Lost Soul Comes Home

By: Ryu Katanna

Beta:

Disclaimer: All publicly recognizable characters, settings, etc. are the property of their respective owners. The original characters and plot are the property of the author. The author is in no way associated with the owners, creators, or producers of any media franchise. No copyright infringement is intended.

Chapter Two

Kagome could hear the shouts of confused voices as they followed behind her but paid them no mind in her dash through the hallways. She ignored them as well as the slight prickling sensation along her skin. Nothing else mattered at that moment as she took several turns she made her way into the innermost sanctum of the tomb. This was the place. It was one of the last places that had been ingrained so deeply into her memories of this world. Memories that told her everything she needed to know. Everything she had been dreaming, thinking and feeling for years all made sense to her now.

"Brother!" Kagome called out as she threw open the doors only to freeze in horror when she saw three seemingly innocuous boxes resting upon the podium in front of the crest that rested high on the wall.

Fear shivered up her spine as the others that had been following her made it into the room. What were they doing here? Her breath shortened in fear at the sight of them. Those boxes were never meant to be anywhere near each other. After all it had cost to seal them away… Had the seals on the boxes become weak as they had estimated they one day would?

"Who is she looking for Murata?" The dark-haired teen's voice came from behind Kagome as the other dark haired teen with glasses came to stand beside her.

"Well? Are you going to show yourself to her, or continue to make her worry over you?" Kagome looked at him strangely before looking back at the boxes as a blonde man stepped out from the shadows between them.

Blue eyes connected with another set of blue that matched them down to the same hue. A smile came to the man as Kagome let out a dry sob and ran forward. Hands reached up and paused inches from his face as if afraid to touch him and proving this really wasn't real. A hand reached up and gently connected with her own before pressing it to his cheek. The tingle of his spirit felt solid though it did not hold the warmth of the living flesh she could remember.

"What is going on?" The dark-eyed teen without glasses asked as he watched the two from behind the one he'd called Murata.

They were smiling with such joy and love even as tears fell down the woman's cheeks. They watched as Shinou's arms came up to wrap her shoulders in a tight embrace while she buried her face and cried into his chest. The way he held her seemed as if she was the most precious thing in the world, and surprised all but one of those watching them. For him, it was a sight that was nostalgic now and the familiarity had been lost to another life.

"What you're seeing is a reunion thousands of years in the making, Yuuri." Murata told his friend only to hear someone make a choking sound.

"Explain." A deep baritone voice said for the first time since just after Ulrike had entered the courtyard.

"This girl is the one who is the Shinou's little sister, Lord von Voltaire. She was the youngest of the two sisters that came with us from the old country. A mazoku warrior and priestess of great power and purity." Murata explained with a soft smile as he watched them as Shinou comforted the woman.

"There are no records of any siblings joining him." Another voice replied with some confusion.

"That would be because I ensured the records were destroyed, Lord Weller." Shinou said as he and Kagome slowly joined them.

"Why destroy the records?" Yuuri asked curiously as he looked between the two and back toward his friend who also held answers to what was happening.

Kagome had not left the blonde and stayed in contact with his arm around her shoulder while she had hers wrapped around his waist as she pressed into his side. She had been crying as the tear tracks were still fresh, but her blue eyes were clear. She held herself with a peaceful regality even as she stood barefoot upon the stone floor. Was she really Shinou's little sister? It certainly appeared so with the tender looks the blonde gave her as his blue eyes didn't pull away from her for more than a few seconds at a time.

"Has everything returned to you, my dear?" Shinou asked the girl instead of answering the question.

"Everything. The seal was already losing its power after I came of age again. I just wasn't able to make sense of it all yet. Where is Kenha? He is never found far from your side." Kagome asked as she looked around.

"I am right here, Hanae. Though unlike you, I am not the same as back then." Murata said only to have an armful of the twenty-year-old a second later.

"Woah!" Yuuri exclaimed as he jumped back so as not to be knocked over from her quick movement as she launched herself at the teen standing beside him, and the one she had heard called Lord Weller caught him.

