[Fan Fiction] InuYasha Fanfiction - "Music from a Farther Room" Complete!

Hey, this is chapter one of a fanfic I wrote. I'm working on Ch. 2 right now, tell me what you guys think.

Music From a Farther Room

Chapter One: Beyond Good and Evil

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"One MUST repay good and ill; but why just to the person who did us good or ill?" - Friedrich Nietzsche

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Part One: Prelude

The Panthus was quite an impressive youkai. It was amazingly tall, roughly thirty feet. In one hand, it possessed the strength of fifty of the strongest and highly-trained men. Its eyes glowed with an unearthly fire. It tore through the forest, pulling trees from their roots and spreading waves of fire. Panthus was chasing its most recent prey; villagers from a nearby town. They ran and hid in a cave, and Panthus was searching for them. Before he could find them, though, a hanyou burst from behind a large tree. He wielded his sword, Tetsusaiga, in the air and called out the name of its attack. "Kaze no Kizu!" he screamed as the dog's tooth sword cut through the air, releasing a wave of yellow energy.

The Kaze no Kizu tore through the air toward Panthus. The youkai attempted to reach his claw up to block the attack, but he was too slow. Besides, he had no idea of the power the Kaze no Kizu possessed. The Wound of the Wind cut through the youkai almost too easily, sending chunks of it flying. InuYasha landed next to it, smiling at the destroyed parts. Miroku, Sango and Kagome followed him, entering the clearing, relieved that the dangerous youkai had been eliminated.

InuYasha turned around to face his allies. He jumped high into the air as the Tetsusaiga regains its fighting form. His swing produces the Kaze no Kizu, aimed directly toward his friends.

And this was when InuYasha woke up. This reoccurring dream, which had been arriving each night for a week, always set him awake. In this way, he had been constantly up and active before his friends each frightening morning.

Part Two: Beyond Good and Evil

Almost with no warning, the Central Temple's roof exploded in a burst of flame and a gust of air, hot enough to melt the Buddha statuettes placed on the front steps. The solid iron door began to crumple under terrible stress from inside the Temple as the Castle's samurai attempted to surround the building. Dodging the ashes and the glowing embers, they took up defensive positions, holding their razor-sharp swords toward the Temple.

Roughly forty in number, the Samurai all took a collective step backwards as the wrought iron door flew from its hinges, hitting three of them directly and pinning them to the now-burning guard post. For a brief second, nothing happened. The Samurai advanced on the position as a force blew through the destroyed doorway, dispatching the Samurai with waves of cascading energy. The creature flew into the sky, lighting it up with his red glow. He flew down through the streets, raining fire on the city.

Unholy fire burned this Japanese citadel, and a cloud of the darkest smoke rose from the ashes. The smoke obscured the night stars and cast a deep scent of sulphur and burning wood across the nearby fields, and began to travel to the forest.

Part Three: The Brightest Star

InuYasha, Kagome, Miroku, Sango and their two youkai companions walked slowly down a beaten dirt path on the outskirts of a small village. This village was not their goal, however, as the small mountain behind it blocked a great city. There was a rumor that a shard of the Shikon jewel was in this citadel, and so they hurried to it. When they had arrived in the village, Miroku began his normal method of swindling free lodging from the richest households.

"Ah, this house is certainly haunted by a youkai ghost," he stated with his usual fake confidence, "perhaps it would be beneficial for us to stay here tonight."

This routine was so effective, the head of the house wished to pay them in money, but Miroku and his allies opted simply to spend the night.

As the vast darkness grew and the sinking stars suggested sleep, InuYasha settled down to his bed fearful of the arriving dream. He must sleep, he decided, and thus he drifted into unconsciousness.

The dream began immediately and fully, engulfing all his senses and convincing him the events were real. However, this was not the reoccurring dream he had for several nights. It began with him running across an open field, away from the booming sounds of a giant on the horizon. InuYasha was just a small child, far too young to even consider fighting the most powerless youkai. His brother, Sesshoumaru, was too inexperienced and too weak to do anything, even if he was present at the time. The village's only defense, their armies of Samurai warriors, ran to the giant. The giant was a huge youkai, just taller than the average human but with great capabilities of energy manipulation. He tore through the armies with his claws, sending blood and broken bodies across the carefully irrigated fields. InuYasha's mother grabbed her hanyou son and brought him to a small shack. It approached where InuYasha and his mother was, but stopped in a small lake. The youkai ripped open a hole in space with his claw became a gigantic white disc, sending glittering silver light onto the land. He grabbed the Samurai, five in each claw, and threw them into the disc. He approached InuYasha with a claw extended, when a blast is heard across the other side of the lake. A cannonball flies from across the lake, and hits the youkai's arm, knocking it away. InuYasha's oldest brother, a full human, was brandishing a rudimentary cannon in his arms. The youkai turned to this older brother with a snarl on his face. He reached for InuYasha again, with a much quicker thrust. His brother jumped in the air at the youkai, firing the cannon again. The cannon ball hit the youkai's neck, pushing the top half into the glowing disc. InuYasha's brother, as he was jumping through the air, had no means to stop. He flew directly into the disc, along with the top half of the youkai. The glittering light stopped immediately, leaving only the legs and half of a youkai torso, shearing off the demon's entire top half. Everything went silent as the juggernaut stood on its two legs for a few seconds, then fell into the water. The lake bubbled as the ground shook and hell opened to receive him.

InuYasha woke up even more disturbed than his previous dream, namely, because this dream was actually a recollection of a terrible memory he had hoped to suppress.

Part Four: The Citadel

The sky looked as if it was attempting to decide whether it should be crimson or blue. A morning sun hung low in the sky, partially obscured by the horizon, as a crisp spring breeze blew through the open door of the sleeping quarters. Miroku, Sango and Kagome were waking up from sleep, slowly rising from their beds. Meanwhile, InuYasha was already awake and at the doorway. He was looking out over the Castle roofs and the adjacent buildings at the looming mountain overhead. Kagome had been awake for some time before the others, watching him. He seemed upset at something, but she knew better to ask him.

"Good morning, everyone." Sango said, with a yawn. Miroku and Kagome responded in the affirmative.

"The city is right over this mountain. A villager told me there were two shards of the Shikon jewel there. Everyone get ready, we need to get them before Naraku." InuYasha responded, completely ignoring Sango's remark. They all were slightly disturbed by this, as InuYasha would normally want to eat, since he was characteristically hungry in the morning. His authoritative stance in the doorframe, accompanied by his neglecting to turn around to face his comrades as they spoke to him, set his companions on edge.

"What's up with InuYasha today?" Shippo whispered into Kagome's ear.
"Don't worry about it. I'm sure he's fine," she said, knowing that something was troubling him.

Once the group had re-dressed themselves, with Kagome in her school- girl uniform, Miroku in his blue robes, Sango in her pink kimono, and InuYasha in his Fire Rat Armor. Their breakfast was hurried and cursory, without the usual joviality that they shared. When these were completed, the team began the trek up the side of the mountain.

After a short time, InuYasha begin to sniff the air inquisitively. He stopped moving, and everyone else stopped with him.

"I think I smell. human blood, and burnt wood. It's only a few days recent." He stated, "and I think it's coming from the direction of the city." InuYasha said.
"Did Naraku get to this first?" Shippo inquired.
"I do not think so, Shippo," Miroku replied, "Naraku would much more likely steal the shard and then leave, and not stay to destroy the city. He is only concerned with collecting the shards. However, this must be connected with the presence of the Shikon jewel."
"Then," InuYasha called with his normal level of self-confidence, "let's get there quick!"

Kagome jumped on InuYasha's back, and Kirara flared into her full youkai form. Miroku, Sango and Shippo hopped on her back, and Kirara took off into the air as InuYasha bounded in great leaps across the beaten dirt path.

The walled city slowly smoldered as the group approached it. They saw it only as a speck in the distance, growing with each new set of distance gained. Within a short time, they reached the front gate to the city, which was burned into oblivion. Twists of iron and nails were littered on the charred ground, blown back from some explosion inside. They ventured in silently, observing the burnt-down wooden houses, and the remnants of the formerly sturdily-built Central Temple.

"I don't sense any Shikon shards anywhere around here," Kagome stated bluntly. Everyone knew it; someone had come and taken the shards elsewhere.

InuYasha stepped forward toward the Central Temple, but jumped back immediately. An arc of electricity impacted in front of him, digging a deep trench in the already-damaged ground.

"Are you looking for the Shikon shards?" the man asked.

They looked up to the sky and saw him. He was hovering above the remains of a building, his hands glowing with a red light. This man was roughly six feet, about eighteen years old, his eyes and hair a deep black. He was dressed, from head to toe, in black clothing. His cape fluttered behind him in the wind.

"Hey, bastard! Who the hell are you?" InuYasha called out. He responded with only a low laugh.
"You can call me. Icarus." He responded.

Before InuYasha could open his mouth to speak a taunt, Icarus flew from his location in the sky down toward InuYasha, head first toward his chest. InuYasha, of course, was too agile to be thwarted by this maneuver, and thus jumped out of the way. Reflexively, Sango threw the Hirakotsu at Icarus. He landed on the ground, balancing on one knee. He did not bother to even move from the path of the massive Boomerang. Instead, he extended his open palm and the air rippled around his hand. Hirakotsu stopped in mid air, hung for a second, and dropped to the ground.

"You'll have to try better than that!"

Just as InuYasha was unsheathing Tetsusaiga, Miroku pulled off his sealing rosary and initiated the Wind Tunnel. It burst open, casting a deep purple light on the wreckage of the town. Icarus was pulled towards it, for an instant, before raising his arm and using a bolt of lightning. The red lightning flew into the Wind Tunnel. Miroku immediately sealed it and grabbed his arm in pain, as the bolt electrically shocked him.

Meanwhile, InuYasha leapt at Icarus with his sword. Icarus dodged the swing with an unusually acrobatic move.

"Hey, where'd you get that great sword?" He asked.
"It's none of your business! Kaze no Kizu!"

As InuYasha lifted his sword to cut the Wind Scar, Icarus jumped high in the air and flew out over the woods and off into the distance, where the group could not reach him. The Kaze no Kizu flew harmlessly by.

InuYasha stated, simply, "Damn it."

Sango moved to Hirakotsu and picked it up. It was seemingly undamaged. There was not a mark on it, and it had landed on the ground so lightly that it barely left an indentation.

"Was that a detachment of Naraku?" she asked.
"No. I don't really recognize the smell. It smelled like a human."

They were all confused at InuYasha's words. He would obviously be able to tell if Icarus was a human, youkai, or hanyou.

"Actually. InuYasha. I'm sensing a Shikon shard. it's coming from the direction that Icarus left."
"Well, then. let's go get it!"

InuYasha and the others ran from the city, toward the presence of the Shikon shard, and toward Icarus.

Part Five: The Vast Darkness and Pale Shades of Ghosts

Kagome has led the group around the forest, in search for the presence of the Shikon jewel shard. She was having difficulty, though, and could not pinpoint the exact location of it. It always seemed as if it was close, and then as if it was far away. the position would change so rapidly, it was assured that her sense must be off or something very strange was happening. They spent most of the day and into the late afternoon searching the woods, trailing after the quickly fading scent of the powerful human named Icarus. They surmised that Icarus has probably stolen the Shikon shards, but it was not understood why he did not use them in his confrontation with InuYasha.

