Twisted Well

An Inu Yasha / Sorcerer Hunter fan fiction by Iapetus

Disclaimer:  The only things I own in this story are the OCs, the Citrus Valley, Dorado, and the various magic's that will soon be introduced (that were not in the original SH story).  Everything else either came from the Sorcerer Hunters or Inu Yasha, which I do not own.

A.N.  I apologize for the wait on this chapter, which I promised by last Wednesday.  My internet connection decided to die on me, and I am actually posting this from my beta's computer.  *sweatdrop*  So don't kill me!

*(*)*(*)*(*)*(*)*(*)*(*)*(*)*(*)*(*)*(*)*(*)*

Chapter 16:  Selective Reaction

"I think you should stop trying to hit on Maye," Basil argued with Carrot.

            "I need to have some fun. What's the matter? Want her for yourself?" Carrot grinned.

            Basil rolled his eyes in feigned annoyance, and looked away to hide his blushing.  When he regained his composure, he continued. "But don't you think it is a bad time to ask a girl out? I mean, a Count is trying to ruin her life... her family's dead…"

            "The girl needs comfort!" Carrot reasoned.

            "Try to give it and your fan club will kill you."

            "Basil!" Tira gasped, flustered.

            Chocolat glomped Carrot. "Of course he knows that's true. You wouldn't SERIOUSLY try to get it on with someone else, now would you Darling?" she said in a dangerous tone. Carrot thought it best not to answer.

            "Geez, two new blonds and I can't hit on either of them… that isn't fair!" he whined.

            "Don't even think about touching my sister," Gateau remarked treacherously.  "It wouldn't be good for your health."

            Cranberry raised his eyebrows at the spectacle. He had forgotten the stories about THESE Sorcerer Hunters, and found the whole situation highly amusing. Watching Mille beside him giggling, he envied the Leader of the Haz Knights for the ability to roam like this on a regular basis. It was very strange indeed for ALL of Momma's Knights to be out and about in the world.

            Just as he was beginning to smirk himself, he felt a terrible pain go through his body. He was a seasoned fighter, but this pain tugged at something he barely had any control over. It felt as if the magic in his body was being forced in directions it didn't want to go. Instinctively, he clasped a hand over his forehead, to hide the coronary triangle from the others, should it appear. He tried hiding his presence, to get his power level from shooting up and alerting every sorcerer in the area, but it was like Carrot trying to win an arm wrestling match with Gateau – it wasn't going to happen.

            As he fell to his knees and his vision began to blur, he noticed Carrot clutching his heart, and trying not to cry out. Tira looked dazed in an expression that seemed to be beyond pain. Why are they feeling this? He thought.

            As soon as the next wave hit him, he saw a girl screaming in his mind's eye. Her forehead flickered, and a coronary triangle seemed to try to appear. He noticed a man standing near her, holding a…

            The pain stopped just as soon as it had started.  Only an ache of the memory remained, and Cranberry trembled as he got up. Mille helped him stand, worry in his face.

            "What was that?" he asked in a low voice. "Are you ok?"

            "I'm fine," he waved it off. He'd get over it. "I saw a girl who someone was trying to forcibly awaken with magic. "I'll bet she has some powerful sorcerer blood in her, if the tremors of her awakening could be felt all the way from here."

            "How do you know it was a half-ling?" Mille asked. Then, realizing whom he was talking to, shut up and looked the other way. Cranberry didn't seem to mind.

            "Her forehead was flickering – no pureblood Sorcerer would ever do that – and the man next to her was holding a calitrijia."

            "Didn't you have one of those when you were young?" Mille asked.

            "Yes. While it is beautiful, it is not meant to be seen. They are usually used by people who want to keep their Sorcerer blood hidden. I thought I had one of the only ones."

            "That area was never my specialty, so I don't know much about it," Mille said, a little disappointed that he couldn't help. As they walked to the other side of the church to where the others were, they saw the lying figure of Maye on the ground.

            Both men looked at each other in surprise, and sprinted over to see what had happened.

            "Maye?" Éclair asked worriedly. "Maye, are you all right?" The longhaired girl was lying on the ground, tears running down her cheeks. Her eyes seemed to be staring at something far off, as if she wasn't really in the church garden.

            "Chili… who did this to you?" she murmured.

            "Whose Chili?" Sango whispered.

            "I don't know," Miroku replied.

            "How could he?" she continued.

            "Chili… are you… ok?" The tears seemed to come out faster. "Please, you're all I have left. Don't leave me…"

Éclair looked up hopelessly at her brother, who had just entered the garden with the others. Tira and Carrot didn't look too good, as if they had just been through the same ordeal as Inu Yasha and Kagome. Cranberry looked awful, but paled even more when he saw Maye lying on the ground. Both Basil and Cranberry ran to where she lie, and Éclair moved over in hopes that her teacher could do something for her new friend.

