The Unexpected Twist of Fate by Pseudomonas

The Game of Chess.

Naraku looked at the nihility youkai and pursed his lips a little. He was not one to bow down to Fate, nor even believed in such stuff. If it was true, Fate had simply dealt him harshly and cruelly, until he tried to turn it around.

Successfully with the precious jewel in his possession of course, the Shikon no Tama.

He felt for its presence within the eye in his upper torso and thought about the repercussions that could follow if he took her advice. He would go down on a whole new path if he chose to believe what his nihility detachment had said, even though she did not seem one to betray or deceive him. Her loyalty to him had proved to be most unswerving and he had trusted her with some of his important tasks. She had never failed him and that brought a sense of consolation to him as he thought of the detachments that had betrayed him. They were afterall, somesort akin to his children.

"Kanna, is this true?" He fixed one ruthless red eye on her unusually pale complexion.

The childlike youkai nodded her head silently, her eyes staring into the space in front of her. If not for her silence and stilness, and the mysterious aura that surrounded her, she would have been thought to be a young ningen child, and quite an adorable one at that. But truth be told, she was the first and the creepiest detachment that Naraku had fashioned out from his body of accumulated masses of youkai.

Her face and petite stature belied the power and knowledge that she held within herself and her mirror, something that Naraku did not even know. True, she was a nihility youkai, one that could not contain anything and did not even exude any youki. She was simply a walking blackhole, sucking everything around her into the darkness of her mirror, if Naraku wanted to. Kanna had tried to suck in the soul of Kagome, to rid her master of this irritating miko who travelled with Inuyasha and could sense the Shikon no kakkera. But she had failed, and almost at the expense of her magical mirror. Kagome's soul was too big to be contained within the mirror, and Kanna had no choice but to release it back to her.

Kanna let out a small breath quietly, as she thought of how her sister, Kagura died. They were not related by blood, and sometimes she teased her for not thinking about her own rights as a youkai. The kaze-youkai often talked and dreamed about escaping away from Naraku's clutches and gaining her freedom. Kanna remained impassive through all these while, not understanding the desire and yearn that was reflected in the faraway look in her eyes and the wistful sighs that she heard everyday. But after Kagura was eliminated by Naraku, something struck her dense vacuum mind, that something must be done, before she faces the same fate herself. Her survival instincts began to surface slowly, bit by bit, unknown to her creator and her master.

She needed Naraku to die, but how that was to be accomplished was a big question to her. She knew that she could not do it alone, but she could play the most important, the pivotal role in this ursurp. Naraku was not easily defeated by raw powers alone, one needed to scheme against him, instead of just fighting against him in broad daylight. Kanna knew that she had to take the first step out into the battleground of the chessboard, to lead, to lure the masterpiece out. That was all that she could do, without getting herself killed or suspected by Naraku. The only thing that made her felt a little better was that unlike Kagura, she had her own heart, right inside her chest. And that implied the amount of trust that Naraku had in her, simply because he thought that Kanna would never disobey nor betray him. That was certainly an advantage to make use of.

Perhaps... the rest will follow... Kanna thought of the people that had a vendetta against Naraku. It seemed to her that Inuyasha and Sesshoumaru were the only two that had the capability to bring Naraku down, if they cooperated. Kikyou, the undead miko no longer posed a problem, or could be considered a powerful opponent against Naraku. He had gone through much trouble and efforts to shed away his human heart, the human part that longed and loved Kikyou. Now, Naraku did not even bother to seek Kikyou out. He merely attempted to kill her everytime they met. Kanna's heart dipped a bit at the thought of the undead miko, too bad... she is no longer a useful tool...

Naraku shifted his gaze away and narrowed his eyes at the piece of information that Kanna had just given to him. It might prove to be useful, afterall... it's just like fortune telling...

"Bring me to her," Naraku smiled to himself at the thoughts that he could perhaps better twist the future to his advantage that Fate had for him if he knew what was going to happen.