Murata let out a quiet chuckle as the life was squeezed from him and tears fell from her eyes once more as she soaked in his presence. It felt so different with him being the same height as she is when he had always been so much taller than her before. Yet the grip around her, the gentle touch of his hand rubbing her back, and the quiet chuckle in her ear were all the same. She knew it couldn't be anyone else than the man she knew it to be. Soon enough, Kagome stepped back to look him over. Blue eyes framed by dark lashes turned pensive as she looked at him. Finally, she stepped back before looking between them all with a dawning understanding in her eyes. She looked toward the boxes sitting on the platform before scowling at both of them.

"You've gathered both the keys and the boxes. There is only a residual feeling of taint in the air as well. It's already over, isn't it?" Her voice took on a soft but dangerous tone that both Shinou and Murata recognized.

They both took a step back as she leveled her gaze at them both. They looked at each other before watching her like she might explode at any moment. Yuuri, Conrart, Wolfram, and Gwendal all watched on at the byplay between the three in both confusion and intrigue. They had never seen one, much less both of them, show trepidation or fear over anything. Even her furred companion had shifted a little farther away from her at the tone of her voice.

"Now, Hanae. I know what you're thinking." Shinou spoke in a soothing tone to which he only received a glare.

"Do you now, Shin? If that is true, then why don't you tell me what I am thinking?" Kagome growled in a warning, and the air became charged around her as she scowled and the blue in her eyes seemed to shift like a tsunami in her rising anger.

"We weren't going to risk you." Murata said when he felt the air spark.

"Weren't going to risk me? I pushed out and purified the taint of the Originators from my soul a thousand years ago! How was I at risk?! You both promised! Was I not your sister? Could you not in trust me? In my abilities?" Kagome snarled in anger that did nothing to hide the hurt she was also feeling.

"You are our sister! Our little sister. That's why we would not risk you. We agreed that after their taint had touched you once we would not chance it again!" Shinou snapped back passionately as his own power came forth and what seemed an invisible wind shifted their hair.

"How many times, Hanae? How many times did you regain your memories only to have the ritual you performed return you to a child when a human lifetime had ended? A child knowing nothing so that your soul could cleanse the taint of them from you? How many of Kenae's descendants have raised you knowing that the day would come when you would be taken from them and brought home to Shin Makoku? It wasn't the same as what either of us went through." Murata asked knowing the others were watching the apparent sibling quarrel with rapt attention.

"How isn't it? Shin, his very soul sealed here and lingering in death, acting behind the scenes even as his soul was being corrupted and twisted by them with the passage of time. Kenha, being reborn over and over again into new lives with the memories of what we've been fighting for only to continue on. For millennia we have sacrificed for the day we could finally end it, but when it finally came down to finishing the fight, you both left me out!" It was then that the dam within her cracked and the tears of frustration, sorrow, and heartache of thousands of years broken through the anger to trail slowly down her face.

The others shifted uneasily as the crash of thunder echoed from outside. The sound of rain was heavy from the other side of the stone walls. Gwendal and Conrart shot a glance at each other before focusing on the girl in front of them. There was no mistaking the cause of the sudden storm outside. It had been a calm and clear day before she arrived, only to change when she became upset.

A sob wracked her, and she kneeled to the floor to steady herself when she felt her legs go weak as she tried to push the emotions back knowing that she did not want to let go in front of the strangers who watched them. Relief came next as both Shinou and Murata kneeled on either side of her to comfort her, and Kirara gave a crooning growl in an attempt to soothe her. It was over. The Originators were gone. Shin Makoku was finally safe, but she felt robbed. Robbed of the opportunity to help the two that she had looked up to for so long. The two people she would forever cherish. Once again they had chosen to rely on each other, and try to protect her.

"Hanae…" Shinou whispered the name she had been born to, the name she had not answered to in millennia, and she started to calm at the familiar tones in his voice that offered comfort.

