InuYasha Fan Fiction ❯ From Beginning to End ❯ The Site ( Chapter 2 )

[ T - Teen: Not suitable for readers under 13 ]

A/N: All names and locations that are mentioned in this chapter are real! Yes, I did do research, and the names happen to be in different languages, which is why they’re spelled strangely.

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Disclaimer: I do not own Inu Yasha.

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From Beginning to End

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Chapter: The Site

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“Come on in and make yourselves comfortable,” Kagome commanded as she threw the door to the main shrine open. It had been reconstructed into a two level modern house.

“We always do,” Sango muttered as she collapsed onto the couch in the next room over.

“You’d think she would have noticed that by now...” Miroku whispered to his girlfriend as he appeared with a mysteriously acquired coke.

“Hey! I want one!” Sango complained.

Miroku gave a charming, and slightly disarming, grin as a second can appeared from behind his back. “Already done, my darling,” he bowed with a flourish and presented the can to Sango. She, naturally, grabbed it happily and popped it open to take a sip.

“Okay, I’ve got The Book, and I already have an idea where the labyrinth...” Kagome paused as she looked up at the taijiya and the houshi lounging on her furniture, each sipping one of her cokes. “...I’m not even going to ask where you guys got that.”

Sango grinned at her best friend, “Good idea. You were saying about where the jewel is?”

Kagome sighed and collapsed next to the brunette. She flipped open the heavy leather-bound book and balanced it on her lap. Idly turning the pages, she stopped on a beautiful sketch of a green hill overlooking a deep sapphire blue lake. The miko placed a single finger on the picture.

“There,” she whispered.

“A hill?” Miroku leaned across Sango’s lap, who was sitting in the middle, to get a better look. He couldn’t see it.

“Wow, Kag-chan, you really narrowed it down...” Sango commented dryly, although she was just as into the drawing as the others.

“Not any hill,” Kagome began to explain, not at all miffed by her friend’s lack of enthusiasm. “This is Lough Lean.” Kagome explained.

“I’ve never heard of it, ‘Gome-chan,” Sango admitted. Her job involved jobs in or around Japan and she’d never heard of this particular lake.

“You wouldn’t. It’s now called the Lake of Killarney. It’s in Ireland,” Kagome explained in a breathless whisper, as though entranced by the book.

“Okay. So we find this lake and then what? The lair will be out in the open, right in front of the eye?” Miroku questioned, “Kagome-sama, you can’t believe it’ll be that easy.”

Kagome slumped back. “I know. I don’t even think this damn man LIVES in this world!”

“What do you mean?” Sango fumbled with her hands, before one finally reached up to grasp a necklace her mother had given her before passing on. The demon huntress always wore it and it seemed to calm her nerves when they were most frayed.

“Fairies are the ones who inhabit, or used to anyway, the lake. You do realize where they live right?” Kagome asked, looking up into the pink tinged eyes of her friend.

“Not really, no,” Sango furrowed her brow, “They were never really an interest, you know? I know all there is to know on demons, not on magical beings.”

Kagome shrugged, “Fairies apparently live in the Land of Faerie. It is said to be a third world, between our mortal one and the one of the Gods. But it interacts with our own, like a world inside our world that we can’t see.”

“Let me get this straight: you think that this labyrinth thing is in the world of the fairies?” Miroku asked while Sango stole The Book and looked through it. “How do you know these things?”

Kagome blinked. “You and Sango are always out helping people while I have to stay here at the shrine all day. Any one who needs healing or blessings or advice can come here, so I have a lot of time. After seeing all the times Midoriko had to mess with them in her diary, I read up on them.”

“I see,” Miroku scratched his clean shaven face in thought. “So you think if we can find this lake and an opening, a doorway if you will, we’ll find the lair? That’s why no one’s ever found it?” Miroku asked his female friend.

“That’s right.” Kagome nodded eagerly; “I know it sounds strange. But Naraku-,”

“Who?” Sango interrupted, looking up from the diary.

“The bad guy,” Kag explained hastily, “Midoriko says that his, and I quote, ‘minions’ were of the Faerie world. Er— the Bogle and the Bogie are common ones.”

