Disclaimer: I own nada
Pairings: Levi x Kagome
Warning: a lot of time skipping (months wise) Not over a year though
Notes: I personally didn't like this chapter, at all. It needed to be done though, to get the beginning started.
Flames: Leave them out on the streets when you step through my door. Don't like, don't read, go write your own
A Step from Freedom: Chapter Two
There was a breach within the walls that were wished into existence. A breech that nullified the Miko's wish for them to keep humans safe and sent splinters throughout the crystal coffin. The Jewel pulsed again, anger seeping from it as it felt the Miko stir.
If only the walls had stayed untouched, then she wouldn't have been let out at all. It didn't matter that there were three walls, she had made it clear that she wanted Walls to keep humans and Youkai safe.
Though, the Jewel had been deceitful.
It would have kept Kagome in a deep sleep for eternity if the walls had been unscathed.
Splinters twisted and turned, creating a spider web across the crystal before the sound split the air. It sounded like ice snapping under pressure. The sound though, startled everyone that was in the vicinity, their eye darting towards the splintering crystal.
A cry of despair could be heard, worried for their Legend that was preserved within the crystal.
Chunks fell from the form and shattered upon the ground.
"My Lord, please stay back!" Someone shouted, a hand grasping the man's arm to keep his Lord away from the breaking figure.
"That's been here before the making of the walls!"
He could feel the heat creeping up his neck, his hands becoming clammy as he took in the breaking figurine. It had been there since he was but a child. He grew up hearing words about the girl, constant praises for their savior, and his obsession took root until he had all but denied people from even stepping within ten feet of it.
To think that this Legend was going to shatter before him.
Light spilled from the cracks, slowly crawling and filling the spider web pattern before lighting up the girl within it. The blinding light caused the King and his servants to gasp, hands coming up to block out the blinding light.
Crystal fell and shattered before it burst into dust. A gasp was heard, air filling lungs that hadn't taken a breath in over a hundred years and the Shikon Miko's eyes flew open as powdered crystal exploded from around her.
Legs unable to hold her up, she collapsed to the ground, eyes wide and searching as she took in the changes of the room. It felt like mere hours after she had just battled those beasts, but she remembered the Jewels whisper, its punishment.
Kagome could never forget what she had wished for and the darkness that stretched on and on in those years that passed by.
It was the tightening of her left hand that she felt the jewel press into her palm. Her hand clenched around it even tighter as she glowered darkly. It just wouldn't leave her alone.
Her mind though, was in turmoil from being kept away from the living world for so long.
Were those beasts gone?
Had Sesshoumaru taken care of them?
Who were these people?
What was going on?
Voices filled her ears and Kagome found her blue eyes shifting towards the people that were speaking.
She didn't fully understand them.
Had people from other places seek out the walls, creating this combination of a mixed language?
Opening her mouth, arms trembling as she searched for anything familiar, she couldn't help but feel out of place, alone and lost. Her heart was beating frantically as she wondered exactly what her position was with these people.
Would they harm her?
Fear for the unknown was a deadly thing.
Fur brushed against her and the mewl that left the creature told Kagome that it was Kirara.
She had survived?
Her heart dropped at the thought of her lost friends. Even having rested for so long, she had not yet had the chance to grieve. Her heart ached, recalling memories of everything she'd gone through.
"…Who…that's not possible…" a voice pierced the tension within the room.
Kagome found her head whipping in that direction, her eyes wide as she took in the short person before her. Mouth opening, she found words slipping out before her throat gave way and caused her to start coughing. She was so thirsty and tired and miserable.
Tears welled within her eyes and she finally burst out crying. She didn't know what to do, how to feel, she was so confused! Kirara mewled and people scrambled, pushing against one another as they backed away from the girl. They didn't know what to think of the girl that had been in crystal since before they were born.
"How, how are you alive?" the King whispered, his voice cracking as he looked at the fallen figure upon the floor, her arms wrapped tightly around the odd cat. His obsession was alive, but how?
Could it be that she was freed to save them?
No, he wouldn't let her go. She was his!
The crystal made no difference. She was his and he would not allow her to learn of the outside world. He would not allow the girl to leave the palace. He would not let the Titans take her away.
This young woman would forever be locked away within his home.
Oooo
Kagome had been fed, bathed, and clothed before being placed within a very extravagant room. She hated it.
