Disclaimer: I plan on stealing Inuyasha, then using him to fulfil my plans of conquering the world. Maybe I shouldn't have mentioned that…

"…" – speech

'…' – thoughts

--- - change in scenery or time

--Previously, on The Sealed Garden:

{It hadn't been an illusion.

The legendary spirit truly was real.

And he was going to find out why.}

--[Review responses at the bottom] --

Chapter FOUR:

Discovery

A dog-eared man sat amidst an extremely large pile of books and different scrolls. He was reading- or at least attempting to read- several books all at once. He appeared to be in silent contemplation, eyebrows drawn together in deep thought.

The seconds passed by in undisturbed silence.

Suddenly, he threw all of the books in his hands away, closing his eyes in frustration. "Damnit! There isn't anything in this whole place about the garden!" The shout echoed throughout the otherwise empty room.

Indeed, Inuyasha had taken to digging through the resources at hand for information about the sealed garden in his backyard, or even anything related to it that would be of helf. Ever since he had personally sighted the ghostly apparition of the deceased miko, the hanyou had taken up searching the Internet for any details at all.

However, the only findings he had come up with were the legend he already knew, and thousands of variations of it. Among those, or course, were the results that had absolutely nothing to do with his search. There were legends where the miko had really killed herself. Ones where it had described the legend as not involving a demon, but a hanyou. He had filtered through literally thousands of resources and stories.

And strangely enough, one search had come up with a story about some old lady and her cat.

How that related to 'garden', 'miko' and 'legend', baffled the man.

He'd searched enchantments, magical shrubs, spiritual powers; anything that he could think of that could be related to any way of how to enter the garden, but although he'd found many sites, none had been of any use to him. Also, he'd discovered that his problem was a rather original one.

So, in light of his rather unsuccessful Internet research, Inuyasha had retreated to an older source that was quite literally, right in his own home.

The library.

After all, the people who had lived in this place beforehand must have kept an archive of information about these types of things, right? The old man had told him that many of the previous residents had been quite superstitious. Not to mention the house had a small shinto shrine in it- it was bound to have records.

But as of now, the great search had turned up no terribly promising results.

Inuyasha sighed and stood up, stretching his muscles. He had spent a good four whole days looking for information on any sightings that had been reported in the past. Four days had passed since he himself had witnessed the spirit of the miko. It had been four very unsuccessful days of looking through book after book, scanning manuscript after manuscript. Here, too, there were variations of the legend that had been chronicled by one person or another. There were the occasional

In all honesty, just sitting here was getting tiring to the hanyou. He had never been too much of a book guy, preferring to act things out first hand rather than strategise or research. Even in university, when it was time to study, he had, more than a few times, skipped the studying to go out with his friends.

The golden-eyed man checked his watch, noting that it was almost nine o'clock. He'd already eaten dinner, and finished his training session. It was still way too early for bedtime, so what else was there to do?

He sighed yet again, and treaded through the pile of books to another shelf. Bleary eyes stared at the rack-full of books, not really seeing it.

Was this really worth it?

Sacrificing his time just to find some way into some sealed garden that had been closed off to the world for five hundred years- if others couldn't find a way to get through, what made him any different? Inuyasha dropped to the floor with a thump, crossing his legs. He tilted his head back, closing his eyes.

Sure, he was interested in these things, but really, were his goals that realistic? Did he want to spend his entire life trying to do something that was probably impossible?

After all, the spells of priestesses were pretty powerful, and if this one was a pure miko, there was no telling what the extent of her spiritual abilities was. He had no way of knowing whether or not she was strong enough to have erected a spirit shield around the garden.

Although phantoms weren't entirely unheard of, it was pretty rare to actually be involved in a case involving a truly restless spirit. Most of those stories that one heard around the campfire were completely false, and made up to stir up unease. It actually was uncommon for a spirit to be unable to move on after they died. In most cases, they were able to journey to the afterlife peacefully.

The hanyou spread out and flipped around so that he was lying facedown.

For all he knew, this entire thing could have been something made up by the local residents who just happened to have lucked out with the garden being impenetrable and all.

…

Inuyasha didn't believe that.