“Huh?” Miroku asked. His specialty was the spirit world, not the supernatural one, although they were similar.

“Ugly, mean little goblins that like to hurt and trick people,” Kagome informed as though it was an everyday thing.

“Is that all we need to know?” Miroku asked, already filing away the information in his mind to look at later.

“Yeah,” Kagome had the grace to look sheepish, “I promise not to bombard you with facts, I’ll keep it simple. No more.”

“Wait, one last thing,” Sango lifted a page to Kagome’s eyes. “Here it says in the diary fairies but spelled f-a-i-r-i-e-s, and then there’s the ‘Land of Faerie’. The two words sound similar.”

“Oh, fairy can be spelled at least ten different ways. It’s the magical creature. But if the word is singular and capitalized, Midoriko was talking about the land, the country, where they live.” Kagome shrugged it off.

“Oh, that’s got to be confusing,” Sango muttered. ‘I’m sure I’ll figure it out.’

“Anything else?” Kagome asked.

“I’ve heard female fairies run around without any clothes on, is that-?”

Sango interrupted Miroku’s question, “How do we protect ourselves from these Bogies and Bogles?”

Kagome thought about it, not used to having to recall information to teach. “You can turn your jacket inside out or bells or salt. Or...” Kagome thought about it for a second, “You could just hack ‘em up into little pieces, that should stop them.”

Sango grinned, “The magic talismans are for Houshi-sama, I’ll stick with brutal force thank you very much.”

“‘Course,” Kagome shuffled the book backs towards her and snapped it shut. The small diary was thick, but only the size of a small novel. ‘Easier to cart around,’ Kag decided.

“So you really believe in this stuff, Kagome-chan? I mean...beings of light that fly and communicate with nature, it sounds so surreal,” Sango wondered aloud.

Kagome blinked back at the woman. “Sango-chan,” she clasped the hands of the taijiya, “We live in a world filled with demons and people that can shoot pink and blue powers out of their finger tips. And you have problem believing in fairy-lore?”

Surprise flashed by Sango’s face, then comprehension, and finally wariness. “Wow...I don’t think I got enough sleep last night, or I’m in a state of shock or something. I don’t think my brain is working. Yeah, you’re right,” she sighed.

Kagome patted the slightly callused palms before turning to Miroku. “You guys sure you’re going to come with? I don’t know exactly what I’m going up against...”

Miroku grinned, “My dear Lady Kagome, of course we’ll help. By the way...”

“Yeah?”

“Do you think we’ll get compensation if we return the jewel unharmed?” Miroku’s question was answered by two outrageous hits to the head.

“Con artist,” Sango murmured affectionately under her breath.

“Idiot,” Kag said a little quieter, afraid of the protective wrath of the magenta-orbed female sitting next to her. Sango was sweet when unprovoked...but even the gifted miko couldn’t survive a hit to the head by Hairokotsu. “Are you guys staying the night?”

“Night? Court ended in the late afternoon,” Sango cast a glance out the window. The dark, twilight filled window. “Shit, how’d it get so late?”

“Talk does that,” Kagome yawned as she sat up. “We have to leave tomorrow. That’s when the task really starts. How much help do you think we’ll get?”

Sango thought about it awhile, trying to come up with a reasonable answer. “Well...they need the jewel badly, to keep the world from utter destruction and all that, so they have to provide some help. But it is a dangerous stunt and our punishment, so they can only go so far.”

“Hn.” Kagome pulled her wavy black hair from the barrette it was clasped in. “I’ll call in the morning, Kaede is an old friend of my Jiisan, so I have her number. But for now I’m sleeping.”

“Fine. Don’t forget to call me as early as possible tomorrow. I need to know what to pack, I’m not used to ‘business’ trips to Ireland,” Sango clambered up from the couch and stretched, her hands over her head. She gave a surprised and indignant squeak when a pinch on her rear end alerted her to Miroku’s presence.

“I’ll walk you home, of course my heart,” Miroku stepped to the side to avoid the hand flying at him.