"Well. it must be in this valley." Kagome said, pointing to a valley below the hill they were currently situated on.
"Are you sure, Kagome-sama? We've been wandering for hours, and there still has been no trace of either the Shikon shard or Icarus." Miroku was quite tired from all the walking, and would have greatly preferred to give it up.
"No, I am definitely sure it's somewhere between here and the end of that valley."

After searching the valley intensely, they found no trace of any of the shard or of Icarus. The Shard's presence was entirely gone. Kagome moved her lips as if to say that the shard has completely disappeared from the region, but InuYasha heard nothing. He was about to ask what the problem was, but a wave of darkness swept in like wind from the south.

Before he knew what was happening, a shroud of artificial night enveloped him. He moved forward, testing out the location he was in. It was an eternal darkness, and he could not find any way out or any indication that he was elsewhere. He noticed a glowing red light on his shoulder, and so he turned around. Icarus was floating behind him, hands cupped, glowing with red light.

"So. InuYasha. do you remember me?"
"Hah! Why should I?"

Icarus stood there, confounded.

"You. really do not remember me?"
"I remember that I almost beat you earlier, but you ran away like a coward!"

With that, InuYasha drew his Tetsusaiga.

"Don't bother, InuYasha. Your weapon will not work here."
"We'll see about that. Kaze no Kizu!"

He brought the sword up and swung it at Icarus. No Kaze no Kizu was generated, though. InuYasha tried several times, but nevertheless, his sword failed to produce any sort of effect.

"Like I said, it's useless to try to use that sword in this place. But honestly, InuYasha, don't you recognize your own brother?"

InuYasha stood confused in front of Icarus, the Tetsusaiga shrinking in his hand to its normal battered katana form.

"No, you can't be my brother. He died almost sixty years ago."
"Why don't you ask Sesshoumaru what he thinks?"
"What would Sesshoumaru know that I don't?"
"More than you think, InuYasha."
"Who are you?" InuYasha paused, "Who are you, really?"
"I am of my own choices."

And with that, the darkness swept away as quickly as it had arrived. InuYasha was left standing in the field, with his friends running up to him.

"InuYasha! Why did you do that!?" they called. He turned around, with the inactive katana in his hand, and saw the huge Kaze no Kizu mark in the side of the hill. InuYasha was entirely silent, and simply sheathed his sword and walked from the valley.

Part Six: Heavy Grief and Mutual Death

Entirely disregarding the missing Shikon shards, of which there may be two, they decided to follow a different path. Their decision was unanimous but unspoken. Kagome had sensed that InuYasha would require a time to search for this man, Icarus, before he could continue his search. None of them knew what was bothering him, and even after the incident in the middle of the valley, they would not ask. The group was heading west, heading for InuYasha's hometown.

Sango, Miroku and Kagome stayed back, letting InuYasha lead the way. His hometown was still populated after all these years, with six generations of new inhabitants. He passed the farmers working on the familiar fields, ones which conjured memories of his childhood. He had not visited his hometown since he was unsealed, and it was both a sad and a euphoric experience. The huts looked almost the same, with the almost-messy cut wood walls and the thatch roofs. It was almost as if the town had been sealed with him.

Near the end of the village was a small lake. He stood at the edge and peered into it, vaguely seeing the bottom through the deep blue glass. He never remembered it as so blue before. His eyes wandered across the surface of the lake, looking for something he knew that he could not find. He eventually fixed his eyes on the spot where the glowing disc had opened over fifty years ago. It was as if he was reliving the experience, as he was standing in the same location he was when he first saw the youkai.

He wondered if perhaps he could find answers there, or at least some form of rest. There was a crumpling from his left as a youkai walked out of the dense woods.

"Sesshoumaru," InuYasha stated. Sesshoumaru did not acknowledge him, but walked to the edge of the pool. "What are you doing here?" Sesshoumaru smirked at this.

"Don't talk to Lord Sesshoumaru like that! You disrespectful hany-" Jaken began, but was cut off by Sesshoumaru's advance on InuYasha.

"InuYasha. I know why you are here. You are looking for our brother." Sesshoumaru stated.
"How would you know that?"
"I saw him earlier. He has gained amazing strength. I arrived here in order to learn more about his death."
"Well, you won't find anything. This entire place has no trace of anything to do with him." InuYasha sounded as if he was spitting with disgust at the last sentence, frustrated by his inability to do anything about the situation.
"Yes. But do you know why he came back?"
"Why did he come back?"
"I do not know. His evil energy, though, was immense. It was similar to Naraku's, but different in several ways. He must be found and confronted about this. You are too weak to face him."
"Hah! Bastard. I'm more than strong enough to face him! I'll force him to surrender and to make him tell me exactly why he has returned."
"You'll get yourself killed." Sesshoumaru said, and with this, he walked off the way he came in order to search of Icarus.
"But. how do I find him?" InuYasha asked.
"You'll know. Just follow the destruction."


Part Seven: The Fallen Angel

The darkness was thick, but the stars could easily be seen. There was a meteor shower that night. The light from the arcing meteors cast a silver glow over a meadow in the midst of a dark forest. It was ringed on all sides by dense groups of trees, and an overhanging rock cliff. Here, a group of people had left their village in favor of what could best be described as a shantytown in the middle of the woods. This new location would provide obscurity in the Warring States era, where they could live without being attacked, robbed, or pillaged. The settlers sat down to eat a recently captured animal, watching the shooting stars.

"Hey, look at that one!" a kid pointed to the stars.

In a few seconds, a massive fireball flew from the sky, ripping through the air. It crashed into the shantytown, blowing the poorly made house into shreds. Villagers screamed in fright and ran from the wreckage, their clothes smoking from the high heat. Another fireball launched itself toward the overlooking cliff, splintering the thick rock and causing a landslide that crushed the remaining houses with boulders. The sound was like the earth was coming to an end in the location of a small meadow and space of a few seconds. The screams lit up the night more than the fire ever could.

A man swooped down from the sky. His hands and feet were glowing with a fierce red light as he landed on one knee, having emerged from what appeared to be an unbelievably high altitude. He walked calmly past the villagers, who were running in all directions, attempting to put out their flaming clothes. His eyes scanned the small village, looking for something he knew was there - a glowing purple bag. The man lifted a thick piece of burnt timber off a corpse and pulled the bag from the body's pocket. The contents were checked, and revealed: a Shikon shard. Icarus smiled at this.

"Ah, I thought I lost you." It was as if he was speaking to the Shikon shard himself.

Meanwhile, a distance away, InuYasha and his group were traveling down a dirt road.

"Hey!" Sango pointed toward the sky, at the thick plume of black smoke. They began to run toward the plume.

"I smell lots of blood. And I smell him!" InuYasha began to run by leaps and bounds toward the village.

As he finished his first bound, a terrified girl sprinted down the street. Her clothes were charred, her face covered with carbon, and she looked frightened. She was running at the fastest pace she could make.

"Yo!" InuYasha called to her, but she kept moving instead. She barreled past him, even as the hanyou's arms reached out to catch her, going straight past Kagome and Sango. She continued down the road, screaming.

When they had arrived at the meadow, most of the fire died down. The surviving villagers had dispersed into the woods, and were unable to be found. The heaps of smoldering wood and rocks gave off a glow with their dying embers.

"So. you came looking for me?"

On top of the highest boulder, which was perched precariously upon another, a man stood up. He was formerly crouching on one knee, but he stood to his full height. His black cape rippled in the wind behind him.

"Bastard! We came because of this damage you have done, not because of YOU! You should be dead!" InuYasha would refuse to recognize his importance. His last remark left the others puzzled, as InuYasha had refused to tell them what had happen.

"Sometimes what happens isn't what should be!" With this, Icarus reached his right hand up to the sky. His outstretched palm, opened in a cup shape, shone with a deep red aura. Icarus pulled the hand down to his chest quickly, and the energy flowed from his hand to his arms and legs, making his hands and feet glow red. When this had happened, he dove toward the group.

Once again, Sango through Hirakotsu, and once again, Icarus stopped it in mid air. He jumped in the air as InuYasha swung his sword. One foot landed on the Tetsusaiga's broad side as it was swinging, and he used to temporarily steady himself as the other foot brought itself up and impacted against InuYasha's face. InuYasha flew backwards, as Icarus jumped even higher, in order to evade the wayward Tetsusaiga.

"Tell me, why are you so weak?" he taunted as Kagome drew her bow.

He reached out his hand as the arrow sped toward him. It decreased in velocity until it simply hung in the air. He swatted it out of the air with the back of his hand, while Miroku was running toward him with his staff. Icarus simply caught the staff on its downward course and slammed Miroku in the gut with it. Miroku doubled over in pain. At this point, InuYasha was just standing up. His nose was bleeding considerably.

Icarus did a back flip from where he was standing and onto the boulder from where he originated.

"How can you be so foolish? Can't you see what's going on? Don't you know why I'm here? I am not here for the Shikon shards. I have no want for their power. Do you know what happened to me, InuYasha, after I fell within that disk? Do you even care to know? Hah! I'll SHOW you!"

With that, he reached down to the boulder and picked up the glowing bag. As InuYasha began to swing for his Kaze no Kizu, he flew up into the air on his glowing red feet. He was already gone by the time Kaze no Kizu begun.

It was time, as InuYasha believed, to tell his friends who this man was.

Part Eight: Linked

".and he'll probably try to recreate this disc on a massive size." InuYasha finished his speech.

His friends stared at him, completely astounded at the story. None of them even considered the possibility that he had an older brother who was a human, nor that he had died so early in InuYasha's life. The most obviously disturbing thing was the creation of this disc that Icarus spoke of. InuYasha was under the impression for his entire life that the disc was simply a hole in space that destroyed whatever impacted it. Confronted by this, they all lifted themselves up off rocks and set back on the forest road. The scent of Icarus was clear, although it was slightly waning. Icarus was traveling south.

"Hmm, I used to frequent this area quite a bit," said Sango, with her full exterminator clothes on, and Hirakotsu strapped to her back. "and as I recall, the only place of interest in this direction would be the Great Mountain. Icarus was as probably heading there."

"Well, what's in this mountain?" Miroku inquired.
"I never actually went to the mountain. I heard, though, that it was the best place to meditate ever known. It focuses your mind to an unbelievable degree. The climb is difficult, but I heard stories that monks would reach the top and perform the greatest miracles and the highest level of a clear mind."
"I wonder why he's heading there", Kagome added.
"It doesn't matter. I don't have any trouble climbing a mountain! This time, I'll kill him!" InuYasha growled.

They increased their pace toward the mountain.

The Great Mountain was not incredibly tall, but was a terrible climb. There were no distinct paths, and the ones that existed were thin and covered in rocks. In many instances, these paths would be decrepit and collapsing. Icarus has no problem bounding up the side of it, toward the tower at the top.

This tower was where the great mediation of monks was said to have taken place. It was the simplest form of tower, with a high overlook point. Icarus dove in through the window and landed on the wooden floor. He walked toward one of the wood shelves, that encircled the entire tower head just under the window, and picked up the Shikon shard that was placed there. He removed the other shard from its bag and lodged both into one of the posts of the tower.

