InuYasha Fan Fiction ❯ Time Soul Exodus ❯ Chapter 25: =The Path of Asura - part 3= ( Chapter 25 )

Written by: Zelix

 

A/N: This is NOT the beta-read version, when it's been beta-read; I'll re-post it so until then please ignore any and all grammar/spelling errors, okay?

 

 

A/N: Well, I am back, as I promised… I've had enough time to mourn my uncles passing away now, so I can focus once again.

 

 

I thank everyone who have reviewed this story so, you have no idea how much it means to me, especially after all this that has happened, I just hope you people continue to review, I really do, since each review, no matter how short, is truly welcome and very much appreciated.

 

 

And from this moment forward, this story and its upcoming sequels will be dedicated to my uncle, so, everyone, give me any kind of support you can… please…

 

 

= In the Memory of: =

 

§= Urpo Armas Sorjonen =§

 

= 1951-2006, may you now rest in peace… you have more than earned it =

 

In life, he was a brother, husband, father, uncle, grandfather and a dear friend to all who knew him in life, in death; he has now become an eternal part in all of his family and friends, may his memory live on among all of us, until the end of time.

 

 

 

Good-bye, uncle…

 

 

 

 

 

 

A/N: Here is the next chapter to my little known, yet liked by those who do, fic. This time too, it seems like the needed 5 new reviews STILL were not met, so, expect a cliffie yet again!

 

 

Now, the gruesome battle is about to come to a closure… but is it that of salvation, or will it be a disaster of nightmarish scale? Arcerdo will now release the last of his powers to destroy his enemies, yet, will it be enough? And if it is, will it truly be over… or just beginning?

 

 

 

 

WARNINGS: Death, blood and action, need I say more? Oh yeah, NOT FOR THOSE UNDER 18… though, that hasn't stopped anyone in the past so why should it work now? LOL… Just remember that you are reading at your own risk!

 

 

 

 

Disclaimer: I don't own anything that's related to Inuyasha, I do own Arc though and if someone intends to copy him without my permission I'll F*** you up!

 

 

“Talking”

`Thinking'

[Check the bottom for details]

*Flashback/Switch in Time or place*

=Used when mentioning a technique, attack or something important=

 

 

If this was a TV series:

 

Opening: Chihiro Yonekura - Butterfly kiss

 

Ending: Hikaru no go - Bokura no boken

 

 

 

 

Time Soul Exodus

 

 

 

Chapter 25: =The Path of Asura- part 3=

 

 

 

*Back in the modern era*

 

 

The mysterious figure, which had been for the last couple of days been watching the Higurashi residence was at this current moment walking in the park nearby. It was mid-day so the park was full of people at the moment, from children to elderly; they walked by this figure who in the light of day, is now possible to identify as a `he'. Yet, there was something strange about him, since even though the park was full of people and he walked among them, even though his clothing was something that would catch the eye of just about everyone who saw him and not to mention he had a sword on his back, yet even with all this…

 

 

… Nobody saw him.

 

 

He walked right in the middle of them, in broad daylight… and yet, nobody paid any attention to him, it was almost like he didn't even exist to them, like a ghost.

 

 

Who he was, why he was there, where had he come from… those three questions, if anyone could see him, those would be the questions that would appear in their heads only to be left forever unanswered. His eyes looked at the life all around him, all the innocent life of the children, the full blooming life of the youngsters, the matured life of the adults and even the old yet fully satisfied life of the elderly… all this life, all this warmth, if he was like he had been in the past, all this warmth and carefree life would have made him feel only hate… yet now…

 

 

… It only brought him pain to see it, for all this that he saw and felt, was something he could have had for himself as well… but had failed, all because he had been too weak to see or hear the truth, because he had cut off the very people who had tried to help him… all because he had been too weak to resist taking that path.

