A/N: Hey, this is the revamped version. Please R&R, Please enjoy. In this AU – the earth is basically made up of only Japan. Just Japan – this is a JJAU.
Words: over 4500.
Barrier Between Two Worlds:
Chpt 1;
Birth, Awake, Knowledge.
He stood there and stared at the hanyou, trapped upon the tree, as if only sleeping. And if any of the palace workers were to wonder upon him they would think this reminder of his brother's fate had absolutely no effect upon him. And though they would hope it did they would hope even greater that the princes would soon awaken.
'Idiot.' Sesshomaru couldn't help but thinking. 'Leave it to you to get yourself stuck to a tree.' Sesshomaru shook his head in disgust and disdain. 'Pathetic, Inuyasha.'
There was a battle within him as conflicting emotions warred for dominance over him, but he acknowledged only the anger. None of it showed. There were that and many more yet none of it showed.
Sesshomaru's gaze moved from the young prince's peaceful face onto the monk statue sitting at the base of the god tree. The statue sat cross-legged at Inuyasha's feet in a meditative lotus form, head slightly bowed as if in prayer to the eternal makers. The statue was hard and cool to the touch as all statues were meant to be; however, the details were too finely formed for even the touches of a master youkai statue maker. They did say the gods were the best sculptors and this proved what the statue really was.
He looked back at his brother.
A flash of memory from fifty years ago shrouded his vision for a mere second. "Your Highness, Prince Inuyasha and Prince Miroku are trapped at the Goshinboku tree." The informant stammered out. The memory dissipated as quickly as it came.
Suddenly the arrow in his brother's chest dissipated into pink dust, a small force field like energy radiating outward from there, a baby's first breathing cry filling his ears. A small and imperceptible sound really; but to his ears it was monumental.
Sesshomaru wondered what this could possibly mean. Only a miko had the power to break his brother free, and yet the arrow had vanished without a miko present to pull it out— had that child, whose cry he'd heard the moment it happened, been the cause of it. Was it possible that…
Inuyasha's eyelid rose slowly, his golden orbs shimmering under the light of the full moon. Rising at the same pace that Miroku's now did, his (Miroku's) body losing the statuesque it had adopted 50 years ago and smiled at the brothers.
The tree's vines unwound from Inuyasha's body as if it were reluctant to let its master go. He scowled as his gaze passed over his brother's form to land on the now standing monk. His eyes assessed Miroku trying to understand all that was happening, as he fought down the rising emotions brought on by his last memory. Kikyo. He looked at his brother, confused.
"Sess—homaru?" Inuyasha breathed as he dropped down to his feet. Sesshomaru could hear all that his brother asked him in the quiet murmur of his name. He turned away.
He'd been waiting fifty years for this; fifty long years for a miko to be born again to the Western lands. A miko strong enough that would be able to bring his brother back to him, bring them both back to him and under his watchful gaze where they belonged.
"Both of you – come."
~`~`~`~`~`~`approximately 16 years later`~`~`~`~`~`~
"You won't get this even if you succeed in killing me."
"I will get what it is I was sent to acquire, Elemental," The demon snarled at the weakened woman. "And that jewel does not belong to you."
"Neither does it belong to you or your masters."
"We will see about that. I will get it from you, wench."
"All I need to do is keep this out of your rotten claws as long as I can." He charged at her striking for her stomach. She jumped away from his attack glimpsing the village lights, from her aerial view, many miles away. Her energy pulsed within her, she could feel the jewel sapping at her core in order to travel to its rightful owner.
The demon lodged its hand elbow deep into her body a second after she released the jewel from her grasp. She held on to his arm and pulled his hand further into her body to better trap him to her the instant he saw the jewel's descent. Effectively preventing him from going after it. Her life was fading away as was her hold on the now viciously struggling youkai. He'd been more powerful than anticipated, but her aim hadn't been to kill him anyway, but to ensure that he wouldn't get what he wanted from her. The jewel would disappear in a moment and all she had to do was prevent her enemy from touching it and learning the location of the Shouri.
With the jewel's sudden disappearance she saw the baby child with its parents and their identities startled her. 'How will the child's circumstances help its people?... Such irony.' The dying woman wondered looking at the child lying beside its twin.
The war had gone on long enough. They needed this child's influence immediately when she was old enough, not her marriage.
The now grown child shot out of bed, the jewel shining in the night from its place around her neck. She shook her head trying in vain to clear the dream's fog from her mind. She had seen that woman many times in her dreams throughout her life usually never remembering them when she woke. She had come to realize that it was the jewel's doing as what she likes to think as some sort of training, as most of the dreams involved fighting whether in battle or practice.