"Ah. I'm sensing a Shikon shard. it's very faint, but I think it's coming from the mountain." Kagome stated, fairly unsure of her sense.

"He must be up there, then! Come on, we're almost there." Miroku began to run faster as he said this. They came up to the base of the mountain in a short time. They couldn't find a proper path up to the top that would bring them there quickly, so InuYasha decided to go up himself while the rest use one of the other paths.

InuYasha leapt over rocks and boulders toward the top. He reached the top plateau, panting heavily from the work. InuYasha saw a strange light coming from the tower head, and so he climbed the stairs to the top.

"Well, InuYasha. come to join me?" Icarus asked, with his back toward InuYasha. Icarus was staring at the post in which he lodged the Shikon shards.

"What do you intend on doing here?"
"I intend to show you something."
"Why aren't you dead?"
"You'll know soon enough."

InuYasha drew the Tetsusaiga. The blade transformed from a battered katana to the full strength of a dog youkai tooth's sword.

"I believe you'll find that sword completely useless, just like in every encounter with me." Icarus, as he said that, turned around and extended his hand. A jolt of red energy, accompanied by the ripple that is associated with ultra-hot air, flew from his palm toward the sword. InuYasha raised his sword instinctively to block his person, unknowing of the real target of the energy. The energy hit the sword, instantly reducing it to its previous katana.

"How. how did you do that?" InuYasha asked, completely confused.
"You barely know the character of your own sword. Now, silence."

The two Shikon shards began to glow with a silver light. Arcs of silver flew off of it and impacted on various parts of the tower's head.

"Interesting. This is not what I expected to happen. It's not forming properly."

With that, the Shikon shards gave an amazing silver pulse of light.

Part Nine: Unforeseen Consequences

The entire mountain shook with a great rumble. Miroku, Sango, Kagome, Kirara and Shippo pressed themselves against the mountain path's side, in order to dodge the shower of rocks. When the tremble stopped, they continued walking.

"I wonder what's going on up there," Shippo asked.
"Well. I can kind of see the top of the tower. It's glowing. There are a couple Shikon shards up there, too." Kagome said, attempting to see what was going on at the top of the mountain.

They began to run a bit faster along the path, almost to the top. Meanwhile, at the tower, InuYasha was astounded.

InuYasha was looking into a mirror. As Icarus leaned absentmindedly against one of the four posts of the tower head, InuYasha gazed into the silver light that the shards were generating. It provided a perfect reflection of himself.

"Enjoying the view, brother?" Icarus asked. InuYasha was too confused to respond. "It shouldn't be long now. Although I didn't expect this to happen in particular, I suppose the end will be the same."

"So, tell me. why are you here?" InuYasha asked.
"You mean, why am I at this tower? Or why am I not dead? I suppose the answer is the same. It's not something I myself can explain. You will need to see it for yourself. You will never comprehend it by me telling you; you need to experience it."
"And then, what would happen to me?"
"You will be who you will be."

Part Ten: Descent

Kagome, Sango, Miroku, Kirara and Shippo reached the plateau just as the light was beginning to shine brighter. They sprinted up the stairs to the tower's head.

Icarus, as he was before, was leaning against one of the posts. InuYasha was staring at his own reflection in silver light.

"Stop it!" Kagome called out.
"No." Icarus responded.
"Please."
"No."
"AUGH! How can you be so evil, even to your brother?"
"Hah! You know nothing of good or evil."
"I know enough to know that YOU are evil."
"Foolish girl. I am beyond good and evil."

With that, the silver light grew and enveloped the tower. The tower's head shone brightly, and when the light had died down, the people inside were gone.

.. "The more abstract the truth you wish to teach, the more must you allure the senses to it." - Nietzsche

Coming soon - Chapter Two: Aftersong

Music From a Farther Room
Chapter Two: Aftersong

"So cold, so icy, that one burns one's finger at the touch of him! Every hand that lays hold of him shrinks back! - And for that very reason many think him red-hot." - Friedrich Nietzsche


Chapter Two: Aftersong
- Part One: Prelude
- Part Two: Abyss
- Part Three: Leaders of Darkness
- Part Four: Arrival
- Part Five: Theft
- Part Six: The First Youkai
- Part Seven: Re-Fusion
- Part Eight: Ejection
- Part Nine: Icarus of the Abyss
- Part Ten: Overwhelming Shadow
…

Part One: Prelude

InuYasha lifted his head off the wooden planked floor. The room was spinning, and it took him a moment for his vision to return to normal. He placed his hand instinctively on the Tetsusaiga as he rose from his facedown position on the floor. It was reassuring that he possessed the sword, but he had no idea where he was and how it related to the events which had seemingly taken place moments ago.

He was in a house of some sort. It was made entirely of wood, and decorated fairly ornately. The particular room he was in had a high, vaulted ceiling. Purple and blue tapestries hung from the walls on nails, the Japanese characters telling stories of success in battle. There was a door behind him, made of rich oak, and a staircase in front of him and to his left. The room was furnished with several couches and a throw rug. It was obviously the house of someone who was wealthy. The strangest thing about this house, though, was that it was not built to contain any windows. There were no light sources in the room, but yet, light seemed to be created from somewhere.

“It seems like it’s coming out of the walls,” InuYasha thought to himself, pondering how such an even and bright light could arise from nothing.

His first instinct was to ascend the stairs at the far end of the room. They led up to an unusually narrow hallway. It was just wide enough for InuYasha to walk through, with his shoulders scraping the walls. The hallway’s left side consisted of a series of closed sliding doors. The right side of the hallway had “I WAS YOU” scrawled in large red letters. InuYasha proceeded to open the doors, and there was simply a small mirror inside each one of them. The rooms themselves were essentially non-descript. They were simply wooden rooms with no furnishings or outcroppings of any kind, just one mirror per room propped on a stand. InuYasha looked deeply into each one. He did not stare for long, however, since each mirror made him feel slightly odd. It made him feel as if there were two of him, with one in the hallway and one in the mirror. He was about to pick one of the mirrors up when a huge thumping sound was heard behind him, and as he turned, darkness overwhelmed him.

Part Two: Abyss

Miroku, Sango, Shippo and Kirara ran through the halls as quickly as they could. They were sprinting through endless paths inside a wooden house, each hallway very narrow and scrawled with the words “I WAS YOU”. The hallways were poorly lit, although the light did not seem to come from any visible source. They ran until confronted with an entirely dark hallway. After several careful steps into the darkness, with hands joined, they arose in an entirely different place than before. They stepped into a dimly lit cave. The cave was immense, with the ceiling exceptionally high. There was a giant chasm that split the cave into two halves. Miroku immediately spun around to see the hallway he had exited from, but it was replaced with a solid wall of rock. He smashed his hands upon the solid rock, attempting to determine if it was simply an illusion. Miroku made no success at destroying the wall, and thus, he prepared to use his Wind Tunnel.

“Stand back, Sango!” he called as he pulled the rosary beads from his hand.

He stood with his hand outstretched in front of the cave wall, but nothing at all happened. His hand retained the large hole, but it refused to work.

“Perhaps, in this place, such curses do not work.” Miroku commented, calmly placing the beads back on his hand in case the Wind Tunnel decided to open by itself.
“But where are Kagome and InuYasha?” Sango asked.

Meanwhile, Kagome opened a heavy oak door. It opened into a huge wooden room, which had several couches, a throw rug, and tapestries hanging from the walls. Since there were no other courses of action, she ascended the staircase. The first thing she saw as InuYasha floating at the end of the hallway, being enveloped in a cloud of darkness. Kagome screamed as the cloud of darkness extended to grab her, its black arms outstretched.

To Kagome, only a few moments had passed before she felt herself on the floor of a slightly damp chasm. She awoke to InuYasha standing over her, along with Sango and Miroku.

“Uh, where am I?” she asked, slightly dazed and feeling tired.
“I don’t know. I arrived here a few minutes before you did.” InuYasha replied.

She propped herself on both elbows as she surveyed the massive cave. Sango was relentlessly beating on the rock wall from which she had entered, and Miroku was peering down into the darkness of the chasm. The chasm seemed infinite in depth, and rocks which were thrown down by Miroku and InuYasha did not hit any sort of bottom.

“Here, let me try!” he said to Sango. Sango picked up her boomerang and walked away from the wall, taking her place near Miroku and Kagome.

InuYasha swung his Tetsusaiga at the wall. He screamed the name of his attack, Kaze no Kizu. The sword refused, however, to create any sort of Kaze no Kizu. The sword itself scraped across the rock, leaving a thin white mark on the wall which InuYasha was aiming for.

“Hmm,” InuYasha thought, “This is exactly what happened when Icarus had me in that dark place. I think, maybe – “ his thought was cut off with the sound of crumbling rocks.

From the far side of the cave on InuYasha’s side of the chasm, the wall burst into tiny stones. Sango, Miroku, Kagome and InuYasha turned their heads to see the rock barrier crumble, and a youkai step out from the rubble. This youkai was fairly tall, about ten feet, and distinctly rounded in shape. His torso was huge, and it looked as if it was plated in metal. The head was almost entirely metallic, its eyes glowing a fierce red. Both his arms were huge rotating spikes. This youkai charged InuYasha’s group, both spikes fully rotating.

InuYasha jumped through the air, swinging the blade of the Tetsusaiga at the approaching enemy. It left a gash on the creature’s metal shoulder, as InuYasha jumped to the side and away from the cutting spikes. Miroku jumped toward the youkai with his staff, but the blade bounced harmlessly off the metal armor. The youkai raised his right arm back to strike Miroku with a vicious stab.

“Hey!” Sango shouted, catching the youkai’s attention. The demon turned his head at this sound, and saw a boomerang flying toward its face. The edge of the boomerang caught his left cheek, snapping his head to the side and leaving a gash in the metal. His newly turned head saw InuYasha jumping toward him, the Tetsusaiga in full swing, toward his neck. The blade struck the area between the neck and the body plates, severing the head, and killing the youkai.

Miroku stood up, panting.

“Perhaps we should find where this tunnel leads?” he suggested.
“Me first!” InuYasha exclaimed, attempting to sound arrogant.

InuYasha thus led the group through the newly created opening.

Part Three: Leaders of Darkness

The newly opened tunnel twisted and turned throughout this Abyss, the rock lined walls glowing with an unnatural light. This tunnel was entirely silent, with only the sounds of the rocks and dirt moving under InuYasha and his friends’ feet. Once they had traveled for several minutes with no tunnel end in sight, the sounds of a terrible groan and exertions of pain rung through the barren passage. They ran as fast as they could to the location of a minor cave. The cave was relatively small, and it contained what appeared to be a youkai in human form.

This youkai was lying down against the wall. He looked like a human, but with demon markings on his face and his hands. Most suspicious, however, his body was alternating between an opaque color and transparency. He appeared to be in massive pain.

