InuYasha Fan Fiction ❯ The Seal ❯ Alien magic… ( Chapter 13 )

Wow…

Two chapters in one week, not bad. (but don't expect any more of this nice treatment. This is purely because I feel a tiny bit guilty about not having posted in such a long while.)

I won't be updating regularly anymore from now on. I got this really great news (notice the sarcasm) about how my granddad only has some few weeks left to live because of a tumour (howling: 'How could they NOT see it until NOW?!')

To get more to the point: I'll still be updating Sundays/Mondays, just not every Sunday/Monday, unless I've taken a REALLY LONG HIATUS, first then might I be convinced to post a chapter before then. As I said: Things will be happening irregularly…

I'm also toying with the idea to write a Sailor Moon story, maybe crossed with Gundam Wing. This concept just won't leave my head… oh well, we'll see what happens.

Just to assure readers: As long as a story is on my authors-page the story is still running, it might be on the back burner but it's still in the running… The moment I decide to discontinue a fic (not that I have any plans of doing that) it will be stricken from the list. Just so you people know how I work…

I haven't changed the rating, it's still PG-13, because where I've been raised it would be PG-13, and lets face, kids can handle it (ooo, I'm gonna get my head bitten). If you have any complaints, we can discuss it later.

" "- speaking

' '-thinking

^-^

Now on with the show!!!

Disclaimer: I don't own any of the characters in this story (if I did I'd be rich, filthy stinkin rich. I'd be off to the Bahamas and… and… and I better come back down to earth as they aren't mine) ; Inuyasha and co all belong to Miss Rumiko Takahashi. Just having plain fun writing about them. ;-P

(I really should change this disclaimer shouldn't I?)

The Seal

Part 13: Alien magic…

Orange. Red. Yellow.

"Hello?"

Nobody's there. You're all alone.

"Hello?"

Red and yellow and yellow and red. Everywhere.

"Hello? Can somebody help me?! PLEASE?!"

Look at all the pretty colours. Lot's of yellow and orange and red. You used to love those colours.

"I don't like red. I hate it. HATE IT!!"

Such a pity. Red's such a nice colour…

So… flowing…

"HELP ME!"

You know, you should be more grateful. All these colours, just for you. You didn't use to see so many colours. Do you want them gone already?

"HELP ME!!"

Nobody knows you're here. You know you're all alone. All alone. Nobody's coming…

"God it hurts. It burns. Make it stop. I'll do anything, just… make it stop. Please."

They can't hear you. Do you want them to hear you? You know what would happen…

Burning, burning, all alone…

"N-no… No, I-I'll stay…"

Yes. Let's watch all the pretty colours. Lots of orange, red and yellow, dancing around us. They don't hurt at all. They bring us peace, don't they? Because we know what they will bring. Let's go to sleep while watching all these pretty colours. Sleep. Sleep. Sleep…

"Yes… sleep. Don't come here…"

Feet are stepping closer. Whisper-softly, like a cat… Step, step, step…

Don't come, because if you did…

"No."

I don't want to cry anymore. I'm so tired…

All the pretty colours…

"Burns…"

But that doesn't matter, because we are sleeping now and all the pretty colours are dancing over us… for us, because that is what we want… And it doesn't hurt anymore, does it?

"No… doesn't hurt…"

Not anymore…

Tear falls down…

Bright colours step closer…

"But I wish…"

Don't find me. Please don't find me…

"…I wish…"

Please…don't.

"…I wish…"

…I wish I'd met him…

"…I wish…"

…met him just once before…

…I had to leave…

"…I… wish…"

It's getting harder to breath…

"…I could…"

Everything's so bright…

"…kiss him…"

…my choice…

…my…

Breath.

…choice…

"…just once…"

…before I go…

Breath in…

…I've never been able to before…

…breath out…

…to make my own choice…

…breath in…

…breath out…

…breath…in…

…breath out.

…

It doesn't hurt anymore.

***

She was screaming. That's what woke him up. An unholy screech full of fear and pure terror bouncing off the walls.

Inuyasha was up in a flash, rolling off his tree branch, fully alert. His consciousness had been hovering near wakefulness beforehand, as if expecting this ever since they'd stepped into Kaede's hut the previous eve and Kagome had broken into a fever. A bad fever.

His hackles rose as he edged towards the hut, from where the sounds were coming from; his instincts urging him NOT to go on. Something was wrong.

He could sense movement from someone who must be Kaede, as she naturally would have heard Kagome, having slept next to her and all. But he wasn't sure and that puzzled him. He could hear several families sleeping inside their huts, hear the creaking of the wood as they turned over, hear the child coughing in its sleep. He could smell their individual scents, the burnt charcoal from the fire pit, the herbs they'd used to season the meat.

But he couldn't smell inside Kaede's hut, or what little he could smell was muffled too much for him to distinguish. His ears twitched and strained, trying to catch any hint of sound, but only the loudest bangs and murmurs from, presumably, Kaede seeped out from the little house. It was as if the hut was surrounded by a thick fog, cutting it off from the rest of the world. If he squinted hard enough he could make out a thin outline of pale pink light, flickering around it.

A hand tentatively reached out, a clawed finger hesitant for but a second before touching the barrier.

The energy hovered hesitantly above his skin, as if debating whether he was a threat or not, before tiny tentacles unfurled from the barrier, probing him, prickling at his skin and making him slightly nervous and jumpy, waiting for its reaction.

Another scream came from inside, and the pink energy leapt at him when he was momentarily distracted, seizing him. As he was yanked inside the shield, some of it burrowed into his flesh, sinking in and taking root.

It was an experience Inuyasha would never fully manage to describe.

At first all he could feel or see or hear was the pale pink flames, like fire, dancing across his skin and clothes, crackling with energy, and he was terrified.