 

 

As he walked all around the park, looking around himself like he was trying to find something specific, he was also thinking: `I'm sure it was somewhere around here, hmm, it seems like because of [that outcome] `his' memories have steadily began to fade and those that are still left have started becoming blurry, making them barely recognisable anymore… but, it has to be here somewhere…'

 

 

As he walked a little more, he finally found what he was looking for, he sighed with relief and said to himself: “Finally, took me long enough…” he had finally found the spot he had been looking for, which made him think again as he stared at it: `This, is where it truly began for all of us, its hard for me to believe that this is the spot where this chain of events started, a chain of events that's effects can be felt all the way back here from there… and it all, heh, began at this little bench in this little park.'

 

 

He smirked at himself a little, still finding it hard to believe.

 

 

For the bench he was looking at and the park he was standing at was the park and the bench, where…

 

 

§ {[ Arcerdo and Kagura, met for the very first time ]} §

 

 

How he knew that this was the spot, will remain a mystery for now, but, when he saw that spot and thought about the two people who had met here, he couldn't help but lower his head, close his eyes and sigh sadly before saying to himself: “… If only, if only I had listened on that day, if only he would have been strong enough to get through to me… if only… damn it…”

 

 

When he finished those words, he heard a very faint sound of something cracking lightly, as soon as he heard it he looked at the bracelet on his arm and after seeing it, he gritted his teeth before muttering: “Damn it, if there was only some other way than this… but…” He fisted his hand at his side, before grunting angrily.

 

 

The bracelet on his hand, was identical to the one Arcerdo had given Kagura as a Christmas present, in fact, at first hand it would fool anyone to think that it was her bracelet but this one, was different when looked at more closely:

 

 

The three crystal stones on it were different, out of the three, two of them had cracks running completely across them and their colour had turned into pitch black, like they were dead while the last one had a very small crack starting to form onto it.

 

 

After gritting his teeth for a while, he began to walk away from the park, while thinking: `This is my last and my greatest gamble… the chances of success are so slim it makes my heart freeze just by thinking about it, but, there is hope of it succeeding… as long as…'

 

 

He stopped for a moment at the exit of the park, before looking towards the direction of the Higurashi residence and saying to himself… or, to be accurate, somewhere in his mind he hoped his words would reach Arcerdo: “… as long as you do not succumb to that path, Arcerdo, as long as you do not give into it, there is hope… for all of you, especially for you and her…”

 

 

And with that, he disappeared amongst the crowds of people…

 

 

… and no one, even saw, heard or knew, he had ever been there, like a phantom, he is there, yet at the same time, he is not…

 

 

 

*Back in the feudal era, the battlefield*

 

 

 

= Shiroi Ryouko Uzumaku!! =

 

 

Arc roared out, as he let loose the attack he had prepared himself for. It all happened so fast, if you had blinked at that instant you would have missed it, the energies that had been violently and intensely swirling around him were suddenly unleashed in a short, yet incredible intense shock like wave in the form of a sphere that started from around him, then expanded into all directions around him, but after the blast it seemed to focus on moving upwards, spiralling into a shrinking line towards the skies…

 

 

The `swirling sphere' that it looked like, caused a sudden and very violent burst of wind and pressure all around it that reached all the way to the barrier around the shrine, causing it to crackle very violently and it even did crack at one point, luckily for them it held on though.

 

 

The `swirling sphere' itself however, in that instant it had been formed, affected the insects around Arc so fast that if you had indeed blinked as mentioned before, you WOULD have missed it: In Arcs, the moon priests and Sumira's eyes, it all happened as if in slow motion though:

 

 

The insects had been caught in the swirl as it expanded, and in slow motion, they saw as the insects were literally torn bit by bit into pieces, then those pieces were burned by the energies in the swirl to ash, as if they had been caught in a tornado made out of the most violent of tempests and the most hottest of infernos, torn to pieces, then vaporised completely… it would have been shocking, had it not been so fascinating at the same time, it was like watching an artist creating a masterpiece, so violent, yet so beautiful…

 

 

And at that moment, they also understood the meaning of the techniques name as well: the `swirling sphere' had during the attack, formed itself to look like white dragon made out lightning that shredded its opponents by simply touching them, before ascending up into the skies, a truly beautiful yet frightening sight to hold… but it also made them all ask themselves: How did something so demonic, create something so celestial looking? It was almost as if this Youkai, was beyond the concepts and laws of this world, of the laws of light and darkness and instead, was a an independent creature of its own, bound neither by light nor darkness…

 

 

He was a true mystery… but was it for the better, or for the worse…?

