InuYasha Fan Fiction ❯ The Miko Bride ❯ The Miko Bride-Nightmares and Torture ( Chapter 9 )
(Meanwhile, in Kyoto castle, a pallid Kagome wanders the halls. She passes Naraku and Hiten without acknowledging them.)
Naraku: She's been like this since the Fire Swamp. (Pointedly.) It's my father's failing health that troubles her.
Hiten: Of course.
Grandpa: The king died that very night and Kagome and Naraku were married before the following dawn. The next day she met her subjects again, this time as their queen.
(Kyoto Square is packed once again. Naraku appears upon the castle balcony, wearing a new crown-the crown of a king.)
Naraku: My father's last words were…
Shippo: Hold it, Grandpa!
(The scene freezes, and we're back in Shippo's room. The young kitsune is clearly getting stronger.)
Shippo: You read that wrong. She doesn't marry Naraku, she marries Inuyasha. I'm sure of it. If she didn't marry Inuyasha, it wouldn't be fair! And besides, Kagome/Naraku is just gross!
Grandpa: Who says life is always fair? Where is that written?
Shippo: Look, you're messing the story up! Get it right!
Grandpa: Do you want me to finish this?
Shippo: Yes.
Grandpa: All right. No more interruptions. `The next day, she met her subjects again, this time as their queen.
(We're back in Kyoto Square.)
Naraku: My father's last words were, "Love her as I loved her, and there will be joy."
(Again, Kagome emerges from the archway. If she was beautiful before, she is now radiant. The crowd cheers, louder and louder. But, unexpectedly, a single `boo' cuts through the cheers. Everyone falls silent as an ancient woman wearing an eye patch emerges from the crowd, booing louder and louder.)
Kagome: Why do you do this?
Kaede: You had true love in your hands and you let it slip through your fingers!
Kagome: They would have killed Inuyasha if I hadn't!
Kaede: Your true love lives, and you marry another! True love saved you in the Fire Swamp, and you treated it like garbage. And that's what you are, the Queen of Refuse!
(She turns to the crowd.)
Kaede: So bow down if you want! Bow to her! Bow to the Queen of Slime, the Queen of Filth, the Queen of Putrescence! Boo! Boo! Rubbish! Filth! Slime! Boo! Boo!
(She advances threateningly until her face fills the screen. Kagome cowers in fear, and sits bolt upright in bed, alone in the castle. She pulls on a robe and runs into the hall.
Grandpa: It was ten days to the wedding and the king still lived, but Kagome's nightmares were growing steadily worse.
Shippo: Told you she'd never marry that rotten Prince Naraku.
Grandpa: Yes, you're very smart. Shut up.
(Kagome bursts into Naraku's chambers. He is inside with Hiten.)
Kagome: It comes to this-I love Inuyasha, and I know now I always will. If you tell me I must marry you in ten days, please believe I will be dead by morning.
(Naraku blinks.)
Naraku: I would never dream of causing you grief. Consider the wedding off. Hiten, you returned this Inuyasha to his ship?
Hiten: Yes.
Naraku: Then we will simply alert him. However Kagome, have you considered that he may no longer want you? It was you who left him in the Fire Swamp, and pirates are not known as men of their words, especially not hanyou pirates.
Kagome: Inuyasha will always come for me.
Naraku: I suggest a deal. I will send my four fastest ships bearing a message for Inuyasha-the Dread Pirate Kouga is always close to Japan this time of year. If Inuyasha still wants you, bless you both. If not, please consider me as an alternative to suicide. Are we agreed?
(Kagome nods. Cut to Naraku and Hiten, walking through a grove of heavily knotted trees.)
Hiten: Your princess is really a winning creature. A tad simple, perhaps, but her appeal is undeniable.
Naraku: I know. The people are quite taken with her. It's odd. I thought it was clever when I hired Kikyo to murder her on my engagement day. But I think it will be much more touching when I strangle her on our wedding night. Once Guilder is blamed, the nation will be outraged. They'll demand we go to war.
(They pause, and Hiten searches the tree next to him.)
Hiten: Now where is that secret knot? It's impossible to find. Oh, here it is.
(He presses the knot, and opens a secret passageway.)
Hiten: Will you be coming down to the Pit. Inuyasha is all healed, so I'm starting him on the Machine today.
Naraku: I'd love to, Hiten. You know how much I love watching you work. But I've got my country's 500th anniversary to plan, my wife to murder, and Guilder to blame for it. I' swamped.
Hiten: Get some rest. If you haven't got your health, you haven't got anything.
(He descends into the Pit as the door slides perfectly back into place. Kijo is fiddling with some dials on a massive Machine in the center of the Pit. Hiten drags Inuyasha to it.)
Hiten: Beautiful, isn't it?
(Kijo attaches some suction cups to Inuyasha's bare chest.)
Hiten: It took me half a lifetime to invent it. I'm sure you've discovered my deep and abiding interest in pain. In fact, I am currently writing the definitive volume on the subject. So I want you to be totally honest on how the Machine makes you feel. Since this is our first time, I'll start you off on the lowest setting.
(He goes to a lever, and pushes it up to `1.' The Machine starts humming. A flood gate opens. The water rushes down, and the gears start turning. Inuyasha screams in the purest agony. After a minute or so, Hiten switches off the Machine and goes to a writing desk. He removes pen and paper.)
Hiten: The concept of the suction cup is ancient. This works on the same principle, with one exception: Instead of sucking water, I'm sucking life. I just sucked one year of your life away. Someday, I might go as high as five, but I really don't know what that would do to you. Now, how did it make you feel? This is for posterity, so be honest.
(Inuyasha groans, clearly in pain beyond imagination.)
Hiten: Interesting.