Dressed like a doll. Hair pulled up in a beautiful form, bangs and two long strands framing her face. A frown tugged at her face. Nothing they said seemed to seep through. Kagome understood a very small bit, Japanese having been merged with the new language.
It had frightened her when she had been taken to this room, worried about her safety, but she could feel, in the aura's that surrounded them, that most of them were fearful of her as well. At least there was no outright malice.
Kirara was sitting in her lap, Kagome's left hand running through her fur as she rolled the pink jewel between her thumb and fingers in her right.
She had kept it hidden from everyone around her. There was no possible way that she would let them lay a hand on the jewel.
Even with the wish gone, it still held an immense amount of power. Something that she could literally feel seeping off of it.
Her weapons had been stripped and placed somewhere unknown as well, which had left the girl nervous.
"What has happened, Kirara? How much has changed girl?" she found herself whispering, eyes looking towards the window and only finding a large garden outside.
Kagome knew she was being kept away from everyone. It was obvious with that man that seemed to be in charge of everyone. He had said something and the servants had all scampered away, only a couple of the female workers staying to get her cleaned.
At first Kagome had backed away, knowing that even though it was Sesshoumaru's castle, too much had changed.
Where was Sesshoumaru?
Her heart stopped at the thought. Had he fallen to the Giants as well? An Inu Lord of all things? Sesshoumaru wasn't someone to be brought down by creatures he towered over in his full form.
Kagome took in a deep breath, her aura surging from her small body and searching for anything that would give her a clue of what was going on. Life forms and plant life brushed her senses, but Kagome could not find a single Youkai aura. Her heart stalled and her breath quickened.
Kirara was the only one she could feel.
'No…' her mind whispered, thoughts jumping to Koga, Sesshoumaru, and everyone else that she could think of. Something solid settled in her stomach and Kagome had to shove Kirara off her lap before she was in the bathroom, stomach heaving up the food she just ate.
Tears slipped down her face and her hands trembled as she finally let herself grieve for those lost and for her confusion.
Why were there no other Youkai?
She was so lost.
Kirara sat before the bathroom, eyes watching the distraught girl. Her two tails flicked back and forth as her ears drooped. Everything had been torn away from them, and in a place where they were locked up for some reason, it made it all the worse.
Oooo
The man that kept her away from everyone happened to be the King.
Kagome had found that out by the way people acted around him and listened. He had an air of Authority and arrogance that made her nose scrunch up in dislike. His eyes were always on her as well, which had the Miko adverting her gaze and shivering in disgust. She knew that look all too well.
Hojo had looked at her like that, but not as strongly as this man.
Days had passed since she had awakened and Kagome could only sit at a table with material that was teaching her the language. It was the only thing to do to keep her busy.
She shifted uncomfortably in her chair, flipping to another page as Kirara lay upon the table, eyes half closed as her tails lazily moved up and down. Kagome hated that she was placed in such clothing. She had been fine in her Miko garb.
As for the language, with the help of a maid, she realized that it wasn't too far off from what she knew, but it would take a bit of time to learn.
The only thing that Kagome was really worried about dealt with the Giants that had invaded this world. She wanted to know everything that had happened with them. She wanted information, but nothing was given to her.
With a scowl, she found her gaze shifting towards the door to the room, locked and possibly guarded, if the two auras outside her room said anything about that.
How long did she have to bide her time, waiting for the right moment to get out of this place?
Kagome wasn't someone that could sit back and let people get hurt if those beasts were still out there.
Oooo
Weeks turned into months and Kagome had gotten her first look at the Police force that were within the palace.
She had been seated beside the King, watching people come and go on a daily basis, Lords and Ladies flirting and making her sick.
Were they safe from the giants, was that why they were the way they were?
That thought had been placed in the back of her mind as she kept watch. It wasn't until a group of people dressed in a way that she hadn't seen so far that caught her attention.
"Who are they?" she questioned, her understanding of the language coming along nicely. It was clear, as she stumbled over the words that she was still learning.
The King had instantly turned his attention towards her, eyes narrowing as he motioned for the guests he was talking with, away.
"They are not of your concern." Was his simple statement and Kagome could see the sweat building up on his forehead, the way he looked away from her and tried to pretend that she hadn't asked that question.
Kagome though, would find out somehow.
It was the whispering of the maids that Kagome started to learn of things she had not had the privilege of learning. Though that was little to nothing, the Kings threats to anyone found talking about outside situations would be punished.
Oooo
The first time she had ever seen Three Dimensional gear was in the hallway of the Palace.
