An Unbreakable Promise

A/N: Another chapter. I couldn't help it. Watching "Supernatural" puts me in a mood (of some kind… don't know exactly what). But hey, it gets the job done.

And if you guys have any thoughts on what I write or any complaints, feel free to bitch and moan to your satisfaction. For the record, I'm not one of these who pine for reviews. Well, not too much anyway. Hehe. Still, I'd love to know your opinions. You hate it? Great. Tell it to my face. Love it? Even better. Give me a pat on the back. Just whatever? That's the best. Apathy just proves how boring you are. (I'm kidding, I really am.)

And if you have any questions, ask. I'm not going to hide away the details because I'm afraid spoilers will make you stop reading. Curiosity is healthy (to a certain extent at least). I'd love to feed it.

Anyway, college is starting in a week. I'm psyched and terrified.

Let's get the learning on!

Where is this stupid rabbit taking me?

Kagome ran after said rabbit all the while wondering why exactly she was following it. And really, why a rabbit of all animals?

"Ow!" Kagome cried as she tripped on a root and fell forward, scraping her knees and shins on the bark. "Stupid tree, stupid rabbit, stupid visions, stupid InuYasha…"

The rabbit stopped abruptly.

Kagome stumbled. "What—"

Its ears twitched. "She's here. We're here."

"Who, the queen?"

The rabbit – who had been standing on its hind legs – bowed down and got on all fours. "Pay your respects!" it hissed.

Kagome quickly got down to her knees wincing as the dirt bit into her wounds. "Okay, okay. You could have warned me beforehand."

Before them stood a very large tree much like the Goshinboku. A loud moan came from the tree and echoed into the woods. Kagome pressed her body to the ground anticipating the worst possible scenario. The tree creaked and rocked as it came to life. It uprooted itself and began to shake violently. Kagome said a silent prayer.

"You're late," a voice boomed. Kagome jumped in fright.

"I'm sorry, my queen. The girl was being stubborn."

Kagome turned to the rabbit with an oh-you-did-not-just-dump-all-the-blame-on-me expression. To her shock, the rabbit returned her look with one of its own: oh yes, I did.

"Snitch," Kagome hissed.

"Silence!" The surrounding trees rattled as the tree spoke.

Kagome squeaked at clamped her mouth shut.

"That's better," a relatively normal voice said. Kagome whirled around and came face to face with—Tinkerbell?

Kagome's jaw dropped. "You're kidding me, right? Am I in a fairytale parody of some kind? I thought my visions were supposed to help me not further convince me into seriously seeking out professional help."

The – God help us – fairy just smiled. "Oh you poor thing. There, there, we'll help you."

Kagome just sighed. "Please, don't patronize me. I'm losing sleep over all of this. What is going on? What-what am I supposed to do? What does this all mean?"

The fairy flew toward the large tree. "One question at a time, dear. I'm not as young as I look."

"Is this a joke? Really? I mean, Alice in Wonderland, Peter Pan, what's next? Snow White?"

"Oh, how'd you know?"

At that exact moment, a train of seven elves walked out from a group of underbrush.

Kagome gaped at them disbelievingly. "You're serious. Oh my God, I've officially lost my mind."

The fairy tittered. "Oh no, far from it. This is just a beginning." The fairy drew closer. "Something big is happening, Kagome and you're literally the only one who can stop it."

"Yeah, but why me? Why do I have to be the only one?"

The fairy shrugged. "I don't know. But you were chosen."

"Chosen? By who? You?"

"Oh no," she chuckled lightly, "I'm only the queen. I'm not God or anything."

"Queen of what, the fairies?"

The fairy tsked. "Sarcasm does not suit you, my dear. No, I'm not the queen of the fairies – great pun by the way – I'm the queen of nature."

Kagome frowned. "But I thought Mother Nature was just a myth—a-an urban legend."

"She is. Mother Nature is something people came up with because they needed an excuse to sacrifice cattle. No, I'm the real thing. And severed cow's heads don't appease me. No, what I want is for the world to be righted."

"What?"

The fairy sat on the shoulder of one of the elves. Kagome guessed Grumpy because he didn't look too happy to have Queen Arbor Day park herself on him.

"The world is on a scale, Kagome and the odds has been tipped in favor of the dark side. Yin and yang isn't just a part of Chinese culture and history, it's real. The reason the world can survive is because the good never outweighs evil and vice versa. There's a balance. It's fragile, but it's there. At least, it was."

