagine. It's just that the parts of Naraku that were absorbed are too entwined with Inuyasha to take them apart, do you understand? I just can't do that - even the tama doesn't have the power for something of that magnitude."

Kikyou had more tears running down her face, but she nodded. "I'm not surprised, after everything I've been getting through the bond." She drew in a shuddering breath - then let it all out. "I don't know how I'm going to accept him back after all this, Kagome. I feel cheated, in a way... I mated Inuyasha, but that's not really who I'm going to be getting back - the person he'll be is not someone I know."

Kagome nodded, sorrow flowing through her at Kikyou's words. She understood perfectly how she felt - and it was the saddest thing she'd ever contemplated. Inuyasha might just wake from this nightmare to find himself totally alone - and all because of his own actions.

Talk about karma.