Chapter 10

Riddle Me This, Riddle Me That Part 1

The chapter ended up being so long I split it into two. For awhile it might be confusing why exactly these things are happening but they should be explained by the end of Part 2. Which I will be posting either later tonight or tomorrow once I check it over, the ending needs to be tweaked a bit! But for now enjoy enjoy enjoy!!!

I don't own the Darwin Awards or Cradle of Filth though I used small references.

A misty blue light sprinkled with stars surrounded her as she fell and let loose a scream. Wind rushed past her swirling her hair around her wildly but she felt like she was falling in slow motion. As she fell Kagome managed to turn herself so that she was falling feet first and looking down into the swirling darkness beneath her. Ground finally came into view and as she touched down her legs folded even though the touchdown hadn't been jarring. She glanced around hectically looking for whoever had pulled her into the well but there was no one with her.

She was alone.

Kagome's eyes followed the shafts of light that shone down on her and looked up startled by the bright blue sky above her. "Where am I?" She wondered and reached out to the vines that covered the side of the dry well. She climbed out slowly, her arms trembling at the pain that raced down her hands from their injuries. When she finally pulled herself over the top she felt her breath taken away by the beautiful woods she now found herself in.

The sound of wind chimes brought her from her musings and she wrenched herself to her feet to follow the gentle sounds. After a few minutes of walking she found a large tree and her breath caught in her throat at the bodies that around the tree. Miroku, Sango, and Sesshomaru along with a strange woman, a young teenage boy, and an old man lay heaped around the base while Inuyasha hung suspended from the trunk by an arrow through his chest.

"No!" She shouted and darted forward tripping occasionally to cling to the odd red clothing he wore. "Inuyasha! Inuyasha!" She shouted tugging at his clothing frantically. She saw a pair of triangular dog ears atop his head and noticed the slight twitch they made as she yelled. "INUYASHA!" She screamed and felt a thump go through his body.

She watched his eyes flutter after a few thumps that sounded like heartbeats shook his body and he opened his golden eyes to her tear streaked face. "It worked." He murmured and reached out to wrap his arms around her only to be brought up short by a sharp pain in his chest. He looked down and noticed the arrow pinning him. "What's going on?" He asked threading his hand through her hair just before she pulled away and stood a bit away from him. It was then he noticed the others.

She rubbed her eyes with the heels of her hands careful of her bandages and shook her head. "I don't know." She whimpered.

"What happened to your hands?" Inuyasha asked her concerned. Blood had already soaked through the make-shift bandages and they quivered ever so slightly.

"Nothing." She whispered and looked at him. "How do I free you? How do I wake them?"

A woman swung into the clearing in a short black dress with short black hair accented around her pretty face by a red ribbon and smiled. "You're asking the wrong questions." She told Kagome sliding down an invisible thread a foot above the ground until she was able to run her fingers through Kagome's hair. "What pretty hair you have."

"What is the right question?" Inuyasha asked as Kagome ducked away from the stranger.

"The question that will get answers is the correct one." The woman's voice answered as she disappeared as quickly as she'd come. "The wrong ones are going to give you wrong answers." The tone of the voice clearly said 'duh dumb shit' and Inuyasha bristled in annoyance.

"'How do I free you'. A wrong question. What is the right one?" Kagome mused staring off into space. In her minds eye she pictured the riddle along the rim of the wall. 'Who are you, who you are. Discover this and steal a kiss and find the missing me.' "Who are you…" Kagome muttered to herself.

Inuyasha looked startled at her question thinking she was asking it of him. "I'm Inuyasha."

"I'm Yura." The woman grinned falling upside down towards them slowly. "Who are you?"

"It was on the well before I got pulled down to this place." Kagome told Inuyasha staring at Yura. "I'm…I'm Kagome." She wondered why it was hard to say that.

Yura rotated so her head was bent up at an awkward angle to meet Kagome's eyes dead on and too close for comfort. "Are you sure? Who is Kagome?"

Kagome felt her world beginning to unravel once again. Who was she exactly? Without a past did she have a future? She felt tears welling up in her eyes once again and tried not to cry. "I don't…"

"Kagome is a strong young woman. A fighter who protects her loved ones." Inuyasha's voice was strong and sure and his eyes honest as he stared at Kagome.

Kagome's eyes darted to him and his solemn face helped her calm. "But I don't know who I am."

"So figure out that which is most important and question that." Yura smiled widely and disappeared running her hands through Kagome's hair once again.

That chick needs to stop touching me. Kagome thought angrily before wiping away her tears once again. Why am I so weak? Was I always this weak? Who… "Who am I?" She asked aloud.

Yura appeared sitting almost atop Inuyasha's shoulder and began to play with his hair. "Now that is the question. Answer me seven riddles and free each of these who are your past and with a kiss," Yura paused to press her lips to Inuyasha's who jerked away with a snarl, she giggled looking back at the shocked Kagome. "Wake from this dream."

Kagome gazed at each of those who were her past and studied the last three. "Inuyasha…who are they?"

Inuyasha felt his heart clench at the question. "Your mother, your little brother, and your grandfather." He replied quietly.

