Song Of My Soul

AN: Hello everyone. Well I finally have this chapter done. I hope the wait wasn't too long but really couldn't be helped. Thank you to all those who expressed their concern for my health and all of you for your understanding. To let you know I went to the doctor for some tests this week and he said everything is looking good for now but we won't know more until the tests are back. This is very good new to me and makes me very happy. Anyway on to the story and I hope you enjoy it. Again my deepest apologise for the delay.


Disclaimer: I don’t own anything about the Inuyasha series or anything else that I can get sued over.

Song of My Soul

Part Sixteen

Naraku watched Kikyo as she meditated on the ripped couch of the small house she was keeping him in. Now would be the perfect time to end her miserable existence but unfortunately she didn’t trust him. He smiled to himself just thinking about killing her. That in itself showed she had good cause. He shook his head with mirth. It would be so damn easy to kill her if it were for this damn necklace she had on him. His clawed hand reached up and grasped it gently. He knew better now not to be rough with it. The stupid thing had shocked him so bad he went into a fit of convulsions. The other bad part of this cursed necklace was he couldn’t attack Kikyo without being shocked nor could he be any more then 50 yards from her side or it would send pulsating energy through his body. The pain was so intense there weren’t any words to explain how bad it was. The first time it happened he thought his whole body was going to explode before he was able to crawl back to her.

His eyes focused back on her when she started to mumble. He watched her facial expressions carefully trying to read what was going on in that demented mind of hers. Her brows furrowed as her mouth became a frown. He wanted to smile when she grimaced then her eyes shot open startling him. They were unfocused and glazed over a bit. She moaned before slumping to the side unconscious. He raised an eyebrow hoping maybe she was dead. Upon closer inspection he was disappointed, she had merely passed out. He snorted and took his seat in the dirty chair that he had been setting in. There was nothing he could do for her and if the truth be known, even if there were, he wouldn’t help her unless she made him. Another snort escaped him at the thought.

What a turn of events this had been. How did he become a victim to someone like her? He eyed her again trying to work it out in his mind. After all he was a powerful businessman. This sort of problem should be easy to solve but yet it wasn’t. Even after all these years he still didn’t know her that well. Or perhaps it was her illness that changed her. If he thought hard about it, he could remember a time when he thought she was actually the sweetest creature that walked the earth. That was until he met Kagome. But even then, Kikyo still seemed more gentle and sophisticated back then. It was hard to imagine an illness being able to drive someone into such insanity but yet it had happened. He wondered how it was possible that he wasn’t able to sense it in her before it got this bad.

Looking back on it now he realized he was never there for her and that was the reason for the lack of knowledge on his part. After the incident in the hotel room, he spent every second of his free time with Kagome trying to convince her to divorce that stupid dog but unfortunately they had not only married but were mated. She resisted all his charms and efforts to show her that he could give her so much more. He was even willing to learn to love her if that is what she wanted. In a way he already did but it was more of a friendly attachment and not the kind of love you would base a marriage on. Back when he first met her was when he should have followed his instincts and dumped Kikyo for Kagome.

Even then he had sensed the power in her just waiting to be unleashed. Kikyo had it to but it seemed more attainable at the time so that was why he made the decision to take Kikyo as his wife. She was more open with her spirit then Kagome or so he thought. He had wasted so much time with Kikyo when it was only a simple matter of becoming close enough to her so she would open up. Unfortunately he found the answer by mere accident when he spent so much time with Kagome. He felt ignorant in a way. It was such a simple thing, but then he really didn’t know that much about human emotions or how they worked with the spirit. Once Kagome was comfortable around him, her spirit didn’t hide her power as much. He could sense it every time he was near her. It would flow over him in a welcoming embrace that filled his whole body with completeness and desire. He could have done that with Kikyo but his ignorance kept him blind.

