InuYasha Fan Fiction ❯ Devour Prometheus ❯ For Humanity ( Chapter 8 )

Disclaimer: These characters belong to Rumiko Takahashi and other associated companies.

 

 

Chapter 08: For Humanity

 

 

“The opportunity to join you?” Kagome said, her thin eyebrows furrowing.

 

“Yes,” Jianyu replied, “As you know, we lost several this evening including a monk and a priestess. A talented miko such as you would be an asset better serving our cause rather than being wasted in what lonely, rural shrine you have come from.”

 

“I am proud of where I come from. I won't be persuaded otherwise.”

 

“Indeed, I am mistaken yet again,” he remarked, his tone strangely confident despite her adamant refusal. “Then perhaps our meeting should adjourn. Lady Kioshi will escort you out now and you may return to your life as it once was. However, do us and yourself the honor of forgetting our encounter this night. I would not care to see a fine, young priestess with great potential a victim of misfortune.”

 

A hand touching her shoulder, the imperial miko had already risen, ready to do as her leader had directed. Then she gave a light but firm tap when Kagome remained seated, not quite believing the meeting was over.

 

“Wa-wait,” she blurted out to the man who had since picked up his calligraphy brush. “I'll listen to your offer. I'm just a bit proud of my independence and where I come from. Maybe too proud sometimes. Please forgive me and continue.”

 

Delicately, he replaced the brush across the inkwell, unsurprised by her swift reversal of thought.

 

“Hmm,” he hummed, stroking his cleanly shaven chin as if in deep reflection. Then a smirk kinked his smile to one side, “Very well. We shall continue. Lady Kioshi?”

 

“Yes, Jianyu-sama,” the miko answered, her hand leaving Kagome's shoulder.

 

“Bring us some tea, would you?”

 

“Now, my lord?”

 

“Yes.”

 

“As you wish.”

 

With her moment of hesitation passed, she was soon masked and sweeping around the stacks of literature to leave the room. Then with the loud clap of rice paper doors sealing, a shiver coursed through Kagome's body. His mysterious intents evoking fear more than curiosity, she swiftly realized that she was now completely alone and thus at his mercy. Not that she believed Kioshi would protect her even if she was present.

 

“There is no need for worry, miko,” he stated boredly, accurately reading the concern etched on her face. “I have no nefarious designs upon your person. It would be… uncivilized.”

 

Relaxing somewhat with his assurances, she had little choice but to trust his word.

“Like I have spoken previously,” he continued, “I am looking to make amends for the path I have chosen and that is to deal with the earthly demons whose existence angers the gods we worship.”

 

“Youkai.”

 

“Yes.”

 

“All youkai?”

 

“Every single one.”

 

“I don't believe that,” she argued, her hands tightening into fists, “There are good ones who don't harm anyone but help instead. How could they anger anyone, especially the gods?”

 

“A naïve answer you give, Lady Kagome,” he chided gently. “A priestess should understand this better than anyone, after all who grants you the powers that flow from your arrows?”

 

“I know that the gods do, but--”

 

“And what do those powers do? They purify what they pierce and they pierce demons. You could blindly loose one hundred purification arrows in any direction. They may strike trees, stones, animals and perhaps an unfortunate human, but they will only turn youkai to ash. If only demons can be cleansed then they are the filth of this world.”

 

“I don't believe that.”

 

“But even as you deny it, you know it to be the truth unless you have a more accurate explanation?”

 

Kagome swallowed hard, her face paling.

 

“Hn,” he snorted, triumph glimmering in his dark eyes.

 

“So youkai can be purified and perhaps the gods don't hold them in the highest graces, but that doesn't mean they don't deserve to live. That you have any right to condemn them as filth.”

 

“No, they condemn themselves,” Jianyu replied coolly. “As you've traveled, you've no doubt seen what they've done to vulnerable villages and farmlands. Not but a few years ago there were times when the sky was blotted with writhing masses of them. Over the course of a single year, dozens of towns were burnt from this earth and hundreds of innocents died.”

 

“That won't happen again. The one who was responsible was defeated.”

 

“A fortune was its demise to be sure, but the death of one great evil does not pardon the many others who continue to slaughter even this night. They have all killed humans and if they have not, they will. Demons hunt us and then they kill us. And once we are limp in their claws, they consume us. To them we are nourishment and the ease that our lives could be is robbed from us by their existence. If not through our deaths but through the fear of the death they could bring.”

