Kagome sat on her knees beside Keade and looked at the unusual man. He could feel her eyes on him and he couldn't take her staring any more.
"What in the hell do you want?" he asked.
Kagome flinched. "Um…I…" she fumbled with words. "I just…"
He stood. "How do you plan on getting me home?" Inuyasha looked at Keade, directing the question to her.
"Kagome told me that something told ye about the Shikon no Tama. And Kikyo. There is no way ye could know about such things if ye are not from around here. Ye could not be lying… and your face says that ye would not either. I am judging that ye are an honest person?" Keade changed the subject to try and get more information from Inuyasha.
Inuyasha looked at the old woman. How could she possibly know that? he asked himself.
Inuyasha was a very honest person. He only lied as a last resort, and this woman—not even knowing him for twenty minutes—had figured that out by looking at his face. She was very intelligent when it came to figuring people out. I bet she is very respected, he thought.
"I guess you could say that," Inuyasha finally answered.
"Do ye know what it was that spoke to ye on the other side of the well?"
"It was… a woman… I think. An old woman… at least a hundred. But she was bluish-green. Kinda like a witch…"
"It may be Kaiya," Kagome said.
"Kaiya? Who's that?" Inuyasha asked.
"Kaiya, when she was alive, was a very loving woman. She helped everyone and anyone who needed it… demon and human alike. She was the sister of another powerful miko, Midoriko. For a long time they worked together… then Midoriko died, and from her came the Shikon no Tama. Kaiya received the jewel. Then, a lowly demon found out about the Shikon. His name is Naraku. When Kaiya was still overcome by the death of her sister, he turned her sadness to anger and rage, tainting the Shikon no Tama. He then killed her, absorbed her power, making himself more powerful. The Shikon no Tama was taken from him by Kikyo, a miko herself, who was supposed to protect it. She did nothing of the kind, and promised the Shikon no Tama to any demon or human that could kill Naraku. No one could manage it. Kaiya's spirit escaped Naraku long enough to take the Shikon no Tama from Kikyo, and then she killed her. The Shikon no Tama was burned with the body of Kaiya… and Kikyo's body was burned as well. Now Naraku controls Kaiya's tainted spirit. She needs Kikyo to live again to redo what happened over fifty years ago. A part of her still wants to help people. But bringing back Kikyo will only cause harm… we cannot let that happen," Keade explained.
"So Naraku is still alive… and he has Kaiya's spirit, she wants to escape him and bring some dead chick back… but we can't let that happen because something bad will happen? Am I right?" Inuyasha asked.
"The something ye mentioned… I cannot explain. I do not know what she would do… I was told by Kaiya to never let her bring Kikyo back, no matter what. I was a young girl then. She never told me what would happen."
"How do you know that it was really her?"
"Ye have a point. I have heard that Naraku can take the form of other demons and humans… how true this is, I do not know," Keade informed them.
"The Shikon no Tama… where is it now?" Kagome asked.
"With the ashes of Kaiya. I do not know where they are."
"Do you know how you're gonna get me home?" he asked, changing the subject back.
"Did you try going back down the well?" Kagome asked.
"No, I've been with you the whole time and haven't had a chance!"
"Gosh, no need to get an attitude…" Kagome mumbled.
"I don't have an attitude, I just wanna go home!"
"Well then I will gladly escort you to the well!" Kagome stood and walked to the door. "Are you coming?"
Inuyasha followed her. I have an attitude? Inuyasha asked himself. She is the one with the attitude! I didn't do anything to her.
He is so rude! Kagome thought. What is his problem? I didn't do anything to him!
Kagome walked with a very quick pace brought on by her anger towards Inuyasha. She wanted nothing more than to get him home. The sooner, the better, she thought.
When they got to the well, a woman was waiting on them. "My name is Kaiya," she said firmly. Her body looked old, but her voice sounded young. "I am here for the Shikon no Tama, and you, young girl, have it. Hand it over and you will not die. I do not guarantee your fate if you don't hand it over."
"I don't have the Shikon no Tama!" Kagome protested.
