Kaede had taken her bath and had sent the children to play so she could be alone. She was now in her room preparing to speak with the Kami spirits for she had questions to ask. Kaede did a lot of thinking about the fragment that Kagome had taken from within the shadow entity and as she thought back to all that accrued, she knew that the time that she feared had come. When she heard the roar of the beast Kaede did not waste any time, and headed straight for Kagome's room. After all this time, she could not believe that they had found the host. Kaede did not know how, but now that she had the fragment she started to piece it together, that was if her assumptions were right. Kaede would not lie to herself she wanted hide Kagome away for all eternity than to have the Kami spirits' prophecy come to light, but Kaede knew she could not for she believe that the evil would find Kagome even through time and space. Kaede had thought herself so careful, she had enacted the jewel to hide Kagome from any location spell when the child was small. Once the young child had told her about the dream she had which Kaede knew was a vision, the older miko at that time, tricked Kagome into using the power of the jewel within her to make it seem like she did not exist. Kaede knew that whatever evil it was would try to locate her and Kaede would not allow it. The head priestess knew the Kami spirits would be angry with her for interfering but she could not stand by and watch Kagome become something even the child feared. Kaede also took it upon herself to lock the child's memory of what she saw that night. To Kaede the less Kagome know about her true destiny the less questions and fears she would have. For Kaede this worked, because Kagome grew up to be an ordinary woman beside the miko powers and she did continue having visions but never really read much into them seeing as they never came through, not until that night however. Kagome kept training and she was getting strong and because she was the host her powers seemed less easy to control. Kagome had questioned once why Kikyo was not experiencing the same Kaede told her it was because Kagome just needed more time and practice. It was not easy hiding the truth from the girl and bit by bit Kaede knew that soon her memory block would diminish and Kagome would learn all that the old miko was hiding from her. Kaede saw Kagome like her own daughter, the one she had lost so long ago. It still hurt, but the truth was hurt like this never goes away fully. Shu and Kagome were so alike, especially in attitude. Headstrong, stubborn, loyal, even mouthy if you gave both of them a reason to be. This made the old miko laugh a bit at all the similarities they both had and felt a bit of warmth in her heart for such wonderful memories of her daughter, but now was not the time to think about the past. Kaede drew the curtains and just lit the place by candles, she made sure to lock the door so she would not be disturbed and even went as far as to put up a barrier just in case a maid walked in. As she prepared herself, Kaede's mind wondered back to the King's Advisor. She felt an aura that she could not place and it bothered her. She did not feel like Naraku had any spiritual powers, nor did he seemed to be a sorcerer, he seemed just as human as the others in the room, minus Kagome, Kikyo and the young prince Miroku. Everyone had an aura, and those with spiritual powers could see a person's aura, feel it and even touch it. Even though Kaede could not tell what kind of aura the Advisor had, she could not be side-tracked because she needed to be on her guard for she knew that it was only a matter time whoever was after Kagome found her again. Kaede knew she should not have come to the castle, because she now was now putting the whole kingdom at risk and the highest risk was towards Inu no Taisho and his family, which meant she needed to tell him. Kaede took a candle and walked to the centre of the room and got down on her knees. She closed her eyes and took a few deep breaths, she slowly opened them and saw before her the garden of the Kami spirits. She looked around as she saw the dragon fly into view and landed upon the ground. Kaede notice no other animals came and just watched the dragon lay down to rest.
