Chapter Text
A dying cinder drifted in and out of the darkened edges of her vision. Layers of smoke and burnt blood caked every winding turn of her airways. The grass below twinkled with red dew as the rest of her life dripped onto it. With every fragile heartbeat, her sight receded. Black tendrils crept around her, threatening to smother her. Kikyo only saw the faint shadow of Death lurking near. She would meet him face to face soon enough.
In her quivering fingers, a perfect sphere glimmered from under its veil of blood. The Shikon jewel, after starving for so long, once again feasted on tragedy. Such a beautiful object. Such a legacy of suffering. A legacy that would end with her.
A wave of pain rippled through her as she lifted her head. An ancient, winding tree towered over her. Against its trunk, a silver-haired boy hung. Silent, his head lolled to one side, his face serene. One could almost mistake it for a peaceful slumber if it were not for the single arrow jutting from his chest. The last arrow she would ever fire in this life. The final arrow that killed that beautiful, lonely boy, her hope for a normal life. The only thing that remained was the cursed bauble he had betrayed her for.
"For such a thing..." she whispered as she clutched the jewel to her chest. A frantic rustling to her left pulled her out of her thoughts.
"Sister!" It was the high voice of a child. "Sister Kikyo!"
Kikyo tilted her neck as far as she could towards her companion. Bandages wrapped around her sister's face. A trail of blood trickled from underneath the linens near her eye. In spite of her dwindling life-force, Kikyo felt the embers of anger stir. She would die here, leaving her maimed sister to clean up. A curse formed on her lips, but remained voiceless. She had to salvage what little remained of her dignity for the sake of those who lived on. Kikyo would die as the miko that defended them and not as the woman betrayed by her halfbreed lover.
"Kaede." Kikyo shifted her gaze towards the girl. "When I die..."
Kaede clutched at Kikyo's arm with the raw desperation only a child could muster. "You can't die! Please!" Kaede buried her face in her sister's bloodied hakama.
"Kaede, you must listen!" Kikyo said, each syllable came more labored than the next. "You must burn this jewel with my body. I must take it with me to the world beyond." It is the only way to break the cycle. I won't let the Jewel claim another life, even if it means I have to fight it in death.
Even if it means I have to face Inuyasha in the World of the Dead.
Kaede refused to listen. She sniveled and whimpered, her composure was unfit for one who would assume her elder's place as the village protector. "NO! NO!" Blood intermingled with the tears from her still functioning eye. "Sister please, we need you! I need you! Don't die because of this!"
A sly voice percolated from a dark place in her mind. Yes, why should you die for the sake of saving these people? After all you've sacrificed for them... You could use the the jewel to live. Use the jewel to become even more powerful than Midoriko herself.
The thought shook her. Her vision focused on the artifact she still grasped in her hand. Black tendrils of corruption writhed within it. The motion around her halted. A black night descended on her. A void darker than any starless night. It was just her. And the jewel.
"Or perhaps." The voice continued, clearer than ever. "You would like to see Inuyasha again?" A column of light shot down, illuminating the hanyo on the tree. The serene expression on his face contrasted with the blood and soot that coated it.
She felt her eyes watering as she gazed upon that familiar face. That face that radiated a loneliness as deep as hers. Half of her still wanted to believe that it was all some sort of tragic misunderstanding. That they could somehow still spend their lives together. That they could learn to trust each other for real this time.
She didn't want to die hating him.
She wanted to see Inuyasha again.
A pain pulled at her heart. Her vision of Inuyasha faded and blurred.
"But..." The jewel spoke again. "You may not like the result if I would grant you that wish after death..." The opalescent orb floated along the periphery of her vision. "Inuyasha will not join you in death. But you can still join him in life. It is not too late..."
The jewel had sensed her intentions. It was trying to preserve its own existence.
At that moment, she knew that even dragging it into hell wouldn't stop its path of devastation.
"You don't owe them anything, Kikyo. You should stay with your little sister. You don't need to fight anymore..."
As it uttered those words, her focus intensified to a single point on the jewel. She saw it, the glimmer of light fighting the darkness that surrounded it. Countless legions of yokai and a lone miko locked in eternal strife. How could chaos incarnate grant her peace?
"I promise," the jewel said, as if reading her unspoken question. "I will give you the life you always deserved..."
She didn't deserve life. She had failed everyone. Failed herself.
Kikyo turned to gaze upon the boy bound to the sacred tree. His innocent features obscured behind a veil of her tears. Her traitorous heart wished that it could look upon him just for a little longer. Just a little longer...
To stay with her killer for just a little longer...
"I will grant your wish, miko," the jewel boomed. Searing pain webbed through her. The veil of confusion lifted like flies from a corpse. Dread washed over her in a cold tide. Her pulse strengthened.
What have I done?