Chapter Ten

"Help me!" A voice called out. Her old eyes opened and she looked around her room. Nothing but her there. She could sense other people but no one was here, she was sure of it. She closed her eyes again but a small rumbling made her eyes spring open. She was awake now, her attention fixated on the noise.

"Help me please somebody!" The voice was still low, but she ran down to her basement where it seemed to come from. There she could a small aura forming around a small clay pot. The one used as a container for the demon blood for that priestess she had helped so many months ago.

"Help me somebody!" A sob could be heard at the end of the plea. The witch put her hand on the container gently to get the attention.

"What is it child?" She asked as she couldn't hear the voice for a moment. When she waited and heard nothing, she closed her eyes and took a deep breath in. She removed her hand and had it levitate above the container top. A light began to glow and as she engulfed the container with her hand, she could hear the soul's distress.

"Help me! I'm trapped!"

"How are you trapped girl? Where are you?" She asked telepathically to the soul.

"I don't know. Help me! I'm gonna die!" It screamed back. The witch could sense the distress, it was overwhelming to her and she retracted her hand back. The light died out and the container became quiet.

"Damn it, I thought my days of traveling were over." The witch shook her head and packed a few things for her journey. Small things and remedies and a cloak where placed in her bag and shoulders. She grabbed the container and secured it in her bag.

"Gods help me save that girl." She thought as she left her home and began running towards a village where she obtained a horse and began riding towards the way the container egged her on towards.

It was warm but dark here. She could tell she wasn't awake but she didn't think she was dead either. Something about this place, she had been in before. From where she pondered. Where had she seen this and been here before at?

"Kagome." The voice called her name and she turned towards it.

"Inuyasha! What did you do?" She called out. This place had an echo and her voice faded over a few seconds. No one was with her, not that she could see anyways. She could feel the presence of at least two people near by. Who they were, she couldn't specify. One of definitely more powerful than the other, she was sure of that.

"Inuyasha!" She yelled out. "Inuyasha!" She screamed even louder. No response this time, nothing to be heard. She wanted to cry out of frustration and tried hard to concentrate on getting something from her surroundings. But nothing. It was like she was floating. She couldn't move. It was like being stuck in mid air to one spot. She tried to move about but nothing happened.

"Sesshoumaru!" She screamed out. With everything her lungs and voice could do, she screamed out for him. As she did, she felt some power come to her and she felt she could move more than she did a minute ago. But as she struggled to move more and more, a force around her throat held her down. She was stuck again but this time she couldn't breath. She felt the presence of one close to her, the other far away.

"No." She squeaked out before feeling like it was gone. The breath came back to her and she struggled again. This time not with enough stamina as before. She couldn't figure out what was going on.

"Inuyasha." She heard his name being called out. But not by her.

"Kikyo?" She thought.

"Inuyasha." He looked at the priestess with a small cup in her hands and he let go on Kagome, who's throat was in his hands.

"She was starting to move and say his name. Just wanted to shut her up." He said. He was angry but it slowly began to go away as he let go.

"Remember, that will be my body. Ignore what she says for now. She'll be gone from it soon enough." Inuyasha heard her say as she began to mix up her concoction of herbs. He knew it would what it would mean when all was said and done. He looked at her face and saw both Kagome the happy go lucky school girl he knew but also the woman he loved. That part was his Kikyo.

"I'm sorry Kagome." He said and walked away and went to Kikyo's side. He returned back to her side where he aided in preparing the ingredients.

It took hours to complete the rest of the things Kikyo would need in order to transfer everything correctly and as she put it all together, Inuyasha took a deep breath in and watched as she began placing everything just so.

"Are you ready Inuyasha?" She asked without emotion and looked to him. He nodded and she began reciting prayers and incantations. She went on for a while before the herbs that kept Kagome's soul in the tub began to glow a little green color. With her hands up, she spoke louder and watched as she began trying to purify the body with everything she had.

"I hope this works." Inuyasha said as a bad feeling settled in his stomach and made him think twice about all of this.

As he watched, Kikyo laid her hands on the body and as if like she had been hit by a wave, Kikyo was thrown back with an extensive force. She hit Inuyasha and he cushioned her fragile clay body from shattering in to a bunch of pieces. They both took a minute to look over what was going on and saw Kagome's body was still there. Everything was as it was before they started. He looked at Kikyo and examined the damage.

"Are you okay?" He was worried and she heard it. But she wasn't hurt. Just surprised.

"Something isn't right." She thought out loud to herself and looked away in thought.

"What do you mean something's not right?" He asked. She didn't answer immediately and thought in silence for a while. She looked Kagome up and down seeking an answer like as if her unconscious body would tell it to her.

"Her demon blood must have built up a resistance to her spiritual powers. That would be the only explanation I could think of." She said in thought and in a low tone. He could hear her and frowned.

"What do we do now then? You won't be a priestess if we put you in that body." He asked as she took a deep breath in.

"Inuyasha, would you be alright if I kept this body as is?" She asked him and looked in to his eyes.

"What are you talking about?" He asked curiously.

"Well since her body has built up an immunity to spiritual powers, it would take a long time or never succeed in purifying this body without it going up in ashes. I don't believe I will keep my spiritual powers once I make the transfer but I will have a new body. I will feel again. I will be alive for the first time in too long." She said and looked away at Kagome.

"I can give you the revenge you wanted, but I can't undo what damage is done here." She said and sat on a near by chair. He frowned but in a way, he was almost relieved that Kagome wasn't gone just yet. He stilled hated her for what she did to him and taking his most sought out treasure but he was just a little happy she was here with them.

"What can we do then?"

"I did put some thought in to this if we should fail. Since we have I think what we will have to do is do a soul switch." She said and got up to grab a book from the back of the shelves. It had been cleaned off compared to some of the books still on the shelves.

"How will this one work?" He asked. She flipped through the pages and skimmed through the words and paragraphs.

"The host's body has to be completely emptied of the soul that was born to it. Meaning Kagome's soul that was born with this body has to be rid of the soul. That way I can put my soul in to her body. This has to be done immediately so that the body stays fresh. If all goes well, then Kagome will remain in this clay body of mine and I will be alive again." Inuyasha nodded.

"Okay, how long will it take you to this?" He asked.

"Three days to memorize and prepare her body for the switch. I want to wake up looking like me again when I appear in this body." She said. He nodded again and remembered the first time Kagome donned Kikyo's clothes. They were practically identical. He could see the deja vu coming but he didn't dwell on the idea for too long.

"Well damn it. It's been too long for me to be having to do this kind of work. I retired for a reason." The old witch complained to herself and the horse she had just rode. The horse was dripping in sweat and began to nibble on grass while she made a fire and relaxed on her stomach. Her bum and thighs were sore from riding all day and she would have to sleep this night in order to continue her journey.

As she fixed up some dinner with some supplies from home and all around her, she looked at the sky and thought of her youth for a moment. However she was interrupted by the jingling in her bag. It was the container holding the half of Kagome's soul and priestess powers.

"What now?" The witch complained as she got up from laying down and moved to the bag. It trembled like as if from fear and rattled against her bottles. She reached out her hand and proceeded to understand the spirit. As if someone was running pass her, she felt some of the soul slip out and begin running away from her. It spooked the horse causing it to jerk and become frightened momentarily. She on the other hand was annoyed. There was a spirit left in the jar, she could feel it's presence. But she was baffled by what just happened.

"I must be getting to that age now." She thought and went back to her spot by the fire.