“You better, you never know what criminal might pray on lil’ old me,” Sango’s eyes glinted with evil thoughts of what she’d do if the situation ever arose. “Of course, the monk’s temple is a block from my training barracks so you’ll have to walk me anyway,” she added.

“Of course, my heart.”

“Will you stop calling me that,” Sango frowned at him.

“Of course, my heart.”

“Is he a broken record?” Kag commented from the sidelines. “Why don’t you guys get moving. I’d like to start as soon as possible,” she gulped, “And we’ll probably miss the sleep.”

“Yeah, you’re right,” Miroku looped his arm with Sango’s. “We’ll get going. I’ll be up at dawn, call me when you wake up.”

Kagome nodded solemnly... She’d prefer to go to sleep and not wake up.

As the couple headed towards the door, Kagome following out of courtesy, Sango turned back to her friend at the door. “Kagome-chan? What happens after we get to Ireland, after we find the Lake of Killarney?”

Kagome sighed deeply; her ocean eyes clouded over and drifted to the wall where pictures of her family hung. “We’ll take it one step at a time. After reaching there, I’ll have to find an opening to where the labyrinth might be. ‘Might’ being the keyword. Midoriko might not be correct about it’s position.”

Sango nodded. She could do that; take things one step at a time sounded easier than looking at the mission as a whole. “Night Kagome, get some sleep. We’ll be here, I promise,” she gave the younger girl a reassuring smile.

“Night, Sang-chan, Miroku-sama,” Kagome opened the door for them and watched them step outside into the deep evening. “I’ll talk to you tomorrow.”

“Till tomorrow then,” Miroku gave a small bow to the priestess before winking at her, “Good dreams, Kagome-sama.”

“Thank you,” Kagome gratefully watched her friends, and comrades, walk away from her home. She snapped the door quietly back in place and looked at the stairs. “Now...sleep,” she began to ascend to the comforting bed that awaited her.

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“Hello, directory? The High Judge Haiiro, Kaede please. Thank you,” Kagome twirled the cord around a finger while listening to the ringing. “Hello, Kaede-sama? This is Higurashi, Kagome. I need some information from you regarding my punishment.”

“Yes, Kagome-sama. What may I help ye with, child?” Kaede’s ancient tone filtered through.

‘She’s not so bad,’ Kagome decided. “Sorry for calling you so early in the morning, Your Ladyship.”

“Not at all. I keep odd hours. Today is your first day of twenty-eight. Any idea where to start?”

“Actually...I do. I was wondering if the government could provide transportation,” Kagome admitted, without disclosing the location where she thought the jewel was.

“Ye have a car, don’t ye? Where must ye go that would require something more than that?” Kaede shuffled in her chair at her office.

Well there went that plan. “Ireland.”

“Really? Well, a car certainly won’t be much help then, will it? I do believe I can provide a plane. But there is a limit to what we can help ye with.” Kaede searched through some papers on her desk in hopes of finding the phone number to the airport. She knew she had it somewhere...

“That’d be wonderful. I understand I can’t ask for more, and I want you to know I’ll try my hardest,” Kagome babbled on, her hair now replacing phone cord in her fumbling fingers.

“Yes, child, now I’ll have my secretary call thee. She’ll tell ye thee information. That’s about all I can do though.”

“Thank you, Your Ladyship,” Kagome thankfully said her good-byes and hung up. A few minutes the phone rang out shrilly and Kagome had the information about the plane. After calling and telling her partners that they had a way to get to the far off country, she headed upstairs.

What to pack?

‘Well...I didn’t tell the others, but there was barely any information on Naraku. I don’t know his weaknesses, only that he has an odd aura due to the fact he was once many demons.’ The young miko glanced around her barely decorated room. “Yeah, that helps,” she muttered.

No sense in packing too much. Heavy luggage would only slow her down so she needed the bare essentials. A set of spell laid clothes that didn’t dirty or grow any ‘smells’ that would make her uncomfortable, her favorite short- bow and a quiver of arrows.

“Good enough,” Kagome shrugged. She didn’t even know if she was headed in the right direction, but at least she’d be prepared if her hunches were correct.