It took a while, but eventually, she settled as she pushed her emotions to the back of her mind as she had done many times before. Now was not the time to deal with them. Finally, she looked back up at the two of them. Reaching up, Kagome stood as she grasped the jewel and broke the clasp from her neck. She turned to the podium where the three boxes sat. Now empty, they were no longer a threat, and so there was no reason to fear their presence here any longer.

"You may have stopped me from taking part in the main event, but this much still has yet to be done." She said as she turned to show them the jewel that dangled from the chain she held clenched in her hand.

"Is that what I think it is?" Murata asked in alarm, and Shinou's back went straight and stiff as he stared at the small jewel.

"The name I have answered to for the last twenty years is Kagome, and I have had many other names over the years. Over one thousand years ago I was called Midoriko. I was finally able to rip away the taint that the Originators had left on my soul during a battle with what the people of Earth considered to be demons. I was able to use them as a sacrifice to seal the taint of the Originators into the form of this jewel before I died and the ritual upon me took its effect. It was then returned to me in other human 'lifetimes' to protect until my return to Shin Makoku." Her eyes held a sad look as she remembered the years spent as a priestess known as Kikyo.

She had not held all her memories at the time, or she would have been able to save Inuyasha from himself. The Kikyo that he had gone to hell to be with didn't exist. The puppet created by the dark Miko with a part of her soul had only held her suppressed memories from that life. That fragment had been returned to her upon the death of the vessel.

He had died for nothing at all. Kikyo's soul had never spent time in hell because that soul had always belonged to Hanae; to Kagome who had never truly died. She regretted that the seal placed by the ritual had not fully broken in time for her to stop him. She truly had loved him in those years but had grown past the emotions she held for him in this one.

"The humans of that time called it the Shikon No Tama, or the Jewel of Four Souls. I don't think they truly knew how close they were to the truth. I may have cleansed myself of their taint, but in doing so, my actions caused a lot of pain to the people of Earth. Anyone other than myself who comes into contact with it will be corrupted by their taint. What I have here in my hand is the last remnants of all that they once were." She said softly to the shock of all in the room.

"What?! You're just carrying around a part of the Originators?" The blonde that she had heard being called Wolfram by others shouted at her.

"Unfortunately, I have not been strong enough to destroy it completely." Kagome said as she grasped the jewel tightly enough for her nails to cut into her flesh.

"There is no priestess as strong as you. If you managed to expel it that long ago then you must have some idea of how to be rid of it." Murata said knowingly to the surprise of those who didn't know her.

"I would have done so had I any idea. When I realized what I had unleashed on Earth I eventually ordered it burned with me upon my 'death'. When the ritual took effect, and I was 'reborn', the jewel was contained within my body from then on. Five years ago I was pulled down a magical well on my fifteenth birthday by one of Earth's demons. They are very different beings than we are. They have animal-like characteristics and instincts. I was taken five hundred years into the past where she tore it from my body. With the seal still locking away my memories I did not have the knowledge needed to protect it." Kagome choked and sighed as she looked up at them all with a haunted look that was plain for all of them to see.

"Due to a foolish mistake on my part, the jewel was shattered. The shards scattered all over the country of Japan. I have spent the past five years hunting down the shards. I made friends, allies, and enemies alike. We were finally able to regain the shards, and it is once again whole, but at great cost. Even as only a fragment of the Originators, the jewel has caused so much death. In the end, it is entirely my fault." Kagome said as she brought the jewel into her palm and clasped it to her chest with a look of utter despair at the memories and emotions the words she spoke invoked within her.

"I had been storing my power away over the years to destroy it, but it has not been enough. The ritual I performed those millennia ago allows me only a small portion of my true power. So I had planned to wait until I finally came home. I was going to merge the jewel with the boxes so that they could either be sealed again or destroyed altogether." She continued before narrowing her eyes at Murata and Shinou.

"That was how I was going to be rid of it, but you decided between yourselves that I was not to be included. That was the only other way I knew of, and now it is no longer an option." Kagome said with defeat as her shoulders slumped tiredly.

