She was standing in a field, filled with what could best be described as flowers and what appeared to be trees, surrounding the field and making escape seem like a minute possibility. There was nothing that she could be entirely sure about, concerning this place. Indeed, it appeared as though the entire landscape was not real, but rather, a painting of watercolor; ever changing, one minute well defined and the next blurring into one another, blending the color scheme and renewing itself. It was a pattern she could watch forever, and ideed felt that she had, by the time slow and steady footsteps interrupted the tranquil silence that had taken over this place.
"I know who you are, miko." miko. It was a word she hadn´t heard in a very long time, and her heart began to race, wondering briefly if the period of peace experienced since the defeat of Naraku was all a lie, a trick of the mind to escape the pain of Inuyasha´s death, or perhaps, her own.
"It appears as though you´re at an advantage, then." The formal talk from anither era now stuck with her, whenever she felt threatened it almost felt as if she was channeling the engimatic Miroku, always plotting the next move, distracting the enemy with his words.
"Why yes, I would have the advantage, child, were I your enemy." Kagome tried not to react at being called a child, but emotions were still hard for her to mask, even now. The wind, apparently reacting to her, whipped around for a bit until the miko in question heard the end of that deciding statement.
"And so, you´ve taken me to this place, just to talk? If that´s true, why can´t I see an exit anywhere around?" The voice behind her chuckled.
" Oh dear, surely you can´t think that I had the power to take you anywhere." the voice, smooth and decidedly femenine, sounded amused. The tone changed quickly when she continued, "But this is a place of your own making, Kagome. If we can´t leave it is because deep down, you don´t want me to go until I´ve finished telling you what you need to know. "
"Need to know?" At this, Kagome ended their calculated talk, turning to face what could best be described as an angel. She wore robes of the deepest blue, ofsetting her shining brown eyes and pink lips. Her hair, reaching down to the earth, was dark as night, shining where it caught the light. Her skin was certainly that of a porcelin doll, and her hands, small and elegant, were now reaching out, to stroke Kagome´s face.
"My dear child, look at you! you look just like me, when I was alive." At this, Kagome faltered and stepped back in shock. The only woman ever to say that to her was long gone, and the fire in this woman´s eyes was different somehow, not full of hatred, but... Kagome could not waste her time thinking.
"Cut the crap and tell me what´s going on. Who are you, and what is this information I need to know." The words were less of a question and more of a demand. She could sense this being hadn´t been alive for a long time, and wherever she had been since her time among the living, it had changed her, made her more other, for lack of a better word. The woman paused for a second, pulling her hand back as though burnt, but soon this look fell into laughter once more, and it felt almost... familiar.
" You´ve certainly got my fire, that´s for sure!" Her smile was radient, and Kagome felt a sieze in her chest. Long ago, that smile used to appear on the face of a man, carrying her on his shoulders to watch the midnight fireworks.
"Otou-san." It was the woman´s turn to be shocked.
"Passed through a man´s genes. I´m surprised it wasn´t the mother. Raizen would have loved a daughter. But you´ll do just as well, my dear." Kagome sat down in the field now, and where once the skies were a bright blue they changed to an ominous red. The woman sat down as well, and began a tale old as time.
" Kagome, listen. I know of the fight against Naraku, and I understand that the Shikon no tama has not yet been destroyed." Kagome was about to argue, but stopped short. She was right, and it would only serve to make her look like a fool if she lied.
"Child, the world is about to change. In fact, it already has. No one is spirit world thought it important to tell you, and indeed, king Yama decided that it would be best for you to undertake this journey without any divine interference. "
"King Yama? Spirit world? I thought those were myths." Kagome looked positively mystified, but she didn´t miss the hidden message in the woman´s words. Something had changed the king´s mind, and it had a lot to do with her adventures now nearly two years ago, with Inuyasha.
" Spirit world exists, along with two other worlds, one of which you have no idea exists." Kagome narrowed her eyes, and looked perplexed. Her eyes widened, remembering the battle against Sorunga, and the night when Miroku spoke of three worlds. Spirit world, she reasoned, must be heaven. And earth, the second world.
"Do you mean hell?" Kagome raised a brow, confused. The woman shook her head.
