InuYasha Fan Fiction ❯ The Price of Freedom ❯ Ten ( Chapter 10 )

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

Kagome found herself lost in the all enfolding shadows. She felt terribly weak, her skin twitched and her insides felt hot and sore. There was a low hum penetrating the darkness, and an acid odor wafted through the air.

It took only a moment for the thick fog in her mind to clear before she remembered a sudden flash of white, a ghastly face submerged in shadows, and a jarring bodily sensation accompanied by searing pain, then nothing. Am I …dead? She felt a certain weightlessness, even as a nameless hunger settled deep inside her.

"No, it can't be..." But the dampness began to seep under her skin, as the same hunger coiled tight in her belly somehow confirming her suspicions. Through some force of unnatural magic, she was thrown into the rent between this world and the next. If she was completely honest with herself, Kagome didn't know for certain if she was here by accident, or if this was the end of the road.

Kagome could only listen to the din of heavy footfalls fading in the distance, the fiendish screams rising to a high pitch, then ceded by chilling laughter.

Despite herself, a sharp chill brushed the back of her skull causing all her muscles to tense. Behind her, a flash of yellow light pulsed in intensity and she raised her hand to shield her eyes. She managed to crack one eye open in time to catch a glimmer of something silver slithering above her head and when she craned her neck, she spotted the large eel like creature carrying a shimmering ball of light. She had the unsettling feeling that she had experienced this before.

The demon let loose a hiss as it passed over her head, but otherwise went on with its business and left her unscathed. Curiosity filled her, and she decided to follow the creature. It's not like I have a lot of options.

A scorching, biting wind picked up, mingled with the sound of audible moans and she uttered a small prayer under her breath as she pulled herself forward. The ground beneath her felt hot an unbearable, while the unnatural maelstrom brought the stench of the undead.

Kagome steadied herself as she climbed over a small stretch of cliffs, until she reached a plateau where the wind, rebuffed by the rocky hills gusted over an island of bones. The wind whispered a warning, telling her to turn back before it was too late, but she brushed the voice aside and edged to the far end of the bank.

A woman was bathing with her back turned, seemingly unbothered by the hellish landscape. Kagome felt voyeuristic, as the woman in the river hummed under her breath and methodically splashed a wooden bucket of water over her head. It was such a mundane act, the ordinariness of it caught her off guard. Without warning, the eel like demon circled over the murky river, and she acted unconsciously.

"Hey, watch out!" Kagome yelled, as the eel-like creature snaked itself around the woman. Kagome acted on instinct as she rushed to find the biggest stone that she could find and charged it with her spiritual energy, before hurling it with all her might.

It hit the demon with a sickening thud, and the creature disintegrated into grey ash as its cargo slipped into the water, causing the surface to bubble violently before the murky waters churned into a blood red.

The woman in the river stilled and slowly turned to face the intruder, she raised her ghostly pale fingers to part a curtain of black hair still plastered to her face. Kagome caught the blistering stare and audibly gasped. It was like looking in the mirror, but there was a cold gleam in her reflections eyes. Her mirror image regarded her with an unfriendly scowl, and began to silently wring out her hair, and flipped the webbed strands in annoyance.

"I've been expecting you." The other woman said simply.

"You're me. How is that possible?" Kagome stared in disbelief, her knees sunk into the damp soil, where the other woman stood like a statue as rivulets of water caused her skin to glisten and gleam with an otherworldly glow. Kagome made the mistake of looking down in the cool water, when she first caught sight of them, and felt her blood turn to ice.

Kagome doubled over as she saw the decapitated heads of the village women from the cave. Their glassy, hollowed eyes staring up at her with cold accusation, jolting her memory.

"What is the meaning of this?" Kagome's breath thickened in her throat.

"I don't know, you tell me priestess." Her reflection drawled out, the voice heavy with self-amusement. The other woman stretched languidly, and Kagome felt a flush of anger at her reflections nonchalance.

"Why you murderer! What have you done to these women?" Kagome shouted in accusation, momentarily forgetting her shock.

"Don't be such a fool, and use your head for once girl. I'm a mere gatekeeper in this realm, and I would never take credit for someone else's work. You made a wish before you entered this realm, you opened the gates and it was your wish that set them free." Kagome's mirror image spoke snidely, and watched in satisfaction as the struggle broke across Kagome's countenance as she was forced to soak up all the information.

"I- I didn't. I don't remember, I only wanted…" Kagome stumbled backward, her thoughts moving in circles. Inwardly, she winced at the child-like quality creeping into her voice.

