Inescapable Chapter 18

Chapter 18: Inconceivable

Kagome was surrounded by warmth, could feel it chasing out the iciness from her veins as it flowed through her. Light pulsed against the backdrop of her lids, the colors swirling together in a sensation of deep reds, blazing oranges and dark pinks. Probably Buyo had simply moved the blinds aside trying to get into the window, as he did every morning. The silly cat was always waking her up by letting the unforgiving daylight shine into her face long before her alarm was supposed to go off. A groan slipped past her lips at that thought, because she really didn't want to listen to that shrill beeping today. For some reason, her body was sore all over, and she felt rather lethargic. Maybe she was coming down with a cold?

Another flash of light hit her closed eyes, and Kagome clenched her eyes tighter with a small frown on her face, a disgruntled moan slipping between her lips. Still unwilling to rise and meet the day, she tried to turn over, away from the damnable light and the coming day, but was met with resistance. While her shoulders were more than willing to comply with her demands, her hands seemed to be held in place by something. Tempered by the lethargy ensconcing her  mind,  Kagome felt only mildly confused about the entire situation.  Tugging again, thinking perhaps her hands had gotten caught in her sheets, Kagome let out a gasp of air when the pressure holding her in place tightened uncomfortably.

"You mustn't let go." Cinnamon eyes shot open at the sound of Kikyo's voice, everything rushing back to her in a deluge of screams, blood, and violet eyes. A whoosh of air left her as the memories overwhelmed her body and mind with colors, sounds and sensations. Kagome shuddered, her body twisting into itself at the remembered pressure of a foreign arm sliding against muscle and bone as it was tugged forcefully out of her body; remembered the violating awareness of her soul slipping from her. Her soul...

As the crush of memories began to ebb, releasing her body from the rigid position it had curled into reflexively, Kagome focused on the woman still gripping painfully to her hands, feeling the strength and spiritual energy filtering through their connection into her body. Confusion rippling through her mind again, Kagome briefly glanced at their surroundings before turning her gaze back to Kikyo's own haggard expression.

"I... I d-died. I was... dead..." she started softly, shock and denial muting her reactions as she tried to process her own recent demise. The younger woman was distressed to see Kikyo's skin beginning to turn grey as the light in her eyes faded. Her relief-filled smile was even more unnerving, and Kagome began to feel dread coiling inside her as the stream of spiritual energy between them began to noticeably thin out.

"Yes, you did die. Magatsuhi killed you." Kagome flinched back at the brittle quality of Kikyo's voice, realization sweeping through her even as the other miko's skin began to flake from her, returning to ash and grave-yard soil. "And now," Kikyo smiled, her lips cracking in an expression of sincere affection for her reincarnation even as her voice wavered with acceptance, "I give you back the life I once took from you.

"Safeguard our soul, my friend."

It was all too much for Kagome, too many emotions for her to comprehend and process. Mahogany eyes framed in red, Kagome's mouth trembled with a silent denial as tears began burning paths down her cheeks. She pulled the elder miko to her, their hands clutched between them as Kagome laid her forehead against Kikyo's.

"Kikyo--" With a shake of her head that loosed more petals of ash free to wreath their floating figures, Kikyo stilled the words in Kagome's throat. After another moment of silence in which both refused to look away, Kagome nodded, a soft sob tripping past her lips as she accepted what the older woman already had. It was inconceivable to think anyone would have a second chance at life, and yet now they both had. Kagome felt the connection between them ebb and fade like the morose tendrils of smoke from a guttered candle, witnessed as Kikyo's eyes finally drifted shut, her mouth a study of resolute satisfaction for her choice. Pulling the slowly crumbling body of the miko to her, Kagome refused to look away as the woman she had come to respect disintegrated inch by inch into a cloud of ash and dust.

Heart beating with grief, Kagome floated in the midst of Kikyo's remains for what felt like an eternity, mourning the miko before taking the time to study where she was. Being much more in tune with the flows of power in the well, Kagome felt the shift of time around her, the pulsing of displacement in the void where she now found herself alone. Stretching out her powers tentatively, Kagome listened to the hum of Time as it moved around her, and felt a surprised gasp come from her. She had known the moment she had opened her eyes that they were in the well, but what she had just felt in the flow of energies explained how it was she had been able to be brought back to life. And why Kikyo's body had been destroyed.

"You are correct, Shikon Miko Kagome, time is indeed reordering itself, moving in reverse to correct certain events that should never have come to pass." The feminine voice startled her momentarily before what it had said filtered through her mind.

So Time is moving in reverse. Kagome thought softly to herself. But then...

"...Kikyo!" Kagome listened as the hum of Time picked up speed, felt as she herself was bypassed, unleashed from this particular eventuality even as the cloud of ashes began to swirl together, condensing in on itself until it was a dark knot of ashes and energy. As Time moved more swiftly, the hum increased in intensity, rising in pitch until Kagome thought her ears would bleed. Hands trying futilely to block the sound on either side of her head, Kagome never removed her eyes from the spectacle before her.

The knot of ashes had quickly become an inferno, bursting with liquid flames that snapped angrily at the air around it, fluidly growing brighter, stretching as ash became bones, muscles, and organs once more grew full with blood and tissue, and skin once more covered strong hands and an even stronger heart. Long, black tresses swiftly grew even as clothes of crimson and alabaster once more shielded Kikyo's form from the elements. In a final fit of defiance, the fire faded, leaving the miko floating in front of Kagome whole and unscathed.

"Kikyo!" Kagome reached out, grasping at the older miko's shoulder's and shaking her gently. When the older miko's eyes remained closed, Kagome drew back a bit before determination entered her eyes. Reaching down, Kagome was about to take Kikyo's hands into her own and force some of her power into the inanimate woman when the voice spoke once more, halting her actions.

"That is unnecessary, Shikon Miko. Kikyo can no longer have a part of your soul." The tone of the voice was gentle, and soothing, but that did little to quell the anger that raced through Kagome at the announcement. Looking around her, the quarrelsome miko scowled when she could find no source for her ire.

"I have to try!" Kagome snapped at the disembodied entity, knowing it would hear her regardless. "If we share the same soul then she deserves to have part of it. Kikyo deserves to live as much as I do!"

A ripple shook the air around them as the voice chuckled at her audacity and tone. Kagome only scowled harder, her eyes hard with determination and righteousness. Just as she was about to scold the being laughing at her again, the young woman was distracted by the throb of power that came from the woman in front of her. Spinning back to face Kikyo, Kagome felt her face go slack in amazement as the woman began to glow softly, a green shimmer of power surrounding her. As another throb of power emanated reassuringly from the previously dead miko, Kagome heard the voice softly speaking with what she was sure would be a smile could she see it.


"Is it so inconceivable that we would be of the same mind as you, Shikon Miko? However, she cannot share your soul anymore..."

"...as Kikyo has her own soul back now."