Chapter Four - Tower
Kagome stood stock-still in the doorway, hand over her mouth as a minute or more ticked silently by, unable to believe what she was seeing. The woman sitting among the cushions, a large open book before her on a low table, had snow white hair and bright purple eyes that were exactly the same shade as those of the old sorceress that had cursed her.
The woman broke the silence carefully, her voice soft and low and soothing as she reached out beseechingly with one pale hand. "Please, don't be afraid. I will not harm you." Like letting the air from a balloon, at these words Kagome immediately calmed. The sudden calm cleared her thoughts and she realised that the two couldn't be the same person; the sorceress was far older than this person, who seemed not much older than Kagome herself, and her expression was soft and compassionate. "Please, sit. I wish to speak with you," she continued as Kagome's thoughts strayed to fetching the others, "if you leave the Tower I cannot follow you, so please stay."
"Why… why can't you follow me?" Wild thoughts concerning curses and cages flitted through her head.
"I am bound to this place by an old spell." Kagome worried suddenly about how safe she was here and she fought the calm that kept descending over her like a warm blanket, positive it was an enchantment of some sort. The Seer folded her hands into her white kimono sleeves, as if resigning herself to abide by whatever Kagome decided to do. "I cannot force you to remain here if you do not want to, but I would prefer to speak to you of matters concerning the Lord Sesshomaru and the sorceress who cursed you privately." The purple eyes closed and Kagome could have sworn the room's light dimmed as they did so.
"I'll stay." Kagome said eventually, moving cautiously to sit on the flat cushion opposite the Seer, eyes searching the room for possible traps. The woman smiled slightly, opening her eyes once more. Kagome waited for the Seer to begin, still a little wary.
"I will first ask you to forgive me." Pushing herself from the table slightly, the Seer moved down into an apologetic bow. Kagome moved closer, kneeling up and reaching out uncertainly with her hands, embarrassed and wanting to help the woman sit up again but too unsure of the situation to do so. "My sister has caused you great trouble and it is my fault that she has done so. I cannot apologise enough."
"Your sister?" She paused. "Please, raise your head." As Kagome met the purple eyes again she was struck by the sincerity she found there, the troubled look.
"Yes. She is my younger sister, a woman who ages." At Kagome's questioning look, the Seer embellished. "In my Clan, a Clan that has spanned hundreds of generations, it is rare for a couple to have two children, especially the heirs. I was heir to my mother's great power, the matriarch of our people and one of the few of us who were left." She paused. "You see, an heir does not die until their heir is of age. My sister was the younger and therefore aged and inherited very little power. This made her angry and she nursed a great resentment and feeling of inadequacy in her life's years. I watched her age before me and become more and more unhappy and I could not stand it. I felt I must do something to make her final years more comfortable." The Seer stopped, seeming to read something on Kagome's face. "I'm sorry, I'm pushing my troubles onto your young shoulders but I want you to understand."
"Of course." Kagome shook her head insistently, somewhat interested in this story of a long lineage of magic-using people she had never heard of. "Go on." The Seer smiled again, seeming somewhat grateful.
"Thank you. My sister was old and like any sibling I did not want to see her die so miserable and unfulfilled. I brought her before me in this Tower, which at that time was simply my study, and told her of this, asking her what it was she would desire to make her final years happy ones." The Seer's eyes lowered, seeming heavy and sorrowful as the woman's white hands tightened around the material of her kimono. "She requested that she be allowed my power for a time. She asked that I channel my power to her and allow her to roam the land as the heir in her last years. I, fool that I was, agreed and the moment the spell was complete she chained me to this place and vanished into the wide world." She met Kagome's eyes. "As long as I remain inside this Tower and under her spell I have enough power to protect the village and See, but no more. The rest is forcibly channelled to her and keeps her from aging any further." She smiled suddenly, tears building in her eyes. "I didn't want to lose her, you see, but in choosing this path she has long been lost to me and I to the rest of the world."
Kagome watched the tears roll down the Seer's unnaturally pale cheeks, feeling awash in sympathy and wishing she had not needed the poor fragile woman – girl, she now seemed – to remember such painful memories. But within moments the Seer was impatiently swiping the tears away with her sleeve, her slightly reddened eyes serious and strong as they met Kagome's once more.
