Inuyasha, "Flashes of Death" Kikyou, Naraku | rated T

[paynesgrey]

Fandom: Inuyasha
Title: Flashes of Death
Author: paynesgrey
Characters/Pairings: Kikyou, Naraku, slight Kikyou/Naraku
Rating: Teen
Word Count: 289
Warnings: Angst, Character Death
Disclaimer: I do not own Inuyasha.
Notes: Written for the "bread" prompt for Summer Mini Challenge 2021. Part of my Unicorn and Spider series. 

Summary: Flashes of memories kill her over and over again.

Links: AO3 | FFnet

Cheated out of death, Kikyou is glad she no longer dreams. This false body only needs rest and the bread of souls to move it along, but it does not allow her to feel human.

Instead, she sees flashes of old memories, a side effect of Urasue’s spell she supposes, but thankfully those memories are not residual. She suffers enough in other ways; she does not need dreams or nightmares to add to that.

The flashes come with pain as if to remind her she’s still alive in some capacity, though she will argue that she is more undead, like a physical specter with one harrowing purpose.

The agony paints her memories in chromatic blood red, and each time the memories assault her senses, she feels her death over and over again. She recognizes the feelings at the moment of her death: betrayal, grief, and anger. Then, with a breath away from dying, she feels the fire as they burn her corpse with the jewel. 

Now as she wanders, the memories have become monsters, and all of them are Naraku, no matter what face he wears. He kills her over and over again, and even in this false body, she feels the ache of the killing blow, like an old wound that screams with every full moon.

She knows as long as she walks the earth, until her revenge is complete, the memories of her old life will continue to haunt her. No matter her pain, she learns to live with reality.

When her memories flash in her mind, and the pain digs in and the past kills her again, Kikyou moves forward, bringing them with her like a constant companion.

A companion that fuels her ultimate purpose.

.