She got shakily to her feet, the dream still foremost in her mind. This new version dream kept coming back to her more and more, however, and she really didn't understand why. It didn't make any sense at all.
She sighed and tapped the jewel which hung around her neck. "What do you want from me?" she whispered as she looked up at the moon. The last time she had done that it had told her to find a miko, a particular miko, and she had, but she missed home. She missed her brothers. But she would miss Kagome and Sango and their family when she returned home, she had learned to like them, to love them in the days she had been allowed to live with them. But it was over a month now and her family would not be pleased or even forgiving in the slightest.
She would like to stay longer but she wanted home, yearned for it. She had never been this far and this long away from her brothers and the disconnection affected her the longer she stayed away. 'Please forgive me.'
She stepped onto the window sill in a crouch. She looked at the horizon and judged a two-hour time period before the sun would rise and jumped out the window. 'Maybe a nighttime run would help to dispel my homesickness.'
Never taking note of the person who watched her leave and then return as the blazing sun made its appearance over the hills.
…
…
…
"Boys! Get down here and help grandpa in the yard before breakfast." Mrs. Higurashi shouted up the stairs from the kitchen. Five minutes later two boys trod groggily from their rooms and out the door.
After breakfast was prepared she went upstairs. She peered into the first room. "Oh Sango, you're already awake, good. Hurry down, I'll get the other two ready." She moved on to the next room but found it empty. 'Hmm, up already, I see. Maybe she's helping the guys.' She moved on to the last room and walked over to the bed. "Kagome, dear; wake up honey."
The girl pushed up off the bed and smiled at her mother. "Hey, mom, good morning."
"Get ready and come down to eat, ok." Her mother said before exiting the room.
The Second Queen Izayoi swept into the room and sat at the head of the low table that was placed in the centre of the room, denoting her place as head of the Royal Family. With such thoughts in mind she looked silently at the young youkai standing quietly awaiting everyone else's arrival to the late night meeting. Her gaze wondered over to the seat closest to the demon's location, at her right hand, the chair where he would soon graduate before occupying hers. She sighed, taking in his visage and wondering why so young at only over two hundred he'd take on the responsibility of ruling the Lands in the Western Kingdom. She knew he'd do a wonderful job at it; it was just too soon, why her husband had been—
"What's all this about Sesshomaru?" Inuyasha demanded as he too entered the room, a polished bowl of ramen gripped in a clawed fist.
"Don't stay out too late girls. I'm going to turn in now."
"Kay mom, we won't." Kagome called back to her mother.
"Good night." The other two said in unison as the woman turned to go back inside.
"Goodnight, dears."
After the older woman left, Kagome and Sango turned to the third in their group. "So, Kurome, what's the plan?"
The girl smiled, "You say that as if you're both involved in it. And I mean in the way that if I plan on making a journey soon I'd have two female companions with me."
"Well, of course you would, we couldn't allow you to go on your own."
"I'm a demoness, I could manage." She mock glared at them with an amused smile on her face.
"Yes, you are. It's still so strange, I mean its weird enough that my apparent spiritual power doesn't clash with your youki."
"Besides the fact I don't think it works that way; you sound almost regretful of that."
"No, no of course I'm not." Kagome laughed, her hands raised to falsify that comment. "It's just that I thought it was supposed to. After all I don't really know how to use this thing… at all, it just sort of does stuff when I least expect it, though that's just once before really."
"You mean that first time when you two met me. You didn't know it could do something like that before then, did you?" Kurome supplied.
Kagome looked pensive.
...
They sat around the fire in silence; the two of them the unspoken night watch in a camp full of girls.
"You are a miko?" One of the girls asked. She walked into the range of the fire and sat opposite them. It was the first time she'd spoken since they had saved all the girls, and they were shocked that they hadn't seen her move.
"Miko?" Kagome asked.
"You have the Shikon no tama, so that means you are a miko." They studied her for the first time, taking note of her looks, she was obviously a demoness. Her hair was long, black and shinny, it was still unruly and in disarray from when they'd first gotten to her, strands out of the low ponytail were in her face and around her shoulder, the rest that remained in the ponytail trailing far down her back. Her skin was tanned golden, they could see that even in the pale moonlight that bathed the camp in its soft glow; her eyes were big and simmering black set in a perfect face. She still had on the clothes they had found her in; sheets of white folds draped around her and swallowing her smaller form.
"Well if you're so sure why do you have to ask?" Sango queried, doubting the demoness' words herself.