 

 

In Arcerdo's eyes, he could see with a strange feeling of utter satisfaction as the insects bodies were torn into pieces, piece by piece, before being completely burned to ashes, then, he saw what he had been suspecting all along: Deep within that artificial insect body, there was something buried in there.

 

 

It looked like a weird, parasite like organism, all the veins within the body were coming either in or out of it, and it was pulsing… yes, that parasite was the core all right, and right now, he could see all four of them as they were exposed from their bodies by his technique, then he saw the very same technique tearing three of those insects into pieces as well.

 

 

To him, it was the most satisfying thing he had seen for a very long time, these insects had pissed him off more than enough now, and seeing them being torn into pulps of burned flesh before becoming ashes, gave him so much satisfaction because he was positive that even though they could not feel any pain while in the bodies of these insects, the parasites themselves were not immune to pain.

 

 

He knew this, because he could see the little shits tremble with pain as they were slowly being torn to shreds, the pain was only instant for them since this technique had ripped them to ashes within seconds, but in his eyes, their deaths and pain lasted for minutes… if he would have once found these kinds of feelings frightening or sickening, right now, he wouldn't know of it, since he could barely remember anything else about himself besides this feeling of hate, bloodlust and heat of battle.

 

 

He was losing himself…

 

 

… And he did not care one bit.

 

 

When the technique was over, he landed onto his feet on the ground, crouched low, arms still stretched from the whirl he had done as a slight breeze blew around him, after that, there was a few seconds of silence, before pieces of burned, cut up flesh began to rain onto the ground around him in melody of splatter and gore, no blood came down for only burned up flesh was left from the insects after all.

 

 

As Arc slowly stood up and breathed in and out deeply, eyes closed, his body trying to settle down from the intense throbbing that was the aftermath of pushing his powers this far. His ears heard no sound around him, nor did his senses detect any kind of implications that the four insects had survived, when there was no ultrasound either, he knew… he had won, at last.

 

 

As the breeze blew once more around him, his mind and body were slowly being rushed with another feeling, a strange feeling of joy and satisfaction, the feeling was so immense and so invigorating that he couldn't help it, his arms were trembling because of it and his fingers were clenching and unclenching back and forth. It made him feel so strange, yet so good… he felt like he wanted to keep crushing, cutting and killing things, it was almost like he had just tasted something immensely sweet, so sweet that he wanted more of it.

 

 

At the same time, he felt so much joy in his chest, he had survived a life or death battle with his skills, he had killed all of his enemies and was now the last one standing… he felt so joyous that he couldn't help it, his chest began to vibrate and rumble with a chuckle, as he chuckled silently, the aftermath feelings of the battle began to grow and grow.

 

 

As they grew, so did the reality of the battle just now begin to lose it seriousness and instead, it began to seem like a joke instead, something so ridiculous, that it made the chuckle turn into silent laughter… he, a great Tai-Youkai, had been pushed this far by insects, literally, insects in all meanings to the word. They had almost gotten him, and now that he looked at it afterwards, it just seemed like the biggest kind of a joke he could imagine.

 

 

Then, as the final images of those insects being torn into tiny pieces of burned up flesh began to play in his mind again he couldn't help it, the scene had been so good for him… he reared his head up slowly as he began to laugh out loudly, his laughter echoing throughout the battlefield, it was the laughter of a Youkai from hell… yet, as even though the laughter was supposed to be like that of a bloodlust driven demon, it did not sound one bit like it…

 

 

… Instead, it sounded like what a child's would, innocent and pure.

 

 

That laughter, was from the opinion of everyone who heard it, more scarier than the battle they had just witnessed… how could, a Youkai with infernal strength like that and with cold eyes like those, have such a… cruel, yet completely innocent laughter? It sounded exactly like he was a child, a child who had just felt something wonderful happen to him, how could he laugh like this? It was just too scary…

 

 

Arc kept laughing for a little while, before his ears suddenly picked up something, causing him to cease laughing and look around him in attempts to try and find the source of the noise. The noise was small, barely even there, but there was something alright… after a moment of listening, he grinned to himself before walking towards a rather large piece of charred, cut up flesh that seemed like the chest part of one of those insects, or what was left of it anyway.

