Chapter 13 - Becoming a God

Chapter 13

As Sesshoumaru awoke he felt a searing pain in his chest and abdomen; he gingerly lifted his arm to where it hurt only to find his skin bare to the morning air, he opened his eyes slowly and saw that his ripped and bloodied kimono had been taken off him and strips torn from it to bandage his wounds.

Turning his head to one side he saw Sango and Shippo digging a hole feverishly; they kept their eyes cast to the ground and did not try to hide their tears. Turning his head to the other side he saw Inuyasha, the half-demon was crouched almost on top of him growling fiercely but not moving; behind Inuyasha stood Miroku, the young monk’s face was perspiring with effort as he held Inuyasha still with his staff and sutra’s.

As Sesshoumaru sat slowly, Inuyasha’s eyes flashed with hatred and anger; Sesshoumaru gracefully backed away to the full five paces they could be apart and looked at Miroku with a questioning expression.

“Why am I not dead, monk?”

“Isn’t it obvious?”

“Well, I can’t imagine it’s because you like, trust or respect me. So I must assume it has to do with Inuyasha.”

“Well, duh!” Miroku’s eyes narrowed as he regarded Sesshoumaru. “We can’t let him kill you or he’ll die too; you’re not worth Inuyasha’s life.”

“Do you truly think that once the sutra’s holding him are gone that he will leave me be?”

“He isn’t foolish enough to throw his life away just to kill you; he knows Kagome wouldn’t want that.”

At the mention of Kagome, Inuyasha fell silent and closed his eyes tightly against the tears that filled them.

“The wish on the shikon jewel won’t be to separate your bodies now; it will be to separate your souls, then, when the wish is complete, Inuyasha will be free to kill you with no repercussions.”

Sesshoumaru fell silent pondering this new turn of events.

Perhaps I should have fought and helped the human girl’ he thought, but then dismissed the idea as foolish. The girl was foolish to let herself get in the way; Inuyasha should realise she is no great loss and concentrate on the battle ahead. All the same, Sesshoumaru couldn’t help remembering the grief he suffered when Ukil died.

As the others in the group buried Kagome and started making plans on how best to attack Naraku’s castle, Inuyasha simply sat and stared at the pile of flowers that marked Kagome’s grave.

She was everything to me and I never told her how I felt; the way she smiled, how she smelt, and even how she was always so nervous about those exam things in her world. I can admit it now that I love her…no….loved her, she’s gone. Dimly he heard Miroku discussing the new wish he was supposed to make on the shikon jewel; wishing to separate his soul from Sesshoumaru’s so Inuyasha could finally kill the older demon for the part he had played in Kagome’s death – at first this seemed like the perfect wish but as Inuyasha gazed at the flowers on the grave a new thought came into his head that gave him hope and purpose.
If I had the shikon jewel in my hand I could wish for Kagome’s life to be returned to her body; to wish she was alive again and by my side.

With that thought filling his heart and soul he felt calm enough to address the other members of the group.

“Let me move again, remove this sutra; I swear I won’t hurt him.”

Miroku looked dubious as Sango and Shippo exchanged glances, Sesshoumaru looked at him with a mixture of pity and impatience; almost as though he understood the sorrow Inuyasha felt but abhorred the very idea of sorrow at a time like this.

“Then you’ll go along with our plan?”

Inuyasha nodded slowly and smiled to himself; Miroku removed the sutra and Inuyasha joined the others – soon they were shouldering what belongings they had and carried on towards Naraku’s castle.

Inuyasha allowed himself one moment to gaze on Kagome’s grave; “Soon,” he muttered to himself and then, tearing his gaze away, walked away with the others.

(Meanwhile)

Naraku looked at the shikon jewel in his right hand with an expression as close to fear as he ever came; in his left hand he held a jug of highly scented water and around his feet candles burnt brightly casting eerie shadows on the wall.

Naraku walked forwards slowly, his feet slipping slightly in the warm blood of the young servant girl he had just killed; the blood ran slick over the whole floor, drained purposefully.

As he reached the wooden altar at the far end of the room Naraku knelt; he poured the jug of water over the altar before scooping some of the blood into the jug and pouring that over the altar as well, the blood and water mixed giving off a pungent odour; smoke started to rise where the two substances mixed on the altar.

“I come before the Gods, humbly I pray to them and beg of them to allow me to fuse my body with their holy shikon-no-tama.”

In his hands the jewel began to glow softly and vibrate against his sweating palm; sweat dripped from his forehead into his eyes but he ignored the distraction, this ritual was something never before attempted – he wanted more than to just possess the sacred jewel and its power, he wanted the power to become part of his very spirit and soul.

“I have spilt the blood of the innocent to cleanse myself before You; I place my life in your hands and she placed hers in mine. I pray, grant me this power.”

All at once the jewel glowed so brightly Naraku was blinded, it vibrated so hard that it was painful simply to hold it and the candles blew out as one; Naraku felt the shikon jewel melt away in his grasp and slowly he felt the awesome power of the Gods flood his veins and fill him with euphoria – standing he crowed in triumph, he no longer prayed to the Gods, he was one of them.