"Oh honey, you did. You made a wish. You wanted to set these miserable wretches free, did you not?" Her mirror image cocked her head, and the sympathetic smile that blossomed on her face didn't fully reach her eyes. "Oh dear, you haven't learned, have you? The jewel never truly grants anyone their true wish." The other woman tusked softly.

"I didn't mean too." Kagome was swept up in an inner battle, as she fought with her conscience. She felt the weight of the other woman's words, that struck like sharp blows and she knew that the woman was telling the truth.

"Poor thing. It must be hell being such a walking disaster, you really don't have a clue about how much damage you cause, do you?" The other woman said lightly as she shook the remaining water from her hair as she advanced to the bank until she was about arm's length.

"What do you mean? I've done nothing but stick my neck out and make sacrifices for everyone. This wretched jewel has done nothing but twist my intentions. You think I did this on purpose? I was forced to protect something that only causes harm and destruction." Kagome's self-pitying spell was broken as she edged her voice with some steel. Kagome knew that whoever this woman sporting her face was, she was bad news.

On cue, her mirror image threw her head back and laughed, it was a shrill mocking laugh that made Kagome cringe, and when her mirror image was done she paused to wipe tears from her eyes. Her mirror image crouched to meet Kagome eye level, and brushed her cheek almost lovingly. Kagome hissed as a mild shock caused her to reel back to put some distance between them.

"You really are something else, aren't you? And to think, you were entrusted with one simple thing. It really is sad that people will die because you're such a weakling and you can't even own up to your mistakes." Her mirror image sighed with false pity lacing her voice, and Kagome balled her fists as she tried to blink away the angry tears.

"You're wrong. I never intended for this to happen. Never in a million years would I do something so callous." She said harshly, and felt her power leap and twist in her gut as she shook violently. Kagome felt herself become undone as her worst suspicions were coming true. It was as if the woman sporting her face knew all her deepest fears, and insecurities and was laying it all to bear.

"Not so fast. If you use that kind of power here, you'll cause irreparable damage and then you'll really screw yourself over. You'll attract some real nasty pest, and trust me, this place is crawling with them." Her mirror image said cryptically as she wagged a reproaching finger.

Kagome didn't care, she felt a wave a madness goad her and she lunged, tackling the other woman to the ground. She let loose a wave of her power, that crackled around her in a shimmering pink light as she pinned the other woman to the ground.

"I don't want to hear any more of your lies." Kagome said through clenched teeth, her heart thundering in its cage.

"Or what? You're going to stop me from speaking the truth?" Her reflection fired back. Suddenly, the other woman's face glowed, and Kagome watched with fascination as the features began to morph. The halo of black hair deadened, shrinking into a dull grey. The taut, young face began to sag with age. The grey eyes receded, and churned into a deep brown still full of regrets. Her reflection completely transformed, and her heart stuttered as Kagome stared down into the face of her grandfather.

"Stop this." Kagome uttered softly, almost pleading as her face rapidly draining of color. "Stop this right now!" She shouted more forcibly, and she brought her fist down right above the old man's head as her grandfather's face broke out into a disapproving frown.

"Look at me child. I died trying to protect you from that spineless weasel Kagewaki. You were chosen to protect the jewel, you were supposed to protect the clan. Yet you have run away from your duty, only thinking about your selfish desires. You have failed me granddaughter." Kagome's grandfather wailed sorrowfully, and she noticed that even his voice sounded the same and she had to get away, but her grandfather's hands reached for her holding her firmly in place.

"No!" Kagome shut her eyes, and covered her ears, as a haunting laugh sliced tersely into her consciousness, invading her mind.

Memory assailed her, and she was haunted by the ghosts of the past. Her old village sprang from the ashes and she was forced to remember those terrible events against her will.

Kagome saw herself, growing up in grandfather's tiny hut. Crawling, then walking, and growing in body and mind. She could remember her favorite warm grass mat that she had weaved for herself, the taste of fresh squeezed milk every harvest, and learning how to draw strength from the world around her.

She remembered never quite fitting in, and how the wariness of the women and children wounded her. She remembered the good, simple times, and life going about its business, like it was meant to. Until the demons began attacking. Whispers spread like wildfire that she was cursed, and that her very presence was the cause of the violence and would bring down the clan.

Kagome saw herself running in the dead of night, her head dizzy from fear as her clansmen charged after her, their faces smudged in her memory as they dragged her back. Their hands reached for her, until she could not breathe, and their rallying cry pierced the deadwoods. Witch! It was the most feared word for any priestess, and without her grandfather's protection she was vulnerable to the fickleness and superstitious wrath of men. She knew what was coming next, she could feel death lurking in the shadows, as she silently begged it to take her.