“Hmm, his demon powers are really weak,” InuYasha commented as he stepped toward the wounded youkai. The youkai looked up at InuYasha.
“Who are you?” he managed to inquire, with a strained voice.
“I’m InuYasha. Why are you here?”
“You mean… you don’t know?”
“Well, I was just wondering why YOU were here.”
“I came in… by the disk… they tried to take it…”
“Take what?”
“My demon powers.”
“Who are they?”
“The Leaders of Darkness. They run this place. There’s- there’s, three of them…”
The youkai began to choke on his words and he rolled over into a prone position. He looked as if on the brink of death. Miroku bent over him and performed a Buddhist spiritual rite. The youkai looked up as Miroku moved his hands above his body, and his eyes shut for the final time.

The only exit to this cave was a staircase hewn directly into the rock. It twisted and turned upwards, and eventually exited at a rock hallway with only a side to the right. The hallway overlooked an amazing cave. Sango peered over the side and immediately drew back. The cave was filled with the guard youkai from earlier, the ones made of metal and rotating spikes. They were preparing for something. InuYasha and the others ran quickly and silently across the overlooking walkway, and hid behind a rock outcropping that allowed them to survey the cave but not to be seen themselves.

The guard youkai, about fifty in number, at once began to organize themselves at the far end of the cave. Kagome was the first to see what they were preparing for, as the darkness at the end of the cave concealed a massive door. InuYasha and his friends watched in amazement as a gigantic dent was pounded into the door from the other side.

Part Four: Arrival

The door, made of the hardest metal forged by the strongest demons, began to buckle under strain from the other side of it. Tears began to show in the thick metal, streaming in red light. The youkai began to spin their drills as the door exploded into tiny chunks.

When the smoke from the explosion had cleared, Icarus was standing in the hallway, floating about three feet off the ground. His hands and feet were surrounded in a deep red aura. He laughed maniacally and with such a loud voice that the cackle echoed through the cave violently. Icarus flew forward, toward the youkai that was standing close to the door.

The youkai attempted to strike at Icarus with his right drill arm, but Icarus dodged it and responded with a punch to the youkai’s body. The punch left a massive dent in the armor, and the youkai smiled at the gift of its impenetrable armor. The smile did not last long, though, as a sudden burst of red energy pulsed from Icarus’ fist. The burst drove itself through the metal skin of the youkai, sending metal shards and yellow blood out the back of the creature. It collapsed the floor, dead.

The remaining forty-nine youkai ran toward Icarus, but he jumped into the air on legs of fire and landed behind them. He moved his right hand in a wide arc, releasing a web of red electricity. The energy twisted through the air toward the nearest ten demons, catching them, and destroying them. The metal of their armor burnt and shattered as the amazing heat seared their skin and boiled their blood. The dead bodies dropped to the floor.

Thirty-nine of the fiercest demons attacked Icarus, drills spinning and arms punching. Icarus dodged the spinning blades, placing forceful kicks into the youkai. The kicks and punches he delivered passed through the armor as if it was not there, and did fatal damage to the innards of the guards. He dodged each spike with increasing agility and increased his speed of attack. Icarus saw the blades and moved away from each with inhuman perception. When he had eliminated most of the demons in his fashion, he extended his palm and let free a burst of crimson power. The blast caught the remaining demons and threw them across the cave in all directions.

Icarus crouched on one knee in the center of the cave.

“What’s he doing? He’s just standing there!” Kagome thought to herself.

The dazed guard youkai stood themselves up after the push Icarus had emitted, and ran toward him. Icarus remained on one knee, glowing with energy. As the youkai closed in, he pulsed strangely and emitted a red dome. The dome paused in mid air, surrounding Icarus, and then expanded exponentially. The bodies of the living guard youkai were turned into scrap by the blow, and the dead youkai bodies were thrown up against the wall. Sango placed her boomerang over the crouched set of humans and the hanyou, protecting them from the flying debris of the youkai armor.

Icarus stood up and looked around the room. He seemed pleased at the scraps of metal and smears of yellow blood across the cave walls. There were no coherent parts of the enemy youkai still intact. They had all been smashed into the rock wall or obliterated by Icarus’ energy dome.

The fire covering Icarus’ hands and legs began to subside slowly. He was sweating profusely and seemed quite exhausted. Icarus had obviously not noticed InuYasha, Kagome, Sango and Miroku watching the battle. He was too concerned with his own tiredness, as he stood up against a wall, and leaned there with eyes closed. For a short time, he meditated, regaining his strength.

The victorious man, who had previously been outnumbered fifty-to-one by fierce youkai, walked calmly out of the room.

Part Five: Theft

Once Icarus had left the room, glowing with the pride that befits such a powerful warrior, Miroku and Sango began to search for a method of descending to the bottom of the cave. InuYasha, on the other hand, was simply sitting against the rock, contemplating the events that had just occurred. Kagome was worrying about him, watching him as he laid his head upon the rock in such deep contemplation that it suggested sleep.

“I wonder,” she thought, “how close was he to his brother? He seems really upset by this whole thing.” Her train of thought, though, was broken as Miroku called out that he had discovered a series of footholds with which they could climb down.

Once they had descended down the bloodstained wall, they traversed the room and toward the torn apart door. The plates of broken and melted youkai armor crunched beneath them. The natural crevices and unevenness of the cave’s floor caused slight dips which filled with yellow blood, which the group were careful to avoid. They stepped over the fallen metal door, and into the cave beyond. It apparently led in two directions – one of which was down, which had no markings of any kind, and one was up, which had a series of footprints made of yellow blood. They decided to follow that route, toward the top.

As they ascended, they began to realize that this was certainly not a normal cave. This particular path led far higher than any cave can go, and at such an angle it must have deliberately been created. The blood-formed footsteps had disappeared a long time ago, with the liquid having been deposited on the tunnel floor. From the height of the tunnel rang noises. These noises were slightly strange, since they seemed to be organic sucking sounds.

The sounds grew louder until the group reached a plateau. As they stepped onto the newly flattened rock surface, they saw fully the expansive cave in front of them. The ceiling was high and vaulted, kept aloft by gently curving support pillars. Half of the room was taken up by a gigantic green mass. The green mass was a lumpy pile of rough flesh, with no discernable head region. It did have, however, a strange bulb in the center of it. The bulb was slightly protruding off the top of the youkai. The bulb glowed a strange blue color, which cast its light softly across the room.

InuYasha walked up to the fleshy youkai and put his hand over the skin covering the bulb. In a flash, his senses went pale and blackness crept from the corners of his mind to the center, and he could see nothing. However, there was suddenly a flicker of light.

The flicker of light grew like the light from a modern-day slide projector. It was at first black and white, and it showed a setting of a forest. Soon, though, color saturated the picture. Rich greens and dark browns flowed over the black and white image like it was paint poured onto a carving.

From the distance came slashing noises as trees were knocked everywhere. A young InuYasha came running down a path in the woods, obviously frightened. Behind him, in pursuit, was a vicious youkai with red eyes. The eyes shone crimson and left after-trails where they passed, scanning the terrain for the young hanyou. InuYasha was crouched behind a gigantic boulder. Somehow, the youkai could sense this, and he approached the rock.

Just as the youkai’s clawed hand reach down behind the rock, a young Icarus burst out from the woods carrying a hand-cannon. He lit the fuse and the already-armed weapon shot out a powerful cannonball. The cannonball impacted the back of the youkai’s head, crushing the skull, and sending yellow blood flying everywhere. Icarus dropped his cannon on the ground and rushed to the rock, where he helped his brother rise to his feet.

Meanwhile, the rest of the group was trying to awaken InuYasha. He had placed his hand on the glowing orb and had ceased to move, and seemed entirely transfixed. To InuYasha, the scene in the woods faded just as it had begun – with a flicker of light and darkness. However, a new scene was beginning.

The flicker returned and colors bled across the sheet of his mind, as a new scene formed. The sky was black, and dotted with silver stars. InuYasha felt as if a traveler along for a ride he did not want to take. And then, the set of images began. He felt a distinct falling notion as he fell toward a huge silver disc. He saw a younger version of himself watching in horror as he fell through the panel, along with half of a youkai.

The brightness from the panel became even more vibrant as he approached it, and when he entered, the light seared his senses and pain flooded through his brain. It all subsided, though, in an instant. He was now lying on the floor of a dark cave, which he soon found the exit to.

Icarus wandered throughout this world, observing the effects it had on those imprisoned in it. The youkai there appeared to weaken until death, their demon powers sucked by the world until they no longer existed. He watched demon after demon fade into nonentity, unable to do anything about it.

One day, however, Icarus came across a dying youkai that was unusually powerful. He explained the world to him, and what was going on, and bequeathed to him his sword. The sword, unnamed at the time of its delivery, was built out of an amazing material very similar to youkai bone. Icarus hefted it in his hands and slipped it into his belt as he walked away. The youkai slipped into the final shades and disappeared.

Icarus began to walk only up stairways and no longer downwards. He came, eventually, to a room that possessed a massive green entity. It was fleshy and had skin the texture of leather. He knew precisely what it was thanks to the youkai, and so he slammed the sword into the center just as one of the youkai who ran the world came walking down a nearby set of stairs.

The sword sheared open the unprotected flesh with youkai power, and bright light drained from the inside of it. Icarus was entirely enveloped in the light, and it began to suck a blue glow from him. His eyes began to glow red and his hands took on a glowing crimson aura, and anger burned his mind. He reached his hand up to cover his eyes when the world opened behind him, tearing space in two.

InuYasha stood transfixed, his hand on the orb, as light footsteps were heard across the room. The group turned and looked at Icarus, who was walking slowly toward them, his sword hanging off his belt.

“You!” he called, as he ran toward them. His hands and feet were surrounded by the misty red glow as he jumped through the air toward the group and the paralyzed InuYasha.

Part Six: The First Youkai

Miroku readied his staff and Sango her boomerang as Icarus approached. He was about halfway toward them when the adjacent rock wall exploded into small boulders and cloud of pale smoke. The force from the rocks knocked Icarus backwards as the group covered their faces. InuYasha still stood transfixed. From the hole in the wall walked a massive youkai, who looked like a much larger version of the guard youkai. His hands were massive spinning drills with a vicious-looking spike placed at the tip, and he was covered in gigantic plates of armor.

“So…” Icarus said, as he stood up after being knocked down by the force. “You’re the youkai who owns this section.”

The youkai did nothing but walk slowly toward Icarus, spinning his drills. Icarus unsheathed his Sword, which began to shimmer and glow with a similar red hue that was around his hands.

Icarus jumped at the youkai, swinging the sword. The youkai blocked it with his left drill, but the sword left a gash across it. The youkai attempted to spear Icarus with the other drill, as Icarus did an acrobatic maneuver that sent him flying over the demon’s head.

Meanwhile, the group was desperately trying to awaken InuYasha. He was still standing, eyes closed, his hand on the globe.

Color flowed over black and white panels as the next scene took shape. He saw a young Icarus on a rock, watching a young Sesshoumaru. Sesshoumaru was attempting to hit a tree with his Whip of Light, but kept missing and hitting the dirt. Icarus jumped down from the rock and held his arm, gently swiping it to the right as Sesshoumaru activated the Whip. The whip found its mark and sliced the tree in two. This continued for a while as Sesshoumaru’s proficiency with the whip increased with Icarus’ help.

When that was over, the color was replaced with darkness. It was wave after wave of emotions, ranging from love to hate and happiness to anger. It broke with a snap only audible in InuYasha’s mind, and he was beginning to awaken.