 

 

He made `humph' at the corpse, before kicking it down, causing it roll over onto its side and when it did, something literally dripped out of the immense hole that was there: It was the parasite organism, it was badly injured and made small, barely audible noises that sounded like whimpers of pain, it dripped out of the carcass along with whatever liquids were left in there and it began to move… or at least tried to move, it was so badly injured that it couldn't really move, only slither on the spot where it was laying, its survival instincts were telling it to flee, its condition wouldn't let it. Yet, it still tried.

 

 

And what Arc did next, was something that could only be described as… sadistic.

 

 

He walked over to the little parasite creature, looked at it with a serious expression for a moment as if deciding whether to kill it or not. After that moment passed, his expression turned into a cruel, childlike smile and his eyes literally glowed with cruel yet pure glee, before he used his right foot and stomped onto the little parasite, yet not hard enough to kill it.

 

 

He squeezed it with his foot for a moment, and then lifted it, only to bring it down again, again and again. He was torturing the parasite, slowly torturing it to death, very much like how a child uses a magnifying lens to burn an ant… and as he did this, they could hear it again, amongst the slithering and squealing noises the parasite made in pain, they could hear it again: that cruel, childlike laughter.

 

 

He kept stomping on the parasite, its noises becoming louder and louder with each one, as if begging to die, yet Arc did not listen, he was enjoying the pain he was inflicting on it with glee and satisfaction, out of all the things they had witnessed during this battle all the way to this point, this, was by far the most scary and disgusting moment of them all…

 

 

*Back in the shrine*

 

 

As they witnessed all this occurring in front of their eyes, they all had their own thoughts running throughout their minds:

 

 

For Arbel, he felt sick to the stomach yet again, not because of the brutality of the scene in front of him but because of WHO was causing this brutality, it had been a shock enough to realise Arcerdo was in fact a Youkai, but this pure childlike cruelty that he was displaying now… well, it was just too much, he just could not believe that the person who had been so noble and kind could act like this, how he could look so cold and menacing and yet act and sound like a little child. Arbel found himself praying to their god that this was just some cruel nightmare, for it was just too much for him to believe to be real.

 

 

Flint, he did not know how to feel, he hated Arcerdo, that was no secret but this… thing, that was now laughing and stomping the already dying Youkai with glee, he feared it more than he had feared the cold blooded monster before it. Flint could not understand just which one was the real Arcerdo: The warrior wannabe, the cold blooded killer, or this… sadistic thing? He wanted to know, so he could decide whether to fear him or hate him. But, even with all this turmoil within him, one thing did not change: No matter which one was the real one, he would kill him, nothing would ever change that, he would be the one to end Arcerdo's life… for the mere memory of being saved by this Youkai, made his blood boil.

 

 

Hanataro on the other hand, was on his ass on the floor, trembling with fear. That laughter, those eyes… he could not believe that this was Arcerdo… the same Arcerdo who had risked everything to save the villagers and even one of the moon priests, this Youkai, this monster in front of all of them, it wasn't… it COULDN'T be Arcerdo, it just couldn't be… it just couldn't…

 

 

Renko was still holding the frightened and trembling Chizu against her; even she couldn't keep her eyes on Arcerdo anymore for what he was doing was something too cruel for her to watch. Then there was that laughter, it was the thing that she could not handle… for the sound of it reminded her of her own daughter, and the feeling it invoked in her was enough to make her feel like screaming at him to stop that laughter, she just wanted him to stop, yet she couldn't bring herself to do anything except hold her daughter tightly to her, she couldn't bring herself to do anything else even though her mind was screaming at her to make him stop that laughter, that childlike, innocent yet cruel laughter…

 

 

Chizu, could only tremble in her mothers arms and keep her eyes closed from the terrible scene before them all. She could still hear him though, that laughter… that laughter terrified her even more than what she had seen Arc-sama do to those insects, for that laughter had no kindness in it, no happiness… only cruelty. She too wanted to tell her mother to make Arc-sama stop it, yet she couldn't say anything, she was too afraid to do anything but tremble and weep against her mother.