Again it must be a spiritual thing that only humans possess. He didn’t understand it and wasn’t able to find any information that was concrete proof of it being her spirit. He felt something similar in Kikyo but it wasn’t as comforting nor as strong. The scientists he hired to study the power in Kikyo were unable to bring the hidden power out of her. No matter what they tried. His eyes scanned her body as if looking for the flaw. He knew he wouldn’t see one. The flaw was in her mind. She wasn’t strong enough to endure the experiments. Thinking on it now, he was fairly certain it was all the medication and experiments that had caused her brain tumor. Not that it mattered now, at least he could see the results of them when before the scientists had all but given up.

She moaned and turned on her back. His cold red eyes glared hatefully at her. It was all her fault really. She was such a greedy selfish bitch. In a way she deserved everything that had happened to her. What is that analogy that humans say when things happen? ‘What goes around comes around?’ No, that wasn’t quite it but in some sense it did fit her. She never did treat others right unless she wanted something from them or she thought she could get on their good side. He looked at he stained wood floor thinking when she moaned and sat up holding her head. His eyes snapped up and looked at her chalky colored face. She looked like death warmed over and her eyes were more empty then usual.

“Damn it!” She hissed and blinked several times.

“What’s wrong dear? Did you mediate too hard?” Naraku sneered at her. Her eyes shot in his direction and he fought the urge to cringe. He narrowed his eyes challengingly waiting for her to retaliate at his defiance.

“Shut up you ass.” She spit back.

“My my, wake up on the wrong side of the couch?” She gritted her teeth and glared at him. He was really pushing it. She didn’t feel like playing his little game at the moment so she stood up shakily and walked to the small kitchen for some water.

“I wasn’t meditating in that way you jerk.” She rubbed her temple.

“What were you doing them? It looked like meditating.” He followed her a few feet behind in case she decided to use those sharp nails on him. The argument they had when he woke up with the necklace on was fresh in his mind. He would have never guessed she could channel her power like that but she did and he had the marks to prove it across his chest. They still stung but would heal eventually without leaving a trace.

“I was keeping an eye on the others.” She explained calmly. He raised an eye brow. This was very interesting.

“How so?” He asked and leaned against the cabinet next to her. She glanced at him from the corner of her eye and smiled sweetly.

“Like I should tell you anything.” She stepped away from him and sat at the table.

“Well why not? You certainly don’t plan on keeping me just for a fuck toy.” Her eyes lazily looked at him then settled back down on her finger nails.

“Maybe I am. Isn’t that what I was to you for so long?” She said arrogantly as she examined a nick in one nail. He stepped behind her and started to massage her shoulders. She tensed for a moment but then remembered the necklace and relaxed.

“You were so much more then that, Kikyo. Toys don’t get a spending account.” He snickered when she stiffened but he didn’t stop the massage and soon her head was lolling back and forth with the motion. “Seriously, what is it you want with me? Revenge? All right I’ll give you that. Perhaps I deserve some sort of ‘punishment’.” He chuckled darkly as his magical fingers stopped. “All I ask is to have the chance to fulfill your wish. What do you want with me?” He was a bit surprised when her hand touched his hand. Her head remained in a bowed position.

“I’m not totally sure how to answer that Naraku.” Her voice was just above a whisper but she knew he could hear her with his demon ears. She sighed and leaned forward. “I will admit that I wanted revenge at first. But be honest with yourself. If that was all I wanted, I could have taken your life while you slept. I could do it now with just a thought because of that necklace.” She leaned back with her hands resting calmly on the table top. “But what good would that do me hmmm?” She turned sideways in the chair and looked up at him.

“Nothing really. The fact is I’m still going to die sooner or later from this tumor in my head. I’m running out of energy to fight it quickly. What I need from you is help getting Kagome away from Inuyasha. Just long enough for me to absorb her soul. An hour maybe at the most.” He gasped and blinked at her confused. He didn’t know she had that kind of power and if she did why Kagome? She smiled with satisfaction. “Perhaps you don’t believe I can do such a thing. I understand your hesitation. After all, the dark arts were forgotten a long time ago; hidden from prying eyes by priests. My ancestors to be exact.” She watched his face but it didn’t reveal any thing so she thought perhaps she should go on.

