As Death Gives Life

Chapter 2 - Introduction of a God

It was strange that she felt so drawn to this mysterious creature. Yes, creature, for he was certainly no mere mortal man, and neither was he youkai, though his appearance was just as beautiful as that of a powerful taiyoukai she had ran into on occasion.

He did not answer her when she asked who he was. Not at first, anyway. He only chose to stand at the edge of the tree line studying her from across the short distance. A million things seemed to race across her mind during that moment. The main one was Inuyasha. For some odd reason she hoped the hanyou would not suddenly show up, as he was so often prone to do. Not before she learned who this man was.

Kagome took an apprehensive step forward. Logically this was a foolish thing to do. A dangerous thing to do, but something felt right about it. Her instincts were telling her that there was nothing to fear from this majestic creature, and Kagome had learned a long time ago to trust her instincts.

Two more steps.

Another.

Time seemed to freeze as Kagome slowly made her way closer to the beautiful dark haired man. Her heart was beating wildly in her chest, but it was not from fear. It was something else altogether. With every single step that took her closer to the mysterious creature, Kagome felt awakened by his aura. It was as if her soul was quaking with the need to curl around him for comfort. Power radiated off of him in massive waves, and his aura was one of light amongst eternal darkness.

Who was this man?

She was now standing just in front of him. His stance had not changed, and his face remained masked of emotion. In his brilliant blue eyes she detected a tiny sparkle of something. Amusement? Did he think of her as amusing?

Just as Kagome began to feel her ire rising at the arrogant man before her, he moved.

Kagome released a surprised gasp when he grasped her hand. His touch sent a rather pleasant feeling of euphoria spreading throughout her body. She watched with fascination as he pulled her hand to his lips, placing a chaste kiss on her skin. His lips were warm and his heated breath added to the sensation. Kagome could feel the crimson blush spreading like wildfire over her features. She looked away in embarrassment.

Her actions proved to further ignite that glitter of amusement in his captivating eyes, and Kagome was simply speechless for moment. The man raised back to his impressive full height, but never removed his gaze from hers. Finally he spoke.

“You are the one,” the man said in a voice that would warm the coldest heart.

‘I am the one?’ Kagome wondered what in the world he was talking about? Did he mean the keeper of the Shikon no Tama? Did he come for the jewel? That seemed far-fetched, as the creature standing before her exuded power in waves. He surely had no need of the Shikon. Right?

Her obvious confusion prompted a slight smile from the living enigma before her. The tiny flash of emotion served to completely astound Kagome, for it was a beautiful sight to behold.

“Please, allow me to introduce myself lovely girl. I am Lord Anubis, Egyptian God of the Dead, He Who is Before the Divine Booth, He Who Counts the Hearts, Dweller of the Mummy Chamber, Governor of the Divine House. I have many names, Kagome, but you may simply call me Anubis,” he said with fluid grace.

Shocked would certainly be a bit of an understatement for Kagome during this revelation. Her mouth fell open reflexively, and her cerulean eyes grew huge with wonder. She knew he was something powerful. She could feel it pouring of him, but this was far from what she had expected. A God?! An Egyptian God?! Anubis, THE Dog God?! ‘Holy crap,’ Kagome thought as understanding flooded her mind. She was standing here holding hands with the Egyptian God of the Dead!

Words would not form. The shear improbability of actually meeting the mythological Egyptian God had totally served to render her into a state of frozen wonder. Myth he may have been in her history textbooks, but just as in the case with youkai, this myth was in fact, very real.

He waited patiently for her to overcome her shock, and soon Kagome found that she could make a coherent sentence once again. She had so much to ask; she didn’t know where to begin.

Finally Kagome managed to ask, “Why are you here?”

Again a tiny smile played on his perfect lips before he responded, “I have been searching the world for perfection, and now my search is over.”

His answer only proved to further confuse her. Kagome knew that she was far from perfect, so she wondered who he was talking about. Surely he could not think her perfect? She had to ask, “M... Me?”

Another awe inspiring smile flashed before Anubis replied, “Yes, Kagome. You are just what I have been searching for.”

A noise came from the opposite side of the clearing, but Anubis seemed to know that they were there long before she detected the approach of her friends. He never even looked in their direction as he said, “Your friends approach. I will leave you in their care... for now. Until we meet again, precious one.”

“Hey! What the hell do you think your doing?!” Inuyasha yelled at Kagome from across the clearing. Then he spotted a male figure disappearing into the forest. He leapt to Kagome’s side and grabbed her pushing her behind him protectively. “Who the fuck was that, Kagome?!” It rattled his nerves to know that he had not detected another being in the vicinity of their camp. How had that guy approached undetected?