 

 

Yet, within her, something else was thinking to itself, that ancient, mysterious voice: `{[ No… he is…! This mustn't continue, if this continues any further, he will lose sight of himself for good and will be consumed by the very power he wields! I… I have to stop him somehow, but how?I cannot reveal myself… what canI do?! ]}'

 

 

Jei on the other hand, was looking at scene with composure and calmness, and was thinking: `Hmmm… this is, intriguing… first he was a rookie in combat, then when he was pushed into the corner by the insects, he became a cold blooded killer with experience beyond what he could possibly have had and now, now he has as if began to `revert' into something else… it is almost as if, the longer this drags out, the more he forgets about himself and begins to revert or regress backwards into himself… hmm, I've heard of hanyou's who when put into a life or death situation, lose themselves to their Youkai blood and revert into a mindless beast that only knows of survival, everything else is forgotten.'

 

 

`Yet, here… at first he seemed to be aware of himself when he changed, yet now, the look in his eyes… it is like he can no longer remember who or what he was, and instead is losing himself, piece by piece, to this `bloodlust' or `hate'. It seems like he is no different from any Youkai after all: Pretend all you want to be human, in the end; you are just a Youkai, nothing else. Arcerdo, if you revert into a mindless Youkai here and now, then I shall cut you down myself… but, because you saved brother Arbel's life… I will make it quick and painless for you.'

 

 

Those were Jei's thoughts, as he continued to watch this revolting act of childlike cruelty unfolding before him.

 

 

Sumira looked with worry and hesitation in her eyes at what Arcerdo was doing, and she knew that now was the last chance she would ever get if she wanted to stop him from losing himself any further, yet, that laughter and that look on his face… it made her hesitate to take action, she was simply not sure if she could take any action against him in that state, it was simply just too frightening.

 

 

She looked between Arcerdo and the bow in her hands, struggling to make up her mind on what to do next, she knew that by interfering she might have a chance of making Arcerdo become aware of himself again and stop this… cruelty, from continuing, yet… if she interfered, there was also the big risk that he would not be able to regain himself and would kill her, or she would end up killing him.

 

 

So all she could think about was this: `What should I do? Intervene or not…?'

 

 

But it was at that moment, that she heard it, Chizu's voice saying with fright and pleading: “… make it stop…” She and Renko were the only ones who heard it, the others were too focused on what was happening out there on the field, so they both listened more carefully what she was saying: “… Arc-sama… make him stop… that is not Arc-sama's voice, make it go away… make Arc-sama come back, mama, make him come back…”

 

 

Hearing those words, were like a smack back to reality for Sumira, how could she not have realised it…? How could she not realise what Chizu, a child, had realised?

 

 

Arcerdo, he had helped them one too many times now, so it was time for her to return the favour by making him come back to himself again! It was so simple, so simple that she beat herself in her mind about being so hesitant and scared… she was afraid to go there and help him, even though he himself had despite all his fears and doubts stood up between them and those hordes of insects, not to mention these 4 demonic insects as well.

 

 

She felt ashamed of herself for not being so scared and hesitant, but with Chizu's words, she made up her mind.

 

 

Sumira slowly breathed in and out, before walking to where Renko and Chizu were and kneeled in front of them, making eye contact with Renko and without saying word, they both nodded, neither needed words to say what they both had realised, they already understood. So instead, Sumira said to Chizu: “Chizu, don't worry, I'll bring him back to us.”

 

 

Hearing those words, the teary eyed little girl looked out of her mother's protective embrace and said: “Y… you will…? You will bring Arc-sama back…?” To this innocent question, Sumira couldn't help but smile before gently rubbing Chizu's head to reassure her, because she found her innocent, yet so strong trust in Arcerdo admirable, she then replied with that same smile: “Yes, I will, so don't worry anymore, i will bring him back, so just believe in him and me, alright?”