“As I was saying, my family has protected the scriptures of the dark arts for centuries. Of course such powers are not infinite and must be reinforced from time to time. As a little girl I used to watch the priests perform the rituals to reinforce the sutras on that chest and think how grand it must feel to wield such power. To be able to vanquish evil with a mere word. Little did I know what how lucius it felt to use the dark arts instead.” She chuckled darkly. Her eyes seemed to be focused on something only she could see. He started to wonder if she was having another spell of insanity but her eyes suddenly snapped back and she looked him straight in the eyes. An evil smirk on her lips sent a chill down his spine.

“I stole those secrets from my grandfather’s temple right after I left that hell hole you stuck me in.” She snickered childishly like a spoiled brat who just got away with a prank. “You should have seen the look on my ji-chan’s face when he found that chest empty. It was priceless.” He couldn’t stop the gasp of surprise that escaped his lips. “Oh yes, I stayed to watch. The old fool didn’t even know I was there. It was grand.” She bit her lip smiling at the thought then her face took on a more serious expression. “I never expected him to figure it out but it doesn’t matter now. My hell servants are gone and it will take too much time to find more.” She huffed then tapped her long fingernails on the table top. He was confused trying to figure out who she was talking about.

“What servants are you talking about?” He took a seat in the chair to her right. She looked at him and smiled slyly.

“Oh, silly me. How would you know?” She giggled at his scowl. “Hiten and Maten of course. What? You thought I picked them up off the street or something? You should know better then that my dear husband. You can’t get good help off the streets of Tokyo. I had to steal their essence of course and restore them.” He was still a bit confused but wanted, no needed to know more.

“Since this is all out of my league perhaps, you should explain more to me so that I can understand what you are getting at here.” He asked with as much dignity as he could without sounding completely like a moron. Her face brightened up and she smiled.

“Well I guess you could say it all started in the lab one day when those specialists you hired were watching me after one of those treatments. At the time I didn’t really think too much of it because I thought it was just a dream but now I know that what I was seeing was real.” She leaned closer and looked around as if someone might be spying on them. “I saw angels.” He raised an eyebrow at her skeptically. “No really. After the medication started to work, I could see the line between heaven and hell. I saw both hell spawn and angels. It was like there was an invisible wall between them. They were yelling at each other and making threatening signals but it seemed neither side could reach the other. That is where I first met Hiten and Maten.” She explained with a far off look in her eyes. Her brown orbs snapped back to reality after a second and she continued. “It just didn’t seem real so that is why I thought it was a dream but later on after the treatments stopped, I would have flash backs of it but I wasn’t asleep. Sometimes it would happen in the middle of the day like when I was out shopping. It didn’t matter where I was or what I was doing. The vision would just come.

I didn’t know what to do about it. I mean what was I to think. What would anyone think? There was a yearning inside of me that wanted to know more about what was happening. I tried to talk to you a few times about it but you always put me off so I went to Inuyasha. He told me I was being paranoid and talking crazy. I knew what a psychiatrist would say so my last resort was to go to a medium. She told me that I was a seer with great power. Imagine, me, a great seer. I was very flattered to say the least but still she couldn’t tell me much. I looked in the libraries and even went through some spiritual scriptures from the Shinto religion but I still couldn’t find the answers I needed. There was only one place left to look so I stole the book from ji-chan and the other things I needed.” She watched his face closely and when he raised an eyebrow she knew his curiosity would get the better of him.

“What book are you speaking of?” He leaned back in his chair eyeing her carefully. She could see the scepticism in his face.

“The Tama no Jigoku of course.” She stated plainly. A smug smirk graced her face at his gasp.

“How? That book disappeared centuries ago. Even if it did exist what good would an old transcript like that do?” He asked astonished. Anger surged through him at her arrogant laugh.

“My dear husband, the book does indeed exist and it has done wonders for enhancing my powers. My proof is Hiten and Maten. I created them.” She looked at him smugly.

“You created them? How?” He snorted with disbelief. “Now you want me to believe you can create grown youkai out of thin air?” He laughed heartily. She frowned but didn’t lose her cool.