"Chili…" Cranberry put his hand over her chest, and her body went limp. He held his other hand against his forehead, as if he had a headache. Basil gave Mille a look that told him they needed to talk with Maye as soon as possible.

Inu Yasha was fed up with the secrecy. "Will someone tell me what's going on?  What the heck is wrong with her?  Why did she have a more severe reaction then the rest of us?"

"She will be awake in five minutes," Cranberry sighed. "I doubt she even knows what happened. It might be too much for her mind to handle, and she might have suppressed it."

"We wouldn't be able to talk about it in an area like this anyways," Mille pointed out. "These are hunter matters. Let's wait until we are in the forest."

Basil cradled Maye's body in his arms, and gently picked her up to move her inside.  Everyone else quickly followed.

            Cranberry could hardly believe it. Maye had had the same reaction, if not worse, that he had only minutes ago. Her vision seemed more intense, and the Knight contributed it to the factor that she obviously knew the person who was awakening.

            It meant only one thing. She was muttering the name "Chili," and he knew that Chili was the name of the eldest daughter of the Taco family – her cousin. But also, because she had this reaction, it meant that she had Sorcerer blood in her.

            Only he knew this – there were no other people with that kind of magical power in their midst. He couldn't figure out why Carrot or Tira had the reaction – they were of pure Sorcerer Hunter blood, not a bastard child like he was. But where did the blood come from in Maye's family? And what about her cousin?

_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_

            It was finally time to go. Shippo had been antsy to leave since he heard that Maye was in trouble. He didn't care what Inu Yasha said – she was a nice person.

            Kagome had commented earlier that it was funny that it wasn't her that had the big bundle. She even volunteered to carry it part of the way, but Maye had told her that it wasn't a problem.

            Carrot and Miroku had fun propositioning as many girls as possible – surprising no one but Maye. While this meant that the uncomfortable mood due to the mysterious attacks faded, it also meant that the journey through the forbidden swamp began with Chocolat, Tira and Sango all mad. When they had left the city, they turned their attentions to Maye again.

            The swamp was a soupy mess, and Shippo was reminded of several of their own adventures through such conditions. He was disappointed, because they had just finished taking a bath before they left. Now everyone was going to be stinky again.

            Maye shrugged off Carrot's hands again, and looked surprised at the muck.

            "It wasn't like this before," she said, puzzled. "There was-"

            She had stopped speaking. Basil had knelt down at the edge of the swamp, and placed his hand on the soggy ground. Almost instantly, roots rose above the mess and quickly dried. Tira smiled at her "cousin," and used her own power over gaeis to clear a majority of the branches out of the way.

            "Thank you, Basil," Mille smiled. "You too, Tira." He took the first step onto the dry ground and started to walk in the direction of the mini shrine. The others soon followed, leaving the startled Maye in the rear with Basil. They hadn't seemed to notice that he was there too. They began to talk as they stepped onto dry land.

            "It was you, wasn't it?" she whispered breathlessly. "The shrine… and the path?"

            Shrine? Path? What is she talking about? Shippo wondered.

            "Yes," he said quietly. "I was trying to get into the Citrus Valley when I saw you come out. So, I followed you to Dorado."

            "I knew someone was following me," she smiled. "You hide your ki well."

            "Thank you. But I do apologize for hiding. I did not know your mission, but I could tell it was important."

            "Had my haste not been so great, I would have sought you out myself," she said firmly. "But do not worry, you have not insulted me."

            Why should she be insulted otherwise? Shippo thought it was a strange way to talk. Not only that, but she talked of getting the Sorcerer Hunters as HER mission.  Unless…

            Everything clicked. How didn't the rest know? He wasn't going to be a fool, though and blurt it out. It was obvious she was hiding her identity for some reason.

            He ran up ahead and jumped onto Kagome's shoulder. He couldn't talk to Maye about it now, because she was still in the back with Basil. She wouldn't have to lead them into the valley until after they reached the shrine. Until then Mille lead the way.

            I'll have to find sometime to talk to her when we stop. It sounded like a logical plan, until he remembered the size of the group. There wouldn't be much privacy there.

            Not only that, but she'll probably deny it…he realized. I'll just wait then.

_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_

            Chili came to, suspended still by the huge plant. Her mind was foggy, and she could barely remember herself and where she was. It was if someone had run her mind though a field of molasses…and the thickest part seemed to surround what happened only a couple of hours earlier. Something big had happened, she could feel it in her body. It was as if the wind was sweeping her face and rushing though her veins. No, that can't be.  That would mean that…  She glanced down to where her calitrijia should be. Instead of under her shirt hidden from the rest of the world, it was out in front and easy for her to see.

