Author's Notes: you guys are probably pissed off at me for the late update, but I got a good excuse! I swear! I just moved to a totally new city and things have been hectic for a long time. That and I had to adjust to a new school who's got wayyyy too many anal-retentive teachers. Sigh, I sincerely apologize for the late update!

Beautiful Reflection

Beautiful reflection, can you show me what isn't there?

Defy your limits, your boundaries, and show me what can't be seen

No ripple will mar your perfection or your flaws

Reflect the eternity of all that is not true

Illuminate and captivate the lies within

Leave only the beautiful reflection of what isn't there

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He felt consumed by it. Like it was digging into his pores and straining to get into the soul, the center of his being. Every movement and thought was overrun by this strange desire that had come out of nowhere. It was subtle at first, subtle enough that he waved away the harsh words and angry thoughts that began to appear in a normally patient and generous mind. But against his wishes and struggles, it grew into some hideous beast that bared its teeth. The desire was taking over everything and though he had fought a brave battle before, he knew he was losing the war. And the knowledge of his weakness against some desire, made him forfeit more of himself. It grew every day, whether he embraced it or not. Control was slipping away from hands that were becoming more obedient and senile every day. And sometimes he would beg it to stop, times when he felt his old self again. But the desire just bit down harder on its powerful hold over his mind, and his old self would submissively shrink back into the darker corners inside. Where had this desire come from? And why was it after him? The endless questions that followed one after another did nothing to alleviate the growing fear that things were beginning to change around him. The beast inside roared its presence and settled back down to pace back and forth, watching and waiting for the right time to finally come out. And he feared that day most of all.

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Being pathetic was not something she was used to. She had spent all her life under the shadow of being a woman, but never had she felt herself dragged into the depths of such misery and depression. She had allowed it to happen again and the pain of such stupidity caused the aches in her chest to intensify. The logical part of her heart told her that she shouldn't have lost her temper. But the sensual part was out to wreak havoc on the next male she happened to see. She angrily swiped at her eyes again and rubbed the moisture on her hands on her yukata. No matter how many times she called herself stupid, it didn't come close to how pathetic she felt. She had been passed down from one brother to another. So much for learning from your mistakes.

This whole escapade of living in the imperial palace had lost its sparkle and glitter and now she found herself yearning to go home. At least she knew what each day possessed and she wouldn't have to worry about stupidity being her best friend. As for her parents, they would just have to accept the fact that their daughter wouldn't receive any honor. She gave a wince as she imagined her mother's livid face. Perhaps, she should at least remark on the compliments the queen gave. She absently nodded her head in agreement to her course of action. She would pack up and leave this place. She had never felt like she truly belonged to high society life anyways.

"Stupid stupid stupid." She angrily muttered to herself again as her feet unknowingly took her to a different place. She glanced up to see a pair of unfamiliar doors that looked heavy and foreboding. She turned her head side to side to see where she was but the hallway was unfamiliar and strangely bare. Her fingers began to itch to open the door and she rubbed them hard against her clothes. The itch in her fingers was growing worse and when she lifted them towards the door's handles the itch soothed away. With a careless shrug she heaved open the door only to find it smoothly move almost on its own.

"Ano-is anybody here?" She called out but the darkness only threw back her echo. She took one step in and something grabbed her shoulders, slamming the door and throwing her to the ground. A scream threatened to climb out of her throat but something told her that nobody would hear her cries.

"Who's there?" She said, terror seizing her muscles so that she couldn't move. There was a chuckle at her right and she swiveled her head to that direction, eyes and ears straining to detect any being around. There was another chuckle, louder this time, and it was right near her ear. Her arm reflexively hit around but there was nothing but air.

"Who's there?!" She called out more desperately, the terror gradually becoming worse. There was a muffled whispering coming from the middle of the room, accented syllables and strange pitches of a masked voiced sounded foreign and strange to her ears.

