Update: May 5, 2008.

I have decided to edit this since I noticed a few grammar and spelling problems in the story. Some sentences were changed, and some formatting was edited as well. I am working on the next chapters so hopefully I should have updates within a few weeks. Serendipity is on temporary hold while I focus on Chancery.

Summary: Kagome suffered a fatal wound inflicted by Kikyou. An unexpected savior nursed her back to health, while she deals with the pain of Inuyasha's betrayal. Will another hanyou steal her heart? Wait, why is a certain taiyoukai interested in obtaining her too? Nar/Kag/Sess

Rated for Violence, might have adult content in future.

Disclaimer: Inuyasha belong to Rumiko Takahashi and respective producers. I claim no ownership of characters or plot references to Inuyasha. Any original material belong to me and may not be reproduced without permission. (This disclaimer applies to all chapters of this fanfiction, and will not be repeated each chapter.)

First published: August 19, 2004.

Basic terms you must know to read the story:
hanyou: half demon
youkai: demon
taiyoukai: literally means greater demon
shikon no tama: jewel of four souls

"Blahblah" - Dialogue
/Blahblah/ - thoughts

- - - - - Scene change
Italics - flashback scene

Chancery
- The shaft of the arrow had been feathered with one of the eagle's own plumes. We often give our enemies the means of our own destruction. - Aesop (620 BC - 560 BC), The Eagle and the Arrow

Chapter 1
Saved by the Devil

Drip. Drop. Drip. Drop.

She listened to the rhythmic chime of her blood hitting the water, soft and hypnotic.

/Is this my end ...?/

She watched the diluted pink swirls her blood made in the calm waters of the lake, waving about in a languid dance.

/What is my purpose here? Was there a purpose at all?/

She had sacrificed her comfortable normal life to trespass in a time where she did not belong, tied and burdened with a sense of duty for shattering the jewel and by the unrequited love she had for her hanyou companion.

/I am such a fool.../

Where had it gotten her? She gave and gave, tolerated and suffered emotional turmoil again and again, and for what? Look where it had landed her, all alone, slowly bleeding to death while the one she loved abandoned her to pursue her murderer.

/I am nothing in his eyes. Nothing! The second she appears it's like I don't exist anymore!/

She gave a bitter laugh, which choked off into a cough as she spit up more blood. The gaping wound in her side has long since became numb, the deep lashes which covered her body no longer throbbing with pain. She felt weak, too heartbroken to feel frightened. She was calm, silently waiting for her death; she saw no meaning to her life anyway.

/I should have left, I should have gotten the hint when he left me for her again and again. I thought to stay as a shard detector, to help gather and right my mistake, but even that little bit of usefulness seemed futile in trying to elevate my status in his mind. I will always remain a shadow, second best, to be looked upon like a photo when the original isn't around./

She thought back to the incident which landed her here, discarded like a ragged doll when the owner is no longer interested.

- - - - -

"Inuyasha! A shard, that way!" Kagome pointed, feeling the telltale pull on her senses. There was also an equally telltale pull on her soul, alerting her to the fact exactly who was around.

"What are you waiting for? Let's go!" She barely managed to grab on to his back as Inuyasha took off. Miroku, Sango and Shippou following on a transformed Kirara.

They rushed in the direction which she pointed, lead by Inuyasha with his typical hot-headed way of charging into battle. However, they soon felt that something was off as the shard seem to moved further and further from them, drawing them somewhere. Usually, demons with shards would charge towards them in seek of more shards.

Then Kagome sensed something amiss behind her, and turned back to see ... nothing. No fire cat carrying her friends was following them, no trees, no land. Immediately, she whipped her head back to warn Inuyasha of the situation, only to feel herself falling to the hard ground as the hanyou abruptly came to a halt and straightened up tensely, letting go of her. Without Inuyasha bending down to provide her with a slope to lean on, and his hands to support her legs, she could no longer hold on to her position on his back.

She was just about to ask why he stopped so suddenly, when she saw her. She stood regal in the midst of gray nothingness, looking straight at the hanyou who had dropped her.

"...Kikyou..." She heard Inuyasha's pained whisper. He was intently staring at Kikyou, seeming to have forgotten about everything else, and of course, had forgotten her.

"Looking for this, Inuyasha?" Kikyou asked softly, holding out a jewel shard, the shard which Kagome had felt.

"It's a trap, Inuyasha! Don't go to her!" Kagome yelled at Inuyasha. She tried to run to him, to shake him and make him see her. But that was not to be, as Inuyasha and Kikyou moved further and further away from her no matter how hard she ran.