Meanwhile, Icarus was jumping around the youkai, slashing at it with the glowing sword. He flipped through the air and landed some distance from him. He slammed the sword’s blade into the ground, creating a shockwave of energy toward the youkai. The youkai attempted to dodge it, but was caught by the blast, knocking it aside.

Icarus smirked and walked over to the fallen enemy. He hovered the sword tip above his head before slamming it down into the youkai, killing it. The dead body gushed yellow blood and faded into several layers of transparency. Icarus looked around the cave as the walls began to fade.

Part Seven: Re-Fusion

InuYasha broke from the mental hold. He reeled back, and immediately pulled up with his right hand and slashed at the orb. The claws began to form huge gashes in the orb. The blue light contained inside streamed from the cuts. Icarus swiveled on his heel as he observed InuYasha doing this.

“No!” he cried, as InuYasha’s claws tore straight through the outer covering. The bulb shattered and sent the streams of blue light into Icarus’ body.

There was a black sphere in a myriad of other spheres. The sphere was larger than the others, and it seemed to hover in between them. A tiny spark of light generated at the corner of the sphere, and arced across the surface. The thin stream of lightning dispersed gently over the softly curving sphere face.

A few more streams flowed over the surface. Soon, they began to arc off the larger sphere and onto its smaller neighbors. It spread exponentially, each sphere grabbing lightning, and the spaces between them being filled with blue. The spheres rotated and merged, and suddenly…

Part Eight: Ejection

The group stared, mystified at Icarus. He dropped to his hands and knees, shaking his head rapidly from left to right. His sword was re-sheathed on his belt, and the blade was oscillating between glowing red and blue. The colored mists around his hands and feet were doing the same.

Meanwhile, the rest of the cave was flickering. The colors of the cave and the green beast seemed to dull and oscillate, as this section of this strange world started to unravel itself. The youkai corpse had long disappeared as the walls started to do the same.

InuYasha stood next to the deflated organic bulb as he watched Icarus. The rest of the group seemed concerned mostly that the walls were slowly disappearing… but Icarus was the central feature for InuYasha.

In the distance were sounds of crashing rock. The green beast disappeared and suddenly, the world collapsed in on itself.

Part Nine: Icarus of the Abyss

The sun was a soft yellow in the clear blue sky. The emerald grass was wet with dew, as InuYasha picked his head up off of the damp ground. He looked around, and saw that he was no longer in the Abyss. He got to his feet and began calling out the names of his friends and he walked down a path in the nearby woods.

One after another, they met up in the forest. They followed the path until it led to a small town. As they passed through the gates, Miroku began to speak.

“It… seems as if a great evil has passed here.” Miroku stated.
“So that means that the Abyss was destroyed?” InuYasha asked.

As he asked this, he felt a section of his mind gain an unusual calm, and he heard Icarus’ voice speak in his head:

“No. Only one-third of it is destroyed…”

And soon the voice passed and he was left with silence. InuYasha related the revelation to his friends, and they passed through the gates of the town.

Later that night, they were resting in several interconnected bedrooms in one of the town’s buildings.

“Where do you think Icarus turned up?” Kagome asked.
“Well,” Miroku responded, “We were standing next to each other and still, we arrived at far different locations. It’s logical to assume that he appeared somewhere entirely different.”
“So what do you think the deal was with that sword?” Sango asked.

InuYasha sat with his hands behind his head, staring at the wooden ceiling, saying nothing. He chose not to participate in the discussion since his concentration was mostly on Icarus. He was wondering why Icarus had thrashed around as if possessed, and where he had ended up. He was running the image that was shown to him through his mind. The Icarus before he had escaped was far different than the Icarus of the Abyss.

Once everyone had fallen asleep, InuYasha rose from his bed. He parted the door and stepped out onto a walkway. The moon was huge in the sky, casting silver light over the features of the buildings in the distance, the pale grass, and the mountain in the distance.

“Where are you?” he mouthed silently, while staring at the mountain in the distance.

The mountain was distinctive. The shape was slightly odd, as it was shaped somewhat like a dagger. The tip seemed to pierce the edge of the moon.

Kagome walked up behind InuYasha and placed her hand on his shoulder. They both looked upward toward the moon, saying nothing.

Part Ten: Overwhelming Shadow

The next day, the group set out from the city. Everything appeared to have a somber calm over it. They walked in silence until an old monk came running along a path.

“Hey. What’s up?” InuYasha asked the old man.

The old man raised himself on his knees and grabbed InuYasha’s fire-rat cloak with both hands.

“There’s an overwhelming shadow sweeping these lands…” he said, and trailed off into incoherent mumblings.

“Uh… huh?” Sango asked, blinking.

“There are two more, InuYasha!” the old man said. “Two more youkai!”

InuYasha stood speechless.

“Destroy them, and you destroy the Abyss.” The old man had said, and he died.

As the group buried the body, InuYasha walked to a rock ledge overlooking a forest. It was mid-day, and the thick orange sun was presiding over the lands.

InuYasha stared into the distance, wondering where he would find the two other youkai. His eyes ran over the terrain, across the emerald-green trees and the beaten yellow paths, and to a mountain in the distance.

He would need to find Icarus.

And then, InuYasha’s eyes locked upon a far-off mountain. He saw the mountain from which he first entered the Abyss.

His friends walked behind him and watched the distant rock face with him.

Far away, farther than the mountains or the woods or the burial site of the old man, Icarus looked up at the sun, wondering who he was and who he would be.

-------------------------------------------
“In the end there's still that song
comes crying like the wind
down every lonely street
that's ever been.” – Grateful Dead, “Stella Blue”

Whoa Seraphim you're one helluva good writer. Very well illstrated and perfectly paced. I loved it, now let's have Chapter 2.

quote:

Originally posted by Hanyou Whoa Seraphim you're one helluva good writer. Very well illstrated and perfectly paced. I loved it, now let's have Chapter 2.

Actually, the next chapter is "Chapter 3 - Music From a Farther Room". I should have it done in a bit. It starts a couple months after Ch2. It's very good, and it should be longer than the previous two. There's also a sequel to Music called "The Twin Gates of Sleep" that picks up a few months after where Ch3 of Music left off. More on that later.

om sorry the words are so big i kinda got lost in the middle. but in anycase its one good story. uh explain to me WHY the citadel burned down im confused.

quote:

Originally posted by seraphjei om sorry the words are so big i kinda got lost in the middle. but in anycase its one good story. uh explain to me WHY the citadel burned down im confused.

Um, Icarus destroyed it?

Music From a Farther Room
Chapter Three: Music From a Farther Room

“Look into any eyes
you find by you, you can see
clear through to another day
I know it's been seen before
through other eyes on other days
while going home…” – Grateful Dead, “Box of Rain”


Chapter Three: Music From a Farther Room
- Part One: Light and Dark
- Part Two: A New Order
- Part Three: Polarity
- Part Four: Legions of the Night
- Part Five: Revolutions
- Part Six: The Focusing Crystal
- Part Seven: Citadel
- Part Eight: Premonitions
- Part Nine: Showdown
- Part Ten: Music From a Farther Room
…

Part One: Light and Dark

Night fell silently over Tokyo. The windows of the skyscrapers and hotel buildings began to slowly darken, the soft yellow light in the rooms fading to a dull gray. The stars were sparking, shining over a time that knew nothing of the youkai and the Abyss. The lights in the Higurashi household were already dim by the time a figure sprang from the sacred well.

His skin was an unnatural shade of green, and his eyes and ears contained the sharp edges indicative of a demon youkai. The youkai was wearing a distinctive red robe tied at the waist by a leather belt. The center of the belt possessed a golden pentagon with a small red circle in the center. He looked around furtively and ran across the pavement.

Just as the youkai had reached the edge of the Higurashi property, a man in black robes hopped out of the well. He was fairly young, and dressed in a similar robe, but in black. The belt he wore was similar, but it possessed a circular golden icon with a blue circle in the center. The man sprinted after the youkai.

The chase led through the Tokyo city streets. The few pedestrians on the sidewalk were knocked aside by the barreling youkai, as he attempted to escape. The sound of their bare feet smacking against cold pavement was the only sound in the stillness of the night.

Soon, the youkai had run into a dead-end street. He placed his hands on the wall, incredulous at his bad luck. The youkai turned to face his pursuer.

“I shall die for my cause! Can you make the same claim?” the youkai asked. The pursuer only smirked and walked forward. In response, the youkai crouched and made an amazing jump vertical to the building and grabbed onto the roof ledge. He hoisted himself upon the roof, sprawling there for a short time on his stomach, before standing up. He looked over the edge.

“Pathetic human,” he remarked, “he-“

And with that, the human flew up the side of the building and smashed the youkai in the face. The youkai stumbled backward as the human glided over the edge with a strange orange glow over his feet. He landed and approached the enemy.

“You, minion of the Darkness, has been tagged for destruction by the Order.” The human stated.

“You shall never win. The one victory you had was only temporary. Your leader is nowhere near as strong as you think, you-“ the youkai responded in defiance.

The human responded by swinging his hand in a wide arc, releasing a web of electricity. The youkai gasped as he was overcome by it, and his blackened body fell backwards. It was reduced to a pile of smoking ash.

The human, seeing as he was successful, jumped down from the building and headed for the well again.

Part Two: A New Order

The mountains of feudal Tokyo were known to be extremely plentiful; at least, they appeared to be. On one of the many mountain plateaus was a fairly opulent castle, built as if a cylinder, and inset into the side of the mountain. The primary entrance was a gigantic set of doors, made of tempered iron, and a path leading to the ground below. Guards diligently watched from towers on the cylinder’s edge, watching for enemies.

The man who had chased a demon to modern Tokyo to destroy it was walking up the path. The guards in the tower readied their bows when they saw the incoming human, but they lowered them when they recognized him. As he approached, they turned the crank that held the iron gates closed, and the metal scraped upon metal as the door parted for him.

He walked through the pavilion in the center, which was floored with interlocking clay brick, and toward the entrance to the center of the base. Various humans were training in the center, throwing punches and kicks at stationary objects or at trainers. The door to the inner chambers shut behind him, and it was only lit by the candles inset onto the walls and the thin bar-shaped holes in the ceiling.

The human walked through the hall, with the white light periodically playing over his face from the holes in the roof. He walked down the slightly curving hall until he had reached a thick security door. The two men standing next to it, guards equipped with long spears, drew aside as he stepped through. He was now in the part of the base that was inset into the rock mountain. The walls were no longer made of wood, but out of hewn rock.

The room’s main feature was a rock throne, on which sat a figure cloaked in black robes. A silver sword hung from his belt and gently scraped the rock at the foot of the chair. Behind the chair, on a platform, were several pieces of the Shikon no Tama.

“Did you,” the man in the chair asked, “succeed?”

“Yes, I did, Master. I had to follow him through the sacred well.”
“Good work. We have almost trained enough people.”
“Very good. It’s been so long since our first victory against that first youkai.”
“It has been three months.”
“What is my next assignment?”
“I want you to find my brother. Bring him here.”
“You mean, InuYasha?”
“Yes.”