Kagome felt her own heart break. "I don't even know my own family."

"You'll remember one day." Inuyasha promised aching to hold her.

"Pick a person, pick a riddle, and set them free." Yura said fading away.

Kagome stared into Inuyasha's eyes. If she feared Inuyasha, would he disappear? She didn't want to risk losing his company. She always felt calmer, safer with Inuyasha with her. "Sango." She whispered her voice breaking with pain.

Inuyasha let out a relieved breath feeling the same fear as her. Rin had fought hard to get him into her mind and he wasn't ready to leave. Rin had meditated for a long time, trying to figure out where Kagome had disappeared to in her own mind, dodging automatic attacks to protect a persons mind then had to bring Inuyasha out of his mind and into Kagome's and it wouldn't have worked if Kagome hadn't called for him. 'It's up to you now Inuyasha, help bring our leader back.' Rin had told him just before he was pulled away from her.

"Sango's riddle then. The more that there is, the less that you see. Squint all you wish when surrounded by me." Yura stated then once again, disappeared.

"The more that there is…" Kagome muttered quietly staring up into the unchanging sky. "The less that you see."

"Squint all you wish when surrounded by me." Inuyasha finished continuing to watch his Kagome.

"Yura! Are the riddles tied to each person specifically?" Kagome shouted towards the trees around them.

"What would be the purpose," Yura's voice replied, "Of a riddle without a link?"

"That sounds like yes to me." Inuyasha replied quietly narrowing his eyes in annoyance. "That woman is so annoying."

Kagome laughed slightly and knelt at Sango's side. "Sango seems so brave and strong. I have few memories of her, or really any of you. I wonder why that is…" She mused to herself still trying to figure out what the answer to the riddle was.

"According to Rin," Inuyasha started slowly, "There was so much mental trauma that you locked up your memories so that the you who was treated so badly, didn't infect the old you." He paused and looked down at her. "You hid the happy 'you' from the sad 'you'."

Kagome studied the slightly older girl and thought very hard. "What thing is there, that the more of it there is, the less of it is seen?"

Inuyasha looked up at the unchanging sky in thought and frowned slightly. "If the sky doesn't change, will it get dark?"

Kagome's head jerked up. "That's it!" Inuyasha's head whipped back to her in shock and she elaborated. "Darkness! You can see less in total darkness than you can when it's only a little dark!" She was practically hopping up and down in excitement at the answer.

"Darkness." Kagome repeated firmly at the body of her friend and watched as Sango began to faintly glow. She faded from sight after a moment leaving behind a glittering pink shard of stone. Kagome studied it from a distance and then picked it up cautiously. She sat back hard as her mind was flooded and filled with different memories that centered around Sango. She saw Sango and her playing as children, going to movies as young teens, Sango at the funeral of her parents and her little brother when she was seventeen and the more solemn girl that she became after that. So many memories that Kagome screamed in pain at the flood. When it had slowed to a trickle she could speak again and looked up at Inuyasha who was wide-eyed with worry. "Darkness to represent the hard trials she went through." Kagome murmured tears springing up in her eyes at the look of devastation on Sango's face at the funeral. To lose everyone in one fell swoop, just like Kagome's loss of memories at once.

"One down, six to go." Yura murmured appeared behind Kagome and running her hands along Kagome's tear stained cheeks. "Can you endure? Can you succeed? Who next will you free?" She disappeared again and Kagome swiped a hand under her eyes.

"I will succeed!" She shouted at the sky and turned to Miroku. "Miroku next."

"I can have no color, though there may be darkness within. I have no weight and hold nothing, and if placed in a container it becomes all the lighter." Yura's voice drifted down to them.

Kagomestudied Miroku for a moment then shook her head. "I know this riddle. I'm just not sure how the answer ties in to Miroku."

"Say it and maybe the memories or I can fill you in." Inuyasha encouraged her quietly.

Kagome glanced up at him then knelt by Miroku so when the flood of memories came, she wouldn't fall so far. "AHole. The answer is a Hole." She closed her eyes as she picked up the next shard and her mind was again ripped open revealing thoughts she had not known for years. The painful flash of memories was happier than Sango's but still deeply tied within each other. He'd always been the calm boy of their quartet but with a hidden twinkle in his eye for mischief. As they'd grown older, he'd turned all his mischief making skills against Sango.

"When Miroku was a young boy his father died of blood loss. He'd been cleaning a gun at home while Miroku was in school and blew a hole through his hand and knocked himself unconscious." (Darwin award-ish I know but I had to figure out something) Inuyasha murmured closing his eyes at the painful memories. "Miroku then moved in with us."

"He's always touched the center of his hand when he's nervous." Kagome muttered sitting back up. And rubbed the bandages on her palm in reflection.

Inuyasha nodded and sighed wishing that she didn't have to relive all of these memories at the same time. Each memory was a way to hurt her and every one that came was fresh. But he knew she could handle it. She was lost for a long time, both in life and in her mind, but she was strong. She was the strongest girl he knew and she'd be able to pick herself back up; even if it took a few tries, she'd stand again.

Review and be anxious for Part 2!