 

Cold and callous, a chill iced his voice as he spoke and despite her fervent belief to the contrary, Kagome was speechless. In the pit of her stomach, she could feel her objections churning in the acid, being dissolved not by the strength of his argument, but by the indisputable power his presence demanded. No matter how she criticized or debated his person or point, the authority he wielded never surged or lessened. Instead it simply persisted, undeterred as it whittled away at her resolve to allow his reasoning to filter through. He was a terrifying man.

 

“So, you're going to kill them and ease humanity's suffering?” she finally spoke up. “Purify them away so that we don't have to live in fear or struggle through life when they make orphans of us?”

 

“It is not quite that simple, dear miko. We intend to soothe the lives of their victims not just through peace of mind. Not when traditional Chinese medicines can do so much more.”

 

“Traditional medicine? You mean Kampo?”

 

“Yes,” he agreed, smiling broadly again, “Kampo would be the Japanese equivalent.”

 

“But doesn't that usually involve acupuncture and mixes of herbs? What do youkai have to do…”

 

Trailing off, her words slowed and quieted as she finished, the memories of bronze-handled needles seizing her thoughts. Without the misleading clusters of bells that dangled from their ends, the weapons that both priestesses had wielded were now easily recognizable as acupuncture needles.

 

“Usually they are made of such simple ingredients,” he admitted, ignoring her faltering voice, “Again, you are a priestess, so the healing arts should be familiar to you. However, limiting one's resources to just plants is foolish when animals provide a multitude of uses as well. Dried scorpions, snakes, turtle shells and so on can contribute greatly to the welfare of a person's mind and body. They can cure disease, mend broken bones and even sow the seeds of fertility in a barren womb.”

 

Dampening her skin, a wet wave of dread washed over Kagome.

 

“What do youkai have to do with medicine?” she asked; the words sour like bile in her mouth.

 

“You already know the answer, do you not?”

 

“I don't… I--”

 

“You know that the beasts who once consumed us are now the consumed. Raw, dried, boiled and cooked, the organs of their bodies cleanse, heal and balance ours in ways that make their natural counterparts seem as dull as diluted tea.”

 

“But, they're people,” she said almost desperately, her chest tightening as she struggled to breathe.

 

“Are they?”

 

“They speak. They wear clothes. They fall in love with humans. Doesn't that mean they're more than just beasts? More than animals for the slaughter?”

 

“Hn,” he snorted, casually waving a dismissive hand, “Disguises and nothing more. The demon you captured this evening spoke and wore clothing. It even at one time cared for the welfare of a human child. So human-like are these traits and yet what did it do to Lady Nao? Tell me that.”

 

Biting her lip anxiously, a lie tore at her throat, frantic to be spoken over the truth. Thick and heavy, she instead swallowed it down. He already knew the answer. He always knew the answer.

 

“He… He killed her and ate her liver.”

 

“A monster who has slain hundreds for its own selfish desires will now save just as many. How poetic it is that Prometheus is devoured so that we may all thrive. Now that you know our intentions, I will now hear your decision. Join us, Lady Kagome and save hundreds. Your strength and skill are greatly needed.”

 

“I… I can't. I mean I have to--,” she mumbled and without realizing it, she had risen to her feet. “I need to…”

 

Then without another word, she fled. The thumping patter of her socked feet sounding her escape, she wove through the piles of books toward the rice paper door. Gliding open as she arrived, Kioshi stood at the entrance with a bamboo tray in her hands, balancing an elegant, ceramic tea set on top of it. Kagome bumped into her as she brushed past, leaving her sandals behind as she sprinted for the stairs.

 

With a loud clatter, the priestess dropped the tray and made her way toward Jianyu, knocking several stacks of books over as she ran.

 

“Jianyu-sama?!” she called out, sliding around the last heap of scrolls before her feet met the rug.

 

“I am fine, Lady Kioshi,” he answered kindly and she sighed in relief between her rapid breaths.

 

“What happened, my lord?”

 

Picking it up lightly, he examined his calligraphy brush and admired the ease with which it did as he desired.

 

“It seems she has some reservations.”

 

“May I speak my opinion?”

 

“Of course.”