"Enough of that, I have had enough time to cry over things past." She folded her hands gracefully on her lap, regaining composure seemingly effortlessly. "Kagome, I wish to help right the wrong done to you in any way possible. Please, ask of me and I shall aid you as much as I can."
For long minutes Kagome processed all she had been told and, coming to a few conclusions, she decided to ask some questions. "Why did your sister turn me into a demon?"
"She was trying to nullify your miko abilities with youki. Such purity of spirit could undo her will and send her to the grave. She fears this and, the moment she drew the thought from my mind, has been travelling the land transforming miko into foul demons by sullying their pure spirit. I managed to interfere a little when she attacked you, making the spell less specific so that your strong powers could accept the youki and simply allow it to live inside you. It is, therefore, my fault that you transformed." The Seer bowed her head again.
"But without that I would have just lost myself and become something ugly and evil, right? You saved me really, don't punish yourself for that." Kagome reached across the table and took one of the pale hands in her own, trying to hide her shock at how cold it was. The Seer looked apologetic.
"With my power drawn out to such a degree I have to conserve what little energy I have in order to stay conscious and See. Protecting the village can only be done due to the amplifying effect of this Tower." Kagome considered his, adding the information to that which she was already using to make a plan. She began playing with the sleeve of her kimono absentmindedly, missing her school uniform slightly.
"What did you mean about my powers allowing the youki to live inside me?" Kagome questioned next, pulling the cool hand into both of hers. The Seer was staring at their joined hands with uncertainty and something akin to wonder.
"As you know, youki and a miko's purifying abilities do not exactly live together well," Kagome snorted in agreement, "they fight one another and the stronger will usually destroy the other. I did not want this to happen; without your miko spirit you would have been overcome by the youki and become a monster. Due to the youki being so strong you would not be able to simply purify it, especially since it was pushed inside your body by the wound my sister gave you. Blood is related to spirit, after all." Kagome nodded, listening avidly to the explanation and connecting it to knowledge she already had, putting the pieces carefully together. "My interference created… rooms, if you like; one for the youki and one for your miko enegy. To put it simply, you have access to both of these rooms but, like a river cannot flow both ways, you cannot open both doors at the same time." The Seer paused. "Do you see?"
Kagome struggled to understand the concept, imagining the two rooms, one miko and one youkai, and something like a floodgate that meant while energy was flowing through one door the other could not open…
"I think so… But why am I just miko Kagome now? Why can't I use the youki?"
"Because you have not opened that door. Your miko door is open now, not the youkai one. When your youki is flowing, however, you will no longer be able to use your miko powers and your body will return to as it was the day you were cursed."
"I see." Kagome only partially saw, but she was beginning to understand. The Seer seemed to know because she smiled and nodded. "How do I open the youkai door?" She was somewhere between excited and frightened at the prospect of becoming a demon once more; there was some fear that if she opened that door she might not be able to close it again.
"It will be painful and time-absorbing at first and will need a good deal of concentration and willpower, but I think you'll be able to do it quite easily with enough practice." Kagome's enthusiasm was dampened just slightly at this, but she had already made her decision; she couldn't have something like that and not use it, as a demon wouldn't she have extra speed and strength? Enough to protect herself properly so that she needn't be the damsel in distress all time? That sounded good to Kagome.
"Will you teach me?" The Seer blinked in surprised, as if she hadn't predicted this, and seemed to think for a moment.
"I could… But I cannot leave this Tower. I am sure there are others more suited to teaching you such things… Perhaps a miko who can help you with your purification skills as well…" Kagome had leaned forward and was smiling brightly, her mind obviously made up. The Seer stopped her feeble protests and allowed herself to bathe in the freshness of the girl's presence, unsure whether it was her miko energy or just Kagome herself who radiated such warmth and compassion.
"What's your name?" Kagome asked after a moment, sensing the Seer was deep in thought and would probably answer automatically.
"Mitsuko." The name slipped out without the Seer thinking and she blinked away he considerations in the realisation that she had not heard her name spoken aloud in decades. Her sister only ever called her 'onee-sama' with that tone of disdain that she never seemed without ever since Mitsuko had been locked in the Tower and those who visited her would only call her 'Lady'.
Kagome repeated the name, smiling around it as if she knew how good it felt for the Seer to hear it spoken. Mitsuko nodded and smiled in response, giving in easily, much to the other girl's apparent approval; it seemed there was now more than one person in the world she couldn't say 'no' to.