As she ran, Kikyou's soul stealers rushed at her, leaving behind deep lacerations as they whipped against her. Kagome kept running, ignoring the burning pain as they kept coming at her. Then Kikyou's dead gaze turned to her, as she raised her bow to aim an arrow.

With a triumphant smirk, she let it fly, tipped with dark miko energy. "Goodbye, my dear reincarnation." she said, as the arrow zipped past Inuyasha and tore into her side. Inuyasha did not even flinch as the arrow whizzed past him.

The dark energy gave deadly boost to the arrow, which went right through her flesh, leaving a deep hole and charred flesh in it's wake. Kagome crumpled to the ground, unable to withstand the onslaught of pain and dizziness from loss of blood.

Kneeling, one hand pressed against the wound in her side while blood effused through her fingers, she could only watch as Kikyou turned her attention back to the hanyou and beckoned him. Inuyasha started to move forward, but suddenly stopped as his nose twitched.

"Kagome...?" he mutter softly, confused at the scent of blood floating around him. The heavy scent of it managed to drag him out of his unnatural haze for a moment, but he could not make sense of anything through the deep fog his mind was enshrouded in.

"Inu...ya...sha..." Kagome tried to scream, but it only came out as a broken whisper. She stretched out her bloodied hand towards her love in desperation, hoping against hope that he would turn around, that he would not abandon her.

Inuyasha's head started to turn, but was stopped by Kikyou's voice.

"Inuyasha, don't you love me?" She said, voice filled with affected sadness.

"Of course I do, I've always loved you, only you, my Kikyou ..." Inuyasha's attention was once again focused solely on the object of his first love, Kagome flung entirely out of his bewitched mind.

"Then come to me, my love. Why do you leave me alone to wander these lands in despair as you go to my reincarnation?" She demanded, accusation colouring her words.

"No, Kikyou, it's not like that! She just tags along as a shard detector because she thinks it's her duty to restore the jewel, since she's the one who broke it!" Inuyasha exclaimed, desperate to appease his past lover.

Behind them, Kagome witnessed the torturous proceedings with tear filled eyes. /Am I truly only of such little value to you? Inuyasha.../

Out of nowhere, dark tentacles burst out from behind Kikyou to wrap around her and drag her backwards, away from Inuyasha.

"Inuyasha!" Kikyou screamed, holding out a hand to him.

"Kikyou!" Inuyasha roared and leaped after her, unsheathing and brandishing Tessaiga as he went.

Kagome watched as he left her to die, watched as he completely obliterated her from his mind because the original was around. She could almost hear her heart breaking, resounding crack by resounding crack.

Crippled and crushed, she fall on her side to the ground. As they left her sight, the grayness around her cleared to show a small lake surrounded by trees. She had fallen slightly over the edge of the pool, her blood trickling down her arm to send ripples across its tranquil surface.

/How could you, when you have sworn to protect me. Damn you, Inuyasha!!/ She screamed in her mind viciously.

/How could you .../

- - - - -

Her hot tears followed the path of her blood, running down her cheeks in fiery streams. Soon, she began to lose consciousness. She let her mind shut down, slowly being taken over by blessed darkness.

/Goodbye, everyone. I'm sorry .../

However, before she could fall into the welcoming embrace of eternal slumber, she felt a slight breeze and swish of fabric by her face. Strong hands lifted her up gently, cradling her against a masculine chest.

/Who ...? Have the angels came to claim me?/

Using the last of her strength, she forced her eyes open.

Fiery red eyes, midnight black tresses, billowing against a darkened backdrop. The sight that greeted her sight caused her a momentary pause to rethink her earlier assumption. Then she cracked a cynical smile at herself.

/No, it seemed that even the devil himself has pitied me./

With that thought, she gratefully succumbed to the darkness taking over her, and knew no more.

Wow, there was a few really bad typos in there. Hope I got all the pesky little errors out of the way. There was some minor sentence structure changes but nothing too drastic. I don't think I am going to change anything related to the plot, so if you have already read this, there is no major need to reread it.

I actually feel like the writing style is kind not that great, now that I reread it. Oh wells ... hope any new stuff I write will be better.

Now, before you start thinking I'm going to write another Inuyasha going "I love you Kikyou, I don't care about Kagome" cliche, it's not going there. After the edition the hint is a lot clearer; Inuyasha is not in his right mind when this happened. Something was affecting his mind.

Hope you liked the story. Any reviews are very appreciated.

- Kura