Kanna's expressionless face was not in accordance with the small sense of victory that she felt in her heart. She shook her head slowly, and spoke in her usual whispering tone, "iie. The seer is dead."

Naraku felt a flare of anger rising in his chest and his nostrils flared, "then why are you telling me all this?"

Kanna could feel the spike in his aura even though the tone of his voice remained, and felt even more victorious at his anger. This proved that he really wanted to meet the prophetic seer, and it was highly possible that he would believe whatever the seer said. She did not doubt Naraku's intelligence, but one's pride and greed could blind oneself from fact and myth, truth and lie.

"Hai, she has died several hundred years ago. Demo I know where is her burial place."

Naraku raised one eyebrow and instantly got the hint. His anger receeded and he relaxed, he could use the Shikon no kakkera to bring the seer back to life, for as long as he wanted. He could make the seer work for him, if she was as good as Kanna had said.

"Where is her burial place?" Naraku could feel the rush of adrenalin in his blood, it would be very interesting to meet this seer and hear what she had to say. Kanna had said that she was the child of a mortal ningen and the Storm God, Susa-No-Wo, and therefore had prophetic abilities to look into one's past, present and future.

Kanna shifted her fingers on the cool mirror, "it is in the core of a big mountain near the fire-lake." She thought of Kagura, and somewhat mentally prayed to her that Naraku would play into her hands, her game of chess that she had put her life as the stake.

Naraku listened intently to Kanna's hushed whisper as his excitement grew. If the seer was buried in such an unaccessible place, then all the more it pointed to the possibility that she was indeed a powerful prophetess, and perhaps shunned or feared by many.

"Prepare, we shall go," was all he said as he gestured for her to leave. Kanna obediently bowed her head and turned on her heels, not making a sound as her naked feet made their way out of his room. She tightened the grasp on her mirror and narrowed her pale irises slightly, the game of chess had begun.

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Naraku stood motionless at the foot of the mountain while Kanna nodded, "this is it." Naraku arched his black eyebrow at the dense growth of shrubbery in front of him. The mountain looked as if no one had ever gone near it for a century, nor tried to hack a path through. He mused to himself, how can anything grow here with the scorching heat from the nearby fire-lake? But that was not an important issue and Naraku shifted his boots a little. Kanna instinctively stood behind him and waited.

Long thick spiky tentacles grew from his back, resembling legs of a spider as they stretched forward, pulling apart the dense growth, rocks, trees to make a way for them. All this was accomplished effortlessly within a matter of few minutes and a red translucent sphere encircled both Naraku and Kanna within as they sped forward to the deepest core of the mountain in his impenetrable kekai.

It was a long winding path, and Naraku had to pave the way continuously for the sunlight to shine through from their back. The red kekai protected both master and servant and they did not know how long this went on until Naraku's tentacles touched nothing. They stopped, hovering in mid-air in total pitch darkness. Kanna surmised that they must have gone very far deep, for even the sunlight could not reach here.

Naraku frowned slightly, the air was too still, and too heavy, weighing down on his lungs and he found it a little hard to breathe. Evil and unrest... The red kekai glowed brightly, lending light to their surroundings and Kanna widened her eyes just by a fraction at what she saw.

They were in what seemed to be like an empty cave, roundish in shape, but nothing was here. The jagged walls were adorned with green and vermillion fungus, which was most unusual since it could not be humid considering the depth of this place inside the mountain. Naraku let down the kekai and Kanna floated down, holding the mirror away from her and pointing it to the ground. She walked around the unusually flat ground unhurriedly, her vacant eyes not revealing her emotions. When she approached the center, a round bright white glow was casted onto the ground from her mirror. Kanna stopped and looked up to her master, "her remnants are buried here."

Naraku smirked and began to dig at the chosen spot with his tentacles, soon uncovering an earthen clay pot. Kanna placed her mirror on the ground carefully and knelt down, carrying the small pot in her hands and looked up to Naraku. An evil smile appeared on his smooth handsome face, the glow from the red kekai seemed to make his red eyes shine in the dark.

