InuYasha Fan Fiction ❯ Chained ❯ Shattering ( Chapter 22 )

A\N: Okay, this chapter delves a little more into Amaya and Naraku’s relationship (yeah, we actually get to see the two of them interacting!) and we also learn that Amaya’s perhaps a bit more mysterious and complex then we first thought! ^_^

Update 2 for today!

DISCLAIMER - Just look at all my previous disclaimers and you’ll know what I was going to say here...   ~*~   Shattering

Amaya bowed lowly as the servant announced her, before leaving her alone with the demon-lord.

‘Amaya.’ The man said, staring at her with a twisted smile in place on his features, and she felt her hackles begin to raise slightly. She kept them carefully in check as she rose and met her master’s gaze unflinchingly-- one of the few, demon or human, who could do so-- her powers in manipulating her mind the only things allowing her to do so.

‘You have news, I take it.’ The man said, never one to waste much time with small talk.

‘Why would you “take” that?’ She asked coolly ’You are the one who told me to report here’ she gestured around the room, a look up utter boredom on her face, the gesture in itself suggesting feelings of sheer ennui. ’If you had expected me to come here with information I may not have possessed, that is your own mistake, not mine.’ Naraku’ eyes narrowed deeply.

‘You forget your place in the world, ningen witch.’ He said, his voice low and dangerous. She raised an eyebrow.

‘And perhaps you forget yourself, Master Naraku. Ningen though I may be, you know my powers capabilities. I serve you not because I fear you. You know that I could easily possess your mind-- at this very moment even. Or perhaps you do not remember.’

Naraku’s eyes became like steel, and glowed slightly red.

‘And perhaps you forget, witch, that I possess something that you want, even if it means you do not fear me.’ That said, holding up a small pearl-like jewel, barely larger than the completed Shikon jewel. It glowed with a faint silvery-blue light as it pulsed gently in his palm. Her throat constricted slightly, but her mind lit with fire and her eyes became like glaciers.

‘You are foolish Naraku.’ She said quietly. ‘I am not here to play games with you. You summoned me. Now tell me what your purpose for interrupting my day is, or leave me be.’

Naraku stared coldly at her for a moment, debating whether or not her words made him angry, decided to let it go-- he did not feel like battling with the sorceress anymore right now, not when there were more important things to do...

‘I want to know exactly what it is you have been doing.’ The man said simply. Amaya raised an eyebrow.

‘What I do is none of your concern, Naraku. So long as it is not harming you, you should be grateful I do not tell you every little detail of the comings and goings in my life.’

‘You try and digress from my original question-- have you been up to something so shameful or traitorous you would lie to your own master?’ He asked, and Amaya’s eyes flickered with a small, barely perceptible flash of defiance that she doubted Naraku saw, before it quickly returned to it’s mask of ice.

‘What a strange comment from you, Naraku. Are you truly that frightened of me that you worry of any betrayal I may commit against you? Pathetic for a youkai...’ She said. And she saw the flicker in his eyes, and she knew she had cracked the shell-- now all she had to do was drain the contents.

‘A little too weak for a youkai-- at least, one possessing any manner of strength whatsoever. But... you’re not a youkai, are you?’

His eyes flickered, and Amaya let a barely perceptible smile grace her lips, because she had him now-- pinned up against the wall, trapped in a corner with no escape.

And she was more than smug, for not many people managed to get the better of Naraku. But she had.

The only problem was that any creature, animal or not, felt incredibly threatened in such a position, and the situation became precarious and desperate, every moment depending on how long the creature could remain without snapping, without breaking under the pressure and doing something desperate.

‘It is a very good disguise to be sure.’ She said, eyeing him as though looking at a horse she might wish to buy. ‘I myself did not recognise you for what you were until recently. Tell me, what are you? Or do you not know what demon half of you possesses the powers of?’

Naraku’s eyes glowed red, and suddenly Amaya was thrown against the wall, an invisible hand at her throat, choking her.

