As Kagome stomped down from the porch, Ikiryou rose and fell into step beside her, a fresh dusting of snow shaking loose from his fur. Kagome didn’t feel the cold, or the wind. All the flakes that drifted down onto her turned straight into steam.
Sango sure had some nerve, dredging up the past like she had. Speaking ill of the dead. At least she’d looked properly ashamed of herself for it, after.
Still the whole thing rankled Kagome something fierce.
“Inuyasha was a good man,” she muttered, her breath leaving her in a vehement puff. “Better than most. And anyway, he was mine.” As her eyes stung at last, she added more softly, more insistently, “…He was mine.”
Mildly, Ikiryou glanced up at her as he padded along. Why she was even talking to him was beyond her. He was just a dumb dog. But right now he seemed to Kagome like the only friend she had left in the world.
Along the perimeter of the fortress, a stone embankment was fast being raised. The miko gave it a shrewd once-over as she climbed up and past, approaching the towering main hall.
Just outside of it, an even more curious sight caught her attention: an old crone, sitting rheumy-eyed and vacant in the shadow of the great wooden steps. A beggar-woman in rags, it seemed, though how she’d slipped by the sentries was anyone’s guess. She didn’t seem particularly spry. But then again, beggars could be crafty.
“Obaa-san,” Kagome asked politely, stepping toward her as Ikiryou rested back on his haunches and cocked his head, “are you lost? Do you need help?”
Still gazing skyward through the thick white clouds of her cataracts, the old woman held out her withered hand. Kagome’s lips twisted, but she dropped a copper coin into that shriveled palm all the same.
“Gods be with you,” the miko said with a short bow, as she began to turn back toward the steps.
“Nine.”
Kagome paused, glancing back. And now those misty eyes were fixed upon her, seeming to gleam almost silver in the midday sun. It was eerie. Just as eerie as that hollow voice which had addressed her, as if echoing back to her from some cavernous depth. Kagome didn’t sense any demonic energy coming from this old woman, of course. But there was an undeniable aura of mysticism about her.
“Nine is your number, though ten it ought be,” the crone rasped, peering at her still. “Beware the number three, for though it be the greatest, you shall know despair ere you see it.”
“Are you telling me I have nine years to live?” Kagome asked flatly. “Because from where I’m standing, Obaa-san, that might as well be an eternity from here.”
The old soothsayer cackled. With surprising strength, she stabbed her twisted branch of a cane into the hard, frozen earth. Rising slowly on knobby knees, she pushed herself up and ambled away, cackling still.
For a while Kagome stared after her, thinking, what didn’t she know of despair?
Inuyasha © Rumiko Takahashi
Oooh. Plot twist! I’m curious now!
Yayy!! <3
Now Kagome knows damn well InuYasha wasn’t hers completely 😂 If it was me, I wouldn’t feel bad in the slightest for getting it on with Sesshoumaru. Listeennnnn…
Lolol love it XD
I mean, I’m right there with ya hahaha <3
The That Night side stories have added quite a lot of depth to these recent chapters. Kagome declares Inuyasha “mine” just as Sesshoumaru did to her, implying some sort of unwavering devotion that will overlook flaws. And the last few sections about Sango’s pregnancy ring a bit more eerie now that we now that Sango made the unilateral choice to abort Kagome’s pregnancy. Like a Greek tragedy, so much death and suffering seem to have occurred as the result of each character’s hubris. It’s like Sophocles with demons and porn. I mean that as the highest compliment!
Yes! Kagome saying “…he was mine.” is such a good call back! A lot like when Kohaku tells Kagome he’s going to “fix her” which is an echo of Kagome’s plan to “fix” the problem of the Beast.
Haha I am certainly glad to take the compliment!! <3 Thank you, Alex! So glad you've been enjoying the tie-ins with the side-stories 🙂 It's been fun to experiment with the concept of 'Control' being a stand-alone tale, but also part of a greater story through these additional scenes and voices! <3
Oh! Oh.
The way Control and its side stories are laid out is irresistible. Like Alice down the rabbit hole, as a reader I find myself surprised and challenged and endlessly curious to see what comes next! I can’t stop reading. Utterly binge-able.
I can’t stop circling back to the third installation of That Night (my happy-ending heart wonders, “What if…?”) but there are so many gems. An embarrassment of riches in the backstories and parallels.
When he said, “She was different. She was mine.”
When she admitted, “I would have died thinking I was special to you.”
When she told him, “You can’t ‘have me’, I’m saving myself for my husband.”
When he asked her, “You are determined to save yourself, aren’t you, Kagome?—for your husband’s sake.”
Can’t wait to find out how you untangle this snarl (so. many. secrets!) but simultaneously never want to reach the end of the thread (though it’s necessary, if only so Absolution can continue!). Thanks for two tantalizing updates in one week.
“Like Alice down the rabbit hole, as a reader I find myself surprised and challenged and endlessly curious to see what comes next! ” – OMG I’m jumping for joy inside! Thank you so much <3 <3 <3
Absolutely enamored at how you laid out those lines! Hope you enjoy where this twisty yarn goes from here 🙂
And so happy to hear you're excited to read more of Absolution as well!! I definitely haven't forgotten about it 😉 Man, if only I had more time to write...!
Thanks so much for sharing your thoughts & happy reading!! <3
I absolutely loved it! Your writing is beautiful, dark creepy but that’s what i like about it. Its easy to treath your character’s right, giving them everything they can desire and more.. but to give them hell… There is where the really good stories lies. Thank you. Wishing your muse unlimited ides
“Your writing is beautiful, dark creepy but that’s what i like about it. ” yayy thank you so much <3 <3 <3
You're so right too about being 'nice' to characters - I know they're only fictional, but sometimes I still feel guilty for what I do to them D: But the story must be told!! haha 🙂
<3