And with that, the man turned away from Icarus and walked through the door. Icarus was left in the room, concentrating. He placed his elbows on his knees and his hands on his face and sat, motionless, for a few minutes. In his mind’s eye he saw a sphere, perfectly carved in a black void. Icarus felt his mind shape the sphere gently, slightly altering the curve and sending small electric bolts over the surface. After a few times of doing this, the sphere’s blackness dissipated and he saw a green field. In the field were InuYasha, Kagome and Miroku reclining on the grass.

Icarus saw his hand grab the sphere and toss it. The sphere tumbled through the void until the man who he had dispatched to find InuYasha saw it clearly in his mind.


InuYasha did his best to keep his hands covering his eyes, in order not to be blinded by the sun.

“Perhaps we should continue on our way.” Miroku stated. InuYasha gave a sort of groan as he sat up.
“You know,” Kagome said as she placed her index finger on her bottom lip, “I think I sense a Shikon shard. It’s coming from that direction.” She removed the finger from her lip and pointed toward the distance, where there was a fairly large city.
“Well,” InuYasha exulted, “Let’s get going!” He hoisted himself up with the sheath of the Tetsusaiga and walked in the direction of the city. Sango picked her boomerang off of the grass and Miroku grasped his staff as they headed off for the Shikon shard.

After about twenty minutes of walking, they arrived at the town gates. They walked through the open portal as the citizens of the town stared oddly toward them. Whispers traveled through the population, and soon, the town guardsmen came riding up to the group on horses.

“What is your business here?” the police leader said, as his horse came to a stop and his spear’s metal and wood clanged against his armor.
“We’re looking for a –“ InuYasha began, but Miroku jabbed him with the blunt end of his staff and stepped in front of him, aware that if InuYasha had disclosed their true reason for being there, they would be arrested in an instant.
“We’re looking for temporary lodging, as we are travelers.” Miroku stated. The policeman looked down through his helmet at Miroku.
“I’m still going to take you to see the-“ The policeman was cut off as the air rung with a loud whistling noise. The horses were visibly upset as the noise increased, and the sky darkened a noticeable shade.

Just as the sky darkened, six youkai flew from the sky. They were fairly humanoid, but covered in thick armor plates. Their left arms were in the shape of drills, and their right arms had a vicious-looking claw. As they swooped down from the sky, blasts of fire ejected from their claw-arms and impacted buildings. The buildings tore apart when they were hit, sending splinters and chunks of wood in all directions. Citizens ran for their lives as the youkai continued their strafing runs.

InuYasha withdrew his Tetsusaiga and was preparing to slice through one of them, when six blue gaseous trails came flying from across the other side of the hill. They blazed across the terrain unbelievably fast, leaving a minor blue after-trail. The youkai stopped when they saw this, and positioned them to fight this new threat.

The trails disappeared and the gas dissipated, and inside were six humans, dressed in flowing black robes. One, who was apparently the leader, had a soft orange glow around his arms and feet. The friends accompanying him had other colors: two were blue, one was green, and one was purple. They hovered in the air before swooping toward the enemy.

The leader sent blasts of orange fire at the enemy, while the youkai attempted to impale the humans with their drills. The human with the blue glow ejected electric waves from his hands, and his allies did the same, combining many different moves of energy manipulation. After a brief but intense battle, the six youkai were destroyed.

InuYasha sheathed his Tetsusaiga as the leader floated down in front of him.

“I’ve seen those moves before.” Said InuYasha.
“You are InuYasha, brother of Sesshoumaru, brother of Icarus, son of Inutaiyo?” the leader asked.
“Who wants to know?”
“I am Daedalus. I was sent by Icarus in order to bring you back.”
InuYasha stood speechless and approached Daedalus.
“You know Icarus?” InuYasha asked.
Daedalus said nothing, grabbed InuYasha’s arm, and began to lead him off in the direction from where he came.


As the group trod over the rolling hills, Daedalus was talking to InuYasha non-stop.

“You were there in the Abyss, yes?” Daedalus asked.
“Yeah.”
“Wow. Well, in the past three months, there have been… abductions. Youkai have been disappearing all over Japan. Even very strong humans are disappearing. Groups of youkai like that are being let loose from the Abyss and sent out to obtain those who could add to the remaining two demon’s power.”
“Those demons do look familiar.”
“They’re an enhanced version of the guard youkai you fought in the Abyss.”
“Yeah, so, who are you guys?”
“We are… the Order. Look over there.” He pointed toward a castle in the distance. “That is our destination.”

Part Three: Polarity

InuYasha stepped into the relative coldness of the Throne Room. Meanwhile, his allies were off in a different part of the castle, eating lunch and unaware of InuYasha’s activities.

InuYasha stepped forward toward the rock throne as the occasional drop of water fell from the ceiling down onto the rock.

“InuYasha. I’ve been waiting for you.” Icarus stated.
“What happened to you after the Abyss died?” InuYasha inquired.
“Hah! The Abyss didn’t die. That section of it did. As for me, I’m still two and two. What you released still hasn’t re-united. And until then, I’m imperfect. I cannot use my Sword.” He looked down to the silver sword on his belt.
“What was that, that which was released?”
“It was what was taken from me in the Abyss. Along with ten years of my life, it also stole a part of my soul.”
“And what was this creation of yours? The Order?”
“There’s an overwhelming shadow creeping over these lands. Someone needs to fight it. I cannot, I am not whole. These men will fight it. Rejoin your friends.” Icarus gave a dismissing swipe of his hand at InuYasha. He placed the hand he waved against his forehead and leaned on it. InuYasha hesitated for a short while before turning around and leaving the room. The black sphere appeared in Icarus’ mind again. He saw within it InuYasha walking down the hallway with a concerned look upon his face. He saw Daedalus speaking to the guests, Miroku, Sango, Kagome and Shippo, moving his lips but saying nothing. And even then, he saw InuYasha’s sphere. He looked inside it and saw a swirl of black and red and blue, twisting into infinity…

Part Four: Legions of the Night

The reverberations from the impacts rang through the castle. Fireballs flew from the sky toward the castle, but detonated on an invisible shield. Deep within the castle, at the precise center of it, eight ascendants were kneeling in a circle. They concentrated on generating the magic shield that would protect the castle. Several more were summoned in and they took places around their better-trained friends, attempting to keep the shield up under the onslaught.

Apprentices and Masters ran down the hallways of the castle as the fireballs continued to careen through the air. Over forty of the enhanced youkai were hovering in the air around the castle, attempting to destroy it.

In the center of the pavilion, InuYasha and the group watched as the Apprentices and the Masters assembled into a battle group. They rocketed into the air, passing over the shield. Immediately a fireball smashed into the chest of an Apprentice and he fell downward, back toward the pavilion. Sango and Kagome rushed to his side, in order to apply the first aid that Kagome had brought from her time. InuYasha stood there, in the center of the pavilion, watching the members of the Order fly to meet the attacking youkai. The Masters were casting their own minor shields, and thus defending from the amazing heat created by the fireballs.

Within seconds, the Order began to battle the Legions of the Night. Fireballs from both sides flew through the air, sometimes impacting a youkai and sending him flying backwards and into the ground. Daedalus stretched out his right hand and emitted a fireball, which hit a guard youkai in the chest and caused the youkai to fall. The youkai dropped at an amazing speed and was impaled on spear-shaped rock below. It squirmed around for a brief period of time before dying, the rock covered in yellow youkai blood.

As the battle became more and more intense, InuYasha seemed worried. The shield protecting the castle was not perfect, and the fireballs were starting to visibly damage it. He raised his Tetsusaiga in the air, and jumped upon the ledge of one of the watchtowers. He continued to hop ledges until he had reached the top of a tower, and had a perfect view of the battle occurring above him. Kagome looked up at him with a worried expression on her face as she applied gauze and a disinfectant to the Apprentice’s wounds.

InuYasha jumped high into the air, directly into the center of the battle, and called “Out of the way!”
The members of the Order quickly dispersed, leaving InuYasha a clear path to the enemy youkai. He swung his sword in a downward arc, as the blade began to shimmer with silver energy.

“Kaze no Kizu!” he called, as the sword cut the Wound of the Wind. A gigantic yellow cone of power flew from the course of the sword’s swing, impacting ten of the guard youkai and completely destroying them. Once the attack had concluded, the members of the Order who scrambled returned to the battle, and InuYasha dropped back down to the top of the watchtower.

“It’s time to finish this!” InuYasha called.

With those words, the Order dispersed to the sides of the shield, unaware of what InuYasha had planned. They knew, however, that InuYasha was Icarus’ brother, and they expected great things from him.

As InuYasha jumped into the air, the enemy youkai gathered themselves together
into a classic V shape. Bolts of electricity charged between them, and InuYasha felt the youki growing. Even Sango and Kagome on the ground could feel the great power of the combined youkai.

InuYasha flew into the ball of energy, preparing to swing his sword, and thus initiate the Bakuryuuha. The enemy youkai looked at him, thinking him foolish to rush headlong into such raw power. They, however, were surprised as their energy flowed into tornadoes and tore through the air toward them, releasing an audible crack, and decimating them. The tornadoes tore over the ground around the castle, creating gigantic trenches and knocking rocks down from the adjacent mountain. Some of the tornado hit the magic shield, destroying it. The Masters and Apprentices in the shield room fell backwards, entirely exhausted by the attempt to keep the shield active. Falling rocks impacted on the side of the castle, breaking off huge amounts of wood. When the tornadoes had died down, the members of the Order set to work repairing the walls and fixing the huge iron door which had received numerous dents.

Icarus sat on his throne, feeling terribly powerless. He tapped his fingers on the cold armrests of the chair. The door to his chamber slid open, and Daedalus entered.

“We’ve repelled the enemy. Thanks to-“ Daedalus was cut off.
“InuYasha. I have been watching the battle.” Icarus responded.
“Very well.”
“You are dismissed.”

Daedalus left the throne room and walked down the slightly damaged hallway toward the center pavilion, where InuYasha and his friends stood. Although Daedalus was by far the best trained out of the Order, with the exception of Icarus, he still could not figure out the powers of his Master. He seemed to have the ability to observe things that were not local, and to place images inside the minds of those he selects. However, he appeared unwilling or unable to fight. Daedalus had seen Icarus fight, once.

Just after the ejection from the Abyss, Icarus wandered, in search of a town and himself. He came upon a traveling group of hikers who were ambushed by several malicious youkai. Icarus flew down from an overhanging ledge and destroyed the youkai in one swipe of his hand. Although he killed all the youkai, they had killed all the hikers but one – Daedalus. Icarus took Daedalus in as an apprentice, so that he could create the Order.

Daedalus slid the door to the pavilion aside and stood there, watching InuYasha and his friends.

“InuYasha,” he said, “We are grateful for your assistance. But we now have great repairs to conduct and much medical care to give. Perhaps we could send you on your way with some food and drink?”
InuYasha looked up at Daedalus, wondering how he should respond.
Kagome whispered in his ear – “Take it. We’ll return later.”
InuYasha nodded slightly and agreed to Daedalus’ terms. Sango stepped forward to take the package of food and they turned and walked out the iron gates to the field below.

Part Five: Revolutions

Shippo walked precariously along the edge of one of the trenches created by Tetsusaiga’s ultimate attack. Miroku was staring at the trenches, noting that the ultimate attack had never produced such a damaging effect on land before. Sango was slowly eating a chunk of bread from the basket she was given.