The girl just looked at her, her dark eyes expressing nothing, and then she shrugged. "I've never met a miko before, and though I'd like to think I know one when I see them, it never hurts to get a confirmation."
Sango crossed over to the girl's side, "What's your name?"
"Kurome." [A/N: Her name is pronounced fast with a short roll of the 'r']
"Kurome, why do you think I'm a miko?" Kagome asked.
"Because you have the sacred jewel and I felt its power earlier."
"Soo," Sango said, "Once you have the sacred jewel, you're a miko?"
"No, but I also felt her spiritual energy when she used the jewel. At any rate only a miko can use the Shikon jewel, a miko or a youkai."
"How do you know it's called um, the Shikon jewel?"
"The same way I'm sure that you are a miko. I read about it."
"What have you read?"
"Many things."
"What do you know about this?" Kagome held up the pink jewel.
The youkai decided to make an observation than answer Kagome's question. "I feel neither the jewel's energy nor yours. You are a very powerful miko, Kagome."
"How do you know my name?" The youkai shrugged and looked at the jewel in her hands. She really didn't know how, but maybe it was—
"What is the name of your jewel? And how can not feeling my energy mean I'm powerful?"
The demoness seemed hesitant to answer either question, "It is called the Seifuku. I know you possess power and since I cannot feel it and from your ignorance you are sub-consciously shielding it which takes great skill…or in your case – power, to accomplice." She looked at Sango. "What is your name?"
"Sango."
"It is very nice to meet the two of you. And thank you for your help."
...
"No I didn't know. Do you know that's proof that you can't make the journey to the north by yourself? But yes, like that time we first met you; or to be truthful of the actual event, saved you." Kagome said when her mind wondered back to the present.
"I made it fine to the Western lands on my own, didn't I? And now I'll just be even more careful now that I know some more of the things I can get myself into."
"Well, we know some of the stuff now too. And you're not going by yourself regardless of what you think, demons can die too, I should know I'm a professional." Sango added.
Kurome scoffed, "Yeah, a one time experience tells you all that."
"I realize I don't even know if you know anything more about the Shikon jewel. And for the past week when I'm about to bring it up something always comes up."
Kurome was silent for a moment, and then she looked up to the sky her rarely unbound hair disturbed by the wind and hid her face from the others. "I know quite a lot, no wait not a lot, but enough I suppose, I mean compared to you. I had just assumed you didn't want to know much more about it or at least you though I didn't know anymore and I really didn't want to bring it up. It's strange, where I'm from there are no mikos, and this land should be crawling with them. And yet it is I who knows the most about you."
"You think you can tell us more about Kagome's jewel?" Sango asked moving closer.
"Not a lot." Kurome quickly intoned. "I mean I know I said 'a lot' at first – but – well, never mind."
"Just tell us what you know." Sango urged. "For two years now she's had it and we all kept it a secret, not knowing anything about it, except that it may be the reason Mistress Centipede attacked when we were fifteen."
"All that time it had been inside me and I hadn't known. If you hadn't seen it and told us the things you did we wouldn't have known anything. And everything else just sorta happened and caused it to be pushed back most of the time, how we usually keep it anyway." Kagome shrugged, "Die hard habits, I suppose. Besides we decided that we weren't gonna talk about it till a sufficient amount of time had passed so you wouldn't have to relive the incident too soon."
"Well, that was thoughtful of you… unnecessary but thoughtful. So thank you, I suppose."
"So what can you tell us then?" Kagome went on.
"Well, I know it's also called the jewel of four souls."
"Why?" Kagome asked confused as she stared at the pink luminescent jewel.
Kurome shrugged. "That I'm not so sure about. I do know it's a concentrated source of spiritual energy and a Miko's strongest weapon though it's only ever been one jewel in existence, so I suppose it was always entrusted in only one Miko's care at a time. In the North there are no Mikos, but now I know that there are none here too. I mean there are some village priestess and monks here but no Miko's; no village priestesses with enough spiritual powers to be called 'Miko'. It's really sad, though rogue demons, bandits and lawless youkais really like that. It was a job of the Mikos and the Taijihas to eradicate demonic beings and the like; and they were good at it. Of course they had other duties too."
"So, you're saying that I'm the only miko you've come across." Kagome queried slowly. "In both Kingdoms?"
Kurome nodded. "And quite possibly the only one alive. Trust me; I've travelled all over the Northern Empire and enough of the Western Lands to know."
"You know about the Taijihas?" Sango questioned next.