A solid knock to the downstairs door reminded her that she was among the living, Kagome tied her top and yanked her hair into a high ponytail. “Coming!” she yelled, thundering down the stairs.

“Kagome!” Sango greeted as soon as the door opened. She was dressed in her uniform. A single tight suit of armor, black with pink pads of extra armor around. It was designed in the way the demon slayers of the past wore them, but was stronger and no longer made of demon skin.

“You’re ready?” Kagome asked, giving her a once over.

“Of course, I have all my weapons for slaying,” the brunette, the brown hair now tied in a high ponytail, let herself in. Flopping down at the kitchen table, she looked up expectantly.

“Hidden daggers?” Kagome asked.

Sango, in answer, taped a hidden black pouch tied at her waist sash.

“Arm swords?”

The taijiya lifted her arm and Kagome recognized the blades hidden beneath the black sleeves.

“Katana?”

Sango gave the miko a deadpan look before raising an eyebrow at her waist where a sharp sword was obviously attached.

Kagome blushed, “Oh. Where’s the boomerang?” Her blue eyes searched her friend but the giant bone was not there. Definitely not there...

“Outside,” Sango shrugged. “No use carrying it in.”

“That’s my logical girl for you!” A proud voice chirped from the doorway and both girls turned to see Miroku in his violet robes.

“Oh goody...the lecher’s here,” Sango grumbled before flashing a small smile at the monk. Miroku returned the grin.

“Good, we’re all here,” Kagome clapped her hands together. Then her azure eyes lighted upon the golden walking staff in her male friend’s hand. “I know you’re good at that staff twirling, but don’t you think that you’ll need more than that? I know, I know, you have your talismans but...”

She faded out as Miroku effortlessly lifted the staff and watched with dull purple eyes as a foot long dagger popped out of the bottom, it’s sharp edge gleaming in the kitchen light. “Better?”

“Better,” Kagome agreed.

“Do we know when the plane is coming? Or even where it’s at?” Sango interrupted.

Kagome blinked as her mind flickered back to the secretary’s words. “Yeah, it’s at the downtown military airport. We’re taking some small jet.”

“A jet?” Sango asked, her eyes little wide. She preferred riding Kirara; tight spaces like airplanes bothered her.

“It’s outdated and they didn’t mind sparing it. It’s not anything special,” a slight sulk tugged at Kagome’s mouth. Hey, if she was going down she wanted to go down in style.

“They’re rooting for us right?” Sango asked. “They’re going to want us to win this, so they can’t not like us at this point.”

“I’d rather they all hated us, everyone in the world, then have them being suckups.” Kagome scowled.

“So are we heading out?” Miroku tilted his head to the door.

“Yeah, we better.”

All three friends, their single set of clothes on their backs and their various weapons at their sides, walked to the door.

As they began to leave Kagome’s house, while shutting the door, the miko got a twinge in her heart. Something told her she wouldn’t be seeing her home for awhile...she didn’t delve deep into the feeling as she shut the door.

“Let’s go,” Kagome stated as she headed toward the mountainous steps without a single look back. Her friends, whose loyalty could not be measured, followed behind without a word, Sango’s faithful Kirara close by.

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“I hate heights, I hate heights, I hate heights...” Kagome murmured under her breath, trying with all her power not to look out the window of the plane.

“I hate enclosed spaces, I hate enclosed spaces, I hate enclosed spaces...” Sango joined in while squeezing her eyes shut and trying to actually believe that the walls of the army jet weren’t shrinking in on her.

Miroku looked across from him at the two girls, who sat side by side facing towards him. “I hate flights. They’re no fun when they’re stuck in their phobias...” He sighed again and stared out the window.

There were only eight seats on the small aircraft; grouped in a set of four, they all faced each other in a square with a small table between the passengers’ feet. Plus...they had a male stewardess...now Miroku got why the called them flight attendants now.

Kagome swallowed heavily and pried her eyes open; “How long of a flight is it to Ireland?”

Miroku looked back at her and shrugged. “More than just several hours. You might want to get some sleep,” he advised, giving his friend a small smile.