Kagome had been dismissed from the Kings side earlier than usual. In the past five months of being cooped up, the only outside excursions being within the garden, she had been in the Kings presence or within her room.
To see new people that were obviously from a different area and not a Lord or Lady, had sent a jolt down her spine.
Who were they and what did they do?
What was going on?
Why did those odd devices at their sides have weapons in them?
"No…" she murmured, her heart thumping heavily in her chest. Were those giants back? Did they get inside the walls?
Her maid had disappeared, leaving Kagome to follow after the people that were heading towards the King's conference room.
She had gotten within ten feet of the door before her maid found her, scolding her like a child and pulling her along with her.
Kagome could only stare at the open doorway, her blue eyes wide as she stared at it with a lost expression. All Kagome was allowed to know was the current on goings about the Lords and Ladies within this district. Never anything else.
All information in the library was forbidden to her, locked behind doors. She knew nothing and it frustrated her.
She had a garden that was filled with many different kinds of flowers, but she was never happy, knowing that people could be in need of a Miko, of a being that could heal the sick and wounded.
It was also the fact that Kagome was being kept away, in a cage that caused her blood to boil. She was not an object to keep.
Kirara mewled when she entered the room. Kirara had even less room to move around.
They didn't let Kagome take Kirara with her when she sat beside the King, their wary looks telling Kagome that they were not fond of the small Neko Youkai. Even if they didn't know what she was, they feared the girl.
Kagome frowned as she picked Kirara up. She might as well have been Rapunzel, locked away from the outside world.
Oooo
"Can I please practice archery? Please?" Kagome found herself pleading with the King. She knew he disliked her doing unnecessary things. He wanted her to look and act like a doll if he had anything to say.
Kagome though, was beyond tired of trying to gather information. No one talked in the halls about the outside world.
No one mentioned anything about the walls.
No one said a word about the giants that had appeared out of nowhere and took the people most precious to her, away.
Kirara had torn up her mattress in her room, angering the King. It wasn't her fault that the poor girl was getting cabin fever.
Kagome could feel herself wilting in this place as well.
"I am sorry, but I can't allow you to handle dangerous weapons." Was his reply and Kagome found anger seeping into her veins.
Where was Inuyasha's necklace? She seriously had the urge to strangle the King with it and 'sit' him so many times that he wouldn't be getting back up.
Her fingers twitched at that thought and she could feel her powers twisting under her skin.
This man needed to understand that she would go insane without something to occupy her time. Sitting in a bedroom and beside him was not keeping her from going crazy.
Oooo
It has almost been a year since she had awakened from the crystal coffin. Almost a year of doing literally nothing but watching people come and go from the Palace.
Kagome had learned nothing of this world.
She had learned the Language, but with everyone under orders from the King to remain silent about the outside world, she remained clueless and yearning for it.
This man would keep her forever locked away if he could.
Kagome needed to get out of there, away from this obsessed man. Kirara had taken to living out in the garden because of how bored she had been. Chasing butterflies and other kinds of bugs just to occupy her time.
How Kagome wished she could be a cat and laze around in the warm sun, free to do as she pleased.
A pang went through her heart. She missed her family, both of them, so very much.
If only she could leave. See what has become of this world.
It would be so easy to fly off on Kirara's back, but Kagome knew there would be a warrant out for her return as soon as she was found missing. No, Kagome would leave with the King knowing it. She couldn't let him control her anymore.
This confinement was slowly killing her.
Notes:
Thank you for the reviews and so on, I really do love getting reviews
I hope that this chapter sets some stuff up. I'm not just going to have Kagome wake up and go out and start kicking ass, not going to happen.
She is considered a Legend, someone that had saved Humanity. I'm playing on the Kings obsession; He wants her completely to himself, blind to the outside world and living in his palace like a prized pet.
Why don't I have her just fly off on Kirara? Well, for starters, Kagome needed to find out as much as she can and learn the language.
I did a lot of skipping around in this chapter. Why? Because I don't think you want a detailed chapter on 'Kagome did this and Kagome did that today', no, blah, no progress whatsoever.
As for flying off on Kirara, Kagome would be digging her grave. She would never see the light of day again if she were dragged back to the Palace and locked up in her bedroom. There is only so far you can go in a Titan infested world.
Anything else? Other than Hating this chapter, I can only say that eventually I'll get to some action and of course, two individuals meeting one another, but it might be a bit before that.