Disclaimer: I don't own InuYasha or any of its characters. They belong only to Rumiko Takahashi.
Apocalypse
By: moosegirl13
" Darkness cannot drive out darkness; only light can do that. Hate cannot drive out hate; only love can do that."
- Martin Luther King Jr.
Prologue: The Beginning of the End
The steam from the coffee rose up, creating designs of swirls in the chilly air. She breathed in the aroma and sighed, her early morning stress lessening. The deadline for her article was the following day, and she hadn't even the time to start it. Work was becoming a bigger and bigger chore for her. The need to find something... anything remotely interesting consumed her thoughts. But as luck would have it, nothing caught her attention. Everything was the same, always the same. Sure, there were the usual accidents -people who were at the wrong place at the wrong time- but it got old really fast. Without a good story her readers tended to stop reading her articles, and that could be bad. Point is, in order for her to maintain her job and her way-too-low salary; she needed material that would blow the heads off of people... not literally, of course.
She sighed and turned on the small TV that sat on the counter of her quaint kitchen. The news. Gee, of all times to be on... it had to be now. Not bothering to switch the channel to something she knew she would prefer more, she rested her weight on the counter across from the unfaithful device. Images flashed before her eyes; most of tragedy and muggings. Then, for once in what seemed ages, a seemingly fill-your-heart-with-happiness report came on. It was about a little boy, probably no older than seven, who survived his second time with leukemia. And as she was about to take a sip of the coffee that sat patiently in her mug waiting for her, the phone rang.
Grumbling, she made her way a few paces and retrieved the phone from off the wall. Twisting the yellow-stained cord around one of her fingers, she answered.
"Talk." Okay, so she didn't feel like being polite right now. It was probably a telemarketer anyway.
"Hello, Kagome dear."
Kagome raised an eyebrow at the familiar voice that seemed to echo in the receiver. She held her breath a bit before letting it loose.
"Mama, is everything okay?"
"Oh yes, dear. Everything is perfectly fine. How's work?"
Now, that was strange. Her mother wouldn't call just to ask how work was going for her. Kagome's mother was never one to beat around the bush, so to say. She would always ease slowly into what she really wanted to say. Nevertheless, Kagome answered.
"It's very... uh, slow."
"That's nice, dear." Kagome blinked. Didn't her mother hear her? "Souta and I are going to church this Sunday. We were wondering if you would join us."
Well, so much for not beating around the bush.
"It would mean so much to me", her mother started again. "And Souta! Oh, Souta will love it, if you came, too!"
Kagome's hand grasped tightly on the telephone. She wanted to role her eyes at her mother. How many times was she going to go through this? Her mother was sure persistent, though; she'd give her credit for that. But there was no way, no way she was going to step foot into another church for as long as she lived. She simply refused. Her mother could complain all she wanted, it wouldn't deter Kagome from what she chose.
"Mama... I already told you my answer long ago."
"But Kagome! At least think about what God wants you to do."
"Listen, mama. God..."
Kagome could practically feel her mother shaking her head on the other end. "No, you listen, Kagome Higurashi! You need to move on. Your father would have wanted you to move on. When he died," Kagome's mother's voice became softer, gentler even. "When he died, it wasn't God's fault. It was your father's time to go. You need to start accepting it, Kagome. You need to stop blaming God..."
"GOD? Me stop blaming God? If God was real, then he wouldn't let all the crap that is happening in the world continue. If God was real, then he wouldn't have taken dad away from us in one of most brutally ways imaginable. I'll start believing in God when he decides to show the hell up!"
"Kagome!"
Perhaps Kagome's anger got the best of her, but right now she didn't feel like having a migraine at the moment. "I got to go, mama. I'll talk to you soon, okay?" And before her mother had any time to respond, Kagome hung up the phone. Still holding her mug, she took a sip while rubbing her left temple with her free hand. She turned her attention back on the news, but not really watching it. Was she too hard on her mother? After all, her mother only wanted to help... to maybe find the old Kagome again. She guessed she could have been less... explosive when it came to the matter. However way she could have worded things differently, though, it did not stop her from feeling the way she did.