Kagome thought that she was being bound by thick ropes from her memory and fought savagely, until she slowly registered that she was being dragged by her hair and tried in vain to break free from the iron grip.

"You're not him! Why are you doing this?" Kagome shouted at the ghost of her grandfather, who was dragging her to the edge of the river bank and the ghoul let out a disturbing chuckle.

"The dead cannot give solace, but I will give you all the solace you've been seeking." She heard her grandfather's voice whisper and without warning, Kagome was plunged head first into the cold river where she was faced with the decapitated heads who glared on without pity.

She felt a familiar terror in her mind, her limbs began to weaken, and she knew that she was dying. Kagome wondered for a brief second if hell had other levels, she felt the grey fog cloud her mind and thought it strange to confront her own mortality in the netherworld. Without invitation, a familiar pair of golden eyes flashed through her head, and she was filled with a sudden rush of longing. I want to see Inuyasha.

Her mind crowded with memories of the brash half demon, his poorly disguised concern over her wellbeing, his bright red robe dropping coolly in her lap to protect her from the cold, his brusque manner covering the depth of his gentleness that surprised and pleased her. It was the first time anyone had treated her without fear and contempt.

To him, she was simply a lost woman trying to get back to her homeland. He would never know that she was chasing after ghosts. She felt herself reaching for the image of him she conjured in the murky waters and unconsciously something inside of her answered. A sudden burst of warmth coursed through her, as she beat back the fog stealing her coherence.

Kagome gritted her teeth and used what little strength that she had to hook one of her captor's legs with her own, and hauled the doppelganger into the water. Kagome broke free, and shortly she heard a loud splash.

"Give up, priestess. You cannot escape!" The grave voice screeched as she furiously propelled herself forward.

Kagome's mind was a whirlwind. From the corner of her eye she saw a glimmer of a pale face gaining on her, and now there was no visible human traits except for a billowing cloud of black hair.

She acted unconsciously. In her mind, she imagined what she needed until she became uncomfortably aware of her shadows proximity. When the doppelganger was close enough, Kagome sharply turned and let loose a blast of energy that engulfed her foe and it gave an enraged shriek before succumbing to purification.

Kagome felt slightly lightheaded and used the remainder of her strength to kick up towards the light to break through the surface. Her lungs were burning, and she greedily inhaled as much as she could as she gave a breathy, triumphant laugh. She had never been able to call on her power so freely and for a moment she felt indestructible.

The small smile faded from her face when she remembered the price of such power, and she studied her hands. Forget about it. I'll worry about it later. I'm going to need more than that to get out of this godforsaken place.

She pulled herself from the river and when she looked behind her, she realized that the cliffs she climbed was nowhere to be found, and she was stranded in the middle of a deadwood that was deathly quiet.

In the distance she saw a mighty swarm of demons, heading towards a throbbing yellow light that had widened into a large disc, standing out against the drab sky. She squinted, and she realized with a stab of horror that the grey skies were no sky after all, but a mass of demons of different shapes and sizes all trying to squeeze their way through the disc of light.

Kagome found herself growing weaker as she trailed after the horde on foot. She felt that with each step, she had to focus all her willpower on moving forward. Something was draining her of her energy, and she knew that it was trying to prevent her from leaving.

When she looked down at her feet, she saw that they had begun to turn a ghastly shade, somehow matching the rest of the lifeless woodlands. She was tempted to stop, but the skeletons strewn about deterred her and she knew that if she stopped now she would never leave this plane.

Dimly, Kagome thought she imagined hearing heavy footfalls that sounded like thunder. She paused, and hoped to the gods that she was being paranoid. It's getting closer. Damn it, what now? Kagome shook her head in frustration and when she looked up she saw that a giant skeletal demon was indeed advancing in her direction, and was cleaving a clean path by trampling everything that got in its way.

Kagome stiffened, and hoped that the demon was just passing through. She ducked behind a patch of dry shrubs and waited, hoping that the cards would play out in her favor for once. Instead, she watched with growing trepidation as the hulking demon slowed down as it reached her hiding spot.

A skeletal hand appeared above her head and plucked her from the earth as she began to scream in protest. Kagome stared into twin pools of deadened black eyes that revealed nothing and showed no emotion, as the demon squeezed her little too tightly in its bony grip.

