A.N.: here, have a 'we're all social distancing for the good of the world and it can be hard and scary' update. I live in the United States and we are currently dealing with The Great Toilet Paper Panic among other things. I hope you are all remaining safe and peaceful, I know times are weird, chaotic and stressful right now

Standing back in the throne room, empty of all save the king and queen, their sons, and she herself, Kagome sighed a weary sigh and closed her eyes against an onslaught of memories.

Memories of her power falling short when she'd desperately grabbed for it; memories of erratic bursts of purity incinerating enemies out of her control; memories of foes nabbing her to use her abilities for their own purposes and needing to be rescued.

She'd grown a lot since those days. When the jewel fused irrevocably with her soul, stole her humanity, suffused her with its power to keep itself alive and protected for eternity, Midoriko, the only other person as intimately acquainted with it as she was, had trained her relentlessly on their travels through the spirit realms. She had a much better grasp on her jewel bolstered reiki. She wasn't sure just what she was capable of; Midoriko had trained her as if she were an apprentice miko of unprecedented potential, which she supposed she had been. But there had been no telling where Kagome ended and the Jewel began, and though she'd lived and battled within the void inside, even Midoriko couldn't name the limits of the Shikon no Tama's ability, so beyond miko training, there had been nothing else.

She hoped desperately that her new protecters, her new family if Thor got his stubborn way and her foolish heart hoped he did, wouldn't now try to harness her for selfish purposes as so many had before.

It still hurt to think of how many times she'd been reduced to The Shard Seer and she wasn't sure she'd be able to bear once again being boiled down to what she could do for them, versus who she was. If they accepted all of her, she knew beyond a shadow of a doubt that she'd dedicate all of her strength to protecting them and her new home. She only hoped she'd be given the choice. So much of her life had been left up to the whims and wishes of fickle fate. All she wanted was a choice.

"So girl, my son tells me you are quite a bit more than you appear to be."

Thor winced. That was not exactly how he'd worded things.

Kagome blinked, unsure how to respond. It wasn't exactly a question.

"Uh... yes sir- your majesty. Yes, your majesty."

Frigga lifted a hand and covered a dainty giggle, smiling down at her from the throne dias with kind, gentle eyes. It soothed the fraying edges of Kagome's nerves.

"I see. We were not made aware upon your arrival that you were capable of anything beyond housing this supposedly dangerous bauble. Tell me, girl, what is the nature of your power?"

"I'm a warrior priestess. My power targets darkness and allows me to decipher the intentions of others."

Oden stroked his chin, considering her shrewdly for a moment. Kagome glanced at the others. Frigga still looked on her with that sweet, motherly grin; Thor stood impassively, stance wide and arms crossed, but his aura flickered with worry and nerves; Loki looked bored out of his mind but she could catch the faint wisps of curiosity coming from him, too. All in all, she wasn't sure how comforted she was.

"Alright girl, let's see it."

Kagome blinked again, turning her eyes back to Oden abruptly.

"...it?"

"Yes yes, this power of yours. Let's have a demonstration."

"Uh..." she looked around helplessly, mentally flailing for an idea or a target or maybe even just a quick escape. But these people were gods. They'd be on her before she made it to the other side of the room.

"It's alright dear." Frigga's clear voice cut through her panic. "Can you simply call your power to the surface? We would just like to see it to determine its inherent qualities."

Her heart had trusted Frigga from the start and so she trusted it now and latched onto her words, settling the hammering tempo in her chest and allowing her lungs to drag in a clarifying breath. She exhaled and nodded.

Bringing her hands out in front of her, she cupped them and allowed a small, shimmering pink flame to ignite in each palm. She closed her eyes and looked within herself, finding that inner well of purity and channeled it up through her veins out into her fingers, stoking the little flames higher until she was consumed up to her elbows. Her hair began floating up at the tips and pink sparks swirled around her and disturbed the hems of her dress. Her eyes opened, glowing white hot and otherworldly, shocking her onlookers.