 

 

This seemed to make Chizu's fear and tears ease up a little, because after a small moment, she nodded and said with a small smile: “… I believe in Arc-sama, and Sumira-san as well!” To this, Renko smiled warmly, as did Sumira, before she slowly got up and strapped her arrows quill onto her back firmly and took a hold of her bow once again.

 

 

She then looked ahead at Arcerdo, who was still laughing and stomping on the parasite, and began walking away from the shrine and towards him. Before she reached the barrier though, she put her hand on Hanataro's shoulder and said: “You take care of the rest, I'm going now.” But before Hanataro could say anything back or realise what had just happened, Sumira took of running towards where Arcerdo was, even the moon priests were taken by surprise that she took off so fast but had to time to do or say anything before she was out of the barrier and away from it.

 

 

*Where Heitaro is*

 

 

Heitaro could not help but feel his stomach going queasy from what Arc was doing, it was simply… cruel, which made him think: `What is wrong with him? The hate is still consuming him, yet, how can he act like this? It is like he is becoming a child! Even his soul pulse is becoming different, the core is the same but… there is something inside the pulse that is causing it become warped, dislocated, twisted… like an old scar, a trauma, that is being affected by his transformation and now is causing him to change like this… what is it?'

 

 

He then noticed Sumira coming out of the barrier, and couldn't help the surprise that came over him along with it before he continued thinking: `oh? Interesting, so she has decided to try and reach out to him has she? Hmm… I know it is not good to root for your enemies, but in this case I'll gladly make an exception.'

 

 

So with those thoughts, he said to himself: “I wish you succeed, young priestess… I would hate to see young Arcerdo meet his end here and now, while he still has a chance to keep going and grow…”

 

 

*Back on the battlefield*

 

 

Arcerdo was currently squeezing the parasite yet again, even though it had been fun torturing it, he was now starting to get bored of it, the noises it made were no longer fun and it wasn't struggling that much anymore either, plus the stench was starting to get to him.

 

 

So while he kept squeezing it a little longer, his ears suddenly heard a sound coming from his side and his instincts immediately told him to move, so he did.

 

 

With his immense speed he quickly moved to the side, and he saw that were he stood, an arrow imbued with holy powers hit the parasite he had been torturing, killing it in an instant, and the holy power burning its body away so that even dust wasn't left behind. Arc felt his mind being filled with that same hate and anger again, as his silver red eyes scanned where the arrow had come from, and then he saw her: the priestess, who had tried to harm him… and his instincts told him only thing: Kill, kill the one who tried to harm him.

 

 

As his eyes locked with Sumira's, she couldn't help herself from flinching yet again, for those eyes were very frightening, so full of hate and cruelty… but she steeled herself quickly and notched another arrow with her bow, and thought: `Arcerdo, I swear upon all the gods in heaven, that I will bring you back… even if it kills me.'

 

 

As she aimed her arrow at him, knowing that she had to be careful where she shot it and how much holy power she would put into it, for if she made even one mistake now, she would either kill or Arcerdo… or…

 

 

… He would kill her.

 

 

 

 

To be continued…

 

 

 

“It has begun… my final choice has come…

 

What will happen now? There is no way for me to know…

 

But I do know one thing…

 

… Whichever I choose, I will never be the same again…”

 

- Arcerdo Higurashi

 

 

Next Chapter: = Twilight of the Soul =

 

 

A/N: Whew… finally, a new chapter is out, and as I promised, with a cliffie. Now, the next chapter will be cliffhanger free, despite how many reviews I get, but after that, well, its back to the same 5 reviews per chapter, or cliffie's will follow.

 

 

But before I end this chapter, I will make this announcement: From this point on, I will add a review response to all who review after this chapter, I know I should thank all those who have reviewed so far… and for that, I'm a prick. But hence forth from now on, I will give a review response to all who review, no matter how small the review is.

 

 

That is all.

 

- Zelix, See ya next time!

 

 

 

 

 

 

[That outcome]: The mysterious person refers to this a lot, but what it is, you'll have to wait and see.