It had been a long day already, and with this and regaining her memories of the last four thousand years, she was exhausted. Her mind was racing even now to assimilate all the new information. Shinou was looking a little guilty, and Murata had a contemplative look on his face. Kenha had always been both the strategist and the voice of reason Shin needed. Shin had been a lot more rash before he had tracked down their half-brother. Where Kenae or Hanae's voices of reason would have been ignored, Kenha's was heeded and considered.

Shin, Kenae, and Hanae had been born of the same mother and father. Shin looked just like their promiscuous father with his blonde hair and blue eyes while Hanae had only gotten her eyes from the man. Kenha, however, looked just like his mother while taking almost nothing from their father. In a way, Kagome had loved him all the more for that. Shin had always been the protective and courageous big brother to her. Kenha had come into their lives later, and he may have been their father's illegitimate son, but he had treated her just as preciously as Shin always had from the start.

"Perhaps it is best for you to go and rest. Tomorrow we can talk about this more." Murata said gently when he saw the exhaustion pulling at her.

"You may be right. We'll talk more tomorrow?" Kagome asked as she suppressed another yawn; her agitation fleeing before the exhaustion that was finally gaining its grasp over her.

"Of course. You are finally back home where you belong. We have all the time in the world now. There is already a room that has been prepared for you. Come, I will show you the way." Shinou replied with a genuine smile as he kissed her forehead like he had when she was still a small child.

"Yes, we can properly introduce you to the others in a few days, and explain things to them. I'm sure they are confused considering how you arrived." Murata said with a little teasing in his tone.

Kagome froze at that comment as her face flamed with heat and grew red.

"Oh? What do you mean?" Shinou asked curiously, and Kagome flushed with embarrassment before turning a glare on the older blonde.

"It's all your fault!" She growled before turning back toward the door and taking a quick leave with Kirara following along at her side.

"What did I do this time?" Shinou asked Murata in confusion only to get a smile before he went to see the others out of the temple for the night.

"You'll find out soon enough. You might want to catch up with her." Murata said as she was gaining distance.

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"Are you alright, Hanae?" Shin asked after they had made it to the rooms that had been built for her when the temple had been constructed.

"I will be fine Shin. I am just feeling more emotionally strained than truly tired. My memories are starting to organize themselves, and I have just returned. So much has happened since I left, and there is so much that will need to be done." Kagome replied with a small sigh as she sat down on the edge of her bed only for him to join her.

Shin sat next to Kagome and wrapped one arm around her shoulder. He pulled her to lean against his chest to offer comfort now that they were alone. Kagome's expression softened at the familiar gesture that had been long absent from her life. Resting her head against his shoulder she allowed her body to relax and for him to support her.

"There is no need to push yourself Hanae. You've just returned to us after being away for so long. Take some time before rushing into everything you feel you will need to do. Let yourself have the time you need." Shin said as he held her to him and carded his fingers through her hair.

He took the moment to simply enjoy her presence. After so many years apart they were finally together again. Everything they had worked for, and everything they had fought for and sacrificed since leaving the Old Country had been worth it. It was over. Everything had been worth it for this. Shin Makoku was prospering under the rule of his chosen King, and his little sister was home where she belonged at last.

There was the matter of the jewel needing to be destroyed, but they would see it done as they had everything else. Shin knew there was more on Hanae's mind than just the jewel. There were things she could do for Shin Makoku that others simply couldn't. Yet he also knew that they now had time. There was no need for her to put so much pressure on herself.

Their war was almost over. It had not really ended with the Originators being sealed withing the forbidden boxes. Now all that was left was the fragment of them contained within the jewel. The rest had been taken care of. Now Hanae was back, and they would find a way to be rid of the last fragment of all that they once were.

Hanae would finally get to live out her life as he had always wished for her.

"I know you are right, brother mine. I've just been worried for so long... About you, Kenha, the Kingdom, our people, and the jewel. I have caused so much pain and death during my time on Earth. I know it was because of the jewel, but the people there would have never been exposed to that abomination were it not for me. At the same time, I know that it still would have come to be had I never left Shin Makoku. It could have been our people who suffered. After they had already been made to suffer for so long before we sealed them." Kagome shivered in revulsion and anger at the thought as she pressed her face into his collar.