Then the whispering stopped and Kagome could see something glistening in the middle of the room. Cautiously, Kagome inched to the glistening object and found herself near the edge of a small pond. She knelt on the ground and slowly touched the water, wondering if it was an illusion. Ripples marred the flat surface before she could even touch the liquid and for a second, she could have sworn she saw the image of an old woman in the pond's reflective facade. The rippling waters automatically stilled in her presence and she found herself bending over to stare at the true picture the waters would show. She saw eternity in the pond, stars pressing so far into the water that she felt like she was being pulled into their attraction. Then eternity erased away to show her own face staring back at her with a look of infinite patience, and to her surprise, a strange sadness. She lifted her hand and touched her cheek, carefully watching her own reflection do the same.

"What is it suppose to show me?" Kagome asked softly and her reflection grew sadder. "Is my reflection supposed to have some meaning?" She bent closer to the waters in the hope of seeing something her reflection was aware of. "What do you see that I can't?" Suddenly, her reflection gave a wry grin and pointed up to Kagome. "Me?" Her reflection nodded and the wry grin faded back into the strange sadness, a look of worry in her face. "Why are you-why am I sad?" She asked curiously and the reflection shook her head, making the sadness deepen. She gave one last grin, waved, and allowed eternity to take over the waters again. Kagome hesitantly touched the waters and found her hand touching the hard wooden floor.

She sat up straight and blinked, the pond had disappeared and she was back in the dark room again. Alone again. She gave a sigh and closed her eyes, trying to decipher what had just happened. Her reflection was alive in those waters. So did that mean she's two different people? What kind of magic showed living reflections? There was a deep groan of the door opening and bright light streaked the dark room, allowing Kagome to finally see where she was. The room was small and untidy, dirt chasing the corners and cobwebs decorating the ceiling. There was a small shelf in the far left corner holding an aged scroll that looked like it had been read many times over. The king was standing in the doorway with a look of astonishment on his face and Kagome quickly stood up and gave a low bow.

"I'm so sorry! I lost my way and then I got locked in here and-"

"How did you get in here?" The king broke through in a sharp voice, his golden eyes growing wild. "How did you break through the wards?!"

"Eh, wards?" Kagome asked weakly. What was the use of wards for such an unimportant looking room?

"The most powerful wards of the Taiyoukai family have been put on this door, allowing nobody but a blood member of the royal family in. HOW did you break the wards?" The king asked dangerously, drawing closer to Kagome in slow steps.

"I-I didn't do anything your majesty. I'm telling the truth! I got lost and- and I went in here. There were no wards on the door preventing me from getting in." Kagome defended herself but start to inch away from the king who was steadily getting closer.

"Magic." The king said in a hushed voice, and then he laughed. A great boastful laugh that had frightening cruelty laced in. "You have magic, don't you, Higurashi Kagome?" He gave another laugh. "Magic, I knew it was you. You're the one, the one in the scrolls. And now I know what I can do to make it all go away." His eyes gave a flash of anger and Kagome only saw his blurry hand before she fell unconscious.

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The whole left side of her face ached so badly that tears immediately sprang to her eyes when she woke up. A hard chill entered her skin and she pushed herself up with frozen hands. She was in a dark room again; only this one wasn't as dark as before. There was the faint flickering glow of a faraway torch, revealing the iron bars of a dungeon. She flew to the bars and pointlessly shook the confining pieces of metal.

"Why am I in here?!!" She angrily shouted. "Let me out right now!!!"

A guard promptly appeared and with the butt of his sword, he shoved her back so that she fell on her rear.

"Quiet down in there or else." The guard said coldly and there was a threat in his eyes. "Cursed witch!" He spat out and kicked at her cell bars before stomping back to his original position.

"Why am I in here?" She said in a wavering voice and the ache on her face made her remember. The king must have hit her, but why did he put her in a dungeon for accidentally going into a room? She miserably sat down on the biting stone ground and drew her knees under her chin, trying to preserve what little heat she had. There was an achingly loud screech of a door opening and the soft footsteps of several people walking. The group stopped before her cell and Kagome met the scrutiny of four pairs of eyes. It was the king and three strange men that had an odd glitter in their dark eyes. She sprang to her feet and went up to the bars.