Then, magic was humming throughout his veins, singing a duet with his own in a perfect synchronised balance between the pair, and all fear evaporated. The two forces whispered to each other, tasting each other, circling each other in a spiral of cold and warmth, coming together in a frenzied whirlwind at the end of their dance.

When he came to, he was breathless, shaking with the raw power within, sweat rolling down his forehead from the strain. His blood was roaring in his ears, pounding through every blood-vessel in his body, and as he squeezed his eyes open he discovered that everything was so much brighter, more clear and the colours full of more nuances, he could feel the faintest of breezes on his skin, he was aware of the nocturne creatures of the forest beyond the village prowling; the earth was no longer flat, and he was no longer blind.

And beneath all the warring senses was a more subtle sensation, a small bell-like voice, a soft breathy whisper that would not be ignored:

Blood-magic…

'Blood-magic,' it sang, constant, insistent; and he knew… for one aching instance he knew, that that was what it was.

Inside the barrier the air was thick with magic, and Inuyasha felt slightly lethargic wading through it, but Kagome had screamed twice now, and Kaede, who he could now sense with ease, was franticly moving about inside the hut scrambling for medicinal-herbs; in the background a water bucket could be heard sloshing.

He crept in.

She was a sight to behold, of that everyone would agree on.

Kagome was laying inside, thrashing on her futon, eyes clenched tightly, as if in pain, spasming. Sweat was soaking her forehead, coating it in tiny beads, glistening against her pale skin. Her long black hair, once silken, was in knots, from all her twisting and turning throughout the night. Loud wails escaped her pale white, slightly cracked, lips, which were littered with drops of blood from where she had bitten her lips too hard, as she lay trapped, scarred and alone, in some fever induced nightmare.

Was it always like this when humans were ill? Crouching by the doorway, so as not to be seen, Inuyasha found himself wondering, absorbing every detail with his newly enhanced senses. He'd seen other humans ill before, with fever and such, but Kagome was special. She was a miko. She must be to have freed him and to have burnt the centipede. He'd never seen a miko sick before.

She looked oddly wild with her hair spread out in tangles, an extra thick layer of the pink energy surrounding her in a cocoon that was pulsing in time to her racing heartbeat. Was the pink light her miko-magic? It seemed in some ways like an alien intelligence; not a part of her, yet protecting her, trying to sooth her.

Inuyasha had never heard of miko-magic manifesting in this way, but anything was possible. He wasn't a miko-expert after all. What little he knew was that miko's were dangerous to youkai, so he had stayed clear of them if possible. Kikyo had been an exception, and that was only because she was the guardian of the Shikon no Tama.

Maybe Kaede knew what kind of magic it was that Kagome was exhibiting?

Inuyasha turned to demand she identify the strands of magic that were hovering around Kagome so possessively, maybe they might explain the girl's strange fever as they were certainly interacting with her on some subconscious level.

Strangely enough, Kaede, the old hag, didn't seem too concerned with the lightshow. She was hobbling about the small area, apparently oblivious to the many pink flames arching up the walls in the room, busy with trying to hold down Kagome, who was flailing wildly against her, and make sure she didn't injure herself even more.

'Maybe this is normal,' Inuyasha thought uncertainly, watching the old miko at work, continuously ignoring the pink glow.

Another gargled scream escaped the young girl's lips, the cocoon pulsing in rapid succession to her heart. The thin tentacles shied away from the old miko, in much the same way Kagome was, mirroring her and lashing out in all other directions, agitatedly seeking shelter.

As if knowing Kaede couldn't see or feel them, was not aware of them, and could thus be of no help to them, the pink tendrils snaked out towards the door, the only area that offered some distance and space away from the miko, flinching every time she brushed against them.

As they drew closer to the door, the tiny tendrils became aware of Inuyasha's presence. The familiar prickling began again, of them probing his aura, making his skin tingle, though milder as they were doing it from a distance.

There must have been something more alluring about him compared the old miko, maybe because he was a hanyou and had some magic of his own, because once again they lashed out at him, trying to pull him in. He reared back abruptly, having not been distracted this time and had spotted them pouncing with his keen senses.

He stood a foot out of their reach glaring at them, watching them stretch and hover, tiny whispers and moans radiating from them.

'"This is normal?!" THE HELL IT IS!! WHAT THE HELL IS GOING ON HERE?!!'

-

Praeceps:

Oooo,gotta love cliffies!!!

I like the thought of more action on the horizon!!! And as people might have noticed more info is bound to come your way, about pasts and such… (can you honestly see Inuyasha keeping quiet about this?)

I must say that I am somewhat disappointed with the reviewers. They can't have read the story too well if they keep gloating about how Kagome is going to sit Inuyasha when she wakes up… SHE TOOK OFF THE SODDING NECKLACE SEVERAL CHAPTERS AGO!!!

The clinking of beads brought him back to the present. The girl was smiling sadly at him, holding the prayer-beads, the very ones used to subdue him. "Here. You can keep them as a memento."

HE'S STAYING CLOSE BY OF HIS OWN FREE WILL!!! (the sweety-pie :-)

Hrm… yes, glad to have gotten that off my chest.Though I love getting reviews (there's no thing closer to heaven) and I would relish getting some more (I simply will NOT stoop to begging), getting reviews that show their not really paying attention canbe a bit annoying.

Oh! And any spelling mistakes can be blamed on incompetent English teachers, and/or my spell-check program, because I, myself, am PERFECT!!! ;-P (and when I say perfect, I MEAN perfect. My daddy said so ;-)

If you have any questions about the story that you find unclear, I will do my best to answer them, as long as I deem them of no harm to my present plot-line.

Thanks to all you reviewers, I'll do my best not to disappoint you all.

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Well that was all, for today at least, toodles!! ;-D