"It might look like hell, to some. It is the home of all things demon, after all." Kagome gasped now.
"A world of demons?" Something flashed in the womans´eyes, and she nodded.
"precisely." She paused, waiting for the information to sink in, but not cause panic just yet. " Don´t you ever wonder why there is not demon energy to be felt in the world of the living now, Kagome?" the girl in question blinked, and answered,
"I always assumed that the world would someday cleanse itself of demons somehow, and so their entire race would die, or they would simply be killed off as humanity expanded. I never... I never even thought to ask... I-"
"Thought to evade this truth. You planned to go back in time, rather than face his demise, and the demise of all demons, in this world. It is the one true regret you´ve ever had. Being unable to save the good demons from their inevitable fate." the words were not accusatory, but rang true all the same.
Unbidden, tears began to fall from Kagome´s eyes. Every night since the battle had been won, she dreamt of them. Sessoumaru, and Jaken, killed without mercy in a world that no longer held a place for them. Shippo, who she could not deny loving like a son, dying perhaps in his sleep, his face still that of a young boy´s. Every good demon that had crossed her path during her adventures in the feudal era, gone. Kagome couldn´t call them all innocent, but theirs was a fate she did not relish knowing about, unable to warn them, because not even she herself, a denizen of this new era, knew what had gone wrong.
"kagome. There is a new world, for demons. There they live by their own rules, and die by the same. It is a harsh life, but life nonetheless. The reason you can´t feel any energy is because of two things. You were not meant to sense these energies, and of course, the time you live in has sealed off access to this demon world. You are powerful, dearest. But that potential has not been reached yet, and I fear it may be too late to bring about the change that gives the earth a standing chance."
"Why are you telling me this? Inuyasha and I are done fighting, we want to live in peace. Even Miroku has settled down now, and Sango has given up her demon hunting to become a mother. " she sighed heavily, rubbing her lower stomach. Had she been perhaps braver, more reckless... She too, would be bearing the children of the man she loved now. the woman´s eyes softened.
"This Inuyasha, you love him, don´t you? despite the fact that he is half demon?" Kagome nodded, rubbing the tears from her eyes gently, but staring back fiercely at the woman in front of her. "Good. Then you must listen! the world will fall into chaos soon, and you have only two years to get ready for it. I know you don´t want to fight, and that you all narrowly escaped with your lives when you beat Naraku. But Kagome if you don´t fight, you might never find out the truth about yourself. Why do you think I reseble your father? Why do you think you posess this spiritul energy, like no one else´s in over 100 years? There is much about the demon world, and spiritual world, you don´t know. There are things even they don´t know, and that is why it is I who is warning you."
"And what if I accept this fight? Who is going to back me up now that Sango and Miroku will be-" She didn´t let herself finish that sentence.
" All in due time. Accept and you will come to know the people you will work with, to bring peace. Refuse, and this door of oportunity shuts, along with a chance to live by Inuyasha´s side, forever." Kagome´s eyes widened to an impossible degree. To fight in a battle she wasn´t sure was even hers, and risk the lives of those she loved, or return to a life of peace, and live this brief moment of respite from mortal doom. Kagome clenched her fists, shutting her eyes to this strange field, and the woman in front of her, whose name she didn´t even know, and who was already tugging on the strings of her too-noble heart. She bit out,
"And when do I have to give you an answer?" The woman across from her smiled.
" I will give you three days. Do not go back to the land of eons past just yet, Kagome. This is not Inuyasha´s battle, and you and I both know he´ll jump into the fight regardless. Let this choice be your own." Swiftly, the woman leaned across and hugged Kagome.
"Blood of my blood, second heir to Raizen, do not fear. You are stronger than I was, and surely, your love can survive this. It has to."
Kagome awoke with a start. There it was... that field again, with the celestial woman and her warning of the future. She had been in those fields the night she had first dreamt of his face, her one true love. He had come to her in human form that time, and she had been so young she had hardly recognized him for who he would turn out to be: Inuyasha, half dog demon. She had dreamt of a woman like that before, but she was much younger... Three days after her father´s death, her mother had left with relatives in the nearby city, and Kagome had been "tooo young" to accompany her. Apparently there was bad blood between the families that grew to make the higurashi household and the mysterious people that were all related to her father. Grandpa had been tending to matters of the shrine when the house caught fire. Kagome was often retold the story of her miraculous escape, how she had carried Souta from his room all the way outside of the house, without so much as a scratch on her. Her miko powers, still dormant, had awakened in the face of danger to protect herself and her sibling from the fire.