Kagome turned her head and gazed at the phone. Her mother had always been there for her; always helped her when she needed it... and she outright disrespected her. Shame filled her, knowing that her mother was probably bawling right now. Making up her mind, Kagome told herself that she would call back when a commercial came on. However, her train of thought was interrupted.
A terrifying scream erupted from the TV. She looked, and where there were two anchor people... now only sat one. The anchorman sat there at the desk, shocked that his partner had vanished. Nothing remained of the woman, well, nothing but her high-priced clothing. The focus of the television jittered a bit, the camera angle changing from the frightened host to the backroom of the shooting set. Kagome's eyes widened, her fingers covering her mouth as her coffee mug dropped from her hands. She didn't even register that her cup now laid in thousands of pieces on the floor, or the coffee staining the tile. The room, she knew, should have been filled with people -people operating equipment and whatnot- but it was empty. Everyone, except for the two, had also vanished! As before, all that was left to prove that they were there were their clothes.
All thoughts of what had happened flew over her head. Her brain wouldn't form a specific reason as to why almost everyone in the news station had disappeared. Then for reasons unknown to her, Kagome made her way back to the phone. What did she have to be afraid of? Why was she going to call her mother to see if everything was okay, when just minutes ago they had talked? She didn't understand, but the need filled her and she gave into it. She dialed and waited for someone to answer. After the fourth ring the answering machine picked up. Slamming the phone back in its cradle, Kagome decided to wait a few seconds before trying again. When she did, she received the same results.
Nothing.
Worry flashed over her face and through her sky-blue eyes. A haze of apprehension lingered over her when she tried to calm herself, explaining to herself that maybe her little brother and mother had just stepped out of the house for a while. Yes, that seemed reasonable enough. Kagome hung up the phone again; she'd call back in another couple of minutes. Her sight came onto the TV once more. The channel had gone out. Of all the times... She swore, taking the remote and turned the channel. The same thing: white and gray snow took the place of color along with the buzzing sound that made her headache intensify.
The ringing of the phone pierced through the air, making her jump. She reached and picked it up. "Mama?" It wasn't her mother.
"Kags? Oh, God! You're... Oh, thank God!"
Kagome's face twisted in confusion, her eyebrows knitting together. "Miroku? What's going on? I was watching the news and..."
"Kagome, something happened. People... the people. They're all gone! Everyone... gone. Sango and I thought.... Oh God, it was terrible! Thank goodness you're safe. We talked to Ship'. Oh, we're all safe!"
Suddenly, darkness rolled in on earth, casting shadows upon the ground below. Kagome's feeling of anxiety intensified, as she just now began to comprehend what had and was happening. Miroku's voice caught her attention again. His questioning if she was still there... if she was alright... caused her to shudder and grip the phone tighter in her hand.
"Miroku, I got to go. I need to get hold of my mother. I'll call back soon".
The phone clicked back into its cradle, forgotten as bright flashes of light distracted its owner. Kagome's mouth hung open, as she stared through the window in a silent and morbid awe. Outside, the wind blew in all of its furry. However, it was nothing compared to what was happening in the distance.
Burning hail blasted down onto earth, never relenting in their destruction. The dark, foreboding clouds seemed to glow red from the heat of the fire. And at that moment, Kagome knew why she couldn't get hold of her mother. She knew why so many people seemed to just fade away. Her tears fell, each one feeling more and more like the fire that fell from the sky. She got her wish... God decided to show up.
"No, Miroku," she said to herself. "No, we're not safe."
And it had begun, the beginning of the end. Where hell's forged hands rose up and grasped the earth, strangling it in a suffocating mass. Brother turned against brother, causing the earth to quake under their feet. And when the sun burned black and the moon became the color of blood, the night sky unleashed its starry tears. Earth, once beautiful with light, was now consumed in a veil of darkness and chaos. And from the shadows of hell, came a new king. An angel-beast, banished by the one true God, seized his fiery throne. Earth's time, as ageless as when it began, was now on the edge of a high cliff that protruded from the boiling seas.
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