Kagome thought about her dizzy mind and queasy stomach. “I could try...” she said slowly. She doubted it pretty strongly but Miroku apparently wasn’t surprised as she drifted off only a few minutes later.

Miroku shook his head sadly while looking at the dozing girl. “Happens every time...” He chuckled.

“Shut up...I bet Kagome had a hard night’s sleep...she needs a nap,” Sango muttered, squinting at him through her eyelashes.

Miroku looked calmly back at his better half. “You do too.”

“Mm,” Sango hummed her agreement before trying to take the suggestion.

So, left alone with his thoughts (not always a good thing) Miroku decided it would be best if he followed their example. Of course, if you asked him, he was just checking the backs of his eyelids for holes...

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“Ms. Higurashi?” A rough hand gently shook the sleeping miko’s shoulder. After a few false tries on the man’s part and a few false starts on the girls, Kagome’s eyes started to flutter. After a few minutes of that out of body feeling when one awakens, Kagome peeped up at the young male.

“Yea...?” She mumbled, struggling to keep that one ocean eye open.

“We’ve arrived,” The brunette gave a toothy grin. Kagome’s eyes flipped down to the tag and read: Pilot #38592 Ookami, Kouga.

“Thank you...Mr. Ookami,” Kagome looked around from her seat as her brain started to function. A small part of her conscious mind noted that the last name suited the guy considering he was a wolf youkai. (Ookami = wolf)

The pilot smiled warmly, “Call me Kouga. And...I just wanted you to know that on behalf of the wolf tribe, we’re rooting for you.”

“Really?” Kagome’s fuzzy mind was starting to clear and she sat up a little straighter to look directly into the ice blue eyes. “Thank you, again, in that case.”

Another flash of his fangs and Kouga began to back out of the small seating area. “I’ll leave you to awake your companions. You only have a short time before we have to take off again.”

“Wait...what?” ‘Maybe,’ Kagome thought, ‘I’m not as awake as I guess I was if I just heard him saying this plane was leaving...’

Kouga’s eyes clouded over in a doubtful gaze, “They didn’t tell you? This jet took you here, but I have to be back at the base by tomorrow. After fueling and a check up, I’ve got to get going.”

Kagome blinked back at him stupidly before groaning. “Somehow that part slipped. How are we supposed to get back home to Japan?”

The wolf gave the miko a sympathetic smile, “You’ll figure it out. You can’t be all that dim if you’re the guardian of the jewel.”

“Uh...thanks...I think,” Kagome wasn’t quite sure how to take the comment.

Kouga checked his watch before turning back to her, “Well, Ms. Kagome, you and your comrades have half an hour to unload. I wish you luck in your task. All the demons, even those not very fond of mikos, are on your side. Sorry, I couldn’t stay longer.” With one last impatient wave, Kouga sauntered off. He didn’t have much time before he had to get back.

Kagome watched him leave with dull blue eyes before looking at Sango and Miroku. ‘Time to wake them up.’ She shuddered, remembering Sango’s non- morning mood.

All the inhabitants of the world knew of the guardian; even ones from across the world. But few knew her name, or facts about her. When Kagome first learned her responsibility, at only 5-years-old, when the jewel appeared, she’d taken pride in it. The jewel had chosen to appear in her. Not her mother, not her grandmother, and not her third cousin twice removed.

But in her.

Even more pride flowed into her mind when she began to grow older and noticed that the world worked together, both youkai and humans. And keeping the jewel, a thing of extraordinary power, she was the one who kept that world functional.

If either side, humans or demons, had the jewel they’d have more power. Then they couldn’t live together so well. An uprising, or a rebelling, would more than likely happen and blood would be shed. With Naraku having the jewel, neither side knew what could or would happen.

‘Of course then I had to go and lose the damn thing,’ Kagome scowled as she helped Sango and Miroku gather their weapons. ‘Maybe it wasn’t such a good thing letting Mama and Souta move out so I could handle the Shikon on my own...’

Once the weapons were attached to their owners and Kirara had been found (she was asleep in the cockpit, under Kouga’s chair) the three comrades walked off the plane.

Kagome was too busy readjusting her top and Miroku was too, as he was eyeing his girlfriend’s rear end, to notice Sango’s gasp.