"Why am I in a dungeon?! I did nothing wrong to deserve this treatment!!" Her cries were only met with a feral grin from the king and a hungry look in the other men's eyes. One of the men gave an approving nod.

"We can feel it, its faint, but there. It's not surprising you weren't able to feel it before, your majesty, she masked it exceptionally well for a human. We should be able to proceed with the tests promptly and if the contents of the scroll is correct...." The man gave a quick glance to his companions. "Then the prophecy will be able to be broken."

"Get on with it then, I want this done quickly and efficiently." The king snapped and regally straightened his rich robes before striding away.

"W-what are you planning to do to me?" Kagome backed away from the cell door as one of the men motioned for a guard to open the cell.

"Just a few tests, its harmless....at least on our part." The man chuckled as all three gathered around her. "We just need to ransack your mind for information."

He roughly grabbed her hair and pulled her towards them so that their hands locked on to her head. An agonizing pain seared first through her head and then throughout the rest of her body. A scream tore out of her throat, one after another till she couldn't bring enough oxygen inside herself to utter any noise. Her body began to convulse from the pain and a bright light filled her eyes, soft and comforting. She could feel all her pain slip away into a wonderful bliss and she lazily reached out her hands as if she was embracing something. Words were being whispered all around her, the same language that she had heard before. A motherly hand brushed her cheek and Kagome reached out to it but it disappeared. A chilling touch pulled her away from the bliss and her eyes took her back to where she was in the cell. Her hands were tingling from a pressing warmth and she looked down to see fading blue sparkles at her fingertips. The three men had disappeared; the only evidence of their coming was the opened cell door. Silence penetrated the room and she rubbed the sides of her head, remnants of the pain still there.

"Are you alright?" A guard sauntered into the cell but dropped his staff upon seeing the dark room empty. He backed away from Kagome with terror in his eyes and slammed the cell door closed, his fingers fumbling to lock the door. He quickly shouted for his other comrades to help him and he scampered off, shouting the word witch so that it echoed everywhere. More shouts joined his and there was the crashing sound of a slammed door. Kagome looked down at her hands again but the blue sparkles had disappeared and the warmth was quickly being sucked away by the iciness of the cell. Witch? Why were they calling her a witch? What had happened? She remembered those men and that horrible pain in her head. They said they were going to extract information from her but where did they go? Something terrible was going to happen soon, she could feel it in her gut, a heavy feeling of apprehension. The door screeched open again and she heard frantic steps coming close to her. It was the king surrounded by a handful of guards. The king looked into the cell and paled when he saw only her.

"Are you sure you didn't see them leave?!" He said, grabbing one of the soldiers by the neck. "I-I'm sure, your majesty! We were all standing guard by the door, like we always do and nobody went past. I saw a strange light in her cell so I went to check it out and they weren't in there. Only her." The soldier spoke in a panicked tone and pointed at Kagome fearfully as the king slowly released his hold.

"You're already starting the prophecy aren't you, you cursed witch!" The king spat out. "I'm not going to watch my kingdom fall to ruins because of one stupid girl!" He turned to one of the guards. "Fetch the commoner Akitaka right now and alert all the nobles to meet in the throne room." The guards all gave a salute and scampered to do their king's bidding, leaving Kagome and the king alone. He paced back and forth, stealing looks at her.

"It'll all be over now, I get rid of you and the kingdom is safe." He rambled. "With you out of the way, everything will return to normal."

"Get rid of me? Are you planning on k-killing me??" Kagome asked. "I didn't DO anything! All I did was accidentally go into that room! That isn't a crime worth killing for!!!"

"Shut up, ever since you came to this palace, you've been putting magic on my entire family!! Don't think I was too stupid to see it!"