Not when he'd seen her with his own eyes.

And smelt what must have been her scent.

His nose didn't lie.

And then he recalled the image of that girl. She had looked no older than he himself was. She had seemed so young, so pure, and so… sad.

He'd once been told that in the Americas, some of the First People there described people who had experienced great loss or sadness as having 'sky-eyes'. It would seem like the person's eyes were so far away and sorrowful, that they reflected the sky's great blue expanse.

From what he had seen of that phantom girl, she would most definitely be described as somebody with 'sky-eyes'. Although whether that was due to the fact that she was partially transparent, or that her soul really was mournful, he wasn't able to tell.

Inuyasha's eyes focused, and he suddenly realised that he would do whatever he could to try. After all, he really didn't have anything else to do except loiter around and waste his brother's money. That was the main reason for his existence right now- try his best to screw Sesshoumaru up. There wasn't a huge market for people who were in his line of work- investigating supernatural matters, and he didn't really need a job. Better to leave any available positions for those who really needed them.

So to keep himself from dying from absolute boredom, why not focus his attention on this one project?

At least, for a while.

The silver-haired man began to stand up, but unexpectedly tripped over a book he had thrown earlier. Eyes wide in complete and utter shock, Inuyasha could find nothing to hold onto as he quickly toppled over towards a large scroll rack on the wall.

"Shit!"

Almost in slow motion, the entire thing drifted closer, and in a last desperate attempt to steady himself, the hanyou pushed onto the upper side of it.

Not a wise move, dog-boy.

He just had to hit over the centre of gravity…

The whole shelf, weighing at least two hundred pounds, went crashing to the ground, throwing scrolls everywhere, and landing on the ground with a resounding thud. Fortunately, Inuyasha had completed his goal of remaining upright- at the expense of four hundred years worth of shrine recordings.

As the dust cleared, the hanyou tentatively opened his eyes to survey the damage.

And winced.

"Awww fuck."

The scriptures had all been scattered, and the shelf they had rested on lay on its side, miraculously still intact. However, the parchment hadn't been as lucky, having been strewn around the area, and he was certain that some were underneath that heavy wooden case, steadily being crushed. Some of those scriptures had been centuries old, and were probably damaged underneath all that mess.

He really was in deep shit now.

An entire section of the wall had been revealed from behind the moderately large shelf. It was only through pure luck that that was the one rack that had been isolated from the others, or else the collision would have caused a wonderfully destructive chain reaction throughout the entire room. It would have procured an result known as 'the domino effect'. So, the hanyou certainly was quite lucky in that aspect.

Inuyasha groaned and flopped onto his stomach.

He so did not want to clean that up right now.

Amber-gold eyes swept lazily across the wooden floor of the book room. The perspective from down here was a little strange, everything appearing to be so much bigger than if he were standing up straight. The half-demon lazily noted that the part of the wall that had been covered by the shelf was several shades darker, attesting to the fact that that scroll rack had been there for a long time.

His eyes crossed as movement was spotted directly in front of his face.

Oh look… There was a rather large earwig crawling past his nose…

The hanyou sighed heavily, flicking the insect to some obstruct corner, and started to stand up. That was some mess to straighten, and even if he didn't want to clean it all up at this very hour, it would probably be best to do a little organising first.

But wait.

"What the hell?"

Inuyasha's eyes narrowed, and he moved closer to the wall, crouching in front of the dark portion. There appeared to an extremely thin line tracing around a rectangle at the bottom of the wooden wall. In fact, if he didn't know better… The silver-haired man reached out a hand and traced over the line- it was a crack! And was that- yes it was!

Grooved into one of the sides of the rectangle, there was a small, almost unnoticeable hold. Experimentally, the hanyou pushed inwards, blinking in surprise as the rectangle sunk in by a few millimetres, then stopped. He pushed along the side and the piece of wall slide along a furrow in the base into the neighbouring wood.

His eyebrows furrowed, for what had been hidden behind that small panel was an opening of the same size. At first, there appeared to be nothing in it, but then Inuyasha noticed that the hole continued downwards in a small rectangular cavity. He removed the small piece of wood partially covering the indent, and found several scrolls that appeared to be extremely old.