"I thought I smelled the reek of a priestess, oh, how the mighty have fallen." The demon eerily spoke with a great deal of familiarity that deeply unsettled her. When Kagome tried to come up with a retort, she felt as if her tongue was glued to the roof of her mouth.

"I have dreamed of this moment since our last battle, and you sent me to this wretched wasteland. What do you have to say for yourself, Midoriko?" Kagome felt her patience began to wear thin. First the doppelganger with its dark mind games, and now a walking bag of bones who was confusing her for a long dead woman from fabled legends. This was becoming old fast. A bitter smile twisted on her lips and she felt a familiar rush to her head as she freely called on her new abilities. But something went wrong.

Suddenly, she felt as if her head was splitting into two, and gave a wordless cry that seemed to give the demon pleasure. Something akin to an electric current overwhelmed her senses and set all her nerves on fire, causing her back to arch as her eyes rolled in the back of her head.

Kagome found herself revisiting memories that were not her own, her thoughts were a jumble of images that came in flashes. She saw Midoriko, growing larger in her mind, beckoning her. Kagome saw how she was tested by her elders for spiritual powers at an early age, and the grueling process of being trained as a priestess. Kagome felt the scorn that was visited upon the woman whose memories she was inhabiting, as she was treated with suspicion by her clansmen.

Kagome was suddenly thrown on the battle field, where the smell of blood and soil was nauseating. The feel of her sword hacking through enemy combatants disgusted her and she felt herself wanting to vomit until her stomach was emptied. Her world was a flash of colors, voices mingling together, faces of soldiers submerged in shadow, whispers filled with speculation by the firelight, and then a yawning black chasm that swallowed her and spit her out.

Kagome felt herself slowly becoming aware of her body and her surroundings, as she came to, slumped over in the demon's grasp. What the hell was that? Only the whistling leaves answered as she traveled through the deadwood's. They were closer to the disc of light, and she wondered faintly if time worked the same way in the netherworld.

"There's got to be mistake, I'm not Midoriko." Kagome slowly bit out, her words coming out sluggishly. She found a shadow of doubt lurking in her mind, and she repeated herself with more conviction until she got the demons attention.

"I'm not who you think I am, you have me mistaken for someone else."

"Miserable wretch, do you take me for a fool? If it wasn't for your meddling my clan would've risen to supremacy while you humans fought among yourself like a pack of wild vermin." The demon sneered, as her head began to throb in earnest. I am Kagome. She told herself fiercely, it was the only thing that she had left. Somehow that thought gave her a sense of purpose, and that was enough to whisk away the creeping dysphoria that made her feel like a stranger in her own body.

Whatever the other woman tried to show her, she had decided in that moment to find her own way. Kagome would no longer let anyone meddle and determine her future, she had already experienced the burdens of duty and the loveless work that came with it. It's never going to end, is it? Well damn it all to hell. I won't be anyone's sacrificial lamb. Never again. Her mind echoed with finality, and with much more urgency she held fast to her identity.

"I won't let anyone take it away from me ever again." Kagome said roughly to herself, a feverish light in her eyes, as something deep inside her linked with her innermost desires hummed in acquiescence.

The nameless thing fed off the volatile emotions of its oblivious host, as her desires became its own and it felt its own influence strengthen. Kagome was unaware of the shifts happening inside of her, instead she was caught in the past. She had somehow survived. Yet, despite everything she could feel the creeping threads of fate winding around her, drawing her back and she struggled internally like a wounded, cornered animal trying to break free.

Kagome vanquished the ghost of Midoriko from her mind, and she drew freely on her power without hesitation. She gave a satisfied smile, as a white, searing light surrounded her, and with a small amount of dark satisfaction she purified the hulking demon with a single touch. Its howl of pain was mingled with surprise and she watched as it succumbed and disintegrating into grey ash.

Kagome found herself falling headfirst, as she slipped through the bony hand disintegrating into fine dust and a pile of armor. She landed hard on her shoulder, and had the wind knocked out of her as she momentarily saw stars.

As she stared up at the wriggling mass of bodies, a memory came to her unbidden. Kagome thought she imagined five fingers of yellow streaks of light, blasting through the horde of demons and helping her cleave a path to freedom.

She remembered the cave, and her eyes widened a fraction. Inuyasha. His name was on the tip of her tongue, but she dared not utter it in this place reserved only for the dead.

Kagome gingerly got to her feet. She limped towards the throbbing yellow light as she felt that something or someone was calling her back to the land of the living, and she felt her spirit answer.