When Kagome fell asleep that night, she dreamt of this woman, who held her softly while she cried and cried for her late father. The woman rubbed her back in small, delicate circles and told her to be strong. Kagome had always thought those were simply miracles and the woman, perhaps a guardian angel. Now that she thought back on it, it was quite possible that the woman, apparently related to her father, had sensed her powers that night, and had visited to see what sort of power could be held by a small child.
It would seem then, that the plot would only thicken from here on out. Kagome sighed, feeling tired, though she´d slept for the entire duration of the night.
"Miroku is level headed, sometimes... What would he do if he were in my position?" Thinking of Miroku meant thoughts of Sango were never too far, and the miko found herself wishing to hear their voices again, their laughter... that specific smacking sound that came from Sango slapping the pervert that Miroku and his ever wandering hand could be. Her heart began to ache, and Kagome doubled over, clutching at her chest. Gods, it hurt. Being separated from the people she had come to know and love like siblings was often hard to handle, and at times like these, almost unbearable. Kagome closed her eyes and focused her miko energy and waited for the pain to subside a bit, before straightening up to face her bedroom window, and the sunrise.
elsewhere...
"It certainly isn´t my place to judge. Hiei-" a soft, nearly femenine voice gave form to taboo words. The demon next to him wouldn´t allow him to finish.
"Then don´t say anything." This voice, thought not deep, was cold and rather harsh. Fitting for the bastard child of an ice apparition. His eyes were pure fire though, as he stared down the human form of the legendary demon fox, Yoko Kurama.
"But I have to! You can´t just expect for her to give up, can you?" Hiei growled, but otherwise stayed silent. " Hiei, she will eventually find out the truth, and when she does, be sure that the damage you´ve done by withholding this information will drive a wedge between you both. " Hiei scoffed and crossed his arms, leaning against a tree. They were both in a nearby forest, their first night of rest since rescuing Yukina, and already Kurama was talking about the decision Hiei had apparently made on not telling the fragile ice apparition who he really was. The entire idea seemed ludicrous, and Kurama was willing to talk it over just once more with Hiei, to see if he could change the stubborn demon´s mind.
You´re a lot more like Yusuke than you think, Hiei. The way Hiei was looking at him now, Kurama was glad that the fire demon was not a mind-reader.
"I can´t tell her, Kurama. Even if I wanted to, I gave my word not to, and that´s just how it must be." Kurama raised an elegant brow at this, pondering the meaning behind Hiei´s words. Hiei scoffed "Damn fox, weasling this much information out of me." By the time said fox could blink, Hiei was dashing toward a clearing up ahead, leaving Kurama alone with his thoughts once more.
"Well what´s his deal, anyway." A voice, rough and familiar, spoke behind Kurama. The fox demon tried not to look surprised.
"Yusuke." He turned now, surveying his friend. Indeed, after saving his life a good number of times since first meeting the spirit detective, Kurama was nearly certain that what Yusuke had with him was friendship. It felt good to think of it like that, instead of being the fox demon coerced into working below Koenma in an attempt to clear his name of pervious charges.
"Yeah, that´s my name, man. What the hell do you think Hiei´s thinkin´?" the young man stretched, tugging his arms above his head and arching a back that had crashed into more than its fair share of walls in this last mission. It was thanks to his spirit energy that Yusuke could heal so fast. At least, it was the only explanation anyone could come up with. Kurama paused now, unsure of what to say. Yusuke was no Kuwabara, and a white lie might not get him too far this time. He sighed, and said,
"I suppose he´s thinking that his decision is for the best, and no one should interfere." Yusuke scoffed, leaning against a tree.