"Yes, that is the name of the people belonging to these legendary Demon exterminator clans; definitely human with – everyone in the North knows them." Kurome's eyes narrowed, "Why do you ask?" she questioned her curiously, effectively covering up the cut flow of information on the Taijihas.
Sango shrugged, "Just tell us more."
"Well, they are these fierce and wonderful warriors loyal to the crown of the land they call home and to their fellow clans of their kind. That's strange since the throne is always occupied by a youkai and their main expertise is hunting demons and youkai. The renegade ones, of course. Though there aren't any Taijihas in the Western lands, there are many clans in the North. No, I heard they were here too, but from what I've gathered they aren't anymore." A strange sort of sadness came into Kurome's eyes and another emotion they couldn't describe. "They have an extensive knowledge of demons. You know it's very strange, the Mikos and the Taijihas are both missing from the Western Kingdom, and the Mikos are missing from the North, but like the Taijihas you'd expect the Mikos here at least, since Taijihas remain in the North." Her voice had been spinning the tail in a wonderful way and so far they liked what they were hearing. They were intrigued by it, but at her last comment Sango froze. "Something, my dear friends, may seriously be wrong here."
Sango was trying to decide what she was going to ask next. Kagome spoke up first.
"What else can you tell us?"
"Well, I never got to read up on much though I do know how you can find out more – a proper teacher." Kurome paused in thought, and then said decisively, "I think you should learn more about your heritage. Kagome it's dangerous not to know what your legacy is, what you possess, and what you've been entrusted with."
"Maybe you could tell us about yours, maybe they're linked." Sango suggested though she really wanted to hear more about the Taijihas.
"Hmm, I— well, I don't think they're really connected at all, though it is possible, I suppose."
"Well, why not. It engaged the Shikon jewel and caused it to return the souls of the girls before they could pass over and die." Kagome argued.
"Yes, true but it was still the Shikon jewel that did that not the Seifuku, it only, as you said, stimulated it to do something it could already do, something you have the power to let it do. All you need is to learn how."
"She's right Kagome, the more and more we talk about this the more apparent it is for you to get a teacher. It's something we've known for awhile now."
"Well, if you haven't noticed the whole Kingdom is short on Mikos. There are no High Priestesses in either this Kingdom or in the North and I highly doubt we'd find any in the East or South either, don't you understand that?" Kagome's voice rose slightly in anger. Her sudden anger and agitation had taken both her and the other girls watching by surprise. Sango looked away and the girls fell into silence. Kurome looked at them in puzzlement.
"Sorry." Kagome muttered apologetically.
"No, its ok, we understand. I mean, to be the only one of your kind around and having to hide it because of what it could mean for you and your family. And then the total unexpectedness of it all, you had just turned fifteen when you found out after all." Kurome assured, but Sango still looked away seemingly affected even more by Kurome's statement and Kagome didn't lift her head. "And then a week ago some youkai's told you some pretty heavy things. Telling you that you are something that has been out of existence for quite some time," Kagome looked uncertain, Maybe Kurome was wrong about her, "but I am sure, Kagome."
"Kagome." Sango began after awhile, and then faltered; she didn't want to psych her friend out further. The slightly crestfallen girl looked up at Sango; her chocolate eyes wide and apologetic. Sango tried again. "Kagome, I think the jewel attracts demons."
Taking Sango's cue, Kagome replied, "What do you mean?"
When Sango said no more and looked to Kurome for confirmation, she complied and spoke up. "Well, you see, that was a proposed though strongly believed theory, I wasn't able to continue reading to see if it was proven true or not. But from what I heard about your fifteenth birthday it is true. This means that you are somehow suppressing the jewel's powers with your own, which must mean you're even more powerful than we think. But I don't think you'd be able to keep this up for long especially with my jewel's interference that one time, I mean who knows, your jewel isn't the only unpredictable gem around here." All three of them looked at the green jewel now hanging in plain sight around Kurome's neck.
It wasn't that Kagome hadn't believed Sango when she'd first said it; it was just that she didn't know how the older girl had come to that conclusion. Now she wanted to find a teacher, any teacher, she was determined to. There had to be someone, even a scroll, or book. She was going to learn. She'd looked away at first feeling bad about what had happened a moment ago, hoping Kurome hadn't noticed but then she turned back and faced them. Her chocolate eyes were bright and dancing, determination swimming in their de
"Soo," Kagome trailed off. "Maybe we could come back with you."
"I'm sorry, Kagome, but I can't take you back with me. Besides, if you're going to find a teacher its best you look here."
"Why not?" Sango asked. "You said there were no miko here."