___________________________________________________________________ 

Inuyasha cursed for the umpteenth time, as he nearly dodged a mighty blast of poison from the moth demon. If he was honest with himself, Inuyasha knew that they were both stalling, and he was playing a dangerous game as he cast his eyes at the unconscious woman who was slowly being drained of her spiritual essence.

Kagome's face had grown an ashen color and he could no longer tell in his untransformed state if she was still breathing. Shit, if I don't end this soon, I don't think Kagome will survive. I know it's almost sunrise, but why the hell is it taking so long.

Inuyasha brandished the rusty blade and Hyoga laughed at the pathetic sight. The moth demon recognized the blade as the wretched Lord Dogs blade, and he sneered in contempt.

"So, it's true, you are the wretched spawn of that worthless dog Toga." Hyoga smirked, and took pleasure as the half breed balked, as he could practically hear the idiotic thoughts churning in his head.

"How do you know my father, asshole?" Inuyasha snarled, and temporarily forgot about his growing anxiety over his companion's wellbeing.

"Hasn't anyone given you a lesson in your own history? You truly are pathetic." Hyoga drawled out, and laughed as Inuyasha begin to curse foully. Yet something about the demon lords body language said something different than what he was presenting. Something was off. The moth demon's attacks lacked heat even though he clearly had the upper hand. I don't buy his act for one minute. What's this oversized bug hiding?

Hyoga's eyes slid to the unconscious woman, and he found it unnerving that she was still breathing even as he harvested her spiritual powers. The moth demon watched in frustrated hunger as the woman twitched in her comatose state. What manner of woman is she?

Something was wrong. It was taking too long. His frown deepened as the moth demon wondered if he had somehow miscalculated. He felt the same uneasy feeling and narrowed his eyes, and wondered if he had been drawn into a trap. Perhaps it was the woman's plan all along, to deny him of his birthright and make him look like a fool.

"Hey asshole, don't look away from me when I'm talking to you. I'll show you whose truly pathetic." Inuyasha transformation happened so quickly, that it took him by surprise and the rusty blade hummed with power as he gnashed his teeth.

Hyoga sneered, as he turned on the half breed. His mind was made up. He was done playing games with such insignificant pest. He had wasted enough time, and the woman and half breed proved useless.

"Hmph. So that was the final ace up your sleeve? No matter, this was amusing but I'm afraid I'm done with my little experiment. You can have your woman back once I drain her of every drop of her life force." He said in a gravelly tone of voice, and without blinking an eye the moth demon began to glow with a white, hot light. All Hyoga's humanoid features faded completely and the demon grew twice in height, as a wave of malicious yoki made Inuyasha inwardly grimace.

Inuyasha softly keh'd, and launched himself towards his foe, but Hyoga easily evaded his blow and dived straight towards an unconscious Kagome.

Inuyasha stared in abject horror as Hyoga unfurled himself and began to drain her of her lifeforce, and Inuyasha felt an unnamable rage tinged with dread build up in him, as he sprang towards Kagome in double time.

Hyoga felt his blood sing in his veins as he got his first taste of the woman and was nearly consumed by a spike of ecstasy. He felt the power, more power than what his experiments had given him flood through him and in his mind, he saw his innermost desire flash like a sweet promise. Hyoga saw his children rise from the hellfire's as he took his rightful place among them. He could hear them, and even feel them in his memory. The moth demon could taste his resurrected empire in Kagome's blood.

"This is... the power of the real shikon jewel." His eyes widened in amazement, but his revelation was cut short as pain lanced through his left shoulder, and he stared in bewilderment at the stump of flesh that was left. The half breed had sliced his arm off, and Inuyasha landed in a crouch with the woman cradled in his arms. Hyoga's shock slowly wore off and was replaced by a murderous wrath.

"How dare you! I will make you pay for that, insolent wretch." The ruptured flesh bubbled, and begin to heal on its own accord. And the moth demon began salivating. He had just a taste, just a taste of the woman and he would not rest until he had all of her.

Inuyasha growled in warning, he knew that Kagome was barely holding on and the bastard dared lay his filthy hands on her. Her skin had begun to take a deathly grey tint. Hold on Kagome, I'll take this ugly bastard down and you'll be back to normal. I won't let you die on me.

"You won't live to see your miserable kin resurrected. You'll have to get through me first." Inuyasha threatened as he brandished a fully transformed tessaiga.

Hyoga let out a deafening screech and the force sent Inuyasha reeling back as he flattened his ears in his hair. Before Inuyasha could gather himself for a counterattack, two things happened at once. Tessaiga begun to pulse violently, as the hell gates yawned open and a blinding yellow light flooded the cave.