Curiosity sparked, an excitement began to grow in the hanyou. This was definitely something that hadn't been touched in years- decades, maybe even centuries! He took out all of the scrolls, and a small booklet that was nothing more than pieces of hand-made paper painstakingly tied together with thick string. Somebody had obviously gone to great lengths to keep a record of… whatever it was.

That was what he was going to find out.

The half-demon carefully placed the fragile parchment onto the floor and slid the panel back to where it was. He then stood up, examining the area in which it laid from a person's usual perspective.

It was invisible.

Even to his eyes, the entire wall looked to be smooth. The small indents were positioned in such a way that they were completely invisible. There was absolutely no indication of anything out of the ordinary from this point of view. Adding in the fact that the section of the wall had been covered with a shelf, only made Inuyasha sure that he was the first to discover the secret section from when it had been created.

The hanyou flicked his attention over the surrounding area, and promptly dropped to the ground on the spot, blatantly ignoring the mess he had created only minutes before.

'If I can't see it, it's not there.'

He leaned slightly against the wall, having crossed his legs again.

The half-demon pulled over a small scroll, unrolling it cautiously, and read its contents. The writing was that from ancient Japan, and Inuyasha was barely able to recognise some of the more picturesque characters. Then, there was also the fact that some of the writing had become faint with age.

'Useless.'

He pushed it off to a side and selected another one.

This too, was soon discarded.

One by one, the young adult read each of the scrolls, not gaining any new knowledge about any miko in particular, but learning about how the village that used to stand here was set up. There were articles on new births, youkai attacks, sicknesses, a number of things, but no mention of betrayal or forbidden dealings.

Then he picked up another.

'Hey… What's this?'

Inuyasha leaned in closer to examine the final separate scroll. Parts of it were completely illegible from centuries of wear.

"… We have built a new…to replace the one that was destroyed. …died in the battle, as did the evil youkai who attacked us. …tama has disappeared, but perhaps that is not so much a downfall as a rise in fortune. Never again, will such an item of great power plague our village…"

With every legible sentence, Inuyasha's excitement grew. He was finally getting somewhere with this. Squinting, he inspected the short entry, trying to make out what the 'item of great power' was.

Something-tama.

A jewel of some sort?

It was of no use. Whatever the scroll had read had long been erased by the agent of time, and was far too faint for even his excellent eyesight to pick up. But this was the closest primary source of information that he had found so far that was linked to what he was searching for.

It was just too short to provide too much of a use.

Apprehension started to form a pit in the hanyou's stomach as he turned his gaze to the final item that he had taken from the indent. Placing the previous scroll aside, away from the others, he picked up the binded pages carefully, leaning back against the wall as he did so.

He turned to the first page, and a short entry of smooth, flowing script greeted his eyes. These pages had been much more well preserved, making every page almost completely legible to the inu-hanyou.

"The tama was brought to our humble village today. She who is like a sister to me has been entrusted with its keeping and purification. We must all strive towards protecting this item, for if it falls into the wrong hands, destruction will come to us all…"

Inuyasha was immediately absorbed into the writing, reading every page; every note. For the next pages, battles that had gone into protecting the 'tama' were described in great detail by whoever kept record of such events. Soon, it became clear that whatever the item was, was certainly extremely powerful, and we sought after by demons and humans alike. It had been entrusted to a miko, and the writer too, was unmistakably a priest or a priestess, for only the people who served in temples really knew how to write. Learning such things was impractical when one was a farmer, for they couldn't use the knowledge.

No dates were kept, but in the upper right corner of every note, there was a small circle that as filled in partially, showing the position of the moon on the night that it had been written.

The next entry that caught his full attention went as follows:

"She saw him again. Lately, that youkai has been frequenting our village more often, yet she does not kill him. I am certain that he is after the tama, but she will not listen to my warnings. I am almost certain that she is doing the forbidden… I am almost certain that she is falling in love with him…"

In love with him? Him who?

It seemed as though the legend was unfolding before his very eyes from a firsthand account of what had happened. He had gotten through almost a third of the book. The lights flickered breifly, and Inuyasha raised his gaze to the lights above. Then, he checked his watch.