Sweet and lovely and kind and tired, Kagome gave no outward clues that she housed such fire within her. It was a fortunate surprise for all of them. For Kagome, since they certainly didn't have any intentions of forcing her hand in any way. And for them, since there were several pantheons who would have used her against all of them had they chose to keep her and discovered her little secret. It was a narrow miss for both parties.

Frigga stepped down and approached Kagome, gently taking her hands, still aflame in the glimmering fires of her reiki, and calling out to her softly.

"Kagome dear, it is enough. Thank you for your cooperation, we have learned much from you this day."

Like a swift breath to a lit candle, Kagome snuffed her powers out and returned to her ordinary appearance, meeting Frigga's eyes and hoping against hope that nothing had changed.

"You're welcome."

"I think there are some things you are missing. Would you allow me to train you?"

"You? But I don't sense any reiki from you, your highness-"

"Frigga is fine for now, darling. And while I may not posses that power which you inherited from birth, I can sense something else in you, something I am more than capable of teaching you to manipulate and control."

Kagome get her heart shudder.

"Am I... going to be made into a weapon now?"

"Certainly not! You have no need to worry over any such thing. However, it is unwise to leave power such as yours unchecked and untrained, so you will begin meeting with me in my private gardens every afternoon."

No falsity tainted her aura, no deceit or greed or duplicity. Sincerity, affection, concern and serene confidence radiated out and surrounded Kagome, calming the storm that had been raging in her own aura. Perhaps fate had finally thrown her a bone and left her in a place she would really be safe, really be allowed to just be. She tried to push away the hope but her silly heart loved nothing more than to latch onto any scrap of hope.

"Alright. I can do that."

"Very good. We will start tomorrow. You may go rest now."

She turned and headed from the throne room, intent on collapsing into her sheets and remaining there for the next several hours. She rubbed her eyes which felt swollen and gritty.

It seemed she still hadn't grow used to the soul draining affects of an emotional upheaval.

Perhaps she'd wash it all away in the bath first and pretend she was back home, her mother puttering around the kitchen and making her a soothing cup of tea to cleanse her soul after she'd cleansed her skin in hot water.

Her breath caught in her throat, but nonetheless she changed her course for the bathing room.

————————————————————-

Loki stared pensively at the spot that the self proclaimed priestess had just vacated, drowning out the chatter of his family.

'That human girl is that powerful? How is that possible? Humans are weak, unremarkable creatures.'

And he wondered for a moment how much his mother would be able to do for her, and how her abilities would change over time with the proper training.

Bits of the conversation to his side filtered in.

"Certainly no one can know how promising she is. We'd have every realm storming our gates for the girl."

"Her name is Kagome, father. But I agree, she doesn't deserve to be paraded about like some prized piece of weaponry, nor should she be kept locked away like the other trinkets you guard in your basement. She needs a family. Loki and I can-"

Loki snorted at that. Thor could attach himself to her all he liked, so could his soft hearted mother. But they would certainly not expect anything from him.

"No. I want no part of this."

"But Brother, we must-"

"Do what you like with her, Thor, but I have no interest in spending my time building "family bonds" with human beings. It is a waste. She'll be dead and gone in a blink."

"She's immortal, were you not listening the night she came to us?"

Loki looked condescendingly at his brother, a sarcastic twist to his mouth.

"Immortal. Really. A human. Such a thing is not possible, not for them. They weren't built for such a thing. Do as you all please, but don't expect me to go out of my way to accommodate her."

He stepped down and walked resolutely across the room and out the door, letting it shut firmly behind him with all of his finality.

He would not be cruel or mean or rude, he had much better manners than that. But he wouldn't be overly friendly either, and that was simply all there was to it.

He glanced out the nearest window and took note of the light of day.

There was just enough time before the next meal to get up to a bit of mischief. He smirked and stalked off, an exact replica of himself walking innocently away in the opposite direction.