When Kagome did not answer, Inuyasha swung around to look at her. “Are you ok, Kagome? Did he hurt you? I’ll kill him if he did!”

Kagome slowly pulled herself out of the dreamlike state that she was currently consumed by. She could tell Inuyasha was upset, and she wanted to reassure him, but was finding it hard to shake the delightful haze from her mind and soul. Had she really been talking to the Dog God, Anubis? She had not felt this fuzzy warmth earlier when she was questioning him. She was able to speak then, so why was she finding it hard to do so now?

Inuyasha watched as Kagome appeared to be struggling with her speech. She looked a little dazed, and he quickly grew concerned for her. Without another thought the hanyou swept her up in his arms and swiftly made his way back to the camp.

Sango, Miroku, Shippo and even Kirara, jumped up when Inuyasha burst through the underbrush carrying Kagome bridal style. The hanyou never carried her like that unless she was injured, and that fact spurred worry in her band of friends.

Sango ran forward and grabbed Kagome’s hand as Inuyasha carefully placed her on her sleeping bag. “Kagome? What’s the matter, Kagome? What happened?” Sango asked with deep concern. She couldn’t see any wounds, and Kagome seemed alert, but something about her was just... off.

Kagome raised her head and smiled widely at Sango. She thanked Kami that the weird feeling was fast dissipating. She patted her best friends’ hand, and glanced around to her other friends in an attempt to calm them down before she said, “I’m fine. Everything is ok. Please don’t worry about me.”

Inuyasha huffed, and said, “Well, what the hell was that that back there? You were acting strange, and who was that I saw you talking to?” He was slightly perturbed at her actions. He knew something was wrong with her earlier, but now she seemed fine. Something had happened, and it pissed him off that she was acting like everything was all sunshine and roses!

Kagome sighed and looked up at Inuyasha. She knew he was only worried about her, and she figured she may as well tell him what happened or he would pester her all night about it. “The man you saw me talking to was not a man at all...”

“A youkai perhaps?” Miroku asked curiously.

Kagome shook her head and continued, “No Miroku, he was not youkai either. He was a God.”

Gasps of shock passed over the small group of comrades at her revelation, and then Shippo jumped into her lap before asking, “Which God Kagome? Why was he talking to you?”

Kagome smiled at Shippo, and hugged him close as she explained all she knew. “Far away there is a vast land called Egypt. The God I met today said that he is Anubis, Egyptian God of the Dead. From my history books, I learned that the Egyptian people had many gods and goddesses, but one of the most revered, was Anubis, because he was the god who presided over the mummification process. When a person died, the body was prepared for the afterlife by applying a concoction of herbs and such. Even though they died thousands of years ago, Egyptian mummies have been found that are almost completely recognizable. The bodies were perfectly preserved through the ages. Anyway, Anubis is believed to take the soul of the deceased to the underworld for judgement, and if the soul is deemed worthy, he escorts it to the throne of Osiris, King of the Underworld.”

“Sounds like a bunch of bullshit to me!” Inuyasha snorted. “I mean, what the hell would a God want with you?”

Kagome chose to ignore the snide assumption of her non-existent importance to such a higher being, since this time, Inuyasha had a point. She shrugged her shoulders and replied, “I really don’t know why he chose to talk to me. I’m just as confused as you are. He said that he had searched the world over for the perfect one, and that his search was over. It really was strange. He told me that he would leave me with you guys, for now.”

That last comment raised the hair on the back of Inuyasha’s neck. Anger and fright filled his heart at the implications. God of the Dead? Leave her with then for now? “If that bastard thinks he’s gonna take you from us, he’s got another thing coming! I’ll send his ass back to Egypt with his tail between his legs!”

Kagome smiled at Inuyasha, and tried to calm him down, “Don’t worry Inuyasha. He really didn’t explain, and I’m sure it’s nothing.” Her words held no conviction in her own mind, because she was unsure of the purpose behind the strange confrontation herself.

Miroku sat back and attempted to sort though the information Kagome provided concerning the Egyptian God. There were just too many missing variables to come to any sort of reasonable explanation. Why would a God from a foreign land and a foreign religion come all the way to Japan? What was Kagome perfect for?

The monk was concerned for his friend as the answers to the questions eluded him, leaving him with a sense of despair. No matter what the purpose behind the whole thing, one thing was perfectly clear.

Kagome’s life was about to change drastically.