Kanna seemed to understand his intention and tried to lift up the lid of the clay pot, albeit a bit unwillingly since Naraku obviously did not want to go near the remains of the evil seer. She pushed down the trickle of anger that rose up to her chest that Naraku seldom put himself at the frontline, always manipulating everything behind safely in his comfortable room. Kanna tried to peel off the ofuda that draped over the lid and the moment her fingers touched the ofuda, she withdraw them hastily and looked up to her master.

Naraku smiled to himself at her burnt fingers and touched the edge of the ofuda with one finger, which instantly sizzled and melted away to Kanna's surprise. When the lid was lifted, fine grayish powder flew up and out into the air, swirling around. The air instantly became heavier, as if it was lead and Kanna found it harder to breathe and her face turned even paler. The greenish fungus wiltered and sizzled, changing to a dark brown color as they fell from the walls.

Naraku snorted at the malevolent display and the evil that hung heavily in the air, inwardly doubting the holy origins of this female seer. "Should you not be glad that we have released you?" his sarcastic voice echoed.

The mists of gray ashes concentrated into a figure-like image and asked back, "state your purpose, I am no fool." The feminine voice made Kanna's skin crawl. It was hollow, yet had a feel of solidness to it. Soft, yet the evil of it seemed to drip from her words onto Kanna's head, to which she flinched away a little.

Naraku smiled and folded his arms, "I will make a deal with you, how does that seem to you?"

The hazy figure swayed and paused, as if not sure what to make out of it.

Naraku continued, "I will bring you back to life again, only you must help me when I ask of it."

The figure floated to his front, seemingly to stare into his red eyes, "do you have that power?"

He stretched out his right palm, faced up. Lying on top of it was several tainted Shikon no kakkera. The figure swayed and shook while Kanna placed the lid over the clay pot and picked up her precious mirror.

"I will take it," the hollow creepy voice finally responded.

Naraku smirked and tossed the three purple shards at the misty figure. The purple shards disappeared into a sudden whirlpool of gray ash and before Kanna knew it, a woman, dressed in the most ancient kimono that she had ever seen, was standing right beside her.

Naraku arched both eyebrows at the beauty in front of him. Her hair was dark and smooth, her skin was porcelain-like and her lips were small and pouty. She was not tall, and the kimono could not hide her curvaceous figure. But her eyes were just like Naraku's, full of hatred and evil. The disturbing waves that Kanna felt caused her to shift away from the seer.

"So... I see that you are an extreme beauty," Naraku smiled.

The seer tilted her chin up arrogantly, "you have not sought me out to pay me a compliment of which that I already know of."

Naraku's smile widened, he was beginning to like this seer. She was beautiful, as evil as him, and was not afraid of him. He loved a bit of retaliation from his women and enemies, it spiced up everything. He wondered how she would look when she was naked with him, but pushed that thought away and crossed his arms.

"I need you to look into the future for me."

The seer looked into his gleaming red eyes for a while before she spoke, "it is regarding the Shikon no Tama, isn't it?"

Naraku smiled again, she is really a good one...

The seer threw her head back and laughed out loud. Kanna thought the seer was mocking her master and wondered what her demise would be like.

The smile was swept off his face and he frowned, the muscles in his arms tightening a little. He did not understand why the seer had reacted in such a manner, was she mocking at him, or merely relieved at such a simple request, or it was just impossible?

The seer stopped her laughter and stared into his eyes again, "I will do it."

Naraku decided not to pursue the matter until she had foretold the future. He would be done with her as soon as possible, for he was not one to take mockery lightly. The seer floated out from her burial place like a ghost, along the winding path and stopped at the fire-lake. Kanna followed as fast as she could while Naraku sped after the seer.