"What magic?!!! I don't have any magic and I would never do anything to your family!" Kagome shouted back.

"My own wife is dying from an illness no one knows, but I'm sure you already know that. Or how both my sons were entranced with you in a few days?! What magic did you seduce them with? If it wasn't for Kikyo, my sons would have fallen further into your games!"

A guard had already come back with a ragged man with him. The king dismissed the guard with a hand and turned intently toward the commoner.

"You know why I called you?" The king asked. "Do you have your things?"

"Of course your majesty, nobody else in this kingdom has the brand." Akitaka bowed deeply.

"I have been waiting for this day for many years."

"Good, hurry up and do your duty, I need my kingdom to be safe as soon as possible."

"I'll need a fire to heat up the brand, your majesty."

"W-what are you going to do with me?" Kagome nervously as Akitaka sifted through a patched brown bag hanging at his side.

The king ignored her question and muttered a short word under his breath. From his hand came a bright flame that quickly ate up the darkness of the room. With a nod, Akitaka slipped on thick gloves and took out a short brand from his bag. He shoved the brand into the overly bright flame and it quickly started to glow a yellow orange.

"You're going to brand me?!! What do you think you're going?? I didn't do anything wrong!!" Kagome backed away as the brand grew brighter and hotter. The king closed his hand and the flame vanished without a trace. With a little pull, the king opened the locked cell door and allowed Akitaka to step in.

"If you make one move, you'll be killed, prophecy or not, understood?" The king said coldly, pulling out a slim dagger from the folds of his robe.

"Well girl, where'll it be? Right cheek or left?" Akitaka asked cheerfully as he carefully held the brand near her face. She tried to push the man away but the king rested the dagger against her throat in a blurry move.

"Answer him." He said through gritted teeth.

"As if it matters!" She said in a choked voice as the brand loomed closer to her skin. "I'm going to tell every person I know what kind of king you are underneath it all!!"

"Not if the person obeys the laws of the kingdom under penalty of death."

Akitaka roughly grabbed her chin and pressed the brand onto her let cheek. She struggled against his hold and tried to scream but any attempt moved the muscles in her cheek, causing the pain to increase even more. The king held her down but the act was hastily done and Akitaka pulled the brand away, taking off a layer of skin along with it. Kagome fell to the ground and grabbed the side of her face, crying hoarsely as her hand helplessly hovered above the branded character on her left cheek. But the crying made it worse as the salt droplets flowed into the mass of 3rd degree burns and open tissue.

"Why are you doing this?" She said amidst her tears. "I didn't do anything."

The king latched on to her arm and proceeded to drag her out of the cell. She tried to resist but his overwhelming strength offered no release. The two passed wide-eyed servants and other inhabitants of the palace but none moved a hand to help her. She kicked, she punched, but he was unaffected by her weak attacks. Finally they arrived before the very throne room Kagome had entered when she had first arrived at the palace. It was packed with the various nobles of the kingdom and she heard a cry from Inuyasha who was sitting in his ordained seat.

"Father? What are you doing to her?!" He asked but the king ignored his son's question and threw her at the front of the room. He slashed a magical character in the air and Inuyasha's mouth immediately closed against his will. He pushed against the magic but his mouth was clamped shut.

"Nobles," The room, which had risen in volume upon seeing the weeping girl and the burn on her cheek, grew silent as they all watched the king with careful eyes. "I had informed you all sixteen years ago of the prophecy that would either save our land or destroy it. And before your eyes, here it is. The fated girl who would bring to ruin to all we worked hard for." There were several gasps from the crowd but nearly all the eyes immediately turned hard on Kagome except one.

"Kill her!" Shouted a voice and others nodded their head in agreement.

"It has been written that death of the girl from the hands of the kingdom would result in an even larger catastrophe. Which gives the reason to the law I ordered sixteen years ago. If any person in this kingdom aids an outcast in any way, it will mean instant death." The king looked around the room. "I want every one of you to remind the people in your provinces of this law."

"What will you do with the girl?" A man asked.