"Tell me what now miko"
"They found her, the host, they sent a monster to obtain her. I thought by hiding her away from the world, that I could stop the prophecy foretold, now I see I was foolish"
"Yes foolish you have been, but that is not the reason you come here"
Kaede decided to get straight to the reason she came. She took out a rag and laid it upon the floor and then proceeded to unwrap it. When the dragon saw the fragment he got up and just marvelled at it "I see"
Kaede gave the Kami spirit a look "The child pulled this from a shadow monster that destroyed Eden, I took it from her because of its aura and the way it seemed to be affecting the child" Kaede took a breath before speaking again "If I am correct then this is the only way I know that they could of found her, and the way she spoke of the fragment and acted around it leaves me to think that this fragment is part of Jewel of Four Souls"
The dragon stood and watched the older woman "You are indeed right, it is part of the Jewel of Four Souls, I can feel its power, the power we bestow and yet so evil and dark a piece of shard has become, it has spent many years tainted in evil, no doubt that it had been with Magatsuhi"
Upon hearing the name Kaede eyes widen "You think he was alive all this time, that is impossible, why would he wait all this time to come after her knowing he had piece of the jewel, how did he even get a piece?" There were so many questions
"I could only answer so many questions at a time, so hold your tongue miko" Kaede stayed quiet and allowed the Kami spirit to speak "We had known that Magatsuhi was still alive but too weak to come and claim what he wanted most, which is revenge, so he hid for years until he could find someone he could use to get what he wanted" The dragon walked to a tree and picked a hanging fruit "Magatsuhi corrupted the shard and used it to find the host"
"Then you knew he was still alive and didn't see it fit to tell me" Kaede was mad
"Don't take that tone with me miko, you were told what you needed to know and yet what did you do, you interfered and did all that you could the prophecy from coming true. Now you home is gone, your people, all because you did not do what you were told" The dragon was narrowing his eyes at Kaede "Because the shard is obviously part of the jewel and it felt draw to her but because it is tainted, not only would she be draw to it but also desire it, this shard host the aura of the person that wants her most. You try to block her memory and yet she could still remember this darkness. Only when the time is right will she take the shard and purify it, making the jewel hold or be overcome by the evil and turn as dark as the shard before you"
When the dragon had spoken Kaede gotten rid of her anger for she knows she was wrong and it could be said that this was all her fault. She took in his words, this was going to happen and there was nothing she could do, she could not do anything for her daughter Shu and now it was the same with Kagome, Kaede felt like she was useless all over again. Tears slipped from her eyes
"You worry for you feel useless because you cannot protect the young host like you could not protect your daughter, I cannot say to you fear not, for you should fear what that young miko would do; but, I would tell you again not to get in the way for if you do again you will suffer a great consequence. Be wary though, for the evil is not far from thee, be mindful of those you think you can trust, and those you think you should not. Let this play commence the way it was supposed to be, for you are only one of many characters in a grand master play. As for that shard, you mask and shield away something that will be here for now and gone the next, tell me miko can you trust you own shadow, for you have seen what hides in the darkness, is not your shadow plotting against you, take care and go thy way" The dragon took off to the sky and left Kaede just sitting there.
When old miko closed her eyes and opened them again she was back in her new room. At first Kaede forgot where she was but then quickly remember. She arose from her sitting position and just stood in the room as she wondered about what the Kami spirit had just told her. 'It was time, I can't stop it, all I could do is be ready'. Kaede looked down at the shard on the floor, picked it up and wrapped it back up. She went her vanity and opened a box in which she placed the shard and closed it back. For just a moment Kaede felt something strange and when she looked around the room she saw nothing. She put a barrier around the shard but not before masking the shard's aura. When Kaede was sure that no one would be able to get to the shard she decided to go to bed taking down the barrier around the room, she would speak with the King tomorrow, she had too, if his family was in danger because of her, she had a duty to tell him and she would do just that.
Naraku knew the old miko was hiding something, and he had a feeling he knew what it was, but he still had to be sure. It was no coincidence that the old miko along with her wards survive the attack whereby all the people die, let alone that two of the wards were mikos themselves, plus there was the fact that the old miko was masking an aura that was not her own. He needed some proof as to whether the two wards Kagome and Kikyo could be the host and the only way he could was to go right to the source which was Kaede. When night had rolled in, Naraku used his powers to make his own shadow do his dirty work. The shadow of course moved in the darkness of night, and all the objects or people that casted a shadow, Naraku's own shadowed moved amongst these tangible aspects. When the shadow had reached the room, it found that no one was there, so it did a search of the room, to find anything that it possibly could. The shadow had turned up with nothing and was about to leave to report back to its master when the wrestling of the door alarmed it, then in walked the old woman. The shadow hid among an object as he waited to see what the old miko would do. It watched the old miko close and lock the door and then she put up a barrier, Naraku's shadow wanted to leave, but it could not and no one could get in, so it waited and watched on. He watched as she came inside, drew the curtains and light candles, it seemed as if she was preparing for something and this intrigued it. The sorcerer's shadow witness the old woman close her eyes and take a few breaths. She then open her eyes and they had a cast-ish look in them like she was daydreaming. Then he heard her speak as if she was speaking to someone, yet there was no one in the room. The old miko spoke now and then and the shadow took Kaede's actions to mean that she was speaking to someone on a higher plane. It was then that Kaede revealed the shard, there it was and now the shadow knew exactly who had it, his master would be please. It listen on, knowing that if the shard was here then so was the host. Kaede just kept on speaking, the only thing he could make out was 'child' and 'her', there was no name called which was frustrating. When the miko was finish, she closed her eyes again and opened them. From the way she acted the shadow could tell that she was back from where ever she had gone to. She took up the shard from the ground where she laid it, still among the rags it was wrapped in. The old woman walked over to her vanity where she opened a box and placed the wrapped shard in the box. The head miko must have felt like she was being watched and when she stopped to look around the room the sorcerer's shadow make sure to hide amount the darkness. When she was satisfied that she alone once more she put a barrier upon the box, and then turned to go to bed. When the miko had taken down the barrier on the room, the shadow rushed right out, quickening its pace to get back to its owner.