"I also said there was none there. Trust me, if you come back with me, we'd all be in a lot of trouble, I sneaked out here, sneaking back in is different, a whole other story all together. Besides, I don't know how the barrier will react with a miko going through it."
"I'm sure if can be done, don't you?" Kagome implored. Something shone in Kurome's eyes and she remained silent for awhile.
"I don't know." She replied feebly, "I really don't want to try."
"So you just don't want us with you." Kagome asked, her head tilting to the side.
"No, it's not that."
"Well, we—I really want to find out more."
"There's really not much there for you to find." Kurome stressed to the girl.
"How sure are you of that fact? Let us come, I'm sure we'll find something we're looking for. Plus, you at least have books." Kagome persisted. Sango saw where Kagome was going with this, she was doing it for her, and she could tell Kagome believed Kurome about her chances of finding a teacher but for Sango, the North held some pretty prospects. "Didn't you come here looking for something and nothing stopped you from coming even though no one from your side has been on this side of the barrier for centuries. That didn't stop you. You didn't find what you were looking for and you don't seem regretful for coming."
"Ah, I guess, I should have said something earlier, huh?" Kurome said pensively, softly. She stood up and walked a little away from them. She turned slightly so that they only saw her profile. "Truth is I've found what I came here looking for …a Miko."
"What?" The two girls exclaimed.
"The jewel showed me a foggy picture of you. It wasn't until you found me that I realized who it had shown me was you. And that you were a miko that I figured out why. Though actually I figured that part only last night before going to bed or during sleep, whichever, I don't know. I only know that it's because you're a miko, I can't figure if there's anything more."
"See, so why deny us—me?"
"Does this have something to do with earlier in the conversation? With why your statement and then mine affected Sango like it did." Kurome asked.
Sango and Kagome looked at each other. They opened their mouths, but Kurome beat them to it, "Its ok." She said softly and quietly. "When you're ready you'll say what you wish to say. There's no rush, whatever it is, it's yours to keep but me –"
"We know a lot about you already, considering." Sango cut in. "Like you have brothers… you're a girl," they smiled at that. "I mean, you telling us where you're from is a big deal apparently. It's a secret I know you wanted to keep. You've got to be like the first to come here in centuries. People don't even believe there's a kingdom over those mountains. To them, nothing exist over those mountains, no one even wants to go there."
But it was the truth for them; Kurome was from the Northern Kingdom. A place Kagome thought hadn't existed for a long time, if it ever had were the thoughts of many…there was nothing beyond those mountains, no Kingdom, no Barrier; that's what everyone had been saying (when they did speak of it which was rarely) because that was what everyone believed. But she knew Kurome wouldn't lie, so Kagome knew they could believe her.
The smile slipped from Kagome's face. Kurome would have to return home soon and if she really did come from Naurasia (the Northern Kingdom) then she would be gone...forever, even if they accompanied her, it wouldn't be for long. But there was no other option; should she stay, her origins would be discovered and the rest of the world—including their own Monarchy of the Western Kingdom—should not know of Kurome's existence, her Northern heritage. It would mean that people would try to find ways to pass through the Barrier. That could not and should not happen (they didn't care why it was so, it just was). Kagome and Sango wouldn't allow it.
"Well, that's another reason you can't come with me. It's not the same over there, they know everyone else exists. This side doesn't realize when someone shows up because 'they don't exist', but they do."
"How'd you get through?"
"Well, I am a superior being, you know." She said straight faced, her voice giving nothing away.
"Ha-Ha." Kagome mocked, "I can't sense your demonic aura. I've been trying to do what you told me and I don't get anything."
Kurome shrugged, "My demonic aura is shrouded at times, like it's been since coming here. It's worked for me so…" She left the statement hanging.
A/N:
Kaede isn't dying or anything like that, by the way. It's just that she's old, so logically she is going to die sooner rather than later.
By the way, when Inuyasha asked if Sesshomaru knew about her he meant her identity, or location or both, he knows he knows of her, he was, after all, the first to see Inuyasha awaken.
Because of the Seifuku – the green jewel around Kurome's neck – her demonic energy isn't easily detected. 'Kurome' is not pronounced like 'Kagome', the 'ro' in Kurome has a short pronunciation unlike the 'go' in Kagome. Therefore, the 'ro' is NOT pronounced 'row'.
Solareclipse…
… Out
Actually people I'm gonna have a name change…to...o0Che0o
I'm gonna sign off with it in my other chapters; but I'm gonna have maybe a two chpt-warning then I change it officially for my author's name. So…Watch out!