She did not make a sound, did not show any signs of weakness by lifting her hands to prevent the grip of the one choking the life from her, only smiled wider, showing him full-on that she had him and she knew it.

‘Your tongue possesses many vile words and threats-- too many for a person of your low status, ningen.’ He said the last word as though it was an insult. The grip of the hand at her throat loosened enough to let her breathe, but did not leave as Naraku held up the small azure jewel, gazing at it thoughtfully, and Amaya tensed slightly despite herself as he began to roll it in his fingers.

‘A precious thing, life.’ He said. ‘Even half a life. It’s so fragile, so easily broken, or stolen away. So easily shattered.’ He looked at her again, and she stared back, her face blank. ‘You know what is at risk here, Amaya.’ He continued, the hand releasing her completely, before suddenly hitting her with what she assumed to be it’s form of a savage backhand. She stumbled against the wall, blood trickling from her lip, hair falling about her face, shielding it from Naraku’s view.

‘Do not attempt to defy me again. Or it will shatter.’ He said, a smirk gracing his lips as she looked up at him, hair framing her face, bangs falling nearly into her eyes, blood trickling down her pale chin, onto her neck, her eyes a fiery glacier of hate for him, flickering with a red only a youkai should have possessed, not unlike the looks Kagura sometimes gave him, only this was magnified tenfold.

He turned and looked straight ahead, an action of disregard, knowing the movement alone would infuriate the woman before him to no end.

‘You may leave.’ He said, not so much a permission given, as a command, and Amaya barely controlled the urge to run at the man and tear the black bit of stone he called a heart out through his throat.

Slowly she straightened, not bothering to wipe the blood from her lips, and moved toward the doors, where she paused, looking back over her shoulders as the man who still stared straight ahead, as though she were a meagre servant unworthy of his glance.

‘Life is fragile.’ She said slowly, drawing his eyes to her. ‘But perhaps it is stronger than you think.’ She said. ‘Do not count your jewels before your shards, Naraku.’ She said dangerously, before slipping out the heavy door, leaving the stench and dark of his throne room behind, while the evil hanyou contemplated her words.

What was the foolish ningen talking about?

He searched his mind for the reason behind her words, and then suddenly it hit him like a flash of lightening during a heated spring sky as he remembered that he had inserted, not one, but several shards into the neck of that baka hanyou: Inuyasha.

Amaya paused halfway down the hallway and smirked as the roar of rage reached her ears, followed by a loud crack and several crashes from the room.

Frightened servants scurried past her toward the commotion, and Amaya shook her head, not feeling sorry for the fools who were likely about to loose what was left of the pitiful lives they possessed.

Turning, she continued down the hall, her mind flickering back to the jewel Naraku held, while she considered his words.

The more she thought about it, the more infuriated she became, and the stronger became her resolve to not only heal the broken hanyou kept prisoner in that temple in the mountains, but to make him powerful enough to overthrow this abomination that now ruled the lands.

A little voice sang caution in the back of her mind, and she paused to listen to it, never being stupid enough to throw such warnings away, taking into account exactly what she was putting at risk.

She knew that she could loose more than everything she had-- she could loose everything that Kagome had lost and could get back, everything that the hanyou had so newly retrieved and clung to so tightly to try and keep.

But she knew that, if they did it right, they could destroy Naraku.

And if not, if he really was too powerful to defeat, life would not be worth living anyway.

And that’s all there was to it, because she couldn’t live in this hell they called earth any longer-- not if she was under his domination.

None of them could.

And none of them would.

Not if she could help it. ~*~

Glossary

Amaya - Night Rain

Naraku - Hell

Ningen - Human

Youkai - Demon

Kagura - Ancient shinto music and dancing (which would explain why all her attacks seem to have to do with dancing)

Baka - Idiot, fool, moron, etc

^^^^^

A\N: Lol, my first glossary for this story! ^_^