As her vision began to focus, she saw that the pendant and chain were horribly damaged. The chain was slightly tangled, but dirty with mud and grime. What worried her more was the state in which the pendant was. It had an internal crack, which Chili knew could not have been caused in any way by Black. If her calitrijia shattered while she was still in Black's possession…well, she didn't want to think of what might happen to Maye or the fugitives at the Garden Underground.

She saw two figures at the base of the plant. One had dark hair, and the other light. It was her own brother, and one of the twins.

"Taco…"Both men looked up, bored. They clearly didn't want to be guarding a prisoner. She could tell that the twin was Marzo. It was painful to see them together, for her brother had always been close to the two twins.

            "What is it, wench?" demanded the twin. It was the same careless attitude.

            "Don't you two recognize me at all?" she hoped that deep down, something remained. Their bodies were the real things, but what about the mind? What could she possibly say to get them riled up?

            "The master claims that we are related, but I never saw you before in my life," said an annoyed Taco.

            "The brother I knew would never call Black master." Anything that could jog his memory needed to be referenced. The spell was powerful, and she needed to weaken it. "He thought he was a stuck-up brat, and wondered why Maye and I played with him all the time.

            "I hope she never sees you like this."

            Marzo snapped his fingers, and she felt the plant shifting. Soon, both her brother and cousin were at her eye level, standing on large, thick vines. "Where is the girl Maye?" they both demanded.

            "He may not be your master now," he said in a low voice," but you WILL speak about him with the respect that is due a Count."

            Anger flared in her eyes. She couldn't believe what she was hearing. It wasn't possible that Black could brainwash them so completely. Chili knew it in her heart, and yet they were defying her in front of her face.

            If I could ONLY get this plant off me… she thought angrily. Suddenly, she had the sensation that she was pushing up against a brick wall. In her mind's eye, if she could just shatter the wall, she'd be able to get out. So, mentally she began to push against it.

            Just as it was beginning to move, she heard her cousin shout out, "The crack is growing! Stop her!"

            The crack? She thought vaguely. Oh god no…  She immediately stopped, and opened her eyes.

            Taco had two fingers in front of his mouth, and it looked like he was trying to whistle. His eyes were glowing slightly blue, and seemed to bore holes into her body. The shield he was casting did not have the intended effect the two men were hoping for, Chili had to fight her own body mentally just to keep it from responding to the same kind of magic that her family used. Unlike magnets, like magic's are attracted to each other, and Chili could feel her body trying to respond.

            Black you idiot, you didn't even inform your 'marionettes' of this problem? How did a baka like you ever overthrow your father?

            Satisfied that he had 'stopped' Chili from awakening her Sorcerer magic, Taco lowered the shield and looked coldly into her eyes.

            Had her guards been anyone else, maybe she would have remained cool. But, it was her BROTHER, her dear older brother, looking on her with a hatred she had never seen before.

"Black was our friend," She continued, spitting on the word 'friend.'  "I can address him how I want to." Her eyes narrowed. "He killed his own father, almost everyone in our cities, and our own family. He doesn't deserve any respect. But at least I didn't betray my own fleshed blood."

            She casually glanced down at her battered necklace. The crack almost reached the outmost edges of the jewel – she could tell that it wouldn't take much longer for the jewel to shatter.

The comment hit home. Both men recoiled as if they had been slapped. The triangles on their foreheads flickered.

            There was no more hate in their eyes, at least not towards her. There was pain, sadness, and even despair.

            "Taco… Marzo… you guys can fight this. I know you can." Before she could encourage them further, the triangles appeared solid against their foreheads. A sharp slap hit her face, leaving a painful sting afterwards. Taco glared at her, seemingly unable to control his fury. Marzo had a similar expression on his face.

            "What were you trying to do to us, bitch?" His voice dripped with vehemence.

            Chili couldn't take it anymore. At those words, she began to sob.

*(*)*(*)*(*)*(*)*(*)*(*)*(*)*(*)*(*)*(*)*(*)*

A.N.  Wow, that flew by!  Well maybe that's slightly because it is shorter than I usually write. I had to cut it down, because if I added the next part, the chapter would be a monster to get out, and you want stuff now.  Sorry about the monopolization with the OCs.  I know people are asking for action, but do you know how hard it is to write a fight scene? Dialogue is so much easier… *evil grin* nah, I'm just joking with you. There will be fighting soon again.  But, do you know how hard it is to write a fight scene?  I'm already working on chapter 17 (which will have a HUGE fight scene), but don't expect it anytime soon.  If you want a notification of when I post it, let me know via review your e-mail address.

-Iapetus