“Of course not out of thin air. First I need a body. A fresh one works best and then I gather the right ingredients, summon a soul for the body and force it in. They were totally under my control all the time. It was wonderful.” She smiled like a high school girl who was dreaming of her magical date. The smile faded quickly as she remembered her henchmen were gone. “At least it was until Inuyasha destroyed them.” She pouted. He raised an eyebrow and leaned forward.

“Ok so you say but how do you know they are dead and Inuyasha was the one responsible?” He still didn’t buy her little story. As far as he knew she could still be delusional. Her eyes met his and her face lit up again.

“That was easy. When I created them, I added another spell that bonded them to me completely. When I concentrated hard enough, I could see through their eyes. It really was sad. I don’t think I have ever felt so much anger and sorrow at once. When Maten died, Hiten almost went mad. It took quite a lot of energy to keep him under control but it didn’t do any good, he still died.” She leaned back crossing her arms over her chest disgusted. Naraku wasn’t sure what to make of all this. It just seemed too far fetched but then some of the things she had been able to do did seem out of the ordinary.

“All right say that I believe you, what do you think I can do?” He looked at her as cooly as he could. Not that he wanted to help her really but if there was a way to get rid of Inuyasha, he would finally have his chance at Kagome. She sighed and leaned forward with a sweet smile.

“All you have to do is keep little Inu baby busy while I get what I need from Kagome. That should be simple enough. After all you are a hanyou too. Aren’t you all the same pretty much?” She was speaking to him in a baby voice that was more the annoying. He snarled baring his fangs and narrowed his eyes.

“No, we are not alike. He is a dog demon. I am a spider. There is a world of difference between our strengths. His power comes from his physical being. Mine is more on a spiritual level if my memory serves me right but I never trained in it so I couldn’t tell you exactly. In this day and age magic isn’t as common place so why bother when it won’t get you anywhere. Besides I never needed it to get what I wanted.” He grunted and turned his head in disgust. She sighed and rolled her eyes.

“I pity you sometimes. You’re so narrow minded.” She replied disgruntled. He narrowed his eyes at her hatefully. “I wasn’t just going to toss you out in battle unprepared. I’m not that stupid.” She waved her hand in front of her face dismissively and rolled her eyes. She stood and walked back into the small living room. He followed only because of the damn necklace. If it wasn’t for it, he would have killed her long ago and left her body to rot there in that dump. When he entered, she was already setting on the couch waiting for him. A large book with old wrinkled leather lay on her book. She smiled at him and patted the couch next to her. Even though it irked him to set that close he obliged and set next to her. She looked down at the book and placed her hand over the old rusty looking lock.

He was amazed at the flash of light that appeared under her hand. Then his ears picked up the slightest sound of a click like the sound of a lock opening. The second she opened the first pages of the book he could feel the magic held within its yellowing pages. He leaned closer with more interest as she rifled through it looking for something in particular. Suddenly it dawned on him what this book was. He caught his breath and swallowed. If it was the Tama no Jigoku then there was no telling what could be found within it. He felt his heart jump when she shrieked with glee.

“Here it is!” Her voice was shrill and high with happiness. She patted his shoulder. To get his attention then pointed to the writing on it. He looked at it but the symbols didn’t mean anything to him. He frowned and looked away.

“What the hell is that? I can’t read that gibberish.” He scowled and started to get up.

“This spell will make it so you can.” She replied gleefully. Without warning she grasped a hold of his shoulder and pulled him back down with more force then he would have imagined she possessed. There was little time for him to react before he saw her glowing hand coming toward his face. He jerked away but she used the subduing word for the necklace and he froze. All he could do was whimper as her hot hand pressed against his forehead. Unimaginable heat began to fill his senses burning every nerve ending. He screamed in pain unable to move and get her hand off him. He could barely hear her mumbling words that he didn’t understand but the last thing he remembered was wishing he was dead so the pain would stop.

~*~*~*~*~*~

AN: Let me know what you think. New chapter up soon.