The group walked for the rest of the day and by nightfall, came to a place where they could camp. It was a small clearing, directly adjacent to a ledge that dropped down toward a creek. The night was unusually light, and the stars could be seen quite vividly. Miroku worked on preparing makeshift beds while Kagome and Sango unpacked several supplies and prepared to build a fire. InuYasha, however, decided to walk up the nearby trail and scout what was ahead. He caught a brief smell of something familiar. As InuYasha walked up the trail, he began to realize that that smell was. He looked up and saw Sesshoumaru and Jaken walking toward the direction that InuYasha had come from.

InuYasha stood for a second, watching Sesshoumaru walk toward him. Sesshoumaru moved to the side and would have walked past InuYasha had InuYasha not stepped in front of him. A hint of a tiny smile grew in the corner of Sesshoumaru’s mouth.

“What do you want?” Sesshoumaru asked.
“Where are you going?” InuYasha replied, slightly anxious due to the close proximity of his brother.
“Well, I’m going to see my brother. Haven’t you done so already?”
InuYasha’s eyes narrowed.
“Why do you call him your brother?”
“You’re probably too young to remember it.”
“Then tell me.”
Sesshoumaru seemed slightly upset at this, but told him anyway.
“Years ago, before I had reached my full power, I was attacked in the woods near your village. I would have almost certainly be killed if it wasn’t for him. Thus, I consider him my brother.”
InuYasha made a slight grunting noise, as Sesshoumaru gently used his hand to push InuYasha to the side. Sesshoumaru continued down the path, as InuYasha stood there, watching him.

Kagome thought she saw a bushy white tail out of the corner of her eye pass along the trail. She decided it was nothing and went back to her work.

As dawn broke over the clearing, Sesshoumaru had come within the sight of the castle. He walked along the edge of one of the trenches toward the castle, which he could see had damage to the outer rings due to boulders falling. There also seemed to be gigantic black scorch marks around the plateau and the grass, and he also noted the weakness of the magic shield which surrounded the castle. Sesshoumaru shrugged and walked toward the huge Iron Gate.

Once he had entered, and his bare feet were impacting the hard but damaged clay of the pavilion, Daedalus had greeted him.

“Hello. You are Sesshoumaru, yes?” Daedalus asked. Sesshoumaru smirked at the fact that they had never met; yet Daedalus knows his name. Daedalus was viewing, in his mind, a black sphere with Sesshoumaru’s face within it. It was a projection from the mind of Icarus.
“Yes, I am. I have come to see my brother.”
“Well, right this way.” Daedalus made a hand gesture to follow, and walked toward an inner door on one of the wooden hallway rings. Sesshoumaru followed Daedalus through the damaged hallways of the castle, until they stopped at the Throne Room door. Daedalus opened it, and Sesshoumaru stepped in. Daedalus remained at the side of the door in case there was any trouble.

“Sesshoumaru. You came.” Icarus said from his throne, his face obscured in darkness.
“Yes, I have. I heard about the Abyss and what happened here.”
“And, do you think you can help?”
“Yes, I do.”
“How so?”
“I’d like to offer my services in defending your base.” With this being said by Sesshoumaru, Icarus smashed his hand into the side of the rock chair, causing chunks of stone to fly into the air. He stood up sharply.
Icarus’ face flew from darkness into the light, and his features seemed much older and more hardened than Sesshoumaru had seen him last. His face was contorted in an expression of anger. As he stood, small bolts of lightning traveled across his skin and down his arm, glowing red. Sesshoumaru took a step backward when he saw him stand.

“I’ll defend my base alone.” Icarus said. Sesshoumaru did not respond. “I can’t remain here. I need to equalize myself.” He said as he walked from his throne toward Sesshoumaru. When he had walked directly next to Sesshoumaru, he simply stated “I shall return. Much more powerful than before.”

Icarus walked past Sesshoumaru and pulled aside the iron doors. Daedalus prepared to lead Sesshoumaru back out of the main gates, but was so surprised when Icarus walked out that he stayed there, silently.

Part Six: The Focusing Crystal

Icarus wandered through the nearby forest all day, seeking out what he knew existed somewhere in the area. His eyes remained closed, and did not open even when navigating through the thickest brush. He saw the terrain in his mind, and thus had no need to open his eyes.

He walked out into a large open area, where he surveyed the area with closed eyes. Icarus sensed the approaching of several youkai. His eyes slowly opened and his right hand rested on the hilt of his sword.

From the trail ahead came five demon wolves and their leader, who seemed to be in human form. The leader muttered something and the five wolves jumped toward Icarus in order to attack him. Icarus smirked and withdrew his sword. As soon as the blade left the hilt, a purple energy shell overcame it. He held it out to his right, his arm fully extended. The blade’s color oscillated between purple and red and blue, indicative of his mentality at the time. The wolves hesitated for a second before approaching again, and Icarus swung the sword. The energy from the sword was released in a wide arc, eliminating the wolf youkai.

Koga, the wolf youkai leader, stepped forward, and began to speak.
“Don’t think you can kill my pack like that.”
“You have three shards of the Shikon no Tama. Your name is Koga, leader of the demon wolf tribe. The next thing you will say is that I will die for killing your comrades. But now that I told you that, you’ll stutter and say nothing.”
Koga was about to say he would die for killing his comrades, but now that Icarus had already said that’s what he would say, he said nothing, but that was also prophesized so he just stuttered a bit.
“Well, then. Come attack me.” Icarus said, sheathing his sword.
Koga, in a fit of rage, came charging for Icarus. When he had reached him and was about to throw a bunch, Icarus grabbed his arm and tossed him over his shoulder. Koga went flying directly into a tree. The tree snapped in two, and the top half collapsed on the wolf demon. He seemed seriously hurt.
“Fool.” Icarus simply stated, and walked away. Koga slowly arose from the remnants of the destroyed tree and looked away toward Icarus, over the dead bodies of his comrades, wondering who he was.

Several hours later, Icarus found himself coming upon his destination. He felt it rising in his body, almost like a sort of tension. It built up in every cell in his body, causing his muscles to tense and the hair on his back to stand on end. The target was a mountain, which looked more like a cylinder than anything else. He hiked up the mountain on a well-hidden trail up to a small entrance in the ground. Icarus pushed the boulder covering the entrance aside and jumped down the shaft.

After tumbling down a dark hole, he found himself lying in a ditch. Icarus stood up slowly, and looked upon the central figure of the room. The ditch he was in surrounded a platform that was higher than the ditch, and was able to be found through a small stairway on the side. In the center of the platform was a gigantic orange crystal, cut with five perfectly smooth sides. The sides converged at the top to form a point with a small plateau of crystal surrounding the tip.

Icarus had known about this crystal from the Abyss. The Leaders of Darkness created the Abyss through use of this crystal, and he had received the knowledge as the part of the Abyss that remained with him when he left. The crystal was an amazing energy focuser, capable of encompassing and amplifying even small amounts of power to great heights. Icarus walked up to it, and placed his hands on its surface. Small crackles of electricity flowed from his hands and to the crystal.

“This,” he said, “This is what I need to focus me.”

With that, he made an inhuman-sized jump to the top of the crystal. He found a distinctively shaped hole in the top of the crystal, and fell inside it. With a gasp, the crystal began to amplify his power.

Icarus felt as if his entire body was being run up and down with electrical currents. He shut his eyes softly and concentrated on the darkness. The black focusing sphere arose in his mind. Icarus saw it pulsing and shining with a black glow, as usual. But this time, streams of orange energy flowed around it, and obscured the view of the smaller spheres. He saw in his mind the sphere – built into two distinct parts, Good and Evil, which should be one. However, they were separate. He tried to meld them once more, but even with the power of the focusing crystal, he could not. Thus, Icarus allowed the energy from the crystal to flow within him and fill the gap between the Good and the Evil, and this was sufficient.

After several hours of regulating the energy into each individual sphere and the focusing sphere, he rests his head against the crystal wall and sighed. He was complete, for the first time in many years. The tearing inside him was no longer felt, and he knew what he had to do. Icarus pressed both his hands along the sides of the crystal wall and began to focus. He saw in his mind the focusing sphere, which soon was set to look for the Abyss. He anxiously combed each inch of the area surrounding the mountain, looking for a stream of the Abyss. After roughly ten minutes of searching, he found a small trail of darkness. Icarus took a deep breath and

felt his mind jump a dimension and slip into the Abyss.

Part Seven: Citadel

Icarus felt his eyes lift open as if coming out of a deep sleep. His head was lowered toward the ground and he was resting on one knee. The first thing he saw was his right and left hands on the ground next to him, his right knee near his face, and the dull-colored dirt beneath him. He raised his head and surveyed the area.

This particular section of the Abyss seemed to be constructed of a dirt ring on the outer edge, which Icarus stood on, and a gigantic yellow ziggurat-like shape in the center. It appeared to be some sort of leveled-off pyramid with an overly large staircase leading to the top. The plateau on top was immense, and thus the pyramid was gigantic. The sky was a deep purple color, and behind him was a circular wall that enclosed the entire structure.

Icarus stepped forward, constantly trying to survey himself in his mind. He was trying thoughts to illicit emotional responses, but he could not find them. As he placed his foot upon the bottom stair, he realized he felt complete. A small smirk flew across his face as he ascended the golden-colored steps. He looked around, turning his head left and right, and observing the stone that made up the ziggurat. It appeared to be extremely ancient, and he wondered why he never saw this particular part of the Abyss.

When he had reached the top, after a very long climb, he found the plateau was barren. Icarus stood in the center and called out loudly. Just as he opened his mouth, there was a flash of light and a youkai appeared behind him. Icarus swiveled on one foot to face him. The youkai was roughly twelve feet tall, and looked amazingly muscular underneath his armor plates. Both hands were shaped into deadly looking claws. Underneath his battle helmet was a skull with the flesh pulled back taut across the bone. His eyes blazed red.

“So you are the second Leader of Darkness?” Icarus asked. The youkai laughed.
“Yes.”
“Then…” Icarus said as he withdrew his sword. The sword began to glow blue. Icarus looked down at it, and for a second was surprised – he never saw the sword this color.
“Don’t you know your own sword, boy?” The youkai asked.
Icarus smirked and jumped at the youkai, readying his sword for a strike. The familiar glow appeared around Icarus’ hands and feet, but this time, it was a bright blue.
The youkai went to swing his hand like a baseball bat at Icarus, when Icarus flew upward slightly and dodged it, slicing into the youkai’s arm with the glowing blade. The sword left a gash in the youkai’s arm shields. The youkai gave a dull laugh and he turned around and launched a fireball in Icarus’ direction. His clawed hand blazed orange and instantly a super-heated ball of flame flew from the palm.

Icarus floated into the air and swung his sword again, impacting the fireball, and sending it back at the youkai as if it was a ball swung by a bat. The Second Leader of Darkness grunted and hopped out of the way as the fireball came flying back at him. It fell onto the yellow brick and left a massive scorch mark.

The youkai charged Icarus and so Icarus swept his hand in a wide arc, releasing a blue wave of electricity, while jumping over the youkai entirely. The enemy armor flickered and conducted the electricity, while the youkai inside was stunned for a second.