" The hell does he know about what´s best for her? She´s been living in a freakin room for over a year, and he´s just now getting around to fucking rescue her." A sharp look from Kurama had Yusuke scrambling to explain
"Hey man, he could have told us all what was going on and we´d have helped him out, but the guy had to be stubborn about it, trying to get here on his own." Kurama blinked, only slightly surprised that Yusuke could analyze the situation this well. It appeared as though his analytical fighting style also meant he could deduce many things from events, as well. Spirit Dectective indeed, he thought.
"I suppose you´re right, Yusuke, but he´ll never let us get close enough to talk to him about it. If we can´t change his mind, we´ll just have to let Yukina-san find out on her own." Crossing his arms, the spirit detective nodded, thinking seriously. Just as Kurama was about to change the subject, Yusuke spoke.
"H- hey Kurama?" It was the first time the fox demon had ever heard the boy stutter, and it brought out a nearly painful curiosity from the fox. He tried not to let it show on his face.
"Yes, Yusuke?" Yusuke was looking at the ground now, his cheeks tinged with pink. He began slowly,
" Well, uh... I´m kinda not sure how to ask you this, man, but-" Kurama raised an incredulous brow. What was going on here? "Well, uh.." he scratched his nose now, in an attempt to look nonchalant. " Look." he dropped his hand, dead serious now.
"I had this freaky dream about a girl." Kurama blinked once. twice. And promptly burst out in laughter.
"Why Yusuke, that´s a normal part of growing up!" Yusuke turned bright red at those words and yelled out,
"Dumbass! Not those kinda dreams! I mean a really weird one, that I haven´t had before. It- " he paused, remembering "It felt different. Like, real somehow." Kurama chuckled, but kept quiet as his teammate continued.
" This girl, she... she looked a lot like me, and the weird part is, she... well she was living in the past. " Kurama looked perplexed. How was this a weird dream?
" She was wearing a school uniform in the past, like.. like the feudal era or something, and she was battling demons like no one´s business. There was something about her, Kurama. I can´t place it, but she´s important. I... I think she´s related to my dad or something. She has his eyes. " Kurama had never seen Yusuke so serious, and he didn´t want to burst this boy´s bubble just yet. After all, what were dreams, anyway? Not all of them were premonitions of the future. But the spirit detective wouldn´t have come to him merely to talk about it, if he hadn´t discarded this possibility already. He ventured to ask anyway,
"What makes you think this girl is real, Yusuke?" Yusuke clenched his fist, and said,
" Because. I´ve dreamt of her before, when I was younger." Yusuke chose this moment to look into the eyes of his friend. "She was encased in the brightest light i´ve ever seen, she was glowing. Kinda like when I fire my spirit gun, but... different. She was running down the stairs, carrying a baby. Everything else was on fire, and i´ve been thinking. Something like that happened the night I saved Kuawabara and Keiko from the fire as well." Now Kurama understood. he´d been told about that paticular night a few months ago, when Yusuke had finally explained why Koenma had hired him as the spirit detective of earth. If the same energy was emitted from this girl, then it would mean there was someone with Yusuke´s powers out there in the world. a plausible enough thought.
"And so you think this girl exists... Well, why are you telling me this, Yusuke? couldn´t you ask Koenma if there was a girl with those same talents living somewhere in japan?" Yusuke frowned.
"What makes you so sure he´ll be honest about it? He lied to Hiei about this mission, what´s to say he´s not gonna lie about this, too?" Kurama had already known of the prince´s habit of operating on a need to know basis, but he hadn´t considered that the spirit detective would know this, as well. It seemed as if he´d greatly underestimated Yusuke.
" You´re right, Yusuke. There has to be a reason you´ve now dreamt of her, after the battle you just went through. We´ll ask Genkai about it later, if you´d like." Yusuke smiled, glad he´d come to the fox demon for help.
"Thanks man, Knew you wouldn´t think I was crazy! Just don´t tell anyone about this, all right?" Kurama nodded, and smiled back. It was a strange situation indeed, but something was telling Kurama to go along with it, for now. After all, what harm could it possibly do?
A/N: and well that´s all i´ve got so far. I´ve noticed that a lot of Yu yu Hakusho and Inuyasha stories are poorly written, and I truly hope that won´t be the case for this story, though it may go slowly. review if you´d like a new chapter!