"She will be exiled, an outcast, and if we are lucky, she will die on her own, leaving the kingdom free from her evil doings. And if any of you happens to be against this, I suggest you speak now."

Kagome could only watch through blurry eyes at the silence that dominated the room. Not one person spoke up and every pair refused to even make contact with hers. She pleaded frantically with her eyes but still, nobody looked at her. She felt the king smile generously and he grabbed her by the arm again. He was blocked from his path by Inuyasha who was standing in front of him with blazing eyes. His mouth was still locked tight but his eyes flared a bright gold. He had struggled against the magic was now able to at least open his mouth, but no sound was able to come out.

"So you wish to speak against me, Inuyasha?" Inuyasha only glared at him angrily and pointed to Kagome.

"Do you want your mother to die?" The king asked in a low voice. "Do you care for this girl more than your own mother? She is the reason why the queen has been sick lately and if we don't get rid of her, my wife and yourmother will die. So take your pick Inuyasha, your mother or the girl?"

Kagome dipped her head down, not wanting to see his eyes; she didn't want to see what was in them. She knew how much he loved his mother and it would be no contest to whom he would choose. Still, her heart begged secretly inside, hopelessly. And the king's question was answered as the king started to drag her out of the throne room. There was no movements and no words as she was yanked away. She didn't try to struggle anymore, her position not quite entering her consciousness. All she could feel was the throbbing burn of her cheek that beat in time to her own sinking heart.

*Arrggh, this chapter has been evasive for a long time and I finally got the darn thing done. I hope its an ok chapter, things are starting to move at a quicker pace for Kagome, so you can expect more events to occur later on. I hope you guys like, I've been scratching my head over this chapter for over two weeks now and I still don't know if its good or not. Sigh, well, review and let me know.

Yukari1: really? I thought that readers might think the dialogue between sess and kag was, well, unbelievable. I'm glad u thought it was good and its in character too, I'm trying not to stray too far. ^^

Grasshopper-chan: thanks, I know I got the basic average girl going to the palace plot, but I'm trying to keep it unique

Narani the Demoness: I'm actually really surprised how many readers like Akira. I added him for spice but I was surprised how many people thought he was a cute character. Maybe its cuz he's got similar features to sess.

Orchidaceae: yup, secrets and assumptions combined can really destructive. I think I made sess go a bit too far on slapping her but heck, he's a youkai who's got way too much pride, everybody has a button and kagome pushed the right one. This is a sess/kag (as so many people seem oblivious about) so they will get together in the end...somehow.

Somethingsinthislife: *blushes* wow, its hard to believe that since I pretty much cringe whenever I read my beginning chapters. *Grumbles* gotta do something about that. I can't believe how green I was when I first started writing!

Chinagirl223: sorry sorry sorry! *bows in ritsu style* I keep telling myself I'm going to update a steady rate but so many things interfere!

Sheol: sigh, it seems like it doesn't make a difference whether I tell the pairing or not, one out of two readers always seem to ask what the pairing is anyways even when I give it out ^^

Laurelyn: thanks, I'm just happy I got this updated after...well...forever. Remind me to never move if I ever become a full fledged writer.

Lady2u: true, but considering that kagome is a free spirited person, she wouldn't want to marry because the king is plotting against her, she would probably think of something to do. I tend to think of kagome as a strong person, and one who looks upon marriage as an everlasting love sort of thing.

Mew_mew128: eh...uh.... I actually told all the readers in several of my chapters that this is a sess/kag so I wouldn't be leading anybody on.......

The Fallen Angel of Death: lol, it would have been cute if kagome did run away and sess ran after her, but love is always complicated, and as u can see from this chapter, its going to be something pretty different. ^^

Yura of the Demon Hair: yeah, I wish I could post more often too. But my schedule oftentimes get in the way. School is being a realy time consuming thing too, and I can't write if I have no inspiration, which results in really sucky chapters, which pisses of both the reader and the author. ^^

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