Kagome unconsciously leaned forward as the fairy lowered her voice ominously. "Naraku is making a mess out of that. He's thrown the world off the kilter. He's even using purity to protect evil. I'm not sure how that's possible but he's doing it. And do you know why?"

"Because he wants to rule the world under darkness?"

"Yes, he does. But he's as dumb as he is smart."

Kagome frowned. "What? What d'you mean?"

The fairy narrowed her eyes. "The world can't be overcome with evil. It just can't."

Kagome breathed a sigh of relief. "That's good though, right? That means he can't win."

"Yes, it does. But neither do we."

Kagome scrunched up her nose in confusion. "Huh?"

The fairy closed her eyes. "In order for this particular world to survive, there has to be a balance. Life and death, good and evil, right and wrong, dark and light, whatever has an opposite, both must exist. In equilibrium. If Naraku takes over the world, chaos is the least of your problems."

The fairy opened her eyes. "Whether it's evil or good, if something is overpowered, everything just ends."

Kagome choked on her words as the truth hit her right in the face. She opened and closed her mouth several times before she was finally able to speak.

"End—what?—you mean, we all die?"

The fairy shook her head. "No, it all just disappears. Nothing will cease to exist. There will be no death, no afterlife, no Heaven or Hell, just… nothing."

Terror struck Kagome's body.

Nothing?

"But how—?"

"That's how existence was created. Where there is one driving element, there is a counter-force. The beginning and end of existence isn't life or death, it's everything. It's true, you can't have good without evil. We need the essentials of both worlds – so to speak – to keep everything going."

"And-and that's how God created life?"

"No, that's how God was created."

Kagome gasped. "What?"

"God is the epitome of good, purity, empathy, sacrifice, mercy, love, the works. He is the keeper of Heaven. In contrast we have Satan, Lucifer, the devil. El Diablo, no? He's evil personified; greed, hate, lust, anger, pride, even brilliance. He is the keeper of Hell. They're not the creators, they're a part of the puzzle."

Kagome's shoulder sagged in defeat. "So asking God for help—"

"Would be useless and stupid thing to do."

Kagome dropped her head in her hands. "This-this—no way—I can't believe this—this is outrageous—I—"

The fairy flew before her. "Is it, Kagome? You travel through time. It's impossible yet you do it."

"How-how do you even know all of this?"

"Because, I'm a part of it. I'm Nature. In a sense, I'm a symbol of all that is pure. I happened, I wasn't caused."

"So, what's your opposite, technology?"

"Ah, that's what you'd think. No, it's humans."

"But, aren't we a part of Nature? We're technically animals, we breathe and move, we're organisms, how—?"

"No, you aren't. That's what I mean. Humans create things; you cause things. That isn't pure."

"So, we're the symbol of corruption? I mean, that's the opposite, isn't it?"

"Yes, but not necessarily. The thing about humans is that a few are gifted with 'happening' not 'cause'."

Kagome shook her head. "What?"

"You were 'caused', yes, but that's something that 'happened'."

"That makes no sense. You're contradicting yourself."

"Ah, but think about it. You weren't supposed to be born as Kagome, Kikyo's reincarnation, but Kagome Higurashi, the school teacher."

"I was supposed to be a school teacher?"

"Yes, however, because of what Kikyo did, you were forced into being something you weren't meant to be. So you were 'caused' but that 'cause' was a 'happening' to you."

"Um…"

"Simply put, Kikyo is the bad guy."

"Wait, but Kikyo has stronger purifying powers than I do. How does that work? She's bad but good?"

"No, Kikyo was never 'good'. If you're pure, basically, you're God's angel in human form. That's what you are. Kikyo happened to get lucky by being a 'happening' and not a 'cause'. That's how she has the gift. It's a mess. Kikyo has the power, but not the essence. She harbors desires that aren't clean."

"But I'm not pure in essence either! I'm selfish. I-I-I want Kikyo to go away and leave InuYasha alone; I want InuYasha to love me; I want to be happy; I want all of this to go away. I'm not a saint!"

The fairy raised a brow. "Of course not. I never said you were. Saints are deities. You can't be human and be a saint. You are an angel, a floating angel to be exact. You do God's dirty work to keep things going."

"But… angels are pure."