Inuyasha looked at Kagome. "I thought it was with her ashes," he mumbled.
"It is," she mumbled back.
"Tisk tisk. No need to keep secrets from me. What were you saying?"
"Just that I need to get down the well that you're blocking from me," Inuyasha lied.
Kaiya stepped forward. "Ah, but I will let you pass when you hand me the Shikon no Tama. Hand it over and you can pass!" Kaiya stood two feet from Inuyasha. "Tell the woman to give me the Shikon no Tama and I will give you passage to the well. It is very simple."
Inuyasha stepped back half a step. "She don't have it, though!"
"Ah, but she does. Right about there," Kaiya said, pointing to Kagome's side. "Hand it to me, Kagome, and your companion may pass."
"He is not my companion and how do you know my name?"
"Do you not know who I am? Do you not know our connection?" Kaiya asked.
"You're Kaiya… and what connection are you talking about?"
Kaiya sighed. "You are my incarnate. It was set in stone the day I was born that you would be born after my death and give me the Shikon no Tama. Have you not heard about it?"
Kagome slowly shook her head 'no'.
The old looking woman sighed. She ran her long, slender, bluish-green, wrinkly finger though her long, dark grey hair. "It seems that I must do everything myself. Keade never told you… she was supposed to.
"You were born from Higurashi Ronin and Mai, who were the Lord and Lady of the Southern lands. That makes you princess. When they died, you were sent to Keade— your aunt—and she has been teaching you the way of the miko, because you are indeed a miko. A very powerful one at that. The Shikon is mine; it was merely placed in your possession until I returned. I will admit that it is inside of your body and it will hurt removing it, but you must see my side. I need it to bring Kikyo back. She must die again to free me. Naraku is doing a very poor job with the whole death and destruction gig," Kaiya explained.
And here I thought she might have been a good guy again! Kagome thought. So much for that one.
"Why don't you just accept that that won't happen? I can't give you the Shikon no Tama! I don't have it! I think I would know if I had a jewel in my side!" Kagome protested.
"Push into your side. You will feel something… round." Kaiya walked over to the well and looked down at all the demon bones and rotting flesh. "Some of these more recent demons came after the Shikon… I can feel the imprint they left… the need for the jewel they left here. I am the one who truly needs the jewel. I must correct the past to free myself from Naraku."
"You told Keade to never let you bring Kikyo back, though," Kagome tried to remind her.
"I would never do that. I need her to die again—"
"Why?" Inuyasha interrupted. "Why do you need to bring her back?"
Kaiya looked at him. Her face was wrinkly and sagging from age, or the loss of energy that Naraku took from. Her hair was ragged and had split ends and made her look crazy, especially with the bluish-green skin she had. At one time she was human. "I just do." Kaiya looked at the ground as if guilt had smacked her. "After all, it is my fault all this happened."
"You don't need me, though, so why don't you let me leave?" Inuyasha asked.
"Oh how very wrong you are, Inuyasha. You are the only one with the power that I can extract to use to kill Kikyo… You're energy force is so powerful that I could kill her time and time again. And I will no longer look so many times older than I am. I will no longer be this color… I… will be human again."
"What are you now?" Inuyasha asked curiously, looking her over again.
"I am… in between. I'm in between death and life. In between human and demon, but not hanyou, like yourself, Inuyasha."
"Hanyou?" Kagome breathed. "But… you leave no trace… just unusual hair and eye color. You are different…"
"He has masked it, silly girl," Kaiya said, almost laughing. "The necklace around your neck, I presume?"
"Yeah… you're right." Inuyasha looked at Kaiya. I don't think she is as bad as she thinks she is… as she feels she is, Inuyasha thought. She is a good person at heart… at soul. She needs to be free. But not this way.
…
OK for a few things. As you can tell, the story is different from the way the anime goes, but, hey, isn't that the way fanfics go? Lol. I want to thank my reviewers and I'm trying to keep the people that belong in the fic the way they are supposed to be (and thanks for telling I was doing a good job). Kaiya is my own creation, and if she is confusing you then yay! She won't be fully explained until later. Review but please don't be rude. I'll try to update soon.