She did not notice the young man who had come to stand in the door of her room, his glasses concealing his eyes, and his expression showing none of the earlier happiness or light-heartedness. Shin pulled Kagome tightly to him as he felt the first tear that fell and looked up Murata without moving his chin from where it cradled her into him.

"I have become such a despicable person... For everything that I have caused to those of Earth; I don't regret it. I can't regret that it was not our people to suffer because of me. How can I feel that way? How can I still believe that all of it was worth it? It was all my fault! What kind of priestess have I become that I can feel like that?!" Kagome cried as the emotions that had been she had pushed away in front of the strangers finally became too much now that she was cradled in the comforting embrace of her older brother.

Shin had always been both an older brother as well as like a father to her during those long years in the Old Country. He had been the one whose strength she had relied on since she had been a small child. It had been her loyalty and love for him that had driven her in the war. It was that same drive that had given her the will to keep going after she had been separated from him. Every time she had remembered who she really was it had been the knowledge that he was still fighting as his soul was slowly corrupted that had enforced her will to continue on. Knowing that he was waiting for the time when she could return.

She had finally come back. Here she was held in his arms again, and yet she could feel none of the comfort that his warmth had provided as a child. The heartbeat that would thump steadily beneath her ear. The steady rise and fall of his chest as he took even breaths. Even the sound of the metal holding his clothing and sword in place as he moved. It was all absent.

What did offer comfort was the familiar feeling of his powerful maryoku that brushed her own. It was his maryoku that made his soul visible. That allowed her to be held by him now. To feel his arms wrap around her as she cried out the years of pain and uncertainty into his chest.

The bed shifted on the other side of her, and she felt as another hand came to rest on her shoulder, the fingers squeezing gently in an offer of support. She knew immediately who it must be though this hand was smaller than the man she had known. Kagome looked up into black eyes that seemed so familiar while they were different at the same time. Black hair and glasses framed the unfamiliar face even as the gentle look in those eyes told her he was really who she thought him to me.

Kenha. That affection and warmth showing only through those eyes and the small curve of his lips could only belong to her other older brother. One who she had come to know only later, but had come to love just as much as she did Shin. Kenha had been her silent support when she had been worried about the war and those dear to her. When she had felt worn down by the years of loss and bloodshed it had been Kenha's presence that would act as a soothing balm.

She could already tell this teenager was different than her brother in a lot of ways. He had been reborn as a new person, but to her, he was the same brother she had known and loved all those years ago. As a priestess, she had always been more sensitive to what was there under the surface of a person's skin. This teen held Kenha's soul and memories. The emotions were a part of those memories.

She could only feel the slightest difference between the two, and it was one that she knew had developed from each new incarnation over the centuries. From his experiences and memories from other lifetimes. Kagome knew that her own soul would have changed much the same from time's passing. Even so, at the core of their beings, she was still Hanae as he was still Kenha.

"I apologize, sister. We have left you alone for far too long." Murata said as she grasped his hand and wove her fingers into his with an almost desperate grip.

"We're here with you now. You'll never have to leave us again." Shin said as he adjusted his grip on Kagome to allow Murata to get comfortable as they both offered comfort and reassurance, it was with those words that she let herself fall apart.

She was safe to let it all go now.

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This is the end of the second chapter to A Lost Soul Comes Home. There is another chapter waiting to be edited and then posted. I don't know how quickly posts will make it out, if at all after the next few chapters so please be patient with me. I'm having to rewrite some of what I had written as it is., and I'm also working on other my other stories at the same time. I hoped you liked it, and let me know what you thought with a review. Feedback does help motivate me to work on my stories though reviews with the single word of 'update' will be ignored. Those actually irritated me as they come across as more of a demand, and I write for fun. I'm not going to be pressured to update any faster just because someone tells me to. Anyway, I hope you're all staying safe and healthy out there with the current COVID pandemic going on.

~Ryu