The ground was incredibly hot, and Kanna could see heated air sizzling off from the undisturbed lake. The seer closed her eyes and took in a deep breath of air, "it has been so long that I have almost forgotten how fresh air smells like..." Naraku waited patiently until her dark eyes snapped open, to which she commanded stiffly, "put your right hand into the lake."

Naraku raised his left eyebrow, and the seer nodded her head reassuringly. He then took a few steps forward to the shore, and dipped his right hand slowly into the lake, fully expecting a hot and burning sensation. However, when his right hand was fully submerged into the lake up to his wrist, all he felt was a prickly sensation on the skin around his hand. Naraku was awed at the coolness of the waters and tried to look into it.

"Iie, it will pull you in."

Naraku immediately averted his gaze away and focused on the seer, who was by now standing by his side. She raised both her hands up to chest-level over the lake, murmuring to herself to which both Naraku and Kanna could only guessed that she was chanting.

After a short while, ripples began to appear on the smooth surface of the lake, beginning from where his hand was submerged, slowly spreading outwards in perfect concentric circles, as if it was an unstoppable chain reaction. The prickling sensation turned into a tingling sensation all over his body and Naraku started to feel a slight burning sensation at his fingertips.

The seer continued her chanting as if nothing had happened, her eyes were glazed and the ripples continued to spread and grow until it reached the ends of the whole wide lake. She then abruptly stopped at the right timing, broke the skin on her right forefinger with her teeth and allowed three drops of her blood into the lake.

Tup.

Tup.

Tup.

The concentric ripples broke and started to sway from side to side haphazardly. Kanna took one small step forward to get a better view of what was happening, even though she did not like the seer very much. The seer put her hands behind her back and leaned forward a little, "now, look into the lake, you will see your future here."

Naraku widened his eyes and looked curiously into the lurid lake, wondering with excitement at what his future held for him. The surface of the lake suddenly calmed down and an image of the completed Shikon no Tama, tainted in all its purplish-black glory appeared before him. Naraku could not refrain the greedy smile on his face, it was obviously going to be completed by him. Another image of him holding the completed Shikon no Tama appeared, and his smile widened, his heart beating faster to the excitement of the next image.

But, this second image was suddenly dispersed, as if someone had thrown a rock into the lake. Naraku frowned and before he could say anything, a third image appeared. It was hazy initially as the waters took time to calm down and for the lake surface to be smooth again.

Naraku's frown deepened as the third image focused and the edges sharpened. Kanna saw the backview of two people, and they had long silver hair. The ripples came back to the water and the seer stood straight again, crossing her arms and smirking, "that is all."

Naraku fished his wet hand out from the lake, all ready to kill the seer and take back his three shikon shards. He was seething with anger at the third image, not wanting to believe but yet at the same time, the image would not leave his mind. He was now bound to fear, that he might lose the Shikon no Tama, that his ambitions and goals might not be fufilled. Instilling fear in others was one thing he exceled in, but now that he was suffering from it, he did not like it at all.

The seer took a step back, "don't look at me like that, no one can change their Fate. You sought me out to take a look into your future, and this is it." There was a slight tremble in her voice, as if she was afraid that Naraku might go back on his promise and she would lose her newly regained precious life. Kanna stepped aside, her face not revealing any expressions even though her mind was spinning over the three images that had appeared on the fire-lake.

Before Naraku could stretch out one of his tentacles, he felt a sudden presence of alarming youki behind him and turned around smoothly, with a cool twisted smile on his face.

"Sesshoumaru, what a surprise."

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A/N: Minna-san! This is my fourth fic! Took me quite sometime to think over the plot and write and I believe this will be a rather long fic. I don't think I can write as fast as before and updates might be slow. Thank you to those who encouraged me to continue to write.

youkai - demon

Shikon no Tama - jewel of four souls

ningen - human

miko - priestess

Shikon no kakkera - shikon shards

kaze - wind

iie - no

hai - yes

demo - but

Susa-No-Wo - a Storm God that the Japanese believed in (google yrself to check up more info)

kekai - barrier

ofuda - charm that Miroku always uses