The shadow entered the room and found its rightful place. Naraku closed his eye and shook a bit as if settling something with himself. The sorcerer open his eyes and just smiled, because now he knew his shard was not destroyed and that the old miko had brought the host right to him. The only problem was who he may have thought was the host was not. The old hag did say child and her, which led Naraku to think that the small ward was the host, yet she did not say that the child was a miko also. 'Unless she wanted no one to know…hmm…the child had no spiritual powers coming from her, the young prince would have felt it also…unless the old hag had taught her to hide her spiritual energy or doing it herself'. So she was masking the aura of the shard on her person and masking the child as well. Well nothing was going to stop the sorcerer from getting what he wanted, he would get it at any cost. Even if that meant killing every single person in the old miko's group. It then came to his attention that Kagome was part of that group and the sorcerer just thought of the woman he had only met today. She was very breath-taking and seemed to be clumsy also, but a flaw like that could not take away from her beauty. The sorcerer was no fool and he knew that this young miko gave him a feeling that he did not want to allow. When she stood in the throne room he could not believe it was her, and then when he felt her aura, he was slightly shocked that she a miko, but what he notice was the way the eldest prince reacted to seeing her with him. He had sensed it, the shift in Sesshomaru aura and when Naraku had looked up he could see that the prince was watching his interaction with the young miko intensely. Naraku just smirked at remembering what he did next and that confirmed a theory he was working up in his head. 'He fancies her'. It might not have been clear to the others in the room at that point of time, but it was to him and when the prince had growled like some sort of animal, it was now evident. For Naraku however, he did feel…well he did not want to admit how he felt when Sesshomaru held the young woman in his arms. Now that he thought about it, when she had turned to him and held his face, he felt like he would rip the young miko away from the prince. The sorcerer shook his head. Naraku knew he was being side-track and he needed to focus, there were only two things he wanted, revenge and power. 'I won't be stop by anything or anyone'.
The sorcerer had a lot of planning to do. The first thing on his agenda was to start the shard back from the older miko. Naraku knew that would not be easy for he have a feeling that the barrier on the box would take time to break. Then he would have to get the child and take the jewel from within her. That too would not be easy for because he had a feeling there was a strong force protecting it and prying it from within the child will be difficult. Apart from that it was possible that with such a small vessel, the girl would not live through it, Naraku did not care for the child either way. The sorcerer would not sleep tonight for he had much planning to do, this time he would not let his prize get away from and flee into the wind. He had to be smart however, because even if it was true no one would get in his way, that did not mean that people would not try to stop him. He could use his sorcery and make his shadow bring the girl to him in the dead of night but in the morning time, questions would be raised about her disappearance putting the whole palace in alarm, and he could not have that. So what would the sorcerer do to enact his plan, then it hit him, the only way he could get close to the child without arising suspicion is to get close to someone who was close to the child. 'Kagome!'. The young miko was the answer. Naraku did not want to be side-track because of the her but if he was using her to get what he wanted then how could he lose sight of the objective. If he played his cards right he could get close to Kagome, which would help him get close to the small child, and get back the shard and the jewel. The sorcerer even thought that if he played his cards right he could have the young miko for himself.
'Oh what a treat that would be'