 

“I do not care for her. She is a suspicious woman. There are rumors of a miko who consorts with youkai and I believe she is the one. How else would she keep company with a dangerous beast like that and not share Lady Nao's fate? She was not its captive. The demon trusted her.”

 

“Perhaps,” he remarked, “But if she is the one you speak of, then her befriending nature will reap more than what fifty trained men could provide. Your warning is heeded however. Follow her and see what she does. If by dawn she is not persuaded to join our ranks, you know what to do.”

 

“As you wish, my lord,” Kioshi said and bent over to retrieve her mask before tying it securely to her face. After a polite bow, she pivoted gracefully on the ball of her foot and turned toward the exit.

 

“And, miko. If she should attempt to escape before then…”

 

She paused.

 

“I understand, Jianyu-sama.”

 

Then her steps echoed, light in sound and heavy with purpose as she strode away, leaving the man alone to his art.

 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

 

Chilling her moist skin, the bracing autumn night rushed in as Kagome yanked the heavy door of the pagoda down its track. Then over the threshold she sprang, leaving the entrance wide open as she bolted out into the yard. From behind their raptorial masks, the guards watched her run, the temptation to catch her strong, but without the orders to do so, they dared not move.

 

Clean and crisp, she gulped down the frigid air as she pumped her legs, desperate to purge the sickeningly sweet smell of incense from her nose and palette. The musty scent of old books and ink clung as well and when her mind dwelled on the significant odors that wafted throughout the pagoda, she thought of his story and the bile in her stomach churned. How many youkai had been regarded as filth and had died to serve their cause? How many had been butchered and bottled as sacrifices for the wellbeing of humanity?

 

The urge to vomit swelled again and as the priestess attempted to quell it, the gravel slipped from beneath her feet. First, landing hard on her bottom, she tumbled over the ground before sliding to a stop. Dirt smeared across her sweat-glossed face, she slowly picked herself up to sit. As she moved, flashes of sharp pain stung her knees and hands. She sought out her palms and found them torn with bloody scrapes and peppered with flecks of debris. The throbbing aches of her fall cleared her mind and the shock and terror inspired by Jianyu and his mission numbed as a fresh fear dominated her thoughts. She had to find them, Inuyasha and Sesshoumaru. She had to find them and save them.

 

Clambering to her feet, Kagome limped toward the only place she knew to look, the well-fortified prison near the entrance of the shrine. Slowly lessening as she walked, the tenderness in her abused joints relaxed away as she made her way toward the long, wooden building. The prison guards eyed her warily as she approached, whispering their concern to each other, wondering whether or not Lady Kioshi intended their guest to be roaming free. The priestess straightened up and projected an air of haughtiness, hoping a guise of confidence would keep their murmurs just murmurs.

 

Past the cells she strode, surreptitiously spying into the darkness. As her long shadow fell through the lattice of bars, she heard the sounds of scuffling followed by frightened whispers. The torchlight emanating from the yard their curse, the unseen prisoners hid from sight, but as Kagome tentatively felt for their youki, she found none. Heavy with a sharp tang, she instead smelled their sweat and excrement and she knew they were only human.

 

Throughout the sprawling camp, she then roamed, peering into tents and dilapidated buildings. Her other senses as focused as her eyes, she felt for even the faintest flickers of demonic aura. Occasionally, she felt weak tingles of it, but they seemed as thin as afterthoughts, diluted until they were little more than imagined. Huddled around their campfires, the warriors watched her as she peeked and prodded with a few fingering the woven threads of their hilts. She took great care not to walk close to the outline of woods that bordered the shrine so that their concern stayed limited to the reach of their open hearths.

 

Soon, she found herself back at the prison, her fruitless search ending where it began. She had turned over the entire camp and they were nowhere to be found. Into her sleeve she dipped her hand, desperate to feel the wad of tangled hair that gave her courage. Tattered with great gaps between the seams, she found nothing and then she remembered where it was, in the sleeve of her white coat long since gone. With its loss, the weight of her plight came crumbling down upon her shoulders. The burden too much, she slumped to the ground with her back resting against the wall of the prison. Her knees folding against her chest, she set her face onto them. Weary and confused, her mind drifted over the night's events and revelations as she tried to sort them out. As she tried to find a direction.

 

“Here you are,” a cool voice spoke up and with a start Kagome looked up to find a familiar mask.