“This is Ireland...? It’s so beautiful! So green!” Sango looked around at the mostly untouched land. Although it was only the beginning of the 21st century, Sango and others were dismayed to find the modern world corrupted with buildings and pollution.

But this piece of land in Ireland was as beautiful and pure as Sango had imagined her ancestors, the original taijiyas, had lived in.

Miroku, at her whispered words, looked up and glanced around. “That it is, Sango, my heart. That it is...”

Kagome sighed and looked around. The only baggage she had was a yellow backpack that was hung around her shoulders. ‘It’s brought me luck’ she had said when told by her friends that the color would make her an easy target. It had food and one other thing...after retrieving The Book, Kagome flipped through pages rapidly.

“Just like I thought...”

“What was?” Sango looked back at the miko, ignoring as the silver jet took off into the air behind them. The blue-eyed woman had her nose buried in a book and didn’t seem to notice they were now abandoned in a foreign country with no way back home.

“This is it!” Kagome looked up and held the book upright next to her head. “This is the same hill in the sketching...I knew it looked familiar!”

Miroku blinked, “I thought you only told Ms. Kaede, her Ladyship, that we needed to be in Ireland. How’d they know to drop us off at this hill?”

Kagome shrugged, “A fluke, probably. Maybe it’s a sign...you know? Maybe karma is on our side!”

“For our sakes, let’s hope it is,” Miroku glanced around before letting his purple eyes land on the sky. The jet that had brought them there had left to find a town with fuel...now it was just a black speck on the late evening’s horizon.

“What now?” Sango asked. She bent down and gathered Kirara into her arms.

Kagome swallowed thickly. “We try and find a portal to Faerie, I guess.”

“Where will that be?” Sango asked patiently. Unlike her friend, she had a confidence that the jewel wouldn’t be as hard to obtain as they all had thought.

“First, where’s the lake?” Kagome shadowed her eyes with a hand and looked around for a large (a very, very large) lake.

“Uh...Lady Kagome?” Miroku pointed over his shoulder, “It’s behind us.”

Kagome blushed. So that’s why she couldn’t find it... “Now...Humans used to travel and would sometimes accidentally find a portal that would lead to an underground tunnel. The tunnel-,”

“I thought you said no more fairy-lore stories,” Sango deadpanned.

“But this’ll help us find the doorway to the world I’m hoping the labyrinth will be in!” Kagome protested. “Even if Midoriko was wrong and the labyrinth isn’t by this lake, I still think it’s in Faerie. So, if we find the doorway, we can at least be in the right world to start our search.”

Sango nodded, “Fine. Go ahead. Whatever.”

Kagome grinned, “So, like I was saying: This tunnel will lead under the lake. In the center of the lake,” she broke off to point, “See that island? Well, the tunnel will open up out there, but instead of being on the island, we’ll be on land in Faerie.”

Kagome looked proud of her explanation, but the others merely starred back at her.

“So we find a door, walk through it and poof! We’re in the land we’re a breed of a cross between Gods and Mortals live?” Miroku repeated back to the black haired beauty.

Kagome’s smile faded before she finally scowled back at the monk. “I doubt it’ll go ‘poof’...”

Sango reached up and smacked the monk. “Leave Kagome-chan alone,” she sighed. “Any idea where the ‘door’ will be?”

Kagome looked back at her ancestor’s diary and scanned for the information; “In a rock face,” Kagome said aloud.

Sango pursed her lips and nodded resolutely. “Good,” she clapped, ready to tackle the problem head on. “Let’s get moving then!”

“Um, Sango?” Kagome walked forward and wheeled the brunette around until both girls were facing the lake.

The lake, and a lot of large boulders, rocks, pebbles, and cliffs.

Sango growled, “This’ll take awhile.”

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A/N: Please review!

And Inuyasha will, no matter what, appear in the next chapter.

On Kikyou: She’ll be in here, but only a small part. She won’t be alive, but there will be absolutely NO bashing of Kikyou. She may not be my favorite person...but she’s going to be a ‘good’ person (if a dead one) in here.

Ja ne!