It was already ten o'clock.

It was still quite early.

He resumed reading.

"I know now. The youkai is courting her, and she does not discourage his advances. I should stop this. I should report her to the village… But she is too dear a friend to me, much like a second sister. I am torn between duty and friendship. What can I do?"

This entry had been recorded as a full cycle of the moon after the previous. The hanyou fisted his hand in exasperation. Not once, was there ever any mention of names in what he had read. Perhaps there would be more information as he read on?

The next few pages described some events that had passed in the village, and from the data provided, Inuyasha concluded that this journal had been kept from the days five hundred years in the past. It came from a time when youkai were immortal entities, and priests and priestesses possessed powerful spiritual powers. Since those times, the unique powers of the priests and demons had diminished with the rise of technology.

Inuyasha read on, noting that several more entries in the log were also about the struggle of the writer between revealing her friend, and fellow miko, or trying to convince her that the youkai was decieving her.

"I confronted her today after watching him depart. She was surprised, but denied nothing. She truly does love him, and trusts him. However, how can she be so sure? Does her love cloud her judgement? I would not know. I have never loved…"

Finally, as the time passed by, Inuyasha neared the end of the pages until he had reached the third page from the end. The tension within him mounted.

"Something has happened. I have feel it in my very spirit. I will have to tighten my bow and ready my arrows tonight. Something is going to happen very soon."

His nerves stretched on end and trepidation gripped at the edge of his heart. As much as he hated to admit it, the journal entries of this miko had stirred something deep within him, making him feel as though he were there, experiencing every event with her. she really was excellent at building suspense.

He came to the second to last entry.

"They are coming. He has shown his true colours. I will fight- be it to the end."

This was by far, the shortest entry, and the page was partially stained by a dark liquid that looked suspiciously like blood. The half-demon bent closer to the book and sniffed- that was definitely blood, although the scent was extremely faint, having weathered the effects of time.

With apprehension, the hanyou turned to the final page in the journal, and was greeted by an entirely different style of writing. This script was less smooth in appearance, yet no less effective as the words concluded the story that had drawn Inuyasha into its depths. Some of the words had been blotched by what he could only assume to have been tears, and a few drops of blood stained the words.

"…Onee-sama was killed in the fight for the tama, as was its protector. That youkai that had lead the village to believe he was harmless had died at the arrow of the one he had betrayed. Our village has suffered great losses, but none as great as the death of Onee-sama and one of our best friends… "The villagers have agreed to constructing a… around where the shrine that housed the …no tama. A great wooden door will be set in front so that we will be able to come and go in honour of those who protected the tama. I will take over the duties as protector of this village in the stead of my sister, for I am now of age.

"The daimyou decided to build his palace here, and I store these manuscripts in a compartment…"

The rest of the paragraph was too blotched to be read properly, and after a few minutes of fruitless attempts, the half-demon read on.

"May the souls of Kikyou-onee-sama and Kagome-chan rest in peace now, and forevermore.

"-Kaede"

Inuyasha held the book in his hands, its weight seeming to have doubled in the time he had taken to read the entire thing. Not only that miko had died, but many others in that battle. Everything here confirmed most of the events of the legend he had been told. But he thirsted for more.

"Kagome. Kikyou." Both were female names. Both had died One was most likely the miko trapped in the garden. One had been the protector if a powerful 'tama'- jewel. One had fallen in love with a youkai.

The hanyou scrabbled to the wall, and slid open the small panel once more. He reached in a clawed hand, groping around the moderately deep hold for anymore information- anything at all.

And found one last piece of paper yellow with age.

He began to read its contents.

"Many years have passed since the disappearance of the tama. I am now an old woman, and even as I write, I can feel the hands of death creeping closer.

"The wall that had been built by the villagers has become enchanted. Not two days ago, the great door of the wall had slammed shut of its own accord. Great vines grew over the entire enclosement in a matter of minutes. We can do nothing to open the door, or to rid the plants. I can sense powerful energy from that spell.