 

“Have you come to take me back?” she asked Kioshi, discovering as she said it that she was indifferent to whatever reply she received.

 

“No.”

 

“Then what do you want? I don't have an answer for any of you. Pursuing a life that involves the condemnation and elimination of entire species so that they can be butchered and bought as remedies for arthritis is not an easy decision to make.”

 

“Then you are considering it?”

 

“I am, but…” she began, her tongue suddenly failing her as a bout of self-doubt consumed her. What was she saying? At first, she thought she was buying time to keep them interested in her so that she could save her allies, but what if she was truly considering it? What if she believed Jianyu was right and that turning dangerous youkai into ash was a waste?

 

The image of a young woman in tight fitting black leather hefting a massive boomerang appeared in her thoughts to spread further dissension. Sango and her exterminator clan used parts of slain demons as weapons and armor and she never once thought it was bad. How was medicine any different?

 

Kioshi kinked her head to the side and crossed her arms.

 

“I don't know,” Kagome quickly admitted, “I don't know what to believe. I don't know what is right anymore. I just need to think. To find a direction.”

 

Staring at the young priestess floundering in the choppy seas of the most difficult reality, Kioshi paused. She had not always been a woman frozen of the hardest ice and on her smooth, frosted surface a crack of pity grew. Then with a slight nod of understanding, a bit of her icy exterior melted away and she approached. Crouching down to join her, the seemingly always poised and elegant Kioshi sat neatly on her shins beside Kagome.

 

“I was once without direction,” she said softly as if the admission of vulnerability could only be uttered in whisper. “But, my ideals and future were burnt away in far less time than one night.”

 

“The scar on your face?” Kagome surmised.

 

“Yes.”

 

“Did a youkai do it to you? Burn your village and kill your family, so now you're seeking revenge?”

 

“No,” she chuckled dryly, “I was burned by another miko.”

 

“Wha-? Why?”

 

“I was the best.”

 

“Over that? You were burned for being the best?”

 

“I suppose being a priestess from such a rural area that you do not understand what it means to be a miko where the shrines are grand and the pagodas touch the heavens. I came from a magnificent shrine that I shared with numerous other priestesses. However, no matter if it was dancing, purification ceremonies or healing remedies, I had no equal among them. The affluent swiftly learned of this and I became the prized bloom revered as a gift from Amaterasu herself. Preference however breeds jealousy.”

 

Taking a delicate finger to her mask, Kioshi traced a line across her cheek where the scar lay beneath.

 

“Boiling water used in one of our purification ceremonies,” she continued, her voice growing colder. “The girl spouted clumsiness, but it was no accident. Inevitably, it did not matter. The damage was done and my wondrous skills paled beside hideousness that spoiled my cheek. You see, the rich and the noble want only the absolutely pure to purify them. Because of that, I was no longer desired and soon I was sent away to the country.”

 

“That's horrible.”

 

“That is life. It is brimming with horrors that mangle and scar the innocent and the naïve. I witnessed much of it as I traveled and learned that the paltry suffering I had endured was nothing compared to petty wars and massacres. You cannot unsee what demons and humans do to those who are weaker than they. You cannot unsee the broken lives they leave in their wake. Many of the men who surround us are those who lost everything. Jianyu gathered them up as he gathered me and gave us a purpose.”

 

“Then you believe what he says? About youkai being despised by the gods?”

 

“I am an imperial priestess. I cannot deny what my powers do to demons and his reasoning makes the most sense out of any that I have heard. But it is not a hatred of youkai that spurs my actions, but a desire to help those who are suffering. If potions and salves refined from the bodies of demons will save countless lives, then I will give my life for it. I am human. It is their survival that I serve.”

 

Rising to her feet, Kioshi patted the dust from her knees and shins.

 

“Not all youkai kill humans.”

 

“The ones we capture have.”

 

“That's not true!”

 

Gazing down, the masked miko caught the desperation in her eyes.

 

“They all have at some time or another. Consider it and you will know it to be true.”

 

Smooth like ink slipping over paper, Kioshi stepped away without awaiting a reply, leaving Kagome alone to think. Overwhelmed even more than she was before the priestess had spoken with her, she did not wade through her jumble of thoughts long when she felt the familiar weight of youki permeate the air. Bold and terrifying, it could only be his.