"Yes, and you are. You want Kikyo gone but you don't act on it because you know it's wrong and selfish. You want InuYasha but you stay silent because you want him to be happy. You want to be happy but not at the expense of the happiness of others. You want all of this to go away, oh sweetheart, we all do. Despite what you think, you're good. You're just a big ball of sacrifice."

Tears filled Kagome's eyes. "I am?"

The fairy's eyes softened. "Yes, you are. You're soul is immaculate whether you believe it or not."

Kagome nodded slowly. "Okay… but I have to ask, why are you all Disney characters?"

The fairy giggled. "Well, we can't show you our real form. So, we took on the shapes of figures that you're familiar with."

"So, you're not a freak Disney movie?"

The fairy laughed once more. "No, no worries."

"I wasn't worried or anything—anyway, what do I have to do?"

The fairy grew serious. "You have to go to Mount Hakurei."

"I'm sorry, where?"

"Mount Hakurei. When you wake, Kaede will be there. Ask her about it. She'll know. You have to go there and kill—"

"Naraku?"

"No. You have to kill Kikyo, and—"

"What?! No, I can't do that. InuYasha will be heartbroken!"

"Ah see? Angel. Anyway, kill Kikyo, destroy Naraku."

"What's the difference?"

"Killing something takes away its life so that it can move onto death. Destroying something erases it. It's no longer in existence. That's what you have to do to Naraku. Get rid of him permanently."

"Okay, so how do I do that?"

"First, kill Kikyo and the priest that's helping Naraku."

"A priest is helping Naraku? A priest?"

"Yes. Once again, same situation as Kikyo. He got lucky. Anyway, you have to kill them. That will dispel the tainted purifying powers that are protecting Naraku."

"Kikyo's protecting him? And tainted purifying powers is an oxymoron."

"Not consciously, no. But her presence helps him. And I don't care. Your powers are stronger than Kikyo's because they're clean. Hers aren't. If her arrows pierce you it's not her power that'll kill you but the arrowhead. Also, you have to train; you're going to have to hone your powers so you can control them and use them without needing a medium."

"A medium?"

"Yes. A wand is a medium for a witch or a warlock; the tessaiga is InuYasha's; a feather is Kagura's; a mirror is Kanna's; a staff is Miroku's; a bow and arrow is yours and Kikyo's. If you learn to use your powers, you'll be able to harness it without a weapon. You will be the weapon."

"I-I—but how?"

"These visions will become more frequent. In them, you'll be trained by the deities of the elements. And I don't mean water or fire. That's still me. No, these gods are from each corner of the universe. And just like we have the Seven Deadly Sins, we have the Seven Heavenly Virtues. Five of them create the points of a star: a devil's trap. The other two are at the center but at opposite ends: north and south. Naraku isn't smart enough to unlease the powers of the Sins, but we're smart enough to entrust you with the Virtues."

"So, every night, I train?"

"Yes, starting from the new moon. You will train for seven days. And each god will give you a message. Decipher it, and it will help you. If not, then it's useless."

Kagome nodded again. Her mind was swimming with an overload on information. She felt the start of a migraine.

"And another thing. You have to find Midoriko before you start training."

"What? Why?"

"She will give you something. I don't know what, but she will."

"Okay. So, I wake up, talk to Kaede about some mountain—"

"—Mount Hakurei—"

"—right, talk to Midoriko, train, kill Kikyo, and get rid of Naraku?"

"In short, yes."

"Oh great, that's great. So the survival of the world – no, excuse me – existence rests on my shoulders?"

"Yes."

Kagome clenched her eyes shut as an exhausted tremor ran through her body.

So this was it, huh? She wanted to know and now, she knew.

What have I gotten myself into?

A/N: How was that? I actually sort of went off on a tangent with this chapter. I had never intended this when I came up with the story. "Supernatural" is seriously getting to my head. But, I like this idea better. It's more abstract and it's very biblical yet… not so much. I also like making Kikyo evil without actually making her evil. It's cool. :D And I know this was a lot of dialogue. I couldn't help it. It was necessary to reveal the "big picture".

Again, no revision whatsoever. You're getting what I write as soon as I finish writing it. Hot off the press, fresh out of the oven, that sorta thing.

Despite the fact that this is straying from the original idea, I like it.

So, thoughts anyone?

Oh and I'm putting this out there before I'm bombarded with questions. I keep saying 'god' and not 'goddess' because deities aren't people, they're spirits. So, it makes sense for them to be either androgynous or completely genderless.