"I can think of only one method to break the barrier, but the item that is needed has returned into the West. If only one were to bring the sword that could slay a hundred demons in one swing, there would be a chance for us to cut the vines away.

"Time passes by, and my strength is waning. I must hide this before my spirit leaves this world."

"Farewell."

Inuyasha stared in stunned silence at the end of the writing. This piece of paper had given him the method of how to get into the garden!

He just needed to find the sword that had been mentioned…

"…sword that could kill a hundred demons…"

Wait just a minute here.

That sounded strangely familiar.

The hanyou frowned and thought.

Then, the old man's voice echoed in his mind, repeating the same words over in his head. "It has the power to cut through magical barriers…"

Inuyasha's mouth dropped open, and he whipped his gaze to the dojo across from him. It… couldn't be! That thing was… useless!

But what he saw caused his eyes to widen slightly. There seemed to be an eerie gleam from within the dark room in the shape of a long object… The light suddenly throbbed, almost like a hearbeat.

As though mesmerised, the man slowly walked over to the light, scripture still in his grasp.

"Tetsusaiga…"

Review Responses…! (I love you guys!):

-- animemistress419

Thanks for your review, and they should actually meet in the next chapter… better not quote me on that though…

1- Inu/Kag

-- Flaming-Rosetta-Stone

I couldn't agree more. She was dead, she should remain dead. However, it really wasn't her fault to have been called out to begin with, and whenever she comes on screen, or appears in the manga, I just have to keep telling myself that that's not the real Kikyou. She was much nicer, and she is in a lot of confusion. Really, I just want her soul to be put to rest, and to be able to move on… As Black Hole described. So… enough of my ranting! Thanks for your review!

1- Inu/Kag

-- Poison Death Tree

Thanks for your rating, again! Really, it is an interesting penname! But I don't deserve a bow, if anything, it's you people who read my stories who merit them… : )

1- Inu/Kag

-- Izayoi

My fic inspired you to actually change your penname? Wow. And yes, I know, it is going really slowly… it seems to be a problem for my stories… -.-;; The characters just don't want to meet each other! But anyway, as I wrote to animemistress419, they should meet next chapter… Thanks for your review!

1- ?

-- Dark-Magician-41

Thanks for your review, and your vote! I hope Rei's okay… A mallot? Do you carry one of those around with you? o.O I'll try to read your story when I have the time!

2- Inu/Kag

-- FieryDemonFox

Thanks for your review! I try to make my chapters at least 3000 words long, if not 4000. Maybe once I become a more experienced writer, I'll aim for 5000? Or is that too much?

1- ?

-- kokoro

You're lost? I wasn't aware that chapter THREE was so confusing! … Maybe there's a mistake I missed in there… I'll recheck it later. But, don't worry, the confusion should start to clear up… soon.

1- ?

-- Katami

Houjo bashing? That might come later… Although I really don't have a 'thing' against the boy, (he's really too minor a character) I don't favour him either, (so friggin dense!) so we'll see, as the story progresses, if there will be any Houjo bashing…

1- ?

-- sashlea

Say, what does your name mean? Actually, a lot of you reviewers have interesting pen/review names! Yes, life did get more interesting… and it should get even more so once he gets into the garden… Thanks for your review!

1- ?

-- Samieko

I'll take that as Inu/Kag? ; ) (ugh. I want my smilies back!) Don't worry, in this fic, Kikyou's already dead… or is she?

1- Inu/Kag

[Hello all…

The first draft for this chapter had been deleted because it was running along so horribly. But I worked all day (that I could) on the second draft… and got out chapter FOUR in record time!

Nooo! ff.net has cut out a lot of stuff, and I can't do my faces anymore! I have to resort to the side ones - : I

As has happened in my other ongoing story, the couple still hasn't met yet. However, I swear, on my grandmother's grave, that they shall meet next chapter! … Maybe I shouldn't have done that… I just hope that it doesn't take over 7 chapters for them to meet… like in Lock Down. -.-;;

So, the final count (for those of you who actually included a vote) was… 6 for Inu/Kag, making it 0 for Inu/Kik. I have just one thing to say to that: Thank God.

Till next time…

Ja!]