“You!” the youkai called. “I’ll imprison you here like I imprisoned you last time! Didn’t you get that sword off some weak youkai that I killed?”

Icarus felt his mind flush with anger. He felt the crystal’s bond in his mind snap sharply, and the glow around his hands and feet became a deep red. The blue shell around the sword quickly flipped to crimson, and Icarus split.

He flew forward with a vicious rage, hacking and slashing with the sword, impacting the youkai’s armor before he could respond. Icarus screamed at the top of his lungs and sustained it as his flaming sword ripped through the tempered metal armor of the enemy. The Leader of Darkness stepped backwards with each slash, and with each slash, let loose a gush of yellow blood from his stomach. Icarus’ face and chest was covered in the yellow slime as the youkai backed up further and further to the edge. When the enemy was almost at the edge, Icarus jumped into the air and swung the sword in a tight arc, slicing off the youkai’s head. The body fell off the edge of the ziggurat while the head rolled down the steps. Yellow blood flowed down the steps as Icarus fell to both knees, dropping his sword on the brick. He put his hands, soaked with youkai blood, to his already-soaked face. As the Abyss around him began to phase out of existence, he tried to concentrate on anything. He had what he desired, for a time, and then it was gone. All he could smell was the thick odor of the blood.

Within a few minutes, he found himself still in that position, with the blood still covering his hands and face. He remained there, thinking, for almost an hour. When the hour was up, he stood, noting that it was now night. Icarus picked up his sword and sheathed it on his belt, and began looking for the nearest stream.

Part Eight: Premonitions

Icarus, after washing himself off, proceeded toward the castle of the Order. He walked for most of the night before arriving there at sunrise. Icarus was turning over the events that occurred in his mind. He was thinking about the energies that InuYasha had released in the Abyss, and what they did to him. Before InuYasha had released that, and after the Abyss had first ejected him, he felt as if he possessed no good qualities. But now that InuYasha had released it, it was as if the qualities were in him but were just out of reach.

Icarus pondered this as he trod through the fields and woods, toward the castle. He arrived, eventually, and marveled at the excellent repair job the Order had done. Dirt and a sheet of bright emerald grass covered the trenches in the ground, and the damage from the falling rocks had been repaired quite quickly and skillfully. He walked up the path and through the Iron Gate, and toward the focusing center of the castle.

Focusing was the primary facet of the Order. All their powers came from the efficiency of their ability to focus. And thus, the largest room in the castle was a room meant for focusing energy. Icarus stepped through the door-less portal and into the center of it.

The room was a cylinder, like the castle, and had a perfectly circular-shaped stone block in the center which rose a foot off the ground. Small pieces of orange focusing crystal were embedded in the stone. Other than that, the room was fairly non-descript.

He planted his feet firmly shoulder-width apart and closed his eyes.

In his mind’s eye, he sought out a power source. He was looking for the physical anchor for the Abyss. Such a concentrated Abyss required a point, most likely some crystal, to anchor it in reality. Only small Abysses, like the one Icarus had created to entrap InuYasha earlier, reflected the soul of the one who created it. Icarus had created darkness, the first Leader of Darkness created a cave of rocks, and the second Leader of Darkness had a ziggurat. Icarus wondered for a brief second what his would look like when he was done.

He soon found the physical anchor. He gasped slightly as he realized it was not far away, and only a few hours walk. It was a massive crystal that was embedded in the center of a hollow mountain. When he found it, he sent the images through time and space to the two people he trusted more than anything.

As InuYasha picked up Kagome’s backpack, which she had left on the side of a trail, he had a brief flash through his mind. It was of a mountain that he knew he had seen before, and a strange compulsion to go there.

Just as InuYasha saw this in his mind, Sesshoumaru received the same image and the same desire to visit. Sesshoumaru immediately turned around and walked the other direction toward the location in his mind.

Once Icarus had finished transmitting the messages, he knew what he had to do. He made sure to notify his brothers first, since he had no idea what might happen with what he did next.

Icarus concentrated on his black sphere. He saw the divide between his good and his evil. After a few minutes of searching in-depth, he found what he was looking for – the extra evil he had inside him due to the Abyss. Icarus isolated it and poured it out of him, and opened his eyes.

In front of him was a cloud of red. He gathered it in his hands and walked to a wall. He pressed a hidden lever and a panel opened, revealing a clear crystal. Icarus placed the red energy into the crystal, thus turning it from a clear shade to a deep red. He sighed and pulled the lever.

Icarus walked out of the castle and toward the physical anchor of the Abyss. He wondered why his halves hadn’t reunited, but that was but a distraction to what he had to do.

Part Nine: Showdown

The mountain, which contained the Abyss’ physical anchor, was surrounded in a thick purple fog. Icarus was staring at it as he approached the main gates of the town that was at its base. Citizens of the town ran up to him and inquired why he was there.

“Sir! Sir, why are you here?” a man asked.
“I am here to slay a demon.”
“Thank you, sir!”
“You know of him?”
“We know what’s in the mountain, but we don’t have anyone that could even go near it.”
“Don’t worry about it.”

Icarus said as he walked toward the gigantic cave opening at the base of the mountain. When he had arrived at the cave, he entered, and followed the dark winding path into the depths of the mountain.

The dark path eventually led out to a huge room. Inside the room was a crystal similar to the focusing one that Icarus had seen before, only slightly larger.

“It’s over!” Icarus called out as he removed his sword from his sheath. It glowed a dull blue. He walked near the crystal and swung it, releasing a blue wave of energy from its path. The energy flow hit the crystal, sending chunks of it flying through the cave. There was a sound like a rush of air into a vacuum, and a blast of energy erupted from the top of the crystal.

It burst through the top of the mountain, and Icarus shielded his face with his arm. Miniature boulders impacted around the mountain as the town’s citizens ran around in terror. When the energy blast concluded, the entire top of the mountain was gone. Floating in the air above it was the Third Leader of Darkness.

This Third Leader of Darkness was immense. He seemed to be a version of the second Leader of Darkness, but far larger. The youkai was surrounded by a red aura which blazed brighter than any aura that Icarus ever had. Icarus moved a few steps back as the youkai rose into the air. When the youkai swooped down the side of the mountain, Icarus grew a blue smoke around his feet and jumped in the air after him.

Icarus landed on the soft dirt at the foot of the mountain, while the youkai simply floated there in front of him.

“You will be destroyed!” Icarus shouted, pointing up toward him. The youkai seemed to blaze brighter at this.
“Hahah! You can never defeat me! Surrender now, or I’ll decimate this village and kill you!”

Icarus stood there, watching the youkai float. He saw out of the corner of his eye InuYasha running toward the scene. InuYasha had the Tetsusaiga drawn and the blade was slightly swirling with wind, indicating that InuYasha was preparing to execute the Wound of the Wind. Icarus gave a hand signal to InuYasha just as the Leader of Darkness sent a huge fireball toward Icarus.

InuYasha continued sprinting toward the mountain as Icarus flew into the air, dodging the fireball. The fireball crashed into the side of the mountain, causing more rocks and dust to fly everywhere. Icarus drew his sword and swung it, releasing a powerful arc of energy. It hit the youkai’s armor and did no damage at all. The Leader of Darkness turned toward the village.

“Surrender!” he called out, and launched a fireball at the village.

At the same time, InuYasha used his Kaze no Kizu. The enemy youkai dipped low and dodged the blast, but it hit the fireball. The fireball merged with the Kaze no Kizu and became a relatively thin ball of ultra-powerful energy.

Icarus blazed with blue fire and flew in an arcing course to face the surge dead-on. He flew into it, diverting its course.

Everyone on the ground gasped as Icarus flew headlong into it, and refracted it into the distance. Icarus felt the energy from it rise through him and it was as if he was dead.

Everything in Icarus’ mind went black for a second. For Icarus, it seemed as if an eternity. When he opened his eyes, he marveled at the fact that he was not dead. In fact, he was not injured. The youkai, along with everyone on the ground, were equally surprised. Icarus slowly raised his sword up in front of him. The blue shell was gone, and was now replaced by white.

He felt the orb in his mind click, just as Sesshoumaru came flying in over the trees on a cloud. Sesshoumaru sped inward toward the youkai using his ultra-bursts of speed, and began to slash at him with the Whip of Light. The youkai tried to catch him multiple times but failed. Meanwhile, InuYasha began assaulting the youkai with the Tetsusaiga.

Icarus floated higher into the air. He held his sword to the sky while the youkai was distracted. Then, everything became dark. It was as if there were no light sources anywhere, except him and his sword. Icarus and his sword were sheathed in a bright white light. It was like a second sun.

The youkai stared directly into the light.

And then, the light discharged, and flew from Icarus’ body toward the youkai. Sesshoumaru spun around, grabbed the jumping InuYasha, and flew to safety near the ground below. The wave of white light smashed into the youkai, sending him flying backwards.

The sky returned to its normal color as Icarus landed softly on the ground, his hands and feet covered in a white glow. The youkai was still alive, but almost dead.

Icarus walked over to InuYasha and Sesshoumaru.

“Thank you. I won’t forget you.” Icarus said as he ran toward the youkai.

InuYasha and Sesshoumaru watched him get closer and closer, and a silver disc form in front of him, much similar to the one used to enter the Abyss. Icarus dove into the center of the youkai, causing both the innards of the youkai and Icarus himself to disappear.

InuYasha and Sesshoumaru looked around at the peasants who were inspecting the damage to their village, and the sun poking out from between the clouds. They looked at each other and began walking separate ways, bathed in the light from the new sun.

Part Ten: Music From a Farther Room

Icarus lifted his head up from the wet, green mossy grass. He sat up on the grass, looking at his surroundings. He was on a small tract of land that was ringed on three sides by a roaring ocean. The waves of this ocean smashed against the sea wall. The fourth side was obscured in mist. Next to him was a fairly rundown house.

The sun was hanging in the distance, providing a casting of a deep yellow light across the grass and along the worn sides of the house.

He turned the knob on the door and heard the ancient joints creak on its hinges. The interior was plain; the house possessed but a few chairs and a table. There was a lone hallway, leading parallel to the ocean’s shore. Icarus walked in and picked up an empty candelabrum that was placed on the table. After examining it for a few seconds, he decided to walk through the hallway.

The hallway was missing one wall, probably done by design, and he felt a slight spray of sea foam. He paused to look at the deep blue water for a moment, and then continued to the door at the end of the hall. He placed his hand on the knob, and as he did so, he heard a faint music emanating from the room.

The door opened, revealing a simple room with a small table. There was a window just above the table, positioned exactly so that the setting sun could be seen through it. The music was coming from a small white music box on the table. Icarus picked it up in his right hand and opened the lid with his left.

As the slow music began to pour lightly from the box, he looked up into the setting sun and smiled.


“Nothing is here to stay. Everything has to begin and end. A ship in a bottle won’t sail. All we can do is dream that the wind will blow us across the water…” – Dave Matthews Band, “Baby.”

“I tell you:
One must have Chaos in themselves to give birth to a dancing star.
I tell you:
You have Chaos in yourself.” – Nietzsche, Thus Spoke Zarathustra